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From:TheBahamasWeekly.com The Pastor's Pulpit  1Kings.18:
21.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and
said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
The
question of “How long halt ye between two opinions?” was asked of the children
of Israel by the prophet Elijah.
It is
constantly said, and can be heard in the midst of many conversations the
sayings that The Bahamas is a Christian Nation.
As we ( The Bahamas ) goes through this vicious cycle of having the enemy wreaking havoc throughout the length and breadth of this country as a result of the spiritual wickedness in high places, record breaking murders, other serious crimes, deterioration of family & family values, etc;
The
only logical question that can ask of us Bahamians / Bahamas is this:
“How
long haly ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal,
then follow him.
Who
is our God?
Is he Yahweh, the God of
Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Or could it be that through
religious ignorance and our passion for material stuff / wealth and riches we
(The Bahamas) have turned to serve another god or other gods?
Religious
Ignorance:
This
is that stuff which is filled with all the forms of godliness, but is void of
God’s power; it is fueled by various religious beliefs and the traditions of
men. With the high level of seminary graduates (Bishops, Doctors, Pastors,
etc;) today it is rather amazingly outstanding to see the level of ignorance that
exist within the organized Christian church.
Religion within itself is divisive; coupled
religion with ignorance and
“Huston, we’ve got a problem.”
One
of the enemy’s greatest deceptions today is to have many believe that religion
is of God, the Father.
This plan of the
enemy is methodically laid out and executed; if it was possible even the very
elect would be deceived by it. Everything that we see today from a church
perspective has been built / formed upon religion. One of the strongest and yet
most divisive religious groups is the religion of Christianity. What is so
interesting about the Christian faith is that Christ (Yahshua Messiah) himself
never preached, taught or even mentioned anything about Christianity.
Nowhere in the scriptures can it be found
where Yahshua Messiah (a.k.a. Jesus the Christ) ever called or referred to His
followers as Christians; but rather He always called them disciples.
When
the word Christian was first mentioned in the bible; it was done so in a
demeaning, shameful, mocking and jeering manner
(Acts.26:28. Then Agrippa said
unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian). The identity /
label of Christian brought about much persecution and suffering for the early
church. The only other time that the word Christian is mentioned in the
scriptures it was related to the suffering that the saints were experiencing
because of their faith:
(1Pet.4:16. Yet if any man suffer as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf)
Christianity
is one of the largest and most divisive religions there is. There are many different
groups / sects within Christianity that bitterly disagree with other Christian
groups; for various doctrinal reasons. The Baptist stays with the Baptist, the
Anglicans with the Anglicans, etc; yet they’re all supposed to be serving /
worshipping the same God.
Unlike
the religion of Christianity; the disciples / saints of Yahshua Messiah understood
(Eph.4:
:
4.
There is one body, and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
:
5. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Here’s
how the Apostle dealt with / addressed the divisive religious spirit that was
trying to gain a stronghold among the saints:
(1Corinth.1:
12.
Now this I say, that every one of you saith,
I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
:
13.
Is Christ divided? was Paul
crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?)
The
deception of the enemy is so cunning and so strong to the point that nobody
sees anything wrong with the church being called and recognized as The
Christian Church.
Based upon the financial
and time investment that has gone forth in the Christian Church religious leaders
and those of a religious mind-set have chosen to continue down the path of
their erroneous religions rather than repenting and turning to / embracing the
truth of God’s relationship.
Yahshua
Messiah (a.k.a. Jesus the Christ) didn’t come to establish religion
(especially
the religion of Christianity), but rather He came to restore the
relationship with man and his Father.
How
long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal
(your religious god), then follow him.
Here’s
a short list of some of the world’s leading religions / religious groups:
1.
Christianity 2.1 billion
2. Islam 1.3 billion 3. Secular/Irreligious/Agnostic/ 4. Hinduism 900 million 5. Chinese traditional religion 394 million 6. Buddhism 376 million (see also buddhism by country) 7. Primal indigenous 300 million 8. African traditional and diasporic 100 million 9. Sikhism 23 million 10. Juche 19 million 11. Spiritism 15 million 12. Judaism 14 million 13. Bahá'í Faith 7 million 14. Jainism 4.2 million 15. Shinto 4 million 16. Cao Dai 4 million 17. Zoroastrianism 2.6 million 18. Tenrikyo 2 million 19. Neopaganism 1 million 20. Unitarian Universalism 800,000 21. Rastafari movement 600,000
For
questions and comments contact us via E-mails:pastormallen@yahoo.com or kmfci@live.com or Ph.242-441-2023
Pastors
Matthew & Brendalee Allen
Kingdom
Minded Fellowship Center Int’l
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