Not wanting to wear out the prophecy of our esteemed elder the Late David Gray I feel compelled again to quote from his words in the book
Questions Pentecostals Ask by David Gray Volume 3 pages 142-146 under the title of Holiness:
"There is no question in my mind but that attempts will be made to alter our Articles of Faith on these important issues. And if they do not succeed, their hope will be to render them ineffective through simply ignoring them and permitting violations to continue unchecked; in other words, to not require compliance with them. To do this will surely spell the death knell of the United Pentecostal Church as a body upholding the holiness principles of the Word of God in the earth in this end time."
At first it was just a few that flaunted their pride and had television in violation of the manual. No one wanted to deal with them sometimes because of threats of law suits and other unscriptural and ungodly practices. From there it began to become more common in the church members and then the ministers homes until today I am told by those that circulate in much larger circles than I that it is as normal as anything else in if not the majority at least a large percentage of our ministers homes. And still the sin goes unchecked.
I want to emphasize the word SIN!
Since to behave in such a way and to do such a thing a minister with license or ordination papers with the UPCI must also lie. To those of us that feel compelled to follow the rules which we willing agreed to follow when we signed our application to say nothing of a biennial affirmation, that we signed, find ourselves asking the same question that God asked through the prophet Amos. “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”
Amos 3:3 We find ourselves asking the question how do we fulfill the commandment given us by the Apostle Paul in
Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them”, and still have unity. To me and too many others it seems impossible to accomplish such a feat. Scriptural unity comes from obeying scripture. The writer of Ecclesiastes makes it clear concerning vows. While we understand he was no doubt talking about money lets look at the word vow. Vow 1. An earnest promise to perform a specified act or behave in a certain manner, especially a solemn promise to live and act in accordance with the rules of a religious order: 2. A declaration or an assertion1
Brethren, let it be known this is a HOLINESS ISSUE even though we are constantly being told it isn’t. What makes it a holiness issue?
The reason I believe it is a Holiness Issue is because of the direction and involvement of such an action. Just a few short years ago we licensed the use of Video the guide lines were clear and concise. In just a short time the abuse of that privilege became overwhelming. Churches were showing videos that were totally out of the guidelines Youth Groups began using them for entertaining the youth and outreach. Today there is no difference between a large number of UPCI Churches and the rest of the world when it comes to entertainment of the youth. Again to quote an elder, the Late E.L Holley was often heard to say “Whatever entertains instructs.”
So now we have talent contest at national events and promote the sin of emulation. We have youth appearing on television with the most ungodly of people. Even in recent days a Pentecostal Family was involved with the TV’s “Wife Swap” program (with nearly 9 million weekly viewers). In another flagrant violation of the manual and another blow to the desired unity one of our pastors and his wife were guest on the “Dave Letterman Show”.
Here is a portion of an interview produced by Kent d Cury concerning the Wife Swap Program on his website 90&9.
“A majority of Apostolic viewers felt the producers were even-handed in their presentation, showing the emptiness of family life for the punk rockers and the regimentation within the Apostolic family, as well as the positives in both families.
Despite the pressures, Kristin was able to share her genuine love for God and a godly compassion in many scenes, though Steve was often portrayed as an inflexible patriarch protecting his children.”<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
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We have churches hosting super bowl parties and installing TV’s in what used to be called a sanctuary. We have both preachers and saints attending Professional Organized Sporting Events.
How do we find a place of unity in this when it violates the laws of integrity and honesty?
Just recently a UPCI pastor was interviewed about his mission to make a science fiction movie about Joseph and God’s directive to produce 42 movies a year. While reading the interview I was impressed again that somewhere it becomes impossible to be identified with this type of thing and so we find another crack in the unity that should be among us.
All of this in direct opposition to the manual of the United Pentecostal Church
As a result of the TV and Media influence on the Leadership the advertising and theme of many of our youth conventions has all of the flavor of the world while the leadership strives to be relevant.
As I have been writing the above and during the course of receiving the information I could not help but ask the question, “If This Is Happening when we have The Prohibition Of These Things, What Will Happen If We License It?”
To again quote The Novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers...we are ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.” (Emphasis mine)
The cry for unity seems to emanate from a desire to not lose numbers even though God has never been impressed with large numbers just for the sake of numbers. No one should be foolish enough to say numbers don’t mean anything to God, they do. However numbers are not God’s first priority. To be honest I don’t think that unity is God’s first priority. God’s first priority is obedience.
God has often pared back the numbers of unified groups that were in disobedience.
Call it anything you want to but God said “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”.
James 4:4
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