THE FEEL OF THE RACE

During the recent Winter Olympics I watched the two-man bobsled races. (Have you ever wondered why they call them “bobsleds”? It’s a strange name to give to a sled. Can you imagine being saddled with the name Bob?)

It was fun to see Steven Holcomb steer the American two-man bobsled to a medal (bronze) for the first time in 62 years. But there is more to the story!

In 2010 at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. (my hometown), Steven Holcomb drove the American four-man bobsled to a medal win . . . are you ready for this? . . . for the first time  in 62 years!

But there is still more to the story!

The first time I saw the 2010 American four-man bobsled team, I said to Carol, “That driver doesn’t look like the average Olympian.” He was rather short, balding, and shaped like a fire hydrant, not exactly the picture of the slim, athletic Alpine skier or figure skater. Steven Holcomb was the driver of the four-man sled that won the gold medal for the U.S. in their jet black sled they had named “Night Train.”

What is even more remarkable than the amazing win was that Steven Holcomb was driving. Six years ago Steven was legally blind due to an eye disorder called keratoconus. He said very little to anyone about his disorder and adapted his driving to more “by feel” than by sight. But he knew that he could not continue, as he was putting his teammates at risk. Can you imagine driving some of the top bobsled courses in the world at 90-plus miles per hour and not being able to see well enough to focus on the track?

Holcomb’s coach knew he was thinking of quitting and he told him about an experimental process that he thought Steven should look into. The innovative surgical procedure included putting contact lenses behind his irises—and the surgery fully corrected his vision!

While his eyes were deteriorating, Holcomb never thought he would be at the 2010 Winter Olympics and be a winner. After winning the gold medal, bringing to an end a six-decade drought for the Americans, Holcomb made the most insightful comment. “If I hadn’t had the eye problem, I wouldn’t know how to drive by feel, and we might not be in this position today.”

As I read the 2010 interview with Holcomb on the Internet, I was really taken by his insight. Not long after I had read the interview, Carol and I were driving to church and I shared with her what I had read, especially Holcomb’s statement, “If I hadn’t had the eye problem, I wouldn’t know how to drive by feel.” Carol turned and looked at me and said, “That’ll preach.” And she is so right!

Another famous team leader, also a driver (with a slightly different meaning to the word), who apparently had some eye problems (see Galatians 4:15) was called “The Apostle” and he led his team in races all over the Roman Empire. I call Paul and his team “The Holy Ghost and Fire Express.” Once, when the Apostle was coaching his team in the nation where the Olympics were birthed, he said, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Paul wanted his team to know that by faith, they could get the “feel of the race” and not to be dependent just on what they could see or what the circumstances seemed to be dictating. In Steven Holcomb’s words, the Apostle wanted his team to get the feel of the ice and the track.

I think if the Apostle had an opportunity to sit down and talk with Steven Holcomb, he would say to him, “You’ve got it! You have learned one of the great principles of eternal truth. Now, in case you don’t already know, let me explain to you how to make the application to your whole life and to your eternal future.”

When Steven’s eyesight was restored, the solution was actually a mixed blessing. Yes, he could see again but the difficulties that he had with poor eyesight had been a blessing because he learned to drive by the “feel of the ice” and consequently he was less dependent upon what he saw. Vision is a sense that leads to a slower reaction time than feel.

When he initially returned to the bobsled races after his successful eye operation, he intentionally scratched up the visor on his helmet so that he would be less dependent on his vision and more on the “feel of the ice.”

Maybe it’s time for us to scratch up the visors and actually “live by faith.”

By faith, we get the feel of the race!

THE DANGER OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION - PART THREE

(This is the third and final portion of David Wilkerson’s prophetic message given in March of 1998. I believe this is an important word from the Lord that is more applicable to the Church today than when it was originally given.)

THE DANGER OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION

by David Wilkerson

I see three dangers in the gospel of accommodation:

1.     It is the accommodation of man’s love for pleasure.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be . . . lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1–4).

The Greek for pleasure is “lustful, exciting, gratifying.” If you move toward this gospel of accommodation, you are going to have to accommodate people’s lust because they are not going to give up their love for excitement. They’ve made gods of sports, pleasure, and lust. Unless that is confronted by the gospel of Jesus Christ, unless there is a truth that comes forth, you have to accommodate this lust that is in the American lifestyle.

I was shocked by an article in the New York Times. Philip Wogaman, President Bill Clinton’s pastor, said, “Sexual misconduct does not automatically render a leader immoral. Morality should also be judged by indicators like courage, concern for the poor, fostering world peace, running the economy responsibly, and furthering racial equality. Heterosexuality and homosexuality are merely cultural expressions.” In other words, Mr. Clinton has been told that he has enough good indicators to overrule another that would be immoral in his life. (New York Times, March 1, 1998, Section 1, Page 16.)

God said that men who preach doctrines like these resist the truth; they are men of corrupt minds, counterfeiting the faith (see 2 Timothy 3:8).

One day every minister of the gospel will stand before the Lord and He will say, “Son of man, I made thee a watchman. You were to hear the words of My mouth and give the people warnings from Me. You were to tell the wicked, ‘Thou shalt surely die.’ And you gave them no warning nor spoke to warn the wicked to turn from their wicked ways to save their lives. These same wicked men died in their sins, but their blood I will require at your hands” (see Ezekiel 3:16-18).

2.   This gospel of accommodation accommodates all man’s aversion to self-denial.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of self-denial. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Self-denial is not something you give. It’s someone you give up—the giving up of yourself, giving up everything you are. It’s a living sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ to present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. God has every right to say to His church, “If you expect to give Me your body, your resurrected body, all through eternity, I have every right—it’s only reasonable of Me and your reasonable service—to ask for your body while you’re here on earth. I want every part of you.”

The gospel we preach must bring people under the total possession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Otherwise, it’s a gospel of accommodation.

The seeker-friendly gospel accommodates the body. The human body belongs to Him. What we see in America is neognosticism, where you take your physical body on one side and do as you please as long as your spirit is right with God. This neognosticism is destroying the faith of many throughout the nation.

3.  There is an accommodation of man’s offense to the gospel.

The Scriptures state, “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation” (Isaiah 28:16). Paul spoke of the offense of the cross (Galatians 5:11)  We are not called to the cross but to go through the cross—to experience the same thing Jesus did, not only coming to the cross but dying and going into the grave with Jesus Christ and then being raised from the dead to a newness of life.

It is cruel to lead sinners to the cross, tell them they are forgiven by faith, and then allow them to go back to their habits and lusts of the flesh, unchanged and still in the devil’s shackles. If the preaching of grace does not have as its goal the producing of a walk of righteousness, then it is another gospel, another Jesus.

I listened in horror to a man who attended one of the largest seeker-friendly churches, being interviewed on television. He said, “I come to this church because I’m comfortable. I’m never made to feel uneasy. I bring my Jewish friends and my business friends, and I know nothing will ever be said that will offend them. The best part of it is, the whole thing only lasts an hour.”

In our church we have 103 nationalities from all walks of life—from the poorest to the richest. I look over the congregation and see men who have just walked in from the porno shops and they are like wild animals. I see a former businessman who was the CEO of a multimillion–dollar company, but he started snorting coke, lost everything, and is now a bum on the street. I see a 14-year-old girl suffering with AIDS she contracted from performing lewd acts with dirty old men. She comes to church and keeps saying, “Pastor Dave, I’ve got to get out. I’ve got to get help.”

I’m not about to put up a silly skit and preach a 15-minute message on how to cope to a multitude of people who are dying and going to hell. I tremble at the thought.

People do not like to hear this, but we are headed for perilous times—just a few years away from a collapse like the world has never known. When that time comes, I want to grasp onto Jesus, and I want everyone I have preached to to have faith in the keeping power of Jesus Christ. I want them to know Him in His fullness. I want to know that I have done it in love, in grace, that they would know the difference between the holy and the profane.

If I have ever given a prophetic message in my lifetime that God intended for a purpose, it is now. Many are being deceived. If they are not awakened, what I warn you about will happen.

 In New York City, He has proved that people come to hear a straight gospel, and thousands will come where the Word of God is being preached without compromise and yet with grace.

May we get our eyes off growth and onto a new revelation of who Jesus is.

THE DANGERS OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION - PART TWO

(This is the second part of a prophetic word given by David Wilkerson in 1998. The first portion of this message is available by going to the archives [below on the left] and choosing February 7, 2014. Next week we will finish this series by posting Part 3.)

THE DANGERS OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION

PART TWO

I have two preacher sons. One of them confessed to me, “Dad, I was that close to being sucked in (taken in), because I fasted and prayed and didn’t see the [church] growth I wanted to see, even while I saw others growing. That hook was there, and I almost bought it.”

The attractiveness of the gospel of accommodation with its easy and quick church growth is something every church movement is going to have to look at and deal with. It is possible, through unholy ambition, to be transformed from a man of God who has been seeking God and getting a word from heaven, to unholy ambition and achieving success at any cost. Let every pastor heed this warning: The moment you begin to consider the “competition,” seeds of accommodation will be planted in your heart. Suddenly, Satan will put in your path a wolf in sheep’s clothing—who will try to seduce you into ungodly ambition and achieving church growth at any cost.

The Right Formula

If you find the right formula, according to the accommodation gospel, you can succeed in any field of endeavor.

An editorial in The New York Times (March 1, 1998) was entitled, How to Manufacture a Best-Seller. It told the story of John Baldwin, a 53-year-old carpenter and would-be writer, who had struggled for years to make a living from writing. He determined to become famous and rich by writing a best-selling medical thriller. He studied five or six best-selling thrillers and after seven years’ research, he found ten steps to producing a best-selling medical novel. He honed this ten-step formula with some Hollywood writers and agents, and here it is:

1. The hero is an expert.
2. The villain is an expert.
3. You must watch all the villain’s activities over his shoulder.
4. The hero has a team of experts behind him, working in various fields.
5. Two or more on the team must fall in love.
6. Two or more on the team must die.
7. The villain must turn his attention from his initial goal to the team.
8. The villain and the hero must live to do battle again in the sequel.
9. All deaths must proceed from the individual to the group.

10.     If the story bogs down, just kill somebody.

John Baldwin had the formula but no story, so he read of John Marr, a researcher who was studying the epidemiological causes of the ten plagues, hoping to explain their causes scientifically. The two men formed a partnership, and using Baldwin’s ten–step formula, together wrote a 640-page manuscript called The Eleventh Plague. Harper Collins bought it for almost $2 million.

Baldwin said, “If I get the formula, I’m going to be a multimillionaire and famous.” Well, he’s going to make another $3 million on the movie rights, and he’s laughing all the way to the bank. His philosophy: “If you have the right formula, you can be a success at anything.”

You see, this is the gospel of accommodation—the formula. You get the formula, you get (understand) what people want, and you can become a success. I am here to tell you that a formula-based, accommodating gospel is contrary to everything in the Scriptures.

God’s Method

Certain men of God met at Antioch to send out men to preach the gospel and establish churches (Acts 13). Here is God’s method:

1. They ministered to the Lord and fasted (13:2). This was their planning session—worshiping, fasting, waiting on the Lord, and calling for direction from the Holy Ghost.

   There were no formulas, no surveys, no door-to-door        asking people what they wanted and then serving it to them.

2.   They prayed—no strategizing, no networking, and not one step until the Holy Ghost        spoke His mind. Then and only then did they lay hands upon Barnabas and Saul (Paul),    anoint them, and send them out in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost (13:3).

The Apostle Paul had lived his whole religious life on religious formulas, and he said they didn’t work. He gave up on formulas and said, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul boasted unashamedly, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). He was saying, “Gentlemen (talking to his peers), they want us to accommodate. The Jews are looking for signs in our gospel. The Greeks want the wisdom. They want to know how to cope, but I’m not compromising. There is only one message. Our gospel has been and will be the cross and its demands as well as its victories. As for me, I am determined to preach nothing among you but Christ and Him crucified.”

(Next week: Part 3 of The Dangers of The Gospel of Accommodation. For more information on the continuing ministries of David Wilkerson, please visit www.worldchallenge.org.)

THE DANGERS OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION - PART ONE

(The following message was delivered by David Wilkerson to a group of Christian leaders in 1998. I believe this message is one of the most important prophetic messages that David Wilkerson gave in the last fifteen years. In the weeks ahead we will be posting Parts Two and Three of this powerful word for the Church.)

THE DANGERS OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION

PART ONE

By David Wilkerson

I am not coming to you as a pastor but as a servant with a prophetic word. God has called me to be one of His watchmen, and I have wept and prayed that He will help me deliver the message in a spirit of love. This is not a chastisement but a warning.

A New Gospel

“Accommodate” means to adapt, to make suitable and acceptable, to make convenient. A gospel of accommodation is creeping into the United States. It’s an American cultural invention to appease the lifestyle of luxury and pleasure. Primarily a Caucasian, suburban gospel, it is in our major cities and is sweeping the nation, influencing ministers of every denomination, and giving birth to megachurches with thousands who come to hear a nonconfrontational message. It is an adaptable gospel that is spoon-fed through humorous skits, drama, and short, nonabrasive sermonettes on how to cope—called a seeker-friendly or sinner-friendly gospel.

To begin with, those terms are unscriptural. The gospel of Jesus Christ has always been confrontational—there is no such thing as a friendly gospel but a friendly grace.

This new gospel is being propagated by bright, young, talented ministers. They have come upon a formula which states you can go into any city and if you have the right formula, within a short time you can raise a megachurch.

If you are a young pastor and have certain gifts, you take those gifts and go to a part of the city that would best suit you. You move into that area, poll it, and find out what the nonchurchgoers want. You ask questions to the residents:

“You don’t like choirs. Well, would you go to a church that didn’t have a choir?” YES.

“You don’t like to wear suits. Would you go to a church where it’s informal?” YES.

Then you design a gospel that will not confront but will meet the desires and the needs of the people. After you have gathered a handful of people, you keep interviewing them to find out what they want and then you design your message to help people cope with their needs. The program you design is intended to make the church comfortable and friendly for all sinners who wish to attend.

This gospel is fast becoming the most prosperous and flourishing of all religious movements. The pastor is the CEO, and it becomes a business. They make no bones about it: They are following Madison Avenue tactics. Their formula for quick church growth is cleverly packaged and is being sold especially to young ministers—those who want to be a part of the big boys’ club and what’s happening on the fast track.

Paul’s Warning

Paul warned of the coming of another gospel and another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4). He warned the church that it’s really not another gospel but a perversion of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. If you hear any other gospel, he said, let that preacher be accursed (Galatians 1:8-9). In other words, no matter how pleasant, how pious, or how sincere, if the message is not the death of sin through the cross of Jesus Christ, let it be accursed.

I tremble when I read in the Scriptures that in the last days Satan is going to come right into the church posing as an angel of light. He is going to take ministers who, at one time, had the touch of God, and he is going to transform them into angels of light to become his tool of deception. That’s frightening. It causes me to fall on my face before God for such false, deceitful workers transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. “No marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). Therefore, it’s no great thing if ministers also are transformed as the ministers of righteousness whose end shall be according to their works.

Paul said they are going to glory in the flesh, in their bigness, their numbers, their influence, and their contemporariness. They will boast they are contemporary, that there is a gospel that is out of style that doesn’t reach human need anymore. They will glory in the world’s acceptance. Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). The context of that warning was: “Straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (verse 14).

His warning was to beware of the wolves who are going to say it’s really not that narrow and straight—they are going to come posing as submissive sheep. Jesus put His finger on the cause: ambition—ambitious ravening wolves. In the Greek it means “starved for recognition and quick gratification, quick growth.”

Jesus left no doubt about His meaning. For example, He was addressing the struggling pastor who has worked for years and hasn’t seen the kind of growth he wants to see. A young man with an accommodating gospel moves into the town where the struggling pastor has labored, and within a very short time this new man has a megachurch. People are flocking there because there is entertainment; it’s a gospel of fun! It’s a gospel of entertainment that has no conviction whatsoever. There is very little in their gospel that speaks to sinners of repentance, brokenness, and cross-bearing. A Christ is preached, Jesus’ name is mentioned, but Paul said theirs is another gospel, another Jesus.

Paul warned that if you are caught in this trap, if you want that hook of entertainment, that hook of sudden growth, this is the hook: The enemy will put in your path a teaching, another gospel!

(Next week: Part 2 of The Dangers of The Gospel of Accommodation. For more information on the continuing ministries of David Wilkerson, please visit www.worldchallenge.org.)