Sin leads to more sin, and error leads to more error. When we reject God and his Word – even if claiming to represent him – we begin the steep descent into increasing rebellion, idolatry and apostasy. We have the entire Old Testament to give us clear examples of this.
And the New Testament further warns against this, reminding us over and over again to stay clear of sin and deception. Yet we find this happening all the time, as if the warnings of Jesus and the disciples were never given. Consider the sad case of Swedish church leader Eva Brunne.
We learned about her six years ago when the openly lesbian Lutheran was to be ordained. Thankfully some church leaders did not go along with this, and made a very public display of their disagreement:
Anglican bishops from England and Northern Ireland have rebuffed invitations to attend the ordination of the openly gay Eva Brunne to be the next Bishop of Stockholm. Five bishops from various levels within the Anglican Church, including Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, have decided not to attend the November 8th ceremony, the Dagen newspaper reports.
Alan Harper, a bishop from Armagh in Northern Ireland, is also reported to be observing a moratorium on the ordination same sex bishops. Coming just three weeks after Sweden granted same-sex marriages the same legal status as those between heterosexual couples, Brunne’s appointment in May 2009 to be the next bishop of the Church of Sweden’ Stockholm Diocese raised eyebrows in Sweden and abroad.
As the Church of Sweden has taken a more welcoming stance toward homosexuality, exemplified most recently in the October 22nd decision to allow church weddings for gay couples, its relations with the Church of England have become increasingly strained.
Her rejection of biblical morality has not stopped there, and she now is proud to reject the exclusivity of biblical truth claims as well. Consider this news item from just a few days ago:
Bishop Eva Brunne has proposed to remove the Christian symbols of the Seamen’s Church in Freeport to make it more inviting for visiting sailors from other religions. The bishop wants to temporarily make the Seamen’s Church available to all, for example by marking the direction of Mecca and removing Christian symbols, as is already done in common prayer rooms at airports and in some hospital chapel….
The proposal has triggered protests. Patrik Pettersson, priest of the Oscars parish in Stockholm, thinks that the proposal is noteworthy and writes on his blog: “The church chapel cannot reasonably be equated with prayer rooms at airports and hospital chapels anyway. The Christian churches and chapels are not public areas at any time.”
And Seamen’s Mission Director Kiki Wetterberg does not agree with the bishop. “I have no problem with Muslim or Hindu sailors coming here and praying. But I believe that we are a Christian church, so we keep the symbols. If I visit a mosque, I do not ask them to take down their symbols. It’s my choice to go in there,” she says to the newspaper Dagen.
Remove crosses and point the way to Mecca? What does that have to do with defending the truth claims of Christianity? Absolutely nothing of course. Instead, it has everything to do with promoting the false religion and dangerous political ideology of Islam.
This type of “interfaith dialogue” comes straight out of the pit of hell. Muslims need to learn about the truthfulness of Christianity, not be reinforced in their deception. Making things easier for Muslims to remain Muslim is not how we proclaim the Christian gospel.
And that is not how we are going to reach Muslims, moving them from darkness to light. One might as well throw away Bibles and offer atheists free copies of books by Dawkins and others in order to “reach” them or make them feel more welcome.
One might as well ditch biblical warnings about holiness and instead provide free Internet access to porn to those addicted to pornography. We want to make them feel welcome of course and we don’t want to turn them away. One might as well abandon teachings on Christian theology and offer instead courses on astral projection and astrology to make New Agers feel at home.
As mentioned, the rot of course set in a long time ago. If a church thinks it can have leaders who live in known, defiant sin and rebellion, then of course all the rest of the Christian message is going to be abandoned as well. This is as inevitable as night following day.
This is a prime example of a church and its leadership in deep apostasy. Christ has been rejected and the world embraced. These “enlightened” church leaders may think this is the way forward, to better reach out to folks, but of course it is simply the way backward – back to paganism and perversion.
Compromise never works with the gospel – it is always all or nothing. Either Jesus and the Word are proclaimed uncompromisingly and boldly, or we might as well just give up any pretence of being his representatives. Then we might as well just turn the churches into gay discos or Islamic meeting places. Oh wait, that is just what they have already done in Sweden.
All of God’s great servants have warned against compromise and worldliness. We need to listen to their voices afresh. Let me close with a few of them here:
“We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.” A. W. Tozer
“The chief danger of the Church today is that it is trying to get on the same side as the world, instead of turning the world upside down. Our Master expects us to accomplish results, even if they bring opposition and conflict. Anything is better than compromise, apathy, and paralysis. God give to us an intense cry for the old-time power of the Gospel and the Holy Ghost!” A. B. Simpson
“No compromise is what the whole gospel of Jesus is all about. In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says, ‘for I tell you…no man can serve two masters’. In a day when believers seem to be trying to please both the world and the Lord (which is an impossible thing), when people are far more concerned about offending their friends than offending God, there is only one answer: deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him Jesus (Luke 9:23-24)” Keith Green
“Here is the great evangelical disaster – the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word for this – namely accommodation. The evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age. First, there has been accommodation on Scripture, so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all the Bible teaches…. This accommodation has been costly, first in destroying the power of the Scriptures to confront the spirit of our age; second, in allowing the further slide of our culture.” Francis Schaeffer
“The chief danger of the twentieth century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, and heaven without hell.” William Booth
Reading this, it seems as though Satan is getting ridiculously desperate in his quest to destroy Christianity. You could not make this stuff up. We really need a contemporary Martin Luther.
Yes Jo, Luther would be aghast at what is happening to the church that bears his name in so many places today.
He thought Roman Catholicism was bad!
Much of Western culture is descending into another Sodom and Gomorrah.
“We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is NOT a compromise but an ULTIMATUM”
And the chief danger of the twentieth century will be religion which teaches nothingness.” As G K Chesterton tells us “when people believe in nothing … they end up believing in ANYthing (however nonsensical). They are truly lost in a scorched-earth desert of God-lessness.
And this is exactly the time when Satan (through evil bullies, tyrants) make his move.
Remember Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, etc etc all relied on their cultures descending into the abyss of “moral relativism” where the slow acceptance of changes in ideology which appeared to “benefit the economy” (eg Hitler adopted the ideas of AHTEIST Friedrich Neitzche on abortion, euthanasia for “useless eaters”, then for the disabled, then for many of the elderly (because of “intolerable cost on the economy to keep them alive”. Very soon there was a growing public acceptance (among people who had drifted into “making their own rules”) for the springing up of a succession of “death camps” for those who did not fit the profile Hitler favoured… and then “the final solution” for Jews and Christians who defied Hitler and other groups hated by Hitler and based on Hitler’s preoccupation of “Social Darwinism”:
Richard Hickman in his work Biocreation concurs and wrote the following:
“It is perhaps no coincidence that Adolf Hitler was a firm believer in and preacher of evolutionism.
Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf: “The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker…”.
Noted evolutionary anthropologist Sir Arthur Keith conceded the following in regards to Hitler: “The German Fuhrer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practices of Germany conform to the theory of evolution”.
So … back to the “enchantments” of “moral relativism” which pave the way for political and irreligious systems like Communism or Nazism.
Just imagine: NO God = NO moral framework and NO accountability to any God to act justly = Complete LICENCE / VALIDATION to “make your own rules”(whatever they happen to be at any given moment – regardless of injury/death to anyone).
After all today even Richard Dawkins tells that “there is no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘evil’ … just a merciless universe” therefore its “eat or be eaten” / “survival of the fittest”.
Therefore if “the end JUSTIFIES and the means” as Marxist atheists tell us, then even MASS-MURDER is perfectly LOGICAL and PERMISSIBLE. Hitler, Stalin acted quite logically according to their ideology.
Today especially … we must be reminded of the words of Fyodor Dostevsky: “If there is no God … then everything is permissible” (even the most horrific crimes) … when finally they become inevitable.
Alexandr Solzhenitzyn also reminds of the millions slaughtered in the name of Communism:”it all happened because we forgot God” … and forgot the Ten Commandments absolutely essential for orderly living in a civilized culture.
Thanks Bill. Totally agree. They’ll never win Muslims or anyone else with this wishy-washy, so-called gospel. It has nothing to do with the radical nature of Jesus’ message or holy character and everything to do with a muddied, frankly ridiculous church that has no power whatsoever! At the very least, they’re silly and naive; but I would suspect that people like Eva Brunne are in this for the purpose of implementing an agenda. They’ve never adhered to the gospel of Christ but rather an idolatrous ideology of their own making. They are, in my opinion, agenda-driven activists aiming to bring down an institution they have no love for.
I wonder what this ‘bishop’ would have make of the Muslim nations of Malaysia and Brunei where non-Muslims (particularly Christians) are banned from using Allah and other religious terms, which implies the Muslims recognise that their Allah and Christianity’s God are different beings.
Feeding the flock of our Lord, Jesus Christ is only to be done out of love for and obedience to Him.
Shepherdesses or shepherds who feed Christ’s sheep on poisonous bracken fern shoots instead of wholesome pastures will stand condemned for not truly loving and obeying the Great Shepherd of the sheep. The Old, Old Story is not just “any old story”…
The grapes referred to in Deuteronomy 32:31-33 are not a blessing bestowed by the Rock of Ages…
Dear Bill,
You don’t have to go to Sweden to witness the level of perversion and corruption of Christianity and distortion of Biblical truth that now exists within the Uniting Church of Australia.
Gordon Uniting church is 2 suburbs away from our home and located on the northern side of Pacific highway. It’s congregation are professionals and upper middle class families. The Grand Mufti was invited and did speak at their Worship service in September 2015. Our family is appalled by the high level of compromise we see on the Notice board of Gordon Uniting Church when we drive past. A Bahai believer also spoke. See the link.
Does the Congregation and minister at Gordon Uniting Church actually understand the 10 commandments?
Do they understand we worship a Jealous, True and Living God and who give us life and bounteously gifts and we owe him everything ?
Who do these people really worship? A Political Correct god ? or should I say gods?
Regrettably political correctness and compromise now rule at Gordon Uniting Church. Nothing surprises me anymore. Not every church within the Uniting Church is headed for hell BUT in many cases this denomination is the modern day “Church of Laodicea.”
It’s totally lost the plot. A serious level of REPENTANCE is required and WELL OVERDUE by all Uniting Church members and those who continue to do and say nothing, before Jesus Christ vomits them out of His mouth .
Keep up the fight Bill. There seems few that are prepared to do what you do because the Pulpit is full of men pleasers NOT God worshippers and true servants, who worship in spirit and truth .
regards
Phil – Sydney
Phil, what would happen if the Messy Church “It’s all about pigs!” day( details below) was held at the same time as Dr Ibrahim, the Grand Mufti of Australia’s visit? Do you think tolerance would be shown…
A new way to explore spirituality through fun activities, celebration and hospitality.
Come and be part of the Prodigal son story.
How do our crafts link to the story?
pig cupcakes
make your own mocktail
pigswill
make a piggy purse
Jackson Pollock pigs
For catering purposes we’d love to know if you intend to come but still come if you forget to tell us.
Have you noticed, Bill, how these people always – as in your picture – look so pleased with themselves, so smug, as though they have done something wonderful (when all they have done is made the Church fully-compliant with purely-this-worldly values, as you say … ) They have a rude awakening coming to them …
The whole situation just oozes evil does it not and now California has legalized euthanasia.
Dear Jesus preserve us.
Why is it that humanity en mass tends to choose death, over and over again generation after generation though each successive generation has more history behind it that it could learn from? Can sin, deception and evil truly be so powerful when all we have to do is repent and believe? How can we continuously prefer the death and suffering which we know godless living brings, individually and collectively over the little bit of pain which true repentance will bring our wounded pride for a little while? I wonder if it is that the pain of pride dying is immediate and personal where as if we prefer to be without God in the world, the pain is deferred and we think mainly affects others. This is the nature of selfishness and sin and we are still constantly fooled by it.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
Hey, before you all get too carried away read what Jesus has to say in Mat 24. And get ready. There is much worse to come.
We learned about her six years ago when the openly lesbian Lutheran was to be ordained. Thankfully some church leaders did not go along with this, and made a very public display of their disagreement:
Reading this, it seems as though Satan is getting ridiculously desperate in his quest to destroy Christianity. You could not make this stuff up. We really need a contemporary Martin Luther.
Yes Jo, Luther would be aghast at what is happening to the church that bears his name in so many places today.
He thought Roman Catholicism was bad!
Much of Western culture is descending into another Sodom and Gomorrah.
“We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is NOT a compromise but an ULTIMATUM”
And the chief danger of the twentieth century will be religion which teaches nothingness.” As G K Chesterton tells us “when people believe in nothing … they end up believing in ANYthing (however nonsensical). They are truly lost in a scorched-earth desert of God-lessness.
And this is exactly the time when Satan (through evil bullies, tyrants) make his move.
Remember Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, etc etc all relied on their cultures descending into the abyss of “moral relativism” where the slow acceptance of changes in ideology which appeared to “benefit the economy” (eg Hitler adopted the ideas of AHTEIST Friedrich Neitzche on abortion, euthanasia for “useless eaters”, then for the disabled, then for many of the elderly (because of “intolerable cost on the economy to keep them alive”. Very soon there was a growing public acceptance (among people who had drifted into “making their own rules”) for the springing up of a succession of “death camps” for those who did not fit the profile Hitler favoured… and then “the final solution” for Jews and Christians who defied Hitler and other groups hated by Hitler and based on Hitler’s preoccupation of “Social Darwinism”:
Richard Hickman in his work Biocreation concurs and wrote the following:
“It is perhaps no coincidence that Adolf Hitler was a firm believer in and preacher of evolutionism.
Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf: “The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker…”.
Noted evolutionary anthropologist Sir Arthur Keith conceded the following in regards to Hitler: “The German Fuhrer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practices of Germany conform to the theory of evolution”.
So … back to the “enchantments” of “moral relativism” which pave the way for political and irreligious systems like Communism or Nazism.
Just imagine: NO God = NO moral framework and NO accountability to any God to act justly = Complete LICENCE / VALIDATION to “make your own rules”(whatever they happen to be at any given moment – regardless of injury/death to anyone).
After all today even Richard Dawkins tells that “there is no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘evil’ … just a merciless universe” therefore its “eat or be eaten” / “survival of the fittest”.
Therefore if “the end JUSTIFIES and the means” as Marxist atheists tell us, then even MASS-MURDER is perfectly LOGICAL and PERMISSIBLE. Hitler, Stalin acted quite logically according to their ideology.
Today especially … we must be reminded of the words of Fyodor Dostevsky: “If there is no God … then everything is permissible” (even the most horrific crimes) … when finally they become inevitable.
Alexandr Solzhenitzyn also reminds of the millions slaughtered in the name of Communism:”it all happened because we forgot God” … and forgot the Ten Commandments absolutely essential for orderly living in a civilized culture.
Thanks Bill. Totally agree. They’ll never win Muslims or anyone else with this wishy-washy, so-called gospel. It has nothing to do with the radical nature of Jesus’ message or holy character and everything to do with a muddied, frankly ridiculous church that has no power whatsoever! At the very least, they’re silly and naive; but I would suspect that people like Eva Brunne are in this for the purpose of implementing an agenda. They’ve never adhered to the gospel of Christ but rather an idolatrous ideology of their own making. They are, in my opinion, agenda-driven activists aiming to bring down an institution they have no love for.
I wonder what this ‘bishop’ would have make of the Muslim nations of Malaysia and Brunei where non-Muslims (particularly Christians) are banned from using Allah and other religious terms, which implies the Muslims recognise that their Allah and Christianity’s God are different beings.
Feeding the flock of our Lord, Jesus Christ is only to be done out of love for and obedience to Him.
Shepherdesses or shepherds who feed Christ’s sheep on poisonous bracken fern shoots instead of wholesome pastures will stand condemned for not truly loving and obeying the Great Shepherd of the sheep. The Old, Old Story is not just “any old story”…
The grapes referred to in Deuteronomy 32:31-33 are not a blessing bestowed by the Rock of Ages…
Dear Bill,
You don’t have to go to Sweden to witness the level of perversion and corruption of Christianity and distortion of Biblical truth that now exists within the Uniting Church of Australia.
Gordon Uniting church is 2 suburbs away from our home and located on the northern side of Pacific highway. It’s congregation are professionals and upper middle class families. The Grand Mufti was invited and did speak at their Worship service in September 2015. Our family is appalled by the high level of compromise we see on the Notice board of Gordon Uniting Church when we drive past. A Bahai believer also spoke. See the link.
http://www.guc.org.au/node/853
Does the Congregation and minister at Gordon Uniting Church actually understand the 10 commandments?
Do they understand we worship a Jealous, True and Living God and who give us life and bounteously gifts and we owe him everything ?
Who do these people really worship? A Political Correct god ? or should I say gods?
Regrettably political correctness and compromise now rule at Gordon Uniting Church. Nothing surprises me anymore. Not every church within the Uniting Church is headed for hell BUT in many cases this denomination is the modern day “Church of Laodicea.”
It’s totally lost the plot. A serious level of REPENTANCE is required and WELL OVERDUE by all Uniting Church members and those who continue to do and say nothing, before Jesus Christ vomits them out of His mouth .
Keep up the fight Bill. There seems few that are prepared to do what you do because the Pulpit is full of men pleasers NOT God worshippers and true servants, who worship in spirit and truth .
regards
Phil – Sydney
Phil, what would happen if the Messy Church “It’s all about pigs!” day( details below) was held at the same time as Dr Ibrahim, the Grand Mufti of Australia’s visit? Do you think tolerance would be shown…
A new way to explore spirituality through fun activities, celebration and hospitality.
Come and be part of the Prodigal son story.
How do our crafts link to the story?
pig cupcakes
make your own mocktail
pigswill
make a piggy purse
Jackson Pollock pigs
For catering purposes we’d love to know if you intend to come but still come if you forget to tell us.
Have you noticed, Bill, how these people always – as in your picture – look so pleased with themselves, so smug, as though they have done something wonderful (when all they have done is made the Church fully-compliant with purely-this-worldly values, as you say … ) They have a rude awakening coming to them …
The whole situation just oozes evil does it not and now California has legalized euthanasia.
Dear Jesus preserve us.
Why is it that humanity en mass tends to choose death, over and over again generation after generation though each successive generation has more history behind it that it could learn from? Can sin, deception and evil truly be so powerful when all we have to do is repent and believe? How can we continuously prefer the death and suffering which we know godless living brings, individually and collectively over the little bit of pain which true repentance will bring our wounded pride for a little while? I wonder if it is that the pain of pride dying is immediate and personal where as if we prefer to be without God in the world, the pain is deferred and we think mainly affects others. This is the nature of selfishness and sin and we are still constantly fooled by it.
Many blessings
Ursula Bennett
Hey, before you all get too carried away read what Jesus has to say in Mat 24. And get ready. There is much worse to come.