Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in Germany as Hitler was rising to power. He was outspoken in his opposition to Hitler’s euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews. Dietrich was aghast at the Lutheran Church for supporting Hitler. It seemed inconceivable that this formerly Spirit filled church that once sent missionaries all over the world including the United States and was founded by none other than Martin Luther could sink to such a low.
In spite of its illustrious beginnings the church drifted away from its foundation in the Bible and went as far as to disavow the teachings of it, (and not just a small section of the Bible mind you; they disavowed the entire Old Testament in order to appease the Nazi regime and fan the flames against the Jewish people).
Shortly after Hitler rose to power Bonhoeffer left the church and began one that remained true to the Lord. Shortly thereafter he was imprisoned and later executed for his beliefs and his public stand for Christ and his opposition to Hitler. His writings on Christianity’s role in the secular world have become widely influential, and his book The Cost of Discipleship became a modern classic.
Bonhoeffer’s life as a pastor and theologian of great intellect and spirituality demonstrated a man of God who lived as he preached and his martyrdom in opposition to Nazism exerted great influence and inspiration for Christians across broad denominations and ideologies, to include Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, in the United States, the anti-communist democratic movement in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, and the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa.
Now fast forward to the United States and look what just happened with two large denominations that have bastardized the Bible’s sacred laws to accommodate the desires of an immoral society and their congregations. The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) General Assembly voted last week to divest from companies that operate in Israel; however when one considers that the majority of PCUSA pastors and members, according to the denomination’s own data, completely deny the divinity of Jesus Christ and completely reject the teachings of the Bible on numerous issues, is it really surprising, then, that so many of its members do not have a Biblical understanding of how to love Israel?
Oh but that’s not all consider:
- In 2010, the PCUSA released a survey that only 39% of its members agreed or strongly agreed that “only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved.”
- In 2010, the same PCUSA survey found that only 35% of its pastors agreed or strongly agreed that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation.
- In 2013, the PCUSA rejected the popular hymn, “In Christ Alone,” from its hymn bookbecause it so deeply disagreed with the lyric’s theology.
- In 2011, a PCUSA survey found only 50% of its pastors read the Bible on a daily basis, and only 6% believed the Bible should be taken literally.
- In 2011, a PCUSA survey found that 19% of its pastors do not believe Jesus is coming back to Earth one day, and 30% of its members don’t believe that either.
- In 2014, the PCUSA General Assembly voted to approve of homosexual marriages.
- In 2011, the PCUSA General Assembly voted to approve people in homosexual relationships to be ordained as pastors, elders and deacons.
- As far back as 1970, the PCUSA General Assembly declared that abortions were morally permissible and “should not be restricted by law.”
Joel C. Rosenberg wrote in his blog about this yesterday: “The Lord Jesus Christ warned that in the last days before His return, many who claimed to be His followers but really weren’t, would fall away from the faith and many teachers inside the church would teach heresy. “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another,” He warned. “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Matthew 24:10-13)
The Apostle Paul also warned that in the last days many inside the church would turn away from the faith. “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction,” the apostle wrote to his disciple, Timothy, who was the pastor in Ephesus. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
Hmmm . . . It’s not just Presbyterians that want their ears tickled, did you know that an Episcopalian chaplain on Sunday became the first openly transgender priest to preach at the historic National Cathedral in Washington D.C. The Reverend Dr. Cameron Partridge, one of seven openly transgender clergy in the Episcopal Church, spoke from the Canterbury Pulpit in honor of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community’s Pride Month. They are closely following the Presbyterian’s march towards apostasy.
So we wonder why our country is in a mess. Well it begins in the pulpits my friends. Pastors and their congregations forsake the Holy bible as written by God and take on the role of gods themselves penning a Bible more to their own liking. Make no mistake they are in real danger of hell and so are those who blindly follow them. Men come and go but God’s word has stood for thousands of years and will endure forever. Follow God – don’t follow the world!
Isaiah 40:8
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Rev, 22:19
And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
June 25, 2014 – Click here to listen