From the APOSTOLIC TIMES by Howard H. Davis Vol.22 Issue 1 June 2010
It has been a good number of years since I published The Apostolic Times. For approximately 20 years, every month, 3000 copies of the 10 to 20 page tabloid were mailed out to Preachers across the USA, Canada and to Missionaries on the field. I was careful to hold true to Bible Doctrines. When it came to things of Holiness Standards, and my honest heart-felt beliefs, I made it plain. I wasn’t mean spirited in the things I wrote, nor, did I water-down or side step any issue that I felt needed a voice of challenge and response. Sure, I received responses. Some Pro, and some Con, mostly Pro. I can only hope for the same, as I feel led, to once again venture into publishing words of challenge to some of the false doctrines and unholy practices, which are being promoted among us today.
Now, that the dust has settled, the apology made, forgiveness received, and the hurts healed; let’s get back to the battle of the “Culture Changers.”
There are Changes being promoted among UPCI Churches, by young, and some not so young, Preachers. These CHANGERS want to totally change the form and order of Church Services, and are ACCOMPLISHING it in some Churches. I understand they don’t think doing so will do away with Godly, tried and proven Church services. Services which are a breath of Heaven. Services filled with Holy Dignity and Order. Services in which the very presence of the Lord is felt, and the Glory of God comes down with conviction that brings sinners to repentance and Salvation. These CHANGERS seem to be totally unaware that they are catering to rebellious, hippy mind set, drug infested, immoral, street living Worldlings. These Worldlings have been steeped in, and engrossed in the {deafening-hype-noise} music of the World. They don’t need some misguided people trying to save them, by offering the same STUFF, in any kind of a Church Setting.
For the most part, I find that they are men who have inherited a Church from their Father, or, a good Godly Holiness preaching Pastor, that has given his very life to build the Church. These Men have on the most part, inherited good solid Churches. Churches formed and built on solid Bible centered Teaching, and powerful Preaching. That Pastor gave His life fighting devils, false doctrines, and sometimes false brethren, to build the Church. These Changers have never SWEAT-OUT the building of a Church from the ground up. Therefore, they don’t know the worth and preciousness of a real God fearing Holiness Church. A Church that has been taught [hopefully] SEPARATION from the World.
1st John 2:15, “Love Not the World, neither the things that are in the World. If any man love the World, the love of the Father is not in him.” Also, The Holy Ghost said, 11Cor. 6:17, “come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.” Again, the Spirit of the Lord wrote, Rev. 18:4, “…come out of HER, my people, that ye be not PARTAKERS of HER SINS, and that ye receive not HER plagues.” God in His love, has instructed us, yes, commanded us to COME OUT of THEM. {Q} Who is the THEM? {A} The WORLD, of course. Then He commanded us to COME OUT of HER. {Q} Who is the Her? {A} The last days FALSE CHURCH. The so-called Emerging-Church is right in the middle of the last days False Church. IT IS NOT AN EMERGING CHURCH, they are SUBMERGING. All that go that way are submerging into worldliness and false doctrines. Step {1}, leave Holiness. Step {2}, leave Sound Doctrine. Oh Yes they will! God Himself will see to it. Read II Thess. 2:11-15.
So, our wonderful and lovely Saviour, Jesus Christ, commands us to SEPARATE ourselves from the WORLD and the FALSE CHURCH. He said, don’t love the World, don’t love the Things in the World. Think with me my dear Brethren, if ROCK and HEAVY METAL music {noise} is not a THING of the WORLD, there is no validity to what Jesus commanded us. Also, He commanded us, don’t touch the UNCLEAN THING. If ROCK and HEAVY METAL type music, in an Apostolic Church is not an UNCLEAN THING, there are no unclean things in this world. I believe some of the men who have set out to “change” worship in Apostolic Churches are sincere, but they are so woefully wrong. They don’t know what horrible damage they are doing to their Church, when they infuse this wicked practice into it. Any Church that becomes engrossed, drowned and buried in this practice will find themselves members of the Laodicean False Church, of these LAST DAYS.
If you have the stomach for it, go to Youtube, bring up Apostolic Church Worship, you will be absolutely shocked at what you see being passed off as worship in an Apostolic Church. A pitch black auditorium, loud screaming and yelling, just like a Rock Concert, presumable by Holy Ghost filled young people. Totally ignorant of what they look and sound like. Super loud drums, keyboards, bass, guitars, growing louder and louder, suddenly there is an explosion of blinding and stabbing lights on the performers, lights rolling and oscillating across the ceiling and stage props, all this accompanied by great leaping flames of fire, 3/5/6 feet high on several areas of the stage, guys out on ramps among the kids, swaying and playing guitars. You ask, where did these children learn this stuff? They have been watching it on TV, the Internet, or worse yet, they have been going to Rock Concerts. In light of this, The Beach Boys, and their ilk, will have to hang their heads in shame. Astounding! Disgustingly putrid, to say the least.
Apostolic????????????, Fat Chance.
Unclean, unclean cries the Leper. This practice is to me Spiritual Leprosy. It is the spirit of error and it is, Unclean.
They, the “Changers” have for the most part, paid nothing nor sacrificed their life to bring a Church into being, so, they blindly introduce a Rock Concert with all of its noise and shameful carrying on, and call it Apostolic. Their word is, The Culture! The Culture! They say, we’ve got to work with the Culture. It is a different day and time, they say. Listen to me Brother, every generation thinks it is a modern generation. When I was discharged from the U.S. Navy, in 1946, that was THE modern generation for me. It was just as modern to me, as 2010 is to you. However, let me tell you, when I went to the UPC Church in Fresno, California, where Brother A.V. Kelley was Pastor, I didn’t say to him, this is New Generation, and we young men, I was 22 yrs old, don’t want to have this old Church music and songs. Nor did I say, “Pastor, the Church will have to change so we can reach this Modern Generation.” First, let me say to this pitiful kind of reasoning, HOGWASH! And, let me tell you what the Pastor would have said. He would say, “you see that door you came through? It swings both ways.”
The church of Jesus Christ didn’t change for me, and it’s not changing for you or anyone else. We, of my generation, didn’t display the gall, audacity, insolence and bare faced ignorance to try to change the Church to fit our generation. No, we came in, out of a mod generation, a changing time all around us, we were happy to find refuge in the Church of the Living God. We never gave it a thought, we dropped the worldly music that we danced to, played pool to, went the movies and parties to, yes we dropped the worlds music like a hot potato and loved the Church music, the standards of Holiness and conduct. We were so thankful just to find Salvation. This generation will do the same, if they are taught right, and not catered to, to their flesh. If they are witnessed to by Holy Ghost filled Young People that are not afraid to say, I’m Pentecostal, here is how we dress, here are the songs we sing in Church, thereby giving Glory to our wonderful Saviour.
There will be, no doubt, lewd ungodliness following this Change in the appeal to the Culture. Instead of Godly Church Music; loud stadium twanging, ear splitting sounds. Tinkling cymbals and sounding brass; shock waves of sounds that insult the intellect. Soul and Spirit polluting gyrations of flesh gratifying hard-acid-rock NOISE. Theatrics, instead of a Holy, sincere, heartfelt worship service. Some Churches that were once greatly blessed, have now, because of these CHANGERS, become barren waste-lands of ungodly sounds and practices. There is not even a ghost of resemblance to their past Holiness. If the Pastor, who gave his life building an Apostolic Church were to see his life’s work now, he would be SHAMED, SHAMED, SHAMED.
We are bombarded daily, by politicians yelling about “Political Correctness.” I’m not concerned with so-called political correctness. I am concerned with “Biblical and Holy Ghost Culture, Correctness.”
According to Isaiah 1:2-4, Holiness is the most essential element of God’s Nature. {J.S.}
The direction being taken by these Fellows, will lead to similar conditions, in the House of God.
Away with all the CULTURAL TRASH.
Let’s get back to Holy and modest Church Services, and the preaching of God’s Word. Let’s please the Lord Jesus, by returning to HIS CULTURE.