Friday, December 21, 2007

Oops, I did it again... (a cry for help!)



That famous Britney Spears song is coming back to haunt her. One of the lines in it says, "I'm not that innocent." We now hear just a couple of days ago that Britney's little 16 year old sister is not that innocent too, in fact, she appears to be headed to the same lifestyle as her older sister. Little Jamie Lynn Spears, at 16 years of age is pregnant. She stars in her own tv series called Zoey 101 (never seen it and never plan to). What is really disturbing is that she said she met her boyfriend (the baby's father) at church.


Britney claims to be a Christian. She dresses in a way that exposes more skin and less morals than any Christian should. She sings songs about love, sex and adulterous lifestyles. She says in her songs that she is not innocent (pure).


Now her little sister is following in her footsteps. Why? Is it because she has seen all the success her big sister has had? Is it because of all the money she has made? Is it because her mom has pushed her into that lifestyle in order to be popular? No one can really know for sure, but for her to say that she met her boyfriend in church, that bothers me.



I have to wonder about the effectiveness of their church. I do not know the pastor and would not want to pass judgment on him. Without knowing what he is preaching, I cannot say for sure, but...



With the way so many churches today are not preaching the Word of God
With the way so many churches today look the other way when it comes to dealing with sin
With the way so many churches today only focus on the love of God without any knowledge of the wrath of God...


Is it any wonder that the youth of today lack any sense of morality?
Is it any wonder that the youth of today have no fear of God?



Youth Specialties and other youth programs have geared their resources to be more "user" friendly in the sense that there is no accountability to our actions with God.


It saddens me to see so many youth today who go on with their life as if God is just an after-thought. Actually, too many adults do that too.


What lies in store for little Jamie Lynn Spears? Will she raise her child to fear God? Will she teach her child to stay pure until marriage? Will she bring up her child in a church atmosphere surrounded by loving Christians? Let me rephrase that one, will she bring up her child in a church full of committed, faithful, obedient, repentant Christians? It is sad. Her sister has failed to be a proper role model for her. Her mom has not kept a close watch on either of her daughters and trained them up in the way they should go. And her church failed her. It would seem that not only did the pastor and the youth pastor fail to properly teach the girls about being chaste, pure and remaining innocent, but they failed to teach the girls about consequences by God's standards and His Word.



There was the church in Georgia (I think), that was going to send a letter to Britney and tell her how much God loves her. No mention of God's wrath. Without a knowledge of the wrath of God, why should she fear Him and why should she change her way of living. She can go on living for her self and for her own pleasures because she is comforted by the fact that God loves her. I want to tell her and her sister what they need to hear (and I hope they somehow are able to read this post), but here it is...



Britney and Jamie,


You have undoubtedly heard by now how much God loves you. This is a true statement and you can take comfort in that. But there is something you are not hearing and you need to hear it (or read it). The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I am not here to point a finger at either girl and say they are headed for hell. That is not my place. Only God knows for sure. But we do have guidelines that are in place. We have God's Word on what our behavior should be and what our walk with Him should look like. The first words that Jesus spoke in his ministry were, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators (those having sex outside of marriage), nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (homosexuals), nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
How many times have you heard that preached? Just because you maybe claim to believe in Jesus, I do not want you to be fooled. Read what the Bible says,
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Mat 7:18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Mat 7:19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Mat 7:20
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Mat 7:21

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.






Is this describing you? Has your church or your pastor failed to warn you that you might be a false convert sitting in church. You might be one that says, Lord, Lord and He will look at you and say, depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you. This is very serious and your eternal salvation is at hand. What does it take for you to be saved. You are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone for your salvation. But it is not just an easy-believism I am talking about. It is a live, action-filled faith that is a result of wanting to serve God. You need to repent of your sins. The Bible tells us that without repentance, you will not enter heaven. Without repentance YOU WILL NOT ENTER HEAVEN. Please read that over and over. You can't just go on living your life to please yourself. We are put here for God's good pleasure and to bring Him glory. So with your faith, there should be the fruits of repentance and the fruit of thanksgiving evident in your life. Without repentance, no heaven. Got it? Repent and put faith in Jesus -- Heaven. Live for self, continue sinning with no repentance -- hell. It is not an easy message to hear but it is the greatest message you will ever hear.


Listen (or read), I am a sinner too. I commit adultery (lust after pretty girls), I am a liar, a thief, a murderer (hate), a covetous person, I have dishonored my parents, I have not put God first in my life and I have worshipped idols (money, success, etc). Sound familiar? Here's the thing...


When I finally got it, I put my total trust and faith in Jesus. That meant that my life wasn't about me any more, it was about Him. I wanted to be pleasing to the Father. Does that mean I can't keep my personality, no, I still tell excellent jokes (clean) (okay, so that is why I am a liar, my jokes aren't always excellent!), I have just repented of my sins. Will I ever sin again? Sure! But now, when I sin, I do not go chasing after it. I do not make provisions to sin. I do not plan it out. If I sin, I immediately recognize it and take it to God and ask for forgiveness. We have His Word that He will forgive us of our sins, but it must be because we have repented of our sins. You might fall into sin, but God can get you through it. If you run to sin, then you have turned your back against the God who gave you life and pursued the ways of the Devil. I speak to you and anyone else reading this, that I love you and do not want to see anyone go to hell. I want to do whatever I can to see that the True message of God gets out. It is a shame that the churches are not doing their job. I pray that you will both repent of your sins (turn from your sins and do them no more), and put your faith and trust in Jesus much the same way you would put your faith and trust in a parachute to save you from a jump from a plane. Cling to Jesus to save you. Desire to get into His Words. Watch out for false teachings and cults (Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc). God's will is to bring the redeemed of the Lord together in heaven and on earth. Our job is to get out and reach as many people as we can to bring them to a saving knowledge and relationship with Jesus Christ. With all the talent you both have, wouldn't it be good if you could reach millions of people for the name of Christ as opposed to living for Satan and his ways? It's not too late. I didn't tell you what 1 Corinthians 6:11 says, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." When you put your faith in Jesus and repent of your sins, you will desire to be obedient to His Word. I pray that you seriously consider what was written here to you. May God bless you and keep you in His care. Make a difference in the life of others. Show them how the wonderful love of God, not sending you to hell, has changed you. If you continue to claim to be a Christian and yet continue to live in your sin without repentance, you shall surely perish.



God bless


Brian



click here to see if your pastor is guilty of this!
thanks Tony!

6 comments:

Roland said...

Good post, Brian.
It shows that when we accept Christ, the sinner label is gone.
Replace with something else in how He remade us.
It is a good message to share.
And sharing that God loves them isn't bad, but it isn't all there is.
Again, nice post.

pastorbrianculver said...

Thank you Roland! I was leery about posting the picture because I didn't want to cause guys to sin by lusting. But I did want to show that they are both not innocent (just as much as I am not innocent either!). I sure hope they get their lives straightened out! Doesn't sound like they have surrounded themselves with good quality people.

speaking_as said...

Brian,
I find it odd that you choose to focus on this MTV, secular entertainment garbarge. Britney Spears is a harlot and it seems her young sister has also followed her into eternal damnation. I had to close the window when I saw the picture you had posted, I can't believe girls would enter public dressed like that. I'd ask you choose not to focus on secular entertianment and liberal, hellbound celebrities.

pastorbrianculver said...

You missed the intent of the message. Britney Spears claims to be a Christian. The fault as I see it, lies in two places. First off, she is not obedient to God's Word. Secondly, I have to wonder what kind of message her pastor was offering as a means of salvation. Because it obviously did not change her life. You are right, her sister is headed in the same direction as she is. As Christians, we are to warn those who are headed to hell. If you claim to be a Christian and you choose not to give the gospel message to the lost sinners but only to those who attend church, then what kind of Christian are you? The message is to show pastors, elders and all churches, that because of a soft message we have not properly trained people on what it means to be a Christian. Your response pretty much shows what I am talking about.

speaking_as said...

Brian,
I apologize if I came off as insulting. That was not my intent. I agree that we should warn those heading to hell, and that obviously their pastor either was getting the wrong message across, or wasn't getting the right message across strongly enough. It's just that as a former resident of Los Angeles, and as someone who became so disgusted and jaded by what I saw in the "entertainment" industry, I have little patience for the people in it or what they do. But, I suppose you are right, we must try to save as many as we can, even if they are secular liberal atheist movie stars and pop music singers.
Take care, Brian.

pastorbrianculver said...

No problem! I wasn't sure what angle you were coming from. I can imagine with you living out there that you have seen it all. It bothers me when I see actors and actresses who wear a cross around their neck and say they are Christians and yet their lives show no fruit. Britney claimed to be a Christian (a public statement). If we don't challenge them on it, I think it puts a stain on the name "Christian." I would rather hear her say, that she believes in Jesus but hasn't come around to following Him yet. At least then when people look at her they won't think that all christians act like that. But she said she was a Christian. Not only do we need to challenge her on it, but like I said, I think we need to challenge the man who was her pastor. If I was her pastor, I would definitely be having a long talk with her about her morality and the way she is presenting herself to the world as a Christian. Another one I have a problem with is Oprah Winfrey. She says she is a Southern Baptist and yet she says, "How do we know that Jesus is the only way. He can't possibly be the only way to heaven." Again, I think she needs to be pointed to Scripture and again, I would say someone needs to have a talk with her pastor because it seems obvious that he did not do a good job of presenting the gospel message to her. Any bets, he was one of those pastors who just said, "God loves you, just say and prayer and you are saved!"?