Jeremiah 32:27 - Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
~ GLADIATORS FOR GOD ~
Jesus said "Love Your Enemies" and "Pray For Those Who Curse You". As I've stated before on this website, Jesus never once condemned a sinner when he was here on earth, however, he not only condemned the religious people, he went as far as to call them names! (true) Jesus did not own any earthy possessions and instructed his disciples not to have any either.
Luke 14:33 - "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
Jesus was not telling all of us to go sell everything and live under a bridge somewhere, he was speaking to his disciples. He was telling them, if they wanted to follow him, and be the ones responsible for spreading his
message throughout the world and have the same power they had seen him display, they were not to be distracted by any earthly things.
So isn't it interesting how much the Church of today has strayed from the teachings of Jesus? If you saw one of these disciples today, wearing anything from plain to ragged clothing, and possibly had not bathed in a while, would you follow him? Regardless of his message, would you believe him?
I say probably not! Why, because we have been so falsely conditioned by the modern day Church to believe, if that person were a "true" disciple of God, God would have blessed him and he would be wearing expensive clothes and have a diamond ring on his finger and you would be able to see that he is God's messenger, by how much God has blessed and prospered him.
We get offended if the preacher didn't acknowledge us as we were leaving Sunday morning. We get offended if someone arrived early and was sitting in our regular seat, or has taken our favorite parking place. We watch the other members of the congregation to try to catch them sinning, or even talking with the wrong people so we can gossip about them to someone else. And did you notice that sister Bernice's teenage daughter was actually wearing a pair of "Jeans" to Church!! HOW DISRESPECTFUL!!
Let's face it, one of the nice things about going to Church Sunday morning is, being able to "dress up". Allot of folks don't have anywhere else to go during the week where they can put on the "Big Hat" and the "Fancy Dress" or the "Three Piece Suit", but that's not what God is looking at. We are all naked in God's eyes, and the clothes don't make any difference at all. He sees "YOU". Imagine if all the clothing disappeared Sunday morning and everyone was sitting naked. Would the prominent respectful members still stand out and look any different to you than the not so wealthy members of the congregation? (probably worse)
Somewhere along the line, we have appointed ourselves as not only God's policemen, but a judge appointed by God as well. Without the help of all us “Gladiators for God”, Harry Potter would have been simply what it is, “an entertaining book” and then faded away. Instead, it has become almost a cult movement, thanks to all the fuss us "good Christians" made over it. (being so righteous and all) Snow White and allot of the other Disney movies had most of the same ingredients. A witch casting spells etc..., but we chose to glorify that movie.
Why do I use the term "Gladiators for God?" What else would you call warriors (on the same side) who attack or kill each other? Truly, we spend more time and effort worrying about what others are doing, than we do trying to have a personal relationship with God. Even Jesus did not come to Judge the earth, but somehow we feel it is "our" duty to do so.
John 12:47 - "If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
The Church is committing suicide from the inside. I get hate mail from time to time because the "Gladiators for God" and "Hit Men For Jesus" want to force their righteousness on me and everyone else because, either they believe that you haven't received the Holy Spirit unless you speak in tongues, or you are damned to hell if you drink wine or you don't acknowledge that they are a prophet or you have been divorced and remarried or a plethora of other ridiculous things.
If anyone appointed them to be judge or leader over you, it was not God! Again, I call them Gladiators for God because they are spiritually killing their own members, just like the Roman Gladiators were forced to do. The difference is, they do it by choice. You were not chosen to be a Gladiator for God, or a policeman, or even a Judge. You were chosen to be a witness and a lifeguard. You were chosen to be a beacon of light in a dark world, but mainly, you are a traffic cop! You stand at the fork in the road and point new believers in the right direction. (You were not chosen to handcuff them and drag them down the right road) If they choose to ignore you and go the wrong way, it is not your job to punish them.
If you don't act as judge and jury over them and condemn them, chances are, they will find their way back to that fork in the road and let you finally point them in the direction of Christ.
God Bless You
Dan Douglass
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