Conform, Transit or Transform?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12: 1, 2)

Today we look at our faith experience. Let us look at our conversion and discipleship experiences. This because many times we err in wrongly labeling experiences or applauding things we should rebuke.

Last week I said that I do not celebrate Christmas for purely scriptural reasons. I am sure many are wondering where I am coming from and I did not feel like dampening your celebratory mood at its peak.

Even now I am not focusing on Christmas though I will use it to put my point across. Again it fits the message God has given me for His people at this time.

Christmas, birthdays, valentines and New Year are worldly celebrations. In fact some are so demonic you would hate yourself if you discovered where they came from.

Christmas in all ancient cultures was demonic as it was the worship of demons. But the one we mainly celebrate was dedicated to the worship and celebration of the (re)birth of the sun god. In fact that is where the date comes from. December 25^th is (or was) the shortest day of the year and therefore marked the rebirth of the sun to the pagan cultures with intense winters. In fact it is impossible for Christ to have been born in December because shepherds cannot watch over their flocks in winter. What would flocks be feeding on in that snow?  All the traditions we associate with Christmas are dedicated to that idol, from candles to mistletoe to trees. We are in no doubt that ceremonies dedicated to demons will have a lot of sex and other excesses involved as we see when Israel makes the golden calf.

When I was growing up I usually wondered why on 24^th December crossover night there was more fornication than probably the other days of the whole year combined. Wheat fields were evidence enough of the amount of sexual activity in that one night. Yet that was a rural community where children and youth were not restrained from interaction.

Changing the name from the sun god to the Son of God is irrelevant to the demons activated by those traditional ceremonies. Yet that is what the church did to pursue relevance in a world hostile to the Gospel message.

The New Year is also as secular if not as demonic as Christmas. And it is just as sinful making it the cause of our celebration. And it is sad because we activate the submerged demons through our celebration. And I say this to those who call themselves members of the Judeo Christian community.

Why? Our traditions are supposed to originate from the Bible. And the same Bible has clearly laid down the ceremonies we ought to celebrate and when. The Biblical (Hebrew) New Year is completely different from the secular New Year. In fact the name Julian or Gregorian calendar gives it away.

What about Romans 14:5? You may ask.

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

If we treated all days alike I won’t have any problem. What I have issues with is Christianizing days dedicated to demons in celebration. I have problems with activating demons in the name of worship without realizing that you are worshipping the devil.

If we celebrated Biblically sanctioned days I won’t have any problems. Transferring them to other days whether ignorantly or otherwise is sin. You see fornication is sin whatever you believe or not. Homosexuality is an abomination even if the church declares it otherwise.

There is a new year in the Bible. There are months in the Bible. And there are other celebrations called for in the Bible. Celebrating them will not attract wrong spirits in your partying as God is the one who sanctioned them. Yet we are aware that the days of the week and months were dedicated to idols. And that does not change when we are ignorant of the fact. And that is why a new year that does not agree with the Biblical one is actually demonic.

Christmas and mammon are very comfortable bedfellows. I suspect they are one and the same spirit. In fact I doubt there is any other period in the year where mammon is so glorified in worship. It is around that season that mammon is at his most vigorous and energetic. People save for a whole year to spend on Christmas, and not on the Gospel or ministry or progress. The focus of Christmas is mainly selfish and short term (say sensual). Even the gifts given are still under the selfish mammon led leadership which puts man at the helm.

But it is worse because these celebrations shield God’s people from observing the ceremonies where the Spirit of God is released as God is worshipped in the manner He prescribed. You see it is impossible to aim at the wrong thing and hit the right one. I can never get the approval of God if what I do presumably in His name has been dedicated to contrary spirits. And no wonder Easter is receiving less and less emphasis yet it is the centre of our redemption.

Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. (Deuteronomy 12:30)

That is what the church did in the Middle Ages. And that is where these ceremonies came from. And that is the reason I do not celebrate them. They are spiritual compromises which hinder the Gospel instead of advancing it.

So do not feel offended because I don’t post you birthday wishes. In fact I do not send or wish anybody anything as even that is a mixed up spiritual message. Why not pray instead of wishing people luck or anything else that is also contrary to Biblical faith? That is why I do not send success cards – because they are wishes. But I trust God to come up with scripturally sound success cards, cards that will not only have a doctrinally sound message but also one that releases the right spiritual connections. And remind me as we proceed since there has been warfare there.

Christmas aside, I am convinced that there are many other things we innocently do that release evil spirits in our lives. We compromise with the world with the hope that the same world will be won to Christ and discover that we are living a lie because it is the world that eventually wins. Accommodation and compromise are not powerful only when we are talking about open sin like whoredom or drunkenness. They are even more powerful when they are not recognized. Many times they will be recognized when the damage has already been done.

Why is that? Like the illustration we use to warn the youth about 2 Corinthians 6: 14, it is easier to pull someone down from a table than up. It is the lower and worldly elements that have a greater power to pull us down to worldliness than us pulling them to godliness when we think compromise. It is dirty water that pollutes the clean water when there is a mix up and not otherwise.

Remember this church that put up a pornographic poster to advertise a youth service? (I posted my response ‘Blurred Confusion’ on my blog) What the church meant to the world is that our standards are that low. I have never gone there and do not think I would but one thing I have heard from people who have attended it is that in that church anything goes. The worship teams are dressed very seductively. The sermons are more worldly than spiritual. In short that church doesn’t care that people went to heaven or hell.

Most of the music we call Gospel has more world in it than sober secular music. Some do not even care to have sensible lyrics. They think calling music Gospel will make it so. They advance the world through their lack of prayer and revelation because they think that popular music brings glory to God. Some think that shaking their bottoms when shouting Jesus will make their music Gospel. Some steal instrumental arrangement and even tunes from the world and think that the right lyrics will sanctify the music.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21 - 23)

There is shock awaiting some who are convinced they are serving God when they are doing all the right things, things they think meet God’s applause without caring for clear revelation and direction. Doing godly things is not equivalent to doing God’s will. I might be doing all the things God expects from people who know Him yet be completely disqualified from the reward, in this passage being even called workers of iniquity.

Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20)

Our activity is not the sole evidence of our faith though the right faith must result in corresponding activity like James said and Jesus taught (Matthew 7: 20).

What of activities connected to demons which have been christened?

You see there is no half way house between faith and unbelief. And that was the message, from Christ Himself to the apostles; from Moses to the Old Testament prophets.

Though Abraham was probably called fifty years before he responded, his journey of faith started when he took God seriously enough to follow Him. The battle of faith becomes the journey of faith when one takes action and not when someone is considering it. And that is why a whole population of Israelites died in the desert yet they had looked at the land they were to move into. Leaving Egypt was not equivalent to getting into Canaan.

‘You must be born again’ defines the kind of faith God requires. It is either total or absent.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)

God hates borderline commitment. Purgatory is the fabrication of those who fear confronting a holy God. They therefore create a theology that appears to give hope to borderline believers. But worse is that they use that message to fleece those same believers. Remember the indulgences?

Indulgences have resurfaced especially in the Pentecostal movement. It fits very easily since many will easily assume there is only one source of spirituality, easily confusing the demonic with God’s spirituality. Since for most the Bible is used as a answer sheet to support our doctrinal positions instead of a roadmap to show us the direction and landmarks to show us whether we are on the straight and narrow, it comes as no surprise that most of the spiritual con men and women comfortably exploit the charismatic movement.

This is because with the absence of a solid grasp of the scriptures it is very difficult (maybe impossible) to evaluate the spirituality of the charisma being exercised. It becomes even worse when someone claims that God spoke to them because apart from the scriptures there is no other way to evaluate it. It is therefore not a surprise that people are speaking in the tongues of demons and performing miracles through witchcraft and very few Christians can see it. In fact even those who seek to enlighten God’s people on the fact are treated as enemies who dare touch the anointed as if the anointing is constrained to those few. They therefore are able to comfortably fleece their flock in the name of prophecy or miracles because very few believers are willing to study (even read) the Bible for themselves.

So there is only one solution to borderline commitment. Take God’s word seriously enough to allow it to shape your life. Spend enough time in it to allow it give you a worldview. Obey it seriously enough to have it transform you from inside out. Otherwise this will apply to you.

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2Timothy 3: 5)

This is talking of those whose conduct is identifiable with God yet is only surface deep. The power of their words does not go beyond those words. In other words they profess godliness but do not believe in it. They profess the Gospel but really do not practice it. They pretend to teach the Bible but do not believe in its message.

No wonder the world appeals so much to them. No wonder they love the money they can make from the Gospel so much. To them the Gospel is a means to acquire wealth. Ministry to them is just another profession, the one where one can advance without much effort. No wonder very few think of ministry as a calling.

Who is willing to go as deep as God is calling you to go? Who is willing to take God’s word as the only and absolute source of authority in our lives?

Is there a solution? Am I just scaring believers without offering a solution?

The Bible is the solution. Reading it gives us a way out of all that confusion. Studying it makes it possible to clearly understand and formulate our doctrine instead of waiting for a superstar (read conman) to formulate it for us.

We have prepared reading plans to help those who desire to read the Bible in one year (Read the Bible in 365 Days). We are trusting God to provide more than the reading plans but other resources to help and motivate God’s people to know God’s word. We are trusting God for partners to help us reach especially to the disadvantaged (prisoners, children’s homes etc) with Bibles in addition to the reading plans for those who do not have and cannot afford Bibles.

Lest you think we are advertising for you to buy the reading plans, we are giving them free to all who need them. We have already given over 1000 since we printed them a couple of weeks ago and we are still giving them away. Please contact me if you are in or around Nairobi should you need a copy or copies. Some are forming reading groups for accountability purposes. We have given two children’s homes so far. Support this if God challenges you thus.

We are planning to put the reading plans on the website and even the facebook page (thebibleclubhouse). We could have done it already but there has been warfare. Pray with us.

I have also prepared a Discipleship Bible Study that I am making available to the nations (language groups of the world). Again God provides the resources to print and I give to whoever needs to be discipled. I have removed copyright protection as an offering to God who gave it to me. Then anyone can translate and print it without the red tape copyright protection brings. I also intend to have it on the internet as soon as God provides for the same and need your prayer and partnership. I talked about that in my post ‘Did the great commission envision poverty and illiteracy?’.

So it doesn’t just rile me that the Gospel is being watered down. God has given a strategy to counter it. Plus many other initiatives God continues giving anyone willing to connect properly with His revelation.

And I am not alone. Though I know there is a lot more noise from those with a worldly, fleshy agenda as they must make money one way or the other. We might be a minority and even ignored but the spirit world knows what and Who we represent. And with God we are the majority because anyone really seeking God will finally land on us after the frustration of those dry wells that are amply advertised and supported. Remember Elijah with the 850 or Micaiah with the 400?

So will you conform to the world, transit slowly to godliness or be transformed into the image of the One who has called us to Himself?