Stushie’s Stuff

Some people find it difficult to call others in their midst, “heretics.” We live in a culture where tolerance is the panacea to all our troubles, and intolerance is anathema to peace and unity. But it was Jesus Himself who pointed out that heretics would be in our midst. We delude ourselves if we believe that He is totally tolerant of those who would twist His words and bend the truth of the Gospel. Heresy happens because we are phobic about being called “intolerant.” We have believed the world’s propaganda that we are narrow-minded, conservative reactionaries instead of faithful servants of Christ. We are not Torquemada and the Inquisition; we are followers of Christ and of His Kingdom. The world crucified Christ – are we so deluded that we think it will deal with us without hostility?

Those who are heretics often present themselves in the noblest of terms. They are seeking to be inclusive and non-judgmental. They want peace in the world and equality for everyone. They preach a message of tolerance, yet beneath their words there is a deep intolerance of those who keep to the old ways, the lasting virtues, and Gospel values. They want to devour the Church and make it bend to their universalistic will. They forget that the Church is Christ’s Bride – it submits to no will but His own.

It is both sad and shocking to realize that most heretics come from the ranks of the clergy. They have their own personal agenda to make the Church what they want it to be. They lead with deceit and seek to make more followers of themselves. They preach their own gospel and set aside Christ’s words, work, and ways. They look for weak-minded people and lovers of selves, hoping to bring them into their pack by disguising it as a flock. On the outside, their congregations look like a church, but on the inside false teaching, narcissistic nurturing, and worldly views are treated and presented as being Christian.

The heretics proclaim a rosier future where all people can live in peace throughout the world – a utopian place where all thoughts are acceptable, all notions are tolerated, and all religions are the same. They seek a perfect world, but not the perfect kingdom; they want a united world, but not a united faith; they seek the glory of God for themselves and look to plunder the Church. Heretics are dangerous teachers – they contaminate souls and dismember the body of Christ.

The object of heresy is to make as many disciples as possible to strengthen their ideas and to bolster their opinions. They denounce their opponents as uncaring, unloving, and unchristian people. They seek to divide and conquer. They gloat when some sheep leave the fold. They glory in apostasy and revel in the moral ambivalence of the people. Heretics abound where Biblical ignorance exists. They confound the faithful by willfully misinterpreting the scriptures and questioning Biblical authority. They are more interested in the present times than the past. They are more concerned with things happening now, than those which are still to come. They judge people today, forgetting about the judgment that awaits all of us tomorrow.

The ability of heresy to camouflage itself in the life of the Church is what makes it so dangerous, and needs to be exposed. The choosing of Church leaders needs to be carefully scrutinized; the positioning of teachers in our seminaries needs to be fully recovered by the Church; and the publishing of heretical works under the guise of being academic needs to be halted. Gospel values are undermined when the Church neglects to uphold traditional beliefs and to promote the Gospel. If the Church has become a channel for promulgating Christless studies and false teachings by our preachers, doctors, and professors, then we have become apostate in nature and need to repent. And remember, heretics do not see the need for repentance, nor do they wish to humble themselves before God.

Just because a heretic can present his or her false teachings in a sound and studious manner, does not mean that their heresy is any less. The arch advocate for apostasy eloquently argued with Christ in the wilderness, using scripture and doctrine, flattery and logic to present his case. Christ, however badly He was tempted, did not succumb to the heretic from hell’s words. Christ resolutely remained loyal to God and stuck to the Truth. He did not compromise His beliefs; He did not yield to false arguments in order to be accommodate His opponent, nor did Christ respect the devil’s research and knowledge. In order to remain faithful to Christ, we must be ready to do the same.

Audio version here 

Deuteronomy 4:15,16            You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman.

You may not know it, but I love drawing as well as writing. I find both to be very therapeutic. I tend to draw late at night just before I go to bed. It helps to switch off my mind and enables me to wind down after a hectic day. I usually use wax crayons in my drawings. I guess I’ve always been that way since a child. I like the grain effect that crayons produce. Lately, I’ve been designing stained glass windows using the grain effect to enhance the drawings.

I think that the Hebrew children must have loved to draw as well. Maybe they made pictures in the sand or chalked drawings on the rocks. However, they were under a strict prohibition not to make an image and then glorify it. God was beyond their imagining and didn’t want to be contained in a painting or drawing, idol or statue. He was greater than they could possibly know, so to picture Him in an image was to diminish God entirely.

God also liked to reveal His nature to His people in different ways and at different times. The Old Testament is full of events and circumstances where God’s presence is known amongst the people in a dynamic way. Those events such as the Crossing of the Red Sea, Elijah’s sacrifice on Mount Carmel, and Daniel in the Lion’s den testify to the immediate and true presence of God. Images and idols, drawings and pictures were not needed to convince the people that God was truly with them.

And then God’s final revelation to the world came to us in Jesus Christ, His Holy Son. In the midst of a world empire that was obsessed with images and idols, statues and temples, God quietly brought His Son into our world to reveal to us His love, His care, His mercy and grace.

As much as I enjoy drawing, I know that I can never depict Christ as He really is, nor do I ever want to. He is the final revelation of God and we are meant to be attracted to His life, teaching, and words, so that we can one day step into the holy, wonderful, and awesome presence of God. Without Christ in our hearts, we cannot gain entrance to God’s Kingdom. Without Jesus in our lives, we will never get beyond the Pearly Gates. He is the ultimate image of God in the world. Our purpose is to help as many others as we can to see Him that way, too.

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You are the Holy Son of God and the last great hope for humankind. You are the true image of holiness and perfection, of strength and courage, of mercy and grace. Help us to turn to You this day, to glorify Your words and deeds, so that we may confidently tell others about who You really are. In Your Holy Name, we humbly serve and pray. Amen.

There’s a lot of trouble in the world right now. People are rioting in under-developed countries because they can’t afford to buy food. Prices for staples such as bread and rice have reached astronomical prices that some communities are in danger of starvation. This is not being caused through famine or shortages, but because they cannot earn enough each week to feed their families anymore.

Even here in the United States, the wealthiest nation on earth, working families in Atlanta are having to go to church food banks to help them out. They cannot afford to keep up with gasoline prices, but they need their cars to keep their jobs. So they need to get food for the weekend from charity organizations.

And some seniors in our society are suffering, too. Medical prescriptions and essential supplies are becoming so expensive that people are skipping to take what they need, in order to make their pills and capsules last a little while longer before refills are required.

Who cares about these things? What has happened to our country, and our world that we’re faced with so many shortages? Who is getting rich off the backs of the poor, the hungry, and the economically oppressed? Why is this happening, and what do we need do to change this?

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Personally, I think it is all symptomatic of people turning their backs on Christ and idolizing money. It may be too simple a diagnosis for most people, but let’s consider the facts: ever since society started too become more secular, more anti-religious, and more atheistic, the world has become a very scary, more violent, deeply troubled place. As our churches started emptying, so has the goodwill and prosperity of our people. Doesn’t anyone see a pattern here? Am I making this all up to score some “I told you so” points?

We need to evangelize as churches and get people reconnected to Christ. His presence saved civilization for 2000 years. Do we really want to turn back the clock and re-enter a time where survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle operates throughout the world? Are we really that ornery, stubborn, stiff-necked, and essert, that we won’t admit to ourselves that this fifty year experimentation with secular instability and militant atheism is ruining the hopes and dreams of a peaceable kingdom? Have we so bought into consumerism and its material world that we are now consuming ourselves and that other people don’t matter anymore?

People, whether we like it or not, whether we can accept it or reject it, the simple truth is this: Jesus is, and always has been, the answer to our woes. When we start believing in Him and applying His commandment of loving one another, then we will work together to overcome this mess that the secularists, materialists, consumerists, and atheists have created. Only Jesus can overcome our troubles. Only He can lead us back to salvation.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, forgive us for rejecting Your counsel and accepting the world’s ways. Pardon us for putting you in a box and keeping You confined. Help us to recognize that the diminishing of our faith means the increase of trouble for the world. Help us to turn the world around by changing our communities with Your Living, Loving presence. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.