“There is no broader way to apostasy than to reject God’s sovereignty in
all things concerning the revelation of himself and our obedience…”
John Owen
(the viloas will soon perish in the southern heat / Julie Cook / 2018)
Well since we’d brought it up the other day…
that being the whole notion of apostacy vs apostolic,
the funny thing is…the Wee Flea brought it up again.
And well, you know me enough to know that I don’t believe in coincidences in this life,
only the moving of The Spirit.
John Owen, (1616-1684) according to Wikipedia, was an English Nonconformist church leader,
theologian and academic administrator at the University of Oxford and even a member of Parliment.
A jack of all trades it seems.
Later in life, after a lofty and long public career, John wrote several books
“the chief of these were On Apostasy (1676), a sad account of religion under the Restoration;”
After having read several books on his life, as well as several of his books,
our friend the Wee Flea has written about John before.
For it seems that despite nearly 350 years, as much as things change, they oddly
seem to stay the same.
John was concerned about the Chruch during his day and time,
much as I worry about the Chruch in my day and time.
And when I say Chruch, I speak of the universal Chrisitan family—denominations and all.
Latin West, Eastern Orthodox and all that has splintered and spiraled outward ever since…
And in his latest posting, David, our Wee Flea friend, reminds us,
while channeling John’s own prior reflections of the 17th-century church
as compared to our own 21st-century church.:
Jesus warns us that churches will turn away.
Owen’s observation is that the churches are in such a state because they have
apostatized from the holiness of the gospel (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
There is an outward profession of the gospel,
yet people give themselves to the pursuit of the vilest lusts and the practice of
the most abominable sins.
But rather than be surprised at this, we should realise that it is what the Lord warned
us would happen.
A theme of thought seems to be building…coming to us from all sorts of directions.
And the “we’ here means you and me, the faithful…
An in this family of Believers, you and me, need to sit up and pay attention.
And so once again our dear sister in Christ and friend Shara over on https://scasefamily.com/
leaves us with a pearl of wisdom…
She responded to my post yesterday with a true gem…“I keep telling my kids,
“you have to be different, if you call yourself a Christian,
something has got to stick out about you
That one statement made me sit up and take notice.
Ok, so I call myself a Christian… what is it that sticks out about that in me???
What do others see in that claim of mine…what makes me stick out?
Since I wish to choose Apostolic as opposed to Apostacy, it seems I might just
have some work to be about.
What about you…what are others seeing in this time of appeasement and apostasy?
As a Christian, what is it about you that sticks out?
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from
the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,
1 Timothy 4:1
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
I’m such a fan of studying church history, and the lives of people long ago… it really is interesting how much things stay pretty much the same isn’t it? I know it isn’t always desirable to ‘stick out’, but I’d like to think that eventually, people will see something different about us, and want to know about it. Thanks for the post 🙂
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 Letting our light shine is sometimes just too easy. Our human nature wants to be more involved. When we love one another as Jesus commanded us to do, we are following his example and it becomes evident to others what we believe.
Love yet taking the stance on Holy ground!!
I love this post. The “church” makes me weary time and time again. And you are not alone with “work to be done.” I am working on sticking out for the better and asking our Father for direction. Thanks for a bit of morning wisdom!
Thanks Lilka— I’m with you! Asking for direction!!!!
What dark times we live in
A fair question jewels: what is it about you that sticks out? How do all men know that our faith is genuine?
Well of course there is that standard, ‘by our love one for another,’ but that too is subject to interpretation, as some feign being rooted to the Vine. But a sharp eye and tender ear can see and hear, but what really busts my chops and raises my spiritual thermometer is seeing the level of scorn against good people, for simply believing the sacred scriptures.
Otherworldly really, the time and attention focused on faith by despisers of faith, who while having one life to live, waste the minutes by spending energy on that which is allegedly despised. Too strange for words.
So me? I like to point out the mental stupidity of such things, as it increases my faith, and that is always a good thing.
That is something CS, as I’ve not thought about it like that–those who despise waste so much of their own lives despising! Energy spent wasted as it is really truly for naught.
Excellent point and observation as always my friend!
Could you imagine a math teacher spending all his time telling his students that history is irrelevant?
Oh wait, we do have public schools nowadays that…………. 😉
Yes and many of them despite their area of expertise do indeed say such.