Cedric Fisher: "earnestly contending for the faith."
My new book has just been released on Amazon and is also available in paperback. Cheryl and I are praying that it will be a ministry to people who are deeply burdened for a lost friend or family member. Our daily prayer is that it will also reach people in bondage, broken by sin and hopeless. Only God can do what He did for me. He has promised to deliver anyone who will come to Him in full surrender.
When God delivered me from darkness over 4 decades ago there were numerous Believers speaking the truth, warning about the advent of deceivers and other Endtimes dangers. However, I since have witnessed a significant decline in the number of individuals warning about the Endtimes. What was once a popular topic is currently regarded as negative and counterproductive to the Believer’s peace, prosperity, happiness, comfort, and “best life now” trend. I believe that it is actually more counterproductive to numerical growth in this time of Seeker and Emergent churches.
The blunt truth is that the overwhelming majority of professing Christians in our nation enjoy life in their self-ordered environments. Changes that involve any inconvenience or distraction from their delightful pastimes are not popular. They only want as much godliness as is required to be viewed as a valid Christian and then fill in the rest of their life with pleasing and comfortable things and activities. It appears that they are not convicted of yielding their minds and emotional systems over to stimulation by every form of entertainment of the world system. It is perplexing to witness professing Christians become possessed with delirium over sports and yet seldom respond to anointed preaching, teaching, writing, et cetera.
I view their compromise as extremely dangerous considering the period that we are in. The consequence is a permanently closed mind that cannot receive any critical information by the way of the eye or ear gates. The reality is that Christianity is critically stricken with heresy, and that the world system is near to being prepared for Antichrist. Those facts have completely escaped their detection. God in His great mercy continues to send people to warn them.
It now appears that we are getting close to a catastrophic upheaval in our society. The fact is, a component necessary to such an event in our society, what I label the buffer zone, is completely missing. To clarify, I must illustrate by dividing society by spiritual boundaries. I view our society in the past as divided spiritually into three sectors. Sector one contained godly individuals, people who prayed and were devout in every other area of their lives. The second sector included both nominal Christians and secular people who, though they were not saved, had a moral base influenced by Christianity. The third section was composed of secular people that resisted most moral values and lived according to their will and desires.
A number of people are involved in a duty to the Body of Christ that is called “Discernment Ministry.” I believe the term to be a misnomer because it is neither discernment nor ministry. It is more observation and exposing by literature or social media everything and everyone influencing Christians with what is against God’s word. Additionally, it is also sounding the alarm with detailed information and identification of unfruitful works of darkness. However, every Christian ought to have discernment and the duty of ministry is something altogether different. So it needs a new term more befitting the effort. My choice would be simply “Watchman,” no extra word or subtitle.
Watchmen were common in the Old Testament but were never mentioned in the New Testament. They were as lookouts that spent a night or day shift in watchtowers or walking the tops of the city walls. Sometimes, as in the case of Ezekiel, prophets were called by God to be watchmen. Watchmen were very important to every walled city. They had to remain very alert for long periods and great eyesight was a requirement. It is likely that they developed certain skills, such as how to discern in the dark the difference between an animal and a human. The occupants of the city could sleep in peace and security knowing that they would be alerted if an enemy attacked or robbers tried to sneak into the city.
God’s watchmen today are similar in their duties. First, they know that they are called and do not feel comfortable doing anything else. However, the duty is difficult and thankless. There are much stress and many other negatives that make the job very harsh and demanding. In fact, many individuals who became watchmen have quit the job. Other ones have died prematurely. I know legitimate watchmen who have serious health issues and live in near poverty.
When they present an article, book, or video alerting Christians to a heresy or diabolical practice invading Christianity, there are mixed reactions. Very few Believers express their gratefulness. Other ones may be grateful but are never heard from. But then there are people who are apparently convinced that they have a God sent unction to punish the watchmen for their efforts. Their opposition is false accusations, insulting remarks, demeaning pejoratives, and spreading untruths about the watchman’s character or motives.
