"Lovest thou Me?"

I believe as many of you do that if anything is going to happen in our lives, families and our country that there must be a crying out to God in repentance. If we are honest with ourselves there is very little of "God" in our lives, families and country. In the south the sin is "nominal Christianity" which is NOT Christian but religion. In the north you have secularism, which is the systematic removal of God from every aspect of our lives, families and country. We must stop complaining and start confessing with a divine Holy Spirt wrought contrition! May we do as Peter did in denying the Lord, "And Peter went out and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:62). 

I have been reading a couple of books by Andrew Murray, one on prayer and the other on having a deeper Christian life. This is an excerpt that has helped me and my prayer is it will stir in you as well.

Dear Christians, do you not long to be brought nigh unto God? Would you not give anything to walk in close fellowship with Jesus every day? Would you not count it a pearl of great price to have the light and love of God shining in you all the day? Oh, come and fall down and make confession of sin; and, if you will do it, Jesus will come and meet you and He will ask you, “Lovest thou Me?” And, if you say, “Yes, Lord,” very quickly He will ask again, “Lovest thou Me?”—and if you say, “Yes, Lord,” again, He will ask a third time, “Lovest thou Me?”—and your heart will be filled with an unutterable sadness, and your heart will get still more broken down and bruised by the question, and you will say, “Lord, I have not lived as I should, but still I love Thee and I give myself to Thee.” Oh, beloved may God give us grace now, that, with Peter, we may go out, and, if need be, weep bitterly. If we do not weep bitterly,—we are not going to force tears—shall we not sigh very deeply, and bow very humbly, and cry very earnestly, “O God, reveal to me the carnal life in which I have been living: reveal to me what has been hindering me from having my life full of the Holy Ghost”? Shall we not cry, “Lord, break my heart into utter self-despair, and, oh! bring me in helplessness to wait for the Divine power, for the power of the Holy Ghost, to take possession and to fill me with a new life given all to Jesus?”

 Andrew Murray, The Deeper Christian Life (Chicago; New York; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1895).

Are You a Spiritual Person?

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Cor. 2:14-15).

Spirituality is something that everyone wants but what does that look like for a Christian? In that sense, the word ‘spirituality’ focuses on the ‘spiritual person’ (pneumatikos anthrōpos), the person who has placed their faith in the risen Christ, and is in the process of being renewed through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. The big question to ask oneself is “I’m I becoming more like Christ in the way I think, feel, and act?” We call that spiritual growth and development, which includes all aspects of our life in Christ. We don’t get to pick and choose, as Christ demands all of us as He has demonstrated and given (Matt. 16:24-26; Luke 14:26-27). In light of this a ‘spiritual person’ will develop ways of reading and engaging with God’s word that will promote spiritual nourishment to sustain the life of faith, enabling him or her to grow, to include any and all conditions. In fact, our greatest growth comes through trials and tribulations (James 1:1-13).

The ‘spiritual person’ will be a focused person. First, with all that this world is trying to get us focused on the primary focus must be on the person and work of Christ. This in part is what it means to be an Evangelical. The focus is on the ministry of Christ, the way in which he interacted with people through compassion and love. Focused on his suffering and death on the cross – a costly redemption in which Christ drank fully the cup of the wrath of God for our account.  Then there’s the resurrection, ascension, and the coming again, the sure hope that spurs us on to live a life that glorifies the Father. This is far different than other “spiritualties” that are out there on the American landscape.

This brings us again to the obvious conclusion that this ‘spiritual person’ will put an emphasis on reading, studying, and meditating on Scripture. This is where God has revealed himself and tells us about someone who matters more than anyone else – as well as us mattering to Christ as well. If there is no desire to learn more about this person, so you can draw closer to him then he has not initiated (grace) that relationship with you. In other words you are not saved. You only have a “form of godliness” in which these are people that we are actually to stay away from (2 Tim. 3:5).  Scripture is what helps us to understand more about God and his purpose for us in glorifying him fully and how we are to keep Jesus centered and as our vision for our faith. So then, what did you read, and study this morning? What Bible study groups are you in to learn, share and strengthen our faith? I firmly believe that small groups are the backbone of the church and our faith.

The ‘spiritual person’ will have as well an appreciation for hymns, commentaries, and other tools to help come along side the Scriptures. These are not substitutes for the Bible but they are like magnifying glasses to help us bring clarity to biblical ideas and principles.  We understand that we stand on broad shoulders from our past as the Holy Spirit worked through great men and women to bring about our rich Christian heritage.  We love the hymns that focus on the person of Christ and the majesty and character of our great God and Savior.  Evangelicalism has no place for writer of book, commentaries or songs who point us away from Scripture or Jesus Christ. The dependability and trustworthiness is to be determined by the extent to which these writers are centered on Christ and focused on the Scripture.

We must face the reality that we often take our faith for granted; we loose the awe of our great God and it becomes commonplace in our lives. We become culturally comfortable in our Christianity. This must be shaken off and a restoration needs to take place in our lives where we again and again reignite a passion for Christ. If we our to be ‘spiritual people’ and our faith is going to work, it must have both nourishment and enrichment. So in conclusion, are you a biblically spiritual person? Does your life reflect Christ? Is the word of God prominent in your daily life?  

Give Me More of God

I have been unsatisfied as of late of my desire and attitude toward God. These "feelings" are hard to put into words but I think most of us have found ourselves there at certain times in our walk with Christ. For me, it's been an overwhelming sense of despair and that feeling I often got while serving in the military when I put my 120 pound rucksack on my back. Then realizing that I would be jumping out of a plane with it and humping it in the jungle for the next several days - Ugg!

After my study and messages on Romans yesterday, talking with my wife last night and then my devotions this morning, I realize that there has been some discipline(s) that I have not exercised as fervantly in the last few months as I have in the past. Specifically they are fasting and prayer. Yes I have been praying but my sense of urgency and desperateness has not been what it demands. In light of where I'm at in my walk and the sense of being overwhelmed by a myriad of circumstances my greatest need is more of God.

In reading Romans in these last weeks, chapter 13:11-14 have come out of the inspired pages of Scripture as a desperate prayer as we plow through this most influential letter to the Christians at Rome. The time is now to "wake up out of sleep!" The urgency of my sense of despair as well as our circumstances in the snowballing affects of secularization in America; not to mention what is going on in the world around us requires a series wake up call to action.

That action must start on our knees before the Creator God who is the only one who can give the grace to increase our faith to cause change (beginning with my heart) through the Gospel. The answer and solution is always by grace through faith in him.

The fasting part deals directly with our desires. My desires have been far to concerned with the things of this world and even my own despair and sense of being overwhelmed. And so my desire needs to change to being overwhelmed by the presence and glory of God. Piper puts it like this, "The fight for faith is a fight to feast on all that God is for us in Christ. What we hunger for most we worship" (A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer. pg 10). 

The above quote is also the book I'll be reading to assist in fasting biblically and in the right attitude. So through prayer may his grace let my will respond to my Lord, knowing that power to obey is not in me, but that his free love alone enable me to serve him. So here then is my empty heart, fill it with your grace!

Philippians 3:8-11 "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith - that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

Having a Bad Day Spiritually?

We are embarking on a season of revival. It appears that our church is "having a revival" in October but actually there are many other churches that are also "planning and having revivals." It’s what we do here in the southern Bible belt. You might wonder why I have "revival" in quotations marks. And the reason is, we can't really plan nor have a revival but what must happen is for God to graciously give us a revival. J. I. Packer notes that “revival is an extraordinary work of God the Holy Spirit reinvigorating and propagating Christian piety in a community. He goes on to state that ‘Revival is an extraordinary work, because it marks the abrupt reversal of an established trend and state of things among those who profess to be God’s people” (Packer 1990, 318). What this means is we are not really having or planning but praying that God will look at the church that has grown cold and indifferent to God and the things of God and would wake up by the pouring out of the Holy Ghost in an awakening.  

In addition, Packer talked about our piety “being reinvigorated and propagated.” So how’s your piety. Piety means holiness or godliness as will be seen in our devotion to and reverence for God. Maybe this is something we can do in planning and having a revival. Hebrews says, “How much more will the blood of Christ…purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:14). The problem is the church (you and me) have been having some “bad” days spiritually speaking. Jerry Bridges talks about what we can do when this happens:

What should we do when we’ve had a “bad” day spiritually, when it seems we’ve done everything wrong and are feeling very guilty? We must go back to the cross and see Jesus there bearing our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24). We must by faith appropriate for ourselves the blood of Christ that will cleanse our guilty consciences (Hebrews 9:14).

In a bad-day scenario, we might pray something like this: “Father, I’ve sinned against You. I’ve been negligent in the spiritual disciplines that I know are necessary and helpful for my spiritual growth. I’ve been irritable and impatient toward those around me. I’ve allowed resentful and unkind thoughts to lodge in my mind. I repent of these sins and claim Your forgiveness.

“You have said You justify the wicked (Romans 4:5). Father, in view of my sins today, I acknowledge that in myself I am wicked. In fact, my problem is not merely the sins I’ve committed, some of which I may not even be aware of, but the fact that my heart is sinful. These sins I’m now so painfully conscious of are merely expressions of my sinful heart.

“But despite my sinfulness, You have said, ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). Given my acute awareness of my sin, that’s an incredible statement. How can I be without condemnation when I’ve so flagrantly and willfully sinned against You today?

“O Father, I know it’s because Jesus bore those sins in His body on the cross. He suffered the punishment I deserve, so I might experience the blessings He deserved. So I come to You, dear Father, in Jesus’ name (Bridges 2008, 12).

I wonder if we would take his advice and begin praying that prayer? Who knows what might happen to all those “bad” spiritual days we’ve been having.

Bibliography

Bridges, Jerry. Holiness Day by Day: Transformational Thoughts for Your Spiritual Journdy. Edited by Thomas Womack. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2008.

Packer, J. I. A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990.

"The Language of Amazement"

I was one of those people who didn’t grow up in the church. The only memory I have is going to a Presbyterian church every once in a great while. I don’t remember much of anything that was said, but I do remember two distinct things. First, there was the lighting of candles and there was a bunch of them. In lighting the candles there were supposed to be two people but one never showed and so one boy had to light what seemed to be hundreds of candles. The other thing I remember is the doxology. I used to love to hear the booming sound of the congregation singing those words. It was rightly and truly inspiring. Well, praise God the Lord saved me several years later as a 21 year old army man. I was saved in a Baptist church and they don’t sing the doxology and I often wonder why not?

Walter Brueggemann is known as one of America’s best theologians and one of the world’s foremost scholars on the Old Testament. In his book, Prophetic Imaginations he asserts … “I believe that, rightly embraced, no more subversive or prophetic idiom can be uttered than the practice of doxology, which sets us before the reality of God, of God right at the center of a scene from which we presumed he had fled” (Brueggemann 2001, 68).

Are you struggling about something today? Are you grief stricken about a wayward child, a physically ailing parent, or the loss of a loved one? Can I affirm to you today, by the uplifting presence and divine power of the person of the Holy Spirit that will enable you to rise up in the midst of whatever burden you bear and to SING with your whole heart and soul...

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below. 
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. 
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 

and 

"the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you" 

Bibliography                                                                                                                                  Brueggemann, Walter. The Prophetic Imagination. 2nd Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.

The Good of Good Friday - The Death, Burial, & Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ

The Cross of Christ – His death and resurrection is what the entire Bible points to. The Old Testament looks forward to the Cross of Christ and the New Testament gives the account and also continues, through the apostles and their preaching Christ and Him crucified. This historical event is the turning point for all of creation.

This is why we have a Good Friday, where we are to set time aside and worship Christ with all our heart, soul and might (Deut. 6:5-6; Matt. 22:37; Mk. 12:30; Lk 10:27) and what this event means in our new covenant relationship with the Father through Christ. 

I will be preaching on one of the sayings of Christ from the cross. However, some have asked what the other sayings were made by our Savior. Below are those sayings and I pray that we would think on these things not just during Easter but we might wright these in the cover of our Bibles and meditate on them throughout the year.

1.      “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

2.      “Verily [truly] I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

3.      “[Jesus] saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26-27).

4.      “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)

5.      “I thirst.” (John 19:28)

6.      “It is finished:” (John 19:30).

7.      “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit:” (Luke 23:46)

Bibliography:

Lutzer, Erwin W. Cries from the Cross: A Journey into the Heart of Jesus. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2002.

Pink, Arthur Walkington. The Seven Sayings of the Saviour on the Cross. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2005.

The Gospel

Have you thought about the Gospel lately? The gospel is the good news of salvation for hell-deserving sinners through the Person and work of Jesus Christ. It really should be something that we think about often as it relates to us. It is the one thing we are to be most passionate about. And not just passionate about sharing it with others, but also thinking and meditating on it ourselves. We need to rejoice in it, dwell on it and allow it to be the lens in which we look at our lives and the world around us.

I pray that we would learn that we need to be desperate for the gospel everyday. We need it to help us to keep from becoming a religion based people instead of a relationship based people. We need it to help keep us from becoming performance based Christian instead of grace based.

May we first preach the gospel to ourselves each day and in doing so we will realize with greater clarity the grace of God that was shed abroad in our hearts. We not only need to know the gospel, but also to love the God of the gospel and to see how it applies to every aspect and area of our lives.

"Moreover, bretheren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have reeived, and wherin ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:1-3).

Repentance

We don't hear much about repentance anymore. Even during our invitations we seldom hear that a person must repent and place his faith or trust in the person and work of Christ. King David set the pattern for us. David confessed and repented.

C.H. Spurgeon preached on repentance week after week, and somebody came to him and said, "When are you ging to quit preaching on repentance, pastor?" Spurgeon replied, "When you repent." When we talk about confession and repentance, we need to keep right on talking about it until either it has had its effect or we know it will have none. In those situations, Jesus said it best: "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet" (Matthew 10:14).

Do you need to do some repenting? Here are a couple of questions to ask yourself and in doing so, I think it will be obvious that we all need to spend some time in confessing and forsaking our sin and then to turn to Christ. 

1. Am I always truthful and honest?
2. Do I have any habits I am ashamed to let anybody know I have?
3. Is my speech clean?
4. Am I using my money wisely?
5. Do I gossip about people?
6. Am I heavenly minded or earthy minded?
7. Am I faithful in prayer?

These are a few questions. You can answer them evasively or truthfully. If you decide NOT to deal with them through repentance, you will find yourself very dissatisfied with your walk with the LORD. Or you can answer them truthfully and see renewal and satisfaction in your heart.

Put yourself in the hands of the LORD who loves you infinitely. If you have failed Him, you will have to admit that there is sin of omission or commission in your life. Tell Him - don't hide it. He will not turn His back in anger and say, "You disappoint me and betrayed me." He immediately sends his grace and mercy. His healing is complete in the blood of the Lamb will get you back to an intimate relationship with your Savior. 

Pray, then Prayer, then finish up by Praying

Spurgeon says: "Of course the preacher is above all others distinguished as a man of prayer. He prays as an ordinary Christian, else he were a hypocrite. He prays more than ordinary Christians, else he were disqualified for the office he has undertaken. If you as ministers are not very prayerful, you are to be pitied. If you become lax in sacred devotion, not only will you need to be pitied but your people also, and the day cometh in which you shall be ashamed and confounded. All our libraries and studies are mere emptiness compared with our closets. Our seasons of fasting and prayer at the Tabernacle have been high days indeed; never has heaven's gate stood wider; never have our hearts been nearer the central Glory."

Is prayer of primary concern for us who handle the Word of God? I'm finding that prayer must be entered into first and foremost and that the message is then refreshed by the breath of God. How we must labor in the Word but first we must begin in prayer, continue in prayer and to finish in prayer. 

Edward Payson was an American Congregational preacher in the early 19th century and said this in regards to prayer: "Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to a minister. Pray, then, my dear brother; pray, pray, pray."

I recently got together with some pastors and the conversation went to the Wednesday night prayer service. The question was asked "what do you do in your prayer service?" Of course, most there said they did all kinds of things but prayer was certainly not the emphasis and what was done most in those services. One minister said that he used it to pray. He followed that up with, however, you might as well know that you won't have a well attended service.

In my last church I was given the Wednesday night prayer service. However, I changed the name to the Mid-week service because the name certainly did not describe what we were doing at those service. Another one of my minister friends told me that they indeed pray and it's the highlight of the service. But he also told me that he struggled with the idea that his people would think that he was just coping out and too lazy to put together a sermon.

Wow. What does that say about our attitude towards prayer. What does that say about the reality that we really don't pray. We can talk the talk but when it comes down to the rubber hitting the road, we do very little work on bended knee.

For me, one of the hardest disciplines to do, is to pray. I believe it's difficult because Satan knows that it's the most needed discipline for you and I and, of course, the church. That is if we're going to be lead by the Father, and to have His mind, direction, and power in our lives.

We see all kinds of examples of this in Scripture. Jesus, the very Son of God, often got alone to be with God to pray.  "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35).  The Psalmist said: "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and and glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary" (Ps. 63:1-2).  

When was the last time you prayed? Have you prayed yet today? We are living in a dry and thirsty land and yet we forgo entering into his sanctuary - the New Jerusalem to see and spend time with our heavenly Father. To see his power and glory and to be empowered by his holiness. To be encouraged by his grace. To take a drink of the living water that only can quench our thirst and give us a greater thirst for him.

Let's pray.

A.W. Tozer on Worship

There is much talk about worship today and I thought this quote from Tozer is something we need to think about and take heed to. 

"In my opinion, the great single need of the moment is that light-hearted superficial religionists be struck down with a vision of God high and lifted up, with His train filling the temple.  The holy art of worship seems to have passed away like the Shekinah glory from the tabernacle.  As a result, we are left to our own devices and forced to make up the lack of spontaneous worship by bringing in countless cheap and tawdry activities to hold the attention of the church people."

                                                                                                                                 

A CALL TO ANGUISH

I would ask you to watch the short 7 - minute video below by David Wilkerson and then maybe ask yourself some questions.  I have put some of my own questions that I have asked following the video.   

When was the last time I was in anguish? 

When was the last time I cried out to God because of my sin?

  When was the last time I prayed ALL night for God's power or for a lost soul.?

  When was the last time I gave up your vacation to go on a missions trip or to serve in a ministry?

  When was the last time I read God's word and would not put it down until I heard His still small voice?

  When was the last time I shared my faith? When was the last time I came to church READY to worship God in spirit and in truth? 

When was the last time I gave sacrificially - where it hurt and would require me to give up something?

When am I going to be willing to be broken and spilled out for my savior as he was for me?

When will I quite playing church?

When will I be willing to humble myself and stand in awe before my savior?

When?  When?  When?

Preaching is NOT a game

How should a preacher preach?  2 Timothy 3:16 – 4:2 gives us one of the most, if not thee most lofty COMMANDS in Scripture.  2 Timothy 4:1-2 “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!...” 

That is quite an astounding introduction to God’s command for those of us who stand up and preach the Word.  This verse tells us that preaching is an exalted and serious charge to preach the word.  This charge is given to us before God.  AND before the Lord Jesus Christ.  AND that He is coming again.  AND when He comes He will judge. AND finally that He will be ruling His kingdom.  That tells me that the stakes are high.  That tells me it’s a serious thing to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That tells me that what hangs in the balance is eternal life or eternal death. 

This command proceeds that which is given to us in the preceding verses.  In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 it says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Our preaching deals with God’s inspired words that he has preserved in what we call the Bible – not my words but his words and his voice.  Thus I’m to preach his word and it is done in the sight of God and in the name of Christ Jesus, who’s coming to judge and who one day I will stand and give an account (Hebrews 13:17).  Not only that, but all teachers of his word will be held accountable and to a higher standard in how they taught the Bible (James 3:1). 

The profound effect that this has on me is that preaching is not a game!  I must remember the seriousness of man’s proclamation and how I’m to expose the voice of God and exalt the greatness of God.  I’m not to tell stories or jokes or give my ideas, or my philosophies or my wisdom.  I am to be an under-shepherd and a spokesman to a flock of people.  I'm to open up the revelation of God’s word and give them a glimpse of his greatness, and his mercy, and his majesty, and his holiness and to say that he is worthy of every bit of our attention and the total surrender of our lives to him. 

Dear heavenly Father, raise up a people that want to see the glory of God and hear and obey your voice.  May they come to hear and desire your word and may we respond with open hearts and minds, and radically changed lives. 

Redifining God

An article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in April 21, 2000 that "Across the country, the faithful are redefining God. Dissatisfied with conventional images of an authoritarian or paternalistic deity, people are embracing quirky, individualistic conceptions of god to suit their own spiritual needs.”

You might say, ‘yes, this is what our culture is doing’, but I would submit to you that it’s also in our churches.  We have a tendency today to redefine God into who we want Him to be.  He’s a god that is okay with the middle class American way of life.  He’s a god that’s okay with our self-satisfied lukewarm faith.  He’s comfortable with our apathy and half-hearted devotion to him.  He’s comfortable with our materialistic indulgences.  He’s okay with these things, why? – because we are. 

And so what do we do? – we fashion a god who looks a lot like us and this is a dangerous thing because when we gather together each week for our so called worship services what happens is not true worship to the revealed God of the Scriptures who is worthy of our praise.  In all reality the only person we are worshipping is ourselves and the actual God we’re supposed to be worshipping has been grossly mis-defined.  We become just like the Israelites who fashioned a golden calf in the desert.  We worship a god that we’ve crafted in our own mind and this god is one that we can control and he’s okay with whatever we do, to include even our sin.    

Our goal must not ever be to redefine God, because He’s not open to redefinition.  The goal is revelation –to see how He has chosen to reveal Himself in scripture. 

The WSJ goes on to say that “These gentler, almost mystical forms of theology have found a receptive audience in today’s affluent society.  Americans are cobbling together a spiritual life from a variety of religious influences, along with a dash of yoga and psychotherapy or whatever else moves them.”  This is an example of man-centered theology in which people will be quick to quote “Cast all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  But avoid verses that say “If any man will come after me (Jesus), let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24).   

“People seek out these new gods the way they seek out new products in the marketplace, ‘says Randall Styers, assistant professor at Union Theological Seminary, in New York.  ‘It’s the ultimate form of individualism.” 

There are some key questions that we all need to think about: Who are we worshipping?  Is it the true God that has revealed Himself in Scripture or is it some other god that we’ve created in our minds?