Some Things We Have Done in Our Culture to Squash The Holy Spirit of God

I picked this picture because these types of messages are often not enjoyable for most...and I get why. But, we are called to be hard core believers in God. We all fall short of the best we could do, so let's do better. The one common denominator I see in the Bible and specifically in the New Testament is that we are commanded to love. We are to love God with everything and in that love we will find our life. Then we are to love our neighbor like we love ourselves, and the toughest one, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. This is not a naturally occurring phenomenon to me personally. This picture was taken on a hot day after a very difficult bike ride from my house to a lake up the mountain behind us. I got to the water and was overheated, tired, and cramping like crazy. I jumped in and it was cold, but felt great. The sign is "I Love You" and has been a singe used often between me and my wife and son. The question is...Am I sending these messages because I love you, or am I just trying to fight. Do not be deceived, I am not the old Kelly and have not been for a long time. I have no interest in changing your mind, making you like me, or fighting with you. I do however want to see your relationship with God flourish, and because of that I am willing to fight if it's Gods command that I do. I also know that love does not come easy from me, but I am trying to get better.

First and foremost this is not and exhaustive list, it is simply a few of the most common areas of the failure of the American Christian Church. I definitely cannot speak to other nations in regards to their religious establishments as much as I can ours. This is solely because I am speaking of things that I believe God has shown me. He can show me anything from any church anywhere, but He has chosen to show me this. There is a clear reason why that I may or may not state in this post. So… lets begin.

We have overlooked the cost of sin on humanity. We have become culturally desensitized to good and evil as it is defined by God. This must be understood to comprehend the following issues. We cannot expect to be correct in our definitions of what is good and what is evil if we do not know the will of the God who defines it.

In no particular order.

1. Premarital sex and the associated temptations that surround that lifestyle are almost exclusively overlooked in our nation, even within our churches. It has become culturally acceptable to test drive marital possibilities and play house for years before we marry. This is evil according to God! Even when noted by a third source it is rarely brought up as something that is considered evil and perverse by God. I have confronted a few parents whose children were obviously “playing house” while maintaining the belief that they are Christian. This is unacceptable behavior, not unforgivable, but it is a sin that must be dealt with. The parents were unwilling to directly confront it, even allowing it in their homes when the child came to visit, thus condoning sin in the name of love. That is not love according to God! Just ask the priest Eli that raised Samuel up. 
2. Homosexuality is becoming more and more widely accepted into the norm of our worldly society. There are numerous Christian denominations that are even allowing homosexual men and women as clergy. This is not a hate statement, this is a simple statement that is reminding Christians that God absolutely does not approve of any unsanctioned and perverse relationship where He and His values are not held in the highest standards. There is no acceptance by God of homosexual marriage, and there is no acceptance by God of sexual relations of any kind outside of the Biblical marriage of a biological man and a woman. Again, this is unacceptable, but not unforgivable. It will however take repentance and the associated following actions that must occur post repentance to remedy the problem and bring healing to the individual.
3. The sin of placing the second commandment of Jesus above His first. This may seem crazy, but when one loves their neighbor (as themselves) above God, it is showing evidence of two major sins. One, that you have placed the world above God which is a primary violation of the first commandment of God. Two, that you have placed yourself above God, and that is defined as pride, the same primary sin for which Lucifer was cast out of Heaven. This may not seem like a big deal, but it really is a snapshot of where your focus and love is. To better explain number two, the commandment states to love your neighbor as yourself, if by doing that, your neighbor is elevated above God, you also love yourself above God.
4. In our blind eye to sin we have become generally unwilling to rebuke others for sin as it is defined in God, and are more willing to rebuke others for challenging our religion. This too is the result of loving oneself above God. We hear all this talk about not judging others when every aspect of scripture taught in context is not only asking us to judge, it commands us to judge others and then it teaches us how and gives a thousand plus examples of the right and the wrong ways to go about it. It is our job and calling from the Most High God, everyone who claims to be His must judge like He does.
5. We trust science more than the God of our Bibles! We believe that the actions of men and women here in the physical are more likely to have an effect on us than the actions of the supernatural upon our physical lives because we have come to a place where we do not recognize the enemy or the allies in this battle, both of which are spirits. We have allowed the Satanic teaching of religious cessation to dominate a false American Gospel. By the way, it is this gospel that will build churches that are willing to deliver the true believers up for their death in service to God. This belief and attitude removes the presence of the Spirit of God in the lives of the churches here. We are dead! Find The Life, and do whatever you can to hold on to Him! (Paraclete).
6. We don’t pray, and when we do its as dead as my great great great grandmother. We don’t drink the blood of The Christ, nor eat His flesh as He commanded, nor talk the talk, nor walk the walk. Partially because we are selfish, partially because we are ashamed, partially because we don’t know what it should actually look like.
7. Jesus walked through His hometown and was amazed at their lack of faith. Even Jesus, who did it all perfectly, struggled to perform miracles in such a place because the unbelief was greater than the belief. This is a topic that is hard to discuss these days because of mis-interpretation of what I will say. The greater and more pure that you believe and trust in the power of God, the greater the presence of the King is. You must believe!

This is good for now… We must make a clear stance on scripture and the only way we can do that solidly is by getting to personally know the God of scripture. Get to know Jesus, ask Him to send you His Spirit and teach you to walk the Christian walk.