Pretender or Authentic?

Remaining in a large dead church will eventually cause deadness in the one who stays. As God said; "bad company corrupts good character." The masses of people are far more likely to dilute our walk with Christ than we are to enhance theirs.

Wherever there are groups of people there is less chance of being heard by those who love their superficiality.

God has shown me in these last days that He must be the One to put me in contact with those who might want to follow Christ. We must trust Him and be willing to speak the truth boldly while the rest of apostasy is playing their religious games guiding more people to hell than helping them to repent and trust in Christ.

Playing religion looks like this:

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult Times Will Come

3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

Authentic Christianity looks like this:

Galatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

The superficial apostate self-righteous church is mentioned in 2 Timothy 3 and the authentically born-again believer who has been changed by Christ into a new creation looks like 1f Corinthians 12.

Those who are discerning can sense quickly those who walk in the Spirit of Christ and those who are pretenders. Not just because we know the Scriptures but also because Christ in us connects deeply with Christ in others.

When we are around those who claim to be Christians but are pretenders we sense no connection with them no matter how friendly they are to us. That superficial friendliness fades quickly when we speak the gospel to them or the principles of God to help others grow in holiness.

An authentic believer will thank us for sharing and pray about what was said, unless they already have done their homework and agree with God's Word. The pretender will fight and argue to defend their wrong belief system while acting contemptuously toward the one who brought the truth.

We can pray for the defensive pretender but we cannot be close friends with them. They will ultimately intimidate us into silence to avoid their rankor.

Our close companions must be those who agree with God's Word, those who are humble and desire Spiritual and emotional growth.

Hallelujah!!!