Judge Not
Published by:
Burning Bush Communications
7300 W. 147th St.
Apple Valley, MN 55124
www.wretched.tv
2015 Todd Friel. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photographic (photocopying), recording, or otherwisewithout prior permission in writing.
Edited by Lynn Copeland
Cover, page design, and layout by Genesis Publishing Group
ISBN 978-0-9969612-0-2
eISBN 978-0-9969612-1-9
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973,1 975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.
Printed in the United States of America
Imagine a woman who lets her husband spend inordinate amounts of time at coffee shops in order to write books. Imagine a woman who picks up the slack in her hubbys absence. Imagine a woman who works tirelessly to run a home so her husband can run to Starbucks. That is my wife. I am indebted to her and overwhelmed by how amazing she is.
Thank you to Emily, Haley, and Jack for being my children. Granted, you had no choice, but my love for you grows more profound every year. Not only do I love you, but I like you a lot too.
Thank you to my church family. You have helped me to learn that the most annoying person in my church is me. That is a tremendous gift.
Thank you to the dignified shepherds who continue to faithfully pastor local churches. You are the true heroes of American Christianity.
Thank you to Phil Johnson, John MacArthur, and Steve Lawson for being godly men who courageously speak the truth in love, no matter what it costs you.
Thank you to my editor, Lynn Copeland. Without her extraordinary contribution, this book wld reed like this.
Thanks also to Joel Anderson who uses his patience and skills to masterfully navigate the business world of Christian publishing.
Thank you for reading this. Your willingness to undoubtedly have your tootsies stepped on is quite admirable.
INTRODUCTION
Have you noticed the world is going bonkers?
Legalized marijuana. Apparently police officers in some states successfully eradicated all crime and had an abundance of free time on their hands, so they petitioned their legislators to pass a law that would create some havoc.
Gay marriage. Bye-bye to two thousand years of cultural norms. Who knew that we had been following the beliefs of morons for two millennia?
Trans issues. On M*A*S*H Corporal Klinger cross-dressed in order to be deemed section 8 (crazy) and kicked out of the army. Today, cross dressers are heralded as brave.
Language. Hollywood makes a living talking like wounded pirates. Nice work, Leo; over 600 f-bombs in one movie. Impressive.
Pornography. What used to be a teenaged boys dirty little secret is now a First Amendment-protected right. Since when is porn a form of speech?
Baby burners. First Great Britain, then Oregon used aborted babies as fuel to produce electricity. Paging the bottom of the barrel. Perhaps it could be worsePlanned Parenthood could be selling aborted baby body parts for cash. Oh, wait.
The list could go on and on, but then we would have to fight for ledge space on the tallest building in town in a mad rush to take our own lives. Our nation is not just on a slippery slope, America voluntarily jumped onto a toboggan and progressives shoved us down a steep and icy hill.
Virtually every societal indicator points in one direction: south.
The CDC reports there are over two million divorces per year. That is four million trashed lives. And dont forget the kids.
Over 40 percent of children are born to single mothers. Who needs a dad, anyway?
According to the FBI, almost three hundred thousand girls are at risk of being exploited by the sex trade. Deplorable.
America is the worlds leader in abortions, slaughtering over four thousand unborn children per day. Were #1!
The SAT Report on College and Career Readiness shows that fewer than half of all high-schoolers who take the SAT are ready for college.
What happened? How did we get here? The answer is as obvious as the mullet on Joel Osteens head.
The Root of the Problem
Societal ills such as divorce, abortion, racism, violence, ignorance, and sexually transmitted diseases are not the problem; they are the fruits of a much greater crisis. A little bit of math will make that plain:
There are slightly more than 13,000 Starbucks in America.
There are slightly fewer than 13,000 McDonalds in the US.
Combined, there are 99,000 public elementary and secondary schools in the land of the free.
If you tally these ubiquitous institutions, you get a whopping total of 125,000. You cant drive for more than a few minutes anywhere in this country without seeing a weird green mermaid, golden arches, or government indoctrination center. They are everywhere.
As omnipresent as these establishments are, you cant swing a dead cat (never a bad idea) without hitting one of the 350,000 Protestant churches in the US.
Whats the Point?
Every culture is a product of the dominant cult. The single largest moral influence in America is the Protestant church. If American culture is ailing morally, it is because the Protestant church is ailing.
With almost three times as many Protestant churches as Starbucks, McDonalds, and public schools combined, our country should not be in a moral tailspin in virtually every measurable category: morality, family, national debt, abortion, race relations, out-of-wedlock births, STDs, profanity, crime, drugs, Beyonce. With 350,000 Christian outposts, our national anthem should be A Mighty Fortress is Our God.
Clearly, something is horribly wrong with the Protestant church. Need proof?
Pastor Rodney Howard Brown gets his audiences drunk on the Spirit, resulting in grown men and women falling down on the floor as they laugh demonically.
A youth pastor in Florida put peanut butter in his armpits and had the kids lick it out in an effort to get them excited about church.