Why is God Shaking the Church?

Larry Kutzler

Heb. 12:27 This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

On our daily radio program "Faith Roots" we often discuss issues that are changing the basic fabric of the Evangelical Church. These issues include fractions of the church that believe there was no virgin birth, that the ethnicity of Jesus is not important, that the church has replaced Israel in all respects, and God is eliminating Hell as a place of punishment. These are just a few of the topics that are being preached and taught today in the church. Jesus is a secondary theme in many churches, and what has replaced Him has been a theme of prosperity, family, ecology, themes that challenge and reframe the very core of Christianity. One of the signs of the last days is the shaking He will do in our world. The shaking is for one reason, to remind us of the unshakable Kingdom that is to come, and that everything in this world will be shaken and shown to be fragile. The shaking process is also affecting the church to show us how far we have fallen from the truth. Jesus challenged the Ephesian Church in Revelation 2 that even though the church had an effective and powerful ministry, it had replaced Jesus as the number one reason for their ministry. How often does this happen in today's modern ministries? We want to become so relevant that Jesus is a part of the ministry, but He no longer is the ministry. The name God is often used in place of the name of Jesus, because it's more acceptable to use a generic name so as not to offend anyone. The gospel is an offense by nature, if you present the gospel in terms of repentance, and the acceptance of Jesus as the only way of salvation, this is an offensive position in our pluralist world.

A crisis pregnancy leader in the Twin Cities recently said that Evangelical Churches will contribute to their ministry, but they will not invite them into the church to speak about abortion and it's affects on the family. This is a common side of the church, support a cause at a distance, but don't get involved and be counted upon for your outspoken support. I personally will go out on a limb on my next comment, and I will take full responsibility for my comment. Most preachers today are cowards when it comes to preaching the truth, they fall into the category of what Ezekiel 34 address, they seek for their own benefit, and not the benefit of God's kingdom. (read it for yourself)

Does your preacher preach on Hell, abortion, sexual sins of pornography and homosexuality? How about the issues surrounding the ethnicity of Jesus being a Jew, and how this affects both the understanding of God from a historical and futuristic view of His Kindgom. What about the famine in the land of Biblical ignorance where only 9% of Bible believing Christians has a Biblical worldview.

Amos 8:11 "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the LORD.

Then there is always the seasonal issues of Easter, which is named after a pagan holiday called Istar, which is the pagan fertility goddess.

Have we ever challenged any of these things from the pulpit? If not, why not?

One of the enlightening books about some of these issues is "Pagan Christianity" by George Barna, and Frank Viola.

So, the shaking will continue, because so much of what we have accepted as Christianity is not Christianity, but a hybrid of what the church was designed to do. Please take the Bible seriously, read it with intentionality, with one mind and heart that you want to know and live out the truth.

Larry Kutzler