World's Largest Church

In Seoul, South Korea, you can find the world's largest mega church with 830,000 members, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, founded and led by David Yonggi Cho in 1958. My only son, my only child, Dr. John Morris and his wife were SBC missionaries in South Korea for many years, they were very familiar with this mega-church.

There are many mega-congregations in America, the Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, with Joel Osteen as pastor, has 43,000 members. Osteen also has a large television audience. One of the fastest growing churches in America, which I attended while a student in Memphis, Tennessee is Bellevue Baptist Church, it's membership around 7,000. But, add all the mega churches together, and you will still not have the size of the world's largest church, the “church of Oprah”. Oprah Winfrey, writer of the “fifth gospel” (the gospel of Oprah), more dominant in world religion than all other preachers combined, influences more people than all others with her new age religious belief.

Her worship of new-age religions comes with the publication of any book pertaining to new-age philosophy. At the head of the list is Edward Tolle, and his book A New Earth which promotes the idea that God is a “feeling experience, not a believing experience.” Second on her list is Rhonda Burns, The Secret, Burns promotes the idea that it is all about you, that you are God, a new “positive thinking” philosophy. Third on the list is Marianne Williamson, A Course in Miracles, a philosophy of forgiveness in daily life. Oprah, one of the world's richest women, who lives in 7 homes, who lives with a man to whom she is not married, only has to recommend a book and it becomes an instant bestseller.

Oprah, whose money and influence helped put a Sunni Muslim, Obama, in the White House is a profitess who would make ancient Diana of Ephesus (Acts 19) or Jezebel of Jezreel (1 Kings 19) envious. The world is still impressed by numbers, especially in church it is better to make numbers count, instead of counting numbers.

I find that most people have reached a place in life that they doubt everything. The world, the flesh, the devil has so penetrated our being that we question the veracity of everything. You can put no truth at all in news reports, more fiction than fact. When did you hear a politician that you actually believed, one who would give a direct answer? When you meet anyone, politician, salesperson, teacher, preacher, you immediately try to decide: is this person real, or a phony? Is this person interested in me, or what they can get out of me? You want so desperately to trust people, you want so desperately to find an employee who wants to give honest work for honest pay. The greatest disappointment in life is your disappointment with people, even family, friends, those with whom you do business.

I met a Jewish realtor, I had fired my last real estate adviser, now this Jew knew the history of the Jewish people, the only people on earth dispersed all over the world, yet never lost their language, their laws, their belief system. He knew the laws as laid down by Moses in Deuteronomy chapters 28 and 29, yet he was willing to take advantage of a friend, a blind, fellow army officer for the sake of a commission from one of my tenants, Kevin. He even aided and abetted this tenant in the thievery of items from my property, the breaking of a lease. He had been well paid to help me, not the tenant. But, he was willing to risk his career for a real estate commission, his professional name in a small town.

It does not require much confidence, much daring to rob a blind person. I do not own a refrigerator that could hold the money I have been shortchanged over the past 50 years. I am not proud that I have been so “taken in” by thievery, even in my own house. One woman, Sheree, possesses almost as much of my stuff as I do, just taking my things right out of my front door. While I am working at the bottom floor, she and her friends were working me over on the upper floors. She and her husband had been disowned by the Jehovah's Witnesses and obviously thought God no longer cared about their lives and what they did.

Whether expensive things or cheap things, compared to your eternal soul, it is all junk. Whether it is friends, family, business, or play, God does not “slumber or sleep” (Psalm 121:4) God keeps a perfect score card.

The Principle of [Con-]Contradiction is the second of the three classic laws of thought: contradictory statements cannot both be true at the same time. The world cannot be round and not round, Christ either rose from the dead or he did not rise from the dead, God is either truth or not the truth, right can never be wrong and wrong can never be right, evil can never be good, nor good evil. There are absolutes in life, the laws of motion are absolute, the atomic weights in the periodic tables are absolute, the notes of music are absolute whether you play a note on a piano in Moscow or Miami.

Atheists such as Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens (Hitchens now has throat cancer) would tell you that life is a matter of gray, not black or white. They still think you can put a square object into a round hole. Your handbook of chemistry and physics (CRC) is not a physician's diagnostic reference. God gave Moses, written in His own hands, tablets containing commandments, not suggestions.

Why make your relationship with God so complicated? It is so simple: sin's ruin and Christ's redemption, your only redemption, your only escape. Satan loves for people to use his ploys of lies, deceit and thievery/ God knows all about suffering, He knows all about thorns, He is boss, He allows what he wishes. Right now, in Russia, north of Moscow, the size of Portugal, the worst drought the country has even known. At the same time, in Peru (near Lima), 200 people froze to death, in China, the worst rain and landslides in history. One is walking on dangerous ground, breathing dangerous air, when he leaves God out of the equation of his life.

Cowards die a thousand deaths, the courageous die only once.

We worship at the alter of other people's approval. I can tell just by listening to a talk show on the radio, if a man who calls is married. Attending any meeting: church, civic club, board of any type, it is obvious which men are married, which men have a backbone, which men get their wives' approval about everything they say or do. It makes me sick to go into a men's clothing store and see a man's wife picking out his clothes for him. I do not wear anything that is not bought at a thrift store, secondhand. When I was younger, and had less intelligence, I would often buy a suit in a men's store, where normal people shop. One day, the husband could not get the wife's approval on a suit, she finally said, “go ahead and buy what you want, you are the one who will wear it any way.” He said, “at least the coat and vest.” It had been decided long ago who wore the pants at his house.

I will never recover from today's college graduates, one young man who worked for me for about one year following his graduation, was very energetic and a conversationalist with me. But, he would often bring his wife with him to my house on the beach, then he was an entirely different personality...totally hen-pecked. If he opened his mouth, she would say something nasty. She was the one with the brains, she was the one with the wealthy family, she was an only child. Like the JAP (Jewish American Princess), the daughter of wealthy Jews, you can always tell such women...dominating every conversation, knowing everything about everything, superior upmanship in every category. Many of these women find themselves in politics, Senator Feinstein, Senator Boxer, Kagan, Clinton, Snow...all rich, all Jews. There are many others in the Congress and the judicial system.

The Christian church is floundering, shipwrecked on the rocks of not only a prosperity gospel, but the political correctness of turning the male-established church structure over to the women. At least, most baptist churches have not yet ordained women preachers, nor have the Catholic. Those who have (Methodists, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Quaker, etc.) are dying even faster than the others. One woman preacher even told me that Moses is one of the disciples. Another said that Christ was crucified on the Road to Damascus. Much like the one who said that Golgotha was the apostle who killed the disciple David. Bold denominations, bold churches, boldness in Christianity keeps God's people close to his word. Women have a part in the church, but not in teaching and preaching to adults.

Many years ago, at a SBC conference, I heard Dr. Baker James Cauthen, Secretary of Foreign Missions, say, “the greatest area for evangelizing in the world, is among American black churches.” Studying black liberation theology, black nationalism, centered in black churches, we certainly understand the statement. Even 50 years ago, when I attended Dr. Brewster's great black baptist church in Memphis, women dominated the services, the men just sat to the side...women ushers, women musicians, women's choir, every area of the worship service except the pastor's preaching. No wonder young boys and girls, seeing this type church activity have such a warped theology.

Prince of preachers Charles Hayden Spurgeon, who, in his day, preached to 5,000 every Sunday at London's great Tabernacle near Westminster (a church which I have visited many times) said his heart was broken by an inactive men's laity. Most do not understand that his wife was bedridden most of their married life, but it is because of her, and her writing down all of his sermons, that we have his large collection of work. Most do not understand that he was crippled with bad feet most of his life. God does not want what we cannot do, but what we can do through boldness. Fanny Crosby, blind from birth, wrote 8,000 hymns, many of which are sung in a church every Sunday. On her tombstone in Connecticut, you find these words, which Christ spoke about the woman and the alabaster box, “She hath done what she could.” (Mark 14:8)

Many want to love a “nice Jesus”, many want to hear a nice pastor. When you seek a lawyer's service do you want a nice lawyer or a good lawyer? When you seek a doctor's services, do you want a nice doctor or a good doctor? If you are going to have any job, have success in any field, you must know what you are doing, personality is just the icing on the cake. I'd rather have an ill doctor who knows what he is doing, who knows the right place to cut, than one whose personality keeps a Jaguar in his driveway, and so would his malpractice insurance company. Most patients spend their efforts and money trying to rid their bodies of the toxicity caused by prescription writing.

The megachurches, the churches that are full, preach a nice Jesus. A prosperity gospel, “all you need is love” doctrine...Christ does not need cowards to carry his cross. The Gospel of Christ, the Gospel preached by Paul is a Gospel of sin's ruin and Christ's redemption, the gospel preached by Oprah, the new-age theology of anything goes, any path will get you there, though contagious, is contrary to God's Word in God's “lawbook”.

Many think they are seeing some tough times during this mild recession, I lived through the Great depression. Most do not realize that even in Chicago, school teachers were not paid for two years, men with doctorates sold apples on the street. One of my uncles walked 900 miles to go to study to be an electrician at Coyne College in Chicago. He came back and wired many of the ships built for WW2 in Wilmington. My father built his own trailer in which he lived while working defense jobs. I can still see my old grandparents, my mother, and others, doing work which they should not have been doing just to keep the farms going... these grandparent's only son in combat in the South Pacific. It took everything they could rake and scrape just to pay the horrendous tax burden.

Politicians do not want to hear about boldness, 73,000 blogs were erased just recently because the president was being criticized, who said we have freedom of speech? Muslims of the world know that Obama is a Sunni Muslim. The next world war, which will start shortly, will establish which Muslim group will be superior: the Shi'ah or the Sunni. There is no ambiguity about good and evil, most have tried to blend the world, the flesh, the devil...tried to put a sugarcoating on religion. They have no idea just how bad things really are.

It is a sobering thought that God is still in charge, able to repay for moral decay. The marketplace reality, having taken over science, academia, healthcare, everyone on the fringe of decency because government money is so attractive. In fact, why boldness anymore, what does heaven have to offer when we have a wealth of things which we so love, here on earth?

Fingerprints

Satan has left his fingerprints on our lives. 25% percent of all church members never give anything to the church, time, talent or treasury. Members can sit for hours in a movie theater, before a television screen or computer table, but find it impossible to spend one hour in worship, once a week. I have often been asked to describe an authentic Christian. #1. Totally in love with God's Word, cannot get enough of it: reading, listening, sermon or song. #2. Love completely, particularly your fellow Christians (Bereans). #3. Believe confidently. #4. Giving cheerfully (the tithe is the starting point of faith, He owns your tithe whether you give it or not, faith is reaching toward the impossible).

There is nothing worse in this life, not even death, than being deceived. One of my friends, a doctor, came by my house. He said, “I must talk with you.” He had learned that his wife was an adulteress, was having an affair with one of her fellow workers. He said, “it is more than I can bear, I simply cannot look at her the same way. I put a private investigator on the case, we have pictures, times, places, everything. I love my children too much to put them through a nasty divorce. I have been trying to decide if I want to kill her or myself...or both.” It is the oldest and most diabolical act known to man, Moses was faced with the problem, Christ was faced with the problem, every religious talk show is bombarded with the problem. Right now, a woman (Sakineh) in Iran is condemned to stoning, by the problem.

A new business acquaintance asked me if I wanted to get some lunch, so we went to Wendy's...he had never been out with a blind person before. As always, with anyone, I told him to let me take his elbow and he could guide me to a table and then get our food. He told me later that he went home and told his wife that he was amazed by the callousness of other people in the restaurant. He had the mistaken idea, that someone seeing a disabled blind person would offer to hold a door open, etc. I told him, “No, that day is long gone.” You are lucky to not be trampled.

Everyday, in every form of media, you are besieged by news of conduct, considered rare just a few years ago, but almost expected now...rape, robbery, killings, political corruptness, deceit, hypocrisy. When a detective discovers a crime, he looks for evidence, some of the best evidence: fingerprints. We are seeing the fingerprints, evidence, of what has happened to American family life.

Men seek pornography, woman discover it accidentally, pornography is more addictive than crack cocaine. 1/6 of all women are addicted to pornography, we usually think of this as being strictly a male problem. But with both sexes, brain chemistry changes when you watch pornography. We have sat back and watched our water get poisoned by brain-dumbing chemicals, for instance, fluoride and chloride (both used by the Nazis in WW2, look on any exterminating poison). We have seen our food and medicines compromised by poisons, constant recalls.

This year, Johnson & Johnson has recalled 43 over-the-counter children's medicines, the Peanut Corporation of America recalled over 3913 different peanut butter products due to salmonella contamination, over 300,000 packages of Toll House cookies for E. coli bacteria, etc. etc. and for the thousands of the recalls, only 1% ever take the product back. After the second largest beef recall in American history, Topps Meat Co. went out of business. Can we even imagine the damage that could be done, with carefully placed terrorists in the American food industry, or sin industries such as the cigarette industry? (Muslims do not smoke, do not use alcohol, do not use pork products) Think of what could happen with pork wieners! 95% of rat poison is just innocuous corn meal, it is that 5% arsenic which does the work.

In 1941, President Roosevelt gave his famous “Four Freedom speech”, in which he listed four freedoms every human should enjoy: Freedom of speech, Freedom of religion, Freedom from want, Freedom from fear. This week at Catholic Georgetown university, Hillary Clinton introduced another, “the freedom to love”, bringing to the poor, the gay agenda. The Obama administration made 715 million dollars available for “safe” abortions. In there any safety in murder?

Perhaps there are no fingerprints on the cultural decay of those like Oprah Winfrey, the “fifth Gospel” for many people. She has promoted every area of new age religion, books, authors, politicians. None have been as effective as The Secret by Rhonda Burn, The Shack by William Young, and the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. On page 164 of The Secret, we are told that we are gods. Recently, a professor at a Christian college told me that The Secret was the greatest book she has ever read. Now, there is something wrong with her Christianity or her mind. Page 110 of The Shack, we are told that there are many paths to God. I understand many supposed Christians read these books, such fingerprints of Satan should be burned. I have never believed in book-burning without cause, perhaps the time has come.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1) Satan may have his fingerprints on you and the world, but remember this: you are the only one of the billions who have lived on this earth with your fingerprints. Behold, what manner of love, fourteen times in the 150 verse of John's first letter tells us that we can know we are saved for eternal life, in spite of Satan's efforts.

Unraveling

Oprah Winfrey is not only the wealthiest entertainment personality in the country at present, but probably has more influence on the millions of American women and the women around the world who watch her, then we will ever know. Born 1954 in rural Mississippi, raped at the age of nine and gave birth to a son who died in infancy, attended high school in Milwaukee, attained a full scholarship to Tennessee state university ,where she graduated in communications. She worked in TV in Nashville and in Baltimore. In Chicago she attained the status as the Oprah Winfrey show, the rest is history. She owns 8 homes including homes in Antigua and Maui, her income was $275 million in 2008.

Oprah claims to be Christian, but since 1980, she has pushed every new age book with which she has become enthralled, such as Rhonda Byrne’s THE SERCRET. The tenet of the book is that an individual's focused positive thinking can result in life-changing results such as increased wealth, health, happiness and more. The book reached high sells after being featured in two episodes of Oprah.

The next book she has promoted is the “Age of Miracles” by Marianne Williamson. Williamson born in 1952, is a spiritual activist, author, lecturer and founder of “The Peace Alliance”.

An Excerpt from The Age of Miracles: “If you feel, when looking back on your life so far, that you've wrestled with primal forces and not always won, be assured that you're pretty much like everyone else. It is a rare individual who reaches midlife without a lot to grieve. And whether or not your tears are acknowledged--whether or not you give them the chance to actually fall down your cheeks--there's no question that they're there.”

The next book is by Eckhart Tolle “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose”.
Tolle is a spiritual teacher, motivational speaker, and writer. The core of Tolle's thought, in brief, is that the whole of humanity is trapped in self-created worlds of thought. An individual will experience this as their self-concept. Within these labyrinthine stories it is impossible to achieve lasting happiness. As they are fictional and static, all self concepts are subject to destruction and decay, a process Tolle cites as the main causal factor in human suffering.

In my long life time, I have seen these “spiritualist” and assassins of God’s precious word, come and go. How well I remember Napoleon Hill’s “think and Grow Rich”, a man who died broke. Then there was Charles Shelton, “In His Steps”, and Dale Carnegie’s “How to win friends & influence people”. Shelves of bookstores are full of self help volumes and even pseudo Christian books. Often, scripture, out of context, is freely quoted in these books which leaves the uniformed to think they are reliable. Some Christian sheep, do not know grass from Astro Turf.

Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, recognized as a speaker with a powerful allure, and a sometimes controversial rhetorical style. Those of you have who heard him speak know that he uses a wide sprinkling of Biblical scripture along with his nationalistic Islam philosophy. Like president Obama’s pastor, reverend Wright of that nationalist church in Chicago, the gospel and saving grace of Jesus Christ takes a back seat to their political rhetoric. As Henry Ward Beecher said in 1887, you can put a “handle of truth” on any lie and the public will accept it.

On the political scene, on the financial scene, in every area of media, and everything else affecting our lives, we are seeing as never before an unraveling of truth and decency in this country as never before. Much of this can be traced directly to an attempt by writers, their enablers, political idle logs, and their power brokers, which is bringing disillusionment and distrust to the average citizen and particularly their children

Winston Churchill said, “the desire to believe something is greater than logical argument”.

Oprah, the books she promotes, Farrakhan’s Million Man March stadiums filled with “promise keepers”, are in some way “seekers”. The thousands who are being killed in the drug war in Mexico, the thousands being killed in the Congo, the impossible situation in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, the misery of the Sudan, the endless trauma and tragedy in the middle east, as well as those in this country who do not care if all our cities look like Detroit, which has been decimated. Most are looking for answers just as for 2000 years they have had the answer, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

In Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London, Holman Hunt’s famous painting of Christ Standing with a light outside the door. there is no door handle on the outside of the door. The door must be opened from the inside. Christ is the answer, these folks should open the door and put an end to the unraveling.