I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me?

One of the greatest and greatly misused Scriptures in the modern Church is this declaration from the Apostle Paul to the Philippian Church. I have seen this Scripture under the eyes of a Heisman quarterback declaring in essence it was Christ who strengthened me to do better than you. I have seen this by a well-known champion boxer declaring he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him after he obliviotes some opponents face. I have seen this on a Ultimate Fighting Championships fighters website, in essence it was Christ who gave him strength to knock an opponent out or "choke" him out into submission. All these are gross misinterpretations of the Word of God, but a couple of Fridays ago I had to have witnessed the most disgusting and blasphemous interpretation of this powerful Scripture I have ever seen in my life!

We were in downtown Orlando evangelizing and passing out tracts, when I gave out 4 or 5 of my Giant $100 dollar tracts to a group of guys looking to party. After I gave it to them one of the group asked if I knew where a "strip club" was. I told him laughingly, "that is a Gospel tract I gave you." The shock of his face said it all, he was embarrassed to have asked such a question to someone sharing the good news, and probably felt a little guilt. I asked a probing question to get a response of him and one of his buddies, "What do you think happens to us after we die?" He and his buddy said I don't know. I said that is a scary place to be isn't it because 150,000 people die everyday! They both nodded their head in agreement. I began to walk them through the law of God when one of their friends, smoking a cigar and wearing sunglasses at night chimed in, "I know what happens after we die!" I said, "Oh yeah and what is that?" He said "This is what happens" and pointed to the back of his sweatshirt that said "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I shockingly said, "You are wearing that to a strip club?" Trying to keep my cool remembering obviously this guy is a false convert, he said "we're not going to a strip club." I told him, "your buddy just asked directions to one!" Just about then his other friends grabbed the ones I was talking to and told them they had to leave. I spoke to the first two and said please read that tract and take it to heart, you might not have tomorrow, and they said they would.

The audacity of the modern Gospel!!!! This man maybe not in word but in thought must have thought it was Christ's strength that empowered him to go to the strip club. It was Christ's strength to live a life of sin. Oh we need a great awaking in this country! Oh we need a voice crying in the wilderness make straight the paths of God! Oh we need prophets in this country with voices like trumpets that will alarm sleeping Christians and dead sinners! We have been crying out, Oh where is the Lord God of Elijah?" And God has been asking, "Where are the Elijahs of God?" We need a baptism of tears in the Church, to sew in tears and reap in joy! Sinners are going to hell by the second and we are worried about the state of the economy.

Oh God forgive me for my indifference to the lost you poured Your precious blood out for. Please forgive me for my indifference to the world around me. Please forgive me for my selfishness and pride. Please oh Lord wake us up! Please oh God do it for Your name's sake.