"Even for those Americans who strongly identify with a religion, 45% of those polled said they did not want to see a return to in-person services at churches, synagogues and mosques," reports the New York Post.
Paul writes in Ephesians 2:2, [2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
“The ‘course of this world’ is the issue of this world’s onward movement and the path that it is following as it proceeds forward," explains renowned Bible teacher Keith Blades. "Paul says not only was a ‘course’ of open rebelliousness and unrighteousness charted by Satan, but included in it is the issue of appalling ungodliness that sees man transferring to Satan himself the worship and service that rightfully only belongs to God. Satan and his angels are the ones behind the idolatry of the nations.”
“The prince is the chief ruler and ‘the prince of the power’ is the governmental authority, but the air is the invisible realm,” explains Jordan. “He’s not only the prince of this world, that you can see out there in the government, he’s ‘the prince of the power,’ or the governmental authority in the invisible realm. He’s the chief ruler of the governmental authority in the invisible realm, too. He controls the government in the heavenly places. He’s the one who has usurped that position and sits as the head of the government in the heavens. That was Satan’s ORIGINAL plan; his original plot."
*****
Virginia-based Griffin Capital Funding, which specializes in church real estate loans, "believes the extended shutdowns would take a heavy financial toll on about half of U.S. churches," reports Reuters.
In an internet article, a popular Louisiana preacher with the Pentecostal Church Of God--a denomination with about 500,000 members--lamented that pastors "are failing to stress the importance of messages in tongues in their teachings."
He argued, "The emotional and spiritual connection of speaking in tongues, the visceral experience, is what appeals to those in need during a time of economic and social instability, and is arguably the heart of the Pentecostal movement . . . This is our power."
*****
The reason the people at Corinth were seeking the gift of tongues is "that gift is a sensational thing that makes you look real spiritual,” said Jordan in a recent study. “You see, the spiritual gifts (I Cor. 12:7) were the outward manifestations of the working of the Spirit of God in you.
“Everything in a local church, in connection with worshipping God, is to be done for the purpose of edification. Think about that.
“What the church today, evangelicalism, calls ‘worship’ we used to call the ‘song service.’ We still do. Back when I was coming up, you called the Sunday morning preaching service the ‘worship service.’ Some people still call it that but not very many. I used to complain, ‘Well, we don’t worship God just one hour on Sunday morning; we worship Him 24/7.’ Now the worship service is only 20 minutes of that hour. It’s a song service.
*****
Virginia-based Griffin Capital Funding, which specializes in church real estate loans, "believes the extended shutdowns would take a heavy financial toll on about half of U.S. churches," reports Reuters.
In an internet article, a popular Louisiana preacher with the Pentecostal Church Of God--a denomination with about 500,000 members--lamented that pastors "are failing to stress the importance of messages in tongues in their teachings."
He argued, "The emotional and spiritual connection of speaking in tongues, the visceral experience, is what appeals to those in need during a time of economic and social instability, and is arguably the heart of the Pentecostal movement . . . This is our power."
*****
The reason the people at Corinth were seeking the gift of tongues is "that gift is a sensational thing that makes you look real spiritual,” said Jordan in a recent study. “You see, the spiritual gifts (I Cor. 12:7) were the outward manifestations of the working of the Spirit of God in you.
“I look at you guys (sitting here today) and I don’t see the Spirit of God working in you. You don’t see Him working in me. He’s inside. You don’t see that. You don’t feel it, you don’t sense it. It’s a non-experiential reality. But when they have those gifts, they start to ‘ffttooo’ and it’s ‘bloo-hoo-hoo-hoo,’ and you can see the manifestation.
“In the Scripture, the people who had the biggest manifestation of the tongue-talking are the worst assembly Paul wrote to. It was not a sign of spirituality; it was a sign of carnality. The Corinthians were the most carnal church Paul wrote to. And they were the ones seeking the spiritual gifts. They were seeking the sensational stuff.
“Notice In I Corinthians 12:14 what Paul says you’re supposed to do: ‘Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.’
“You see, they were trying to get the spectacular. Paul says, ‘Everything related to what goes on in the church is for one purpose: edifying, building up an internal structure in the Believers that causes you to become mature.’
“He says in verse 26, ‘How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, everyone of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.’
*****“Everything in a local church, in connection with worshipping God, is to be done for the purpose of edification. Think about that.
“You need to understand, a lot of stuff we do here people don’t do in other places. People come here and say, ‘Why don’t you all do that?’ It’s because what we DO do is for the purpose of edification.
“What the church today, evangelicalism, calls ‘worship’ we used to call the ‘song service.’ We still do. Back when I was coming up, you called the Sunday morning preaching service the ‘worship service.’ Some people still call it that but not very many. I used to complain, ‘Well, we don’t worship God just one hour on Sunday morning; we worship Him 24/7.’ Now the worship service is only 20 minutes of that hour. It’s a song service.
“But everything, whether it’s the singing, the preaching, the cleaning up of the place, everything is to be done with an eye to the edification of the Believer. That issue of the communication of sound doctrine for the purpose of providing the edification and stability of a person’s inner man--not just teaching the information, but having it go hands-on into the operation of the life. Not just knowing it, but the ability to value and esteem it with that renewed mind and put it into action to bring a person to the place of fully functioning properly."
(new article tomorrow)
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