The Way of Cain

In our consideration of what The Visible Church has to answer for, few of its failures are more destructive than the current contemporary, seeker-sensitive, emergent worship forms.

It is the sin of Cain: The stubborn refusal to worship God the way He prescribes.

This is not a comparison of the music I like vs. the music you like. Nor is it where you worship or what name you give your church. This is about honoring God.

Christians worship God. The unsaved (seekers) do not and cannot
Christians worship God in spirit. Indulging fleshly desire or sensual gratification is not worship of God. It is the worship of self.
Christians worship God in truth. It is God Who determines what worship is.

Contemporary worship-forms are drawn from the culture and from personal desire, not from anything biblical. Efforts to sanctify your idea of worship, from the scriptures, simply exposes your lack of biblical knowledge.

It is not God Who desires the worship of unsaved souls.
It is not God Who likes the sound of raucus or sensual music forms
It is not God Who encourages worshippers to give vent to emotional expressions that result in swooning or thrashing on the floor or "mosh-pits" at concerts.
It is not God Who equates the singing of songs with worship.
It is not God Who ignores the heart-attitude, illustrated by the disrespectful fashion choices of those who claim to be worshiping God in the beauty of holiness.

The list is long. But the point is the same: If God is the One being worshiped, it's His goals, standards and expectations that are important, not our's.

Try showing up in a court of law, dressed for Church. But don't be surprised at the scolding you get or the penalty imposed, simply because you demonstrated disrespect for the Court. The least you can expect is to be sent home to change.

Cain had no respect for God. He expressed his disrespect by choosing a worship form that pleased him.

That's the Way of Cain!

It's Starting To Make Sense

I learned a new word this week: panentheism. I may have seen it before and just thought it was misspelled. You see pantheism is the philosophy/ belief that God is all (or everything). Native religions tend to be pantheistic.

But panentheism is the belief that God is IN everything. The importance of this word is found in the Battle for Truth. You see, this pagan concept may be in your Church. It may also be that you espouse it, in your spiritual walk.

It is NOT a Bible idea. But it certainly explains why certain changes and doctrines are not only popular, but fiercely defended.

Panentheism says that nothing is so secular (absent of God) that it cannot be made sacred. Why? Because God is IN everything. He is in ungodly musical forms if we just add God-words. He is in unholy behaviors or environments if we simply sanctify them by our own motivations.

And He is in the worldly, secular, human worship forms, sanctified by he word "church" or "worship."

The list is not endless, for true believers. We have limits. But for others, it is.

Occultist and prophetess, Alice Bailey, writes: "The Christian Church in its many branches can serve as a St. John the Baptist, as a voice crying in the wilderness, and as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished."

The blending of occultic ideas and methods with Chritianity (which has been part of mainstream church for 40 years) will provide the vehicle for spreading and instilling New Age consciousness.

Churches will still have Christian trappings, use the same vocabulary, but asked specific questions about traditional Christian doctrine, New Age answers would be given.

The Word-Faith Movement, Seeker-Sensitive Movement, Contemporary Worship Movement and the Emerging / Emergent Church Movements are the major players. But Christendom, at large, has been captured by this philosophy.

It satisfies the human heart that wants God, but on it's own terms.