The Good Of The Father (The Family Business) # 2034

 

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time.  But he loves you.  He loves you and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money

~George Carlin~ 

The other day a good friend of mine shared a podcast from a man by the name of Martin Zender.  Now, Mr. Zender describes himself as "The worlds most outspoken bible scholar."  After listening to him for just over twenty minutes, I can began to see just why he would describe himself this way.  According to Zender, the mainstream church NEEDS people to believe in the existence of sin.  That's right, the church needs you to believe that sin is still the central issue in your life.  Why?  Well, because, as I have written before, when people believe that their sin is the main stumbling block which they face, they will naturally migrate to the one place which can seemingly teach them how to tackle that sin issue.  That being the mainstream church.  And this continues to be the message spoken by those in the church, that we, as believers, need to conquer sin.  Indeed, without the message that we need to conquer sin, what need do we have for the church?  Zender goes on to say that when approached with the scriptural fact that Christ Jesus bled and died for the forgiveness of our sin, which those within the church know is the truth, they suddenly go into denial and proclaim that sin REMAINS the issue we must deal with.  The truth is that Jesus has died that the sin of man would be eliminated.  John the Baptist has spoken of Him that He is "The Lamb of God which is taking away the sin of the world!" {Johns Account 1:29}.  Despite the clear scriptural evidence that Jesus has done away with sin at the cross, those in the church continue in their crusade to proclaim that we must "Defeat sin," seriously?  I can recall being in church where there were videos, sermons and programs all designed for the "Defeat of sin."  When I was struggling with my own addiction, I was told that I needed to "Handle" the sin which I was experiencing.  Believe me, the bread and butter of any modern day pastor is to keep the sin issue alive.  In my opinion, they're simply resurrecting that which Jesus put to death long ago.  

To have an administration of the compliment of the eras, to head up all in Christ - both that in the heavens and that on the earth

Paul to the Ephesians 1: 10, Concordant New Testament 

I would suggest a new motto for the mainstream church.  Sin is our business, and business is good.  Indeed, it is I who would be referred to as the liar at that point.  Pastors and their congregations would wring their hands and pray for my soul.  If anyone needs anymore evidence of the church keeping the sin issue alive and well, they only need to delve into the truth known as universal salvation.  That belief that, through Christ Jesus, that ALL will be saved {Johns Account 3:17}.  The mere mention of the concept of universal salvation is enough to send any pastor worth his Pharisee school degree into attack mode quicker than Rosie O'Donnell at a buffet line.  They'll pull out scriptures of the judgement and punishment of God in their attempt to justify their twisted belief.  Yet the scriptures are clear, all shall be saved {Paul to the Corinthians (1) 15:28, Paul to Timothy (1) 4:10}.  I'm not simply cherry-picking scriptures to support my position, this IS the word!  If the pastors of the church can support their positions by throwing out scriptures as evidence, then they must accept the scripture evidence which is contrary to their position as well.  There is truth in the words of the apostle John who proclaims that we are to "Test the spirits to see if they are of God" {First Epistle of John 4:1}.  Unfortunately, the church has become not the haven of the truth of the Lord, but that of a false theology.  A false theology which proclaims that it is indeed our sin which has alienated us from the Father.  The truth we find in the word is that it is because of the love of God that sin has been eliminated {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  It has never been Gods desire that we would suffer in the bondage of sin.  Yet for those within the mainstream church, sin continues to be the family business.  

~Scott~