By Ray Gano
On February 19, 2007 I watched a show on The Learning Channel (TLC) called �The Witches Next Door� it was a segment of the series �My Unique Family�. The show was an hour long and focused on the Reverend Doctor Kendra, her husband, and their 2 children.
Reverend Doctor Kendra is a High Priestess of Duxbury�s First Church of Wicca and as a Priestess she has decided to dress in all black and wear a �priest� collar. To Catholics out there this may be offensive and at first it does look weird especially since she is a witch.
But that was not the issue that bothered me. It wasn�t the fact that she was not a Christian and was wearing something like this, what bothered me was the hypocrisy that we as Christians are so easily stamped with, seemed to not apply to her.
Well it is understandable; the shows main reason to exist is to show the occult in a positive light to the masses in hope of true acceptance. Needless to say, it probably worked.
Why does Reverend Doctor Kendra, High Priestess of Duxbury�s First Church of Wicca need to adopt her occultist ways from �Christianity�? Why wear the collar, use �Christian� terminology, and the very fact of calling her coven a �church� is an oxymoron.
Here is how Webster�s 1828 Dictionary defines church
Church
CHURCH, n.
1. A house consecrated to the worship of God, among Christians; the Lords house. This seems to be the original meaning of the word. The Greek, to call out or call together, denotes an assembly or collection. But, Lord, a term applied by the early Christians to Jesus Christ; and the house in which they worshipped was named from the title. So church goods, bona ecclesiastica; the Lords day, dies dominica.
2. The collective body of Christians, or of those who profess to believe in Christ, and acknowledge him to be the Savior of mankind. In this sense, the church is sometimes called the Catholic or Universal Church.
3. A particular number of christens, united under one form of ecclesiastical government, in one creed, and using the same ritual and ceremonies; as the English church; the Gallican church; the Presbyterian church; the Romish church; the Greek church.
4. The followers of Christ in a particular city or province; as the church of Ephesus, or of Antioch.
5. The Disciples of Christ assembled for worship in a particular place, as in a private house. Col 4.
6. The worshipers of Jehovah or the true God, before the advent of Christ; as the Jewish church.
7. The body of clergy, or ecclesiastics, in distinction from the laity. Hence, ecclesiastical authority.
8. An assembly of sacred rulers convened in Christ�s name to execute his laws.
9. The collective body of Christians, who have made a public profession of the Christian religion, and who are untied under the same pastor; in distinction from those who belong to the same parish, or ecclesiastical society, but have made no profession of their faith.
Now I am not writing about the ills of witchcraft here; they are pretty self evident.
What I am upset with is that even in the pagan arena, there are lukewarm people.
Why does Reverend Doctor Kendra, High Priestess of Duxbury�s First Church of Wicca resort to this sort of �religious plagiarism�? Can�t her �gods� give her true direction and identity?
I personally see it as a sign of the times where �all inclusiveness� is deemed acceptable to all who do not know the Lord. The sad issue is that it is just as bad on �our side� as it is on hers.
And I guess that is the issue� Sides; I personally believe that we need to stop looking at hypocrisy as sides and lump it together as one big spineless organization with no fortitude what so ever standing on their beliefs.
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
I like what Joshua said here. Here is a Godly man with fortitude. He does not pull punches and calls a spade a spade.
What bothers me is the lack of fortitude so many Christians lack today. In fact the very lack of courage and standing for what is right is what is missing in today�s world.
When did �standing for what is right� go out of fashion?
It takes a whole lot more to stand and be a true bible believing Christian today verses being a Christian in name only. It takes true courage, guts and fortitude to stand for truth. It is easy to be lukewarm; this is why so many people choose this path of least resistance.
People forget that what we do for God is eternal and what we do for God does matter. One day we will stand before Him and receive our just rewards for doing what was right, just and true. Many I am afraid will miss the mark and in fact many will not be there.
There is a concerted effort to change our thinking, our �worldview.�
No longer is being dogmatic important. We see this with Christians and now as well as with pagans.
Joshua said it best��Choose you this day whom ye will serve�
Bob Dylan puts it in another way�
�You're gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.�
Bob Dylan - Copyright � 1979 Special Rider Music
That is what we have forgotten. We have forgotten who we are here to serve but more than that how we serve.
The missing ingredient is truth.
Truth is dogmatic. Anything outside of the truth is a lie.
Witchcraft is a lie and is wrong, because the bible states it and the bible is absolute truth.
How does one get to heaven?
Well there is only one way.
John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
That is as dogmatic as one can get.
In today�s world, being dogmatic is a bad thing. But let me ask you this, who of the following do you want to be as dogmatic as possible?
A pilot? Yes a dogmatic pilot is important.
A physician, surgeon or doctor? I do not want some wishy washy doctor diagnosing my ills and problems. I want someone who KNOWS the truth regarding the cures for illness.
It seems being dogmatic is pretty important and in fact one�s life depends upon it.
So what about Preachers?
What about ourselves?
It is because we as a society have become a bunch of spineless individuals with very little fortitude. It has gotten so bad; it has even crept over into the pagan world. Well they were not standing on the truth anyway; it is us who have evolved into a modern pagan man and have gone along with the pagans.
Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
Choose you this day whom ye will serve� THEN DO IT!!
Serve with all your heart, soul and mind.
If you choose to serve other gods, then stop plagiarizing and stand up and do it.
If you choose to serve the religion of your family because you were �born� into it and that is the direction you wish to go, then again DO IT.
We are getting down to the wire here folks. Who you serve will dictate where you will spend eternity.
If you are choosing any thing else but Jesus Christ, you are going to spend eternity in Hell. That is a fact and I do not care if you believe it or not, that is absolute truth as stated by Jesus Christ himself.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Like the pilot and like the doctor, this is a true dogmatic statement. Your very life depends upon this.
Joshua states it very plain and simple. These are the words which are upon my heart.
��But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. �
Today and everyday, I stand and choose to serve the Lord with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind.
Deuteronomy 6:5 � 9 (KJV) And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Who do you choose this day?
Do we choose to continue to be the slackers the world has called us to be?
Do you have the fortitude to stand?
Isaiah 6:8 (KJV) Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Who Do You Serve?
Jesus stated the following�
John 14:6 (KJV) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
If you do not have Christ in your life, you will spend eternity in hell. This is a fact. It does not matter if you believe this or not, it is the truth spoken by Jesus himself. You will not go to hell for your sins or for what you have done. You will go to hell for what you have not done and that is accepting Christ as your personal savior.
We work hard at Prophezine to show that Bible Prophecy is coming to pass. Because of this fact, the Bible is true. Since the Bible is the true and inerrant word of God, there is a heaven and there is a hell.
Who you serve will determine where you will spend eternity.
1John 1:9 (KJV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
About the Author:
Ray & Tracye Gano are the Executive Directors of Prophezine. Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events from a Pre-trib, pre-millennial, dispensationalist stand point. They currently serve close to 70,000+ (and growing) people world wide with a weekly newsletters, daily news updates, community based website and Internet radio shows. Ray recently released his latest project �Escape The End Time Money Snare � The CD a multimedia CD co-authored with Wilfred Hahn focusing on how to escape the trappings of mammon and learning how to live simply in God�s abundance.
Please visit Prophezine by going to http://www.prophezine.com