[b]Too Much Comfort[/b]

Another reason for the absence of real yearning for Christ’s return is that Christians are so comfortable in this world that they have little desire to leave it. For those leaders who set the pace of religion and determine its content and quality, Christianity has become of late remarkably lucrative. The streets of gold do not have too great an appeal for those who find it so easy to pile up gold and silver in the service of the Lord here on earth. We all want to reserve the hope of heaven as a kind of insurance against the day of death but as long as we are healthy and comfortable, why change a familiar good for something about which we actually know very little? So reasons the carnal mind, and so subtly that we are scarely aware of it.

Again, in these times religion has become jolly good fun right here in this present world, and what’s the hurry about heaven anyway? Christianity, contrary to what some had thought, is another and higher form of entertainment. Christ has done all the suffering. He has shed all the tears and carried all the crosses; we have but to enjoy the benefits of His heartbreak in the form of religious pleasures modeled after the world but carried on in the name of Jesus. So say the same people who claim to believe in Christ’s second coming. [i](Born after Midnight, p. 134)[/i]

[b]External Appeals[/b]

Our trouble is that we are trying to confirm the truth of Christianity by an appeal to external evidence. We are saying, “Well, look at this fellow. He can throw a baseball farther than anybody else and he is a Christian, therefore Christianity must be true.” “Here is a great statesman who believes the Bible. Therefore the Bible must be true.” We quote Daniel Webster or Roger Bacon. We write books to show that some scientist believed in Christianity: Therefore Christianity must be true. We are all the way out on the wrong track, brother! That is not New Testament Christianity at all. That is a pitiful, whimpering, drooling appeal to the flesh. That never was the testimony of the New Testament, never the way God did things — never! You might satisfy the intellects of men by external evidences, and Christ did, I say, point to external evidence when He was here on earth. But He said, “I am sending you something better. I am taking Christian apologetics out of the realm of logic and putting it into the realm of life. I am proving My deity, and My proof will not be an appeal to a general or a prime minister. The proof lies in an invisible, unseen but powerful energy that visits the human soul when the gospel is preached — the Holy Ghost!” The Spirit of the living God brought an evidence that needed no logic; it went straight to the soul like a flash of silver light, like the direct plunge of a sharp spear into the heart. Those are the very words that the Scriptures use when it says “pierced (pricked) to the heart.” One translator points out that that word “pricked” is a word that means that it goes in deeper than the spear that pierced Jesus’ side. (How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit, pp. 29-31)

[b]An Outward Shift[/b]

All of this top-heavy Christendom that we know today was never known in the book of Acts and in the days of the apostles. Utter simplicity was at the root of everything. Faith was the power, or at least the instrument, and the Holy Ghost the power that led them on and love throbbed at the heart of their worship and purity of life was demanded of them. So they had worship and love and faith and their moral lives were pure and their whole lives simple. And then as the years passed came the shift in externalism just as had happened in the days of Israel. A shift outward from the center toward the surface. Always remember this, that it could be the easiest thing in the world to live at the center but it usually is the hardest. It’s easier to live on the surface then it is in the center. The Church shifted toward externalism and institutionalism took over. Then came form and ceremony and tradition. [i](Sermon, “The Deeper Life,” Chicago, 1956)[/i]

Then came a slow shift from the center out toward the perimeter. Out from the beating heart, out to the epidermis, to the outside skin of things. Then externalism took over in Israel and a good deal of the long history of Israel in the Old Testament is the history of Israel yielding to the propensity to live on the surface and the prophets of God urging Israel back to the center. Always God urges men back to the center and always men by centrical force tend to fly out to the edge of things. Always God wants men to have content and always men seek to be satisfied with words. [i](Sermon, “The Deeper Life,” Chicago, 1956)[/i]

The whole problem is the externality of worship. This is the biggest problem the church faces now — the problem of externalism. [i](“The Chief End of Man,” Sermon #7, Toronto, 1962)[/i]

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Mike Balog

Wonderful snippets from Tozer, right on the head. Thank you brother Mike.

I was moved to tears as a young woman when watching the movies mentioned. They served a purpose as far as catching my attention and trying to rein in to Christ a wayward heart. However, I now try to put away the things of my younger Christian days and seek after heartier fare. Thy Word, O Lord, is sufficient for me. Seems that lately I find myself very seldom reading the newspaper or watching movies or tv (I no longer subscribe to cable, as I have found better uses for my time than the "spirit of entertainment" that is often glorified there. I refuse to judge others, but I will set forth a challenge: If these truly are the final hours preceding a last great push of revival/evangelism and the end of the age, then what in the world are we doing wasting so much time? Do we really believe, and act upon, what we profess? Just food for thought, for I am beating my own body before I lash at others! Souls are at stake!

Brother Paul,

I'm sure we could fill this thread with antidotal reports ranging from the silly to the soulish regarding stage antics in our middle class churches. Just the other day I saw a video of a pastor engaging in a Glenn Campbellesque mockery of "O Holy Night" on a church platform worthy of the Ed Sullivan Show festooned with artificial snow, Christmas trees and street lamps. Anything for a laugh...

Yet, this past week I stood in my son's High School auditorium with a heart full of gratitude for the grace of God. There our community was treated to high school choir and orchestra performances of "May did you know?" and the "Hallelujah Chorus".

Were all the performers truly worshipping God? Of course not.

I believe He was glorified anyways.

The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,

Merry Christmas brother, :-)

MC

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Mike Compton

I'm thankful that the congregation where I serve as youth pastor is having a children's Christmas play. My daughter is learning many things that for whatever reason, she didn't retain as well from me teaching her, mind you she's barely past being a toddler. As bad as that sounds, there was something in the portrayals and acting that helped her retain it. Just today she said,

"Daddy, did you know when Jesus was on the cross it was just like the little sheep that they would cut and he would bleed?"

As infantile as that sounds to our theologically trained ears, it brought many a tear to my eyes. I've taught her much concerning the scriptures, obviously, but it is starting to really stick and take hold through events such as these. Should it be a main staple every week? Surely not - but it is almost immature of us to even have to talk about that. I praise God that my daughter, who is very dramatic, has a godly outlet for her fiesty little creative spirit. To cap that in the name of piety is sickening and anything but Christ-like. To strip children of the ability to learn of the scriptures and the gospel creatively is to waste one of the most important parts of their development. God did not create us with imaginations and talents and artistic abilities so that they could be suppressed and denied their existence. Never is this more true than in childhood. Though I'm sure there's many 'a "pickle juice baptized" saint out there who feels anything "entertaining" is soulish (which is a concept I'm still struggling to find scriptural proof for - ie "soulishness") and demonic. Bear in mind that the late great Evan Roberts (the spark and recognized leader of the 1904 Welsh Revival) was known to have a great love for the theatre. Jesus himself told stories that, although probably untrue factually, demonstrated and conveyed Gospel truths. It was not irreverent or sacreligious for Him to create fictional stories in order to convey deeper truths. How does it become worse if you simply use actors as opposed to fictional characters? Just a thought...

Now that's a childrens play and perhaps seems more harmless to some. I, however, am not opposed to adult Christmas plays either. Charles Parham, whom I have heard some of the moderator's hear defend as being a great man of God, regularly held huge and colorful "Bible plays" with elaborate costumes and whatnot. Again, certainly the seasoned believer shouldn't live or binge on such things, but I see no harm in them. In fact, beyond a lack of harm, I see the presence of effectiveness sometimes.

These are just my thoughts and probably flawed opinion...what are your thoughts on this?

-Jeff

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Jeff

When I was in high school I was in many plays, and when I was in college I took acting classes. One of the things we were taught was to "get into character" - the problem that I had, was getting "out" of character.

I always wondered about this, then earlier this year I listened to a sermon that talked of God giving each of us a spirit - and that by acting we take upon ourselves a different spirit. When I thought about it, repeating the lines over and over and memorizing them - well, it is like saturating ourselves in the Word - only with acting, it is not the Lord that we are taking upon ourselves - it is another spirit.

Brother Paul,
My wife and I went to a Christmas Play tonight at a Church that I have never stepped foot in before. We knew several people there and were asked to go by our neighbor because their daughter was going to be in it. Well, because we live in Idaho and in the mountain regions, it was sort of a hassle. The normals of getting the animals fed and chains on the truck to make it down the steep winding road to the highway in a snow storm, unchain and then drive 8 miles to town, which I might add is a spot in the road.
We entered into a beautiful "smaller church", and was pleasantly greeted by just about everybody. So, what to expect in a Christmas play comes to my mind as I gaze at the stage and try to anticipate what sort of rendition of a Christmas play this will be with all of the young kids, how they will dress up and trying to get a grip on just staying calm in a seat while all of this goes on and we can then dash down the road in the snow and go through the chaining up again and back up the nasty road to home.
I have to tell you Brother, I never expected to experience what was about to happen. The Children were all very young, very well rehersed and it was one of the most beautiful plays I have ever seen, and it was all about "Tell me Again The Christmas Story". Ok, now the part that just broke my heart and made me weep.
There were 2 young girls that came up front, one had a microphone in her hand and the other just stood there. The lights were dim, and one of them started singing a song about Jesus. I could not even tell you what song it was, for I was so blessed by the other girl that stood there next to the girl with the microphone, and sang that song, in Sign Language.
Without saying a word, her heart was truly penetrating the Throne Room of heaven.

Blessings,
LarryD

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Larry K. Dammerman