THE CHURCH THAT WILL BE LEFT BEHIND TO FACE THE WRATH OF GOD

“Thank you, Jesus”: Kenneth Copeland praises God for a new Bentley car. Prosperity gospel preacher Kenneth Copeland thanked Jesus for a dying man’s seed offering of a Bentley with a Breitling clock, which he had given in the hope that it would bring healing. It did not.

At Kenneth Copeland Ministries’ annual Southwest Believers’ Convention in Fort Worth, Texas, held from July 29 to Aug. 3, the 87-year-old televangelist regaled attendees with stories about his passion for Breitling watches, of which he owns around 36 coveted timepieces.

Speaking on “How to Walk by Faith and Not By Sight” two Mondays ago, Copeland delighted in showing off the diamond-encrusted Breitling adorning his left wrist to a man seated in the front row. “Do you think that one’s pretty?” Copeland asked the man. “It’s a Breitling. It has diamonds around the edge. Someone gave me that one.”

Copeland said he began gifting Breitling watches as seed gifts, adding that he and Pat Robertson, the late founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and host of “The 700 Club,” had a “tradition” of gifting Breitlings to each other.

Bible scholar Justin Peters, a harsh critic of World of Faith prosperity preachers and the New Apostolic Reformation movement rebuked Copeland’s “wicked” teaching that sowing “a seed” will heal the sick.

“Kenneth Copeland knows full well that the people listening to him don’t follow him for exposition of Scripture; they are there for promises of health and wealth,” Peters said. “And there are a lot of sick people listening to him. Not just at this convention but all over the world. And they are sick; they are dying, some of them. And some have sick children, children who are dying.

As a warning to the televangelist who has boasted of being a billionaire, Peters quoted from Matthew:

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” Matthew 7:21-23,

Peters said he does not hate Copeland but was filled with “righteous indignation” because of the “audacity” the televangelist had to tell the story of a man who sowed a seed for healing from cancer yet died. “He’s dead,” Peters lamented.

Kenneth Copeland and all those he has deceived represent the seventh church of Revelation 3, the Church of Laodicea. It is the church that is left behind to face the wrath of God with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements. It describes the church in the seventh year of the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27.

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.Revelation 3:17-19

The sixth church, the Church of Philadelphia, is raptured. It represents the church in the sixth year of the 70th week of Daniel 9:24-27.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.Revelation 3:8,10

AA GROUP EXCLUDED OVER CHRISTIAN CONTENT IN MEETINGS

An Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group has been separated from the organisation because it includes Christian content in its meetings. Leaders of the group which meets in a church in Yeovil were told that prayer and talking about Jesus made new members feel uncomfortable. It’s now been removed from the AA online directory following a vote by local bosses. Minutes from a meeting of the Somerset Intergroup, which oversees AA groups in the region, describe the church-held group as a “Christian based meeting, lovely meeting but not along AA guidelines”.Concerns were also raised over an announcement in one of the recovery group sessions that the only way to recovery is through Jesus. The Somerset Intergroup claimed that, while there was nothing wrong with discussions about Jesus, they didn’t belong in an AA meeting.

1971 Bill Wilson died. His last words to AA members were, “God bless you and Alcoholics Anonymous forever.

John Palmer, a leader of the group, said: “AA was founded by Christians to transform lives. Over the years I have seen Christianity marginalised from the organisation. It is sad to see, and I think AA is having less of an impact on people’s lives as a result. “Of course, you don’t have to be a Christian to be part of an AA group, but if you cannot say the Lord’s Prayer in a church without being treated like this, what are we coming to? “We were shocked when we found out about the action being taken against us, but we are determined to carry on.” Campaign group Christian Concern is now taking action to get the group reinstated within Alcoholics Anonymous. Chief executive Andrea Williams said: “The message of the gospel is of a saviour who came to bring hope to every one of us. The power of the gospel is what inspired the setting up of AA following the radical transformation alcoholics experienced after encountering Jesus Christ.

Is now saying the Lord’s Prayer in a church offensive and not appropriate? “It is sad, but not surprising in our world of cancel culture, to hear from this group that the gospel message is no longer appropriate for AA and must be kept ‘separate.’ “We call on the AA to reinstate this group to the online directory and to recognise the crucial role Christian faith plays in transforming lives.”

Source: Premier Christian News

Separating and punishing Christians so that they cannot attract new members for sharing the gospel message of hope is disturbing and ludicrous but Biblical prophecy tells us that this is just one of the signs we are approaching the end of this age. Jesus soon coming return is in view and we need to be prepared for the increasing tribulation that God allows Christians to experience to refine His church.

 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.Matthew 24:9-13