The current emphasis on "positive" preaching is from Satan, not God. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is extraordinarily positive and extraordinarily negative. Any witness of Christ who stresses only the positive aspect of the Gospel of the Kingdom is seeking his own glory and bearing a false witness of the Person and way of God.

Ours is a day when people love pleasure more than they love God, and the hirelings among the ministry cater to their audiences, appealing continually to their love of ease, of pleasure, of partying, of "fun." The queen is attempting to live deliciously.

During the past few years the Spirit of God has given us greater freedom and fluency in worship. Our choruses are changing from speaking of Christ in the third person to addressing Him in the second person. We are singing directly to Him, not just singing about Him. Recently the choruses have taken a militant turn, speaking of war and conquest.

The current renewal of praise and warfare through music is wonderful. It is from the Lord. Prolonged, rapturous worship and singing and dancing before the Lord, flags and other pageantry, are necessary if we are to survive throughout the darkness that even now is upon us. The Lord Jesus is drawing near to the earth in our day and we are celebrating the coming of the King.

But worship can become self-fulfilling and sensual. It can become a form of religious deliciousness instead of the worship of God. Instead of coming to worship God and to learn of His righteous ways we come to enjoy ourselves.

If we are coming to the assembling of the saints to have a good time, what will we do when our assemblings no longer are enjoyable, when they result in torture, in the confiscation of our property by the state, in imprisonment?

Who among us is willing to uphold, encourage and support a pastor, evangelist, or teacher who turns from the current people-pleasing, "positive" gospel and begins to call his hearers to repentance, to godliness, to patient, cross-carrying obedience to Jesus?

If we are coming to church to have fun, to enjoy ourselves, what will we do when the assembling no longer is pleasurable to us? Will we continue to seek God and keep on pressing forward until we are certain His will is being done in our life?

The writer is enjoying the singing, dancing, pageantry, and especially the war choruses being introduced to our assemblings. But the high praises of God must be balanced with the two-edged sword of righteousness. Otherwise immorality will result. All art forms, including music, stir up the soul. It is the responsibility of the elders of the assembling to insure that the worship is carried past the soul into the Spirit of God.

We are pointing out that the Christian discipleship is not "delicious." It is a very rugged way, full of delayed gratification, delayed answers to prayer. Patient endurance is required. Those who bring the fruit of Divine Life to other people do so out of their personal death on the cross with the Lord Jesus.

To be continued.