IS IT TIME TO LEAVE YOUR CHURCH? WHY I LEFT MINE: Christian Blogger Lorilyn Roberts

If you are like me, your church is your family. It’s where you go for help, where you go for prayer, where you share your dreams, where you worship the Lord you love, and where you unite with like-minded individuals who share your commitment to Jesus Christ.

When I divorced in 1986, I stayed in Gainesville, Florida, because I didn’t want to leave my church.

When I arrived home with my first daughter from Nepal on May 8, 1994, which happened to be Mother’s Day, my prayer group greeted me at the airport. One of the church leaders prayed over us.

My church was my primary source of support through my year-long bout with late-stage breast cancer. To this day, some people in the church are still some of my dearest friends.

So, what happened that led me to leave my beloved church in October 2020?

The final betrayal to me was when the church leadership abandoned the preeminence of the unborn baby in the mother’s womb. If you aren’t pro-life in every way, then you have left your first love—Jesus Christ.

I have since learned that some of my closest friends and cohorts are pro-choice. They won’t come out and say it, but the truth speaks louder than words when pressed.

One friend said other issues were as important to her as the abortion issue, and she wasn’t a one-topic voter. In fact, she had become a registered Democrat. She hated Trump. A cohort this last week said she could not talk to me about her position on abortion. She also hated Trump.

After being shocked by what they said, sadness filled my heart. I can understand why someone who isn’t a Christian might think abortion is a viable birth control measure; I can’t understand how a Christian could ever feel that way. 

Is it because the evangelical church has become so compromised, so wishy-washy, so consumed with materialism and losing tithers that, in essence, they are the end-time Laodicean church? Neither hot nor cold, they can neither inspire a generation of soul seekers for Christ nor can they discern the signs of the imminent return of Christ.

I’ve discovered many folks who profess to be evangelicals have an amillennial view of the reign of Christ. That means they don’t believe in a literal thousand-year worldwide rule of our Savior as King of kings. 

We live in a time of “tribal” warfare, and I believe this is intentional by God. It’s easy to believe there is safety in numbers. Surround yourself with liars, and you will become one yourself. I understood the millennium just from reading the Bible. I had to have someone interpret amillennialism for me because I could never find it in the Bible.

My former, long-time church in Gainesville, Florida, is filled with doctors, professors, and intellectuals who are much more learned than I am. How easy it is to be intimidated by “teachers” who are more educated. You believe they know better than you—especially a church that “worships” knowledge and prides itself on its meticulous study of Scripture and rightly dividing the Word.

If you visited my former church, that is what would impress you—the supremacy given to Bible study and becoming a learned disciple of Jesus Christ. Of course, there are other good things about my former church, but it’s the lack of living out that faith in accordance with the Scriptures that shattered me.

What specifically led to my leaving? My former church refused to post a letter from James Dobson that I wanted to be made available to the congregants that focused on the differences between the Republican and Democratic platforms.

During that same general time, one of the pastors led a prayer from the pulpit, encouraging the congregation to bend the knee for our confessed and unconfessed prejudice toward African-Americans.

I sent a blog post to my pastors about the origins of Black Lives Matter and a video by Pastor Brandon Holthaus at Rock Harbor Church, in Bakersfield, California, concerning the dangers of Critical Race Theory. One of the pastors emailed me back, “If I follow this pastor’s thinking to his logical conclusion, he would call me a useful idiot.”

That same pastor said it was wrong to close our southern borders to families with children coming here for freedom. We agreed to disagree. I worked as a court reporter for over twenty years. I believe we must follow all the laws of this great nation as they are written. We can change those laws if they aren’t working. We can’t find all those missing people who have entered our country illegally once they are here. I captioned one of the hearings on C-Span where they talked about this very thing. Most of them never show up for their court hearing. That’s why we have so many illegal aliens in our country.

Think about the ramifications—actually, now you don’t need to. Just watch Fox News and see the consequence of open borders—the heartbreak, the misery, and the suffering. We will be paying the price forever. How sad for all those victims—and it was completely avoidable. My former pastor got what he wanted.

Someone who shall remain anonymous told me that every elder of my former church voted for Biden except one. How tragic. Years ago, there was a book for kids titled, What Would Jesus Do? I wonder, would Jesus have voted for Trump? God has allowed Biden to be our president for a time, but I don’t think he was God’s choice.

When my former church implemented the mask mandate, I returned once. After an hour of torture, I realized I could not sit through a church service wearing a covering over my face and worship the God I love.

One of the elders on the board of my former church is an infectious disease doctor, and he went along with the official treatment narrative of the CDC. Because he said Remdesivir was the best treatment available, everybody at church believed him—everybody except me. He also said hydroxychloroquine was an unacceptable alternative. I knew that wasn’t true.

What about the church’s position on Israel? One member told me she did not believe the promises of God to Israel applied today and that she supported the Palestinians. Now I think this perversion of truth permeated the church’s underlying thought. I don’t remember ever praying corporately for Israel. Based on a sermon one of the pastors gave on the Olivet Discourse, I asked him afterward if he believed in Replacement Theology. He asked me what that was. Perhaps he just wanted to make sure he understood my question. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. 

I anticipate a rocky road ahead for the Christian church. Many evangelical leaders, because they hate Trump, have lost, in my opinion, the ability to lead. John Piper, Max Lucado, Russell Moore, and Tim Keller are four high-profile Christian leaders whose books I read and pastors/authors I admired. I gave away all of my books that they wrote, and I had dozens.

I know many people will disagree with me, and I’m okay with that. I am accountable to God for everything I write and for what I believe. I fear God—not man. For those who share my deeply-held beliefs, know you aren’t alone. Just because a doctor, a pastor, or an intellectual tells you that abortion is acceptable, be a Berean. Search the Scriptures and ask yourself: How is abortion different from child sacrifice to Baal? We know what God said about that. What you may not know is that there is power in that blood—and the Satanists need that power to carry out their demonic purposes. We are waging a battle for the souls of humankind—people that God sent His Son to die for. 

Satan hates all human life, and babies in the womb are an easy target because they are defenseless. Too many have closed their ears to their helpless cries and hardened their hearts to the truth.  The babies’ organs are harvested—harvested while they are still living. Imagine having your limbs pulled off and your organs removed while you are still alive. And you want to tell me you can’t stand up for the unborn child? Anyone who voted for Biden or who calls himself pro-choice will have to answer to God.

I have now officially joined a Messianic congregation, Kol Simcha, in Gainesville, Florida. I am growing once again in my faith and am thankful to be part of a dynamic pro-family, pro-Israel, pro-freedom church that loves the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua Hamashiach. I feel a soul connection and find peace and serenity with other believers who are waiting expectantly for our Savior’s return.

Amid a world turned upside-down, where evil is called good and good is called evil, I’m thankful to unite with others who share my heart for God. I believe no matter what comes, I am safe. I am where I need to be.

If you are unhappy with your church, ask God to lead you somewhere else. Don’t stay in a compromised church. While I believe revival is coming, I also think persecution is coming. 

If the government can mandate a young child to wear a mask, shut down churches, and lie to you, it will have no qualms asking YOU to take the “mark of the beast.” It’s only a matter of time.

Get ready now to fight the greatest battle you’ve ever fought. If you aren’t willing to live for Jesus Christ, you will never be willing to die for Him.

 

 

HOW CAN WE WIN MORE YOUNG PEOPLE TO CHRIST: Christian Blogger Lorilyn Roberts

I would like to give away some copies of Seventh Dimension - The Door for Christmas.

I'm going to share something that's been on my heart for a while, and I'll select a winner from those who leave a comment.

Even though I’m not as young as I used to be, I still love young adult books, probably because I remember how much I enjoyed reading books as a teen. When I was twelve, I remember falling in love with Jesus, or, more succinctly, I remember the first time I felt loved by Him unconditionally.

In many ways, I was Shale Snyder from the Seventh Dimension Series - bullied, smart, and insecure, and spent my early years in a broken home. My childhood pet, Gypsy, came to me much like Much-Afraid did with Shale, unexpected and miraculously, and I had a dark secret I never wanted to share with anyone.

But enough of the similarities. Through the years, I’ve come to appreciate how much writing has helped me to grow as a person. When I write, I clear out cobwebs from my mind. More often than not, they are lies I’ve spun from mistakes rooted in condemnation. 

I remove stones from my heart that weigh me down, and I escape into this beautiful dimension of enchantment as I commune with God, my Lord, and Savior. Sometimes it’s hard to turn off that voice in my head at night when I go to bed. I just want to create stories.

As I look at young adults today, their world is different from my world of long ago. Teens have so much more materially than I ever had. I didn't grow up with much in the way of those kinds of things. I read books. 

My life was forever changed when I discovered I could read at the age of eight. You see, as strange as it may sound for an award-winning author, I was forced to repeat the first grade because I couldn’t read. 

If I could give one bit of advice to the young people of today, it would be this: You can make your plans, but the final outcome is in God’s hands (My paraphrasing of Proverbs 16:9).

I believe the affluence of America today has hindered the appetite of many for the things of God. Young people see what we have in America as theirs, and while our country has its flaws, it’s still the greatest nation in the world. 

If you are willing to work hard at something, you can succeed. If you are eager to get an education and work hard at something, you can be an achiever. If you are willing to postpone gratification, work hard, get an education, and make many sacrifices, you stand a good chance of achieving your dreams.

Maybe you want to be a professional basketball player. Perhaps you long to be a lawyer. The list is only as short as you make it. Practically anything is achievable because America is great and opportunities abound. 

But what happens when stuff happens? When things don’t turn out the way you thought they would? When tragedy strikes? 

I remember many years ago going somewhere with one of my daughters and the family of a friend of hers. She was a teenager at the time, and I remember getting into a discussion with my daughter’s friend’s father. He surprised me by something he said. His comment basically was this: “Why talk about the end times with our kids. Let them live their life, get married, and have a family. They don’t want to think about the world coming to an end or the Lord’s return. They just want to live their life.”

I didn’t have a good response to him at that time because I remembered struggling with that same thought also when I was young. There is one particular memory I recall as if it happened yesterday.

I was putting my husband through medical school at the time, and he was in his second year of a four-year residency. We were watching a show on HBO, and basically, it was a documentary focusing on an end-time scenario, primarily based on the writings of Nostradamus (not the Bible).

That was back in the days before I knew not to trust such writers. While there might be a degree of uncanny accuracy in what they say, it’s not based on the Bible, and therefore will never be a hundred percent accurate. Anyone who predicts anything that is not one hundred percent accurate is not a prophet of God. Occultists are relying on demonic powers, and the Bible tells us not to listen to them.

I digress. That's not the point of this article. The point is, as I sat there and watched the documentary with my then-husband, in my heart, I was telling myself, I don't want the end to come. I don't want Christ to return. 

Not after doing all this work and putting my husband through medical school. I want to have children, buy a big house with a pool, and enjoy the fruits of what we’ve worked so hard for. That hard work was arduous labor for me as a court reporter. I put in long hours in a small town that didn't think women should make more than minimum wage.  

I wish I knew back then what I know now. And it is this: We long for the things of this world because we have no idea what better things God has in store for us in the next. 

And while the years pass by, we fill our hearts with material things. We get married, and husbands commit adultery. We raise children who rebel against us. Young people turn from the Lord and go their own way. I personally know of two Christian families that had sons who committed suicide. I know of other Christian families whose children have chosen alternative lifestyles.

You see, we can make our plans, but because we live in a fallen world, sooner or later, we will face adversity. However, the imperfections of life in some ways can become a blessing. Without suffering, I don’t believe we can become all that God created us to be because He created us for so much more. Pain allows us to turn something meant for evil into good.

Ringing the bell when I finished my year-long treatment for breast cancer

It is out of our suffering that we learn obedience, and in our willingness, we see God. We see beyond this world into the next. We know that we weren’t made for a fallen world - we were made for perfection in the future one. 

Recently, I went to the “Understanding the Times Prophecy Conference” in Minneapolis. As I looked around at the audience of six thousand people, I didn't see a single young person. I expected to see at least a couple, perhaps some homeschooling families who brought their teens. But nada, not one.

My heart’s desire is to win over young people to Christ. As I wrote many times throughout the Seventh Dimension Series, “time is an illusion until God’s appointed time.”  

It’s true that most young people will have many years to live before God calls them home, but Jesus could return tomorrow. Death is only a heartbeat away. If only I could encourage young people to know Christ personally and to live their life for Him and not for themselves.

I won’t reveal the final scene in the last book of the Seventh Dimension Series, The Howling, but the idea is “to occupy” until God returns. That means for young people to live their life, get an education, raise their family, and enjoy life, but live for the glory of God, live to share God with others, live in a way that brings honor to Jesus Christ. Young people need to have a personal relationship with their Savior and live as if God could come back at any time. I believe the priorities for most young people do not put Christ first. 

We must not live to please our own appetite. We should occupy until God’s return or until He calls us home. That’s a vastly different mindset than I could have imagined that day when my then-husband and I watched that apocalyptic HBO pseudo-documentary. I didn’t want to live for God. I wanted God to let me live the way I wanted to live. And in His mercy, He did. He showed me a better way, and it was a way of suffering.

So my question is, how can we get young people, teens, and young adults to realize how quickly time flies, that time is an illusion, and as James 4:4 says, our lives are merely a vapor, here for a little while, and then gone? 

When we look around at the world today, we can’t help but come to the conclusion that God has made us for so much more. How do we get young people to seize this day, this hour, this moment, for Jesus Christ? 

I’ve written the Seventh Dimension Series in hopes of reaching those who, like me, love to read. While it’s a dwindling number of teens, I believe our future leaders of tomorrow are the young people who read today. A person can’t learn all he needs to know to live well only through personal experience. 

Reading opens the door to biographies of famous people, traveling to other places, and “tasting” different cultures. For the creative ones, reading can take a person to faraway places in time and space, as in the Seventh Dimension Series. 

Books can teach the reader about God in ways he is unlikely to learn any other way. That’s one reason why God gave us the Bible, which includes sixty-six books written by many authors. Life is just too short to experience everything personally. But vicariously, a reader can experience so much more, and in my opinion, it can be better than a trip to Theme Parks.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments, and I will choose some winners to receive a signed copy of The Door.  

Tweet: http://bit.ly/LRWinDoor - I wish I knew back then what I know now. And it is this: We unknowingly long for the things of this world because we have no idea what better things God has in store for us in the next.