“And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 8:3
To Start…
After eight years of our family moving for my husband’s job, (North Carolina, Virginia, Minnesota, Kentucky, and southern Indiana) God has recently brought us back to Steve’s childhood home in central Indiana. To say that we are thrilled to be near cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles is truly an understatement! The five of us have been so very tired… packing and unpacking. New churches. New friends. New homes and new doctors. Oh, and I won’t leave out the adventure of obtaining new driver’s id’s with my kiddos in-tow. Whew! It has certainly stretched our hearts and fatigued our wearied bodies… but with God’s plans come His faithful provision. Even though our dinner tables, and the faces around them, have changed often, …God’s Word has been a constant. No matter where He has led us His Word has guided, the Scripture has corrected, and His voice has comforted. God’s Word has genuinely sustained us through the daily trials of life as well through every move we’ve traversed. 🧳
Why share all of this?
Gals, we are facing a difficult season together as a “big C Church.” We are in a Post-Postmodern time…a period of history that resembles a mulligan stew of Premodernism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. All topped-off with dollop of Emotionalism, and served up via Pragmatism. It’s a self-promoting meal where “your truth is your truth, and my truth is mine.” The messages that inundate us daily… no matter where we go, passionately implore you and I to…
- “Follow your heart!” (Jeremiah 17)🚩
- “Do whatever enlivens you or fills a need.” (Matthew 16)🚩
- “Believe it and receive it!” (Luke 22:42; James 4:3)🚩
- “All you need is to meditate on these Self-Affirmations!” (Colossians 3:2)🚩
- “Christ has always been in you!” (Matthew 24:4-5)🚩
- After all, “You’ve got this! You are enough!” (Ephesians 2; John 15:5) 🚩
We are thrown breadcrumbs from the pulpit… Snippets of God’s Word, drowned-out by smoke machines and replaced by the power of positive thinking. “If you buy our books you’ll have all you need for a successful walk with God.” “If you take this test, you will fix all of your brokenness and find your ‘way back.’” We are being mentored and discipled by podcasts, New York Best Sellers, and mega church pastors. Often choosing Pragmatism (“whatever works”) over the authority of Scripture,…anything that excites an emotion or pleases the culture. (James 4:4; John 17) The wayward heart within all of us is being targeted by the “ear-tickling” messages of “finding your best life” and “getting all you that can now.” When what we all desperately need most is to remember the Gospel (What is the Gospel? Click here).
“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
1 Corinthians 2:2
Ladies, Satan is well-versed regarding scripture. This is extremely important to understand! For quoting the Bible doesn’t necessarily equate to correctness, nor to worshipping God. One profound example out of the pages of Biblical history was when Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights. After the fast, Jesus was hungry… Satan then approached Him and arrogantly questioned Jesus’s identity as God’s own Son. (?!) Satan continued to tempt Jesus… How?? By quoting scripture. He spoke words you and I would read in the Bible and hear at church. But Satan’s motives were to utilize those verses in ways that would benefit his own agenda (ie “cherry-picking”)… and he perpetuates this scheme still, today.
“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:13-14
The Father of Lies takes what is Biblical and twists it. His irreverence is intentional and his deception, crafty. One of his the most salient schemes is placing the focus upon ourselves, instead of upon God. Satan wants us out of God’s Word, off of our knees, and isolated…out of community and obsessed with “Self.” Nevertheless, despite his continuing efforts to alter our understanding of Truth, He can’t change Truth. God’s one and only Son is Truth. (John 14:6) And God’s Word is Truth. For this reason, we need to test the spirits by measuring every teaching, every podcast, and every programming (i.e. Personality tools) against God’s Word alone. We shouldn’t rely solely upon a teaching we hear from a stage or a podcast, but should get into the Word for ourselves, and pray for God to lead. If a tool is helpful but is unbiblical, then pragmatism will guide you down a hurtful path… But if helpful and Biblical, then you are seeing God’s work in and through you. He gets the glory… not you, not a technique, nor your pastor. Gals, the Gospel does not promote a theology in which Jesus adds to your life, but instead emphasizes the cross…and how He came to be your Life. The Gospel reminds us of our utter depravity (our not enough-ness) and our authentic need for a Savior. (Gal220)
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
1 John 4:1
What can we do?
Pray! We need to pray! Gals, our flesh (old sin nature, not our bodies) will always be at war with the Spirit… Therefore, as Charles Spurgeon once wisely encouraged, “Since you are tempted without ceasing, then pray without ceasing.” We need to prayerfully discern who’s voice is guiding us! The voice of culture? The voice of practicality? The voice of worldly comfort and self-reliance? In a world where there are many voices, we need the help of God’s Word to test every message carefully. God’s Word is a precious gift to us… so we need to be reading it as often as possible. To illustrate the necessity of God’s Word in our lives, the following video resources are provided. Each of these videos display characteristics of today’s society which are genuinely heartbreaking… Shouting to us all (the Church) to wake-up and submit to the authority of Scripture. So let’s keep leaning into His Grace (prayer), digging into His Words, and daily reminding ourselves of the Gospel…in community. Jesus is enough, and His Word is sufficient! Sister… God’s got you! ♥️
His,
Mer
Another post that closely corresponds to this one is “The New Age: Real Concerns for the Church.” 📝 Please consider reading (prayerfully) when you have some time.
Videos
Who is Jesus?
What is the Gospel?
Evidence for the Resurrection
Trust God’s Word
Pragmatism
Postmodernism
Scripture
Ephesians 4:12-16 “for the equipping of the [a]saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the [b]knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature [c]which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 [d]As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness [e]in deceitful scheming; 15 but [f]speaking the truth in love, [g]we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together [h]by what every joint supplies, according to the [i]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
Jude 3-4 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our (F)common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you (G)to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For (H)certain people (I)have crept in unnoticed (J)who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert (K)the grace of our God into sensuality and (L)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
2 Timothy 4:3 “he time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,”
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits1 of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Isaiah 5:18-23 “Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood,
who draw sin as with cart ropes,
19 who say: “Let him be quick,
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near,
and let it come, that we may know it!”
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine,
and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
and deprive the innocent of his right!”
Additional Resources
- Postmodernism, Gnosticism, and Neopaganism by Dr. Michael Heiser 🎞
- Paul Washer 8-Minute message regarding “Self-Esteem, Purpose, and Meaning” 🎞
- Elisabeth Elliot’s “Will vs Feelings” 🎞 🎙
- The Resurrection of Jesus 🎞✏️
- American Gospel Movie (1, Christ Alone)- The Prosperity gospel 🎞
- American Gospel Trailer (2, Christ Crucified) – Progressive “Christianity” 🎞
- New Age, Word of Faith, and Prosperity gospel Teachings- by Allen Parr and Melissa Dougherty 🎞
- New Age Beliefs in the Church and the Culture, with Marcia Montenegro and Alisa Childers 🎙
- The New Age Trojan Horse… by Christopher Berg, PH.D. 🎞
- Christians and the Enneagram, Transcript w/ Dr. Berg and Sean McDowell
- Enneagram Authors, Christian Answers ✏️
- Frank Turek’s Cross Examined Exposes the Enneagram 🎞
- “Progressive Christianity” and the New Age, Alisa Childers and Allen Parr 🎞
- How Positive Thinking RUINS You, by Jon McCray 🎞
- The Great Lie of the Universal Christ, Steven Bancarz and Alisa Childers 🎞
- “Law of Attraction and New Thought,” a Biblical Perspective 🎞
- Goodness is from God alone, Scripture references ✏️
- Ephesians 4:12-16 “Maturity, Built-up” (38:00-56:00) 🎞
- Scripture references- the divinity of Jesus ✏️
Hold Fast 
Pingback: The Problem of Pragmatism: “Wake Up, Church!” | The Gal220 Life