A Right To NOT Be Offended?


This generation is constantly clamoring for unity, love and acceptance while also demanding that all nations and all faiths be embraced, that all individuals have the right to do as they please, that there be no police, no laws, no incursions on the rights of the individual.   What kind of la-la-land  does this current generation live in??  They claim that they are for love and harmony, but they are the most INTOLERANT bunch of haters of everyone or anyone that does not think, feel or believe EXACTLY as they do.

The problem is that the world is demanding that man be glorified, honored, respected, satisfied and happy.  This can NEVER HAPPEN.  As long as man IS KING and everything is focused on self the world will continue to spiral deeper and deeper into darkness.  It is my hope that this post will help you understand why.

When I first read the lead on the following article, I thought oh, ok.  Some wise folks are deciding that they don’t have to join the crowd who loves to be offended.  I am glad I read the article.  That is not what it was about at all.

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Oxford University boss says it is ‘unfortunate’ that some students ‘claim a right not to be offended’

Story by Catherine Lough • Yesterday 3:03 PM
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Dame Louise Richardson, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of Oxford University - Heathcliff O'Malley

Dame Louise Richardson, the outgoing Vice Chancellor of Oxford University – Heathcliff O’Malley© Heathcliff O’Malley

“>Cherwell, Dame Louise Richardson, who has served as Vice Chancellor since 2016, said that “there is a view amongst some students – and it’s not all students – there is a right not to be offended”.

“I think that’s unfortunate. I’d like to persuade them that that’s not a healthy approach to take,” she added.

She said that Oxford was “pretty robust” on freedom of speech.

>“We both know that the press – or some parts of the press – likes to use the issue of freedom of speech as a stick with which to beat certain universities,” she said.

“>“But I think we’re pretty robust on the issue, even if not every student or every staff member would agree with me precisely on where to draw the lines. My own view is that all legal speech should be welcomed at universities.”

“>Dame Louise has previously told students that they must be prepared to “hear the other side” of arguments and that “they should, through reasoned debate, seek to change the other’s mind and above all, be open to having their own mind changed too”.

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𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃?

offense –ə-fĕns′ – noun
  1. The act of causing anger, resentment, displeasure, or affront.
  2. The state of being offended.
  3. A violation or infraction of a moral or social code; a transgression or sin.

<Let me say first of all, this crazy generation is constantly screaming about their right to choose.  It really does come down to CHOICE.  This Life is all about choices  All about what YOU choose to do with what comes your way.  NO ONE can MAKE you anything.  YOU have the right to choose how you respond to anything and everything.  That is the only power you have in this life.  You cannot change anyone or anything but for your response to it.  How you respond to anything affects what happens.  Most importantly, your choices reveal to GOD where you stand.  HE is the only one who can change things, HE can even change you.  He can change your heart.  You can’t even know your own heart.  That is what the Bible says.

The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it?  Jeremiah 17:9

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The “Twitter joke case” – on which I posted earlier in the week – prompted an interesting article in yesterday’s Guardian. In it, John Kampfner, former chief executive of Index on Censorship, argues that “the public, both Twitter-using and non-Twitter-using, have elevated taking offence to a human right. We see hurt and danger around every corner and lurking in every missive. For sure, some are beyond the pale. One or two might be prosecutable. But, for the most part we should develop a thicker skin, keep calm and carry on.” (He wrote this before news broke about tweets concerning Olympic diver Tom Daley – but Kampfner has now written a further piece in the light of that story, on which see also this article by Joshua Rozenberg.)

All of this raises a difficult but important question. At what point – if any – does one person’s right of freedom of speech have to yield because its exercise might offend others? This is an issue with which the courts have increasingly had to grapple since the Human Rights Act 1998 entered into force. The Act gives effect in UK law to certain parts of the European Convention on Human Rights – including Article 10. It says that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.” But, like many provisions in the Convention, the right is limited. In particular, Article 10 says that free speech can be restricted to the extent that is necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

When, then, does the right to speak freely give way to the need not to offend others? This question arises in a number of contexts. For example, section 5 of the (Remember this is in the UK) Public Order Act 1986  criminalises (in certain circumstances) the use of “insulting” words or behaviour but the “Free Free to Insult Me” campaign argues that free speech should not be limited in this way.

The extent, if any, of the right not to be offended also arose in 2003 in the ProLife Alliance case, in which a group opposed to abortion sought to air a political broadcast – showing images of mutilated aborted foetusesduring an election campaign. TV stations refused to show it, arguing, in effect, that ProLife Alliance’s right to free speech – which extends to a right to display imagescould be restricted because of the offensiveness of the images concerned.

The Appellate Committee of the House of Lords (since replaced by the UK Supreme Court) ruled, by a majority, in favour of the broadcasters. One of the majority judges, Lord Nicholls, said that members of the public were entitled to be protected “from being unduly distressed in their own homes”. But in a strong dissenting judgment, Lord Scott disagreed. He said:

In a mature democracy political parties are entitled, and expected, to place their policies before the public so that the public can express its opinion on them at the polls. The constitutional importance of this entitlement and expectation is enhanced at election time … Voters in a mature democracy may strongly disagree with a policy being promoted by a televised party political broadcast but ought not to be offended by the fact that the policy is being promoted nor, if the promotion is factually accurate and not sensationalised, by the content of the programme. Indeed, in my opinion, the public in a mature democracy are not entitled to be offended by the broadcasting of such a programme …

A broadcasters’ mind-set that rejects a party election television programme, dealing with an issue of undeniable public importance such as abortion, on the ground that large numbers of the voting public would find the programme “offensive” denigrates the voting public, treats them like children who need to be protected from the unpleasant realities of life, seriously undervalues their political maturity and can only promote the voter-apathy to which I have referred.

Lord Scott makes an important point here. He recognises that the acceptable limits of free speech depend on the context, and on the purpose for which someone is seeking to express themselves. The gratuitous publication of “offensive” images for no purpose except to shock might well exceed the limits of the right of free speech – but purposeful publication as part of a serious political debate was (or arguably ought to have been) a different matter. In this sense, then, there is a “hierarchy” of speech – some forms being more valuable, and so more deserving of protection, than others. This does not mean that “low-level” speech – such as the Twitter joke about blowing up an airport – deserves no protection. But it does mean that it is less important, and so more susceptible to lawful restriction, than other, worthier forms of expression.
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We live in an increasingly “post-truth” political climate. But even before fake news and alternative facts, few Americans were in agreement about, well, almost anything. Over time, consensus on key moral principles has waned, and the younger generations are now inheriting this new moral landscape. In addition to a growing religious apathy and a singular focus on success, another prominent trait of Gen Z is a more relativistic worldview. Though still in a formative stage of life, the leading edge of Gen Z, along with Millennials, appear to hold notably different views about morality than other generations. In a major study in partnership with Impact 360 Institute, Barna’s Gen Z report examines beliefs about morality among the next, next generation.

Morality Can Be a Grey Area to Gen Z
Looking at some basic principles, there is a curious generational shift in the moral compass of Americans. With some awareness that teens’ views may still be quite pliable, we’ll focus on the respondents who indicate the highest level of agreement with these statements in order to show those presently most committed to these beliefs. At this extreme end, one-quarter of Gen Z (24%) strongly agrees that what is morally right and wrong changes over time based on society. There is a wide generational divide on this point: Twice as many Gen Z than Boomers (12%) believe this. The centrality of the self as moral arbiter is also higher among the younger generations—21 percent of Gen Z and 23 percent of Millennials believe each individual is his or her own moral authority—though Gen X (18%) and Boomers (17%) aren’t too far behind on this one. As mentioned, these are only the proportions who strongly agree, so this is perhaps just a hint of a broader public acceptance that morality can be fluid. Teens in Barna focus groups elaborated on their perspective. One participant said, “Society changes, and what’s good or bad changes as well. It is all relative to what’s happening in the world.”

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We are witnessing the emergence of an unstated yet court-sanctioned right, one that makes no appearance in the Constitution and yet seems to trump the First Amendment at every turn: the right to not be offended. By John W. Whitehead, Contributor Constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead is president of The Rutherford Institute
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Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn’t exist in any declaration I have ever read. If you are offended it is your problem, and frankly lots of things offend lots of people. I can walk into a bookshop and point out a number of books that I find very unattractive in what they say.
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Dr. Peterson says that, “no one believes a world constructed through deception is preferable” and of course he’s right. But not causing offence requires a certain amount of deception because by suppressing our own beliefs and opinions, we risk parroting, under duress, the state-sanctioned beliefs and opinions of others that we believe to be lies.
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When asked why his right to freedom of speech should trump a person’s right not to be offended, Dr Jordan Peterson (a clinical psychologist and public speaker) replied that you have to “risk being offensive” to be able to think. Imagine a world where we could not disagree and that we could only debate on things that we already agree on.
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Nov 2, 2020  There is no human right, nor legal right in France, to not be offended. What is a human right, and a legal right, is freedom of speech and freedom of expressionThe basic rights that enable us to live in a civilized and free society do not disappear because one group is offended, and they certainly don’t justify violence.

No one has a right to not be offended, and the world must never give in to such bullying and thuggish tactics such as those used to censor and oppress contrary and dissident opinions, whether from the Muslim world, the Western world, or anywhere else. Nowhere is this attempted censorship more prevalent today than with the protests we see erupting against France over a cartoon (allegedly) insulting a religious faith. We must uphold freedom of speech and expression at any cost!

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Warning: do not read this if you’re easily offended. Just kidding, please read. You need this the most.

Millennials are stereo-typically offended by, well, everything. And as part of this generation, I’m offended by our lack of grit — pun intended.

Most millennials were raised being taught that everyone is a winner, and trying is more important than actually achieving anything. I played basketball in a feel-good league when I was younger, where everyone was a winner, and the score didn’t really matter. It was offensive to some kids to be too aggressive, so that was frowned upon. As a child, I didn’t really understand the phenomenon, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized my peers (and myself — I’m not claiming to have never been offended by something ridiculous) tend to take impersonal things very personally.

Recently, I’ve realized that I can’t scroll down my Facebook news feed without every other article being centered on something that offends someone. Being offended is a choice. Completely a choice. Of course there are exceptions, things that shouldn’t have been said, but our generation is admittedly very easily insulted.

We claim to be open-minded and free-spirited, but are we really? There are tons of clothing items that have recently made news for being ‘offensive.’ If you’re offended by a shirt, here’s an idea: don’t buy it. Or, don’t shop at that store. Instead, though, we take to social media to claim how ‘offended’ we are by a wholly irrelevant article of clothing. We’re giving ourselves the right to be insulted by a design probably created by an out-of-touch designer just looking for attention (and, hey, his plan is working!). And, the ironic part is, through all of these disputes, companies like Urban Outfitters and American Apparel have continued to be incredibly successful. So, we claim offense but we still shop there? That’s not overly logical.

It doesn’t make any sense are we so entitled that we believe other people should walk on eggshells so as to not offend us? Freedom of speech is an amazing right, and by claiming offense, in my opinion, we’re undermining that right. By making public figures speak so carefully, we’re limiting their right to speak however they want. And even despite speaking so carefully, so many celebrities and politicians come under fire for being offensive (Paula Deen, anyone?). I wish people could say what they want to say, and design what they want to design, without unaffected individuals taking insult.

So here’s to us, millennials. The wanderlust-filled, free-spirited, offended young adult generation. Do we really want that title? I definitely don’t.

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Like it or not, our nation is once again FILLED WITH IMMIGRANTS.  This is a different group of Immigrants from those who came here to build this nation.  MOST people who came over voluntarily in the beginning did so a great risk in order to be free to worship the CREATOR.   There are many different groups of immigrants now, all with their own gods/spirits/religions and coming from their own societies with their own laws, views and opinions.  

The United States is becoming a mini me of the world at large.  Since we are grounded in the Word of GOD we should be the nation most equipped to deal with the problems connected with blending.  We should not compromise our own faith and the Word on which it is built.  But we should reach out and share it with those new arrivals.  That is the commandment we were given, to share what we know of GOD with the lost.

We cannot be afraid to speak up.  We must be bold and courageous.  However, we must not take offense when they hate us, mock us or reject us.  We must not be hateful, angry or aggressive/violent.  Share the truth in love.  Be good witnesses of our Heavenly Father.

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GOD has a lot to say about forgiveness and offenses.

Proverbs 19:11 – The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 – Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee:   (Read More…)

Proverbs 18:19 – A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.

James 3:16 – For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

Leviticus 19:18 – Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Ephesians 4:2-3 – With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;   (Read More…)

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.   (Read More…)

1 Peter 2:23 – Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Matthew 7:1-5 – Judge not, that ye be not judged.   (Read More…)

Proverbs 27:5-6 – Open rebuke is better than secret love.   (Read More…)

James 1:19 – Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

Ephesians 5:1-33 – Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;   (Read More…)

Acts 24:16 – And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.

Matthew 18:7 – Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

LOVE, real, honest, pure, world changing love; can only come from the Father above.  To be filled with love, you must be filled with love for our Creator.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,  does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truthbears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part;  but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.  When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.  But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.    1 Corinthians 13:4

Matthew 6:5-15 aka The Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus taught us to pray this way.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:5-15

Yes, that is the way the prayer was written.  Forgive us our TRESPASSES as we forgive those who TRESPASS against us.  I know they changed the word Trespass to DEBTS.  But this is not the WORD!  There is a reason it is to be TRESPASS.  Debt is usually associated with money as the connotation is that they OWE YOU.  No one OWE YOU anything.  We were ALL SINNERS and WE ALL DESERVE DEATH and HELL.  BUT GOD!  But God provided a way.  HE, HE HIMSELF, came down and paid the price for our Redemption.  How can we NOT FORGIVE when we have been forgive so much, so graciously?? We have NO RIGHT to hold ANYTHING against ANYONE!

Only when we take our focus off our own selfish wants, desires and demands and turn our focus to what GOD has for our lives can we ever find peace, joy, contentment and fulfillment.  

When we focus on lifting up GOD in the earth, he becomes our glory and the lifter of our head.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.   John 12:32

“But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, And the lifter of my head.” Psalms 3:3

Yes, I know that the disciple stated that scripture applies to his death on the cross.  However, God showed me that it also applies to life NOW.  If we lift up JESUS/YESHUA before the world, he will draw people back to him, to truth, to real honest love.  

Even the so called ‘Churches” of today have learned that trying to please people and avoid offense DOES NOT WORK!

Why Seeker Friendly CANNOT Work

Sermon  •  Submitted 
The Seeker Friendly Movement Fails at Making Disciples
Fact: The seeker friendly/seeker sensitive movements are FAILING when it comes to making disciples. They are not failing in every aspect of what they try to achieve, but the fact is that they are failing when it comes to making successful, thriving and overcoming disciples of YHWH and of Messiah. The reality is that even some of their own research agrees with that statement.
What is the Seeker Friendly Movement?
(How Does It Function)
Use American business and profitability principles to build churches. In other words use the same principles you would use in building a successful business and apply those principles to church planting, and church making programs.
It’s based on give church consumers what they want and they will keep coming back. It typically begins by taking a detailed survey to find out what the un-churched and unbelieving people in your community feel that they need and desire from church.
Then you try to change or adapt all the sermon presentations and outreach programs and ministries and other social programs to meet what the church consumers feel or think that they want from church. In other words, give the customer what he wants and desires from church and he will keep coming back, then he will hear the gospel supposedly and then make a commitment to follow YHWH and follow Messiah.
The Desired Results
(Here’s What the Seeker Friendly Mega-Church Movement HOPED Would happen)
  • People would find the church more inviting and more welcoming
  • People would, “Like God More.”​
  • More people would, “Hear the gospel.”
  • More people would, “Come to Christ As Savior.”
  • They would bring more, seekers and church consumers into the church.
  • ​By joining church programs they would hopefully become true disciples and followers of YHWH and of Messiah.
The Actual Results
One of the major seeker friendly mega church congregations, (Willow Creek), took a detailed survey of their members, and publish the results in a book called, Revealed: Where Are You? The results shocked the church leadership to its very core. Here is an overview of what they discovered:
  • Church is more popular.
  • Church is more fun and entertaining.
  • People start out their journey with YHWH and Messiah more energized and enthusiastic.

However, here’s where it FAILS:

  • People are NOT becoming biblical disciples of YHWH and of Messiah.
  • Most people are NOT overcoming through their own life challenges as a result of this movement
  • Many people are NOT growing beyond their initial commitment to Messiah.
Conclusion: “Seeker sensitive movement produces church members, but not disciples.” So affirmed the senior pastor of Willow Creek.
How THEY Propose Propose to ‘Solve’ the Problem
Perhaps the most shocking thing of all in this revelation coming out of Willow Creek is in a summary statement by Greg Hawkins:
Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights. Insights that are informed by research and rooted in Scripture. Our dream is really to discover what God is doing and how he’s asking us to transform this planet.”
We’ve Made a Mistake but We’re Really Not Learning from it.
What that conclusion statement makes in the report is a very horrific concept. It proves that their research has blinded them. They can see that they have not achieved the results they wanted. They can see that they’ve made a mistake, but at the same time the conclusion statement proves that they have not learned anything from the mistakes they’ve made. They have demonstrated a complete willingness to make the exact SAME mistake AGAIN.

First,
reinventing and reimagining church is NOT the solution to the problem. Reinventing, and reimagining church IS the problem. This whole problem started by using worldly American business building model thinking and applying those standards to church planting. They already admitted that didn’t work. So another man made and man invented process will work better?
The Seeker Sensitive Movement CANNOT Work

Second, If using failed man-made techniques didn’t work once, how will using more man-made techniques and surveys succeed if you tried again? In other words conducting man-made surveys on what church consumers want didn’t achieve biblical discipleship, then how will more man-made surveys solve that problem?

It’s Based on a Wrong Foundation
The seeker sensitive seeker friendly movement starts people off on the absolute WRONG foot from the beginning. Even the initial focus is wrong from the start. The seeker sensitive seeker friendly movement begins with the idea of how can we make people happier with God, INSTEAD of focusing on learning how WE can be CHANGED, to make God happier with us. In other words, from a very foundational level the seeker friendly seeker sensitive movement starts off with a man pleasing spirit instead of a God-pleasing spirit. It’s wrongheaded straight out of the gate.
Galatians 1:10 NASB95
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.
Colossians 1:10 NASB95
so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
FACT: The moment that you start a program with the notion of how can I make people happier with God or with church, according to Scripture, you are no longer being a servant of Christ. So the very foundation of the seeker sensitive seeker friendly movements is entirely based on no longer being a servant of Christ, because your focus is on making people happier with God. The moment you become a people pleasing, you are no longer a servant of Christ. Since the seeker sensitive movement is based on pleasing people, it CANNOT serve Christ, by definition. So, the very movement is FAULTY from its very FOUNDATION.
James 4:4 NASB95
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James 4:4
By changing church so that the un-churched sinful world will be happier with God and with church, they are actually training people to become friends with a sinful world, and thereby make themselves enemies to the living God. That can’t work. That’s the OPPOSITE of Discipleship. It’s a clever TRAP!
It Does NOT Focus on the TRUE Seeker
The seeker sensitive/seeker friendly movement presupposes that the unchurched VISITOR is actually seeking seeking God. It proceeds on the assumption that the person who comes to visit church is earnestly seeking after God, and that if they just present the message in a more appetizing way, he will hear the gospel, he will come to Christ and he will be saved. The PROBLEM is that this is based on the WRONG assumption.
The seeker sensitive/seeker friendly movement forgets that the visitor in the pew is NOT the one seeking after God. On the contrary, if the person in the pew has any desire at all for the things of God, it’s because God is seeking after him. The person is NOT seeking God, God is the REAL seeker Who is seeking after the person. So, if you are going to be AUTHENTICALLY seeker friendly, you have to be more God friendly and less people friendly, because God is the real seeker who is seeking them.
Romans 3:11 NASB95
There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;
Psalm 14:1–3 NASB95
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
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The Seeker Sensitive Movement Seeks to Turn Messiah into a Liar
They take things that Messiah said would be HARD, and they try to pass it off as EASY and fun. ().
They set about taking the straight, the narrow, the difficult road, and they set about BROADENING the road to make it easier and more comfortable for unconverted people.

They took the gospel which Messiah said WOULD NOT be POPULAR, and set about making the gospel more popular. So they set about achieving an end that MESSIAH SAID would NOT occur. By definition, that CANNOT possibly function well.

John 15:18 NASB95
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
John 15:19 NASB95
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
John
1 John 3:13 NASB95
Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.
1 John 3:
John 16:2 NASB95
They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
So, trying to make Christ and the gospel more popular is actually working to achieve an end that even Messiah said, WOULD NOT happen. So, the seeker friendly seeker sensitive movement is based on trying to achieve an end that is the opposite of what Messiah said would occur.
Seeker Sensitive Movements Create FALSE Expectation Which SABOTAGES Discipleship Making Efforts
​​
Think about it. It sets people up to expect the wrong things from God.
The churches went to extreme lengths to change what they do and how they present things so that I would be happier and more comfortable with church. Therefore, does that not stand to reason that I can expect YHWH Almighty God to change His Standards, to change His Requirements, to change His Desires to accommodate my desires, my feelings and my preferences so that I can make it into the kingdom, exactly as the church is modeled things for me? If the church changed to get me into its doors, then won’t God also change to get me into His Kingdom, the same way that the church did?
We were not commanded to go forth and make Jesus cool and popular
We were not commanded to go forth and make church members and increase our numbers. That was not the command.
The command was to go forth and make disciples, not church members (). There is a difference.
The seeker friendly movement SABOTAGES discipleship making efforts because it fails to build discipleship is the expectation from the very beginning. The very things that are required to make people happy in church, are the very OPPOSITE things which are required to help them build the character that will be needed for them to become disciples. In other words, the compromises that you have to make in order to keep Jesus popular and fun to get them in the pew, is the very opposite to the mindset that they require in order to become disciples.
Jesus and the gospel are not going to be popular, (; ; ; ; ; ). So, quit trying to achieve an end which Messiah said we were not going to get in this world.
We are not commanded to go forth and make mega church corporations, but we are commanded to make disciples,.
If we are not teaching people to obey everything that Messiah has commanded:
  • We are NOT making successful disciples
  • We are disobeying a direct command of the Messiah
  • We are violating the New Testament
  • We are failing in our mission as churches

Offended

The Apostle Paul instructs the church in these words concerning offenses…

“…giving no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed” – 2 Co 6:3 KJV

The Living Bible Translations says it like this…  “

We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, Or by our holiness of spirit. and by our sincere love.

 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.” – 2 Cor 6:3 – 10

Paul instructs ministers to give no place to the devil by not taking offense to any mistreatment one might and quite possibly receive in life or even on a daily basis. As he said, our actions and deeds must represent God in a righteous way where we do not offend others as well. This can be done only through living and walking in the spirit.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never fulfill the desires of the flesh admonishes to walk in the spirit and we will be able to put under our bodies. We will be able to set aside offenses caused by others and not holding these things against them. We must quickly forgive and not hold things against people.  – Gal 5:16

Some things can be discussed a few times however, to constantly rehash the misdeeds of others keeps it alive in our spirits. The act of constantly rehashing an issue is in essence, to wound yourself all over again in the exact same area.  A wound that is continually reinjured will never heal.  Our minds and spirits will move forward quicker without carrying the weights of offenses and the ill treatments perpetrated against us.

(Bear this in mind.  If you take no offense, there is NO OFFENSE.  You will be amazed at how much it FREES YOU! Forgiveness should come easy to a Christian covered in the Blood and Filled with the Spirit.  He who is forgiven much, forgives others.)

When you have a right attitude, it will keep the door closed to the enemy. He will have no access to you whereby he can attack at random. We must not fall for the tricks of the enemy by acting contrary to the Word of God.

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” – 2 Cor. 2:11

When we follow the Will and the Word of God, we are setting a standard for ourselves as well as our children.    The Bible says in Cor 3:2 (KJV) 

Ye are our (living) epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: a type of walking bible for others to read. 

Therefore, we must constantly be aware that people are watching our reactions and responses to things that come up in life. We must quickly cast down thoughts of retaliation otherwise they will become a “high thing”.

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…” – 2 Cor 10:5 (KJV)

Let’s quickly forgive and don’t be offended. Do not allow yourself to become agitated with the politics of the world, antics of the enemy and the perils of our society that often arise to try and cause us to move away from walking in the spirit. Through developing a consistent lifestyle of prayer and study of the Word, it will free us from the temptations presented on every front.

-May God Grace Abundantly Reign In Your Life

Apostle Ric & Prophetess Kathy Steele

So, my friends, the bottom line is this:  YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED…

𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐃!!

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