Wag the Dog

This past week, we have been both amazed and amused at the extravagance given to Michael Jackson, his qualities, his exuberant lifestyle, and finally, his questionable death. Shelia Jackson Lee, the black congress woman from Texas, introduced house bill number 600, legislating Michael Jackson as a national idol. The American people have enough idols, human beings, on which they lavish their adulation but as I have said thousands of times in speaking and writings, “Why should we be amazed when pagans act like pagans?”

Another American idol, Elvis Presley, born poor but talented, again, in 1977, died very much like Michael Jackson, a product of excess and drug addiction. His 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood Limousine cost around $100,000. The Gold Cadillac was fitted with virtually every luxury accessory that money could buy. Inside and out, the style was pure Elvis and as 'over-the-top' as Graceland and Neverland themselves. The passenger compartment and the trunk were upholstered in white pearled leather-grained vinyl and imported gold-colored crushed velvet. The floor was carpeted in white sheepskin. The interior metal trim and upholstery buttons were plated in 24-karat gold, as were the engraved dashboard plaque and the gold records set into the headlining. Gold lame curtains covered the back windows and separated the front and back seats. Elvis loved gadgets, and the Gold Cadillac was crammed with them — all gold-plated, of course! They included dual French-made radio-telephones, an anti-theft system, a shoe buffer, electric clippers, a refrigerator, a bar and a state-of-the-art entertainment system that included a multi-speaker stereo system, 10-disc auto-changer record player, tape deck, AM-FM radio, and a gold-plated swivel-mounted color TV.

Elvis, like Michael, was buried in a gold casket, but he had no appreciation for his demise. Louis the 14th, Sun God, King of France, was buried in a gold casket. At his funeral in Notre Dame, the presiding cardinal reached over and extinguished the large candle lighting the great cathedral, showing the splendor of the gold casket, and said, “He thought he was the light of the world, now he knows.” I hope the King of Pop, King of Rock, Sun God, were all on speaking terms with the King of Kings.
Erma Bombeck said, “Don't confuse fame with success. Think of Madonna and Helen Keller.” Think of the great missionaries of the world, whose passion of life was the salvation of the souls of people who had never heard the gospel. Think of the world's great doctors, scientists, preachers. Think of John Calvin, who did not retire, he died. He died, having been known for his expository preaching, support of the republic form of government, his promotion of hard work. In spite of poor health, reformers like Calvin and Spurgeon lived to preach.

As a long time member and supporter of the Southern Baptist Convention, believing like the great preachers Truett, Criswell, and Lee, that salvation comes through hearing the Word of God, that the preaching of God's Word in its fullness inspired, inerrant, omnipotent, omniscient, is the duty of every believer, not only to believe on Christ, but to live the Gospel in faith before the world (Philippians 1:29). The entire world would have been saved long ago, if Christians lived their faith before the world. (1 Corinthians 10:21) I am sickened by the infiltration of Satan into the Southern Baptist Convention by reports of the preaching of Mark Driscoll; using profanity in the pulpit, using R rated movies in related services, using the theology found in the fourth chapter of Acts, etc., that one can be theologically conservative and culturally liberal. Like a stray dog, who has “taken up” at your house, you can run him off the porch, you can haul him out of town, but he will beat you back to your house because he thinks he has found a home. As Adam and Eve were beguiled in the garden, so Satan continues to beguile. Satan is always thrilled by unchanged lives; that believers are still seduced to the enticing culture of pagans. Look at christiannymphos.org on your computer, and learn the extent to which these pretenders have sunk to sink God's church.

The fly thinks he wants the fly paper until he gets stuck and then cannot get away. No living breathing human being, saved or unsaved, is stuck where he starts. No church, gnostic or redeemed, is stuck where it starts. It is time to un-stick individuals and churches from those assembled in convention to proclaim God's victory.

“But he answered and said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) When God designed this planet, He placed every element we would ever need (The elements in the periodic table have never changed, nor have their atomic weight) every element that a plant would need to produce grain for bread. Bread has every element man needs to sustain life. The ultimate source in everything on your table is God.

Many of us watched Jim and Tammy Baker as they preached their prosperity gospel and were astonished at their extravagant lifestyle (many expensive homes, Rolls Royce cars, etc.). I personally knew Henry Harrison, their announcer, and knew that he knew better than to be affiliated with this type of embarrassment. Henry, his first wife, were reared in eastern North Carolina. He was a local radio station manager and member of a Southern Baptist Church in Goldsboro, NC. I attended a banquet with him at one time, and know that he knows the truth about Christian servitude. Baker, after his prison stay, has asked forgiveness for leading people astray. In his book, he states, “I was wrong.” How is it possible for the human mind, the Christian heart, to study God's precious Word and come away still so misinformed about His processes and promises? How is it possible, (Bible school or seminary trained) for preachers and teachers of the Gospel, who have spent time in personal prayer with the Creator of the universe, to come away uninformed and ready to misinform? God has one message, it has not changed, but His message, sin's ruin and Christ's redemption, has changed lives, countries, the world.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Holy Spirit of God, I can say without fear of contradiction, will make you a new creature. It is cellular, interstitial, it monopolizes every breath of your body. These liberal, gnostic pastors and preachers, like Dr. Gene Scott, (pastor University Cathedral L.A., brilliant theologian, lifestyle an embarrassment with cigars when preaching, dancing girls on the pulpit, etc.) should have learned, long ago, that the unsaved world reads the gospel of you, more than they read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

We have no idea what God's ministry is, or how His ministry we do know, has changed the world. Nor do we know how precious are His promises, or the cross which we must bear. (I Corinthians 2:9) The only thing we do know, and I can proclaim this without hesitation, that we take joy in knowing Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His suffering. (Philippians 3:10)

O Master, let me walk with Thee,
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.
(Christian Hymn)