by Pastor Mark Downey
June 16, 2013
Scripture Reading: Hebrews 10:19-25
The authors tell you “Reading this book takes courage” not because of its contents, but what you must do after you read it. I say it takes perseverance to wade through the misconceptions they’ve given, because the book is a smokescreen for a new spiritual fad and fads are wrought with bait and hook. They are not fishers of men, but poachers. If you’re already disgruntled with whatever typical church is out there, then this is an easy excuse to find not only an alternative church, but an alternative Jesus. Or maybe you’ll just drop out of being a Christian altogether.
After they put a burden of guilt upon you, you are primed for the next step of participating in spontaneous anarchy in the name of “the Church.” The point of this review is not to make a big deal about the origin of church practices and how we worship, but to warn you of how our faith can be undermined by an even more hideous hyper-apostasy than churchianity, which calls itself “organic,” as if that makes it pure as the driven snow.
The church or ecclesia must be understood in the context of race. If the race card is not played, then you have a stacked deck. In other words, if the relevance of Israel in the Bible is trivialized with universalism, then the church itself is corrupted.