Who Watches the Watchmen? ~ an essay

For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. Isaiah 21:6

“Let him declare what he seeth…”

In the comic book genre, there is a group of anti-hero, super heroes.  In other words, they fought injustices and crime, but had gross moral corruption in some cases they themselves.  This group was called the Watchmen.  They were considered to be extremist vigilantes.  There enemies, the masses and criminal minds, would graffiti a slogan. “Who watches the Watchmen” for police sympathy.

Today, our ranks are very similar.  We expect our super heroes to be full of integrity and honesty.  We assume what they give us is exactly what we need.  We assume our pastors will give us the whole truth, no matter the outcome.  But this has proven not to be so today.  

This cannot be over stated, we cannot simply trust the man of God today.  I could care less how long you have known them or all they have done for God.  I remember telling a Christian once that a pastor lied.  The immediate response to that was, “He could not!”  That was alarming.  This Christian did not respond, “He would not!”, it was “He COULD not!”

I will take this moment to put us all on the same playing field.  Though there may be positions of leadership, there is no preeminence in the body!  There is no pastor that does not sin!  There is no missionary that cannot sin!  There is not one evangelist that is sinless.  There is no pastor who is above reproach or even needful correction.  The same flesh that tempts the wicked pew warmer is the same flesh that tempts the pious preachers. 

“You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.  You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else"

Did You Call?

Our logic is jacked and selective at best.  What I may say next is not derived from a desire to be heard or to preach in these pastors' “bull” pits. I just think we should examine our own logic on this front of being called of God. To imply a call implies that someone called you.  If they are called to preach, they are of course talking of being “God called”.  And since they are “the called” they have to have a place and people present to exercise it.  

So, what if others are “called"?  What if God selected some young men in the church, gave them a voice, a heart, and a desire to minister, preach, or teach the word of God?  Are they ever allowed to exercise this gift?  Why does it seem like "the call" is only applicable to those in a position of authority? Why is the call only applicable to those who have surrendered to the full-time ministry or those going to seminary? What about some young 20-something kid, who has a heart right with God, but works a regular job?  What about his call?  What about his gift?  Is it allowed to be exercised, or do we just find a mold of ministry more suitable for him?  I mean, with all our varied ministries we have created, we can find something for them to do, as long as they aren't standing challenging the established doctrines.

Most pastors just influence them or find positions more suitable for them.  Some send them off to seminary, because the pastor doesn’t need the young preacher boys, not yet ruined by fundamentalism and religion, to tell him or the church anything.  They need them properly brainwashed and trained for their own definition of what the ministry is. So they go off to schools, get brainwashed the same way, and have their own churches and ministries in the vicious life sucking machine of the fundamentalist religion.  

My Long Overdue Response to the Street Preachers

Let me say that this is less about what street preaching was and more about what it has now become.  Preachers,  like any other group of Christian people, you can have those that are true and honest in their heart.  Then you have those that are deceived or willingly rejecting truth. The men we have been discussing usually hold to some twisted form of theology over emphasizing the repentance aspect and the reforming of the world and all of it’s wicked sinners through in your face, shock and awe style street preaching.    

They truly view themselves as prophets!  Street preaching prophets of doom and gloom, mixed with a little angry Jesus and Paul.  It’s deplorable, and ungodly if you ask me and makes a mockery of what believers are!

If their final authority for public ministry in the 21st century is Methodist from the 1700’s and 1800’s, the minor or major  prophets, or even the Lord Jesus Christ, their actions are full of half-truths and heresy.  They use these same passages to enforce borderline legalism  in their churches, while preaching against this said legalism.  They will protect themselves with this and would say now that the fact that I mention legalism, is only brought about by my conviction through witnessing their holy walk of life.  

These men have an answer for everything that deflects the questions off of them and onto others.  They attempt to bring everyone into their “yoke” of living, and they have the King James to back everything up.  

The Sunday Scare Hour

The day I dreaded arrived today, when some Sunday School staff/children’s church worker came up to me and informed me that my 7 year old son had gotten “saved”.  He then put him on the spot to describe this life changing event to me at which point he looked at me with a “dazed and confused” look.  Now to some parents, this might have been a joyous occasion to hear of their son's salvation.  But to me, it was one of my worst nightmares.  Here is why.

The arrogance in our evangelism is alarming!  Is it God’s design for Dad and Mom to instruct, read the Bible to, and discuss biblical matters with their children?  Yes.  But all of the sudden, in children’s church or Sunday school, workers get this thing in their head that the children are there for them to push for a decision on spiritual matters and eternal salvation without even discussing matters with the parent.  

As if they know the child, or have anything to do with him aside from asking him questions and prompting him to raise his hand.  They view it as “God brought them to me.”  It’s a twisted view on the providence of God.

Ambassadors of Christ or Fishers of Men?

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, the apostle Paul says;

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Who would disagree with this passage.  A ministry of reconciliation was given to us?  We pray for people to be saved.  We pray for people to be reconciled to God. All Christians can have a ministry of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors! We represent Christ as ambassadors, teaching that men SHOULD repent, not MAKING them, or forcing their hand.  We are not to call a man’s bluff so to speak, and get them to show their cards, to give ourselves an occasion of the flesh to show our lofty knowledge of the scriptures.

Does it matter that the Lord’s disciples were told to be fishers of men, but Paul was given a ministry of reconciliation, and treated it like ambassadorship.  Commercial fishermen, and ambassadors for nations are 2 entirely different trade crafts.  We should be mindful of the distinctions. We can learn some things from them.

The Lord told the disciples these things  about being fishers of men in Matthew 4:19. Mark 1:17.  However, we within the body of Christ, far removed from any apostolic age,   completely dissolved of any miraculous gifts, commissions, calls, or powers, we are to be more like ambassadors, who represent a King in a foreign world that is not our home.  

Fade to Black ~ Part 1

The greatest minds of today, NASA, and any educated person believes everything revolves around a fixed star called, our sun, this is defined as the theory of heliocentricity. It has long been the accepted teaching that supports evolution and if you dabble further, the possibility for another planet like our planet. However, we see without question over and over again, that the Bible, God’s Holy word teaches Geocentricty, which has the Sun revolving around the stationary Earth.  Now, they are both theories to a point, I mean who really knows such depths right.  But the biblical evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the geocentric model.

The deceptive danger of believing in heliocentricity is that it makes the Earth of little importance and allows for speculation of wild, theories about alternate universes and other possible Earths. Listened to the news lately, anyone?  That is the talk, and it is coming from the brilliant minds at NASA who the world obviously trusts explicitly.

Believing in heliocentricity, you can easily accept the popular notion, that alternate, inhabitable planets such as ours actually exist in the cosmos.  You can accept concepts of a sci-fi world, like Battlestar Galactica, where they are searching for Earths twin, for lack of better words. Accepting all of the scientific proof they say, you can accept any possibility that NASA spins. There is  grand design to the lie.  It is as old as the stars! The real, true false religion.

What is the Sense?

Make me understand, explain it to me like I’m six.   Don’t hand me a book by some established evangelical or fundamentalist.  Talk to me!  Show me.  Spend time in prayer and study with me longer then the 5 minutes in the Pastors office after Sunday church.  Show me in the scriptures!   Make me see it as you see it!  

Why do we tithe again?  Seriously.  Aside from running to Genesis, Leviticus, Malachi and Hebrews, what grounds do we have to ask any one today, removed from Temple worship and affairs, to tithe?  How can we possibly lay this at the sheep’s feet? Stop with all the explanations and attempts to Christianize it.  I can read!  It is a new practice in this country dating back to the 18th century, so don't tell me we have "always done it".

Why do we adhere to gimmicks like Faith Promise?  Do I even need to waste my time on this one?  If you want to live in Charismatic fantasy land and carry this on with the prosperity gospel nonsense, help your self, but quit distorting the scriptures in a feeble attempt to make it look biblical.  You are lying to your people!  I don't care how much fruit or money you are getting.  Our blessings are spiritual, not physical.  Don't be deceived.

Why do we keep talking about the great commission as if it is something handed down to the church?  Please people!  The gospels and Acts are not play books on outreach.

Evangelistic, Confrontational Madmen who Refuse to Work

You must understand the mindset among many street evangelist or street preachers.  It’s not that they can’t work a job, it’s that their demeanor and conversation of life as prophets and gallant soldiers for God will not allow them to work a job. 

A secular job for these men?  It would never happen unless they learned to submit to others, and in this day, it may be a woman.  “I can’t have that bless God.”  They can only be  “keepers at home” and so forth.  Submitting to a woman goes against their belief system.  

It would be like trying to enclose a rhino in a cardboard box.  Everyone around them would be compromisers, harlots, drunkards, fornicators, adulterers, pagans, sodomites, hypocrites, heathen, philistines, bastards, faggots, queers, homo’s, etc. Forty hours a week around people who hate God, who are perverted, who are blasphemous, who are wicked, who are pagan or so the street preacher views them.  

The legally binding policies of their employers and superiors (or Masters, in the Bible) who are over them will not permit them to preach or pass out tracts.    They, according to their own professions and testimony have already shown that they will go to jail before anyone, including police, tells them to stop preaching.  

They cannot adapt and learn to speak peaceably.  They cannot engage society and wickedness civilly. It’s as if they have never learned self control as children or something.  They are quite like children in their actions, lashing out, deflecting, casting off, ignoring, dominating conversations, screaming, etc...

How Does it Help Again?

The osmosis that is the local church.  This is the magic show that many expect to happen.  Like being together with a group of people in a building is the solution to all of life's problems.  We are led to believe this! We live our lives in such manners. I am not against people going to church, far from it, just upset at what the church has actually become to most.  How does the modern church setting  actually help?  I look for a blessing like the next person, but sometimes I think we just lie to ourselves.  

You get the kids loaded into the car, probably late from kiddy circumstances, you rush to the church, get them out, one of you takes the little one to the nursery, the other takes the older kids to the special kids churches or Sunday schools.  And you, the adults go to the big peoples church.  You shake hands, see smiling faces, maybe even take part in some chit chat or banter.  The music director takes center stage, and you find your places.  You all begin to sing in unison.  

Are we reading the words, or thinking about the words? Do the hymns speak like they used to?  We have a few announcements after the singing, then it’s the offering time.  The deacons and ushers do their thing while some young person does a special, or we have special music played during.  

Then the message, while we stare at the back of others sitting in the pews in front of us, unless you are a good front row Christian.  The distractions, the teenagers talking, cell phones going off, visitors coming and going, one man talking, ushers getting the head count, ushers letting parents know about Nurseries to get the babies out of the Sanctuary.  Then the preaching, speaking, sharing or screaming, whichever man are found doing today. Then the altar call and the slow invitational music.  Next, the show of hands.  Then the closing in prayer, then the shaking of hands again on the way out.