EvangeLies: Do You Even Bible, Bro?!

Apparently, Joel does not...

(cf. Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:35)

SDG,
Shon

J.O. (An Open Letter)

"As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear."  - 1 Timothy 5:20 ESV

You've been lying a long time
Selling people the wrong kind
Of faith - it's unkind
Pumping poison into their minds
It's the blind leading the blind
A rocket ship to perdition
Dope lines and a nice smile
Without the slightest hint of contrition

I'm suspicious -
That's not in the Bible
Your rhetoric's become an idol
An opiate of false hope
For the masses who eagerly swallow -
Down the hatch, check the latch
Katie's barred the doors to heaven
Convinced them they're living in victory
But the sacrament you feed them is leaven

No need for flesh and blood
Just tell people what's good
Speaking promise into the lives
Of those who've never understood
The battle of attrition -
A will unwilling to submit
To the truth about the God who's there
And the final fate that awaits the sinner

So they don't want the Father
They want a vending machine
And Jesus suffered and died
So we could have nicer things
And the Holy Ghost is reduced
To being the author of confusion
Long gone is the Hound of Heaven...
He's just a U.N. interpreter trying to fool you

You're an evangelical pragmatist
Simon Magus meets the alchemist
Feeding egos may be your steelo
But your breadth of theology is ridiculousness
Short-sighted, misguided
Out of context and never striving
To find the truth within the text
You don't rightly divide; you just contrive it

And no, you're not the only one
There's plenty others just like you
Who deny the merit of the Cross
Through sensuality and false virtue
So I urge you - return to the path of old
And be healed of your pathological need to please
Abandon "discovering the champion in you"
For finding a life that's hidden in Jesus


(cf. Ezekiel 22:28; Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:28-30)


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Ground Zero: Modern "Evangelism" v. The Gospel

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  - (Jude 1:3-4 ESV)




(cf. Judges 21:25; Luke 3:9; 2 Timothy 4:3; 1 John 2:19; Revelation 14:13)


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Precipice

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  - (Jude 1:3-4 ESV)

 

We are on the precipice of an exodus...

The stuff we’re hearing out of most modern-day pulpits

Amounts to an epic fail

Pastors pontificating on bar stools

Telling old wives’ tales

Not intoxicated by the Word

But drunk off of themselves

Proper prophesying

Appears to be a dying art form

While the power of positive thinking
And prosperity of wealth are the norm

We are on the precipice...

The pursuit of Truth has been relegated to the shelf
As these wolves in stealth mode are pointing the flock
In the direction of the self-help section
They've got new laws to cover your flaws
Telling me that my excellence is in my ability to excel at Lent
And that when I survey the wondrous cross
I can bet my last dollar that the Lord wants me to be rich

Rob Bell says to just say no to the notion of Hell
And Joel Osteen says I can have it all and have it right now
(Did I forget to mention that both of those are bestsellers?)
Oh well - Farewell to the deferred gratification
Of being face to face with the Savior
And since everybody wins
There's no need to repent
For our misguided thinking and behavior

We are on the precipice...

Of becoming obsolete

Watered down like a sandcastle edifice

And now the dry bones are starting to surface

As the evidence to our detriment

The axe has been laid at the root

John the Baptist said it first

And if he was alive today

They'd still be trying to put that dude

In a pine box and a hearse

"Off with his head!"

But blessed are the dead

Those who die in the Lord from now on

We are on the precipice of a resurrection...

But I thought you knew that all along?!

(cf. Judges 21:25; Luke 3:9; 2 Timothy 4:3; 1 John 2:19; Revelation 14:13)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Devils & Politicians

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.   - (Romans 16:17-18 ESV)

Dressed up in a three piece suit and tie

A straight-laced man

Tellin’ me boldfaced lies

Look right into the camera

And give ‘em a big smile

Draped in stars and bars

To hide a heart that’s blatantly foul

Pander to the people

Tell ‘em exactly why they need you

Add a “God Bless America”

And turn the White House

Into your cathedral

Every four years

It’s like a bad date

Love and trust don’t come quick enough

So you settle for rape

Tell us to take what you flaunt

You just take what you want

No need to check the reference

Just know there’ll be a problem if we don’t

Take your words as the Gospel

‘Cause Jesus will get hostile

If we fail to put our trust

In this self-proclaimed apostle

Paul, I find appealing

But you, I find appalling

As you disguise your ambition 
For power and position

In a cloak of divine calling

Mangle the hell out of the text

Add a cross for a neck piece

Trade a crown of thorns

For a crown worms

Another soul denied solace

By every word you speak

‘Cause you can always trust

The devils and politicians

To stone all of the prostitutes

And heap praise on the magicians

Slight of hand, rearranged

While eternity is at stake

This is the sign of darker days to come

And we’re nowhere close to being awake…

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  - (Jude 1:3-4 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Evangel-Lies: Prophets of Profit

This is the sort of thing that makes me physically ill...the sort of thing that gets exported from America as "Gospel" (not all of the time, but unfortunately it is the majority report). Men like this turn the truth of God into a spectacle for their own gain, and never blink twice. Remember that Jesus saves FROM the "American Dream". In the words of Lecrae: "God is the Gospel, not a new Bentley..."
Nigerian Fake Pastors and Church Business Exposed from Maku Zikya on Vimeo.

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Gifts or Giver?: Easily Amused by an Overrated Existence (C.S. Lewis & The Weight of Glory)

"If our condition were truly happy we should not need to divert ourselves from thinking about it." - Blaise Pascal

Mark 4:19; James 1:17

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)