Lyrics to the Jimmy Hendricks song :
Purple haze all in my brain Lately things just don't seem the same Actin' funny but I don't know why. 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky Purple Haze all around Don't know if I'm comin' up or down Am I happy or in misery? Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me
We have a Purple Haze of beliefs that are becoming alarmingly dominant in the lives of those who are followers of The Way. The purple haze that was experienced by Jimmy Hendricks was brought on by his tripping on mind-altering drugs. Our haze is brought on by teachings that compromise the Word of God and the power of God. Part of this compromise is accepting humanistic views of the religion we call Christianity. You may get offended by this statement, but keep in mind that I wrote "humanistic views" and that qualifies the type of religion that is more man led than God-led. James wrote this in James 1: 26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
What are you listening to and then what are you saying in light of what you heard? In our country, we are striving for "green energy" at every turn in order to change our climate. Wherever you stand on this it seems there are arguments on both sides that could work, but just throwing out the way we have traveled very successfully seems to leave out good common sense in order to try and fix our climate. In the very religious-minded world we now live in there are those who are wanting to change our energy source to be more acceptable and the pollution caused by inserting humanism into the problem isn't fixing it. The problem with our Christian climate now is we have drifted from the pure source, God's Word, and that drifting has allowed more of the world into our thinking and our convictions. Self-help books written by so-called Christians are so easily replacing or watering down what God's Word teaches. Those books are just full of other "human" opinions and need to be taken with a huge amount of Biblical salt. Make sure the salt used is flavorful salt that is salted with discernment by Biblical truth. As scripture says in Mark 9:50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
The writer of Proverbs says it this way in Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death. The key is the way that seems right with man and I call that humanism. All that just results in Americanized Christianity, which is derived because of apathy. The enemy has found a way to make Christianity blended with social norms be accepted by apathetic believers who are not in the Word. Paul dealt with this in the churches in Galatia and here is what he wrote to the Galatians in chapter 3:1 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? What will man-made religion get us? Nothing but confusion and an apathetic weak faith.
When we "mix" Jesus with society we get an apathetic version of the truth, which is not the truth at all. If we had a Bible version of this societal faith I call Americanized Christianity that version would be the Humanistic Version of the Bible. The sad part of the whole thing is this belief system is flawed at its root with religious undertones to boot. Do not let anyone ever talk you into following this system of beliefs birthed from a lost generation of Christians.
Jesus didn't need to be cool Jesus, or relevant Jesus, or young Jesus. He is just JESUS! We can never improve on the original, especially when He is perfect. So stop trying to repackage the best package of all time, called the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Don't get me wrong. I do not adhere to this kind of theology whatsoever and I will not bend to the strong force it is in our present "Christian" beliefs. Call me hateful if you want. Call me old-fashioned if you want. Call me out of touch if you want. But call me one who will not bow to the golden snake of apathetic Christianity. Paul's admonition to the Galatians shows this "fall" can happen anytime, anywhere, and to anyone if we don't keep our walk with God current and Biblical. We can never get too far away from the influence of the world, but we can walk in faith by the teachings, the honest teachings of the Word of God. Make sure your heart is right and in touch with the Holy Spirit. Jesus said this in Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements. That is another reason to guard your heart. We need to be at peace with God or anything can come in and confuse us and make the purple haze a reality in our lives. The writer of Proverbs said this way in Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. EVERYTHING? Yes, Everything!! Guard your heart well and keep on trusting the Word of God and the leadership of the Holy Spirit and God ALWAYS comes through. We can live in peace when we embrace this very obvious truth from God's Word. Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
If Jesus, just Jesus, is not good enough for a believer, their heart is not right and that means their mind is not right either. When we search God's word for answers we get them and those answers are pure and right and necessary for our growth. If we try to slant the Bible to make more sense for us then we have drifted into a whole new realm of thinking that is more of the world than of Jesus. Time to come back to God and let His foundation be what you build your life on. His foundation will never fail! Get off the drugs of worldliness and the purple haze will begin to clear and you will see things clearly again.
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren
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