I take no issue with the characterization of the world essentially saying they wish to be their own God. That is the truth behind the primary reasons for rejecting the Gospel. People reject the church because of hypocrisy but they reject God because they do not wish to give up the driver's seat. Once again however, Isaiah is not speaking to people outside of the family of God. Rohrer should instead gaze inward at a church that believes we are little gods. A church that has said that God cannot actually do anything on earth without our permission. Even things like mandatory divine healing are so arrogant in their theological construction. Pride within the church? Most modern Charismatic services are nothing more than a "look at me" show. Modern worship is about us instead of God. We actually think it is worship to tell God how much He loves us! Today's sermonettes are about us instead of Jesus. Every sermon is about facing our giants or our Ziklag moment. Then the people who interrupt service to shout out in gibberish to sound more spiritual. Don't get me started on flagging and interpretive dance. One of the most honest moments in recent history was when Victoria Osteen said that we do not worship for God but rather for ourselves. After scathing criticism, she simply doubled down with hubby Joel right beside her.
"Woe No. 6: The sin of corrupted leadership. The prophet warned: Woe unto the political and military leaders who through addiction become bribed and incapable of sound judgment." -- Sam Rohrer
Not sure what verses he is referencing but the same theme applies. Isaiah is speaking to those within the family of God. Let us not lose sight of Rohrer's overall premise. That Isaiah pronounce woes over Israel that apply now to America, instead of the church. By applying these woes to America, Rohrer presents a false paradigm the NAR loves to traffic in. That America has fallen out of favor with God because she has broken some previous covenant. This is absurd historically and biblically however. We expect the world to produce corrupt leaders. Where we did not expect it is within the church. We did not expect the head of the National Association of Evangelicals for example to have been engaged in a decades long relationship with a male prostitute while doing crystal meth (Ted Haggard). We did not expect mark Driscoll to rob $250,000 in tithe monies to cheat the NY Times Best Seller List for his own personal gain. Perhaps we should have expected this never-ending stream of pastors falling from grace. Power is addictive and wealth inherently bribes us as human beings to look the other way.
'"What is the result of continually ignoring God's true warnings?" Rohrer said. "Isaiah 5:24 says that God's love will be turned to anger, His blessings will turn to judgment, murder and death of the people will increase, enemy nations will threaten to attack--suddenly and overwhelmingly--and all trusted defenses will fail. It happened to Israel. It will happen to America if we don't soon change our ways. It's past time to look to God, repent and beg His mercy. "The similarities of the six woes in Isaiah 5 and how they relate to America today are astounding. What will we do to heed God's warnings? Will we claim ignorance and say we were never warned? While God is full of mercy, His justice will prevail. When God warns, we'd better listen because time eventually runs out. God has been warning America, but America doesn't seem to care."' -- Sam Rohrer
Once again we see the Dominionist Replacement Theology. Rohrer is comparing Israel directly to America and he is simply wrong. He once again calls for behavior modification of the goats in this country instead of looking inward to see where the church has failed this world. How we are no longer a shining city on a hill. We of course want to see the unsaved in America come to salvation but that is so much more than behavior modification. Rohrer is right in that America does not seem to care but what does he expect? To the world, the things of God are foolishness and the church is too busy writing ridiculous articles pronouncing woes over them instead of preaching the Gospel.
Reverend Anthony Wade -- November 4, 2019
