Kingdom Advance: what I learned

After a day of listening to some great teachers talking about advancing the Kingdom of God, and reaching out into areas of high influence in our world in order to make a higher level if impact in a positive way, on an earth that is in rebellion against its Creator, I am even more convicted by something that God has been trying to teach me...

I touched on the subject in a couple of recent posts that when we are far from Christ, we open ourselves to the deeds of Satan. This truth led to some personal struggles that I have discussed and also to some thoughts on one aspect regarding the struggles of the church in our current culture. Listening today to men that have given much of themselves passionately to advancing the gospel just shines light on the brokenness of so much of church culture in America.

There are too many churches in America that started to loosen their grip on Jesus, and as they have, Satan has gradually moved in, and (as he does) he started influencing little changes. Knowing that leaders were searching for ways to get more people into their church, and to advance the kingdom, Satan began twisting their understandings... he slowly gained more control by whispering lies about cultural relevance, and tolerance. He masked his words with perversions and out of context scripture, meanwhile leading otherwise well meaning leaders further away from the basic message of the gospel. This lead to a movement of churches who suddenly stopped speaking of sin, and the brokenness of our world, instead teaching that if you love God, then God will accept you. Gone was repentance and the need for salvation... Gone was the cross and shed blood that is needed for the atonement of sin... and I'm came a further broken and lost culture that no longer has any sense of its own lostness. Satan has created a culture of religion that thinks it is Christianity... he has used God's word, out of context and twisted it to turn people into all manners of self-righteous and self-sanctifying religious nuts that are lost in darkness that they can't see because the light of Christ has been nearly extinguished.
Through this there has been such damage to the work of true Christianity to bring the good news of a true salvation that you cannot earn, but must accept. I am thankful to serve a church that does not compromise the message of Christ, and a pastor that will not accept anything less than committed followers and believers in the words of Christ.

I am thankful for men like Ed Stetzer, Aaron Coe, Steven Pike, and John Marshall who will put on a conference that encourages us, as believers. To advance the Kingdom that is here and yet to come, that all might hear and come to faith in Christ alone.