Religious Hero Worship

SCRIPTURE

Friends! No! No! Don’t do this! We’re just humans like all of you! We’re not here to be worshiped!

~Acts 14:15, The VOICE

QUOTE

If our worship is not directed toward the Holy Trinity, it is idolatry”

~Yaakov

When God chooses to use men in extraordinary ways, we have a tendency to put these people on a pedestal. This inevitably leads to hero-worship which ultimately leads to pain and disappointment. When a pastor or spiritual leader reaches celebrity status, the danger of hero-worship increases dramatically. Paul and Barnabas are in the city of Lystra when they encounter a cripple man. Paul’s recognizes his faith and commands him to stand on his feet. Miraculously, the man not only stood but jumped up and began walking. When the crowd saw this miracle, they began shouting– “The gods have come down to us in human form.” Paul and Barnabas begin ripping their tunics in remorse and grief, shouting– “No! No! Don’t do this, we are humans like you.” As men of God and not great men of God, we are to nip hero-worship in the bud. It is high time spiritual leaders in America began emulating Paul and Silas instead of the Joel Osteen’s of this world. We need to root out religious hero-worship, slay the celebrity pastor myth, confess our humanity, start owning up to our struggles, faults and even despair. We must constantly and consistently remind our followers that we are human and that the focus of worship is to be on Jesus alone.

• Today we pray for the WORLD, not the anti-Christ world system but the people of the world…the world that God loves in John 3:16. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for persecuted Christians.
• Another large crowd signed up for supper. Mandy and I are flattered.
• Jeff Garner is in CRMC, infection in his leg.

RG3 is a professional football quarterback for the Washington Red Skins. He got injured this past Sunday. To the left, he is entering the press room with a Christian T-Shirt on. He was told it might be offensive and so he turns it inside out. The NFL is having a media nightmare due to the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson stories. Now they are saying that Griffin was told he could not wear the shirt because it was not made by Nike. It is the same shirt, just turned inside out. They have been caught in their own lie. The same professional football league that ban Tim Tebow and came out in defense of same-sex marriage is now persecuting a black Christian and they are catching flack. I hope they catch a lot more. I’d love to see people wake up and stop buying tickets. It would not take long to humble this giant. If Christians would do what is right it would make a huge difference. Don’t give me excuses. You give them your money, you are giving them your support whether it is Burger Queen or the NFL. Look at the evidence, same shirt. Turning it inside out doesn’t make is Nike. Who needs Nike? We all need Jesus but no one needs Nike. The world would be no better no worse if they didn’t exist. The NFL is antichrist and the proof is in the picture.