DEATH IN THE POT

By John Stallings

…..Oh thou man of God, there is death in the pot…… 2 Kings 4:40


There was a famine in the land. Food was hard to find. Elisha was the master of a group of young prophets. As he traveled with them the time came for them to eat & he told them to put a pot on the fire.

They did have faith because even though there was a famine they believed God was able to provide something for them to eat.

In the mean time they went looking for food. I think what they had in mind was a nice vegetable stew. One of the young men found a wild vine & shredded the gourds from the vine into the pot. A mystery stew or “Gourd Goulash” was concocted & when it was done the prophets prepared to eat, not knowing that one chef was getting ready to accidentally kill a bunch of preachers.

The food seethed into a stew & as the young men begin to chow down, one by one they realized something was wrong & they spit out the stew shouting, “Master, there is death in the pot.” Thank God they had the good sense to immediately reject the poisonous food & spit it out without apology. They just couldn’t get it past their gums. Elisha found some meal & threw it into the pot & suddenly Poison Porridge became a Succulent Stew. Now we’re talking a blue ribbon dish worthy of Martha Stewart, perfectly seasoned with not a hint of a bitter aftertaste. All the harm was removed & they could eat it. The meal offering was a type of Christ & it was put in the pot to cancel the damage done by the false, death-dealing vine.

Certainly we can see a spiritual parallel here to our day & time. Elisha & his students were in need because of a famine. In spite of the gospel that is constantly being beamed out through television, radio, shortwave, cyberspace, books, Cd's, DVDs, etc. there’s a famine of the Word of God in America & people are spiritually dying.

THE YOUNG PROPHET WHO PICKED THE POISON GOURD WAS SINCERE-- BUT SINCERELY WRONG.

I don’t want to be too hard on this young man because the mistake he made in choosing the gourd was, as far as we know an honest mistake. He wasn’t a very good botanist & was probably even a worse cook. However he didn’t hire on as a cook but was helping as best he could. He was just lacking in discernment about what could & couldn’t be eaten.

If anything gives me concern these days, it’s the fact that in spite of the tidal wave of spiritual resources & knowledge available in this nation, a large segment of the population has a huge deficit of spiritual depth & discernment. When we think about where the nation stands at present, it’s obvious what the next national election could mean to all of us.

It gives us pause when we consider the prospects of an extreme liberal politician entering the Oval office, standing against just about everything we stand for as Christians.

Thought I’ve always kept this blog a place where folk can come & be edified by the Word of God, anyone who’s ever read my jottings know where I stand on Billary.

BUT—WHAT’S IN THE OBAMA POT???

Obama’s pastor of twenty years, Jeremiah Wright, has been on my radar screen long before I ever heard of Obama.

I won’t belabor the point here & put you through a morbid re-visitation of what Wright is all about, but suffice to say, to call Wright a radical is like saying the Pacific ocean is a little damp. I hear that he retired last month & to be frank I don’t know if it’s because the IRS is investigating his church because of some of his over the top rantings, venturing deeply into the realm of politics. Sounds about “Wright.” Obviously the man is a lightening rod.

As I’m sure some of you have, I’ve recently listened to & read from various disgusting excerpts of Rev. [“God---America!”& that middle word isn’t bless] Wright, Obama’s pastor says that America’s “chickens are coming home to roost.” My problem with this man is not simply that he is a radical though well-meaning black pastor. My problem with him is that he’s a nut & the more Obama tries to deny this, the worse it gets. He readily confesses that he took the title of his book, - "The audacity of hope” from a Wright lecture.

There can be no doubt that some keys to Obama’s success are his education, diction, charisma, & sense of decency. To many who lack discernment there’s a “what’s not to like” quality about the man.

But there are several basic concerns with Obama;

1. He’s wet behind the political ears. He’s done nothing that I know of,- of importance in his career but use flowery words that mean nothing. We don’t know what his “change” really means.
2. Obama is the most liberal or “far left” person in Congress & that includes Ted Kennedy & John Kerry.
3. He seems to believe the press about himself, for example that he just might be the political “messiah.”
4. He will surrender in Iraq & remove our army immediately, which will bring untold chaos & bloodshed if not outright genocide.

5. He also openly says that if elected president he’ll all but end our military superiority in the world, scale down our nuclear prowess & have Americans depending on hope instead of the kind of military might that has kept us safe during the last sixty-plus years of the nuclear age. He would never allow nuclear weapons to be used for any purpose at any time.

6. Obama is a “foggy man,” meaning we know little about him. Too little.

7. Obama’s church, Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, started Trumpet Newsmagazine in 1982. Each year the magazine gives awards in various categories. Last year they gave the Dr. Jeremiah Wright award to Louis Farrakhan saying “he truly epitomizes greatness.” Farrakhan’s history is a rancid stew of lies & turning history on its ear.

· Obama voted against banning partial birth abortion.
· He voted no on notifying parents of minors who get out-of-state abortions.
· Supports affirmative action in Colleges & Government.
· In 2001 he questioned harsh penalties for drug dealing.
· Says he’ll deal with street level drug dealing as a minimum wage affair.
· Admitted marijuana use in high school & college.
· He’s willing to meet with Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jung IL & Mahmoud Ahmaadinejad.
· Among his first goals after being elected would be to have a conference with all Muslim nations.
· Opposed the Patriot Act
· First bill he signed that was passed was campaign finance reform.
· Voted no on prohibiting law suits against gun manufacturers.
· Supports universal health care.
· Voted yes on providing habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees.
· Supports granting driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
· Supports extending welfare to illegal immigrants.
· Voted NO on making English the official language of the USA.
· Voted yes on comprehensive immigrant reform.
· Voted yes on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.
· Wants to make the minimum wage a “living wage.”
· Voted with Democratic Party 96% of 251 votes.
· Is a big believer in separation of church & state.
· Opposed to any efforts to Privatize Social Security & instead supports increasing the amount of tax paid.
· Voted NO on repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax.
· Voted NO on repealing the “death tax.”
· He is ranked as the MOST LIBERAL SENATOR in the Senate today & that takes some doing.

This tidal wave could very well undermine the very foundations of this great country.

Just yesterday Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York resigned in disgrace after being caught having dealings with a prostitution ring during a period of over ten years. The call girl he hired for $4,300 per “date” was not much older than his oldest daughter. The man was either viciously self-destructive or pathologically arrogant believing he wouldn’t get caught.

The irony of it was that the reformist Gov. Spitzer campaigned for the office with a strong morality message & was in the process of enacting a new felony statute to punish human trafficking.

“Hypocrisy, thy name is Spitzer.”

I read somewhere that Spitzer’s name was even being mentioned in conjunction with a run for the White House at some point down the road. When we see how corrupt people in high places can be, it underscores the fact that Americans need to be extremely discerning in the months ahead. Certainly “there’s death in our political pot.”

The good news is Christ is still the answer to all of man’s problems & He remains the only antidote for the deadly toxins that abound in our society. My heart goes out to Spitzer’s wife & three precious daughters. Will you join me in prayer for him that he will find forgiveness, redemption & a new life through Jesus Christ?

Discernment pops up everywhere in the Bible. Proverbs 27:7 states, -The full soul loathes the honeycomb but to the hungry soul every bitter things is sweet. We’d better get some spiritual discernment quick in America because there’s death in the political pot we’re about to dip in to.

Notice in the story that the prophets were so hungry they probably would have eaten bitter soup. The problem with this stew wasn’t just bitterness, it was deadly poisonous. There was truly death in the pot. [I’ve eaten a few poison Tacos in my time, & guzzled a few glasses of poison Tea down around the Mexican border, but that’s another story] The pot had to be healed & the meal Elisha added to it caused a miracle.

WE HAVE TOO MANY ENTRY-LEVEL CHRISTIANS WHO STAY THAT WAY.

In some of the flat mid-western states after a strong thunderstorm on a hot summer day, a site may appear that looks like a huge body of inviting water to swim in & even drink from & be refreshed. But as we step in we suddenly realize that though it may look like an ocean of water, it’s only an inch deep. In the same way, we may appear to be deep Christians but if we’ve lived our lives for self-only, we’ll be a mere mirage of maturity. When people get close to us they’ll perceive the illusion—Width-without-depth.

Let’s analyze what’s happening in America. In many churches, deep-level Bible teaching opportunities & discipleship classes have just about disappeared & we’ve gone for one big Sunday morning worship service. People love it & the attendance is doing quite well, thank you very much. Other services have fallen through the cracks except that big service. People are coming in droves. Things are exciting & people like it. The music is lively, the sound is neat, & there are cool spotlights, quality dramas, need-oriented preaching & magnificent musicals.

Morale is up. Attendance is up. Excitement is up. But is Godliness up? Is Christlikeness up? Is there any maturity in evidence or do we just have larger & larger audiences coming to watch the performance? Are people as concerned as they ought to be about real Christian commitment?

Are people just “coming to see the show?” Are we just letting people breeze through the church that aren’t really letting their religion cramp their style? Are people picking & choosing what appeals to them & letting the rest alone? Are the people our churches are producing a shallow but happy lot?

Am I against that one big Sunday morning service? A thousands times no! As an evangelist, [with a lot of miles on him] frankly, speaking from the natural, I’m happy when we can sing & preach only once on Sunday morning & go kick off our shoes for the rest of the day. The problem is we’re producing shallow Christians. We’re producing a “spiritual river” that’s a mile wide & an inch deep & entry-level Christians who’re not growing.

The writer of Hebrews said; Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ let us go on unto perfection……..Heb. 6:1

My concern is that we have so democratized & lowered the threshold for salvation enabling everybody to call themselves a Christian, that we now have many who’ve never been truly converted. Peter was saved but Jesus told him when he was converted he’d strengthen the brethren. Luke 22:32.

A young single evangelist friend of mine told me about dating a girl who actually pressured him to have sex with her. When he explained to her it was wrong to have sex outside of marriage she responded by saying, “that’s what’s wrong with a church like yours. At our church we can do anything we want to do & God forgives us.”

I don’t think for a moment that her pastor preached that message; at least I certainly don’t want to believe it. I don’t know if the young woman picked that up by not having a keen listening ear to the message being preached, or if the message was preached with such lack of conviction it came across as compromising.

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? 2 Cor.14:8

I think it significant that Elisha’s young prophets, though they may not have been proficient chefs, had the discernment to quickly recognize that the stew meant death if eaten & promptly spit it out.

I’m not exalting one church denomination above another here but may God help us to have discernment to recognize false teaching when we hear it & not get caught up in it to the damnation of our eternal souls. Listen to Paul’s words;

Now the spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils….1 Timothy 4:1

A man equipped with a diver’s suit & all the necessary equipment, slipped below the surface of the sea & plummeted into the murky depths below with a small ship waiting for him above. All at once the diver got a message through his radio from the ship above him saying, “Come quick, the ship is sinking.” The story may be a little silly but the diver is supposed to be the one we would expect to be in distress & the ship is there to haul him up in case of an emergency. But in this story the diver is fine but the ship is sinking. That diver isn’t going to be much help to the ship.

We often see this dynamic; the individual, who ordinarily would be the one needing to be strengthened & supported, is doing just fine. In fact the individual is stronger than those above him who’re in leadership. This of course isn’t always true but in some cases the person, the institution, the school or church that sits atop the hierarchy is the one that’s sinking. Isn’t that what we’ve just seen in the case of Governor Spitzer of New York?

We should respect those whom God has placed in leadership because of their position, but not to the point of blind adherence, when we see them veering off from what we know to be the true & right path.


Notice how Elisha’s story ends. Not with a group of preachers rubbing their stomachs & rolling in pain; but with them talking with one another about how great was their God who can turn poison into porridge. God can bless in spite of our blunders.

In the world we’re living in, there are many false vines that, though they look good & healthy bring death. Often we don’t see the death-dealing quality at first blush.

Have you ever heard a politician or preacher say things that bothered you on a deep level? I know I have. Dear friend we have to know the difference between the deadly vines & the True Vine.

If a television minister or a politician tells us something that is opposite to what Jesus says we must be able to say;

Let God be true and every man a liar.

Unfortunately, many Christians aren’t good at discerning because they don’t know their Bible. But the good news is I believe a revival of Bible teaching is coming in short order. Maybe this disturbing political situation will wake the Church up & once again pulpits from coast to coast will go back to teaching the Word of God.

All kinds of things will get people through the doors of our churches but it’s only God’s Word that will change an individual’s mind-set, values & life-style.

But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we have said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Gal.1:8-9.

Blessings,

John