False Prophets and Those That Believe Them 3

Brothers and Sisters, I know I am being repetitive. I understand that my message is wearing thin on some of you. But I will say this again and I will say this many more times. I believe we are living in the last days. I believe that I will see evidence of the 'birth pangs' Jesus referenced in Matthew 24:8 in my lifetime. So, there is an increasing sense of urgency welling up inside of me as I reflect on this world and the things that we are seeing in it. The bible says that in the end times in Matthew:
23"Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There He is,' do not believe him. 24"For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25"Behold, I have told you in advance.


I don't see Joel Osteen performing any signs and wonders in the near future.  There is nothing happening right now in the world that aligns with this particular verse of scripture.  However, if you would indulge me here just a bit, I'd like to put forth a workable theory about these false prophets.

If you are at war, and the enemy is strong, before you send in your ground troops, you have to make some kind of attempt to soften the enemy's offensive and defensive capabilities by long range strikes.  In modern times that would come in the form of long range missile attacks, or bombings.  

The false teachings coming out of the churches where these men and women teach could be considered long range attacks on Christians.  They are effectually softening up the body of Christ before the ground troops are sent into the war zone.  Their lies, half-truths and distortions of the gospel are not leading people away from church; they are simply leading people away from Christ.  The people in these congregations go to church; but if they worship the Christ preached by these false teachers then they are worshiping a Christ that does not exist.   These folks are more like the people in 2 Peter:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;…

So many are deceived.  I hear so many times that these actors and actresses are being used greatly.  And they are....they are being used by the enemy to carry out his long range attacks on God's people.   So many are deceived by the size of their congregations.  But Jesus said wide is the path to destruction.

But, I may be getting off topic here.  Let me introduce you to the first wolf in the pack.  He needs no introduction, he is the coward Joel Osteen.   That's right, I said coward.   And I will tell you why.

A man who is afraid to tell the truth is a coward.  Joel Osteen has an amazing opportunity to tell the truth and he fails to do so.   Osteen does not preach against sin.  He doesn't even mention it.  That is cowardice.  Brothers and Sisters if it wasn't for sin then we wouldn't need Jesus.  So what he is doing is advertising for a auto mechanic and his listeners don't even know what a car is.  But it sounds so good they buy into it anyway.


In Galatians 1:8 Paul writes this:
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Now Paul preaches sin and Jesus, Jesus preached sin and Jesus, Peter preached sin and Jesus; so if that is the Gospel these men preached, then why is that not the gospel Joel Osteen preached.  Now the language Paul uses here is: accursed.  Accursed, means to be separated, to be put out, ostracized from the body.   It is very clear to me that Joel Osteen is preaching a different gospel.  Do your own research brothers and sisters.  You will find out for yourselves.  Once you are convinced, you know what you must do.  

We must turn our backs on Joel Osteen and we must declare that he not one of us.  He must be sent out from the body and no one in the body should claim him as one of our own.  That is the only way biblical way to deal with this man who is leading so many astray from the word of God.  

I urge anyone who watches his program or reads his books to stop.  Supporting this man is support for a different gospel.  If you are a member of his church...leave.  Find a bible believing church and go there.   Like I said before, we are living in the last days.   There is no more time to play at being Christians.  It is time to raise up an army, and we don't need any Joel Osteen cowards in the army.    

False Prophets and Those That Believe Them 2

Brothers and Sisters, I know there is no text this time. I will try to catch up sometime in the future. Until then, the video will give you the major points to my argument.

False Prophets and Those That Believe Them 1

Brothers and Sisters, thank you for visiting the Blog again.  I hope the words inspire you to cultivate good fruit in your lives.  Today, I was inspired by the word of God to explore a topic that has been on my mind to explore for a number of years.
I have read this particular passage several times and yet only today have I understood it this way.  The passage is 1 Kings 13:11-24.

11 Now an old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel; they also told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” For his sons had seen[a] which way the man of God went who came from Judah. 13 Then he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him; and he rode on it, 14 and went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Then he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”

And he said, “I am.”

15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.”

16 And he said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’”

18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’” (He was lying to him.)

19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank water.

20 Now it happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back; 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”

23 So it was, after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 When he was gone, a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his corpse was thrown on the road, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the corpse.

What struck me while I was reading was that the man of God who had just been used by God was so willing to believe the lying tongue of the false prophet.   He had heard from God already, yet he was still able to convince himself to go with the false prophet to eat and to drink.  How easy it was for this man of God's belly to become his God!   

Church, we are the body of Christ.  And just as a doctor performs surgery and cuts out the cancer so the cancer does not spread, it is time for us to clean up some things in the body.  It is past time for us to address some issues related to false teaching.  

There are two aspects at play here.  On the one hand we have the false prophet.  He was lying and he knew he was lying.  There are several so-called preachers who lie to their flocks every Sunday.  They distort the word of God to make it fit into their own world-view, instead of conforming their world-view to Christ.  

On the other hand we have the men and women of God who follow these false prophets.  These are they who are saved.  They love God.  They read the scriptures, yet they continually sit under false teaching.  They tithe into ministries that actually lead people to hell and damnation.  

Which one is worse?  I believe they are both shameful.  They are both sinful.  A liar cannot lie unless he has someone who is willing to believe his lie.  It is a symbiotic relationship between the false teacher and the misled. One cannot exist without the other.  Both exist in large numbers in the body of Christ.  

In subsequent posts, I will begin to expose both the false teachings and the critical role played by the congregations that sit and listen to them weekly.   Even forcing children to sit and listen to these falsehoods; indoctrinating them with lies.  

Brothers and Sisters it is easy to identify false teachings and false teachers.  If they preach something that runs contrary to the word of God, guess what?  They are false teachers.   

It is much harder to delve into the psychology of those who sit and receive the lies as their own.  It is here that I will begin with my next post.  I think it is critical to understand the men and women who say they love Christ, but sit and listen to His word get distorted every week.  

A Phone Call Story

In my previous post we talked about the Christian and the idea of being cool.  There are many more things to say about that, but we are going to look at another topic today.  I would contend that if a Christian could deal successfully navigate this particular area, it will allow them access a level of connection with God through the Holy Spirit that would allow for tremendous spiritual growth.  

Last year I was sitting in my office when I received a telephone call.  It was a lady who lived near the school where I work and she was upset about the marquee-saying that we were attracting the wrong students by putting our messages in English and Spanish.  She proceeded to tell me that the sign represented the reason your school had the wrong kinds of students.  Rage and defensiveness welled up in me and I unleashed on her a terrible lashing with my unbridled tongue.  I don't recall what I uttered, but it was by no means loving or God Honoring.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit who convicted me, after the anger subsided, to apologize to the woman.  Not as a function of my job, but as a function of my faith.  

The following day I searched through the numbers in my phone to no avail.  I could not tell which number was hers, so I was not able to give the apology I deeply wanted to give.  But God opened a door and she called back.  She apologized first, and she said she was a Christian and then I commented that I shared a like faith, and an equally like apology.  The proverbial weight was lifted from my shoulders.  I thank God that He is always so graceful.  

That anecdote, has a lot in it.  There was first a misunderstanding, followed by anger, then apology, forgiveness and reconciliation.  Each one of those things is important in the life of a Christian.  We should look at them all, but today we'll only address the root cause of the original misunderstanding---- PRIDE. 

Yes folks, pride.  My simple definition of pride is putting yourself above others.  Pride is the original sin, the sin that allowed Satan to rebel against God.  If our sin nature is a solar system, then Pride is the sun which all other sins revolve around.  

In my case, my pride made it impossible to listen with empathy to the lady on the phone.  It caused me to leap into a defense instead of calmly giving logical reasons for the marquee.  The truth is, I never understood her argument, and that led to a misunderstanding.  Proverbs 4:7 states that we need to get understanding.  

You all are thinking, where is he going with all of this.  Here it is.  Our pride gets in the way of us understanding others.  If we do not understand others we can never truly present the gospel of Christ in a way that they will understand.  We will never understand where to start.  Instead, we act from a defensive stance, attempting to defend our faith which never needs to be defended.  It only needs to be lovingly explained.  Our pride makes us loose site of the mission---to win souls.  

The remedy to our foolish pride is love and humility.  Neither of these things live in the flesh.  The antidote is to live in the spirit.  To crucify our flesh daily and be guided daily by the Holy Spirit.  This is only done through prayer, study, prayer and spending time in the word of God.  

Brothers and Sisters, this is my challenge to us: to root out pride wherever it may hide in our hearts and minds.  To go after it like a doctor goes after cancer cells.  To pray and read and study until we have allowed God to cleanse us that we may be used by Him.

Can a Christian Be Cool

Brothers and Sisters,

Far too many days have passed since I have last posted.  For that I do apologize.  It has been a long and difficult road back to the blog.  As my son said today, 'we only have one man to thank'.   That's right son.

As I was driving home today from my son's football game (they won 12-13, by the way) I heard a song on the radio about being one of the 'cool kids.'  And it struck me, hard, that my son, who is very cool to me; will never be one of the cool kids if he follows Christ.  And it struck me again, that I, myself, will never be one of the cool kids.

Cool kid is defined here as one who is popular, trendy, and well-liked by his or her peers.

My question, then, is can a Christian be cool?  Let's reason together.

If cool means that one is popular, then someone who is cool must subscribe to popular culture---right?   There may be someone, somewhere who doesn't dress like everyone else, listen to the popular radio station, use the popular slang, or watch the popular movies, who would be considered popular.  Maybe.  But, realistically, no.   To be popular, would mean for most Christians, to compromise our beliefs to be more like the world.  For instance; several 'so-called' Christian musicians borrow style and other elements from popular music and then use those elements in Christian gospel music to make their music more 'popular' or acceptable to the masses.

The Bible says:


Romans 12:2 ESV / 383 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Are not compromise and conformity similar ideas.  Wouldn't your 'cool kid' have to bend this very clear principle to 'fit in' with his or her peers?  

If cool means one who is trendy, then someone must follow the fashion, music, thinking of this world, correct?  Then it would certainly be true that if this world is sinful; then so is the music, fashion and thinking of the world, or at least parts of it.   Thus,  a 'cool kid' must consume some of what the enemy has laid before him or her to consume in order to be considered cool.  They must 'drink the Kool-Aid' in order to be part of the group.   Furthermore; in order to be a 'cool kid', would not a person have to consume said 'Kool-Aid in larger quantities than their peers in order to maintain their 'cool kid' status?  Not only that, wouldn't they have to enjoy and even introduce said Kool-Aid to other aspiring 'Cool Kids?'    

The Bible Says:

1 John 2:15-17 ESV / 107 helpful votes

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

What if cool means to be well-liked.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with being well-liked is it?  Plenty of Christian's are well-liked, right?  So, if this is what we mean by cool, it's ok.  Right?

Generally; people who are well-liked are also somewhat superficial, or shallow.  They are those who can discuss sports, or weather, or trivial matters, but they do not share their opinions, or even possess opinions on matters of importance.  They don't make judgments, or offend people with their speech or behavior.  Christians do not have the luxury of remaining neutral.  God has chosen for us where we stand on matters; we stand with Him.   So when the time comes; a Christian has to render the unpopular opinion, or abstain from the popular activity because their God compels them to do so.  Thus, even through the Christian may have a pleasant disposition, and be fun to be around, eventually the very act of being a Christian will put him or her at odds with their worldly peers.    

  

So, here is my answer, finally.  A Christian can be cool among other Christians.  A Christian cannot be cool in the world.   For being cool in the world means taking on many characteristics of the world.  This would not mean a person is not cool, this would mean a person is not a Christian.  I'm truly sorry, but I assure you brothers and sisters, that is the truth.

This topic may be of special interest in my Black Christian community.  As a card carrying member of this community I must acknowledge my own personal disgust of  a trait that is overwhelmingly present in our community.   It is the foolishness of Black parents that cover their children from head to toe in expensive name brand clothes and shoes (especially) in an effort to make the children both resemble and be more acceptable to the world.  

We are setting up value systems that:
1. are contrary to the word of God
2. are almost impossible to purge out
3. will take their focus away from God and put it on themselves creating self-centered thinking which is an enemy of the Christian walk

The Writing on the Wall 2

In the last post, I established the steps that are taken when something is eliminated from a society.  I believe we are on a path that will eventually eliminate all Christian thought, symbolism, and even practice from the USA.  I do not wish to scare you, but I do want to prepare you.  The intent is reveal and interpret the handwriting that is already on the wall.

The first thing that must occur is the thing to be eliminated must be marginalized.  It's potency must be reduced to nothing, and its name must become synonymous with something very evil, or something that is very stupid.







Look at the pictures above.  Before we could blow up Hiroshima, we had to first dehumanize the Japanese.  We would have never been able to kill all of those innocent civilians if we had not marginalized their humanity first.

I believe Christianity is headed down the same path.  Our faith is being marginalized at an alarming rate.  How many times do you see comedians make fun of Allah, or Buddha?  Now, how many times do you see Christianity ridiculed?  Would you say it occurs daily?



Several movies come to mind that either make the Christian character really naive and stupid, hypocritical, crazy, or creepy.  Watch this video from Truth in Action Ministries.



But, let us not be alarmed by all of this.  Only, we should be aware.  The lesson here is simply that we should know that our enemies are busy.  They are advancing an agenda without one ounce of resistance.  They are leading us to the slaughter and we are paving the road for them.  Let us gird up our loins!!!!!  Let us unite and call evil by its name.  Let us no longer support media companies that defile the name of our precious lord.  Let us be the peculiar people we are called to be and be of the world, but not it it.

Isaiah 5:20

English Standard Version (ESV)

20 Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter!

2 Timothy 3:1-5

English Standard Version (ESV)

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will belovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

John 8:44

English Standard Version (ESV)

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The Writing is on the wall

Brothers and Sisters,
I greet you all with my warmest affection.  It has been far too long and I am glad to be back in the fight.

I believe that.

I believe that we, Christians, are in a fight.  I also believe that we are getting the chocolate knocked out of us daily because we are too ignorant to read the signs.  We are too busy to see the handwriting on the wall.  It says, "Hey dummies, they are coming for you, because you're a Christian!"

A War on Ideas

In one of my favorite movies, Gladiator, the African guy, tells Maximus, that they must kill his name before they can kill him.  It is one of the best lines in the whole movie because it is true.  I couldn't just come out and bash Beyonce and call her a trashy dressing, trashy dancing, temptress that should be ashamed of herself.  Not because it is not true, but because she has a great name, and millions of her fans would line up to stone me (some of them would be Christians).   Christians in this country still have a great name, Jesus.  The name of Jesus is our battleground today.  If we lose this battle, then we have lost the war.  The name Jesus, and the label Christian is slowly becoming a wordy dird, a dirty word.  And it is in this area that the enemy is gut punching us again and again.  Our image, our name.  His image, His name.

It's not what he said, but what they did.

Donald Sterling, the former owner of the LA Clippers, was fined, and his team taken away from him.  Why?  Because he revealed in a private conversation that he was prejudiced against Black people.  That's it.  It's not against the law to be prejudiced.  He didn't kill anyone.  But because of the taboo---you cannot dislike a whole group of people in the United States of America-----he was given the equivalent of a death sentence.
If I sound like I support him, it is because I must.

I must defend his right to say the things he said because I know what the Bible says about hearing the word of God.  If he gets penalized for voicing his beliefs privately, what is going to happen to Christians who proclaim the truth of scripture publicly?  You don't see the connection do you?  Maybe this will help,

"Gay is the new Black."

Have you heard that quote?  If gay is the new black, and Christians cannot condone the gay lifestyle, then when we speak out against homosexuality as a sin what will happen to us?   What about fornication?  Pornography?  Indecency (Beyonce again)?  Will a Christian be able to speak out against anything at all without being crucified for their beliefs?

As the name of Jesus is pushed further and further into marginalization, it becomes easier to ignore, ridicule, and eventually eliminate His followers.  You see, when Jesus entered Jerusalem they sang Hosana and praised Him.  5 days later those same people cheered and jeered as He was beaten and then crucified.  What made the difference?  The enemy was successful in killing His name.  They made the people believe that Jesus was not who He said He was.  Thus, it was easy to crucify Him.

They are doing the same to us.  They call us intolerant because we hold to the scriptures.  They call us ignorant because we have faith in a God we cannot see.  They say we impose our values on others, when the values of the world are constantly being placed upon us.  Christians have been sued for refusing to honor gay marriages.  The CEO of Amazon was fired because he donated money to fight against gay marriage.  They make movies that distort our truth, like Noah, and expect us be satisfied with the lie.  We are living in an increasingly hostile world toward Christians.  Every other religion is honored except Christianity.  They are trying to kill our name.  His name.

Brothers and sisters, there is a coming war.  I believe it may already be here.  We must gird up our loins because the writing is on the wall.  They are coming for us and we need to be prayed up and ready for the battles to come.

In subsequent posts, I will begin to explore this topic more deeply.

We do not guard our hearts

The topic of my entry today is going to upset some people.  But it must be said.  As bondservants of Jesus, which every Christian is, we are not to love this world.  In fact we are to be a peculiar people.

*[[1Jn 2:15]] KJV* Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

*[[1Jn 2:16]] KJV* For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

*[[1Pe 2:9]] KJV* But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

As a little girl stated today during the chu rch announcements, the children should bear a resemblance to the Father. 

We allow ourselves to do everything the world does.  We wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, read the same books, watch the TV shows and movies.  What, then is peculiar about us?  How do we reflect our Father.

We look, act, and sound the same as everyone else.  The only difference is that we attend church.  But going to church does not make you a believer any more than sitting in garage makes you a Buick. 

When my son was two we loaded up the Christmas tree with gifts.  We went wild spending money.  We truly wanted him to have the best of eveything.  I was so disappointed when my son proceeded to play with the boxes, leaving the gifts off to the side.

Our Father sent His holy spirit to influence and inspire Christians to make beautiful music, write incredible books, make wholesome movies and TV programs for His own to enjoy.  Yet many of us are stuck playing with the boxes that the world produces.  How disappointed He must be with our choices.

We dont grow as Christians because we have not yet fully separated from the world.  We have not matured in Him, because we choose not to be what He wants.  We choose to be just like the unsaved people, instead of shinning our light, we allow the darkness to entice us. 

So, brothers and sisters, when you are finished with your filthy Kevin Harts, Jay Z, Beyonce, CeeLo Green, Real Housewives, Kardashians, Preachers of LA, 50 Shades of Gray, Zane books, and whatever else the enemy has produced for your consumption; then put away your childish boxes and begin to enjoy the real gifts of God.

God does not grant dual citizenship.  You are either a citizen of earth or you are a citizen of heaven. 

State of the Black Church: Volume 1

Brothers and Sisters, every November our President gives a speech called the State of the Union.  In that speech he outlines how the US is doing in key areas, such as economics, military, social issues, jobs, education etc.  He uses that time to lay out a plan to address the issues that are important to him and his political party.  As some of you know, I have been concerned about the state of our beloved Black churches.  I grieve at the thought of some of the practices that occur in the church and the acceptance of said practices by church leaders.

This is not a condemnation of the Black church, nor the wonderful people who pastor such churches or hold offices in such churches.  I simply want to open up minds to the possibility that we may have to look at some of our practices in order to save souls.  

Volume 1: The Alter Call

Think about the alter call at your church.  It is a very important part of every church service.  After pastor preaches he gives an invitation for anyone who has been moved during the service to come up and 'give their life to Jesus.'  The musicians play soft and pretty.  The members of the church are praying or quietly humming along to the tune.  Many are slowly rocking back and forth to the music.  The table is set for a person, hungry for a change in their life to make that journey down the aisle and 'give their life to Jesus.'  The person comes down the aisle and either prays with the pastor, or is directed into a private room where a minister leads them in a prayer to accept Jesus.  The congregation applauds and stands and encourages the person.  And the person is told that once they say that prayer that they are changed forever and the Holy Spirit now lives in them.

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

But how many people are really saved by that particular experience?  How many people can honestly say that they became saved during an alter call and immediately began to walk in the narrow way?  I would guess very few, if any.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

But, Brother J, you ask me; what is the big deal here?  The church is saving souls, and once saved, always saved.  I agree.  But I believe that salvation comes through real repentance and real faith.  I do not believe it comes from having one very emotional experience and repeating a prayer that one may or may not fully understand.

The danger in the current practice of alter calls in Black churches is that we are communicating to people that they are saved when there is not one verifiable shred of evidence that supports the assumption.  I would further comment that we tell people they are saved before we are even sure they understand the gospel.

So these people leave the church that day and think they are Christians; but they don't think like Christians, and they don't behave like Christians.  But because they had that one experience, they tell people that they are saved, they are Christians and they become representatives of the body of Christ to their families, friends, and co-workers before they truly understand what it means to be members of the blessed body of the risen Lord.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

At the risk of being hated and scoffed at (trust me, I am getting plenty of practice) I think the alter call and all that it entails cheapens the name Christian, and allows people to say they are in the body when they are not.

I think back to my college days.  I attended a small HBCU and the biggest thing on campus was the Fraternities and Sororities.  Each organization had a section of land called a plot where they each had a small cement and brick painted structure that represented their organization.  One of the first things you learned was that if you were not an authorized member of that organization, then you would pay dearly if you stepped foot on one of those plots.  The Fraternities and Sororities protected the membership in their organizations fiercely and no person who had not earned membership was allowed to be called a brother or a sister, nor participate in the meetings or events held by each individual organization.  There was a process for joining and criteria that needed to be met before one could ever be considered a member.  There was even a challenge issued to unknown brothers or sisters to determine if they were really members of the organization.

In contrast, we in the Black church believe that the decision for Christ is the most important decision one can make; yet we think that one prayer is enough for someone to enter the kingdom.  Are we really that obtuse? When a pagan organization makes more effort to really bring people into the fold, and we, the church, give one invitation, have one prayer, and assume that person is now saved and member of the body of Christ, is a shame before our Lord.  

What, then, shall we do?  I'm glad you asked.  I would submit to the reader that alter calls are unbiblical and unnecessary   It is foolishness to sit around Sunday dinner and say, we had 3 people give their life to Christ today.  The truth, brothers and sisters, is that we have no idea how many people truly give their life to Christ.   What we should be doing is training a cadre of tried and tested church members to disciple those who express interest in the Christian life.  I mean one on one, open bible, getting real with God talks that could last years.  The goal is to plant and to water and let God give the increase.