Pastor John Collins: Corruption of church

Montana: John Collins, Pastor and Evangelist of Love That Cross Ministries: Preaching isn't about person gain.

 "As one goes into a church today or watches the messages of those on television, the messages of the Holy Bible are often twisted to suit the individual preaching-whether for personal gain or personal glory...."

 

Pastor John Collins, Evangelist with Love That Cross Ministries and Revival, brings revival across the United States.  Evangelist and Pastor, John Collins is committed to bring back God one person and one church at a time. From the beginning of Love That Cross Ministries and Love That Cross Revival in Wyoming, Pastor John Collins continues to preach that all people need to examine where they are in the eyes of God, and where they stand in their faith in Jesus Christ.  Our very salvation depends upon it.

Christians today are faced with the same problems that the Christians of the very beginning had. Jesus Christ preached Truth.  The apostles went out through the world of that day and spread the News of the Gospel.  As quickly as it was spread, man put in extra beliefs and rituals, or meanings, words, and expectations that were never intended by Jesus.  As one goes into a church today or watches the messages of those on television, the messages of the Holy Bible are often twisted to suit the individual preaching-whether for personal gain or personal glory, it does not communicate clearly what God and Jesus Christ intended when it was written.  Some have taken it so far as to corrupt Christianity, making being a Christian despicable instead of the wonderful personal relationship that you can have with God and with Jesus Christ.  Even seasoned Christians watch and listen to these preachers and the watered down messages are absorbed without the discernment and understanding that should be bursting from our hearts as Christians.

Pastor John Collins says:

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”  1 Timothy 1:12-13 (NKJV).

Paul was thankful for the grace that was bestowed upon him by God in allowing him to see Jesus and know the truth. Paul suffered for the truth and it is our great benefit that he did. Paul set forth to run his race of faith and to gather as many souls to Christ as possible in his lifetime with the opportunities that God permitted him. And people believed, and followed.

Unfortunately the church that sprang up from the efforts of the Apostles of Christ was soon corrupted and truth to tell was corrupted while they were still alive as John attests to. Men have been given free will and so many of those men will seek to lift themselves up by whatever means necessary in order to obtain the life, admiration of others and monetary rewards that they feel are their due. In all the years since our Lord has died on the Cross nothing has changed and it has led to a falling away from the church and a falling away from faith.

People are educated now and want scientific answers to their questions. Some use this as an excuse to forgo their faith and reject the gospel of Jesus. People don’t have the superstitions that they once did and can see clearly that those of previous generations were duped by clever people wanting to take advantage of them. People can look at the televangelists and see slimy salesmen just doing all that they can to get you to open your wallet and give your hard earned money to them. The church is corrupt. The majority of pastors are thieves and liars and don’t even believe what they are selling as is evident in the lives that they are leading. Faith is failing and Satan is winning too many, just too many souls are perishing because of this decline in belief.

Just because the majority is choosing to live life now and seek happiness and to enjoy everything that this world has to offer while forgoing faith, church and the hope of salvation does not mean that you should. Heaven is real and so is hell which means that you will end up in one of those places. That is the truth. Just because the churches have become corrupt and are run by so many corrupt preachers does not mean that the truth of heaven has gone away or the truth of hell.

So, what is the answer? The good book is the answer for today. The Holy Bible KJV or the NKJV is the answer. Your home is your sanctuary and since you can’t trust those T.V. evangelists or the preachers of the megachurches or maybe even the pastors of the local churches then trust yourself and be willing to pick up the Bible and read it. Get to know what God wants from you, what Jesus wants from you and get to know what sin is and what sin isn’t. Don’t make excuses and give up on your faith because you see the greed in the church. That is man’s will to use God for his gain and believe me they will be judged for doing so and will pay the price. But don’t allow the corruption of another to drag you along with them into the pits of hell. Take control of your own life and give that life to God. Do what is right and come to know the Lord. You don’t need to go to a church to do so. Read your Bible and trust in the power of prayer. Learn to ask God for a pure heart, a forgiving heart and a heart full of the truth of the Lord. When the truth of God is in your heart you will know if a pastor is righteous or not and will easily be able to find a church that is grounded in faith and will easily be able to discern if a pastor is off in his message and is geared toward greed or is skewing the gospel and will be quick to leave that church or you can just keep your relationship with God simple and worship in your home with your family. It is up to you to choose how you wish to pursue running the race and fighting the good fight.

Don’t take the sacrifice of Jesus for granted. Trust in His work and in the mercy of God.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 (NKJV).”

We have to be diligent in our journey and race for our lives in eternity.  There is eternity.  Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross gives us a chance to live that eternity with our Father, our Creator, in heaven, instead of with Satan, the father of sin.  What we do here, now, and how we do it is the recipe for how that journey and race will end.  ALL of us need find the Truth of Christ and take in into our very hearts. 

 “LOVE THAT CROSS, PASTOR JOHN”

Pastor John Collins, Wyoming Evangelist: Pride and humility

Wyoming evangelist, Pastor John Collins, talks about pride and humility.

We are a proud people here in the United States.  We have so much that we have accomplished, the rest of the world sometimes looks at us in disgust because we give the appearance of not being satisfied.  It’s never enough and we draw attention to ourselves where ever we go.  Celebrities are recognized and lifted up as examples for us to live by.  Through all of the media, it’s “look what I can do”.  God resists the proud. Pride will not get any soul into heaven.

“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

Our faith as Christians today doesn’t measure up to the faith of Abraham, of Noah, of Moses, of David.  These men were humble to begin with and knew the value and spirit of humility before God.  Our pride gets in the way.  How would God choose from among us today?  We often don’t have the strength of faith to worship Him, let alone look beyond what our human hands and minds create and put before God.  Our offerings of ourselves lack humility.  We need to let go of pride and ego, let go of the pride that we have accomplished something and let God and Jesus Christ work in our lives. 

Evangelist Pastor John Collins began a revival of awakening in Wyoming.

 

That awakening stirs the spirit of those who hear him.  From a pulpit or behind the microphone of a recording studio, his words are Biblically correct. Being Biblically correct in a very politically correct world is difficult for most of the strongest of Christians today.  Pastor Collins does it well and puts pride and humility into this perspective:

“Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.’” Luke 9:46-48

Who is worthy to be lifted up? How does God choose those that He would separate and use for His purposes? He chose Abraham and Abraham was considered a friend of God’s. He chose David and David was a man after God’s own heart. He sent His Son who died for us all.  Even those who walked with Jesus thought of themselves and the impact that they would have on this world. This is so wonderful to know that the human instinct to desire to rise above and be great was felt in those men who walked with Christ. This allows us to recognize this in ourselves and work to overcome that ego. They were corrected and they learned what true humility is. They witnessed their Lord humble Himself to the Cross. Yet there are so many that want to be great in the name of the Lord. They call attention to themselves and think highly of themselves. But, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Believe me when I tell you that God knows what He is doing and He knows our hearts.

Pastor John Collins of Love That Cross Wyoming Revival continues on: God has no use for pride.

God does not want servants that think highly of themselves and their eligibility. God wants people to serve Him that are humble of heart. When we choose to walk with Jesus it should be with a pure heart and a true devotion to obedience to the Lord. We should never seek our own acclaim. We should not care what others think of us. We should be concerned only with whether we are an asset to the kingdom of God or a burden. If we have selfish ambition in our heart and a desire to stand out and be important, we are seeking status in this life and we are then unworthy to be a true servant of the Lord.

We must be careful when we desire to leave a name for ourselves, to want to be recognized for our importance or to be valued among men. A truly worthy person that will serve God well is a person that has no ambition in his heart. This person thinks of salvation when he looks upon the souls of this world. This person has sadness in his heart because of the condition of the human race. This person worries of the state of others’ faith in their lives. This person considers opportunities to share the gospel and help others come to Jesus. This person wants to see others go to heaven and lives his life as an example. This person will sacrifice and find ways to be a light in a world of dark. This person will please God.

“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” James 2:5

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:3-6

Learning to be humble takes a commitment to become obedient to God.  In order to become obedient to God, we need to learn to draw near to Him in prayer and through the words in the Holy Bible.  God wants each of us to have the opportunity to come to know Him, so that we all can go home to Him one day.  That is the reason He sent His Son Jesus Christ, for our salvation through His sacrifice on the Cross.  Jesus humbly accepted the punishment of our sins, died publicly in humility and obedience.  God won’t ask us to do anything that He won’t equip us to handle.  We can become obedient and humble ourselves before God, just as His Son did.  God wants us to come to know Him and His love, to help us with our lives and be part of our lives here in this world.  Pride and ego turns us from God.  To be meek, to be poor in spirit means to be humble; we need to learn the humility of Christ. Bring back God in our lives, come humbly to the foot of the Cross.

“God is never secondary in my life, He is always Primary”- Pastor John Collins, Evangelist.

Pastor John Collins, Wyoming Evangelist: Faith buffet?

What is really pleasing to God?  Is it the rituals that a church congregation practices in worshiping each Sunday or Sabbath?  Is it the music that is sung by a choir or played by a worship band before, during, and after the service?  Is it the offering that is taken?  Is it the sermon that has been written for a specific topic preached by a seminary prepared pastor?

No.  It isn’t one of these rituals.  Evangelist Pastor John Collins began a revival in Wyoming to spread the truth of the Word of God, bring back God, and to fix the brokenness of Christianity.  Christianity is indeed broken.  Christians are treating faith as a buffet, caring for others as a pick and choose menu, treating the Holy Bible as if it is a book of suggested topics for life and choosing which passages to follow instead of taking it all in.  Pastor John Collins calls it out like it is:  the Bible was written by people who were inspired to write it by God Himself.  It isn’t fabricated, it isn’t randomly written.  The Bible ties everything together, Old to New Testaments.  What Jesus Christ taught, He meant. He meant it when He said “Love your neighbor as yourself, do to others as you would have done to you.” It wasn’t new and those were God’s words from the Old Testament. Jesus spoke them and taught by action.  That does not mean that you ignore the guy struggling to find a safe place to sleep because he lost his home and can’t get work but turn around and help out the other guy who shows up asking for money.  It does not mean that you care for the person sitting next to you in the pew but not the woman who is drinking to kill shakes at 9:00 am. It doesn’t mean sing in the choir on Sunday, then Wednesday go into the porn store. It means that Christians act like Christians EVERY day, ALL the time, not just when it suits to do so. Christians are not supposed to act like hypocrites, doing one thing and saying another.  Pastor John Collins puts it all quite plainly:

“Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which makes a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.’” Mark 12: 41-44.

You cannot only be a Christian when things are going good in your life and you cannot only be a Christian towards those whom you like and approve of. The whole point of being a Christian is to be Christ-like and believe me, Jesus was kind to those whom He knew to be sinners and those whom He would not approve of, which is the reason that He was sent to earth, to save those who were lost. Jesus gave all that He had down to His last breath, for us.

Many people take their own lives and situations too seriously and become defensive and ignore those who are around them. Many people justify their self-absorption by claiming tragedy, turmoil, victimhood and obligations. You cannot justify acting nasty or dismissive to others because you are not in a comfortable situation or in a place of stability. God tests you on how you behave under pressure, under stress and in the tough situations. God tests you all of the time and if you really are interested in how you are doing, just go and read the Sermon on the Mount and see how you measure up.

The words of Christ when He spoke are not to be dismissed, they are to be obeyed and that is how you will be tested. God doesn’t want you to wait until you are happy and financially stable to help another. It is your suffering that makes you able to have compassion and it is your willingness to put another before yourself that makes you rich.

Be willing to be a follower of Christ when no one is looking and be willing to open yourself up to another when they are in need. Not everyone needs money as charity. There are so many lonely people in this world that need love and faith. Be willing to offer both freely because God knows that Jesus always will. “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have the glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.” Matthew 6:2”

It’s time for Christians, or those who call themselves Christians to take a good long look at themselves and how they portray themselves to others.  People ARE watching.  People who have not been inside a church for years do that because they don’t feel comfortable with the double message that is so often delivered by those inside the church to those outside the church.  What little does it take to offer yourself in truth, in kindness, and not be judgmental?  Don’t offer your hand in kindness and helpfulness then turn it over to criticize and withdraw from someone. Jesus Christ came to save us all, He didn’t pick and choose to serve us from a buffet of lesser sins.  A sin is a sin in the eyes of God, none greater, none lesser. It’s time for Christians to stand up and take a fresh look at how they are measuring up in God’s eyes because that is Who really matters, not the eyes of fellow church goers.  Are we living a biblically correct life as a Christian?  Are we measuring ourselves against the book that was given to us for that purpose?  We are all sinners, every one of us, pastors and congregations alike.  We all need to get it right to get to heaven, to get back to God and to bring back God to others.  We have to change how we are toward others in order to save ourselves.  It’s time to come back to the Cross.

LOVE THAT CROSS, BELIEVE THAT! Pastor John Collins, Evangelist