The whole of the world is on the backside of what appears to be the first real endtime “labor pain.” I realize that the Lord’s list of prophetic contractions include wars, rumors of wars, political uprisings, racial tensions, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places; and though we’ve always had these pains flaring up and settling down throughout the world for the last 2,000 years, there has yet to be a single contraction that affected the entire world all at once. Not even World War 2 touched the entire world. This coronavirus pandemic has been different because it is the first time the pain of one of the Lord’s prophesied contractions has been felt by the entire world—simultaneously. Furthermore, not since the Tower of Babel has the entirety of the world’s population and their leaders moved together in unity and agreement. And though the unified movements and strategies of world leaders have all been done in the name of peace, safety, and health, it has, strangely enough, been the most wide-spread suppression of personal liberties in human history.

THIS HAS BEEN A TEST
If we assume that the COVID-19 pandemic is the first real labor pain, then it appears to have been a test by the spirit of the world to measure the current condition of mankind’s heart, observing how the peoples of the earth would respond to coming plans and strategies of biblically prophesied globalism. Think of it like a plumber pressure-testing a new waterline in search of possible leaks. The air test allows for any leaks to be detected and repaired before charging the system with the real deal—water. It appears that this pandemic, this international end-time contraction, has been pressurizing humanity to check for leaks in three key arenas: 1) susceptibility to fear, 2) nationalism, and 3) openness to new doctrines of discipleship. This has been a test for the righteous and the unrighteous alike.

FEAR
Perhaps just as devasting as the actual virus has been the fear-driven response. No doubt, fear is the flavor of the day being fanned and proclaimed by every form of media. People seem to even be encouraging each other to embrace fear as the only acceptable and justifiable response. To even suggest that you’re not afraid is to openly invite criticism, disgust, and ridicule. To obey the Bible and resist snuggling under the blanket of fear in the land today is to be called a selfish, science-denying, hyper-religious kook. Fear was once looked down upon, while courage was held in high regard. Behold, we live in the day when fear is embraced and promoted as noble while courage is rebuffed with calls to “love thy neighbor.”

The danger with such a promotion and acceptance of fear is simple: fearful people are easy to control. Like the clichéd action-movie line invites, “Follow me, if you want to live,” fearful people are willing to follow anybody and do anything to stay alive. Psychology has long understood that fear is the key to getting people to accept choices that would normally be deemed repugnant or immoral. When the choices presented are either A) death, or B) something disgusting and offensive, situational ethics and the desire to live kick-in and choice A is avoided, even if choice B requires apostasy. The result is a population that shifts its cultural values further away from God and deeper into pragmatic secular humanism.

If I were the antichrist, I’d be pretty pleased at how susceptible the world has proven themselves to be to a global pandemic of fear. How about you, dear reader? How have you been handling this pressure test? Have you held solid to the Bible and the promise that we’ve not been given the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a disciplined mind? Or have you been caught up in the riptide of fear pouring forth from television, internet, and that anxiety mill called social media? Remember, fearful people are easily controlled, but God has called us to peace.

NATIONALISM
If I were the antichrist and I wanted to rule the whole world, but I wasn’t sure just how open to a “one-world government” the world’s citizens were yet, I’d probably poll them just like a politician would (when considering a bid for the White House). I’d probably want to know just how much allegiance Americans still had towards America, and just how much do Germans still love Germany. I’d want to know just how Russian the Russians are, and how much patriotism there is among Chileans. Because in order to get all the nations to follow me, I’d have to position them to despise their own country enough to renounce its best interests in favor of my agenda.

Well, as it turns out, for all the talk of a one-world government, open borders, and an international currency, the world does still very much believe in their nations and the security of their borders. As we have all observed, as soon as COVID-19 began to break out, nation by nation began to shut down (not open up), expel foreign nationals (not provide refuge), and enact secure border control (not tear down walls). Although there have now been a few European voices calling for the establishment of a single international leader to oversee a unified worldwide response to similar future events, thankfully it appears as though the world still has a massive “leak” in this arena—for now. It seems the world is not as neighborly as they pretend to be.

If I were the antichrist, I would move to plug this leak by a great social and academic push for globalism. The world is still too fiercely national and independent. . . for now, at least. I believe we will see a renewed push for globalism and borderless societies all in the name of “the greater good.”

OPENNESS TO DISCIPLESHIP
At first, this concept may seem odd, but I believe it will make itself apparent. Discipleship is, at its simplest, receiving a set of teachings by which you can live your life. The spirit of this world is constantly putting forth its wicked teachings and ideologies for people to take up and live by. The god of this world, in preparation for the antichrist’s rise to power, needs his own set of disciples and he needs a population open to his way of doing things. As it stands, mankind, including many Christians, have been very resistant to God’s form of discipleship. How else do you explain Christians going to church for 20 years and still living like the world? It would almost appear that modern man can’t be discipled. However, this COVID-19 pressure test has proven something quite damning about the world’s population, and even many Christians: most people can be discipled very rapidly when it’s important to them. After all, “Follow me, if you want to live.”

Consider how many Christians, after having been fruitlessly discipled by their pastors for years and are still resistant to regular church attendance, service, tithing, evangelism, or even just clean living, have now in a matter of weeks, been effectively discipled by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), politicians, celebrities, and social media to 1) keep social distance, 2) stay at home, 3) wear a facemask, 4) don’t shake hands or hug, and 5) tattle on any neighbor who refuses to do 1-4. I believe God is taking note, and He has observed (though He knew it all along) that we can in fact be discipled and changed into a different person. We can learn new tricks, no matter how old we are, no matter who we are, no matter how set we have grown in our ways. This pressure test has proven to God that mankind is still capable of being discipled. We just may not want to be discipled after His laws.

I also see another area where the world’s behavior has manifested to their own condemnation—lawlessness. Lawlessness is the picking and choosing of what laws you will and will not obey. Lawlessness is not the total abandonment of every law; just the refusal to keep the ones that stand in your way. Paul prophesied that the hidden agenda of lawlessness was already at work in the earth. Americans can be described as very lawless. It often seems like our unofficial national motto is: Who are you to tell me what to do? From all practical observations it would appear that modern man is incapable of following the rules, but alas, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that mankind is not just capable of keeping laws but can, in fact, be very zealous of laws, especially brand news laws that guarantee their survival. What happened to our lawless society that proudly challenged the status quo, questioning the government’s wisdom, regularly marching in protest against some newly discovered injustice, and daring anyone to take away their rights? As it turns out, we do know how to follow laws, if they promise us life. Apparently, we will follow any law that can help us live.

To be clear, I’m not against anyone taking necessary measures to decrease the spread of sickness and disease. The enthusiastic practice of social distancing isn’t the problem. The real problem is that many Christians could care less about practicing God’s rules for the Godkind-of-life but prove themselves to be zealous new converts and even evangelists for social distancing. In short, the world has demonstrated to God Almighty that they are capable of both submitting to discipleship and obeying laws . . . just not His laws. How have you, dear reader, been handling this pressure test? Have you found yourself still resistant to biblical discipleship yet eager to embrace the CDC’s new norms?

YOUR SYSTEM TEST
If I am accurate and COVID-19 is the first of the real end-time contractions, then there are many more contractions to come. Don’t forget, once contractions start, they only increase in frequency and intensity. The next contraction may be a war, a national race riot, a famine, or another pandemic. These contractions promise to disrupt life as we know it. When a woman goes into labor, every fiber of her being knows it. Even her little toe knows that things are changing (and even that little toe will cringe to help push the baby out).

Where has your life been tested during this global event? Was it your marriage? Your finances? Your faith in God? Your faithfulness to practice the daily Christian disciplines of prayer and Bible study? Did old habits and addictions flare back up? Did you pass those tests, or did you notice some leaks? Those leaks won’t fix themselves. They’ll only grow larger. What will you do to fix those leaks? The next contraction is coming. We don’t know when. We don’t know what kind. We just know that Jesus prophesied it so, and therefore it must come. Is your house in order? The more biblical and disciplined your family, home, and life are, the less these labor pains will disrupt them. If you have found yourself grossly unprepared for this lesser event, what will you do when things intensify? Remember the words of Jesus Christ and follow Him, if you want to live.

Paul opens his epistle to the Philippians with a prayer that must surely sound odd to the modern Western Christian: I pray that your love would abound more and more in . . . all judgment. This prayer reveals a great heresy that has arisen within the Body of Christ. That heresy? That Christians aren’t to judge. This heresy stems from an even greater misunderstanding concerning the biblical doctrine of judgment. From the above verse, it is very clear that biblical love must include “all” forms of judgment. Unfortunately, many of today’s believers have been discipled by the world into adopting the mantra, “Who am I to judge?” (as well as its other variations, e.g., “Jesus said we’re not supposed to judge,” “Don’t be so judgy,” and “They’re so judgmental”). Until the true followers of Jesus Christ know the scriptural teachings on the subject of judgment, we will always be cowered into a corner by the pagans wondering how, if I shouldn’t judge, do I declare right from wrong? (And, by the way, who’s going to tell all the adjectives in the English language they’re no longer needed)? With this article, I intended to answer the following questions: How did the Church and the nation get to this place? How did the Western Church go from being truthful and established to being fluent in doublespeak, so weakly thin-skinned, and shamefully compromising with God’s absolute truth? Answering these questions is quite easy, but to do so we must take a brief stroll through the history of American psychology.

In the 1960’s psychology established a stronghold in American culture, forever impacting people who were sure to never visit a mental health professional. One of the most prominent psychologists of the day was Dr. Carl Rogers (1902-1987). Rogers was raised in a tight-knit, devout Pentecostal Christian family. However, in 1922, after a 6-month trip to Peking, China where he attended an international Christian conference, he began to doubt his faith. Ultimately, he rejected his Christian faith and pursued “a more modern religious viewpoint.”   He obtained his PhD from Columbia University in 1931 and began his career in psychology.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Rogers made three major contributions to psychology and American culture. His first major contribution came in the 1940’s when he, together with psychologist Abraham Maslow, developed what came to be known as humanistic or third force psychology, a therapy method that focuses on allowing the client to solve their own problems with minimal help from the therapist’s guide—also known as non-directive therapy. Rogers’ second contribution came in 1956 when he originated the wildly popular concept of “unconditional positive regard” (more on that ahead). Finally, by the 1960’s, Rogers and Maslow began promoting and experimenting with “encounter groups.” This was to be Rogers’ final culture-altering contribution.

He has been called “the most influential psychologist you’ve never heard of.” But what was his influence? What did he do to influence modern culture? And what does this have to do with modern Christianity? As we will see, his three most famous contributions to psychology—non-directive therapy, unconditional positive regard, and encounter groups—have been three of the most toxic and destructive forces ever unleashed on the American culture, the effects of which can be seen and felt in every home, classroom, and sanctuary across America.

Non-directive Therapy

Developed in the 1940’s, this form of psychotherapeutic approach refrains from giving “direction,” advice, or interpretation to the client/patient. The client is helped to identify conflicts, and to clarify and understand feelings and values. In short, Rogers’ non-directive approach rejected the notion that the therapist should act as the expert or authority, providing advice, instruction, counsel, or judgment. Rather, Rogers proposed that people should rely less on the judgment of experts and turn inward to themselves, solving their own problems. He believed people are their best expert and are prone to always producing good—if given the right environment. The therapist follows the client, allowing the client to choose the path that they (the client) feel is best for them. Non-directive therapy is based on a non-judgmental approach. The therapist cannot judge the choice the client has chosen. If the client’s chosen path or solution is right for the client, who is the therapist to judge? This form of therapy shuns any form of absolute morality. The result is an obvious reinforcement of moral relativism. This form of therapy is rooted in the belief that man knows what’s best for man. This therapy relies upon, and therefore, aims to foster an atmosphere of “unconditional positive regard.”

Unconditional Positive Regard

The philosophy of unconditional positive regard (UPR) evolved from Rogers’ view that man is inherently good, trustworthy, and noble. For these reasons he stated that man has a natural propensity to march towards growth, health, independence, and “self-actualization,” or, fulfilling one’s potential and achieving the highest level of “human-beingness.” Rogers called this “becoming your potentialities.” When this process of “becoming your potentialities” is thwarted, an individual becomes damaged and develops coping mechanisms, which then require counseling. Rogers believed mankind has an innate urge towards “socially constructive behavior,” which is always present and functioning to some degree. He also believed that mankind had a need for “self-determination,” or a strong desire to behave in healthy and effective ways. The more that individual need to “self-determine” is respected, valued, and nurtured, the more a person’s urge to be socially constructive will flourish. In essence, leave people alone and they will do what is right and become what is better. Unconditional positive regard is the attitude and lifestyle that, according to Rogers, would allow a person to become his full potentiality. Unconditional positive regard is, therefore, “the valuing of a person as doing their best to move forward in their lives constructively and respecting the person’s right to self-determine no matter what they choose to do.” According to Rogers:

The central hypothesis of this approach can be briefly stated. It is that the individual has within him or her self vast resources for self-understanding, for altering her or his self-concept, attitudes, and self-directed behavior—and that these resources can be tapped if only a definable climate of facilitative psychological attitudes can be provided. (1)

At first glance it would seem that this philosophy is rooted in compassion. In reality, however, Rogerian therapy brainwashes the public to accept the unacceptable. One famous story from Rogers’ past reveals his UPR philosophy in action:

One day, he was leading a therapy group for adolescents hospitalized in a psychiatric ward.  When a boy disclosed that he had raped his sister, a teenage girl expressed revulsion.  Rogers turned on the girl, chastising her for being judgmental.

Rogers’ UPR philosophy essentially taught America that judging others limited their ability to succeed. Rogers’ school of thought dared Americans to “judge” and refused to paint morals in an absolute light. In essence, what sounds like the biblical unconditional love is really just another humanistic philosophy that totally rejects any kind of absolute truth. Today, unconditional positive regard is the foundation stone of many psychotherapies.

Encounter Groups

Encounter groups were sessions of “truth-telling and ice-breaking group exercises” that broke down social inhibitions, fostered a false sense of intimacy, and opened the way for the engineering of group consent through the harnessing of small group peer pressure. These “encounter groups” were also called “training groups” or “T-groups.” Carl Rogers reportedly described encounter groups as “…the most significant social invention of the century.” The T-group was originally developed by the founder of group psychotherapy, Jacob L. Moreno, and further enhanced by the Office of Naval Research (for psychological warfare) and the National Education Association as a tool to change the behavior, morals, standards, and attitudes of the participants. The T-group evolved into “encounter groups,” but retained the same fundamental techniques commonly referred to as the “dialectic process” and more accurately called “the manipulation of small group peer pressure.” In the dialectic process, individuals engage in a group discussion, and through conversation and sharing, are subtly moved towards giving up their confidence in their fixed beliefs. Contradictions in beliefs and opinions among the group provide a mixing pot of ideas. Through the group’s innate social pressure and which is aided by the group facilitator’s oversight (read: manipulation), the individuals give up their previously accepted belief system in exchange for the new mixing pot “truth” (or consensus) the group has developed through their “dialogue and conversation.” In essence, the participant loses their individuality and identity and can only find new identity in the group. This technique inherently rejects the biblical doctrine of moral absolutism, absolute truth, and the value of the individual while replacing it with relativism, humanism, and communitarianism—the truth now being whatever you decide it to be in the moment resulting in the valuing of the group over the individual.

Though Rogers didn’t develop encounter groups, he and Abraham Maslow were instrumental in promoting and experimenting with their effects throughout the 1960’s. In the early 1960’s Rogers began circulating a paper called “The Process of the Encounter Group” to several religious organizations. Rogers famously unleashed encounter groups at Sisters of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic convent in California, which resulted in widespread lesbianism among the nuns, hundreds of nuns forsaking their vows, and the eventual disintegration of the entire convent (2). It became readily apparent by the late 1960’s that encounter groups were especially toxic to anyone adhering to strict morality and religious beliefs. Encounter groups were easily tearing down the faith and morality of the religiously pious. Abraham Maslow observed:

“I guess what I’m trying to say here,…is that these interpersonal therapeutic growth-fostering relationships [encounter groups] of all kinds which rest on intimacy, on honesty, on self-disclosure, on becoming sensitively aware of one’s self—and thereby of responsibility for feeding back one’s impression of others, etc.— that these are profoundly revolutionary devices, in the strict sense of the word—that is, of shifting the whole direction of a society in a more preferred direction. As a matter of fact, it might be revolutionary in another sense if something like this were done very widely. I think the whole culture would change within a decade and everything in it. (Journals, pp. 166-68.) (Emphasis mine)

Maslow recognized the power of peer pressure demonstrated in these groups. The “preferred direction” he envisioned moving society toward was a society less moral, less puritanical, and less dogmatic about absolute right and wrong. It is critical to understand the beliefs and doctrines of these men, for their motives, like most famed psychologists, were to radically revolutionize American culture by dissolving its puritanical values. Rogers once asserted, “Neither the Bible nor the prophets—neither Freud nor research—neither revelations of God nor man—can take precedence over my own direct experience.” Writing in the Journal of Psychology in 1949, Maslow said confidently that, “I can report empirically the healthiest persons in our culture … are most (not least) pagan, most (not least) instinctive, most (not least) accepting of their animal nature.”  These are obvious humanistic worldviews, exalting the sin nature over Christ’s righteousness, and are totally at odds with the Bible and sound Christian doctrine.

In 1966, Rogers said of his then professional obscurity, “I don’t have very much standing in the psychology itself, and I couldn’t care less. But in education and industry and group dynamics and social work and the philosophy of science and pastoral psychology and theology and other fields my ideas have penetrated and influenced in ways I never would have imagined (3).” However, in 1982, less than 16 years later, Carl Rogers had been ranked the most influential psychotherapist in history by American Psychologist, followed by Albert Ellis and Sigmund Freud.

Now, let’s look at what all of this has to do with the Body of Christ and sound Bible doctrine. My wife recently replied to one of America’s ever-frequent social-media-micro-dramas on Facebook. By my judgment, her reply was biblical and accurate. One of her Christian friends was offended by the post and quickly replied, “You can’t go around telling people they’re wrong.” (I believe the ironic hypocrisy of this statement was lost on the lady making the post.) She argued, “You have to love people. If you tell them where they’re wrong you’ll push them away from Jesus.” This non-judgmental attitude sounds sweet and Bible-riffic, but sadly, this dear Christian lady doesn’t realize she is more a disciple of Carl Rogers than Jesus Christ. We must consider what the Bible actually teaches the New Testament believer concerning judgment, rebuke, correction, and admonishment. This brief study will not cover the Greek word krino or its family of cognates such as krima, diakrino, katakrino, krisis, and anakrino (alas, this article is already way too long for the average Facebook or American reader). These words are abundantly used in the Greek New Testament to define the responsibilities and obligations of Christians. The definitions of the krino family of cognates range from inspection, interrogation, criticize, and judge to censure, approve, determine, condemn, and damn. This family of words is used well over 150 times in the Greek New Testament, thoroughly establishing the Christian’s obligation to Jesus Christ by judging everything around them.

Understand that sound doctrine is never built on one verse. Every doctrine of Christ is like a beautiful diamond—there are many facets to it. Any doctrine built on one verse will be a shallow, one-dimensional facet (a mere shard of glass) and not the entire gem it could be. So to begin, let’s deal with the sin-guilty Christian’s favorite shard of glass:

• Do not judge so that you will not be judged. Matthew 7:1 NASB

Is this verse really commanding us to never judge anything? Carl Rogers and the dirty Christian would have you to believe so. Is Jesus commanding us to use zero judgment the rest of our lives? Does this verse mean He doesn’t want us to judge the best use of our money, the best school for our kids, the best clothing for the weather; or perhaps, never judge the job we take or the friends we are to keep? Are we to never judge the fruit of a potential spouse? Can we just marry anybody? Of course not. There are too many other Bible verses commanding diligence, discretion, and righteous judgment. This passage about judgment is five verses long; yet, every pagan and backslidden Christian only quotes the first verse. That’s called taking a verse out of context. Jesus starts in verse 1 by saying, “Judge not,” but concludes four verses later by teaching us how to accurately judge.

• Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.             Matthew 7:1-5 NASB

Jesus begins this passage by forbidding judgment. Verse two also reveals that receiving judgment is unavoidable; all we can do is regulate the way and the standard by which we will receive our own judgment. Over the course of the five verses he clarifies the type of judgment He is referring to. Verse 5 of this passage reveals that the subject of this oft misused verse is actually “hypocritical judgment.”

• You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5 NASB

Verse 5 makes it apparent he’s talking to hypocrites about hypocritical judgment. Hypocritical judgment is any judgment that doesn’t first involve self-judgment (see also 1 Corinthians 11:28,31 and Galatians 6:1). Jesus never condemned His audience for noticing the speck in their brother’s eye. Nor did He condemn them for their desire to see that same speck removed. What infuriated Jesus was the hypocrisy of their wanting to see the speck removed from the brother while they ignored or sat ignorant of their own log. Jesus does want us to be able to see the speck in our brother’s eye and He does want us to help remove that speck, but we will not be accurate in those two acts of judgment (speck-spotting and speck-removing) if we have a timber in our own eye. Furthermore, our ability to first recognize the timber in our own eye will help us to extend mercy towards our brother’s speck, and mercy rejoices against judgment (James 2:13).

Now, with this famous and oft quoted passage explained and out of the way, let us briefly look at 29 other passages illustrating the New Testament doctrine of judgment.

• Judgment is one of the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23).
• Judgment and the love of God go hand-in-hand (Luke 11:42, Phil. 1:9).
• Jesus Christ is very judgmental (John 5:22,27,30; John 8:16,26; Rev. 3:19).
• Jesus commands and commends righteous judgment by his disciples (Luke 7:43).
• The Pharisees were commended for their ability to judge what was right (Luke 12:57).
• We are authorized to rebuke a brother if they sin against us (Luke 17:3).
• We are commanded to judge with righteous judgment (John 7:24).
• After Lydia’s conversion to Christ, she openly invited the disciples to judge her lifestyle and faithfulness to the Lord (Acts 16:15).
• Any Christian “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge” is able to admonish [warn, reprove, rebuke] others (Romans 15:14).
• To avoid divisions, Christians are to be unified in one mind and one judgment (1 Cor. 1:10).
• He that is spiritual is commanded to judge all things (1 Cor. 2:15).
• Paul declared he didn’t mind to be judged by others (1 Cor. 4:3).
• Paul judged a church member’s sinfulness without even being present (1 Cor. 5:3).
• Paul commanded the church to judge those within the church (1 Cor. 5:12).
• Paul challenged the believers to judge even “the smallest matters” (1 Cor. 6:2).
• Paul invited the Corinthian church to judge what he was saying (1 Cor. 10:15).
• We are commanded to judge ourselves so as to avoid judgment (1 Cor. 11:28,31).
• The supernatural gift of prophecy can convict and judge the unbeliever if they are present in a church service (1 Cor. 14:24).
• Prophecy must be judged (2 Cor. 14:29).
• Troublesome heretics are warned that they will bear their own judgment (Gal. 5:10).
• God wants our love to abound in knowledge and judgment (Phil. 1:9).
• Church leadership is commanded to admonish [warn, reprove, rebuke] the believers (1 Thes. 5:12).
• We are commanded to admonish [warn, reprove, rebuke] the brethren when necessary (2 Thes. 3:15).
• Those that sin openly are to be rebuked publicly (1 Tim. 5:20).
• Church leadership is commanded to reprove, rebuke, and exhort (2 Tim. 4:2, Titus 2:15).
• Church leadership is commanded to rebuke sharply any national, societal, or church culture that doesn’t line up with God’s standard (Titus 1:13).
• The law of liberty judges us (James 2:12).
• Judgment must begin in the house of God. It first begins with believers (1 Pet. 4:17).
• The Lord rebukes and chastens those He loves (Rev. 3:19).

Further confirmation that the Bible does indeed teach Christians to judge is evident by the fact that the New Testament authorizes six reasons for excommunicating a Christian from the local church. This is the ultimate demonstration of biblical judgment. The six reasons are:

1. An unrepentant trespass (Matt 18:15-17).
2. Sowing discord and division among the church (Romans 16:17, Titus 3:10).
3. Refusing to get a job (KJV calls it “being unruly”) (1 Thes. 5:14, 2 Thes. 3:6).
4. Disobedient to doctrine (2 Thes. 3:14, 1 Tim. 6:3-5).
5. Apostasy/heresy (1 Tim. 1:20, 2 Tim. 2:17,18; Titus 3:10).
6. Gross sin (1 Cor. 5:1-11). This judgment even allows for a spiritual death sentence.

If you have ever found yourself saying “Well, I don’t mean to be judgmental,” or “Who am I to judge,” you are, in fact, revealing you have been influenced and even somewhat inadvertently discipled by the Christ-denying, humanistic, existentialistic, adulterating, occultist, known as Carl Rogers (4). If, by chance, someone ever asks you the question, “Just who are you to judge?” you can confidently tell them,, “I am a born-again disciple of Jesus Christ. Authorized by the King of kings to execute righteous judgment, that is judgment in accordance with God’s holy Word.” Study God’s Word and exact accurate biblical judgment. It will keep you, your life, and your loved ones safe. Plus, you’ll get to keep using adjectives (In case you didn’t know, adjectives are descriptive words which are used to describe things that have been judged, e.g. cold water, hot metal, ugly sweater, etc.).

As a final word, executing proper New Testament judgment must be kept righteous through pure motives. We judge to glorify God. We judge to establish the Kingdom. We judge to keep the peace. We judge to deliver from death and danger. We judge to preserve. We judge to exact justice. We judge to keep things safe. We do not judge to damnation. We are not the Righteous Judge given authority to distribute eternal retributions. We must never forget that mercy rejoices against judgment (James 2:13) and blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7).

Bibliography

(1) Rogers, Carl R. “Client-centered Approach to Therapy”, in I. L. Kutash and A. Wolf (eds.), Psychotherapist’s Casebook: Theory and Technique in Practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

(2) Libido Dominandi: Sexual Liberation and Political Control, E. Michael Jones

(3) Carl Rogers, “Carl Rogers on Encounter Groups”, Harper and Row, New York, 1970, page 507 cited in Robert Frager and James Fadiman, “Personality and Personal Growth”, 2^nd edition, Harper and Row, New York, 1984, page 356.

(4) Carl Rogers, “A Way of Being”, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1980, pages 43, 83, 90, 313-314, and 344.

God gave His Church a two-fold mission, a co-mission: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel, and make disciples of all men. Everything we do as servants of God should extend from this commission. You’d think we could handle those two simple assignments. I’m not sure we are. So here are 10 characteristics of a strong local church based on the Great Commission. How many of these is your church lacking and what will you do about it?

• Evangelism- Every church must reach the lost in their Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. Every church must use every tool at their disposal to reach the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Community activism is not the same as evangelism. Picking up trash is for county inmates. If your evangelism looks more like the Rotary Club than it does the Book of Acts—some adjusting is necessary.
• World Missions- Every church must play some role in reaching the “uttermost parts of the earth.” If you can’t go, you must finance someone in your place. If you do go, make sure the Gospel is being preached. If the Gospel isn’t preached your mission trip is merely a church financed Peace Corp operation. If your mission trips look like Peace Corp work—you’re failing.
• Discipleship- Every church must ensure that those who faithfully attend their church are being given every opportunity to be discipled into a mature faith in Christ. Here’s a hint: 500 eyes staring at you one service a week isn’t discipleship. Discipleship requires one on one time and involves correction, discipleship, and practice. Discipleship trains the saints to be servants. If all you have is one service a week and no opportunity for actual discipleship—you’re failing.
• Sound Doctrine- Every church must feed and teach the saints sound doctrine. This means the whole counsel of God’s Word. Even the bitter parts. There are six principle doctrines of Christ listed in Hebrews 6:1,2 and none of them deal with love. If every sermon is about hope and love or love and hope—you’re failing.
• Eschatology- Sound doctrine must include teaching on the end times. Eschatology was taught heavily by Jesus Christ, Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John. The Doctrine of Immanence is more critical today than ever. The very fact that 90% of those that read this article will have to google “doctrine of immanence” lets me know that most American churches—are failing.
• Reverence/Holiness- Sound doctrine coupled together with discipleship will produce an attitude of reverence toward God. Reverence toward God goes a long way in producing holy lifestyles among God’s people. The praise and worship time (or more popularly called “worship experience” now) is usually a good indicator of the level of reverence and holiness promoted in a church. If the worship team and associated production looks like an MTV Unplugged band opened for Saturday Night Live at a Rave—you’re church is probably failing.
• Praise/Worship- Praise and worship is an activity directed toward God Almighty because of His deity and majesty. We praise Him for what He has done and we worship Him for who He is. Anointed worship will even teach doctrine and admonish sin (Col. 3:16). Worship must be led by individuals who are Christians first, worshippers second, and musicians last. Too many churches hire their worship team. That means hirelings are leading the worship. Worshippers know how to honor God. Musicians know how to jam, perform, and look carnal. Needless to say . . . many are failing.
• Church Discipline- The New Testament teaches a progression of Christian behavioral accountability: teach, instruct, exhort, warn, rebuke, public rebuke, ex-communication. There are six New Testament reasons to excommunicate a believer from an assembly (Matthew 18:15-17; Romans 16:17; Titus 3:10; 1 Thes. 5:14; 2 Thes. 3:6; 2 Thes. 3:14; 1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 2:17-18; 1 Tim. 1:20; 1 Cor. 5). If your church violates these necessary safety measures and permits open sin to flourish in God’s House—you’re failing.
• Prayer- Jesus reminded His disciples that the House of God was to be called a house of prayer for all nations (Mark 11:17). This means a strong local church has regular prayer services, not just prayer during a service, but dedicated prayer services that involve more than just the pastor. Discipleship trains people how to pray. Holiness and reverence grows with prayer. God moves when His people pray. If the only time a church prays is at the opening and closing of a service—it’s failing.
• Giving- Jesus declared that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:21). A strong local church is a giving church. The Gospel is free, but it doesn’t preach for free. The saints of God are obligated to finance it so that others may hear (Deut. 8:18). The current statistic states that the average American Christian only gives 2.5% to the Gospel with only 10-25% of a church’s membership actually tithing. In 2000, the total Evangelical Christian income in America was $2.66 trillion. That’s a $266 billion tithe in 2000 alone, or $3.99 trillion in the last 15 years. How much Gospel could be preached? How many people reached? I think we’re all failing.
• How many of these points can a church lack and still be considered strong or successful in the eyes of God? How’d your church do? How many of these 10 points are lacking in your church? Grade it like school: 90-100 is an A. 80-90 B. 70-80 C. 60-70 D. 0-60 F. Is your church an A+ church? Is it an F- church? Somewhere in between? What letter grade constitutes a lukewarm church? At what point would the Lord begin spewing churches out of His mouth? Your Christian walk will always be a by-product of your church. If your church is a C or D church, do you think God wants you to follow in their footsteps and be a C or D level Christian? What will you do if your church is failing? Will you stay there and dry up? Are you willing to seek out a better church? Welcome to the great falling away (2 Thes. 2:3), being hosted at a church near you . . . I hope it’s not your church.

May God have mercy on the American Church.
Pastor Chris McMichael

Sherree is the mother of three children who are walking with the Lord Keilah 26, Karina 23, and Jonathan 21. She is still pushing forward despite the obstacles and the dillemas of “life.”

Brett, his wife, Bobbie, and kids Emma (age 10) and Ethan (age 7) have moved to the mission field to work in Kampala, Uganda, Africa. Their assignment is in teaching the “Walk Pure” curriculum in the local schools, help teach, train and disciple Uganda’s youth for ministry, and evangelize the college campuses for the Kingdom of God.

SFM Video 2015 from Scudder Family Ministries on Vimeo.

Brett and Bobbie have been faithful members of their home church, Engrafted Word Church (www.engraftedword.org) in Cookeville, TN for over 17 years now. They served as the Youth Leaders for over 6 years and Brett as Evangelism Leader for 13 years. In addition, Brett had also been a member of the EWC Praise & Worship Team for 15 years, and they’ve worked in various other areas of the Helps Ministry. They were sent out into the mission field by their pastors, Pastor Chris and Manda McMichael.

Brett grew up in various towns across America—from Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee—while Bobbie was born and raised in Middle Tennessee. They first met in 1995 at their home church while attending Tennessee Tech University. Brett graduated in December 1998 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and Bobbie in May 1999 with a degree in Information Systems. They married in June 1999 and later welcomed their daughter, Emma, in 2002 and their son, Ethan, in 2005.

Brett has known the call of God was on his life since he was 7, winning his first friend to Jesus. In 2010, while they were on a mission trip to Honduras, the Spirit of the Lord began to deal heavily with the Scudder’s about leaving their home in Tennessee and evangelizing other countries. The Lord began to show them the condition of the US and the need to reach other countries with the Gospel before the soon-coming return of Jesus. On August 29, 2010, the Lord confirmed His Word again to the Scudder’s through their pastor, Chris McMichael, by saying “you’ll have to cast a far net”. From that time forward, the Scudder’s have set their sights on global evangelism and reaching the world with the Gospel of Christ.

OUR VISION

Our desire is to see the lost won to Jesus all over the world. We believe God has called us into the uttermost parts of the Earth to preach the wonderful, saving Gospel of Jesus to as many as will hear. At present, the Lord Jesus has directed us to support the Catinella’s vision for Uganda’s youth, and help them fulfill God’s calling on their lives. Our heart is to faithfully serve them and their ministry, as we receive training and instruction on ministry work, and life, abroad.

Stephen and April, along with their daughters, Elise and Esther, are missionaries in Thailand.  Their ministry, Global Opportunities, is actively evangelizing the lost, discipling the saints, and training up church leaders.

A quick video from our Thai Bible class to say thank you very much to our partners and friends who are helping us reach and teach the Thai people for the glory of God.

Sunday activities at our building… from Global Opportunity on Vimeo.

Git-ja-gahm-
That’s Thai for ‘activity.’ We have certainly had plenty of git-ja-gham lately in making decisions for our building!

We could not be happier to see how quickly things are coming together. Today we stopped by the building to check out a few things, including sampling some paint colors and the girls playing school in the kitchen.

And we wanted to share 75 seconds of it with you.

Thank you for helping us reach and teach in the name of Jesus here in Thailand!

Cambodia Church Leader Training August 2015- Global Opportunity with Antioch Ministry Group (AMG) in Chhuk, Cambodia.
AMG and Global Opportunity are committed to seeing the Church in Cambodia reach their own people with the good news of Jesus Christ. This is done primarily through partnership in planting churches, financial support, leadership training, and Bible teaching.

Lindin is a 24/7 Christian Radio station located in Reykjavik, Iceland. It is also involved in Video production and publishing of Christian materials in Icelandic.

Our mission is to invest in Knoxville by developing leaders, enriching churches, and reaching a generation for Jesus

At Camp Ba Yo Ca …

• We want children to have the type of fun experience they can’t stop talking about.
• We want children to accept Jesus
• We want to have deep, meaningful impact on the lives of children, families, and their communities

One thing that has not changed over the past 50 years is our commitment to Christian discipleship. Our directors, staff, and counselors all strive to lead children through evangelism and Christian service. These special moments of growth occur in the day-to-day cabin life with children of their own age, under the leadership of our supportive counselors.

We hold a strong belief that camp allows children to strengthen character while having fun. We want the campers to grow in their walks with Christ and develop friendships while participating in outdoor recreational activities that they don’t get to do regularly. Camp Ba Yo Ca strives to provide this atmosphere that provides a unique, quality adventure that enhances each camper’s physical, emotional, and spiritual potential.

[See image gallery at engraftedword.org]