Purple Rain & Pharmakown

nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.  (Revelation 9:21)

As I write in the quiet stillness of a new day (04/23) the News & Social Media is all a buzz concerning the death of Prince. I must confess I do not recall ever listening to a single song that he did. Not my musical taste.

Having so stated, it is always sad when one dies. Death is a consequence of the curse of the Fall. Like all others following this event, I know very little of the facts surrounding his death. I refuse to speculate. The autopsy will shine the light of Truth on that cause. If the reports that have circulated to this point are true, it will show a relationship to/with narcotic drug use.

Note the verse of Scripture above. The word translated in the ESV ‘sorceries’ is pharmakown, drugs;  (medicine, remedy, drug – Greek Lexicon of The New Testament, Bauer, Arndt & Gingrich, #3, p. 862). This is in the context of the Trumpet Judgments, number 6 as found in Rev. 9. I cite this simply to say that the rampant use of drugs will be an issue when the judgment of the LORD comes.

I my lifetime famous people (Elvis, Michael Jackson, and now Prince among others) have died as a result of attempting to find peace and purpose in life through the futile and empty pathway found in drugs and a variety of other mind numbing substitutes.

While I lament death, I grow weary of the celebratory atmosphere that is consistently ramped up when such a figure dies. If the cause is indeed an over dose of a narcotic, this is a self-induced consequence. It is the reality associated with a life style that incorporates such practices. No surprise here. Just a matter of 'when' not 'if'! The use of opiates and narcotics is an out of control reality in our nation. Thousands of people are addicts and there is a growing litany of deaths each and every day. Rather than celebrate, we should focus on the TRUTH – fulfillment and peace will never be found in a syringe that delivers a short term buzz and ultimately addiction and death. The user becomes a prisoner, a slave, to the pseudo savior of pharmacological deception.

Jesus said, I am The Way, The TRUTH, and The Life. Repent and yield to Him unconditional surrender. Peace is not found in pharmacology or circumstances. It is in the Person of Christ. Each one who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. That is true PEACE!

Repentance & Reformation

but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. (Acts 26:20)

  

The passage quoted above is from the Apostle Paul’s message to King Agrippa. Please note that in Paul’s theology of repentance and redemption there is more to repentance than a mere verbal expression. In the case of genuine repentance there will be corresponding deeds that are consistent with repentance. Repentance is a turning from sin and that turning is validated by changed conduct. IT is being made new by the indwelling presence of the Holy spirit who enables the believer to put off the old life and put on the new.

The quote that follows is from a review of some of Joel Osteen’s writing. He persists in equating repentance with a simple verbal confession.

Perhaps with a nuance here and there, this kind of appeal rests right at the center of the standard perceptions of what is involved in repentance and faith. Repentance consists of saying the words “I repent.” Faith consists of an invitation to Jesus to come into one’s heart, and sincerity in the process is sealed by the supplicant making Jesus “my Lord and Savior.” So confident of the saving efficacy of such a decisional transaction is the preacher, that he continued, “Friend, if you prayed that simple prayer, I believe you have been ‘born again.’ I encourage you to attend a good, Bible-based church and keep God in first place in your life.” The new birth constitutes God’s response to our act of repentance and faith.

Why do I raise this issue? There are thousands of people that are members in good standing in the churches of America. They have uttered a formulaic response to the gospel. This includes a statement concerning repentance. But, there is not one scintilla of Transformation evident in their life – NONE!

The validation of Regeneration is Transformation. No Transformation is sure and certain objective evidence that there has been no work of grace, no new birth, no Holy Spirit initiated and completed work of salvation. Such persons are flat out lost and on their way to a Christ-less eternity.

When the message we proclaim harmonizes with what the text says we will see a Reformation and Renewal in the American church. Give due diligence to the preparation and delivery of your message. It must correspond to ‘What the text says’, not what a popular consumer driven distortion has morphed it into.(Selah)