Reimagining The End-Time Church

Wayne Manning Bass

Description

A biblical critique of the end-time institutional church – assessing its leadership, vision, and culture to gauge its challenges and impact on the world system.
The pastor-author of Reimagining The End-Time Church boldly speaks biblical truth to power with the intention of maximizing the authenticity, effectiveness, and spiritual authority of the institutional church. His primary objective is to mobilize servant-leaders to prayerfully and creatively reimagine, reconfigure, and reenergize church corporate cultures, practices, ethics, and structures to manifest greater grace for all. Christ’s end-time disciples are commissioned as salt-and-light ambassadors with a sacred mandate to courageously address any social or organizational norms that impact our kingdom vision, mission, and message. Unbridled ambition, greed, influence peddling, politics, nepotism, classism, and other patently carnal agendas are becoming the acceptable order in various branches of the institutional church. Christ returns soon, but will He find the true faith that was once established and delivered unto the saints? We hold the spiritual keys.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Prosperity
• Nepotism
• Stewardship
• Idolatry
• End time
• Class discrimination
• Worship
• Spirituality
• Hierarchy
• Religion
• Pastor
• Leadership
• Church
• Gospel

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 19 juillet 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798385002269
• Langue: English

Extrait

Reimagining The End-Time Church
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wayne Manning Bass
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2023 Wayne Manning Bass.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
 
ISBN: 979-8-3850-0225-2 (sc)
ISBN: 979-8-3850-0227-6 (hc)
ISBN: 979-8-3850-0226-9 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023913124
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 07/18/2023
CONTENTS
Dedication
Introduction
 
1       Institutional Church Issues
2       New Age Humanism and Gospel Dilution
3       Ichabod: The Apostate Church
4       Satanic Siren Songs
5       Idolatry in Church Hierarchy
6       Systemic Nepotism and Classism
7       The Mythology of Human Deity
8       Ethnic Christianity: A Spiritual and Cultural Pitfall
9       Jesus Christ, All-American?
10     Prosperity Gospel: Distractions, Deceptions and Delusions
11     Socialism and End-Time Wealth Redistribution
12     Overcoming Fiscal Temptation
13     The Bema Scrutiny of Ministry and Motives
14     Prophetic Signs of Christ’s Return
15     Repentance and Restoration of Kingdom Vision
16     Our Extraordinary Value and Purpose
 
Afterword
Endnotes
DEDICATION
Spiritual mentors are mission critical to sustaining authentic faith in the presence of powerful cultural matrices that deny or defy the true and living God. Thankfully, I am bountifully blessed by foundational access to extraordinary Christocentric individuals. My natural and spiritual parents, Bishop Joseph Edison Bass, Sr. and Mrs. Mary Watts Bass, provided overflowing love and exceptional tutelage during my formative years, and thereafter. Their input as Godly role models is both remembered and treasured. As a young Yale student, Bishop Hester D. Bordeaux guided and empowered faith. I gleaned generously from the late Bishops H. Jenkins Bell and Jonathan Greer, II while serving their congregations. Nine gifted siblings shared unconditional love and invaluable counsel: Bishop Joseph Bass, Jr., Mrs. Wilma Bass-Keys, Ms. Izetta Bass, Bishop Richard Bass, Mr. Dwight Bass, Bishop William Bass, Ms. Ruth Bass, Bishop Edwin Bass, and Mrs. Doris Bass-Wade. I am profoundly grateful for the enduring love of three adult children, Bishop Wayne Bass II, Mr. Michael Bass, and Mrs. Kimberly Bass-Seaton, and my three bonus daughters, Dr. Niki Nash, Ms. Whitney McClendon, and Ms. Nadia Whited, along with our 14 delightful grandchildren: Dylan, Sydney, Savannah, Kennedy, Michael, Elonna, Jermaine, Elijah, Christian, Indiya, Brooklyn, Taylor, Payton, and Kayden. Three dear friends, Dr. Ron Eagleton, Pastor David Byars, and Dr. George Perry are covenant brothers and colleagues. Always, I am enlightened, strengthened, and sustained by my beloved companion and ministry partner, Lady Belinda McClendon Bass, whose practical wisdom and mother-wit nurtures, focuses, and inspires. Finally, I am immeasurably favored by the matchless grace, mercy, and love of my Sovereign Lord and Savior, without whom life would be unfulfilling and meaningless. I absolutely love Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of my faith and the ultimate Source of my hope, peace, and joy.
INTRODUCTION
Although he possessed phenomenal talent, Orel Hershiser was unable to translate his natural capability into success on the baseball diamond during his inaugural season as pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Early in the 1984 season, he struggled with maintaining ball control. Dodgers’ manager, Tommy Lasorda, called the young pitcher into his office for a verbal consultation, one that Hershiser later characterized as the Sermon on the Mound.
Lasorda firmly admonished Hershiser that he was capable of infinitely better results than he had achieved, insisting that he owed it to the team to stretch vigorously and consistently toward his potential. Thankfully, Hershiser took his manager’s advice to heart and approached the game with an entirely different attitude. He went on to win the Cy Young award as baseball’s best pitcher in 1988, while leading the Dodgers to a World Series title. If Hershiser had not responded positively to his manager’s verbal chastisement, it is conceivable that he would never have achieved that prominent level of success.
In a spirit similar to Coach Lasorda’s timely and effective guidance referenced above, this book does not seek to denigrate any of our religious institutions, servant-leaders, or constituents. It solely aims to unlock the magnificent endowment of divine favor and blessings that are the heart and heritage of Christ’s church by motivating higher awareness of societal pressures and cultural mores that powerfully impact and potentially impede our mission. We will accomplish this objective together by gazing intently into the Biblical Mirror that accurately reflects and assesses the nature of our implicit and explicit messages, methods, and motives.
During this challenging, perilous, end-time season, it is mission critical for prophetic voices to speak truth to power – cogently and courageously. My former dean at C. H. Mason Theological Seminary, the late Bishop Oliver J. Haney, Jr., once shared some tongue-in-cheek but totally wise advice with the church. He declared, “It’s thirteen o’clock, later than we think!” The unvarnished truth of his statement yet resonates in my spirit. The church writ large must proactively uphold the banner of truth and righteousness as we soberly prepare for the imminent return of Jesus Christ.
Why is our vigilance and consistency especially urgent in this hour? Because the spirit of antichrist , which has long since been released into our world system, is now strenuously striving and often prevailing in both the natural and spiritual families of those who hold true faith and allegiance to Christ. So many seem to be in hot pursuit of ala-carte religion – meaning their spiritual modus operandi is to cherry-pick God’s Word, to solely accept passages personally deemed to be applicable for the present season and circumstances. Hence, The Holy Bible is considered less relevant or reliable because hosts of spiritual dropouts have assimilated and promulgated diverse (and often contradictory) systems of thought. In the wake of this powerfully confusing, quasi-spiritual tsunami, Jesus Christ is viewed as just another prophetic voice, simply seen as a good man or a noble teacher, not as the only begotten Son of God. Ironically, many who hold these erroneous views self-identify as bona fide Christians, ostensibly faithful and supportive church members. However, like the coin that Jesus described as being lost inside the house, in a remarkably similar sense, such persons are saved from the world but lost in the church.
Be forewarned that (for some readers) certain subsequent observations might seem to be hypercritical or objectionable. It is important and beneficial to retain top-of-mind a clear understanding of the author’s positive intent in order to maximize illumination and insight. Finally, all should remember that any individual who offers strong or substantive critiques of the institutional church (no matter how heartfelt, accurate, or incisive) is also subject to inadequacies, imperfections, passions, pride, selfishness, and sin. Mindful of my personal shortcomings, this is my candid love letter to the church.
 
CHAPTER ONE
Institutional Church Issues
“On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
-Jesus Christ 1
 
La te one evening a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. His father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, desperately calling out to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you!” The father knew that his son had to jump to save his life. But the child could scarcely see through the flames, smoke, and twilight.
Because he was absolutely petrified by the idea of plunging blindly into the darkness, his father kept shouting, “Jump! I will catch you!”
The young boy timidly protested, crying out, “Daddy, I can’t see you!”
The father wisely and cal