A Wolf among the Sheep

I've been pretty bummed out all weekend. I got a message on Friday that one of my friends had been baptized into another church. And, by another church, I'm not talking about a different building, but another church. The Unification Church, to be specific. This is especially disheartening, as this was a friend who went out faithfully with us every Friday to evangelize on the street. For two years, this gentleman was out with us, carrying his Macarthur Bible in his arms. This isn't someone that doesn't know the gospel, who doesn't understand his position before a holy God, and doesn't realize that unless he repents and puts his complete faith in Christ, that he will one day stand before that God who will judge him. I don't really want to use this blog to gossip, but merely to express my sadness at losing a small battle in this spiritual war we are all in. 

I've been doing some reading on this church, and their beliefs. Some key things that stand out for me, are key things in ALL cults. They reduce Jesus to merely a man, and they elevate man to God, or at least the ability to attain attributes of God. Also, the god of the Unification Church seems to me a pretty weak god. He had a plan for the earth, but Adam and Eve messed it up for him. (Christianity teaches that nothing happens outside of God's will.) And then he came up with the idea of Jesus, but that plan fell through because John the Baptist didn't advertise enough for Jesus and he got crucified before he was able to accomplish his task of salvation. Finally, Jesus is back as a person, Sun Myung Moon, and is going to give it a try again. Maybe if he didn't spend so much time running the Washington Post, which he owns, he would be able to save mankind, but it certainly doesn't inspire much confidence. 

Bottom line here, it is not our persuasive abilities, nor our knowledge and ability to debate, that will draw people to Christ, but that is the job of the Holy Spirit. I pray, and hope you will join me in prayer, that God will remove the scales from my friend's eyes, and draw his heart back to the only name by which man will be saved, that of Jesus Christ. 

And, Lord, renew in me a passion for reaching out to the lost, wherever they are, as we really only have a finite number of days left that we will be able to evangelize. I thank you, Lord, for your patience with us, and ask to be continually used in your plan of salvation. - Amen