Opportunity Abounds

The advent of the SonLife Broadcasting Network comes at a time when our world is in great turmoil.  As I write this article I am observing the destabilization of various North African and Middle Eastern nations.  In America we are witnessing a formidable schism amongst Christians by modern Zeitgeists, who mobilize their agenda by means of the secular media and church leadership organizations.  The mantra of this paradigm shift is social justice through sacrificial service for “the cause.”  Hordes of unsuspecting Christians are being supplanted through non-Biblical confrontational compromises and friendship with the world, from the Cross of Christ to pragmatic programs.

THE CROSS

For example, in recent Evangelist Magazine articles we exposed many of “The Hebraic Roots Movement” errors and modern-day Judaizers leading the church back into legalism and superstition.  We are at a crossroad (pun intended) to either fully embrace the Cross of Jesus Christ as the answer to all of man’s problems or submit to unscriptural partnerships and false directions.  The perceived common ground that associates Judaism and Christianity in this new paradigm is not so much their foundation, found in the Old Testament, but rather to alleviate human suffering.  When the emphasis is on human suffering, in a physical realm, the focus becomes a collective society cooperating on an unstable foundation of human philosophy, where human reasoning precedes godly Wisdom and God’s exclusive Message of Repentance from sin and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

THE GOSPEL

Paul, under the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit said he’s a debtor.  He had, as we have, an obligation and duty to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone.  Does our obligation extend to meeting the material needs of the world by the church participating with other faiths or secular organizations?  No.  In fact, the Bible speaks contrary to this thinking.  The Bible says, “Friendship of the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4).  The world system is not able to meet man’s true Spiritual needs.  The Bible provides us the priority of man’s needs.  Jesus said, “But seek you first the Kingdom of God, and His Righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mat. 6:33).  God has only one way of Righteousness.  Paul also said, “To declare, I say, at this time His Righteousness:  that He might be just, and the Justifier of him who believes in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).  Our objective must be to present how people can be made righteous and, therefore, in “right” standing with God.  Once justified the new Believer becomes a Child of God and an heir to all the Promises of God.  Peter wrote, “According as His Divine Power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who has called us to Glory and Virtue” (II Pet. 1:3).

A SOCIAL GOSPEL?

I can think of many examples where American missionaries started out preaching the Gospel.  However, they changed their emphasis from preaching to social welfare programs that left people worse off than when they found them -- case in point, Egypt and the Middle East. There was a time in Egypt when mentioning you were American would serve as a “passport to Egyptian kindness and confidence.”  American printing presses rolled out four million textbooks on topics ranging from astronomy to dentistry, lithography to moral philosophy.  During this time in the late Nineteenth Century the budget for missionary institutions in the Middle East expanded sevenfold.  The missionaries’ efforts and contributions concentrated more on educational development rather than preaching the Gospel, due to a negligible number of converts.  Frustrated by this opposition, some American missionaries became “modern missionaries,” a term invented by Howard Bliss.  The objective was now to preach a “social gospel.”  This enabled the new breed of modern missionaries to introduce Jesus Christ whenever possible, but without any emphasis on conversion.  Bliss received acceptance from many Islamic clerics in Beirut, but was also unable to report many conversions.

GOSPEL LIGHT

The definition of the “modern missionary” meant that medical and educational institutions could expand, unfortunately, at the expense of evangelistic activities.  Europe and America missed a golden opportunity to touch this predominantly Islamic part of the world.  The Middle East nations and Fertile Crescent region, especially Egypt, had a chance to hear the Gospel, but our missionaries were too caught up on results instead of the message.  Islam and dictators have reigned over the central part of the Earth leaving the majority of these people trapped in darkness.  Nations with great natural resources remain undeveloped and poverty-stricken, because the Gospel alone brings Light.  Will we keep the Gospel Light from those in darkness any longer?

CONSEQUENCES!

We are no better off today.  The message of the modern church is designed to meet the felt needs of people first with hopes they’ll see the Love of Jesus and then accept Him.  Instead of winning the lost the modern church is creating the next generation of welfare dependents.  The foundation of the “social gospel” is socialism.  The underlying goal of the modern church is to create a Christian society on Earth with the church serving the world to meet their needs.  This concept is called Dominionism.

SonLife Broadcasting Network (SBN) has been raised up by God to preach the Gospel to the world and to teach the church how to live a victorious life over sin.  God’s Message has never changed and neither has God’s Method of preaching.  Modern technology enables us to do what the missionary church failed to do, preach the Gospel without compromise.  The cost will never be cheaper, yet the consequences may never be greater.