Christianity “Lite” = Asleep In The Light by Pastor C. Covert

(Today’s message from Pastor Covert is a warning, and I thought it was appropriate to share it here. Word to the wise. EET)

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Picture yourself at a buffet in a restaurant. There you find meat, potatoes, veggies, bread and dessert. There’s even coffee or soda for those so inclined.

Then you notice an exotic food court, where you can have toasted scorpions, chocolate covered killer bees, and breaded deep-fried tarantulas. You can drink snake venom that has been dosed with antivenin so that it’s only scary to think of it, but it won’t really hurt you – or so they say.

Most people would pass by the exotic food court: some would exclaim at the oddities, while others would fear to even come into contact with the nasty so-called “food and drink”.

Yet, there are some who get bored eating regular food, and think their lives would be enhanced, if only by gaining bragging rights, by partaking in the very things that most people would shun.

And so it is with today’s sleeping Christians.

It is one thing to examine what the world is offering with the motive of comparing it to the truth of God’s word for the purpose of exposing the darkness to the light, and warning our brothers and sisters about it.

It is quite another thing to sample and pick and gnosh on worldly spiritual fare just so you can say you “tried” it. That is like cheating on your spouse, or committing idolatry (spiritual adultery).

Those who drag the world’s methods into their Christian walk are no longer entirely Christian, just as a mouse with human brain cells is no longer entirely a mouse.

There’s a song by Daniel Amos that contains the lyrics: “They smile like an angel but behind their eyes lies the door of the death house and the big surprise!”

Satan appears as an angel of light. He loves to appeal to our sense of sophistication! He wants us to question everything. And boy, do some of us love that game.

Jesus said that if your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is darkness, how great is that darkness.

How much darkness is enough to make your worldly associates think you’re cool? What if you have so much darkness that you already have sunk to playing “Devil’s Advocate” with your Christian friends about the goodness of God?

We need to develop a Theodicy – our explanation of God’s goodness and justice in the face of evil! We need to be able, as Paul exhorted us, to give an account for the faith that is in us.

If we are not even sure that God is good, and that His justice will prevail in the face of evil, then how can we even say we have faith?

Remember the ten virgins? Five were foolish, and five were wise. The wise ones were ready when the Bridegroom came, having brought extra oil for their lamps which was necessary because the wait became longer than they expected. The foolish ones were not ready, and had to go and buy more oil because their lamps had gone out. While they were away purchasing oil, the Bridegroom came and welcomed the wise virgins to the wedding. But the foolish were turned away as the strangers they were.

The strangers they had become…

Wake up, sleepers. You are asleep in the light. You are allowing the Devil to puff you up in your pride, and you are exchanging the truth of God for a lie. Will you become estranged from the Bridegroom so that you fool yourself into thinking you will be welcome to the wedding feast, when you aren’t even prepared for the wait?

Wool Or Meat – The Use Of Sheep

Shepherds, since days of old, have always cared for their fragile, silly, cute, stubborn and vitally important herds of sheep.

Sheep are not very smart or clever. They tend to follow one another, even into danger or over cliffs. They are good at escaping the safety of the sheepfold and running into danger, and shepherds have been known to do heroic deeds to save their sheep.

Sheep have always been kept for their wool and their meat. Some cultures have even used the milk of sheep, but their main use has always been wool and meat.

Jesus talked about sheep a lot, because Israel kept sheep and they were familiar with them. Jesus explained that sheep know their own master’s voice and will not follow another. He said that an enemy climbs over the fence to the sheepfold, instead of entering in through the gate. He said that He was the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the Flock (Church). He warned about “hireling” shepherds (paid professional “pastors”) who did not care for the sheep in the way their own masters would.

Obviously Jesus wasn’t talking about eating the sheep of His fold, nor would he shear them. Our relationship as “the sheep of His hand” or “the flock of His pasture” is that of trusting lambs who know that our Good Shepherd will not allow us to be destroyed by predators, and if even one gets out and runs away, He will leave the others in the sheep pen to go find the one that was lost.

The prince of this world, Satan, has a different use for sheep. In fact, quite blatant and obvious is he when he leads the “sheople” astray. He wants them for their wool, but when they no longer produce, he will slaughter them for their meat.

What does this mean to people today?

From the time of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve fell, when the Serpent was cursed to go on his belly in the dust, and when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, Satan realized that he would have to do something about people. God prophesied a time when the seed of the woman would conquer the seed of the serpent. Satan realized that in order to prevent his own demise, he had only to figure out how to destroy these fragile, silly and stubborn sheep of God.

The Nephalim (offspring of the fallen angels and human women) were large and powerful. They dominated humanity to the point that God decided to wipe out all except the family of Noah, whose family bloodline was pure (no Nephalim DNA there). Had God not brought the flood onto the earth to wipe out the Nephalim and all those they had caused to sin, then the prophecy He spoke over Eve in the Garden of Eden would never have come true.

After the flood, the Nephalim reappeared, and we see them after the children of Israel return to the Promised Land. They were to wipe out all of the inhabitants of the Promised Land BECAUSE the Philistines were of the Serpent’s seed! And because some of the kings of Israel and Judah were not obedient to wipe them all out, the Philistines were not all conquered, but some remained on the earth and they have intermingled with many other nations bloodlines over the generations. They are still in a position to dominate the “sheople” today, and they are still using us for our wool and meat.

We may not be able to leave this world of our own free world. But we can choose to be the Lord’s sheep, placing ourselves under His protection as the Good Shepherd.

It beats being “sheople” who line up waiting for our turn to be shorn, or slaughtered.

It is truly time for us to wake up.