Nominal Christians Having a Form of Godliness
BY PGF
2 years, 7 months ago
“11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” – Luke 8:11-14 (If need be, start back in verse 5 of luke 8 to get the full context of this parable.)
We don’t know why these stay in the Churches. The Churches are full of them. In verses 13 and 14, they fall away, but nobody holds them to account, and there are so many of them their excuses become a kindred fellowship one with another. Deceiving themselves (James 1:22), they failed to withstand the tests and trials of this world; having only a form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5), they do none of the word of God. How can they sit in Churches for years and do nothing the Bible instructs?
Maybe they stay because they like that Church. A terrible situation across America and quite a mess indeed; whether you like a church or not shouldn’t even be a secondary issue but perhaps tertiary, if at all. Almost 100 percent of Americans will tell you that they chose their Church based on “liking” it or something very similar. They say things like; it’s a great place for the kids. Goats have kids! They hear not God; they seek not the will of the Father in all things. Verse 14 points to them all; barren and fruitless. They give themselves away because they say things, subtle things, denying the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). Beware of these; take heed, brothers, and sisters.
Refusing to bear fruit or even to have their boughs purged (John 15:2), they will be cast; root, trunk, branch, and leaf into the fire!
“Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” – Matthew 7:17
The fruit of the American Churches is evil; those with a good heart are leaving. The problem with those on their own is that they may know Jesus but have no teacher, no instruction. They sense that what the Churches have become is not what the Bible says, but without leadership, they wander. This was one of the laments of Jesus (Matthew 9:36), that the religious administration was the blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:12-14); those that hear the Master’s voice have no shepherd. They may claim Christ as their shepherd, but they have no iron sharpening iron (Proverbs 17:17). The Churches in America are fake, even their pastors realize it, and there’s no secret whatsoever kept from God Almighty.
Nobody preaches on this parable, ever. It would empty the Churches; then, how would they keep 501(c)3 status and pay their millions of dollars mortgage to the Global Banking Cartel?
In the DoD, they have an expression; 90 percent of the work is done by the top ten percent of the people, and ninety percent of the problems are caused by the bottom ten percent. It seems fitting to consider with this parable of Jesus, and perhaps the leaders of these corporations are at the root of the real problem. The Churches are full of fakers and phonies, almost all of whom have some personal agenda found nowhere in the beloved instruction given us in the Holy Bible.
The Church leaders even use the Wheat and Tares parable (Matthew 13:24-30) as an excuse to allow unbelievers to overpopulate the congregation. That parable is not an instruction for church foundation, framing, or function; it’s about the Kingdom of Heaven, where lamentably, there are fakers and phonies all around. That parable doesn’t say to hang out with the lost and turn Christ’s church a social club full of goats and tares; in fact, God has commanded: from such turn away, for they deny the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5).
“15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” – Luke 8:15
On May 4, 2022 at 3:27 am, Plague Monk said:
As a lapsed christian, I’ll agree with you to an extent on this. I worked off and on the road as a CAD based mechanical designer for nearly 40 years, and had over twenty contracts on the road around the country, save for the Pacific Northwest.
From about 1995 to 2019 I tried to attend churches while on the road as a believer, but found that the main thing desired was my credit rating, and the pressure to give, give, GIVE was immense. 10 percent tithe was just the beginning for nearly every church I attended, especially given that as a proficient Unigraphics operator, I had several years of 6 figure income, along with per-diem writeoffs. In these churches, they wanted as many of your dollars as they could get, and more than a few of them wanted to see my pay stubs or form 1099s.
The pastor at the church that my wife still attends was brought in with the sole mission of increasing the head count, regardless of their salvation or lack thereof. He and his wife, who runs the worship service, are big believers in the louder the music, the closer to God we are, and one can hear the sound at the far end of the multi-acre parking lot. Not quite as bad as the huge AG church in Grand Rapids in 2018, but close. That, and the desire to bring lots of diversity types, finally drove me to quit trying to attend, especially since I was working lots of 80 hour weeks for my client.
Those were the main things that drove me out, along with the love of what I call Occupied Palestine. I participate in the BDS movement, and have both personally and professionally for many years. Most of my aerospace clients had no problem with that, and for those that did I just didn’t tell them that I would not specify products from that place.
These days, Sundays for me are when I get a lot of the work around the house done, do my second workout, and work on either my miniatures and or my fiction writing. My wife attends church, uses high quality industrial strength earplugs, and seems to be happy. That’s what counts, to me at least.
Covid largely finished killing off the christian church in America, but as far as I’m concerned, the church has been dying since the 1960s, when too many young men decided that becoming a non-believing minister beat fighting Mr. Victor Charles in the South Vietnamese highlands.
Sorry for the long rants, but these days, I’ve come to regret at times remaining with my wife when she became a believer, and the stress that this put on our marriage. But I made a secular vow to her parents to stay with her, and I’ve kept it for over 40 years. I still love her very much, but if I had to do it again, well…
Please feel free to delete this novel if it doesn’t suit you.