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Today’s Devotional – September 4th

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Christian “Cool”!

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A growing phenomenon began to rise up in this society in the early Twentieth Century, or perhaps even earlier. It was called being “Modern” in those early years. It was the ideology that in order to be relevant, one had to be trendy or fashionable. And our society immediately locked itself onto this ideology and was commandeered by the “god of this world” into a downward spiral from that time forward!

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Yes, everything in society became subject to this unwritten law of conformity by fashion! The music we listened to, the clothing we wore. The trendy speech we spoke. The places we went. The cars we drove. The drinks we drank. The cigarettes we smoked.

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Everything became dictated by some unseen “Overlord”, who told us just what is “hip”, and what is not “hip”! And these societal dogmas and maxims were imposed upon us via television, radio, magazines, and eventually Internet!

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Roaring Twenties – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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THE YOUNG, SATAN’S SPECIAL TARGETS!

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And of course, this powerful ideology of “what is hip & cool”, found its most loyal adherents among the younger segment of society, as they scrambled to find some sort of proud identity for themselves among their peers.

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Well, as the decades progressed, this ideology of “being fashionable” changed with each passing decade, making the trends of the former decade obsolete! Oh yes, the retail industry loved all this planned obsolescence, since they could sell the newest fashions, the latest model of automobile, the most popular resort, the trendiest furniture, the newest colors in décor. And the peoples of the western nations became willing slaves and anxious devotees to this ideology of being “cool”.

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The Beatles – Wikimedia – Creative Commons – Share-Alike License

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“COOL” ENTERS THE CHURCH!

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And of course, the Church eventually fell into this same notion, that in order to be relevant, we too had to be “cool and hip”! And so, fashionability found its way into the Church of God! Oh yes, we were decades late in hopping aboard this bandwagon of “being cool!” But by the end of the Twentieth Century, the western churches were fully on-board with this societal train taking us further and further down into moral decadence into the spiritual abyss. 

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Yes, reverent hymns were replaced with drums, guitars, sensual crooners & sexy-sirens, throbbing bass guitars, and all the while trying to somehow incorporate quasi-Christian lyrics into the midst of all this very earthy and sensual music.

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“Ministers of righteousness” also got on-board, by discarding their suits and ties, and instead, now donning un-buttoned sport-shirts, designer clothes, and a monologue combining stand-up comic humor, “coolness”, along with motivational-speaker dynamics!

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Rock Christian STP 2010 Pomona – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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APOSTATE CHURCHES THRIVING!

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And so, because the vast majority of church-goers already had a self-imposed indoctrination via their own television and radio etc., at home, it took little effort by the spirit of Anti-Christ to sell the church parishioners on this idea of introducing, “cutting-edge”, relevance into the church-world! And let’s face it! This new church-trendiness had an appeal among our young people, and kept them from leaving the Church!

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Well, to a certain degree all this did actually succeed in keeping the youth in the Church. And by combining this “Christian Coolness” with the prosperity-driven gospels, the churches thrived like never before! Yes, the leaders of this movement could easily fill up stadiums full of enthusiastic audiences. And throw in a little dose of “socialism” disguised as Agape Love, and it became the near-perfect counterfeit gospel!

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skateboarder Jesus in Jeans by Peter Royle – cropped image – WIKIMEDIA – SHARE-ALIKE LICENSE

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JESUS: THE SAME, FOREVER!

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But the great spoiler to all this came, whenever the true Jesus was held up against this clever counterfeit, “Christian-Cool” version of the Gospel. Yes, if this compromised gospel was compared to the Holy Son of God, then it began to appear in all its UN-holiness. And the light shining from the nail-pierced hands of Jesus exposed the darkness of this modern-day sophistry by His Satanic Majesty! 

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The Bible declares… “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. 

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There is nothing trendy nor fashionable about Jesus Christ. There is no joking and jesting nor any irreverence in God’s Word. It is totally serious! It is totally reverent! And even though popular preachers wanted to make to themselves a God who likes to joke and jest, the fact is, the Bible is completely void of all such nonsense, and had to be twisted by religious spin-doctors in order to morph Christianity into something that it was not!

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Jesus Teaching His Disciples – Luke 4:31-32 – www.lavistachurchofchrist.org

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SATAN: THE ULTIMATE “COOL”!

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We live in a world which is greatly under the authority, of “the god of this world”, Satan (2nd Corinthians 4:4). And the inhabitants of this world are under the control of the, “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” Ephesians 2:2. Yes, the spirit of Anti-Christ is merely the worldly spirit which controls the minds of this unbelieving world.

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Listen… “They (Anti-Christs) are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.” 1st John 4:5

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And so, by bringing such worldly lifestyles into the churches, was to bring the spirit of Anti-Christ into God’s house. Hence, we brought the Abomination of Desolation into God’s house!

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Satan presiding at the Infernal Council – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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SEPARATING THE COMMON FROM THE HOLY

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Listen to God’s speech to Jeremiah… “Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before Me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as My mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.” Jeremiah 15:19. 

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God here was telling Jeremiah to remove all commonness, and cheapness, and worldliness from his speech. This was the battle-line which God was drawing in the sand, so to speak, between Jeremiah, and the apostate congregation of his day!

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The only evangelism that God will approve of, is the purity of Christ’s Gospel. Any compromising of that pure Gospel will only result in Anti-Christs being brought into the churches. You simply cannot expect God’s blessing by mingling Christ with this Anti-Christ world! That’s not the way to bring sheep into God’s pasture! 

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It was extremely critical that no worldly ideology was to be mingled into the Gospel. Comedy, fashion, “coolness”, drama, sensual music, ethnic/cultural-traditions, earthly-prosperity-driven gospels, patriotism, socialism, or whatever other worldly baggage, were to be left outside of the City of Heavenly Zion. It was to be discarded in, “Tophet” (i.e., The Valley of Slaughter), where it belonged! (Jeremiah 7:32 & 19:6)

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TOO NARROW FOR ‘COOL’

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The Narrow Gate is only wide enough for a redeemed soul filled with Jesus to fit through. So please don’t try to bring any ways & wares of the world into God’s house! God will not accept anyone who tries. They will be left in outer darkness, thinking that they are sitting among the “Congregation of the Righteous” Psalms 1:5, when in fact they will only be left on the outside, sitting among the “Congregation of the Dead.” Proverbs 21:16.

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PURITY & HOLINESS = PEACE & JOY

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God always gives joy and peace to those who desire to live in purity and holiness. It is a peace which surpasses all worldly wisdom and comprehension. Contrariwise, those who insist on having a compromised gospel will never find that peace and joy until they turn and repent, and return to the Lord.

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Woman with Bible – Braet von Überfeldt – 1866 – Wikipedia – US Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, Let me live my life in the purity and likeness of Jesus. Help me to shed of all my compromising ways, so that all the world might see Jesus in me. I understand that I am so unchristlike, and need your tender mercy and patience in bringing me to Thy glory…

Marine Praying – Wikimedia – USMC Public Domain

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “Fleeing to the Mountains: The Abomination in the Church, Part 1” or you can also read…“(George Whitefield: Ye Must Be Born Again!)”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

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“THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN”

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“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:30 

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When God promised that “there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;” Luke 21:25, we didn’t remember that “the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Hebrews 4: The Signs Of Heaven were already created from the foundation of the world. But as we have learned in the past, God often works in ways we aren’t expecting, or looking for. For instance, at the first Advent, Jesus came in a way that nobody was expecting. There was a general consensus amongst the theologians in those days, that the Messiah would come with conquering armies to overtake the enemies of the Jews. And of course, the quiet and gentle manner in which Jesus did actually come took everyone by surprise.

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LOOSING THE BANDS OF ORION 

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God spoke several times of Orion, in Scripture. His question to Job was a very mystifying question, to say the least… “Canst thou…loose the bands of Orion?” Job 38:31. Such a strange question, indeed! How could a constellation have its bands loosed, much less, even have bands? Puzzling, puzzling!

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But now, He is revealing this bright and beautiful constellation in a way that has never before been seen. God Himself is loosing Orion’s bands, as He is just now unraveling this age-old mystery. And we are beginning to understand that this most infamous of all constellations is nothing less than a remarkable metaphor concerning Jesus.   

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THE 5 OFFICES OF ORION

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But like most of the other Signs which this website reveals, Orion too, has much more to say as he changes his position in the sky. And this Soldier in the Heavens puts on different garb, as he presents the five awesome aspects of his various offices. From ‘Orion the Soldier’, and ‘Orion the Reaper’, and ‘Orion the Archer’, and ‘The Cross of Orion’, and last but certainly not least, “Orion, The Good Shepherd”. This amazing constellation presents a very complex revelation of the God’s magnificent love for a fallen planet.

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Orion Phenomena” 

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TOMORROW:

September 5th (Nature’s Witnesses, Part 10: “The Joy of Creation!”)

Mother Child face-to-face – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

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Those who are interested in using photos on this page may click on the provided links below each photo, to get to Wikimedia Commons for various licensing names, details, and tags, and all other necessary info on any particular photo.