From the Christian Post:
Prominent pastor and author Michael Youssef issued a blistering condemnation of the entertainment-driven church, warning that the judgment of God will fall heavily upon the Church if it fails to return to His plan for discipleship. Michael Youssef warns entertainment-driven church ‘making people feel good all the way to Hell’
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Should I adapt my message to appeal to culture so that our church might grow in number?Apr 22, 2020 |
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| From the writings of the Rev. Billy GrahamQ: I pastor a good size congregation, but there are many pressuring me to adapt my message to appeal to culture so that we might grow in number. I believe this is dangerous. Am I wrong? – S.P.
A: Adapting the Gospel to culture in the pulpit is a slippery slope. The message of Jesus Christ is the same and never changes with the times. Jesus spoke to a disbelieving world when He walked on earth. Illustrations certainly can be utilized to emphasize God’s truth but the message of Christ is always the same. Jesus never changed His message to appeal to the sinner. Jesus did not change His message when He spoke to Nicodemus and said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). He did not change His message when He spoke to the rich young ruler and said, “Follow Me,” (Matthew 19:21). He did not change His message when He spoke to Zacchaeus and said, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He did not change His message to the adulterous woman, but said, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). He did not change His message when He spoke to Satan: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). There is a great counterfeiter [Satan] who adapts himself to every culture, even deceiving true believers at times. Preaching the whole counsel of God is critical. If the church returned to the task of proclaiming the Gospel it would see people being converted to Christ, and it would have a far greater impact on the social, moral, and psychological needs of people than anything else. Be faithful to God’s calling and like the disciples when they began preaching, “The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). ======== (This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.) (c)2020 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. |
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FGGAM NEWS just recived this news release:
From Rebellion to Redemption, It’s Time for ‘The Return’
‘We Are in a Critical Time in America—We Have Been Warned,’ as National Leaders Plan ‘The Return,’ a Day of Prayer for Repentance in Washington on Sept. 26
NEW YORK—One of the most impactful stories in Scripture regarding a city going from near destruction to redemption is found in the book of Jonah.
“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2).
Leader Kevin Jessip notes that the great Assyrian city of Nineveh was full of wickedness, yet God chose a man, Jonah, to warn them of coming judgment and destruction. But Jonah resented what the Lord was asking him to do. Then, after three days in the belly of a whale, Jonah cried out to God and repented himself for rebelling against the calling of God and attempted to flee from him. The Lord spared Jonah’s life, so the second time God spoke, Jonah obeyed, entered Nineveh, and an amazing miracle took place.
“The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth” (Jonah 3:5).
This account of rebellion to redemption—both for Jonah and for the people of Nineveh—is parallel to the world today. Rebellion has happened, but will redemption occur?
This is the hope of national leaders across America who have been Spirit-led to be involved in a movement called “The Return” on the Washington Mall on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, when thousands will gather to pray for the sake of our nation and its people.
“In Nineveh, the miracle began when the obedience from a reluctant prophet delivered the word of the Lord, and the people responded in humility, and turned back to the Lord in fasting, prayer and repentance,” Jessip said. “Hallelujah! Thank God for his mercy, which remains today! This is a pattern in Scripture that continues. Abominations occur in a land and a people. God choses a man to deliver a warning prior to his righteous judgement. The word is accepted or rejected, depending on the choice exercised in free will, which brings about blessings or destruction.
“We are in a critical time in America,” Jessip continued. “We have been warned. God in His mercy has afforded us a time of reprieve to turn and repent for our land to be spared from destruction, it’s a Nineveh moment! ‘The Return’ is a chance for America, 40 days prior to our next election, to turn back to God, just like Nineveh. ‘The Return’ is the gathering to spark a movement to gather, fast, pray and repent for our wickedness.”
New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Cahn is one of the many who are calling for the nation to return to prayer, return to repentance and return to God.
“We have driven God out of our public life and have called what is good evil and what is sin good,” Cahn says in a video that has already been viewed by nearly 800,000 people. “America’s fall from God is not only progressing—it’s accelerating—to the point that it is no longer just a falling away but a war against the purposes of God.”
Cahn and Jessip will join with other leaders such as Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Gordon Robertson, Anne Graham Lotz, Alveda King, Michele Bachmann, Marcus Lamb, Bishop Harry Jackson and many more, who are all helping to spread the word about “The Return.”
Coordinated events within “The Return” movement will also take place throughout America’s cities, towns, houses of worship and homes, as well as in multiple countries around the world, as many believe the nation has been given a critical window of opportunity to repent and return to God, especially as America and much of western civilization was founded on a biblical foundation stone but has turned away from that foundation.
“The Return” is set for 40 days before the presidential election, and on the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower, in the days of America’s founding and dedication to God. Surrounding the “The Day of Return” on Sept. 26 will be 10 days, known from ancient times as the Days of Awe, to be set as a special time of prayer and repentance from Sept. 18-28. Visit “The Return” at www.thereturnwebsite.org to register and learn more.
