Revolution Church in Canton & Jasper, GA is doing an entire sermon series with a poker / gambling theme entitled "All In". (This is NOT a series that warns of the dangers of sin or gambling. This is a series that EMBRACES poker and gambling metaphors. )
This is wrong on so many levels. But, let's look at three reasons why this is wrong.
1) Taking a look at the "SURFACE" of the series we see an obvious mixing of the sacred and the secular at Revolution CHURCH. If there were ever a "pagan capital of worldlines, Las Vegas would be it. It's called "Sin City" for a reason. Therefore, bringing Las Vegas, poker and gambling into a CHURCH is a clear violation of God's Word.
James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, and the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
2) Last time we checked there are still a lot of Christians who believe that gambling is a sin. Gambling is also an addiction that many Christians struggle with. So bringing Las Vegas, poker and gambling into CHURCH is a clear violation of Romans 14:21 which says, "It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble."
3) If you listen to the sermon you'll find that Pastor Lamb delivered a non-Biblical message that taught the value of being a risk taker. Pastor Lamb was also very crass and used foul language during his sermon. Jesus was barely mentioned (but Pastor Lamb sure did talk about himself...A LOT) and the thrust of his message made it sound like it is a sin to NOT BE a reckless risk taker. There was no mention of sin, Christ Crucified for sinners, repentance or the gospel. Fact is, that sermon could have been presented at a business conference, in a group therapy session or a Tony Robbins Infomercial and it would not have sounded out of place. There was nothing Christian about that sermon. It was about as ChristLESS, CrossLESS and man-centered as you could get. Click Here to Listen.
Pastor Gary Lamb and his staff need to stop playing games with church.
HT: Old Truth
