CHURCHES HAVE BECOME AS HARLOTS

I've read some say that the churches are as harlots...being paid for their services.  I began to meditate on the full meaning of that statement.  Soon, I began to realize that a lot of people search for a church like a man searches for a harlot.  He wants a harlot that makes him feel good, a harlot who gives him pleasure, and that is what modern man expects from his church.  He'll look around until he finds one to his liking, and only then will he open his pocketbook and put money in the offering.  Now I'm not accusing everybody, but it seems to be a common occurrence. 

Imagine if a harlot greeted her usual Sunday John in this way:  "You need to go visit your mother, you need to give to the poor, the orphan and the widow.  You need to stop lying to your wife, and you need to stop stealing from your employer, blah, blah, blah."  What would the man do if suddenly convicted of sins by the harlot?   He'd leave, of course, and find a harlot who would make him feel good about himself.  Similarly, if a lukewarm pastor were suddenly set on fire with the Holy Spirit and preached repentance, many of his congregation would probably leave.  Such is the way modern men and modern women often search for a church...like a man looks for a harlot.  Some go to church for socialization or to involve themselves in leadership roles that merely make them look important to others.  You'll see some of them running around with important looking name tags.  I visited one church and someone with a name tag went so far as to tell me "stick with so-an-so, and she'll get you on the right path."  I thought to myself much later, 'Excuse me?  You don't even know me, sir!'   I was stunned by his comment, and when I'm stunned, I usually remain quiet.  I also never went back to that church.  Someone from their church came to my house and had the gall to tell me that if I wanted to receive the Holy Spirit, I had to be baptized in their church and have their prophet pray over me.  I've already had people in my prayer group pray over me in tongues.  The Holy Spirit is with me already.  I wouldn't be writing books if He hadn't given me the stories to write! 

As I've heard Michael Yousef say, "People come to church for a motivational speech, and they come to church because they feel guilty or because they think it makes them look good," and so forth and so on.  Yousef is a great preacher, by the way.  www.leadingtheway.org.  I've listened to many of his sermons on American Family Radio in the evening.  He speaks often regarding repentance, and he is very challenging.