Cultured?
by David J. Stewart
I was greatly saddened
recently when I viewed the web contents of one of the largest Bible-believing
colleges in America. They said that one of their primary goals in
training young people to serve the Lord was to make them “cultured.” Cultured? Since
when is being “cultured” necessary to do God's work? In FACT, culture has
always been one of the biggest obstacles to true Christianity.
Cultured: “Marked by
refinement in taste and manners”
Listen friend, America
is going down the road to hell so fast that we can't even see through the dust
anymore. Cultured? Do you think Billy Sunday was "cultured?" Billy Sunday
would jump up and down while he preached… shouting at the top of his lungs,
calling the alcohol industry names, and swinging his arms and legs wildly
against sin. Listen to what Billy Sunday said to his audience…
“There isn't a man who votes for the saloon who doesn't deserve to have his
boy die a drunkard. He deserves to have his girl live out her life
with a drunken husband.”
-Billy
Sunday
Does that sound very
“cultured” to you? His Detroit revival tabernacle stood on a large field between Woodward and
Cass at Forest. His stage held a choir of 5,000 singers. And, from that stage
he led a frontal assault on sin:
“He appeared on the platform
high above the sea of clean shining faces like a wispy cross between a
businessman and an angel. Attired in a light gray suit and white shoes, a
white negligee shirt of the finest linen and a white silk tie to match, Sunday
feinted, walked and ran, crouched and jumped, from one end of the stage to the
other, sweating from his gyrations until he was wet as a rag held under a
pump."
"By his actions he
kept the audience transfixed, hanging upon his every word and movement. He
jumped on a chair; down on the floor again. He beat out a cadence with his
fist upon the platform in order to emphasize a series of points; on top of
the pulpit, he tore off his coat and collar and threw them to the stage...”
Billy Sunday was
known as a maniac behind the pulpit. Manners? Refinement? Most
churches wouldn't even think of inviting Billy Sunday to preach for them. Thank God for Billy Sunday! I’ll tell you one thing, everyone knew where
Billy Sunday stood concerning sin!
J. Frank Norris, often
recognized as the “Father of Fundamentalism” in America, once shocked a church
congregation by bringing part of a dead man’s brain lobe to the pulpit. There
had been a horrible car accident and J. Frank Norris passed by the scene. Pastor Norris found a small piece of the man’s brain and set it upon his
pulpit that night. He used Romans 6:23 from the Word of God as his text, “For
the wages of sin is death…” Needless to say, the church alter was packed that
night with repentant sinners seeking salvation. Do you think J. Frank Norris
was “cultured”? Thank God for men of God like J. Frank Norris!
God’s
Men Have Always Been Rebels
Not rebels against God,
but rebels against the established and usually compromised religious
institutions of their time. Every Christian in America should speak out
against the National Council of Churches for their promoting of homosexuality. God’s men throughout history have always been rebels, going
against the crowd. It’s not very “cultural” to go against the educated
intelligencia. People get upset with me for exposing Jerry Falwell. I am
going to speak out against any phony like Falwell who invites cult leader Sun
Myung Moon (Moonies), to speak at his college (Liberty Baptist College. Then
Falwell accepts $3,000,000 from Moon for his ministry. To no surprise,
Falwell also invited false prophet Benny Hinn to speak at his college and then
had the entire student body honor him.
It doesn’t surprise me
that Sean Hannity is a graduate of Liberty Baptist College and supports a
wicked, Satanic, mass-murdering, lying, dishonorable President like
George W. Bush.
Can you imagine one of
these big ritzy churches today (with their multimillion dollar auditorium)
inviting someone like J. Frank Norris to preach for them, and he places a
piece of a dead man’s brain on the pulpit to get his point across? Why, half
the people in the church would go ballistic. Someone would call the police. Pastor Norris would be arrested, put in jail, and then sent for a psychiatric
exam. Back decades ago, society wasn’t so anti-God and “cultured.” We’ve
lost our marbles in America. The evil public school system goes out of its
way to teach children the important of recycling aluminum pop cans, while
never a word is said about saving the tens-of-millions of murdered holocaust
victims from ABORTION. Save the planet, murder its inhabitants! How can this
be?
Was it very cultured
when Pastor Dwight L. Moody used to pick up children throughout the Chicago
area with horse drawn carriages? Those horses didn’t drip oil in the streets
my friend, they dripped something else. Did you know that D.L. moody was
refused ordination by the ministerial board? They refused to ordain Dwight
Moody because he wasn’t “cultural” enough for their tastes. Moody went on to
become one of America’s mightiest preachers and men of God.
Was it very cultural
when Pastor Roy Thompson in Cleveland, Ohio placed a big sign in front of his
church which read “Abortion is cold-blooded murder?” That’s the kind of godly
men that America desperately needs today.
Cultured? Do you think
it was very cultured when Pastor Jack Hyles stood up against the Southern
Baptist convention for their compromise with liberals? They booted him out! Dr. Hyles went on to build the largest Sunday school in America. Was it very
“cultural” for Dr. Hyles to throw microphones while preaching? Was it very
cultured when all those screaming snotty-nosed Chicago bus kids came barreling
into the church auditorium in Hammond, Indiana? What do you think they did to
the pews and the carpet? That’s right, they destroyed them! Amen!
Once a
man came up to Dr. Hyles and complained about the hundreds of buses pulling up
in front of the church. The man complained that the buses were dripping oil
in the street. Brother Hyles reminded the man that Mr. Moody’s horses didn’t
drip oil onto the streets. Thank God for the millions of Chicago area
children and adults who were reached with the Gospel because of one man’s
courage to do what others were saying was impossible. Never say "It
can't be done" to the guys who's doing it.
It’s not very
“cultured” to criticize other people’s religions by name from the pulpit, but
it’s the right thing to do. Folks, hell is real. I am greatly saddened that
so many professed “Christians” have fallen into the lie of the devil that
Jesus was very acceptant of all people (including their sinful lifestyles). Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, Jesus did love all people, but
He NEVER accepted their sinful lifestyles. Jesus was a friend to sinners,
meaning that He was willing to associate with them WHILE ministering to them. Jesus did not partake of their evil.
If Jesus was alive today, He certainly
wouldn’t sit idle during a homosexual parade… He would preach against sin while
proclaiming the Gospel. Jesus certainly was a gentleman most of the time, but
it cannot be denied that Jesus was quite outspoken. Jesus called the
religious leaders of His day “vipers” (snakes) and told them that would burn
in hell... with weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth! Nice guy, huh? When
people came to Jesus with some bad news of victims of a horrible accident,
Jesus told them that they might be next (Luke 13:1-5). Does that sound very
“cultured” to you?
Speaking of the manners and refinement of culture, here's a few Scriptures
that you might choke on when you realize They're speaking about Jesus Christ
(you know, the loving guy who would never deliberately try to offend
anyone)...
"And when he had
made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the
sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the
tables." -John 2:15
I say phooey on
culture, be the person God wants you to be! All of God’s men throughout
history were INDIVIDUALS, not conforming robots. The only Person we should
conform to is the Lord Jesus Christ. Every Bible College is started by a man
of God. Groups never start anything. Now groups may steal a ministry that
another man built, but it’s always a man of God who starts a ministry.
Chicago University was started by a Baptist preacher.
Today, it is one of the
most liberal universities in America. What happened? As explained in G.
Edward Griffin’s eye-opening book, World Without Cancer, the
Rockefeller’s were instrumental is taking over the College. It was some rich
people who duped the preacher. Rich people are often very dangerous to the
work of God because they want to control everything. When Dr. Jack Hyles
first came to pastor the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana in
1959… SEVEN millionaires left the church when they realized that they could buy
off the preacher. Today, MOST preachers could easily be bought off by one or
two thousandaires.
I'm not against teaching young people
to have manners and be respectful of others, NOT at all. In fact, young
people should be taught chivalry and ethics. However, there is a great
inherent danger of becoming "cultured." The danger is that many students
may feel it is wrong to "cross the line" or "rock the boat." It's not
very "cultured" to fight, but sometimes it needs to come to that. We
don't need anymore cultured snobs in the ministry, we need some good ole
country boys who aren't afraid to speak their minds and get their hands dirty.
The sad truth is that most Christian young people are being brainwashed in
Bible Colleges nationwide to think that Satanists like George W. Bush are good
people. I wouldn't vote for a mass-murdering liar like George W. Bush if
you paid me. Don't get mad at me, do your homework! I got sick
years ago when many Christian people e-mailed me to tell me how "godly" and "wonderful"
Mr. Bush is. President George
W. Bush is an extremely evil
person, and
he's about as anti-abortion as
Margaret Sanger. If I had my way, a law would be passed that prosecutes
any politician who blatantly lies their way into office. Certainly,
situations change as unforeseen circumstances arise; but I'm not talking
about that. I'm talking about a sorry rascal who breaks every campaign
promise her made, like
President
Barack Obama did. Lies, lies and more lies.
It's not very "cultured" to question
authority, to raise your voice in public protest. I used to hate that
bumper sticker that read "Question Authority" because I thought it was
rebellious. I was an idiot. Nowadays that's all I do is question
authority. Come to find out that the authority of the NIV (New
International Version) bible is Harper Collins, the SAME company that
publishes the Satanic bible. Come to find out that our own President
George W. Bush helped orchestrate 911. What about
presidential
directive W199i Mr. Bush?
Come to find out that Donald Rumsfeld is a
major shareholder in Gilead, the company that produces the drug
Tamiflu. Bush just told congress he wants $7,000,000,000 to prepare
for a bird-flu epidemic. Not one person in America has even become sick
yet. What a
scam!!! Nowhere in God's Word are we told not to question authority. Questioning government's authority is our Bill of Rights. In
fact, you're an idiot if you don't question authority. I get letters
from people, telling me about what their pastor did to them. One couple
said their pastor was on a power trip.
Folks, you should never
trust a stranger (by that I mean someone you've known for less than 5 years). People have the foolish tendency to trust anyone who is a minister. The
FACT is that thousands of pastors across America are occult members of the
Freemasons. All across America, church boards are filled with members of
the occult. It is estimated that between
400,000 to
500,000 Southern Baptists are Freemasons, including many Baptist leaders. Tragic!!!
Bible Colleges change
over time. As time goes by, students are pressured to “conform” to a certain
image. Then as more time passes, that conformity leads to CULTURE. Then
culture leads to compromise, and compromise to apostasy. I won’t mention the
College, but I attended a Bible College for several years and then graduated
(and I love them all very much).
Now I am not being critical of the school at
all, but I want to tell you about something another student said to me one day
in my freshman year. Ninety-eight percent of all the male students were
wearing white dress shirts. I decided to be different one day and wear a
solid “black dress shirt” to class and chapel. A student actually walked up
to me and told me that I wasn’t right with God for wearing a black shirt.
The
guy actually called me a rebel. Whoa! It’s just a shirt. I think back to
that day and am glad to God that I am willing to go against the crowd. I am
not a rebel against God, but I have learned to be myself, not a puppet. The
color of a man’s shirt has nothing to do with what’s in his heart. Do you see
how crazy people can get in their thinking? Imagine, a guy thinking someone
isn’t right with God for wearing a different color shirt than everyone else. Well friend, that’s where professed Christianity is at today…
people have gone
insane! America’s Bible Colleges are fast deteriorating. As America becomes
more apostate, either enrollments will decrease or Bible colleges will dip
their sails in compromise.
So if you’re reading
this article, let me encourage you to be yourself. It may not be very
“cultural” to go down to your local abortion clinic and hold up
anti-abortion signs of cut-up aborted babies, but it’s the right thing to
do. It may not be “cultural” to speak out publicly against homosexuality,
witchcraft, and alcohol… but it is the right thing to do. Thank God for
Mother’s Against Drunk Drivers, now where are the dads?
Soul-winning is not a method, it is a
command from God. We're supposed to go soul-winning whether our churches
grow in size or whether they shrink in attendance. America's largest
churches are apostate, having culture without conviction. It's disgusting.
People are literally having to leave churches these days to find God. The
average church today is an entertainment center. Preaching has been replaced
with psychology. The old hymns of the faith have been replaced with
Religious Rock music. Shouting amen to the preaching has been replaced with
sycophantic praises to the music. To hell with culture!
Culture is a hindrance to the
old-fashioned offensive preaching of the Word. God doesn't apologize for
being brutally honest in His Word, and neither should we. The truth cannot
be made non-offensive. All you can do is hide your candle under a bushel.
The truth that homosexuality is a sin cannot be made non-offensive. The idea
that sinners won't come to Christ if we step on their toes is a big lie of
the Devil. If we have to trim the truth and sinfully compromise our stand in
order for sinners to come, then they're coming to religion instead of
Christ. Through Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), young people are
coming to religious Rock music instead of Jesus Christ. They're coming to
the world. As our churches become more worldly, so also is the world
becoming more churchy. It is apostasy!!!
Culture is for arrogant, elite,
wealthy snobs; not for those who love the truth and are willing to suffer
for the cause of Christ. 2nd Timothy 3:12 says that living godly in Christ
Jesus brings persecution and prosecution, even death sometimes.
Billy Sunday saw
the apostate condition of America's churches over 100-years ago...
How right Billy Sunday
is!!! Today the situation is dire in the United States. We've gone from
Intensive Care to Code Blue. The churches are dying, suffering from cardiac
arrest. In many places rigor mortis has already set in across the nation.
The average church is dead. Since 1973, over 53,000,000 human beings have
been brutally slaughtered in its mother's very own womb! It's hard to
imagine. Those people weren't gassed in a Nazi oven, but in its mother's
womb. Those precious lives weren't shot and dumped in a Cuban grave, but in
their mother's very womb. Statistically the most dangerous place in the
world to be is in a mother's womb, when it should be the safest place on
earth to be. Oh, where are the Christians today?
As has always been the
case throughout history, a small and tireless handful of individual
Christians are getting more done than all the millions of church-members
combined. God never does a great work through a group of people; but rather,
through an individual (who often leads a group for God). God never saves a
group. The invitation to receive eternal life is given on an individual and
personal basis. For a group to come to Christ, they must receive the Lord
Jesus Christ individually. God saves the INDIVIDUAL. God accomplished His
work through individuals. We pray as individuals. Even when gathered as a
group, our prayers are made individually.
My point is that God
needs YOU. In Ezekiel 22:30 God said, “And I sought for a man
among them.” God wasn't looking for a group; but rather, a man. The Lord
sought an individual man, to stand before God for the land in prayer, and to
stand before the land for God in preaching. Thus, bridging the gap. Oh, how
Americans today need to hear preaching. Oh, how we ought to be crying out to
God in prayer for the land, praying for our leaders and justice to be done.
2nd Chronicles 7:13-15 is still valid today. God is able to heal our land.
The problem is that men will not humble themselves in prayer, to seek God's
face of blessing and turn from our wicked ways.
Not enough bad can be said about the
dangers of culture. Culture comes from the idea of conforming. Most people
are afraid to go agai8nst the common consensus and stand alone on their own
two feet which God gave them. Most people look to the corrupt mainstream
newsmedia to shape their opinions. We ought to be looking to God's Word. If
you truly think for yourself, you'll pleasantly find that God wrote the
Bible for the thinking person. God has given to us innumerable proofs of His
existence and of the legitimacy of the Bible if we'll just open our heart.
Satan blinds the MIND (2nd Corinthians 4:4), but salvation is
of the HEART (Romans 10:9).
Where are the
churches today? The answer is that along with the banning of the Bible
from children's education in the
public schools in 1963,
generations to follow were doomed, having no moral compass and being
destitute of the truth.
This is the Crazy World's
Alternative Solution Instead of Teaching Children the Word of God.
Was the Bible and prayer really all that bad? Read the
indicting words against our nation
by a member of congress.
Our nation is like a
rotting corpse today. The criminal bankers are feeding off Americans like
vultures feeding off a dead animal. Jesus warned that there would be MUCH
hatred and betrayal in the end times (Matthew 24:10). We are seeing much of
this already today, as Homeland Security are recruiting neighbor to snitch
against neighbor. I'm not an eloquent writer. I don't have a gift for
typing. I am not a talented author. But bless God, I CARE!!! If enough
Americans cared, we could turn this ship around. God would help us, as he
did our founding fathers. God will not bless a wicked nation. Our love for
sin as a nation has made us complacent, indifferent and soft concerning sin
and evil. People simply don't care. They don't want to spend their time
fighting for what's right, while most people are out having a good time
instead.
It's my firm conviction
that God will reward me in eternity for every keystroke, every word I
type, every prayer, et cetera. This is God's promise (Mark 9:41; 1st
Corinthians 3:6-10; 15:58; Matthew 6:20).
Thank God for Cindy Sheehan’s courage to stand against the
evils of the Bush administration. Now where’s the rest of America? Where
are the churches? Why do entertainers such as Anita Bryant have to
single-handedly fight against homosexuality? Where are America’s churches? I
guess they're too busy being “cultured.”
Evils
In America
