Arminian Today

Having previously discussed the problems with the clergy-laity system and how I believe it robs the people of God from being true priests unto Him (Revelation 1:5-6), I then looked at what it biblically means to be a pastor.  I noted that the word “pastor” is found in most English translations in Ephesians 4:11 and is better translated (as in the ESV) as “shepherds”.  The word “pastor” has largely remained part of our language because of transition and not because of accurate Bible translations.  I noted that Jesus is called “shepherd” or “pastor” in John 10:14 or 1 Peter 2:25 and He is called the chief shepherd in 1 Peter 5:4.  I also noted that no one in the New Testament were given titles such as Pastor Jim or Apostle David for only Jesus was viewed as Lord of lords and King of kings (1 Timothy 6:15-16; Revelation 17:14; 19:11).

Now let us turn to studying the Apostles.  The Apostles play a major role in the New Testament.  While on earth Jesus Christ appointed twelve men that He called Apostles according to Matthew 10:2-4 and Luke 6:12-16.  If you will notice Luke 6:13, we learn that Jesus chose His Apostles from among His disciples implying that He had many disciples.  We know from John 4:1-2 that Jesus was gaining and baptizing many disciples.  Jesus then prayed and from His disciples, He chose twelve men and He called them apostles.  It’s interesting that Jesus called them apostles.  Why this term?  We miss something of the term in the English translations.  Our traditions often rob us of seeing the bigger picture.  When Jesus called these twelve men “apostles” He was calling them, in the Greek, apostolos.  English Bible translations, like they do baptism, simply transliterates the Greek term into English and thus we miss its full meaning.  The word means “emissary, ambassador, authorized representative, delegated authority, a missionary.”  The term was used in the Roman Empire for their naval leaders who would carry bills of laden that contained the apostle terms of being under the direct authority of the emperor himself.  They were sent ones from the emperor.

The term used by Matthew in Matthew 10:2 is this same Greek word.  It means “sent ones.”  Yet when we hear the word “apostles” we automatically think of the twelve apostles of Jesus.  Yet the New Testament presents others who were “sent ones” of Christ Jesus who were not part of the original twelve apostles such as in Acts 14:4, 14 of Barnabas and Paul.  Romans 16:7 also reveals other apostles not of the twelve.  In 1 Corinthians 9:1-6 Paul builds his case for being an apostle despite not being part of the twelve.  In 1 Corinthians 15:5 Paul mentions the twelve and then says that he is also an apostle in verse 9.  In 1 Thessalonians 2:6 Paul writes about being an apostle and he includes among the apostles also Silvanus and Timothy (1 Thessalonians 1:1) with his usage of we.  The Bible also mentions false apostles in 2 Corinthians 11:13 and Revelation 2:2.  Jesus Christ Himself is called an apostle or “sent one” in Hebrews 3:1.

In Ephesians 2:20 we learn that the Church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus being the cornerstone.  Why the foundation of the apostles and the prophets?  The ESV Study Bible is helpful here:

There are several views about the apostles and prophets referred to here: (1) Some think that they were “foundational” because they proclaimed the very words of God, and some of their words became the books of the NT. Since a “foundation” is laid only once (i.e., at the beginning of the church) there are no more apostles or prophets today, but their function of speaking the words of God has been replaced by the written Bible, which is the foundation today. (2) Others argue that these “prophets” are very closely tied to apostles in the phrase “the apostles and prophets,” and that these prophets do not represent all who had a gift of prophecy in the early church (see note on 1 Cor. 12:10); they were a small group closely associated with the apostles (or else identical to the apostles) to whom God had revealed the mystery of the Gentile inclusion in the church (see Eph. 3:5, where the same phrase, “the apostles and prophets,” occurs). In this case ordinary Christians who had the gift of prophecy in Ephesus (4:11) and other churches (cf. Acts 11:27; 19:6; 21:9–10; Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10; 1 Thess. 5:19–21; 1 Tim. 1:18; 4:14) were not part of the “foundation” but were part of the rest of the building that was being built (that is, the church) and would continue so throughout the church age. (3) Finally, some think the “prophets” here could be the OT prophets, though the same words in Eph. 3:5 point to prophets of the NT era.

I believe that the prophets here in Ephesians 2:20 along with 1 Corinthians 12:28 means that the apostles and prophets helped plant the churches.  The apostles were “sent ones” as in Acts 13:1-4 who went out preaching the gospel (as all disciples did according to Matthew 28:19-20) and planting churches.  The prophetic element was not so much as in the Old Testament sense of the word but declaring the words of God that we know have fully in the inerrant New Testament.  Ephesians 4:11 again mentions prophets after apostles.  All these gifted people were needed by the Church to establish a true Church.

Now I don’t mean to undermine the authority of the Apostles in the New Testament Church.  In fact, according to Revelation 21:14 the city of heaven is said to have been built on the foundation of twelve and upon them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (ESV).  In eternity, the twelve will still have a unique place in the history of the Church and the salvation that came through Jesus Christ.

So who are then New Testament apostles?  First, there are the Twelve.  Second, there were other NT apostles such as Paul and Barnabas.  And today, we call modern apostles as “missionaries” or “sent ones.”  Their purpose is to build churches in places that Jesus has not been named.  Romans 15:20-21 establishes this type of ministry.  Apostles can often serve God “full-time” and depend on the churches but sometimes they do work such as Paul did in Acts 18:3.  Paul even makes his case in Acts 20:34-35 for his own hard work so that he could help others.  How radically different from most money hungry pastors today?  I love his words in Acts 20:33 where he says that he did not covet anyone’s silver or gold or apparel.  How we need that in the Church!  By the way, the longest Paul ever remained in one city: 3 years in Corinth.  How different from many “missionaries” who stay in cities sometimes for years building usually one church or two at the most.

We need “sent ones” today to build the Church.  My vision is to see modern apostles going into cities such as for example, Phoenix, and planting house churches under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and elders (Titus 1:5) that the Spirit raises up (Acts 14:23).  These house churches would then send out more sent ones to plant more house churches.  Disciples making disciples as Jesus commanded.  These sent ones are “full-time ministers” in the sense that they are supported by the Churches to plant more churches just as Paul did in the New Testament.  These men are not professional Christians but would work if necessary as Paul did.

Is there a biblical reason for Christians to meet together?  If I asked you what should normally take place or what is the reason that you come to the meeting place for the saints, what would be your reply?  Would you say that we come together to worship God?  Would your answer be that we come together to hear the preaching of the gospel?  Would you say that teaching of the Scriptures is why we should meet?

In 1 Corinthians 11:20 Paul the Apostle hints that it is the Lord’s supper that the disciples were to focus on when coming together.  In 1 Corinthians 11:26 Paul says that the supper focuses on the fact that Jesus not only has died for our sins but He is alive and is coming again.  This is very important!

Ironically, when we come to Acts we find that nothing is said about the common reasons many today would give to why they meet.  For instance, worshipping God.  No where in the book of Acts or in the New Testament for that matter are we told to worship God when we meet.  In fact, Romans 12:1 says that our worship of God is seen in our giving ourselves completely to Him all the time.  In other words, we are to worship God at all times (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17).  Colossians 3:16 is the closest passage we have that we are to meet and worship God in singing but the context is not about the ekklesia of God but about being a daily disciple of Jesus.

Let’s turn to preaching.  I love good solid preaching.  Yet is this a reason (or the reason) for disciples to meet together?  We would be hard pressed to build such a case from Scripture.  Again, no where in the book of Acts do we find the church meeting to hear preaching.  With the exception of Acts 20:7, all preaching was done outside of the church to the lost.  Even Acts 20:7 is not a sermon in the modern sense. Further, Acts 20:7 is written by Luke as seeming to point out that this was rare of Paul and the church to meet this long.  Nothing in the Epistles of the New Testament suggest that preaching is the primary reason we should meet either.  I do believe in solid Bible teaching (Ephesians 4:11-16) but this is not seen as the primary reason we meet.

When we put together 1 Corinthians 11:20 or 1 Corinthians 14:26 or Hebrews 10:24-25 we find a different picture of why the early Church met.  They met to eat, use their spiritual gifts with one another, and they met to encourage each other to stir up one another.  In fact, the early Church’s meetings were focused on obeying the “one another’s” of the New Testament.  Nothing suggests that the reason we meet is to worship God (you should be doing that at all times) or to hear preaching (or at least to just hear one person give a homely).  The New Testament Church focuses on one another.  Not a concert.  Not a one man show.  Not a “service” but a meeting where all can use their gifts, all can participate, and all are needed.

Once again I find that the modern Western Church has an Old Testament mentality.  In the Old Testament people did meet in the Temple (or the tent of meeting) to worship God (see Luke 2:37 or Hebrews 10:2 for example).  The Old Testament saint did in fact go to the temple to worship God.  But where is the temple of God today?  The usage of Old Testament language is often seen in how people view church buildings.  They will say things such as “the house of God” but in reality, God does not dwell in buildings anymore.  Stephen pointed this out in Acts 7:48-49.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that the Church is God’s temple and in 1 Corinthians 6:19 he says that we are the temple of God so the temple of God is not a building at all.  No where in the New Testament does God tell us to build Him a house or do we find the disciples of Jesus referring to buildings as belonging to God.  The modern church uses phrases from the Old Testament such as “the house of the Lord” or “we come to serve God this morning.”  The church signs often say, “service times 8 and 11 AM.”  What service is taking place?  Who are we serving when we come?

My point is that the reasons that we meet should be based on what the Scriptures teach.  We should carefully make sure that we are seeking to obey the New Testament as much as possible.  To ignore the New Testament in favor of our traditions is not helpful at all (Mark 7:1-13).  Paul even commends the believers in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 for following the apostolic traditions that he had given them.  So should we.

So the next time you meet with other disciples of Jesus Christ ask yourself and others the question, “Why do we meet together?” and then consider their answers and examine them by the Bible.

>What if I told you that there was a church that I knew that was growing by leaps and bounds but they:

• Owned no buildings
• Had no single pastor leading them
• Has no clergy system at all
• None of their leaders have been to Bible college or seminary
• Met in homes
• Had no advertisement
• Had no praise band
• Had no singles ministry, no children’s ministry, no youth ministry but instead ministered to the whole family together at once
• When they meet, they don’t meet to hear a sermon but mainly to eat together
• Had an open meeting that allowed all to participate
• Often has to meet in secret because of persecution

I have just described to you the Church of Acts!  How radically different than today’s modern Western church that depends on a single pastor leading them, depends on the clergy/laity system to survive, and is focused on programs, programs, get your programs.  If you read through the New Testament you’ll find that the modern church is missing from its pages.  The modern church is driven by pragmatism and not the Bible.

There are exceptions to this rule.  For instance, the Church in China is mainly a network of house churches.  Many of the churches making an impact on Europe are house churches.  I praise God that the house church movement is likewise starting to explode in South America and now in North America.  Many disciples are becoming frustrated with the clergy/laity system that so dominates the Western Church and are beginning to question if this has been the best way to glorify Jesus.  I personally know many people who are done with the institutional church and are now either not going to church at all or are involved with house churches.

Some propose that those meeting in house churches don’t want any leaders over them so they meet with other Christians apart from a clergymen.  Is this the case?  I suppose there are some who attend house churches who could be described that way.  I personally have been hurt by several pastors so I can feel their pain.  Sadly, some pastors are so like CEO’s of the world that they will use people if it helps their business.  But biblically speaking, the house church (like the church above in Acts) is to be led by the Lord Jesus through His Spirit (Acts 13:1-4; Colossians 1:15-20).  The Bible also speaks of elders serving among the people of God (1 Peter 5:1-4).  Paul told Timothy in Titus 1:5 to appoint elders in every town.  These elders would be the same as those found in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9.  The role of the elders is never described as full time “pastors” nor are they professional Christians.  The purpose of the elders is to serve the church by being an example of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus (Hebrews 13:7, 17) and to protect the people of God from doctrinal error (Acts 20:28-35).  Elders could be blessed with money (1 Timothy 5:17-18) but this does not appear to be the norm nor is 1 Timothy 5:17 describing paying a pastor to do the “work of the ministry” that Ephesians 6:11-16 describes as the whole body doing.  One thing that is clear is that the Church is not to be led by one person.

What led me to house churches was first being tired of the pastor/congregation model found in most conservative churches.  I was frustrated that pastors were being elevated to places I never saw them being elevated to in Scripture.  The term pastor is only used in Ephesians 4:11 and is better translated as “shepherd” as the ESV has it correctly translated.  Jesus is the head shepherd (1 Peter 2:25; 5:4).  Jesus calls Himself the shepherd in John 10:11.  Jesus is my pastor!  Jesus leads me!  Other disciples certainly can help me become more like Jesus and learn about Him (Matthew 28:20) but Jesus is Lord of all and He is my leader.  By the way, search the New Testament and name one pastor.

Secondly, what led me to house churches was the issue of money.  I grew frustrated that churches used money to build buildings and not further the kingdom.  Oh I know that they said they were building the kingdom by building more buildings but the focus was always on more buildings.  People met that need by giving money but the focus was on buildings to get more people to in turn have more money to build more buildings.  I also served on a church staff and I knew about budgets and salaries to meet and I knew that money was a big deal.  Yes we gave to missions and we did help the poor from time to time but most of the money that comes into a local church goes toward buildings and salaries.  One report stated that 85% of money in the American church goes toward those two things.  What if we abandoned those buildings, pastors got jobs, and we met in homes and took all the money and helped church planters (missionaries) and the poor?  That’s what the early church did.  Tithing is heavily preached in the clergy/laity churches because it is required to support the Levites (i.e., pastors) though I reject tithing as part of the theocracy of ancient Israel and not for the New Testament Church.  We can discuss that more later.

Thirdly, the modern church service looks more like a professional concert than a service to the King.  I use to ask myself, “Why do we call it a ‘service’ if no one is being served?”  The whole show of church on Sunday mornings was designed to make people passive.  They sit in their seats and watch the show.  They listen to the kicking band.  Hear the sermon.  Give their tithe and go home and watch television.  No interaction.  No using their spiritual gifts.  No obedience to the “one another’s” of Scripture.  No obedience to 1 Corinthians 14:26.  No obedience to Acts 20:7 unless you mean the tiny wafer you might get at the “Lord’s Supper” once in a while with the tiny cup of grape juice.  Acts 2:42-47 does not describe the typical Western church service.  You will search in vain to find the modern Church in the New Testament.  By the way, I find nothing in the New Testament to suggest that one person was to dominate a church meeting nor do I find that the purpose of the church meeting was even to worship God.  I find the purpose of the meeting is found in 1 Corinthians 11:17-26.  Notice also that evangelism was done outside of the church (Acts 1:8).

Conclusion

I could write so much about the modern church versus the church in the New Testament.  Thankfully God is moving to call His people to return to the New Testament model.  Millions of people in China now are experiencing that joy.  I pray that millions in the United States will experience that joy as well.  I am praying for the Holy Spirit to help pastors to see how far we are from the New Testament model and to begin to move the church back to the New Testament.  Acts is nothing but history if we are not going to follow the pattern that the Holy Spirit gave us in the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament.  I long to see souls saved and disciples empowered to reach them by being the true Church (Hebrews 10:24-25).  While it is a testimony to me that there is a God that He gets anything done by the Church, I believe that God has so much more that He wants to do in honoring His Son in the Church.

>Did I ever tell you that I once was a youth pastor?  I drive a truck now for a living and enjoy it though the hours are not desirable for prayer like I would want them to be.  But I digress.  One of the things that troubled me most about youth ministry and all the youth conferences I ever dragged our youth to were that they were so shallow.  Yes Jesus was mentioned.  Yes they had the typical “altar call” along with the “sinner’s prayer” and yes the music was kicking but the gospel of repentance and the message of holiness was oddly lost.  Most of the youth I would take to these events would “get saved” again and again.  We had one young lady in our youth group who probably was saved at least 10 times during the time she was in our youth group.

The youth pastors I knew where, for the most part, shallow themselves.  Some of them are now full time pastors and out of the ones I knew, only one is still serious about God though he leans emergent in his “worship experience.”  Most of them knew much about the culture, the songs, the movies, etc. but little about the Bible.  In fact, not one of the youth pastors I knew were expositors of the Word.  All of them were either topical teachers or they used a book to teach from.  The Bible had little place in their youth ministries or even in their own lives.  I remember youth camp and how I would plead with the youth pastors to pray and few would.  I even started a prayer meeting for youth pastors and only one guy would come.  The others were too busy watching movies I guess.  Youth ministry was big on personal relationships with your teenagers but not big on staying close to the Father’s heart.  Discipleship was not so much about holiness, being like Jesus, etc. but was big on helping teenagers become leaders.

Sadly, from what I can see, youth ministry has not changed much since I left it nearly 10 years ago.  I keep up with one youth pastor through a blog he writes.  What is amazing to me is to see the low view of the sovereignty of God among him and so many in the American church.  The semi-Pelagian view of mankind (oops I meant to say humanity to keep it PC and adapt to the youth culture) means that we must use all types of gimmicks to try to get people to church.  Forget the commitment part.  Forget the repentance part.  Forget the baptism part.  It’s all about getting youth (or adults for that matter) to show up for the show.  As long as a church can boast that they have X amount coming, that justifies the means no matter what.

Take my former friend above.  On his blog he writes about movies, televisions shows, and books that he is reading.  The books he reads are always focused on church growth or the like.  None are theological in nature.  None really deal with Scripture.  Most of the authors he reads are emergents or lean seeker sensitive.  A recent post of his was how the Church needs to be in the world using the unbiblical quote, “In the world but not of it” (which is not in the Bible I remind you).  He talked about how people get so bored with Church.  He wrote on how Easter is the most visited Sunday in America and he was wondering why most people never come back until Christmas.  His answer: church is boring.  Church offers nothing that they can relate to.  His answer: church needs to be more culturally relevant.  He suggests using more technology, avoid being so “Christianity” in our language, seek to connect with the culture and not run from it, and love the people of the world and not bash them with the Bible.  He suggests that evangelism should be more about helping people reach their full potentials as people created in God’s image than just memorizing a bunch of Bible verses to show them that they are not “saved” (his emphasis on saved).

My answer is easy.  First, the Church is not the world.  The Church is to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) not get them to come to us and like us.  I wrote on his blog, “What you win them with is what you win them to.”  If we are seeking to bring people to the god of entertainment then we must keep them with this god.

Second, we have such a low view of God’s sovereignty.  God is the Savior (Jonah 2:9) and not the Church.  People can go to church all the time and still go to an eternal hell (Matthew 7:21-23).  Jesus saves sinners and He draws them to Himself (John 6:44).  The duty of the disciple is never to save anyone but to preach Christ and Him crucified and God will do the rest (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 3:6-9).  Ephesians 1:3-14 makes it clear that we are chosen in Christ Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict and save sinners (John 16:8-11).  Salvation is not based on the music or the light show or the drama skit or the candles burning in your coffee shop.  Salvation is the work of God that He does in the heart of the person who hears and believes the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus alone is able to save to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25) and He does so by His grace alone and not by my hand or yours.

Third,  by being holy we demonstrate the power of God to an unbelieving world.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:11-16 that we were to be the salt and light of the earth.  In Philippians 2:12-16 Paul speaks to the Church and he says that we are to be lights in the midst of darkness as we hold out the word of truth.  1 Peter 1:15-16 and 1 Peter 2:12 speak about God’s people being holy as He is holy and that pagans will see our holiness.  Will we be persecuted for holiness?  Yes (2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Peter 4:12-19) but we are to rejoice in that!  Jesus never said the world will like us but He said that it would hate us (John 15:18-25).  There is nothing in the New Testament that suggests that we are to be like the world so that they will find our God attractive and perhaps will come to Him.  This is not just semi-Pelagian but is demonic.

I want to be different than the people I work with.  I want them to see Jesus in me.  I want them to know that I don’t watch ungodly movies or use profane language.  I want them to see my passionate love for Jesus Christ for all that He has done for me in saving my soul.  I want them to know that I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20-21) and that my focus is completely on pleasing Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:9; Colossians 3:1-4).

In the house church movement there is no emphasis that I am aware of on trying to be relevant so that people will come to our house church.  We want to see souls saved by God’s power and we want to live for His glory and His kingdom.  We are not interested in building up a name for ourselves nor are we interested in being on the front of Christianity Today because we are reaching the culture.  We want to exalt the Lamb of God who alone is worthy to be praised.

>I have been re-reading John MacArthur’s book, Ashamed of the Gospel, for the third time.  This book is by far one of his best books and it strikes hard at the modern church in the United States.  In fact, MacArthur’s book would just about ruin most of the churches in the area that I live as most of them have now turned toward pragmatism, seeker friendly, and “relevant” (which usually means worldly).

But behind MacArthur’s book is something else.  I agree with him 100% that the gospel is at stake and that most churches are compromising the gospel.  Oh that they still talk about Jesus and they still mention salvation but they ignore sin, they ignore conviction, they ignore true repentance, they ignore baptism, they ignore serious discipleship (not studying a book published by a seeker church), and they avoid prayer.  Holiness is ignored.  Passion for Christ and His kingdom above all other things including self is ignored.  Reading the Bible through is ignored.  Serious study of the Bible is ignored.  So yes MacArthur is correct that the gospel is being corrupted and watered down by the seeker movement.

Yet it also struck me how entertainment has taken over the Church of God.  A.W. Tozer wrote,

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was – a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of the conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability.  For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world.  But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle.  She appears to have decided that is she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make use she can of his powers.  So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven.  Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God.  Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate “producers” peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency.  And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.

So much of the Church is focused on this god of Entertainment.  The entire “service” is a show.  The music is both worldly and a show.  True worship of God is missing as now we substitute “music” for worship (Romans 12:1-2).  The entire “church service” is a show from beginning to end and its meant to entertain you.  Biblical, expository teaching is gone as the church now favors more entertainment than anything else.  The church, rather than being the “one another” church of the New Testament, is largely going from one entertaining event to the next.  Church signs promote one event after another.  The church, instead of seeking to make disciples and spar people from an eternal hell, is largely fixed on being a place of sure pleasure and joy and entertainment.

Where did this come from?  From an institutional view of the Church, the Church has to be promoting entertainment.  How else will they come?  With TV, movies, theaters, etc. competing with the business driven Church, the institutional church must then produce better plays, better music, more entertainment to keep the people coming back for me.  As John MacArthur called it, “Give me that show time religion.”  Prayer meetings are empty.  Fasting is abandoned.  Evangelism using the Law of God to confront sinners is completely ignored for its “offensive language such as sinners.”

From a house church view, the god of entertainment filling the institutional church shows the weakness of not following 1 Corinthians 14:26 and setting up a system of church that depends on money.  The house church doesn’t need money.  There are no salaries to meet, no budgets to keep, no buildings to maintain.  The elders who serve the house church are not paid professional staff.  They are biblical elders (1 Peter 5:1-4).  Therefore, the house church can continue to preach 2 Timothy 2:8-11 and call people to repent.  We are not here to entertain you.  We are only here for the people of God to come and be discipled and grow and go out and make more disciples (Hebrews 3:13; 10:23-25).  Our attitude is not “come and see” but “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19).  We do have fun with one another but our goal is not entertainment but to glorify Jesus alone and if few want this, so be it.  We are not in a business.  We are in a kingdom.

I once e-mailed a large seeker church to question them biblically why they do what they do.  The CEO-pastor wrote me back and said, “We are running 700 people on Sunday mornings.  How many do you have coming to your church?”  He answer is the answer the pragmatic church offers today.  The end results justify the means.  Who cares about prayer?  Who cares about depending on the power of the Holy Spirit to fall on the people and empower us to make disciples?  Who cares about preaching the gospel to the lost?  As long as 700 people are coming and as long as the church budget is being met, so be it.

But oh God have mercy on us and restore us back to the book of Acts!  Let us be found faithful to You alone!

Prior to World War II, the world-wide currency that was used to buy or sell was the British pound.  In fact, the pound had been the dominate currency for nearly 200 years.  The pound suffered, however, following the end of the Second World War and the end of the British Empire that had brought in large amounts of goods and products for Great Britain.  Out of the ashes of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union rose to take the dominant roles in the world.  Both the USA and the USSR used their vast amount of natural resources and money to gain nations under their rule.  The United States formed NATO while the USSR formed the Warsaw Pact among communist nations to fight against “imperial” Americans.

The two dominate monies following World War II was the Russian rouble and the American dollar.  These two currencies would compete for 5o years to dominate the world.  In the end, the free market and the American dollar would gain the upper hand.

The problem with the American dollar, however, came in the 1970′s when the Arab nations decided to form an oil embargo on most of the Western world including the United States.  President Carter met with Saudi Arabian officials and together the Saudi’s and the Americans made the dollar the only way to buy oil.  Every nation today including China, Japan, Russia, France, Canada, India, Australia, etc. must buy oil in dollars.  This means that the Russians must take the rouble and convert it over to dollars before buying oil.  This also means that other nations must measure their monies against the American dollar.  By not printing more money, the nations then can keep inflation down by measuring their wealth against the dollar.

The problem for the United States is that we are in debt.  As of this writing, the Obama Administration has taken the national debt to all time high’s.  Currently the US debt is $14 trillion dollars.  An example of how much this is would be if we spent $1 billion dollars a day all the way back to the birth of Christ, we still would not have paid off our national debt.  The Obama plan is not to reduce the national debt but to take us even deeper into debt through nationalized medicine and the continuation of the failing Social Security System.  Fighting two wars (and almost three) is not helping the national debt neither is the Governmental takeover of nearly 1/3 of our economy.

If the United States is broke, how can the Federal Government continue?  By printing more money.  This is what the Obama Administration is doing.  We are printing more money and more money and the reason that we can do this is because oil is still exchanged in dollars.  If Saudi Arabia and OPEC decided to make the currency for buying oil Chinese, the dollar would collapse overnight.  The dollar would become useless.

You see the dollar, before World War II, was backed up by gold.  The United States wisely did not print more money unless it backed up the currency with gold.  We still operate gold reserves, for example, in Fort Knox, Kentucky.  But the United States faced the problem that many nations faced after World War II and that is that we needed money.  The Marshall Plan called on the United States to rebuild Western Europe.  The United States, in essence, took the debts of the Western nations including Western Germany and made them our own.  We rebuilt the infrastructure of Western Europe and in turn we made the dollar the currency of Western Europe in terms of trading.  When OPEC turned on the West in the 1970′s, the United States agreed to measure dollars in terms of oil and not gold.

This has made the Western nations dependent on OPEC.  We depend on the members of OPEC in terms of both oil and the power of the dollar.  This is why the United States and the West turn a blind eye to the fact that Saudi Arabia remains the most persecuting nation of non-Muslims and bans all Christians from the nation.  Christianity is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia and many of the world’s terrorist including Osama Bin Laden are from Saudi Arabia but the United States turns a blind eye because of oil and the need to keep the dollar as the world’s currency for oil.

This all could change tomorrow.  The United States is in debt to the Chinese.  In fact, the United States owes more money to the Chinese than any other nation.  Several years ago while George W. Bush was president, you might remember getting $300 per tax payer in your home.  The $300 was not from the Feds but was from China.  Nearly all of our imports now come from China.  China owns large amounts of real-estate in the United States.  If the Chinese decided tomorrow to change the game and make the world currency the yen instead of the dollar, the economy of the United States would collapse.

Why doesn’t the Chinese do this?  Simple.  They are buying up the United States piece by piece.  The largest importer of Chinese products (which are not good products and poorly made) is the United States.  If the economy of the United States collapsed, China would have to become the leading nation to help the nations of the world recover and they are not willing to do this as of now.  Further, the Chinese are building up their own infrastructure and military.  They know that a time will come when they will dominate the world but for now, they are willing to allow the United States to collapse morally and militarily in nearly three wars while the Chinese military avoids them all.  The Chinese will conquer the United States without ever having to face the American military since the Korean War.  No Chinese will die nor Americans as the United States will bow to the wishes of the Chinese in the future.

More to come….