Only Bad Catholics Go To Heaven

The recent resignation of the current Pope has brought Roman Catholicism into the global spotlight right now. One of the unfortunate things to come out of situations like this is that the unbelieving world often looks to the Roman Pontiff as the global ambassador for Christianity, but the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth!

One of my classmates recently said to me that "all roads lead to Rome... except for the one that goes to heaven." A true study of history will reveal that the Church of Rome grew out of a continual slide into apostasy over many centuries (I recommend the book "The Church of Rome at the Bar of History"). The Reformation of the 1500s was a necessary recovery of the Gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. The differences between biblical Christianity and Roman Catholicism remain as stark as they ever have. So what are the vital differences? There are many, but for the sake of space I will point out some of the major ones.

Before I continue I must state two disclaimers. First, when I use the word "Catholic" I am referring to the Roman Catholic religion, not to be confused with "catholic" when used in it's universal sense such as "catholic church" when it means universal church. Secondly, this article does not suggest that every person attending a Catholic congregation is not a Christian. I believe there are true Christians attending Catholic churches - but this is in spite of, not by virtue of, true Catholic doctrine. Hence the title "Only Bad Catholics go to Heaven" because, as you will see, the only way someone could find true salvation in a Roman Catholic church is by seriously violating their own belief system. (I must thank Matt Slick at CARM [Christian Apologetics Resource Ministry] for much of this information).

For by grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Roman Catholic doctrine denies justification by faith alone and says:

If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema (Council of Trent, Canons on Justification, Canon 9).

Anathema, according to Catholic theology, means excommunication, the exclusion of a sinner from the society of the faithful. Roman Catholic theology therefore pronounces a curse of excommunication, of being outside the camp of Christ, if you believe that you are saved by grace through faith alone in Jesus.

When the Roman Catholic church negates justification by faith alone, it necessarily implies that we must do something for justification, for if it is not by faith alone, then it must be by faith and something.

Catholicism teaches that certain things must be done by people in order to be justified and to keep that justification. Of these acts, baptism is the first requirement. Consider these quotes:

Baptism is the first and chief sacrament of forgiveness of sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that we too might walk in newness of life (Catechism of the Catholic Church, par. 977).

Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ. It is granted to us through Baptism. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who justifies us. It has for its goal the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life. It is the most excellent work of God's mercy (CCC, par. 2020).

According to Roman Catholicism, baptism is only the first sacrament of forgiveness. Good works, according to Roman Catholicism, are also required and are rewarded with going to heaven:

We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere to the end and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God' eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ (CCC, par. 1821).

The above quote clearly states that heaven is the eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. Catholic theology asserts that works are a predecessor to justification in direct contradiction to God's Word which states that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Rom. 3:28).

In the CCC, par. 2010, it says:

Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification.

How does anyone merit for himself the undeserved kindness of God's grace? Grace is by definition unmerited favor. This is an utterly false teaching. So how does the Catholic church get around this apparent dilemma that grace is unmerited but it is obtained through our merits? It states:

Sanctifying grace is the gratuitous gift of his life that God makes to us; it is infused by the Holy Spirit into the soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify (CCC, par. 2023).

This is the crux of the problem. Roman Catholic theology asserts that God's grace is granted through baptism and infused into a person by the Holy Spirit. This then enables him or her to do good works which then are rewarded with heaven. Basically, this is no different from the theology of the cults which maintain that justification is by grace through faith and your works, whether it be baptism, going to the true church, keeping certain laws, receiving the sacraments, or anything else you are required to do.

Maintaining Your Justification

Because the Catholic view of justification is a cooperative effort between God and man, this justification can be lost by man's failure to maintain sufficient grace through meritorious works. Roman Catholicism teaches that works are necessary for attainment of justification. According to Catholic theology, penance is a sacrament where a person, through a Catholic priest (CCC, par. 987), receives forgiveness of the sins committed after baptism. The penitent person must confess his sins to a priest. The priest pronounces absolution and imposes acts of penance to be performed.

Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as the second plank (of salvation) after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace (CCC, par. 1446).

Acts of penance vary, but some of them are prayer, saying the rosary, reading the Scripture, saying a number of Our Father or Hail Mary prayers, doing good works, fasting, and other such things. Is it by doing these acts of penance that the Catholic is able to regain his justified state before God? In essence it is earning one's salvation. Think about it. If you do not have it and you get it by saying prayers, fasting, and/or doing good works, then you are guilty of works righteousness salvation, which is condemned by the Bible.

What is even more frightening is that this post only scratches the surface of this wicked works righteous system. We could also discuss the Catholic denial of Jesus as our only mediator between God and man (contrary to 1 Timothy 2:5) by teaching people to pray to Mary as their mediator. Then there is also the issue of the blasphemous Catholic teaching that during every mass the priest has the power to call Jesus Christ down to die on the cross again (contrary to Hebrews 7:27). On and on it goes. Only bad Catholics can go to heaven because the only way for a Catholic to find true salvation is by completely ignoring the teaching of a religious system that has no saving power and trusting the Bible instead.

Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston's Continual Abuse Of Scripture

Brian Houston, senior pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia (and it's rapidly expanding global empire) has just visited Saddleback Church in California which is just a couple of hours down the road from my current address. I became immediately interested when I found out that Houston would be preaching from 2 Corinthians 7:8-10. I had to ask myself how Brian Houston would preach from a passage explicitly about repentance:

For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it - though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (2 Corinthians 7:8-10).

Those who know me or are regular readers here know of the years I have spent pursuing Hillsong Church and its leaders over their relentless failure to preach the core salvation doctrine of repentance. Not only is this doctrine historically recognized as the necessary corresponding reality of true saving faith, it is also a core element of Hillsong Church's very own doctrine statement (which is somewhat difficult to find, although this may be due to my severe lack of nerd capabilities). To quote from their "What We Believe" page:

We believe that in order to receive forgiveness and the 'new birth' we must repent of our sins, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and submit to His will for our lives.

Time and time again I have cited example after example of this violation of their own doctrine statement (several of the videos previously cited have since been removed). In fact, of the services I and others have attended, the books we have read, the CDs we have heard, and the videos we have downloaded or streamed, none of us have ever heard anything about repentance coming from any Hillsong source. Even if it has been preached on an occasion that I am not aware of (and I gave an open invitation to my many critics to prove me wrong with nothing ever forthcoming), such a core doctrine essential to salvation should be strongly evident in all their outreach arms. Hillsong even had the audacity to edit the Bible verse on the back cover of their "Mighty to Save" CD to sanitize repentance out of it (yes, they REMOVED the line from 2 Chronicles 7:14 that says "turn from their wicked ways"). Can anybody else smell a rat?

Fast forward to Pastor Brian Houston's sermon at Saddleback. I polled several friends and colleagues of mine at the Master's Seminary (where I am a student) and asked them if they thought it was possible to preach a sermon out of 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 without mentioning the word repentance. None of them thought this to be possible but Brian Houston proved them all wrong. That's right, he preached directly out of a passage that explicitly and obviously centers on repentance without even once talking about it. How did he get out of even mentioning repentance when reading the text itself? By switching to a very liberal translation (The Message) when he got to verse 9! Preachers are called to submit to the biblical text, not submit the biblical text to their own agenda. If you don't believe me then you can see it for yourself (the translation switch happens at the 15:30 mark). Chris Rosebrough's brutal review of the sermon can be heard here (start listening to the program at the 93 minute mark).

I cannot put into words my personal grief at seeing Houston butcher and pervert a passage of such immense beauty that describes the godly sorrow over sin that leads to repentance and salvation. Furthermore, he twisted the passage into something completely irrelevant to its obvious meaning from a plain reading. Brian Houston believes that the problems at Corinth were caused by Paul's angry letter and that the Corinthians needed to make the decision to stop being bitter and wounded about it so that their pain would be "only for a while". Earth to Brian! Houston we have a problem! Hello!!!!! Paul's angry letter was written because of the incest (1 Corinthians 5:1), immorality (1 Corinthians 6:12-20), lawsuits between brethren (1 Corinthians 6:1-8), idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:1-14), and turning the communion table into a place of drunkenness and gluttony (1 Corinthians 11:17-22). The Corinthians grieved "only for a while" because Paul's rebuke had brought about deep conviction and saving repentance in their lives. As I watched Houston's sermon I was left wondering if he had even read Paul's letters to the Corinthians. My criticism is not the deep theological insight of a Seminary student. It is the obvious conclusions of anyone who would take the time to read these letters in the same way that they read their own mail. It's just not that difficult . . . unless you are determined to avoid the subject of repentance.

Oh how tragic that a church would pay a lot of money for a man to fly a long way and then obscure the glorious truth that is so obvious to anyone who would read that passage. It is perhaps almost as tragic that Brian Houston's continual avoidance of the subject of repentance makes him oblivious to his own need to repent. And repentance of the unbiblical nonsense he is preaching is the single greatest contribution he could presently make to the Body of Christ.

The Truth About Rick Warren

Finally, a movie that tells the truth about Rick Warren and hasn't been altered by his spin doctors. This is an important movie for those of us grazing on the modern evangelical landscape. Please check it out . . . good job guys! Also, under the video you will find links to more articles critiquing Rick Warren.



The John Piper - Rick Warren Interview

Rick Warren's Sermon at Desiring God 2010

Does Rick Warren Worship Allah?

The Undertones of Rick Warren's Inauguration Prayer for Barack Obama

Genius The Movie - See It Here

Ray Comfort has just released an exciting new movie about John Lennon on the 50th Anniversary of the birth of the Beatles. Please check it out and promote it because of its evangelistic content. Check it out here!

 

John Macarthur On Expository Leadership

This video explains a lot about the privilege of attending The Master's Seminary in California. All Christians should watch this because whether you are in the pulpit or the pew, you need to know how to distinguish between biblical Christian leadership and self indulgent empire building. Please sit back and listen to 43 years of wisdom as one of the truly great expositors of the 20th and 21st centuries brings outstanding clarity on this subject . . . and he also takes a shot at who he thinks is the most egotistical individual among the current parade of "TV preachers". Great viewing!

What I Hate Most About Socialism

Karl Marx famously stated that "religion is the opiate of the masses." I'm not sure if Marx ever realized how upside down his famous statement was. It is actually when many of his socialist ideals get put into practice, for an extended time, that you get to see a general populace that is both sedated and pacified. This is strongly evident in my former home of Denmark where the state has taken on the role of a gigantic national nanny (does that sound familiar my Obamanation friends?). Never in my life have I encountered so many passive and indifferent men who have been sedated under the narcotic of a massive welfare system. What is breathtaking about this video is that the young man is not even embarrassed or ashamed of his conduct. He actually seems to think the whole interrogation is going well. When it comes to the opiate of socialized welfare, this young man definitely inhaled!

During my five years in Denmark, I discovered that work is an option that someone may take should he find the place of employment that meets his specific requirements. And why be entrepreneurial and visionary when the state circles your profitability like a vulture with its ravenous claws of taxation. Mediocrity is the happy middle road winding its way through this socialist landscape.

Options abound for those who get their fix from the state. You can take a job and work at your own pace. No worries, the union will make sure that you cannot get fired . . . that is unless you want to take a two year holiday courtesy of your employment insurance. Why have initiative, why be industrious, why care for your neighbor - when the government can do it all for you.

Marx never understood that it is actually a biblical worldview flowing out of a genuine Christian conversion that generates a sense of drive and destiny in the individual. A willingness to risk one's life for the sake of a transcendent and worthy cause. Indeed it was Paul who said:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us (Phillipians 3:7-17).

Paul even admonished the Christians at Thessalonica that if a man does not work then he should not be fed (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Christians are a people so enraptured with the ultimate sacrifice of their Savior that they joyously enter in to a life of self sacrifice and labor that they may be salt and light in an evil generation.

But the worst thing about socialism is an issue that slides under the radar of most professing Christians. And that is the fact that socialism is an ideology that directly attacks the biblical doctrine of man. Whereas socialism teaches us that we have rights and entitlements, Christianity preaches the glorious Gospel of God's grace - and what is grace? Grace is unmerited favor! In other words, grace is favor bestowed on an individual that he does not deserve. This raises the question as to why we don't deserve God's favor? It is because all men are desperately wicked sinners - the biblical doctrine of man!

Scripture teaches mans depravity on many occasions - here are some examples:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)

As it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10-23)

Ok, so maybe Paul could say something so brutal to our fragile self esteem, but surely not Jesus . . . then check the verses that immediately follow John 3:16:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:17-20)

Does the natural man know he is a sinner (as Joel Osteen suggests) therefore nullifying our need to preach on sin and define it. Absolutely not. Mr Osteen clearly hasn't visited any prisons recently because if he did he would have found a building full of self professed wrongly convicted people. Indeed the Scripture teaches that "every man proclaims his own goodness" (Proverbs 20:6) and is "clean in his own eyes" (Proverbs 16:2). That he "suppresses the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18) and has a heart that is "deceitfully wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9).

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8)

If we are to teach that Christ died for our sins then we must define what sin is:

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4)

And how do we come to a knowledge of our sin:

if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7b)

A faithful proclamation of the Gospel, therefore, must present men as sinners and bring this knowledge by the use of God's law.

So the law functions first of all to kill me, to end my self creation - all attempts to write my own life movie and reinvent my character. The gospel inserts me into a new script: "alive in Christ" (Michael Horton - Christless Christianity p129).

My greatest concern with the current rising tide of socialism in America is not primarily fiscal (although socialism is certainly a safe path to economic ruin). My primary fear with the socialistic indoctrination that produces people like the young man in the video is that it robs them of a reference point to the Gospel. How can anyone ever see his need for a Savior to die for his sins when he is unable to see his own guilt in the first place. And as the video so ably demonstrates, that is what an entitlement mentality so ably does!

The Relationship Between Infallibility And Authority

When Christians talk about the Bible being “infallible”, we mean that the Bible is incapable of making mistakes or being wrong. As discussed previously, the Bible is “inspired” and, ultimately, authored by the Almighty Sovereign God Who is incapable of making mistakes or being wrong.

So here we have an infallible God delivering to man an infallible written revelation. Since the infallible God has ultimate authority over all things, then it follows that His infallible Word also speaks with ultimate authority on all things. There can be no doubt that Jesus Christ subscribed to this view as He said “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4).

Peter said that Scripture is “more sure” than hearing God speaking audibly to us from heaven (2 Peter 1:19) – which is something Peter experienced on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:5). The Psalmist states that God has exalted His word above all things (Psalm 138:2). When Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness under severe temptation from Satan, He responded to each accusation with the initial words “it is written” (Matthew 4:1-11). Here we see God incarnate making His appeal to the authority Holy Scripture. The fact of the matter is that the Bible is authoritative, and this is the obvious consequence of its infallibility.

The False Religion Of Guy Sebastian

The recent sad article on the faith of Australian pop star Guy Sebastian has served to bring back the pathetic memories I have of Australian churches (especially charismatic ones) desperately trying to gain some sort of "street cred" through "christianizing" someone famous. If some rock star or famous sportsman gives the slightest hint of any sort of spirituality there is a bandwagon of church leaders ready to claim him as their own. I know this is not exclusive to Australia, but as an Aussie I can readily recount the continuous stream of embarrassing outcomes that have occurred because of this. I am just one of many bearing the scars of this practice when, as a young and impressionable Christian, went through the trauma of seeing some of these "christian celebrities" living in blatant unrepentant sin without having a shred of Christian testimony.

If you think I am trying to take some high moral ground here, think again! I take my issue here not with those popular and famous people who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and deny Him by their lifestyle (Matthew 25:31-46, 1 John 3:4-10), but with those pastors and church leaders who seem to think that the test of someone's Christianity is whether they call themselves a Christian. Worse than that, it has now descended to the point where talking about God or some "higher power"is enough to enter through the narrow gate.

I have seen the cavalcade of stars welcomed into the fold and thrust into the limelight as role models for under-achieving Christians and pagans who think we are not as cool as they are. Australian names like Tommy Emmanuel, Rebecca Gibney, Rick Price, Jason Stevens, Darren Beadman, and now Guy Sebastian readily spring to mind though there are many others. Globally, I have been told of the "strong Christianity" of Bono, Whitney Houston, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Mariah Carey etc. etc.

Am I suggesting that all celebrities who claim to be Christians are false? Absolutely not! In fact, I have a good personal friend who happens to be a celebrity and has also shown himself over many years to bear the authentic fruit of genuine Christianity. But what I am suggesting is that biblical pastoral responsibilities demand that church leaders soberly shepherd, protect, and inspect the fruit of those who have a high public profile and identify with the Lord Jesus Christ. The tragedy of failing to do this is three fold:

First, if a celebrity walks the aisle, signs the card, and repeats the prayer; it does not mean that they need to deliver next weeks sermon. Give them space and obscurity to meditate on God's Word, grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and demonstrate the authenticity of their faith within the setting of the local church. I cannot describe the anguish of sitting through wildly promoted Christian events with a major celebrity drawcard only to see him arrive on stage, receive the adulation of the masses, give some sort of motivational speech, never mention Jesus Christ, exit the stage, collect his check, and then jump in his car and drive home hours before the event even finishes. This is just straight-up shameful on the part of those who arrange and organize these events.

Secondly, this practice sets up impressionable church goers for disappointment and diverts their attention away from the sole Hero of the universe.

 , and appear at major Christian events (to draw a crowd)

The Bible Is Inspired - What Does This Mean?

When evangelical Christians speak of the Bible as “inspired” they are referring to the unique nature of authorship for all 66 books of the Bible. The key verse referring to this reality is found in Peter’s second Epistle where he describes the production of Holy Scripture as something never “produced by the will of man”, but rather came into written form as “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21) .

This is the phenomenon the Apostle Paul is referring to when he says that “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). This uniqueness is often described as “dual authorship”. In one sense, all Scripture is written by God. It is also true that each biblical book is authored by the human writer ascribed to it. For example, the Apostle Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Wayne Grudem describes the concurrent truths of dual authorship when he says:

God’s providential oversight and direction of the life of each author was such that their personalities, their backgrounds and training, their abilities to evaluate events in the world around them, their access to historical data, their judgment with regard to the accuracy of information, and their individual circumstances when they wrote, were all exactly what God wanted them to be, so that when they actually came to the point of putting pen to paper, the words were fully their own words but also fully the words that God wanted them to write, words that God would claim as his own (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology p81). 

The Bible stands alone as unique among all literature because it is ultimately and entirely authored by Almighty God and this is what is meant when Christians refer to all Scripture as “inspired”.

When We Make Enemies With Our Mission Field

I recently discussed the Gay agenda's intolerance of traditional marriage as displayed in the venting of their wrath over Dan Cathy's, president of Chick Fil A, public support of traditional marriage. While gay activists and liberal mayors boycotted and banned Chick Fil A stores in their area, an even greater number of Christians turned out in droves to support Chick Fil A by purchasing and eating their delicious chicken sandwiches and waffle fries. It was great to see the "silent majority" turn out in support of biblical truth and God honoring businessmen. I was only too happy to take part in the "buycott" especially considering my fondness for their "spicy chicken deluxe". As Christians take part in this honorable activity it is always helpful to take a deep breath, step back, and consider our part in the bigger story of God's redemptive plan. The ditch we need to be wary of in this climate of boycotts and "buycotts" is that we do not turn our mission field into the enemy!

If our zeal for biblical morality trumps our evangelistic zeal then we are in big trouble. In the Old Testament God continually reminded the Israelites that they should remember that they were once strangers in Egypt. We Christians should humble ourselves in the memory that we were once strangers from God and that our redemption had nothing to do with our own merit (because we have none) but by God's grace so that we could never boast in anything but the cross of our risen Saviour. Paul reminds us of this truth in his letter to the Ephesians:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience; among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ; by grace you have been saved; and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:1-9 emphasis mine)

Even darker clouds are gathering all over the world right now as the cup of God’s wrath fills up against a wicked generation. Most of these people have been busy pursuing pleasure and material gain never realizing that God continually delays His wrath, giving them time to repent. Well, God’s cup of wrath is filling up further every day and it is only a matter of time before it overflows with His righteous judgment on a world bound for Hell. Next time you munch on a Chick Fil A sandwich and gaze out the window at those deluded protestors outside in their overtly sinful lifestyle - remember such were we before God redeemed us by His own blood. As the clock counts down to Armageddon are you going to continue watching? Are you going to believe the evil lie of modern preachers who say “preach the Gospel, if necessary use words” (which is like saying “wash always, if necessary use water”)? Or are you going to use that voice that God gave you?

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)

Stop for a moment and listen. Can you hear it? Do you hear it? It is the sound of thousands of church goers saying absolutely nothing about the glorious and once for all delivered Gospel. Please don't let your zeal for righteousness transform your mission field into a battlefield. There are only two times we should proclaim the Gospel to lost sinners - in season and out of season! Is not our wonderful Savior worthy to receive more glory by saving wicked sinners other than yourself?

Whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Talk to people, be friendly regardless of how they speak to us, always remembering that we too were once slaves in Egypt. We need to ask ourselves the question as to whether our evangelism is informed by culture or Scripture? We, as Christians, are all meant to be a part of a culture, but it isn’t American or Republican. As the author of Hebrews made clear we are meant to be strangers in a strange land longing for a city who’s builder and maker is God.

For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:14-16)

And here is the exciting part! Our heavenly homeland will surpass and vastly exceed the temporal glory of our local Chick Fil A franchise. Should we not inform strangers and aliens of this fact along the way? And guess what, it can even be done while holding a chicken sandwich!