11 Unsettling Signs You're a Functional Atheist - JOSEPH MATTERA CHARISMA NEWS

Are you a functional atheist? (Pixabay)

11 Unsettling Signs You're a Functional Atheist

 6/30/2017 JOSEPH MATTERA  CHARISMA NEWS



Although the definition of an atheist is one who denies the existence of God, in this article, I use the word to depict those identifying as Christians who live as though there is no God to which they are accountable. Unfortunately, in my estimation, there is a very large percentage of Christians who live as functional atheists.

The following are 11 signs that you are a functional atheist:

1. You makes important decisions about your career without consulting Scripture or praying.

I can't tell you how many Christians I know who choose a career or job solely on the basis of how much money they will make. They do not take into consideration how God internally wired them, how it will impact their ability to mature as a believer in the context of a local church or how it will affect their key relationships. When a person does this, they are behaving like a functional atheist.

2. You choose a church solely on emotional connections.

As a pastor since 1984, I have seen more people leave a church because their friends left than because they truly heard from God. Consequently, people are led by their emotions more than by the Holy Spirit when it comes to this all-important matter regarding their church family. That being said, it is totally normal for a person to come to Christ and attend a church because a friend invited them; however, once they mature in the faith, God expects them to go from carnal reasoning to a spiritually informed process regarding the choice of a church. Among other things, a mature believer will choose a church based on the will of God, where they are growing spiritually and whom God has placed in their life to be their spiritual parent (1 Cor.4:15).

3. You choose a mate based solely on mutual attraction.

Based on my pastoral observation, I have seen countless Christians marry a person merely because of an emotional or physical attraction. Although God can work through any marital situation (Rom. 8:28), making a decision like this is no different than an atheist who will also choose a mate merely on emotional and physical attraction. I believe God uses the way He has wired us emotionally, physically and spiritually, for example, I would never council a person to marry a person to which they were not physically attracted However, at the end of the day, God has a specific spouse who matches your calling and destiny, which comes from being led by the Spirit and hearing from God. To be fair, I have seen many married couples come to Christ whom God brought together even though they were not believers, but after you are saved, much more is required of you regarding decision-making.

4. You have no consistent communion with God.

Any believer who does not seek the Lord regularly, aiming to be in continual communion with Him, is living like a functional atheist. Moses said to the Lord, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here" (Ex. 33:15). Being in communion with the Spirit and being led by Him continually is a staple of normal Christianity (Rom. 8:14; Eph. 5:15-18). Believers who continually fill their lives with activities bereft of seeking Him behave like functional atheists.

5. Scripture does not inform your worldview.

Every election season it amazes me the unbiblical policies and candidates some believers support. It is obvious to me that they are primarily informed by secular humanism and don't understand how to integrate their private faith with public policy. Those who are not informed by Scripture regarding their world and life views are functional atheists in this area.

6. You casually speak negatively about churches and spiritual leaders.

The Bible teaches us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7). When a person casually speaks evil of other people, especially Christian leaders and churches, it demonstrates that they lack the fear of the Lord who hates discord among His people (Prov. 6:19; Eph. 4:29-31). Slanderers and gossipers in the church live like functional atheists.

7. You determine how many children you will have.

One of the original commands God gave humankind was to bear fruit and multiply, which means to have children (Gen. 1:28). Biological children are a heritage from the Lord (Ps. 127:3-5). Having children is one of our primary callings because we partner with God to expand His eternal family; those who cannot have children or called to be single should focus on having spiritual children. With something as important as this, married couples should pray over Genesis 1:28 and ask God how many children He wants them to have; those who determine family planning without God act like functional atheists.

8. You choose to divorce your spouse for unbiblical reasons.

I have known of spiritual leaders who glibly divorce their spouses merely because they do not get along. Jesus did not make divorce that easy (Matt. 5:31-32; 19:1-10). Those whose primary plumb line for divorce is happiness break covenant with God and their spouses and act like functional atheists. Of course, if a believer chooses to divorce, the other person in the marriage is not responsible or in bondage (1 Cor. 7:15).

9. Your walk with God is based on blessing and convenience.

Those who only serve God when it is convenient or only requires a minimal sacrifice live as functional atheists.

10. You live independent of His body.

Once we come to Christ, He places us in His body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). Conversely, lone rangers who continually church hop or live without being in covenant or accountability with spiritual leadership live as functional atheists. I have learned through studying the New Testament that I cannot walk out my calling apart from a local church.

11. You make a geographical move without hearing from God.

I am amazed at how many Christians I have known since my conversion in 1978 who have moved away from the church God planted them in, only to waste years of their lives floundering in a stagnant spiritual state. Before a geographical move that impacts a life-giving church connection, I would suggest you do the following: Make sure you have heard from God in conjunction with the independent witness of other mature believers, consult with your spiritual leaders, make sure you are not being driven merely by money or convenience, make sure there is another church in that new community that you have visited and to which you sense a connection and make sure you do not burn any bridges in case you make a mistake and have to return. Those who superficially make a huge geographical move act as functional atheists. 

Joseph Mattera is an internationally known author, futurist, interpreter of culture and activist/theologian whose mission is to influence leaders who influence nations. He leads several organizations, including The United States Coalition of Apostolic Leaders (uscal.us). He also has a blog on Charisma magazine called "The Pulse." To order one of his books or to subscribe to his weekly newsletter go tojosephmattera.org.

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Kicking the Dogs from the Door of Your Destiny By Kathie Walters

Kicking the Dogs from the Door of Your Destiny By Kathie Walters

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I read this somewhere on the internet a while ago. I can't remember who wrote that but it jumped out on me. I did write and ask if they minded if I use that expression.

I got to thinking about it. I am always going on about people fulfilling their destiny and their calling. Still I meet people who think their calling is to sit in church and support someone else's vision. While I think it's good to do all you can to encourage someone and support them - YOU my friend have your own calling. And at the end of the road Jesus is going to ask you, "What did you do with the anointing I put in your life?" You saying, "My church didn't like it," is not going to be an acceptable excuse. Do you know why? Because you can hear from God and you are called and YOU have a destiny to fulfill.

Everyone has the witness of the Spirit or the anointing within them. That's why the apostle John said, "You don't need any man to teach you, because the anointing (or the Anointed One) is within you." Does that mean that we don't have teachers in the Church? No of course not - there are teachers, pastors, prophets, apostles, evangelists, given to equip the church.

But you have to listen to the anointing or witness of the Spirit within you to discern what God is saying to you personally.

For example - someone could come to your church and prophesy or teach or preach - you have to discern what God is saying to you.  Maybe there are just a couple of sentences that are for you personally.

Acknowledging Every Good Thing

There is a great scripture in Philemon that I love - Paul prayed for Philemon that, "Your faith becomes effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing that is in you, in Christ Jesus."

When you acknowledge the gift and calling in someone you cause it to be brought forth and activated. "That was a great word you gave." When you tell someone that, what happens? They are encouraged and it makes them want to do that again. If you criticize, then they shut down.

Maybe there are different things that the Holy Spirit brings out of one message and He says a different thing to 20 people? Understand?

Jesus said "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matt 4:4) Not every word you hear, not every Bible verse you read, is a proceeding word for you. What is God saying to you NOW? Today? This week? The proceeding word imparts life and faith and has power to move you to the next thing that God has for you.

One thing is for sure - you have to move on. You have to continually discern what is He saying to you now (today). Today's manna.

The Almond Tree

I talk often about Jeremiah. When God called Jeremiah he was a teenage prophet by the way, not an old man with a beard running around the country doing prophetic seminars. I have a great new teaching set called "The Almond Tree"  (click HERE to order) and it's about Jeremiah and his response to the call of God.

Well this is about is YOUR response to the call of God. You can sit there forever in your comfort zone or you can rise up and say, "I'm going to go for it. I'm going to be all I can be in God."

God asked Jeremiah "What do you see?" and Jeremiah got into faith and saw a vision of an Almond Tree. God liked what Jeremiah saw and said "I will do what you saw." In the KJV it says "You have well seen. I will hasten My Word and perform it."

So you have to see your destiny- by faith. You can't aim at what you can't see. By faith you have to see your destiny. I don't believe we have to wander around and around the mountain, wondering where we are supposed to be going and doing a kind of "hit and miss" attempt at fulfilling the will of God.

God will show you what He has for you if you start to see by faith and believe YOU CAN HEAR FROM GOD.

By faith He can release a word for you if you need confirmation - but He also puts His desires in your heart so that when you fulfill the will of God it's delightful to you because it's in your heart.

You have to see,

You have to see,

You have to see,

You can see - by faith.

What's in your heart? Where do you want to go? What is it you really want to do? You only have one life to live down here on earth. What kind of life do you want to live? A mundane, in my comfort zone, occasionally stepping out, kind of life? Or, an on the edge, exciting, what's going to happen next, kind of life?

A Challenge

So you are going to make a decision - I am making a challenge. I don't think it's just me making this challenge - I believe it's your Heavenly Father who is stirring you up. He made an awesome deposit in you. Jesus deposited His life in you. He is looking for a return on His deposit. His deposit will bring forth your destiny if you let it run its course.

BUT I WANT TO TELL YOU - there are dogs that lay at the door of your destiny. There are dogs that lay at the door of your destiny. Isn't it odd to you that "dog" is "God" the wrong way round?

What are the "dogs" then?  Well dogs in the Bible usually represented the gentile, the ungodly, those who weren't familiar with God and His ways. Religious spirits! Do you know there are lots of dogs in the church?  Religious spirits - they have a certain kind of "knowledge" of God, but it's not really God. It has a form, but has no power and it keeps people from entering in. Dogs at the door. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees concerning that?

You keep people from the Kingdom - YOU prevent people from entering into the Kingdom - with all your laws and man-made commandments. Jesus was angry with those people - dogs.

Having a knowledge of God, but denying His power.

There are dogs - religious spirits, negative spirits, that make God's people qualify to be used by God. But Jesus already qualified us 100%.

Jealous Spirits

Dogs can also be jealous spirits, in people that don't want you to go further than them. A good teacher or instructor is proud when a pupil begins to accomplish something. But sometimes if that same pupil becomes too good, or maybe becomes better than the teacher, then the instructor or teacher feels threatened. They begin to pull the person back. They want them to remain the pupil, the beginner.

I knew a prophet who was asked to teach in a church. He did a "School of the Prophets" and it was great. He soon had everyone prophesying and hearing from God. One of the girls attending the school began to show manifestations of a really wonderful prophetic gift. Soon people were asking her to pray for them and wanting appointments with her. The first man, the one who ran the school, got upset about it. He began to criticize her and pull her down. He started to say negative things about her to the pastor and elders.

They asked her not to minister and for 4 years she sat and withered away. She didn't operate in her gift, because she was afraid. She thought she had done something wrong. It took about 6 months to get her really delivered from those dog bites and those religious dogs that stood in the doorway of her destiny.

Intimidation, lies. Mean dogs who were jealous, who wanted the limelight. Fear and disapproval, false standard just to name a few of the religious spirits. Dogs - religious mindsets.

Guess what? Jesus has made you perfect in the sight of His Father. It is His righteousness that you are covered with - not your own. Jesus switched. He took your righteousness which is like filthy rags and took it to the cross- then He gave you His robe of righteousness in exchange.

What a great "swap," your rotten rags in exchange for the beauty and awesomeness and righteousness of the Mighty Son of God.

Like the hymn writer says "Jesus, my robe of righteousness. His beauty is my glorious dress." How awesome is that? To be clothed in the holiness and beauty of the perfect Son - Jesus.

Don't be afraid of the dogs - Jesus has given you power over them. The dogs can only minister to you through lies - you have to choose not to believe those lies.

Be All You Can Be

Now is the time to be all you can be in God - you don't have to qualify - you just have to learn how to yield to the anointing.

God sees a great big vision for you. He is not limited. He is not limited by your inability, He is released through your believing in His ability.

You know what? If there is no food, the dogs will leave. If there is nothing for them to feed on, they will slink away. Don't feed them, don't listen to them, don't give them any advantage.

If they lie (bark at you) and tell you, "you are nobody, what do you know? What can you do?" Laugh at them and say "Thank you for reminding me who I am - thank you for reminding me who YOU are - thank you for reminding, I am somebody - I am part of THE BODY. I am royalty of the royalty."

God has a wonderful great big destiny and calling on my life. I am going to fulfill that calling, are you?

God's plan for you is not dull and boring - it's exciting and full of adventures. It might stretch your faith here and there - but you do have God's faith inside you.  To every man is given the measure of faith that's divine, unconquerable faith. Believe it. Go for it.

Have a spirit of abandonment to the purposes of God. God loves that childlike ability in you. Enjoy Him, He is a mighty God but He is also "Abba" (daddy). "Snuggle don't struggle, nestle don't wrestle." I encourage people to say these things in my meetings.

In the 5th century in Ireland some of the monks from the monasteries would board a little boat off the shore. It had no rudder, or oars. They trusted God to send the winds to take them where they were supposed to go. They were called "The Peregrini."  I would say that this was a spirit of abandonment to the purposes of God.

God wants to send the winds of the spirit to take you where you are supposed to go - His plan and purpose for your life. If you have been in my meetings you know I always get people to say "Jesus - whatever." It's good to say it every day. It's another way of saying, "Jesus I'm open to whatever you say."

Don't let the dogs keep you from the doorway of your destiny.  They are liars and thieves.

Kathie Walters

www.kathiewaltersministry.com

kathiewalters@mindspring.com

 

 

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