So here’s the deal  ”I don’t care if my church is dead I’m staying” this kind of loyal false humility kills the spiritual life of so many believers. Across the country churches are dying without a shepherd and people seem oblivious to the fact that there dying inside out! The devil is using loyalty as a tool to keep Gods people in dead churches! Listen get out don’t think your the last bastian and that your presence will make a difference. All across the valleys there are churches on their knees with nothing more than an eldership of elderly and 6 people holding the fort till He comes!!!

Why not consider pouring your wealth of knowledge and experience into a church that is seeing the lost reached with authentic bible teaching growing the saints of God.

The old welsh prophet Edmund Jones gives what I consider an apt description of a Church worth being part of;

1. Go where you find the Gospel most purely preached

2. Where your heart is deeply touched

3. Where souls are deeply affected by the Holy Spirit

4. Where you feel yourself led and spiritually fed and being formed in the image of His likeness

Regardless of size of church spiritual depth and growth is not affected by numbers. Whenever I mention dead churches the small churches quickly defend themselves! Why? You can be big and dead as the book of Revelation shows us. But if your church is dying and your in get out!

Today I was visiting my home town in West Wales, Llanelli. It goes without saying Llanelli is one of the worse welsh towns for crime and drugs. It featured recently on BBC wales as they followed the lives of addicts trying to sort themselves out. I have to admit I have a love hate relationship with the town probably to do with the fact that it’s my home but also where I lived a destructive life with no moral compass!

I met today with a few addicts near ASDA and was sharing why Jesus can make a difference in their lives, then out of nowhere 3 cars pulled up and 8 guys all steroid heads jumped out looking to beat the living daylight out of these guys (addicts). I was stood in the middle but they knew I was not one of them as my dress code and facial display was very different! So I turned to these steroid heads and said “lads I’m CID you better move on before I call this one in” with that they jumped in the car and shot off!!

The addicts were amazed and to be honest so was I! Here I am in the middle of sharing Christ with these guys and within minutes we were looking at an all out blood fest!

Then it came to me, how much Jesus loved to be with sinners even if it meant tarnishing his image and reputation. There I was dressed smartly in my Ted Baker leather clean shaving and well groomed with 3 guys whose hands were filthy with unkept finger nails and smoke stained clothes and yet Im just as much a sinner as them only I have found forgiveness through Christ.

As I chatted with these guys I could feel pride and arrogance come over me as if I had arrived and they were at the bottom of the pile and needed to sort themselves out, then I was reminded that without Christ in my life I was probably worse!

I love these guys who just hold on to life and whose only joy is a bag of heroin or a rock! At least their real and they can’t hide their sin. My mission in life is to be Christ to them and help them experience the self same power that transformed me.

I love being with sinners!!!

There is a simple way to see if someone has the true Jesus or not. By true Jesus, I mean the one of the Bible, not the one of Mormonism who is the brother of the devil, nor the Jehovah’s Witness Jesus who is Michael the Archangel, and certainly not the one of the New Age Movement who is simply a man in tune with the divine consciousness.

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to (Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 116:4 and Zech. 13:9 with 1 Cor. 1:1-2).
The Jesus of the Bible is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6)
The Jesus of the Bible called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8).

In cult theologies, Jesus is a creation in one form or another (this is why the Jehovah’s Witnesses add the word ‘other’ four times to Col. 1:16-17). Therefore, He is not to be prayed to, worshiped, or called God.

If you are a Christian then you will be able to pray to Jesus, not just through. You will be able to worship Jesus equally with the Father. And you will be able to call Jesus your Lord and God. A cultist cannot do this. A cultist has a false Jesus, and, therefore, a false hope of salvation.

The following is an expansion of the above points

If you put your faith in a Jesus that is not true, then your faith is useless. The power of faith does not rest in the act of believing, but in its object; the greatest faith in someone false is the same as no faith at all. Sincerity and false messiahs do not bridge the chasm of sin between God and man, only the Jesus of the Bible does that. Who then, is the true Jesus?

Jesus said that He was the only One who reveals the Father (Matt. 11:27 and Luke 10:22): “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” (NIV).

So, to know the true Father you must first know the true Jesus. The question is, how do you recognize the true Jesus? Simple, look in the Bible.

If you were to say, “Father receive my spirit,” who would you be praying to? The Father, right?

If you were to say, “Jesus receive my spirit,” who would you be praying to? Jesus.

In Acts 7:59, Stephen, while full of the Holy Spirit (v. 55), prayed to Jesus:

And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (See also Acts 9:14; Rom. 10:13.)

(In Mormonism, in 3 Nephi 19:18 Jesus is prayed to and called Lord and God. This is useful to mention to a Mormon when necessary.)

Stephen prayed to Jesus, not just through Him. If it is acceptable for him then it should be alright for you. The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to. I pray to Jesus. Do you? If yes, good. If not, why?

But you might say, “Jesus said to pray to the Father.” I do. But I also pray to Jesus as Stephen did. If the church is only to pray to the Father then why did Stephen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, address Jesus in His prayer? Was he wrong? See also 1 Cor. 1:1-2 with Psalm 116:4 where calling upon the name of the Lord is prayer and prayer is addressed to Jesus by the Corinthian church.

Jesus was also worshipped. The verses are:

And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s son! (Matt. 14:33).

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him (Matt. 28:9).

See also Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6.
The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to and worshiped. Do you do what Jesus’ disciples did? Do you pray to and worship the true Jesus?

Since it is against Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness theologies to pray to Jesus, but only through Him if you do worship Jesus, how can you do that without praying to Him? And, do you honor Him equally with the Father as Jesus said to do in John 5:23? If you do not, then why not?

There is just one more issue to address. Do you call Jesus your Lord and God?

After Jesus’ resurrection He showed Himself to many people. One of them was Thomas. John 20:28:

Thomas answered and said to Him [Jesus], “My Lord and my God!” The literal Greek says, “The Lord of me and the God of me.”

(In Mormonism, in 3 Nephi 19:18 Jesus is prayed to and called Lord and God. This is useful to mention to a Mormon.)

“My God!” is a pagan expression used today. Two points can be made from this. First, do you agree that Thomas a devout Jew was swearing, like a pagan of today? Second, there is no biblical account of swear words. Peter did swear in Mark 14:71 by swearing he did not know Jesus. To say Thomas was swearing, or merely exclaiming profound surprise has no evidence.

God calls Jesus God in Heb. 1:8:

But of the Son He [the Father] says, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever…”

Unfortunately, in the Jehovah’s Witness Bible in Heb. 1:8 you’ll see that it says, “God is your throne, forever and ever.” This, technically speaking, is a legitimate translation. The reason this is so lies in the nature of the Greek language and the fact that the form of the word “God” and “Throne” both end in a noun construction that is interchangeable, therefore making the NWT translation legitimate. It is unfortunate that the Watchtower has chosen to do this. Nevertheless, if you’d like to read more about this, then go to The Jehovah’s Witnesses and Heb. 1:8 and Psalm 45:6.

Conclusion:

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to (Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 116:4 and Zech. 13:9 with 1 Cor. 1:1-2), worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6), and called Lord and God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8). If I have the wrong Jesus, and therefore I serve the wrong God, then why do I pray to Jesus, worship Him, and call Him my Lord and God as the Scriptures teach? But, if you have the true Jesus, why is it you don’t do those things? Why does JW theology not agree with the scriptures?

I think the answer is simple. The Jesus of the cults is not the true Jesus. Therefore, they are wrong.

There is a simple way to see if someone has the true Jesus or not. By true Jesus, I mean the one of the Bible, not the one of Mormonism who is the brother of the devil, nor the Jehovah’s Witness Jesus who is Michael the Archangel, and certainly not the one of the New Age Movement who is simply a man in tune with the divine consciousness.

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to (Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 116:4 and Zech. 13:9 with 1 Cor. 1:1-2).
The Jesus of the Bible is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; 28:9; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6)
The Jesus of the Bible called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8).

In cult theologies, Jesus is a creation in one form or another (this is why the Jehovah’s Witnesses add the word ‘other’ four times to Col. 1:16-17). Therefore, He is not to be prayed to, worshiped, or called God.

If you are a Christian then you will be able to pray to Jesus, not just through. You will be able to worship Jesus equally with the Father. And you will be able to call Jesus your Lord and God. A cultist cannot do this. A cultist has a false Jesus, and, therefore, a false hope of salvation.