2 Timothy 3:5 ESV  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

In these now 38 years of pastoral ministry I have met a long list of the kind of people the Apostle Paul is warning Timothy about here. Identify them. Avoid them. Go no contact with them. And who are they? They are people who claim to be Christians. People who have an appearance of godliness. But who, by the rotten evil fruit they demonstrate, are not born again by the power of Christ. 

In fact, I can confidently say that in these nearly four decades of ministry, the large majority of people who were members of the congregations I pastored, fit this very description. And I do not believe that this is at all atypical in the local churches today. You must be born again, and they were not.

In this chapter, I want to talk to you about Mary. Mary, like so many on my long list of these kind, was not just a church member. She came from a family of church leaders. The large part of her time was spent doing “church.” She and her husband established numbers of church outreach ministries. They were present at every single church event. They religiously maintained daily Bible study and devotions. But there is more.

Continue reading “An Appearance of Godliness: Case Studies in Evil (Part 9)” →