by Phil Enlow
Recently, the Lord gave me a message entitled, “Stay Tuned.” It concerned the future and principles involved in staying connected with the Lord. So many churches and church movements have fallen into one of two spiritual “ditches.”
One of them is that of tradition. A very human tendency is to try and reduce the things of God to a set of “correct” beliefs and practices which are then handed down to others to preserve and walk in. While there are indeed foundational truths, “tradition” is not God’s way.
So often, walking in tradition leads to a dead form and dwindling numbers. That, in turn, can easily lead to people adopting clever human methods to liven things up and attract more people. But if those methods are merely the products of human ideas then they will inevitably appeal to human nature, the very thing from which salvation is meant to deliver us from. We don’t need to “entertain” people into the kingdom of God!
Of course, another related danger is that of seeking and focusing on “signs and wonders and experiences,” something that, if people are not very careful, opens many doors to the devil to deceive.
As I thought of these things my mind went back to a book I wrote a number of years ago entitled, “What Does Deception Look Like?” In that book I sought to explore the underlying principles in spiritual deception that we see in so many places and to contrast them with the unchanging foundational truths and principles of God’s Word and His kingdom.
In thinking about these things, my mind went back to the ministry of Bro. C. Parker Thomas, the founder of the Bible Tabernacle and Midnight Cry Ministries. God saved him out of a very difficult background and mightily anointed him as an evangelist. In process of time the Bible Tabernacle was born out of an evangelistic campaign and a lot of prayer in 1953.
Bro. Thomas had to navigate many challenges over the years as the church grew and was established. He learned the hard way to look to the Lord with an honest heart, remaining both open to grow in his knowledge of the Lord and yet determined to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5:21, KJV.
And so, as an “appendix” to the book on deception it seemed appropriate to add the following article entitled, “My Perspective on Bro. Thomas.”