I read this article posted by Tony Perkins, in the Charismatic internet magazine CharismaNews In the article we were told that lead singer Dan Haseltine, of the apostate worship band Jars of Clay, said that he was tired of “carrying evangelical expectations on [his] shoulders.” He has decided that it does not matter how much Scriptural evidence is given, he no longer believes in the Biblical definition of marriage.
So he is going to break every moral statement that he has ever made and he is going to bow the knee to the god of this world who openly allows for and promotes all deviant behaviors.
Haseltine said “I don’t particularly care about Scripture’s stance on what is ‘wrong,’ I care more about how it says we should treat people. Tweeting Scripture verses to settle my questions of gay marriage isn’t helpful. Simple answers to complex questions = meh.”
According to the article Haseltine “dropped the conversation altogether. He apologized for his “poor choice of words,” but not for his position.” Haseltine could not understand why radio stations have stopped promoting JOC music. He tweeted,
Caught wind that some radio stations have pulled my music,” the singer said on Twitter. “Why?
Tony Perkins answers the incredulous question by stating that Paul makes it pretty clear as to why in 1 Corinthians 5. How can the church hope to influence the culture when Christians have willfully compromised the truth of God?
After reading this article I immediately thought about two things. The first thing I thought about was the picture of the little kids trying to pick up all the kittens they had found by a stream. And the next was Hosea 4:6,
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Sure this is Old Testament and applies directly to Israel, but you have to be blind not to see the correlation. We are so blind in the church today, and so malnourished spiritually that we cannot even identify what we are dealing with–apostates who never were a part of the Body of Christ to begin with.
Tony Perkins was almost right when he used 1 Corinthians 5 to speak of “why” radio stations were not promoting Jars of Clay anymore. But where he missed the mark, is that Romans 1:32 says,
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
No offense to Tony Perkins but he has missed the mark on discernment issues many times before. Such as the concept of ending abortion versus slowing it down for the next 40 years. See, we have forgotten how to Mark out those who cause division and stray from the true doctrines of the faith. We’ve gotten so comfortable being cozy and nice that we’ve forgotten to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all finally given to the saints.
There is no compromise. There is no fellowship, There is no accord. There is no dialogue with the sin-loving world. Even if you do get them to come into the church and make a decision for Christ. that will never be enough to cause them to stand firmly upon The Word that all Christians are entrusted to, because The Word of God is not their sure foundation, emotionalism and decisionism are, and that only lasts until they change their minds and get tired of “carrying evangelical expectations on [their] shoulders.”
Even Haseltine himself said it. It does not matter what the Bible says, and even if Christ came down Himself and told everyone again what He has already said, that would not matter in the least. Haseltine and Jars of Clay and Warren and Osteen and you name the heretic will not stand fast on the once and for all settled and given Word of God. Because that was never their authority to begin with, and they were never part of us. The proof, as John, the beloved Apostle, says in 1 John 2: 18,
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.d I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
It is time Christians to identify and to believe what God says about who we are, and how we are to know a false teacher, lying wolf, and apostate who never was one of us. Little children do not have the discernment to know the difference between a cat and a skunk until they get sprayed. God’s children are called to use the discernment of the Spirit that He gave us, through the Word He left us, and we are supposed to warn the church and call out the false teachers exposing them to the Light. Foolish Christians refuse to use the Discernment that God has given us in His Word, and they end up allowing the wolves in because they are popular and they bring the crowds to the church’s doorstep without the struggle of the old pesky gospel that so many find offensive and uncomfortable to speak about.
Those who are false hate the light because their deeds are exposed. They might taste and like some of the heavenly truth, but they cannot stand the constant blazing white hot light of Gods Word. They have to get away from it and get back to wallowing in the pig’s trough. They want to affirm the wicked debauchery of the world because it comforts the depraved hearts that they have been carrying for so long.
A true Biblical Christian Calls sinners out of this world, because we have been saved from the snares and cares of this world and we look to heaven as our hope and our home. We so desire that God is glorified that we refuse to compromise with the world but we want God to be famous in the repentance of the world.
[Guest Post by Pastor Justin Pierce, Grace Life Church Tri~Cities]