Forgotten Word Ministries

NON-PROFIT CHURCHES

Home          Literature          Free Newsletter          Links          ARTICLES          Discussion Board

Help support Forgotten Word Ministries


Search WWW Search www.forgottenword.org

Coach Dave Daubenmire
November 8, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

No I didn’t spell prophet wrong. A prophet is “a person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression.” Today the Church’s door is shut to the prophets. We have traded the prophets for profits.

I saw it again this weekend. Every time I go I pray it will be different; it is my nature, to believe for the best. But I have to admit, it is very discouraging.

I travel the country standing up for Truth. I’m not sure how this mantle fell on me but I do my best to be faithful to the call. I believe that the Lord is using me to awaken the Church. My message is hard and penetrating. It is a sin-hating, God-fearing exhortation to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded.”

I am a missionary to America, an alarm clock to the Church, which has punched the snooze button far too many times. Like a teenager on Saturday morning most of our church leaders do not want to hear the sound of the alarm. They “love to slumber.”

“Not all of us Coach,” I often hear via email. No, not all but the ones who are not “afraid to bark” I can number on two hands. At least that is my experience. In seven years of blowing the trumpet I can honestly say I have met only a few who truly “get it.” Most give lip service, trusting in the Rapture to “save them from the wrath to come,” in-different to what those who are “left behind” will have to go through, and too self-absorbed to fight the Devil for the souls of men.

A “costless-Christianity,” that’s what I like to call it: A war without price, a Christian-welfare system where someone else always picks up the tab. Tell the persecuted church in China or the Sudan that Christianity is free and easy. American-style Christianity is easy. Authentic Christianity is not.

Eureka Springs, Ark is a honeymoon-haven. A popular retreat in the Ozark Mountains this quaint little town markets itself as a Christ-centered retreat where The Great Passion Play, an outdoor drama, draws thousands. Tourism is the town’s life-blood and it is the home of the breathtaking statue of Jesus, Christ of the Ozarks which towers majestically over the city. This family-friendly vacation resort is a well-kept secret to much of America.

This past weekend the Macedonian call came to me from some faithful Christians in town who issued an appeal for help. I ran to the trumpet. It is what I do.

As is often the case, the homosexuals had decided that they wanted Eureka Springs. No longer content with getting married, they wanted to OWN marriage, at least in Eureka Springs. It seems that the “progressives” in Bible-belt Eureka Springs had passed an ordinance establishing a “Gay Marriage” registry where “gay” couples could register their “marriage,” opening a Pandora’s Box that would draw thousands of deviants to this once family-friendly village. It is rapidly becoming “the most homosexual city in the South.”

November 3-4 was designated “Diversity Weekend” by the local “authorities” and thousands of homosexuals descended on the city to celebrate sodomy. One brave man, Pastor Philip Wilson took on the fight. The “tolerant” homo-folk fired their cannons at the brave pastor. His fellow “men of the cloth” went into hiding, and his local congregation put him on “sabbatical,” ashamed, I am sure, of his “un-Christian” approach to those who want to destroy every pillar of decency in this land. “Woe to those who call good evil and evil good.”

But all was not lost. As is usually the case, some brave souls, sick of seeing Christian values attacked and tired of waiting for the pastors to stand up for Christ took it upon themselves to do something. They invited some of us to town to hold a “Shake the Nation” rally, a Clarion call to the Church designed to organize and mobilize the saints for the battle.

What do we do in these “Shake the Nation” rallies? We bring Truth to the church. Most pastors and church leaders are so focused on building “their” church that they have become disassociated and disinterested in events outside the safety of their stained-glassed fortresses. Hosea said “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge:” This past weekend our team of God’s-warriors journeyed to Eureka Springs to awaken the Church to the enemy who had penetrated the gates of their city. We spoke to those who attended about:

  • The Trojan-Horse of diversity and tolerance.
  • The curse of fatherless-ness on our nation.
  • Rendering under to Caesar what belongs to God.
  • The dangers of “public” education.
  • Hate crimes legislation and the effects on the church.
  • Our command to be salt and light to a dying world.

As is usually the case, our crowd was small, once again, and conspicuously absent, were the pastors. They are not interested in “earnestly contending for the faith.” They are “dumb dogs afraid to bark.”

I know this, if it had been a church-growth seminar we would have had to turn the pastors away. Butts and bucks is their focus, “greedy dogs which can never have enough.

It is not just Eureka Springs. I travel America, speaking the Truth. Here is what I have found. The people in the pew have had enough. They are sick of what is going on in America, but they don’t know what to do. Those who should lead won’t. Why? Our pastors are cowardly, “they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.” They are building THEIR church, not defending HIS TRUTH. After we come in and light a fire in the hearts of men, more often than not, the pastors lift their leg to douse the flames once we are gone.

The prophetic voice of the Church is almost silent. It is the pastors who have silenced it. Our church-culture has elevated them to a position they do not deserve. The pastor is merely one gift of the five-fold ministry. We have made the pastor, “king of the church.” Sorry; I don’t think that is Biblical.

Did you know that in the New Testament:

  • The word “apostle(s)” occurs 85 times.
  • The word “prophet(s)” occurs over 150 times, about 20 of those occurrences referring distinctly to prophets in the Church Age.
  • The word “teacher(s)” occurs 125 times.
  • The word “evangelist(s)” occurs only 3 times.
  • The word “pastor(s)” occurs precisely one (1) time in the entire New Testament! One time!

Let me offer you a challenge. Do an internet-search of the great preachers/prophets of the past. From Luther (1500) to Knox (1550), Bunyan (1600) to Wesley (1700), Moody (1800) to Sunday (1900), you will be hard-pressed to find one sermon on the prosperity/life-enhancement Gospel. They preached on sin and repentance. What a disgrace the sissified voices of today are to the memory of these Christian-prophets

I am reminded of a recent phone conversation that I had with a pastor after one of his men had heard me speak at a neighboring church and recommended me to his pastor. “I’m the shepherd,” he told me as he blocked the doorway to the prophetic voice. “I have to protect my sheep. I’m responsible for my people. God will hold me accountable.

“So Pastor, do you encourage your flock to get their children out of the government schools?” I asked.

 “We have good schools here. In fact, several of our boys are part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the school, and they meet regularly to share their faith with one another. We don’t have those big city problems here…”

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs….

Isaiah 36:16 “But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy.”

 The homosexuals will soon run Eureka Springs. The Church has lost her savor. Hate-crime legislation is on the fast track. Our children are being indoctrinated in government schools.

“Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.”

Dumb dogs, afraid to bark.

Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and President of Pass The Salt Ministries www.ptsalt.com and Minutemen United www.minutemenunited.org, is host of the high octane Pass The Salt radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1999 Coach Daubenmire was sued by the ACLU for praying with his teams while coaching high school in Ohio. He now spends his energy fighting for Christian principles in the public domain.       What are your thoughts on this article?