The most popular item in the news today is awaiting the vote for the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.  I am not writing today to discuss my dogmatic differences with Catholicism, but to discuss the trend being noted and desired by people of the Catholic faith.  It exposes a desire of church attending people that will result in horrible consequences.  This desire is that people which attend church of any kind today believe the church should approve of, and accept their sinful ways instead of the person being molded by the beliefs and teachings of the church which they outwardly claim to believe.  In the book of Jude this phenomenon of an unrighteous type separation is described as follows:
Verses 17 - 19:  "But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit."
In the Bible, separation is usually spoken of as a necessary desire of the Christian to please our Lord Jesus Christ, but it is not so in this case.  If you read the preceding verses in the book of Jude you will see that these are people within the churches.  They have separated themselves in the name of godliness and righteousness but as stated in our quoted verses, "having not the Spirit."  Meaning they are not being led of God.  They "walk after their own ungodly lusts."  Meaning whatever makes the flesh feel good is considered Godly to them.  Throughout the New Testament whenever church type services are mentioned, preaching is always the main part.  Today many churches do very little preaching and spend most of their time entertaining each other.  I met someone this week who attends mid week services at a church.  When asked what they do, the reply was that they get together at every service and eat and fellowship.  This was not just for that service but every mid week service.  In the book of Acts, Paul once preached so long that a young man fell asleep and fell out of the window and died.  The Lord performed a miracle and allowed Paul to bring him back to life. (Acts 20)  Maybe if churches spent more time preaching and paritioners spent more time listening then more people could be saved from death and hell.  In the Bible very little is ever mentioned about the singing, praising and worshipping, or abundance of signs and wonders in any church type services.  These things are not of themselves bad, but it was not the focus of the service and when the people left they pondered the Word of God which they heard from the preacher of God and not the abundance of high energy music and praising.  People desired to be changed and have more than the flesh could give them and accept what only God could give.  This desire was lost when we as God's saved and forgiven children wanted to be patted on the back while participating in our sins instead of admitting our wrong doing and changing it God's way known as repenting.  This is the mocking of the last times against God's tried, true, and perfect ways.  Notice what God expects of His church in the following verse from Revelation.  The beginning of the book of Revelation starts with letters to seven churches.  Near the end of these seven letters God mentions his main theme and desire for the churches in chapter 3 verse 19.
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."
Don't try to make God and His church try to fit you, but through His grace, repent and let God mold us to fit Him and His church.

The term "Christian" is used so loosely today that many have lost sight of what it really is.  I will be using scripture references from Acts 9 for the remainder of this post and will simply mention the verse I am referring to.  In verse 26 it states, "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."  Just this very statement denotes that the people had noticed that these disciples did more than just follow Christ, they actively pursued others to get them to follow.  Some very important keys to what a true Christian is are contained here for us to glean from.  In verse 26 we see two of these keys: first, they assembled together with the church (other believers), second, they taught all the people who were assembled together.  In verse 20 we see that they, "spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus."  This was one of the first groups of people that started to reach out to other people groups other than the (verse 19) "Jews".  They practiced what we call today "missions", understanding that Christ died to save all people that would believe.  They preached only the Lord Jesus for salvation and did not attempt to get people to trust or turn to anyone else other than the Lord, nor to put any other thing in the place of the Lord.  We see this also in the result of what they taught, verse 21, "And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord."  Also notice in verse 23, "that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."  To sum it all up again about what a real "Christian" is:

1.  They regularly assemble together with other believers.
2.  They assemble for more than just socializing, they assemble to learn and to help others learn       about Christ and His ways for our life.
3.  They don't limit Christ's salvation and blessings to any limited group of people.
4.  They actively pursue others to believe in Christ.
5.  They attempt to persuade the lost (non-believers, unsaved) to turn (repent) and to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing, absolutely nothing else for the salvation of their soul.

There is a certain heritage we are privileged to uphold when we are called "Christian".  Let us not forget it

In today's fast paced world, many of us value our time more than maybe any other generation in the past.  That does not mean it is really more valuable, but we think it is.  The only thing that makes time have any value is what you do with it.  I invite you to read Ezekiel chapter 8 as you consider this post.  God through the pen of Ezekiel ends the chapter with some very harsh statements; "they filled the land with violence", "provoke me to anger", "neither will I have pity", "and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."  Seems a lot like where we are as a country.  If it would not have been for God's mercy and longsuffering, these statements would have been issued much earlier in Israel's history.  What brought God to this point where he had to issue such chastisement to those who were supposed to be His people?  I say "supposed" because they were not in their hearts.  Much the same way America calls itself a christian nation, yet there are fewer followers from the heart, per capita, than at any other time in her great history.  The question you might ask yourself is, if God were my employee, what would his time be worth?  Most of us know that it is unimaginable to even think we could put a price on the time of our one and only loving creator.  It is hard for many people to give God any time in their life, but there is something worse than that.  It is when we act like we give him time, but our heart and mind is somewhere else.  In this passage of scripture, it is revealed that the very people who appeared to be giving God time in their life were simply there at the sanctuary of God in body only.  Their thoughts and spirit were somewhere totally opposite and direct denial of God.  It was so bad that God said in verse 6, "I should go far off from my sanctuary?".  God no longer felt comfortable meeting with His people.  Notice again how bad they had lied to themselves and believed their own lie in verse 12 as God shows Ezekiel what they are saying, "every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth."  God wants us to appear to others that we love Him and want to follow Him.  But it is most imperative that we are not simply appearing, but truly trusting and seeking Him from the heart.  Our individual decision to follow from the heart could literally change the way God helps with the needs of our great America.  If you have never trusted Christ from the heart as Lord and Savior of your life, do it today.  There are numerous places on this website that will help you understand how to be saved forever, and I am always available for you to contact me.  If you have been saved, perform God's will for your life from the heart and not just for show.  We will never be perfect on this earth, but we should continue to strive for perfection until we get through those pearly gates of heaven.  The time we give to God, whether personal time or public time at church, must be dedicated to Him.  He did all for us and expects so little from us.

Does God want ladies preaching when men are in the audience and pastoring His churches?  According to the Bible, I would have to say no, he does not want this to be going on.  I don't know all of his reasons, but I think His Word is clear.  Read these verses and decide for yourself.  I Corinthians 14:33-35 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.  Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.  And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.           I Timothy 2:11-12  Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.  But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.