“’Behold, I send you out as
sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as
doves.’” (Matt 10:16 MKJV)
You wouldn’t have lived in the Old
West for long before you would be introduced to the Mystic Healer and his elaborate
medicine show. Even before the charlatan arrived to town you’d be entertained by a
circus-like sideshow complete with a band leading a procession of wagons. Skits and other
diversions, that were designed to draw an unsuspecting crowd to the show, would suck you
in. In the midst of the gathering throng there would be assistants roaming about dressed
as Quakers to give the whole ordeal a sense of respectability. Native Americans were also
recruited to promote the notion of “natural” medicine, which was given names
such as Wright's Indian Vegetable Pills, Seminole Cough Balsam, and various Kickapoo
cures. Eventually you would behold the main speaker, the mystic, who dazzled his audiences
for the sake of peddling his snake oil.
The whole idea was to seek out people who
would be ignorant enough to give these crooks their hard-earned cash for almost nothing.
So even as they merchandized their famed elixir, the Old West mystics would tell their
prey that their potion would do almost anything they wanted it to do. A cowboy named Clark
Stanley, who called himself “The Rattlesnake King,” sold a Snake Oil Liniment
that was alleged to be “good for man and beast.” An 1890s advertisement
described Stanley's snake oil as “A wonderful pain
destroying compound.” It was “the strongest and best liniment known for the cure
of” almost anything imaginable. As soon as they made their sale these healers would
scadaddle out of town as quickly as possible before their customers had found out that
they had only been sold a bottle of whiskey mixed with innate compounds for about fifty
cents a bottle.
These peddlers of empty dreams are still
with us today. They prey on those in our hedonistic culture who are seeking after instant
pleasure and easy fulfillment. Even many in the church are not content to see the fruit of
righteousness play out in their lives through the long haul in order to see God provide
and bless them in time. They do not have the patience for that. So many look for the kind
of shortcut that modern snake oil salesmen promise only to find failure in the midst of
misleading assurances. And even as they heed the call of these modern marketers, the vast
majority of them wind up with little more than a bottle of disappointment for their
trouble.
The
Church Growth Movement is nothing other than a fad. But slowly and surely, as pastors
delve deeper into Church Growth Commercialism, we see the church losing its 2000-year
identity. In the mean time pastors who heed the call for immediate success for a price
find themselves casting common sense along with the heritage of the church aside for the
sake of making their churches marketable. In order to popularize religion, hymns are
tossed away as faddish pop ditties take over the worship life of the church. Pop theology
replaces the biblical expositions of the great theologians who speak to us from the past.
The attitude of the sixties rebellion against everything old supercedes time honored
traditions.
The multitude of pastors today who fail to
wait on the Lord are so intent on getting it done as soon as possible that no matter how
hard you try, you cannot convince them that they have been led astray. While enticed by
the pursuit of money and the promise of success they become so caught up in get growth
quick schemes that changing their course doesn’t even cross their minds.
One pastor had hired
advisors to help the church raise money for a building project. A lot of manipulative
devises were being employed as a result. After it was revealed to the pastor that the
whole affair was like Abraham failing to wait for the promised son to bear a child through
Hagar rather than his wife Sarah, the pastor became passionate and defensive while asking,
“How could you call these fine consultants Hagar?” The answer was: “Are you
so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”
(Gal 3:3 MKJV)
Another pastor was just as adamant even
after the advice of his consultant had resulted in years of failure. So there he was years
later still drawing projections on the board depicting the timeline for the success that
would occur within months. To him the promised growth was always just around the corner.
But it never occurred as his advisor had assured. The pastor had only bought a bottle full
of false hopes.
Once this same pastor was putting together
a church leadership program. For the first leadership meeting he was planning on bringing
in his consultant to kick the whole year off. Ironically the pastor’s mentor had just
written a book. With that in mind the consultant’s advice was to allow him to push
his ideas in front of the congregation in order to attract people to the leadership
meeting. He could also have copies of books ready to purchase in the back of the
sanctuary. Then during the leadership meeting that immediately followed, the consultant
wanted about 45 minutes to talk to the group. “If I talk to them first,” he
explained, “then they will purchase more books.
So this exercise really was not about
training at all. It was all about money – selling his book. In spite of the obvious
intention of the consultant, the pastor bought into the plan hook line and sinker. After
one church leader had not attended the meeting the pastor later expressed his
disappointment with the fact that he was not there. The subordinate replied, “I did
not want to buy is book.” And so Jesus proclaims to the church today: “Take
these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!” (Jn 2:16 MKJV)
You have to understand here that for many
in the Church Growth industry, the primary interest is the profits that an association
with churches will generate. After they are done, they head out of town to search for more
pastors who are willing to pay a whole lot of money for nothing new under the sun.
There is nothing new about peddling
secrets for a price. During the days of the EarlyChurch, Irenaeus fought against the influx of
the pagan mystery religions into Christianity in the form of Gnosticism, which promised to
reveal the mysteries of God for money. Therefore he wrote that “they (are) unwilling
to teach these things to all in public but only to those who are able to pay a large sum
for such mysteries! . . . they are abstruse and portentous and profound mysteries,
acquired with much toil by lovers of falsehood.” And so we see in history how the
pursuit of money so easily leads unsuspecting Christians away from biblical truth. But we
have been called to a better way.
“’He who would
love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from
speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue
it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers;
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’” (I Pet 3:10-12 MKVJ)
Stay Tuned for More!!!!
If you liked
this
CLICK HERE or
call Author House @ 888.280.7715 to purchase a soft or hard cover copy of
Don Wigton's book "Holy Wars" upon which this blog is based.
Click Here
to purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
"I might not be a religious
man myself but I know good music when I hear it, and this is very good! . . . I don’t think that I have ever given such high
ratings to so many songs before. But the fact is that they are well deserved
because the music is amazing. Simply wonderful religious ballads and they
really get to your heart. . .everytime." Fredrik Cole: Trax In Space
was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free praise words, worship music,
free hymn downloads, Christian mp3, Christian rock, contemporary praise music and hymn mp3
and chart material along with a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions,
Bible study groups, Sunday schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training.
In order to bridge the gap between the old and the new the worship study book gives
solid theological and historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing
in conjunction with praise chorus singing.
Click on one of the links below to enter
into the area of the Wigtune site that interests you for praise
the lord, worship chord, Christian music tabs guitar, cello tracks, and Bakersfield CA recording studios availability!
was formed as a service to the body of Christ to encourage scriptural
worship. To accomplish this goal Wigtune Company offers free praise words, worship music,
free hymn downloads, Christian mp3, Christian rock, contemporary praise music and hymn mp3
and chart material along with a free on-line worship study book for personal devotions,
Bible study groups, Sunday schools, pastors, music ministers and ministry training.
In order to bridge the gap between the old and the new the worship study book gives
solid theological and historical support to the use of traditional Christian hymn-singing
in conjunction with praise chorus singing. 
Vision Statement 
Wigtune Story 
Check out this powerful Southern Cross song! 
