Call to Commitment

Just want to share with you an AP bulletin that affects every true Christian in the U S and in many other parts of the world. We lost yesterday a voice that shared with us "what the Spirit says to the church". Lowell


Home U.S. April 27, 2011

Pastor founded Times Square Church in New York City, made it his mission to bring religion to troubled area

(AP) TYLER, Texas - Rev. David Wilkerson, founding pastor of Times Square Church in New York City and author of the best-selling book, "The Cross and the Switchblade," has died. He was 79.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange says Wilkerson died Wednesday in a car accident in East Texas. Mange says Wilkerson's car smashed head-on into a tractor-trailer rig after veering into another lane.

Wilkerson's World Challenge Inc. ministries confirmed on its website that he "went to be with Jesus."

Wilkerson founded the non-denominational Protestant church in 1987 in an area of Manhattan that was then riddled with X-rated movie houses, strip clubs, prostitution and drugs.

Wilkerson also founded Teen Challenge, which uses a biblically-based recovery program for drug addicts.

His wife, Gwendolyn, was injured in the car accident.

by A. W. Tozer

ALL UNANNOUNCED AND MOSTLY UNDETECTED there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique-a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The old cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

By Zac Poonen

"Let no one defraud you of salvation's victory prize, no one who indulges in assumed (false) humility and the cult of messenger-worship ... instead of keeping hold on the Head from which the whole body grows with God's increase" (Col.2:18,19 - Berkeley version).

"A people who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, who say, `Keep to yourself, do not come near to me, for I am holier than you'" (Isa. 65:2,5).


"From among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert" (Acts 20:30,31).

To be cultistic is to be devoted to a person or to a doctrine in addition to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to make tabernacles for 'Elijah' and 'Moses' along with one for the Lord as well. This always brings a cloud that hides the presence of God. The will of God is that our lives be centred in Jesus only (Matt.17:1-8).

The last days will see an increase of cults in Christendom. Many will fall a prey to these, because they will worship the Lord's messengers instead of having a close personal relationship with Christ the Head.

In order to be saved from this danger, it is good to know some of the marks of cultism, so that we can be on guard against it at all times.

There is a difference between being part of a cult and being cultistic.
It is possible for you to be in a church where the doctrines are all basically Scriptural, and the leaders are all godly men, and yet to be cultistic in your attitudes towards your leader, your group and towards other believers in other churches. Cultism is seen, not only in a wrong doctrine, but also in wrong attitudes.

Those who are right in their doctrines and upright in their lives are often unaware of the cultism that there can be in their attitudes.

Please read an article by a man from the "brethern movement", who has it together concerning Christian loyalties. It applies to all of us, whether we are involved in a denomination, an organization, a local church or an independent body of believers.

What do you think of the person who says, "My parents were members of this denomination. I was born in it. And I'll die in it." "Oh," you say, "I think he's wrong to talk like that:" "Yes, but why is he wrong?" "I suppose because he assumes his denomination is right and will always be right." "Well, then, to what denomination or group should he be loyal?" "I guess he shouldn't be loyal to any denomination, because no denomination is perfect." "One final question. If he shouldn't be loyal to any denomination or group of Christians, to what should he be loyal?" "He ought to be loyal to the Lord and to the principles of His Word." Yes, of course! That is the only correct answer. It is a mistake to develop an undying loyalty to any Christian fellowship, no matter how scriptural it may be at the time. Even suppose that you reject the whole idea of denominations. Suppose you meet with Christians who refuse any sectarian name. Suppose, for instance, that they speak of themselves by the innocuous name of "the assemblies." They seek to adhere to the teaching of the Word. Shouldn't you throw in your lot with them permanently and be loyal to them alone? If you do, you will find yourself in a difficult position. You are committed to a group that will almost inevitably change over the years. This has been the history of almost every Christian fellowship. Liberal tendencies creep in. Zeal and freshness give way to formalism. A denominational hierarchy develops. Soon you can write Ichabod over the whole thing-the glory has departed.

Then again, if you are loyal to a group of assemblies, the question always arises, "With which particular ones do you agree?" There are wide differences among any group of local churches, just as there are wide differences among individuals. Some are open, some are exclusive. Some are conservative, some are liberal. Some have a pastor who presides over the congregation, others repudiate a one-man ministry. No two assemblies are exactly alike. So there is a real problem. To which assemblies are we to be loyal? Are we to blindly subscribe to all the assemblies that might be listed in a semi-official address book? It seems obvious that we cannot consistently do this. We must judge each individual assembly by the Word of God, as far as our own personal affiliation is concerned. Here is another problem. If my loyalty is to a particular group of local churches, what is to be my attitude toward other Christian groups that might in some ways be closer to the New Testament pattern than mine is? How do I evaluate them? Do I simply wave them off by saying, "They are not among 'our' assemblies." Do I accept or reject them by whether their activities are reported in one of "our" magazines?