"TOO NICE to the DEVIL" - by Coach Dave
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
-by Coach Dave Daubenmire.
Sep 20, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
Is anyone besides me tired of being so nice?
That is what they are trying to convince us to be you know...nice.
Funny, isn't it? You can search the Bible through and through and
you will be hard-pressed to find that adjective in reference to
Christianity. Somewhere along the line we have become convinced
that the greatest thing they can ever say about you as a Christian
is that you are a "nice" man.
Nice may fit a Bible study, or a vacation with your family, but it is
not very useful in war. That is one of the difficult things I am having
trouble teaching our Christian football players. Nice has no place
on the football field. Character is important, courage is demanded,
tenacity fits, but being nice."pleasing; agreeable; delightful" is a
sure-fire way to get the snot knocked out of you. (Is it okay to say
snot? Probably doesn't sound very "nice" to some folks.)
Nice also has no place in the cultural war. "All's fair in love and war"
the old saying goes. Well, for those of you who want to "love" your
enemies and those who want to "war" against them; it is time to
take off the gloves.
The media has been after me a bit lately. They hate the fact that I
am not one of those "nice" Christians that the Devil is trying to
convince us we must be. Have you ever noticed that? The Devil's
kids are the one always calling the names and explaining to us
how a Christian should act. Most Christians can't wait to perform
penance for not meeting the Devil's standards of Christian-behavior.
Hey, it is a free country. They have a right to voice their opinion.
But why is it that so much of the church-world takes its cue from
what they hear from the media? Does anyone want to debate who
is in control of what we read and hear? The Scriptures call Satan
the prince of the power of the air. TV and radio waves travel in the air.
Here's what I don't get. If it is really a war for the souls of men, and
I believe that it is, why are we so focused on being "nice" to the
Devil and his evil aides? He is the father, you know, of the ones
who are lost. Why do we let the Devil's minions tell us how a
Christian should behave?
It's time we stopped apologizing to the Devil.
A few months ago I wrote about going to the gay pride parade in
Columbus. We were shocked to see so many churches marching
in the parade in support of sodomy and those who practice it. I
was struck by how deceived those churches were. See, they were
convinced that if they would just be "nice" to those who were
perishing in that lifestyle, then we would all be able to enjoy the
love of Jesus together. In fact, the homosexual crowd (the Devil's
"kids") applauded the 'tolerant" churches as they marched. They
spit at those of us who carried the Truth of God's love to them.
Sometimes God's love hurts.
Is it just me or was there something wrong with that picture? The
Devil's "kids" applauding the church..sort of like a Buckeye fan
rooting for Michigan. But that isn't what really amazes me. What
honks my horn is the number of churches who are mad at me
because we haven't been nice to the Devil. We shouldn't do that, I
guess -- oppose the Devil and his followers. Just doesn't seem
very Christ-like..er.nice. "Be nice, Coach. Please be nice. You are
making Christians look bad."
Yep. The Devil says we're mean and that Christians shouldn't be
mean. Most Christians follow his advice. Gotta be nice, you know.
Well, a few of my pastor friends (yes I still have a few friends who
are pastors) decided that we have been pointing our guns at the
wrong crowd. Instead of spending their time calling the lost to
account they made the decision to call "the church" to account.
How did they do it? Well, they went to a couple of churches who
had marched in the sodomite-parade. It seems one lesbian-pastor
did not appreciate her fellow brethren-of-the-cloth calling her to
account for preaching a different gospel. It was just too..well..mean.
So how did she respond? She called her daddy's boys in the
media and told them how un-nice these mean Christians had been
to her. Next thing you know, three-different publications had done
stories on how these "hateful" Christians had "crashed" the
services of these nice, loving, defenseless, homosexual-Christians.
You see, the media wants you to know that Bible-believing
Christians are hateful but homosexual-Christians are loving. That
is the Devil's mantra. Who do you think the cowardly-church
believes? The letters to the editor in the following days was filled
with letters from other "nice" Christians who wanted to make sure
that the Devil knew that they were sorry that some of God's
children played mean. That's not very Christ-like, you know.
Christians must play by the rules...even if the Devil makes them.
But God is gracious. He told us it was a war. He told us they
would hate us. He told us He would never leave us or forsake us.
Every attack of the enemy is a chance to stand-up for Jesus. Stop
sucking on your thumb when the attack comes. The Devil doesn't
play nice. He's counting on us to do that.
For two weeks I endured the assault of the "nicer-than-Coach"
Christians and their apologies to the Devil in the local papers.
They just couldn't wait to apologize to the Devil for my opposition
to his kids' behavior. By the way, did I point out that I wasn't even
involved in going to the churches? It didn't matter. The Devil just
wanted to make sure that everyone knew Christians like me were
mean, and that anyone else who decided to speak up for Jesus
could expect the same public smearing.
I hate to sound so prideful, but the attack just egged me on. I am
not ignorant of his devices. I know when we have hit a nerve. I
refuse to apologize to the Devil.
So, I wrote a letter-to-the-editor and to my amazement, they
printed it. The Columbus Dispatch, the largest home-newspaper in
Ohio, printed my letter at the top of the opinion page. I refused to
do what so many do when attacked by the media. I wasn't going
to grovel for their approval, slobbering how sorry I was, how I had
miss-spoken, and how I would soon be entering diversity training
to learn to be nicer. The Lord gave me an opportunity to share the
Gospel with those who are perishing as well as those who
apologize to those who are perishing. Here is what the Lord
allowed me to say.
I write not to defend myself, but rather to clarify the continued
drive-by reporting of those at the Columbus Dispatch.
The Aug. 17 Dispatch article "Anti-gay activists crash worship
services" was filled with inaccuracies and untruths. To set the
record straight: Two ministers of the Gospel, with others from their
congregation, visited two gay-affirming churches with the message
that homosexuality and Christianity are incompatible. It is my
understanding, as I was not there, that after the service they met
privately with the pastor at each church to call the pastor to
account for teaching doctrine that is not supported by Scripture.
For The Dispatch to use the term "crashed" is journalistic fraud
designed to incite a negative response by Dispatch readers.
I stand in support of Christian Ministers holding others who claim
to be Christian Ministers accountable to the Word of God. It is the
way the church body should operate. Telling a gay-man or gay-
woman that God looks the other way as He winks at their
particular sin is not the loving response a homosexual should hear
from any minister of the Gospel. The two pastors who spoke truth
to their gay-affirming fellow ministers did exactly what the
Scriptures require they do according to Mathew 18:15-17:
Go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.
If he will not listen, take one or two others along.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a
pagan or a tax collector.
The condition of American-Christianity would be much better if
more ministers of the Gospel held those in Scriptural error more
accountable. I also believe it the duty of the scribes of our times to
be more respectful of the truth - regardless of their personal agendas.
Thank God for the brave men who would speak the truth face-to-
face rather than publicly defame the integrity of another. I support
the brave pastors who stood for the vast majority of Christendom
who agree with their theology.
I thank The Dispatch for the unwarranted coverage of the event and
their obvious attempt to defame two brave Christian pastors. I just
wanted to be sure that I did not receive credit for something
someone else had done.
I know, I know. I'm not very nice.
Let's stop apologizing to the Devil!
© 2007 Dave Daubenmire - All Rights Reserved
Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and President of Pass The Salt
Ministries http://www.ptsalt.com and Minutemen United
http://www.minutemenunited.org, is host of the high octane Pass The
Salt radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio.