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Archive for the ‘Church in Crisis’ Category

The World is Caught in a Snare

Posted in Church in Crisis, tagged , on November 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Rex B Andrews, in his writing, Meditations in the Revelation, describes the trap that the world is caught in. Imagine how he would feel today, since those writings are from 1955. We have no escape except in into God.

“The most fearful of all times has come upon the world. We are in it. Trapped. And no way out except into God. The very word peace, in the world’s mouth is a lie. But so great are the advantages and wonders of science even now, that it is hard for the children of light to break away from it. We must look straight at the fact. The time has come when the fate of the world, humanly speaking, rests in the hands of a narrowing circle of men. They are imbued with the love of the wisdom of the world. And that love is a fusion into a One Mind. That love is a fusion into a One Mind because it is a spirit. And that spirit and the love of the world is a false love, false God, fallen mind working destruction through the most towering exultations of the wonderful works and the wisdom of man ever conceived. The world has passed the point of possibility of return. It has come to the time when the power to produce the fear of death is within the reach of a group or a man, by which to shackle the mind of mankind and rule the world.”

Rex B Andrews 1955

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Surviving the Anointing

Posted in Church in Crisis, Deeper Life, tagged , , , on November 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Here is a great series by David Ravenhill, worth a listen. This is part one.

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Bringing the Lame and Blind

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , , , , , on June 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »

By David Ravenhill

If you were to ask an average believer how many of them stole something this past week. I’m sure the vast majority of them would look at you dumbfounded at the very suggestion. We are all well aware that stealing is forbidden by God and made it to His top ten list of commandments. ‘Thou shalt not steal’ ranks just below ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’.

Now if stealing is wrong, and it clearly is, then stealing from God Himself would be the ultimate theft. Right!? According to the Prophet Malachi, God accused His people of robbing Him. The robbery was in their tithes and offering which they either withheld completely or replaced with inferior offerings.

Just in case you’re not familiar with the passage I’m referring to, here it is:

‘But when you present the blind for sacrifice is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would He receive you kindly?” says the Lord of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering on your part, will He receive you kindly?” Malachi 1:8,9

God was clearly upset with His people and the way they were treating Him. God goes on to say.

“…you bring what was taken by robbery, and what is lame or sick; so you bring the offering! Should I receive that from your hand?” says the Lord. But cursed be the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows it, but sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord, for I AM A GREAT KING…Malachi 1:13,14

The point I’m trying to make here, is that in the New Testament, our sacrifices are no longer in the form of four-footed animals but through our praise and worship. Here is how the writer of Hebrews refers to it.

“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips that give thanks to His name. Hebrews 13:15

Nothing perturbs me more than going to church and having to listen to God’s people barely uttering a word of praise. The vast majority of people are not even singing and those that are can barely be heard. Almost every Sunday I go home with a pit in my stomach telling myself. ‘We robbed God again’, We robbed God again’. If that’s how I feel, then I wonder how God feels?

God had to remind His people that He is a GREAT KING. He’s trying to tell them to honor Him as such and not treat Him as though He’s not that important. If you turn from Malachi to Matthew just a few pages on but 400 years later, we have the account of the three Magi announcing to King Herod that they were on their way to worship the King of the Jews. Where they bringing the blind and the lame? No, they brought Him gold, frankincense and myrrh; a sacrifice and offering worthy of the KING.

Keep in mind that under the Old Testament economy the priest was responsible for examining every sacrifice prior to it being offered. If the sacrifice was blemished in any way it was to be rejected; only the very best sacrifice was acceptable. No wonder we read the Psalmist saying,

‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.’ Psalm 19:14

Today, we no longer bring our sacrifices to an earthly priest but directly to the Lord Himself who is our great High Priest. He is the one who decides to accept or reject our sacrifice of praise. Unless we are doing our very best to offer Him as perfect a sacrifice as possible, then we are no different from God’s people in Malachi’s time, who substituted the lame and blind instead of offering the best of their flock.

We read in Proverbs

“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Proverbs 3:27

If we apply this verse to God Himself, then surely, He deserves the praise and honor that is due Him. God is worthy of so much more than just singing a few self-centered songs we refer to as worship. Worship should focus solely on God’s greatness, majesty, holiness, righteousness, and power. I love the lyrics of that song that says ‘Let’s forget about ourselves and concentrate on Him and worship Him’. I’m convinced if we truly did just, that we would experience so much more of His presence in our services.

Throughout God’s word we are exhorted to ‘Make a joyful NOISE to the Lord.’ Or ‘SHOUT joyfully to God, all the earth.’ Or ‘O clap your hands, all peoples; SHOUT to God with the voice of joy.’ Nothing should excite us more than being in His presence and then in turn to let Him know how much we love Him.

One last thought. Imagine being asked to take charge of preparing a large family Thanksgiving meal. Family members will be driving in from various places, some even flying in from overseas for the occasion. Chances are we wouldn’t find you shopping for a turkey the same day of the meal, or trying to decide at the last minute whether or not to serve cake and ice-cream or apple pie for dessert. No doubt you would have been planning for weeks or at least days before.

Worship should be considered as the greatest of all Thanksgivings. The ‘first fruits’ of any service, is the time we set apart, to give thanks to God for all His benefits. It is the responsibility of the worship leader to take the necessary time to pray and prepare for this very special occasion. Every detail should be thought out in advance and not simply thrown together at the last minute. Each song should be skillfully knit together to produce a seamless tapestry of worship fit for the King of kings. The task of the worship leader is to cast up a highway of song that leads the congregation into the very presence of God. Songs should be considered as steps with each song lifting us higher and higher until we find ourselves in awe of His glorious majesty.

The role of the worship leader, is in many ways, as important or even more important than the one delivering the message. The worship time is God’s time, and should be treated as such, while the remaining time is for our benefit and spiritual growth.

A word of wisdom here to those leading worship – let the songs do the work. In other words refrain from talking except for your initial welcome. Now a word to those in leadership. Don’t hijack the worship by veering off into some type of ministry time, that can come later in the service. Prophetic words or words of knowledge won’t perish if not used immediately. There is a time and place for everything so let’s not short change God by interrupting the service and thereby robbing God of all the honor He deserves.

If I’ve ruffled a few feathers please forgive me. I’m simply trying to right a wrong that has invaded the church for far too long. Let’s WORSHIP HIM!

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The Noise of Our Songs

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , , , , , , on January 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I would like to express some thoughts on modern praise and worship. These are thoughts that have developed over 54 years of being a Christian musician and songwriter, and being a praise and worship leader during that time.

Amos 5:23-24 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”.

It is a scary verse to come across, especially in our modern day where there is so much emphasis on music as worship. To realize that we too can offer songs unto the Lord that He is not pleased with, that we too can come to a point where God hates our gatherings (festivals v21), is scary. The songs, though possibly beautiful in melody, can lack the sincerity and righteousness that God requires. We tend to prefer the songs that align with our taste in music, rather than aligning with what God requires, or with the word of God. This serves as a reminder that praise, and worship must be heart felt and must be aligned with God’s will.

There is too much emphasis on the outward expression, and not enough on inward communion with God. Augustine wrote, “How many are loud in voice, dumb in heart! How many lips are silent, but their love is loud! For the ears of God are to the heart of man. As the ears of the body are to the mouth of man, so the heart of man is to the ears of God. Many are heard with closed lips, and many who cry aloud are not heard.”

I think of missionaries that I know in China, they cannot sing in their meetings for fear of being found out and arrested. They worship God at a different level, their commitment seems so much deeper than mine, I have not been tested in that way. Their outward worship does not make them the people of God, their inward worship does, trusting in His grace.

May we guard our hearts, all of us, but especially those of us who are musicians in the church. It is possible to be so focused on the outward expression of music, that we forget to have a real and obedient relationship with the Lord. If we offer just music to the Lord, it is not enough! Our lives must reflect our real relationship with the Lord. Praise offered from an obedient and loving heart will please the Lord.

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A Lofty Title

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , , , , on November 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

I have been a musician since 1965 and I have been involved with writing Christian music since 1971. I am a product of the Jesus Revolution. If you saw the movie, it is a story about my wife and I, there are so many similarities. We were part of a group of newly saved young people, and we had a key role in starting a church in the early 1970’s in northern Illinois. I played at church, and I played in a Christian band that played in parks, campgrounds and coffeehouses all around the Midwest. In 1977, the band traveled to Denmark and Sweden for a 5-week outreach. Those were exciting times for us. It was all about outreach and preaching the Gospel.

It wasn’t until about 1981 that I had ever heard the term “worship leader”. Someone we were visiting told us we needed to come to church with them because they have a great worship leader. I had never heard of that before. In those days, we just had an overhead projector and a bunch of musicians sitting off to the side.

I have always thought that “worship leader” was such a lofty title. Can you be a worship leader and not be a worshiper of God? Yes you can! In many churches you can be hired to lead purely based on your talent. It used to be in church that you could be a minister of music, someone who led the congregation in praise unto God. But that is not such a lofty title.

Recently, there have been famous worship leaders who have come out and said they now doubt Christianity. Huh? How did they get a worship leader position? When churches hire musicians, is it based more on talent rather than their real walk with the Lord? I think so! We are now so far removed from what real worship is that if you ask someone, there are like deer in headlights.

The modern church has thrown praise and worship into the same bucket, we make no distinction between the two. We have minimized what true Biblical worship is, to our own hurt. I used to hear it all the time, people go to specific churches because they like the worship there. I then ask them; you mean you like the music??  Invariably, that is really what they mean, and it is OK to prefer what you like, but lets not call it worship, call it praise.

Being a true worshiper of God has nothing to do with what you like, or your taste in music. It has to do with what your walk with the Lord, your obedience, your sacrifice, taking up the cross daily, preferring one another in love and bowing before Him. When Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, when he was going on the hill to worship, the was no music. We are losing our understanding of what Biblical worship is! If that is lost, we are at peril.

If you love to praise the Lord, do it with gusto with your preference of music. Enjoy it! But let’s rethink worship and how much more serious it is. When it comes to worship, God sets the standard. When it comes to praise, we have liberty to have music we prefer.

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Why is No One Singing?

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , , , , , on October 16, 2024| 2 Comments »

I recently went to a church where very few people in the congregation were singing. In many of the churches that I am familiar with, that is the case. The musicians are basically playing songs that are somewhat unknown to the congregation, so they just all stand there and listen, like they would at a concert. Then there is some light applause after each song.

Have we have lost our way? The purpose of having a time of praise and worship is to allow the congregation to lift their voices in one accord unto the Lord, to exalt His name. We are to be “filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father”. It is a participatory event that is both God-ward, and meant to encourage your brothers and sisters in the Lord. In many churches that is not happening anymore. I remember hearing from a British pastor years ago, “the musicians have hijacked the worship”. Boy was he right!

Praise and worship leaders have lost their way. They have lost it by focusing on the music, on the groove they can create and the vibe. It is all about the latest popular praise songs on the internet and in many cases created for one reason, that reason is to create a hit song, just like the world. We have pushed the Spirit out out and replaced it with a hit. No wonder no one is singing, it is more like a concert than a praise and worship service.

Praise and worship leaders have to get back to singing songs that the congregation knows. They are to lead the congregation, not perform for the congregation. That might mean singing an old hymn or simpler songs. They have a responsibility to make sure the lyrics of the song are theologically correct. It is not just about being a musician. Too many times a church picks a musician just because he is talented. What about the spiritual maturity of that musician? Getting up and leading praise and worship on a Sunday morning can go to your head. It can be exciting to be on a stage, believe me, it can go to your head. The concern has to be, bringing the congregation to a time of praise. Making the congregation lift their voices to the Lord in one accord, God is worthy of that. That is what a leader should do! Play songs that the congregation knows, play songs that are theologically correct, playing songs that are easy sing and easy to follow. People in the congregation need that. The congregation is filled with people who can sing and with people who really can sing very well. Some are musical and some are not. Some can sing on key, others can not. As praise and worship leaders, we need to be sensitive to all of that. I ask you all, please take heed to this!!!

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The True Power of Praise

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , on August 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

by Art Katz

There is no deception more profound than that for which Charismatics and Pentecostals are most subject. We think, albeit unconsciously, that the euphoric thing we enjoy by our music and choruses is really the statement of our faith. We may enjoy it, and we hope that God is being blessed also, but we need to be ruthlessly honest and gird ourselves with truth; and we need first of all to be truthful about our own condition. The true statement of our faith and the condition of our lives are what we experience in fear or apprehension about death, and about insecurity, when we stand in a tremulous place where an authority is confronting us that expresses the rule of the principalities and powers. The issue is not whether our worship pleases us or facilitates the service, but whether it is in fact worship. True worship is the statement and expression of the redemptive work of God that has been experienced in our lives authentically and corporately.

Loudness is power, and it is manipulative when the sound amplifiers are turned up. It is predicated on the notion that the powers of the air will be defeated through militant or revved up Worship.’ The moment we begin to employ worship for purposes other than worship, then it no longer is worship. God knows when there is a worship that has no strings attached. True worship is simply the adoration and devotion that God deserves because He is God. But when we make of it a manipulation and a tool toward an end, even a religiously desired end, then it is no longer worship. We are on the enemy’s ground, and employing an expediency to obtain an end, and still calling it worship, and we are just as much deceived to think that a vigorous, banner-waving worship defeats the powers!

“Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?” may well be asked of us. “Yes, we hear your praise, and we hear your choruses, but there is something about them that is hollow. It is merely singing, and it is not, therefore, something that we are required as the rulers of darkness to acknowledge!” This is what the forces of darkness utter when they encounter a church operating in less than the fullness of its inheritance in Christ. There is a praise and worship that is mere singing, but there is also a praise that wells up to Heaven, which is more than the product of charismatic manipulation. It is a praise that is a spontaneous breaking forth of a celebration of the God who has saved us, not only out of fear, insecurity and anxiety, but who has brought us to a transcendent place of apostolic faith. That kind of praise devastates the powers of darkness.

Our call as the church to resist the Devil is not dependent upon what we do, but what we are. It is something in the character of the church. Our victory will be related to the quality and continuous character of the fellowship itself. So long as there is any surrender or condescension to the wisdom of those powers, for example, fear, intimidation, threat, concern for one’s life and security, then the powers have a place of penetration. When they see a people who are resolute in their faith, and know that their security does not come from the world, or from their employer, or from the State, but from God, then the powers are without any weapon. There is nothing that can be attacked.

Paul and Silas’ imprisonment in Acts 16 is a wonderful demonstration of the wisdom of God. At midnight they were praying and singing praises unto God. They believed that their suffering was the very consequence of their obedience, and that even though only one woman was affected by their ministry, they were in the place of obedience to the heavenly vision. It did not matter whether they would lose their lives or not, because that was not the issue. They had such a deep faith in the sovereignty of God, and the privilege of sharing in His sufferings, that they rejoiced, and it was expressed in praise.

When you can praise God in the midst of adversity and suffering, you have the most powerful release from the powers of darkness. They cannot stand it, or bear to hear it, and they flee, because it is the overwhelming evidence of the reality of the invisible God. It contradicts their wisdom which says that when you are suffering, you are to be mourning, pouting, feeling sorry for yourself, blaming God, and accusing this man or that. But when you can praise God in the midst of your sufferings, you have ruined them. You have taken their last weapon, and they have nothing they can use anymore to threaten or to intimidate. You have broken through onto a heavenly ground. They are absolutely helpless to adversely affect you, and so they are required to flee.

The one thing that the powers of darkness are required to acknowledge is authenticity—the thing that is real. I am an enemy, therefore, to what seems to be real in worship and praise that puts such emphasis on musical ability, on instruments, on loudspeakers, on electronic technology, on song and on worship leaders. One of my greatest battles as a prophetic person is with worship leaders. Oftentimes, it happens that I have a speaking engagement, and by the time the worship is over, I am completely depleted and drained. I get up and it is a pathetic beep next to what I knew the Lord was wanting. The worship, so-called, that should have enhanced the word, actually robbed and blunted it. There is so much emphasis on worship that almost makes the success of the church depend upon it. “Did you enjoy the worship?”— instead of it being the spontaneous expression of the redemptive work of God in the life of the believers, personally and corporately.

Jesus endured all of His suffering for the joy that was set before Him, in the anticipation of what would be the consequence of His suffering for eternity. This is the wisdom of God, because rejoicing in suffering is a contradiction. It is contrary to reason and everything we think natural to man. What is natural to man is survival, “Take care of number one.” But the wisdom that can rejoice in suffering is another wisdom, and it is that wisdom which defeats the powers. It is the greater wisdom, but it is not enough just to speak it. It has got to be made manifest, to be demonstrated, by a church whose inner life is itself her proclamation of God’s manifold wisdom. Whether she speaks it or not, the very inner life itself is that thing. It becomes that through trial, through testing, through the Lord allowing oppression, heaviness of spirit—all of the kinds of things against which we have to struggle and work out in our relationships. It is becoming one as He is one, in all of the differences, all of the personalities, all of the things that come up that take the guts-out of you, where you want to run and find the first Charismatic and Evangelical fellowship you can, just to be relieved from the tension of all of these demands. It is in those tensions, however, that God forms His character.

by Art Katz

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Something Beyond Song

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , on March 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

by A W Tozer

There is a notion widely held among Christians that song is the highest possible expression of the joy of the Lord in the soul of a man.

That idea is so near to being true that it may seem spiritually rude to challenge it. I have no wish to pick theological lint nor pluck the wings off religious flies for the thrill such a sadistic act might afford. There are probably hundreds of wrong notions in all of our heads, notions that, while they are wrong, are still too insignificant to deserve attention. They are like the minor physical blemishes which we all have, harmless if not beautiful, and altogether too trivial to rate mention by serious-minded persons.

The idea, however, that song is the supreme expression of all and any possible spiritual experience is not small; it is large and meaningful and needs to be brought to the test of the Scriptures and Christian testimony.

Both the Bible and the testimony of a thousand saints show that there is experience beyond song. There are delights which the heart may enjoy in the awesome presence of God which cannot find expression in language; they belong to the unutterable element in Christian experience. Not many enjoy them because not many know that they can. The whole concept of ineffable worship has been lost to this generation of Christians. Our level of life is so low that no one expects to know the deep things of the soul until the Lord returns. So we are content to wait, and while we wait we are wont to cheer our hearts sometimes by breaking into song.

Far be it from us to discourage the art of singing. Creation itself took its rise in a burst of song; Christ rose from the dead and sang among His brethren, and we are promised that they who dwell in dust will rise and sing at the resurrection. The Bible is a musical book and, next to the Scriptures themselves, the best book to own is a good hymnbook. But still there is something beyond song.

The Bible and Christian biography make a great deal of silence, but we of today make of it exactly nothing. The average service in gospel circles these days is kept alive by noise. By making a lot of religious din we assure our faltering hearts that everything is well and, conversely, we suspect silence and regard it as a proof that the meeting is “dead.” Even the most devout seem to think they must storm heaven with loud outcries and mighty bellowings or their prayers are of no avail. Not all silence is spiritual. Some Christians are silent because they have nothing to say; others because what they have to say cannot be uttered by mortal tongue. Of the first we do not speak at the moment, but confine our remarks to the latter.

Where the Holy Spirit is permitted to exercise His full sway in a redeemed heart the progression is likely to be as follows: First, voluble praise, in prose speech or prayer or witness; then, when the crescendo rises beyond the ability of studied speech to express, comes song, then comes silence where the soul, held in deep fascination, feels itself blessed with an unutterable beatitude.

At the risk of being written off as an extremist or a borderline fanatic we offer it as our mature opinion that more spiritual progress can be made in one short moment of speechless silence in the awesome presence of God than in years of mere study. While our mental powers are in command there is always the veil of nature between us and the face of God. It is only when our vaunted wisdom has been met and defeated in a breathless encounter with Omniscience that we are permitted really to know, when prostrate and wordless the soul receives divine knowledge like a flash of light on a sensitized plate. The exposure may be brief, but the results are permanent.—The Root of the Righteous – A W Tozer

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Worship Replacement Theology

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , on January 9, 2024| 2 Comments »

When someone says the word worship or you read the word, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? This has been my concern for many years, that true Biblical worship has been replaced by music and songs. There are very few teachers pointing it out! It is not that leaders are intentionally teaching this false doctrine. Rather it is an unintended consequence of having so much focus on what we now call “worship”, i.e. the music, the song service, and the “worship” team.

I call it worship replacement. To our own hurt, we are not being taught what real Biblical worship is. The Word of God is being diminished. There are about 100 places in the New Testament where the word worship appears. And none of those places have any mention of songs or music. They have deeper and more serious meanings for us to comprehend. There are only 4 or 5 times in the New Testament where songs or singing are mentioned, and worship is not really associated with those times. Those times were related to praising God. There really is no mention in the NT about having such a huge focus on the way we worship today. Historically, it is really a modern concept.

In the Old Testament, the first place worship is mentioned is when Abraham was going to offer up Isaac. Think about the seriousness of that! How serious the obedience, how serious the commitment, how serious the humility! We can not replace this knowledge of worship with the song service!

There is a distinction between praise and worship that has been lost in many circles. Many will not go to a church unless they have a good “worship team”. The modern music scene has created new celebrities pumping out new “worship” songs. It is now its own genre. Many of the record companies putting out this new music are secular. Think of it, “worship” music has been monetized.

We should still have a “praise team” and sing songs to praise God and to encourage one another. Eph 5:19 “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

We are to give praise, and we should make that distinction. Let us not lose the true meaning of worship. It is easy to sing a song, too easy. It is much harder to be a person who worships God, and understands the difference.

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The Great God Entertainment

Posted in Church in Crisis, Worship in Cirisis, Worship, Praise and Music, tagged , , on September 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

by A W Tozer

A German philosopher many years ago said something to the effect that the more a man has in his own heart the less he will require from the outside; excessive need for support from without is proof of the bankruptcy of the inner man.

If this is true (and I believe it is), then the present inordinate attachment to every form of entertainment is evidence that the inner life of modern man is in serious decline. The average man has no central core of moral assurance, no spring within his own breast, no inner strength to place him above the need for repeated psychological shots to give him the courage to go on living. He has become a parasite on the world, drawing his life from his environment, unable to live a day apart from the stimulation which society affords him.

Schleiermacher held that the feeling of dependence lies at the root of all religious worship, and that however high the spiritual life might rise, it must always begin with a deep sense of a great need which only God could satisfy. If this sense of need and a feeling of dependence are at the root of natural religion it is not hard to see why the great god Entertainment is so ardently worshiped by so many. For there are millions who cannot live without amusement; life without some form of entertainment for them is simply intolerable; they look forward to the blessed relief afforded by professional entertainers and other forms of psychological narcotics as a dope addict looks to his daily shot of heroin. Without them they could not summon the courage to face existence.

No one with common human feeling will object to the simple pleasures of life, nor to such harmless forms of entertainment as may help to relax the nerves and refresh the mind exhausted by toil. Such things, if used with discretion, may be a blessing along the way. That is one thing. The all-out devotion to entertainment as a major activity for which and by which men live is definitely something else again.

The abuse of a harmless thing is the essence of sin. The growth of the amusement phase of human life to such fantastic proportions is a portent, a threat to the souls of modern man. It has been built into a multimillion-dollar racket with greater power over human minds and human character than any other educational influence on earth. And the ominous thing is that its power is almost exclusively evil, rotting the inner life, crowding out the long eternal thoughts which would fill the souls of men if they were but worthy to entertain them. And the whole thing has grown into a veritable religion which holds its devotees with a strange fascination, and a religion, incidentally, against which it is now dangerous to speak.

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has gotten over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make what use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate “producers” peddle their shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.

The great god Entertainment amuses his devotees mainly by telling them stories. The love of stories, which is a characteristic of childhood, has taken fast hold of the minds of the retarded saints of our day, so much so that not a few persons manage to make a comfortable living by spinning yarns and serving them up in various disguises to church people. What is natural and beautiful in a child may be shocking when it persists into adulthood, and more so when it appears in the sanctuary and seeks to pass for true religion.

Is it not a strange thing and a wonder that, with the shadow of atomic destruction hanging over the world and with the coming of Christ drawing near, the professed followers of the Lord should be giving themselves up to religious amusements? That in an hour when mature saints are so desperately needed vast numbers of believers should revert to spiritual childhood and clamor for religious toys?

“Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach…. The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim” (Lamentations 5:1, 16-17). Amen. Amen.—

A W Tozer, excerpt from The Root of the Righteous

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