Hey guys. I had planned on waiting a little while before sending out another random thought, but this particular issue keeps coming back to mind, so I thought I would go ahead and write it down. This is yet another topic that I won't be able to do justice to, but I do think it'll be informative and eye-opening for at least a few of you.

So there I was last week driving back from Georgia, when I saw the one thing that every driver hates seeing: a cop pulling onto the interstate. Even worse, it was one of those cops that won't even drive the customary five miles over the speed limit. Come on, now. Everybody does five over.

Well, me being me, I decided to leave my cruise control set at five over. Sure enough, I slowly began edging up to the cop, pulling even, and then gradually passing him. No lights came on (thankfully) so I continued on my merry way.

About five minutes later I saw the cop again in my rearview. He'd evidently decided that it was time to drive a little and was making up for being so slow earlier down the road. What I saw about 50 yards behind him cracked me up: four lanes of traffic all patiently following the cop, none daring to drive past him. Within a minute the cop had passed me. I'd say he was doing about 10 over the speed limit. About 30 seconds after that, I had cars passing me on both sides as they kept up with the cop.

See, their philosophy went something like this: "As long as the cop has a heavy foot, and we follow the cop's example, we're all ok and not breaking the law"...and it hit me like a ton of bricks... How many of us view our pastors and spiritual leaders like that? How many Christians today are on the wrong path because their leaders are on the wrong path? How many Christians today are oblivious to the reality around them, to the downward spiral that today's churches are taking?

There are many, many Christians out there today that think that Christianity in America is booming, that more and more people are getting saved, that we're reaching the lost. Well, this is possible. Who am I to say or imply otherwise? What I am going to do though, is show you how some of Christianity's most popular figureheads have little to no right to speak on behalf of Christians everywhere. I'm really not out to sling mud or bash people. All I want to do is get you thinking.

Let's start with Ted Haggard. Everyone knows the story. Megachurch pastor, popular, and a closet homosexual. Sadly enough, he wasn't the first and I doubt he'll be the last. Let me share just a few of the headlines found around the world today. "Jesus supports gay rights, say S.African Anglicans", "Homosexual ad campaign: 'Would Jesus discriminate?'", "Gay Eucharist attracts 1,000+", "Bishop: Bible supports homosexual partnerships", "Transgendered Clergy Encouraged to Come Out"...and the list goes on.

I'm not going to make this blog a platform for an anti-gay rally. Let me just say, though, that God views homosexuality as an abomination (Leviticus 18:22).

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:9 indicates that a true Christian is incapable of living a homosexual lifestyle. I know this sounds rough, but I'm only relaying what God has said. This concept is gone today, though. Now we have gay men and women ministers and bishops. In fact, www.gaychurch.org is a website calling all gay Christians together in unity. And this is Christianity flourishing? This is the growing Church?

Or how about Joel Osteen? Young, good looking, pastors one of largest churches in America. In an interview on Larry King Live, he adamantly refused to preach faith in Jesus as the only means of salvation. In his words: "You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know...". He does this on more than one occasion. We've got a pastor on live TV that refuses to quote John 14:6, where Christ Himself says "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Don't believe me? Read for yourself at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0506/20/lkl.01.html.

Or Rick Warren, megapastor and best-selling author of many books (which are under heavy criticism from Christians everywhere). Mr. Warren had no problem letting a pro-choice politician speak from his pulpit. When asked about this, Warren replied that he doesn't have to agree whole-heartedly with someone in order to work with him. Ok, so I can understand this. However, Warren's biggest agenda is in helping the AIDS and poverty pandemic in the world. If you ask me, this is a great cause. I truly believe that as Christians we have a responsibility to help the poor and sick. However, Warren does this from behind a "let's love them to Christ" method. I'm sorry, but my idea of Christian loving is to share the gospel with the un-saved, rather than 'agree to disagree for the purpose of helping people'. Rick Warren doesn't want to offend his co-workers that don't believe in the deity of Christ. My question is this: why in the world would you want to work hand in hand with people on their way to hell without trying even once to preach the gospel? Then again, this is from a man that sees fit to twist and decontextualize the Bible in order to sell books. Harsh of me? Yes. True? See for yourself: http://www.biblebb.com/files/purpose.htm.

How about Billy Graham? Hes one of the godliest men out there, right? Wrong. Here are a few quotes by him. "I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the Body of Christ....", "I've found that my beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics, for instance....", "I fully adhere to the fundamental tenets of Christian faith for myself and my ministry. But, as an American, I respect other paths to God–and, as a Christian, I am called on to love them." All this from one of our biggest 'leaders'. You can find more at http://www.scionofzion.com/bgsf.htm.

Have we wandered that far from our Bible? Do our leaders really refuse to speak from the word of God? What has happened to living our lives in obedience to the Bible? Let me share with you some statistics taken from www.barna.org. If these don't rattle your cage, nothing will.

--> 86 percent of professing Christians believe that "the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings".
--> 46 percent of professing Christians agree that Satan is "not a living being but is a symbol of evil".
--> 33 percent of professing Christians believe that if a person is good enough they can earn a place in Heaven.
--> 28 percent of professing Christians believe that "while he lived on Earth, Jesus committed sins, like other people".
--> 33 percent of the (American) adult population is born again.

What kind of mess is this? We have in this country church goers and pastors alike that believe that there is no Satan or hell, works can earn salvation, and Jesus was a sinner anyways. Yet somehow, they still meet the Biblical criteria for the definition of a Christian? I think not. Ephesians 2:8 makes it clear that our salvation is a result of faith, not works. Isaiah 14:12-15 gives evidence to the existence of Satan (as does many, many other books in the Bible). And if Jesus had sinned, His death would have been worthless and we would all be damned to Hell.

It is beyond me how someone can hold these beliefs and yet still believe themselves to be saved. I think it's a clear example of Matthew 7:21a: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven." Yet somehow, this is the shape this country is in. Statistics show that there are no differences in the abortion, fornication, and divorce rates between the 'Church' and the un-saved world. This is not Biblically possible. God's children are different from the world. Whether or not we fight it or embrace it, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit creates a change in our lives. If your life has never changed, I suggest that you study the book of 1 John and determine if you truly know Him. And as I said before, I'm not accusing the aforementioned men of being unsaved. All I'm doing is bringing to light some of their wrong philosophies and bad theology.

How many of y'all out there are following the wrong example? How many of you are actually studying the Book to determine whether or not your pastor is leading you in the right direction? I don't know how many times I’ve told y'all this, but if you read something I write that is not Biblically accurate, tell me. My goal is to properly discern God's word and seek unity among all true believers. If I'm wrong, correct me. I don't expect everyone to agree with my opinions, but when it comes to Biblical applications, there are right and wrongs ways to handle God’s word. If you can Biblically prove that I’m made an error in what I presume to be the meaning behind a passage of scripture, please do.

Read the Bible, guys. John 3:16 is a wonderful verse, but the rest of God's Word is there for a reason, too. Don't blindly accept the things you hear, regardless of who it is you hear them from. Look it up for yourselves, study it, and apply it. Don't just blindly follow a 'respected authority' who knows nothing. Remember that when the blind lead the blind, they'll both fall in the ditch. Open your eyes, my friends. Not everything that glitters is gold. Y'all have a good one.

Previous editions of this series:
* - Edition 7--Jan. 19
* - Edition 6--Dec. 8
* - Edition 5--Nov. 15
* - Edition 4--Nov. 2
* - Edition 3--Oct. 24
* - Edition 2--Oct. 13
* - Edition 1--Oct. 4

Photo Credit: Blake Fought