Friday, February 20, 2009

Who to Follow

In obeying Jesus's command to "Follow me," we often have difficulty not following someone else.

Some time ago, A Godly Mexican charismatic started laughing at me because I had never heard of a certain popular woman preacher. I looked her up on the internet and found that she lives in a mansion, has servants and expensive cars, and that all of this is being paid for by donors. She was currently being investigated by a Congressional committee for income tax fraud. To make things worse, when I explained this to the Mexican charismatic, she admitted that she knew of Mexicans who lived in concrete houses, whose main food was beans and rice,  who were sending this woman money.

2Pe 2:3 ¶ By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

Preachers who teach "the prosperity Gospel" claim that their wealth (accumulated from donors) is proof of God's blessing. 1 Timothy 6:5 speaks of "men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself."

If you want to be used of God, you need to stop following glitzy performers and instead, closely follow after Jesus.

Monday, February 16, 2009

In obeying the command of Jesus to "Follow me," we often run into problems. What do you do if a successful pastor or preacher starts selling his own books and commentaries? How closely can you follow a man without disobeying Jesus's command to "Follow me"?

1 John 2:27 tells us: "...you do not need that anyone teach you..." The context of the verse tells us that God Himself teaches us, and when someone teaches us to go against God, we are to turn away from that teacher.

It is a common thing for "teachers" to arise within Chistianity who tell us to disobey the many commands to love one another. They warn and explain that if we do not separate from Godly people who disagree with these teachers, we will become corrupted. We must instead become close followers of these teachers, reading and listening to no one except those whom these teachers approve of.

But God's Word tells us differently. It tells us that God Himself teaches us. If you follow Jesus closely, He won't let you get corrupted and ruined; He'll make you a fisher of men. And following Jesus closely means that you love all of God's people.

Php 4:21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you.