Concerning "Positive" Christianity:
The Religion of 'Change.'
by
Dean Gotcher
"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." Luke 16:19-31
You have to start with the "negative," hell is permanent, a "place of torment," and waiting for you if you don't repent, or you have not started at all (there is no gospel message). But then with a world seeking after and listening only to the "positive," including the church, who will listen to you? Certainly not the "ministers" and/or "leaders" in the "Church." They are busy preaching a "positive," dialectic christianity. It makes everyone "feel better about themselves" and become "less offensive to other" and is therefore "good" for "business."
When you hear about 'change' coming to the "church." That is what it is all about, i.e. negating the "negative" religion of condemnation and hell, augmenting a "positive" religion of "human relationship building," a religion of socialist 'change.' Don't get (remain) lost in the "rich-poor" situation, which Jesus addresses (being rich or seeking after it is not just about your "lust" for physical and emotional pleasure, your "lusting" after the things of the flesh and the eyes, it is also your desiring the most intoxicating, i.e. addictive pleasure of all, "the approval of men," i.e. "the pride of life"). The real issue is (for both the rich and the poor alike) where you will spend eternity in the end. It is that the poor are more inclined to "look up" for help, not finding it here on earth with man.
"turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness" Jude 1:4
"The innermost core of man's nature, the base of his 'animal nature,' is positive in nature." "Do we dare to generalize from this type of experience that if we cut through deeply enough to our organismic nature, that we find that man is a positive and social animal? This is the suggestion from our clinical experience." (Carl Rogers, on becoming a person: A Therapist View of Psychotherapy)
Is your "minister" or "leadership" using the "church" to solve social issues by "building human relationships" (being "positive," i.e. dialoging men's opinions to find "common ground") or are they (being "negative") preaching and teaching the gospel message (the Word of God "as given") that men must "repent" of their sins before a holy, pure, righteous, unchanging, wrathful yet forgiving God. (God is patient but He is not tolerant, there's a world of difference between those two words.) God is a God of Love, but he chastens those he loves, his wrath being stored up for those who refuse his chastening. If you refuse to accept the chastening (the warnings of hell and condemnation included, the redeemed worshiping and praising Him for His mercy and grace, the lost coming under conviction) then you are not one of his, you are a subject of His wrath. If the "minister" and/or "leadership" of the "church" are not exposing your deceitful and wicked heart, by the preaching and teaching of the Word of God (untainted by men's opinions), it is their deceitful and wicked hearts that they want to protect ('justify' through their use of dialectic 'reasoning') in the end. They need to be warned of the wrath of God. But they probably won't listen and repent. Being "positive Christian's" they will more than likely turn and rend you for being "negative," for disturbing theirs, and their followers, "positive feelings."
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14 "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:" 1 Peter 5:6
© Institution for Authority Research, Dean Gotcher 2012-2015