Be holy? Seriously?

One of the greatest thrusts of influence of an anti-Christ spirit is the minimization of holiness. In order to achieve that means, the devil will use the tools that are handy to the church for his advantage because, after all,  he has to talk the church's language (sarcasm intended). A foreign language will not do, the church would see through it. But, being subtle is something the devil has been doing for years, so he is good at it. So,  the devil talks our language and poisons the teachings and doctrines we are to believe and in this fashion he can succeed so well that it would almost be possible to fool even the sharpest saints. I believe we are seeing the various stages of a new demonic offensive against the body of Christ and that strategy is twisting, perverting and slanting the truth of the gospel. Those susceptible to this poison and false teaching will be the young believers, those who do not know the Word, and believers who come to church all the time but fail to grow spiritually, thus they are not able to taste the poison in the teachings.  The stronger believers will have to battle the half-truths and the division and confusion that comes with such attacks. 
One of those areas is God's holiness. Instead of teaching people to remove their sins and be holy & that you have to pray to God for help to overcome & conquer those weak areas, today's teachers just avoid those "difficult teachings" altogether. Many just push the simple teaching that God is good and kind and loves us no matter what (which gets interpreted into, "I can do what I want") - and while those characteristics are true in their context - it is not when dealing with sin.
Sometimes in a futile attempt to escape the inescapable, namely God's judgment, we take refuge in theological arguments. Theology like anything can be turned to bad uses as well as good. Many people appeal to God's character, especially to the "riches of his kindness, and tolerance and patience, Ro 2:4a)  maintaining that God is much too kind and longsuffering to punish anybody, so therefore we can sin without impunity. Pastors, and teachers even misapply Scripture to their advantage and quote such statements as "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love."  But this kind of manipulative theologizing is to show contempt for God, not honour.  It is not faith; it is presumption.  For God's kindness leads us always towards repentance (Ro. 2:4b) That is always God's goal. It is intended to give us space in which to repent, not to give us an excuse for continuing in sin.  Repentance is turning away from vice.  Holiness.

1 Pet 1:15-16 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.(KJV)
2 Pet 3:11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,  (NKJ)
Heb 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (KJV)
Eph 4:26-27 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.  (KJV)
Don't give him an inch!!

It's not a Post-Christian Era, it's a.....

PRE-RAPTURE ERA!
Hey, I believe in positive thinking! We're not just in a post-Christian era, think about it and be really excited...we're in a Pre-Rapture posture. All of you Christain families out there that haven't had a getaway vacation should be really excited.  You and yours will soon be flying out of here for a new destination. Yes, we are heaven bound!  All the kids travel free and you don't have to worry about whether you are getting peanuts or crackers for your mid-flight snack.  You will be wisked away to the sunny and always rainless streets of heaven, and you won't have to worry about sand in the kids underwear, like you get at the beach.  Did I hear you say you might miss this place? Well be encouraged. There is a return flight back with Jesus when He returns to take His summer home back. Only this time, for good, at the second coming, which won't be long after we take up residence in the Kingdom.

  Son-ny heaven is a perfect climate with tons to do for the family. Just think, never a rain delay for Little League, and no washouts if the clothes are on the line.  Down here, if you take an umbrella with you on a heavy overcast day, it doesn't rain and if you wash the car, it pours for sure even if there are no clouds in the sky.  We live totally under the influence of Murphy's law. What about Murphy's law up there? ...not to worry, it will be gone.  And you know what that means?...Yep.. You got it!....That famous peanut butter and jelly sandwich that always falls messy part down will finally land jelly side up.  Is that awesome or what?  And when your Aunt Sarah, who you haven't seen for 20 years, shows up unexpectedly at your house, instead of you wondering what to cook for the whole crew, Aunt Sarah is going to take the whole house to dinner. And miracles of miracles the neighbors dog isn't going to go on a barking rampage for 6 million hours starting just before you go to bed the night before you have the most important meeting of your life and you want a good nights' rest. Can anyone out there say "amen" to that?  Hey, toilet paper will finally tear on the perforated lines, grass won't grow out of control, the dog won't have fleas and kitty won't get stuck up a tree.  There won't be any political signs on every corner, we won't have a trillion organizations selling fish on Fridays and the space button on your cell phone will finally work. Oh, and gas prices won't be high - you will be air-powered....talk about Green!!! 

You know church, the world wants to throw Jesus out of everything. Well, I don't think Jesus will be that upset about the whole matter. And come to think about it, I am not so sure any of us should be that upset about it either, especially if we really start to think about how wonderful our new destination will be. Post Christain Era - phooie, I say "Pre-Rapture"! Have a Jesus day!
John 7:7