Daily Devotional for Tuesday August 5, 2014

Amma The Hugging Saint and an Apostate Church and Pastorate - Part 2 of 2

(John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 3:12, 23; Ephesians 2:8,9)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, in reality, I'm confused since you always teach we are to take the Gospel into this lost world, yet the Bible actually COMMANDS us to separate ourselves from this world. Which is right?

ANSWER: They BOTH are. The Biblical teaching of separating ourselves from this world is in a spiritual sense, that we are to separate ourselves from a world that rejects Christ and the Truth of God's Word. However, while we separate ourselves spiritually from this world in rebellion to God, we are to take His Truth from the Bible and the hope of Christ through the Gospel to that rebellious world that they might be saved.

PART TWO OF TWO (PART ONE: http://www.liveprayer.com/ddarchive3.cfm?id=5654)

TODAY IS THE SECOND OF A SPECIAL TWO-PART DAILY DEVOTIONAL. PLEASE READ PART ONE IF YOU MISSED IT (LINK ABOVE), SINCE THIS TWO-PART SERIES IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND NEEDED MESSAGES OF OUR DAY! YOU WILL SEE THE VERY REAL IMPACT OF NEARLY TWO GENERATIONS OF A WEAK AND INEFFECTIVE CHURCH DUE TO GUTLESS PASTORS WHO HAVE WATERED DOWN BIBLICAL TRUTH AND THE GOSPEL, BECOMING LITTLE MORE THAN MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS AND CELEBRITIES BUILDING THEIR OWN KINGDOM INSTEAD OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD! THE RESULT IS COUNTLESS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO AREN'T IN THE STREETS, BUT IN THE CHURCH, WHO WILL DIE AND SPEND ETERNITY IN HELL BECAUSE OF THE APOSTASY OF THE CHURCH AND ITS' LEADERS!!!

The product of an weak, apathetic, and watered down church and gutless pastors! I am going to share with you a very instructive email we received recently here at Liveprayer. Sadly, we receive many similar emails every day. I believe it not only clearly exposes the apostate church and clergy of our day, but is a perfect example of how lost and confused many people WHO ARE IN THE CHURCH really are!

I am hammered often for speaking out against this age of compromised churches and pastors. That is because unlike myself, most people never see the incredible damage that is being done to tens of millions of lives due to that vast percentage of churches and pastors whose vision is no longer about preaching the Truth of the Bible and the eternal souls of men, but have compromised in a multitude of ways to follow this world in rebellion to God and His Truth.

THE BYPRODUCT OF THIS GENERATION OF APOSTATE CHURCHES AND PASTORS ARE TENS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY ARE IN CHURCH, MANY WHO WILL NEEDLESSLY END UP IN THE FLAMES OF HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY!!!

"Pastor Keller, I live in Michigan. I am the blessed other half of a passionate and wonderful Godly man. I am the soon the be step mom of two beautiful girls. I am a Christian yoga instructor and devoted follower and lover of Jesus."

Any time I see "Christian yoga instructor" the antennas immediately go up since the foundation of yoga has NOTHING to do with God's Truth and is based on New Age philosophies. I immediately know I am dealing with someone who is at best a babe in Christ and is not in a strong Bible-based church or surrounded with strong Christian friends who would immediately explain why Christianity and yoga aren't compatible.

Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word yug, which means "to yoke." The historic purpose behind yoga is to achieve union with the Hindu concept of God. It is impossible to practice yoga and separate it from its spiritual elements. There are a multitude of ways for Christians to exercise and achieve the same physical results they get from yoga without getting involved in something that is clearly not of God and actually based in the demonic when you fully understand the roots of yoga!

"Just in the past month, I attended an event with a large gathering of people in Chicago. Young, old, dark skinned, light skinned, American, Indian, etc. I went to go see 'Amma'. As a Christian, some of the practices, songs, and decorations were very foreign to me and my understanding. I felt a bit out of place, yet quite calm at the same time. I stopped for a moment to sit and pray and ask Jesus' presence to fall upon me. I asked for the Holy Spirit to show me something. And was I ever shown something."

Now it is not the antennas going up, but whistles, bells, and sirens going off! Again, anyone purposely going to see "Amma," only tells me they have bought into the media hype about her and haven't got a clue who she really is in a spiritual sense, and again, confirms that she is in a very weak church and isn't surrounded by mature Christian friends.

Her spiritual gut WAS telling her she was in the wrong place, that is clear. I have no clue what she prayed for though she claims it was for the Holy Spirit to show her something. The fact is, the Holy Spirit DID show her that this was NOT a place for her to be, but she clearly has little to no discernment (discernment is built over time with much practice) or she would have immediately left.

"A boy, about 6 years old, turned around from where he was sitting and flashed me the biggest smile I'd seen in sometime. His eyes were lit up, his face so happy and genuine. I absolutely froze. This boy, this sweet Indian boy, a Hindu boy, with all that light and love in his eyes and no doubt in his heart, singing and dancing and playing with his friends. That boy is a child of God. Jesus loves him. If that little boy doesn't make it to heaven, I can hardly believe any of the rest of us will."

Nothing wrong about the innocence of a child. Actually, it is one of the purest things there is. She is also right that this little boy is a child of God and that Jesus loves him. Even though she clearly doesn't have much theological understanding, it is true that if that child died PRIOR to getting to a place in his life where he understands his sin and held accountable by God he will be in Heaven.

Should that little boy continue to live, he will eventually come to a point in his life (one that is different for each person depending on numerous factors) where God WILL hold him accountable for his sins and without making the conscious choice to put his faith in Jesus, no matter how cute he may be, it will be his sins that keep him from Heaven!

"Maybe it's one of those 'you had to be there' experiences. But that little boy changed my life, changed my outlook, and changed my heart toward my neighbors. It's not my job to definitively tell someone where they're headed after this life without tangible proof."

Again, there is nothing wrong with having love for your fellow man, especially those who may be from a different part of the world. It is a great reminder that we have ALL been created in the image of God and that Jesus died for the sins of ALL mankind. However, in her lack of Biblical understanding, if she is a Christian it is 100% her job to tell someone definitively where they are headed after this life since we DO have tangible proof!

This is the same pathetic verbiage spewed by Osteen when self-proclaimed atheist Larry King asked him 6 times in 5 minutes on national TV if Jesus was the ONLY way to be saved. Osteen, supposedly the "pastor" of the nation's largest church, sat there and gave the same answer as this theologically and Biblically challenged woman that it wasn't his place to tell people such things!!!

For Osteen and this woman, we DO know 100% where the souls of people will spend eternity because the Bible tells us. The only way to spend that etenrity in Heaven is by faith in Jesus. THERE ARE NO OTHER ROADS, NO OTHER WAY! The Bible also clearly teaches that those who reject faith in Christ are destined to eternity in hell.

IF IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO SHARE THE WORDS OF EVERLASTING LIFE WITH PEOPLE, WHOSE IS IT??? IF THOSE WHO KNOW CHRIST IN THE PARDON OF OUR SINS DON'T TELL PEOPLE HOW TO BE SAVED, WHO WILL???

"It's my job to love, unconditionally and to remember what love looks like. It looks like Jesus stopping the woman from being stoned. It looks like Jesus dying on the cross and rising again. It looks like the Dalai Lama leading an oppressed people out of Tibet for their freedom. It looks like Amma sitting for hours upon hours hugging people, showing them compassion, spreading a message that is, after all, not so foreign to us."

This poor confused woman is right that it is her job to love unconditionally and remember what love looks like. She actually got it right in one of her examples, since the ultimate act of love was Jesus dying for our sins. AMEN! However, like many people, she misses the point of Jesus and the woman being stoned for adultery since it was really about his final words to her to "go and sin no more." At no time did Jesus ever condone sin! As for the Dalai Lama, he is leading whoever follows him to hell with his New Age philosophies that rejects faith in Jesus Christ.

Regarding Amma, it is wonderful she hugs people and shows them compassion. But the message she spreads is not God's Truth nor the Gospel. People don't get to Heaven by being hugged, or by people showing them compassion. The ONLY way a person gets to Heaven is by exercising their freewill and asking God to forgive their sins and accepting by faith Jesus Christ. Sadly, those who follow Amma will die and spend eternity in hell because her message does not lead people to faith in Jesus, the only way to be saved!

I love and care about you so much. Pray for this woman who sent the email. We have taken time to try and minister to her. Needless to say, much of what we shared with her were things she had never heard or had been taught only "extremists" believed such things. If she was not already saved, she knows now how and why making that personal decision to accept Christ by faith is the only way to Heaven. Pray she needs to find a church that actually teaches and preaches the Word of God. Pray also she gets into a good Bible Study and that the Lord leads mature Christians into her life to help her grow in her faith.

This woman is an example of literally TENS OF MILLIONS in this nation who identify themselves as a Christian, go to church, yet in too many cases has never been born again. I can't tell you how many people like her think going to a church that identifies itself as Christian and reading some verses from the Bible, automatically makes them a Christian!

YOU AREN'T A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE YOUR MOTHER AND OR FATHER WERE CHRISTIANS. YOU AREN'T A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE YOU GO TO A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. YOU AREN'T A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE YOU LIKE THAT FAITH OVER OTHER RELIGIONS. YOU AREN'T A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE YOU TRY TO BE A GOOD PERSON. YOU AREN'T A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS A GREAT BOOK. THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN BECOME A CHRISTIAN IS TO ASK THE LORD TO FORGIVE YOU OF YOUR SINS AND ACCEPT HIM INTO YOUR HEART AND LIFE BY FAITH!!!

Now do you understand why I often rail against the weak, water-down, apathetic churches of our day? These are the churches that accept or even promote gross sins like homosexuality and abortion. These are the churches that read from books of poetry more than the Bible. These are the churches that actually praise Christ-less souls like "Amma" and promote them as examples of how to live. These are the churches you will find "Christian yoga" classes and every other kind of abomination in rebellion to our ultimate authority in all things..THE BIBLE!

Now do you understand why I often rail against the vast majority of pastors today who are gutless jellyfishes? It is because most churches and a large percentage of pastors today have produced a generation of weak, apathetic churchgoers whom I contend, tens of millions may end up in hell simply because nobody LOVED THEM ENOUGH OR HAD THE GUTS ENOUGH to tell them how to be saved!!

It is no wonder why this world is in the turmoil it is and why this nation on the verge of God's ultimate wrath and judgment. The church, the one place that God has raised up to shine brightly in this dark evil world, the institution God birthed to lead the culture in ways of righteousness, is dark and no different than the Godless culture it inhabits. It is the apostasy of the church and the clergy that will be responsible for God's final judgment on this wicked and rebellious nation unless the remnant rises up and leads this land into repentance and back to God our Creator and His Truth!

( The good news, there is a Remnant! Read: http://www.liveprayer.com/ddarchive3.cfm?id=5389 )

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY? The fact is you will die one day. At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God your Creator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, pray and ask God to open you heart to His Truth and go to: http://www.liveprayer.com/plan.cfm

In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller