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Literature &
Theology
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Jackie Wilson
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Contact Tel: 01228 548550
Jesus said,
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Is this happening, or are we getting the praise?
The constitution of Churches Together is very biblically Christ centred, but some of its members do not appear to believe in the constitution they operate under. Such a lack of integrity is not peculiar to Churches Together, it can be found in many churches and church organisations. Good people, doing good things, for good reasons, but not necessarily believing in the root purpose of why that particular organisation began.
For instance the founders of the BBC had a profound sense of biblical Godliness as regards the purpose and potential of such a media to influence in Jesus’ name.
Today, the decay is manifest and beyond dispute.
Another peculiar contradiction within Churches Together is that millions of pounds in resources (man hours etc) are being invested into ‘ecumenism’ by denominations that are closing churches through lack of resources. It doesn’t make sense.
Churches Together have a very informative official web site at www.churchestogethercumbria.co.uk where you will struggle to find any mention of Jesus, even though many of its members are evangelical.
At a Churches Together meeting during the Millennium it was suggested that the use of a cross might offend people.
At another meeting ‘fundamental’ Christians, (those who actually believe the Bible
is truth), were described by one official as ‘living in a cave’. The reasoning, presumably
being that they were theologically lacking, because of their child like faith in
the Bible as the Word of God. What else is their -
The desire for ‘unity at any cost may cause some evangelicals within Churches Together to moderate their evangelical zeal for the propagation of the Biblical gospel of Jesus.
The result is that even though the constitution of CT is very Christ centred, the reality is that the lowest common theological denominator seems to be the basis of CT unity.
However, some people might express the opinion that God is love and therefore the good works are of God and are therefore of the highest theological order. After all the Apostle Paul said, ‘of faith, hope and charity (love), the greatest was ‘charity/love’. What do you think? Is a ‘good’ work always of God?
Isn’t it true that sometimes what can appear good, may simply be like a special offer in sales marketing, in order to lead someone, more easily towards a hidden agenda?
For example, someone phones you up and says that you have won a free holiday and all you have to do is attend some gathering where other ‘optional’ opportunities can be considered. Someone once said, ‘there is nowt, for nowt’.
Sometimes sincerity can be sincerely wrong. If a good work involves the acceptance by some people that Allah and Buddah and the various Hindu gods and pagan gods are all a composite of Almighty God, or a ‘way’ to God, would that have been acceptable to the Apostle’s, or Jesus who, alone, was crucified for the sins of the world?
If so, there is no one Triune God and the whole Biblical basis of Christian traditional belief crumbles and becomes a sand that ‘pluralists’ use along with every other myth and legend to form their own composite god. A sort of 21st century Gnosticism.
CT leaders are not ashamed of Jesus, indeed they may believe that their desire for ‘unity’ and their niceness, generous hearts and desire to do good are an outpouring of Jesus in them.
They do not however appear to see any need to make bold, or obvious links between their good works and the life and purpose of Christ on earth, preferring to let their good works speak for themselves.
Unfortunately their good works do not speak for Christ in a country less and less familiar with who Jesus is. Indeed, some of the leaders may not themselves have met with Jesus in a personal experience and may only have an intellectual knowledge of his place in history, religion and a discipline by which to lead one’s life.
They may prefer to refer to ‘God’, because people of all faiths can relate to a ‘god’.
The end result is that they themselves and their denominations get the glory for the good works, instead of the glory going to Jesus and all He came on earth to achieve.
It is probably true that some Christian leaders no longer believe what they signed up for and Churches Together has offered a safe place to invest their efforts, where the secular world may applaud their genuine concerns for society, rather than oppose, ridicule, or condemn them for faith in a virgin birth, miraculous life and supernatural resurrection.
Evangelism that involves talking, or even mentioning the name of Jesus, does not appear to be on the agenda of their meetings with secular ‘bodies', or even with each other.
On the other hand, the Holy Trinity may be playing a long game when the dots will be connected to reveal the shape of His Holy Power manifested and glorified .
However, 2,000 years of ‘christian’ politics, with the Christian status quo currying favour with Ceasars, war lords, King’s and Queen’s, Parliament and the Barons of the media and industry, have resulted in what? Churches closing down, congregations falling and the embarrassment of hearing of a new dawn because a handful of ‘successful’ churches are bucking the trend. Whatever happened to good old fashioned truth?
Jesus doesn’t need to employ spin doctors.
The word ecumenism (that once referred to the one church of Christian believers) has been hijacked to encompass other faiths and this new ‘ecumenism’ embraces a pluralistic belief that ‘thinks’ that there must be one Pluralistic God (who is a composite of all the god’s) and all faiths take you that Pluralistic god.
Is this a blasphemous lie which is nurtured at the heart of Churches Together, by some very influential players in that organisation?
Those who follow the ‘pluralistic’ god are following a god of their own imagination. It has no basis in Christianity, or even mythology.
It has been brought about by engagement with people of other faiths who are often kinder, wiser, more compassionate and with a greater belief in their faith than many Christian leaders have in theirs.
Some ‘christian’ leaders are then humbled by the love and faith of such people and fail to propagate the truth of Jesus as our Saviour and Lord because they themselves no longer believe that Christ is the only way.
The truth however is that the Bible and Christian traditional teaching clearly teaches that those who do not follow Jesus as Lord and Saviour are staggering to slaughter and an eternity in hell.
It’s a tough message to deliver (unpopularity leading to condemnation by the world) and a tough message to receive (by grace).
Footnote
Last year and this, CtinCarlisle are ‘performing’ a ‘Road To Bethlehem’ Christmas nativity play over three days. This has the potential to be a positive bridge builder across the churches and an evangelistic opportunity. Unfortunately, it may merely become another festive feature to amuse the shoppers. Is it being married directly to the supernatural birth and the supernatural resurrection of the Christ? In an increasingly non Christian country, one cannot assume that spectators will identify the characters, or the theme. Will they be told?