Another Jesus
Accept No Substitutes
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted – you may well put up with it! ~ II Corinthians 11: 3 & 4
Pilgrims’ Lack of Progress
The wife of a pastor friend of mine posted about a trip she took recently. “What a wonderful weekend in Dallas . . . We toured one site where The Chosen was filmed and attended IF Gathering 2023 soo good”.
I have touched briefly on the work of fiction which is The Chosen. This is a Mormon Temple-controlled story of a gentle, attractive, fascinating Jesus. Just in case the actual gentle, attractive, fascinating Jesus is not entirely to your taste. There’s plenty to find on real Jesus, but the fake one is so entertaining that “you may well put up with it!” Heck, you’ll seek it out, soak it up, sell your brain to it and make a pilgrimage to the set where the lie is spun.
The inherent tragedy in feeding yourself Jesus junk food is that the real feast is left languishing. Any spiritual nutrition you can gain is left alone while your sluggish, weak soul feeds on sugary substances that cannot sustain, and this while the last battle is rapidly approaching us. A chubby kid on the couch popping M&M’s does not a gladiator make.
If you want your soul thrilled and your mind settled on why you believe, spend more time in the Word. Another good book is below. Talk about the lights coming on, this is deeply nourishing.
When it comes to the IF Gathering, I’ve already covered that topic in a post called An Ounce of Prevention. Jennie Allen looks like a Christian, she simply doesn’t talk like one. As Charles Spurgeon is noted for saying:
Jennie Allen came to my former church and the large event was billed as the “Be Bold” women’s conference. I did not go. If anyone is offering a “Be Discerning” women’s conference, let me know.
Paul wraps up the 11th chapter of II Corinthians by defending the authenticity of his apostleship:
But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. For such are also apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
I keep sensing a pervasive urgency that has nothing to do with being mean-spirited and everything to do with getting souls to shelter in the only safety while there is still time. If I see another “Above all else, be kind” sticker on social media I will again be overcome by how obtuse we are as a culture. Kindness, softness, and an overarching drive for unity are greasing the skids for souls to go to hell. It may offend you that I’m not being nice but I will not assist in consigning souls to hell so that people will think well of me.
Picture a faith that goes far beyond feelings and then ask God to cause you to hunger for it. He invigorated my shallow, lazy, indifferent soul – yours is no challenge.
Philippians 3:10-14
My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead, I am single-minded: forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Stop filling your mind and soul with bits of sand, go for the pearl of great price.
