An Amazing Fact:In 2002, cancer patient Georgia Hayes won a $2.2 billion judgment in a lawsuit against her former pharmacist, Robert R. Courtney. His crime: Diluting her chemotherapy drugs with water. He did this to reap the profits from selling more of the expensive drug to other patients, but in the meantime, his victim missed her best chance for a cure because she was not properly treated. The pharmacist admitted to “watering down” drugs for over a decade, affecting as many as 4,200 patients! The 48-year-old father of five is now serving a 30-year prison sentence.
The dictionary defines “dilute” as: “to make thinner, lessen strength, adulterate, reduce value or efficiency, make fainter, to water down.”
That’s exactly what the devil is doing with the truth.
Today, many Christians are being spiritually weakened by this “watered down” gospel. They are being presented just enough truth to give them the illusion of salvation, but the dosage is so thin that they are never truly transformed by it.
Indeed, the apostle Paul warns of these perilous times in the last days when professed believers become “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:4, 5).
Jesus foretold a sad scene in the last great judgment day when professed Christians discover they have lost eternal life because they willingly allowed themselves to be lulled into a false security by teachers who told them, “Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).
How to Spot a Diluted Gospel
Every church wants to be successful, right? So how do churches typically measure success? By attendance, membership, and baptisms.
Unfortunately, this often creates the constant temptation to dilute the standards of membership to accommodate partially converted interests. Or to design the church service in a more theatrical way to attract and entertain secular-minded crowds.
There are a number of comforting lies that Satan will use to deceive you and your family and friends. If swallowed, these insidious deceptions can make you spiritually anemic. So how can we recognize a “watered down” gospel message? It’s a message that…
- Emphasizes grace but downplays the need of real reform,
- Urges people to be baptized before they are really converted,
- Doubts the power of Christ to keep us from sin,
- Mixes up Scripture with eastern philosophy and other religions,
- Leads people to believe that worldly prosperity is evidence of God’s blessing.
This “watered down” spirituality isn’t potent enough to heal the disease called sin that resides in every human heart. It lacks the power to completely transform lives. It compromises the work of Christ and the sufficiency of His blood.
Yet how often do we hear these compromising messages seeping from the pulpits across America? It’s around us everywhere. Our pews are filling up with converts with a superficial faith. When the real trials come, these souls will be like trees without roots—they topple over! (See Mark 4:16, 17.)
That’s why it’s so important for Amazing Facts to proclaim the gospel in its full strength!
Building on the Sand
Earlier this year, the world witnessed an unprecedented catastrophe: The Haitian earthquake killed an estimated 230,000 people and injured 300,000 more. Most of the deaths and injuries were from collapsed buildings. Why did so many walls crumble? Because many unscrupulous builders, to save money, diluted the concrete with sand and skimped on the iron reinforcement. (See Ezekiel 13:10, 11.)
Steven, one of our recent Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism (AFCOE) students, endured such an experience. Even though he was raised in a churchgoing family, he never really understood the full power of God’s love because he had only heard a diluted gospel!
After his parents divorced when he was a teen, Steven struggled with depression. While studying at a prestigious art college in New York City, he witnessed firsthand the terrorist attacks of September 11. Seeing the skyscrapers fall and the horrific loss of life sent him into a paralyzing emotional depression for years.
Then Steven moved to California where he met a man who befriended him, studied with him, and invited him to an Amazing Facts evangelistic presentation. At that seminar, the full power of God’s Word was presented to him in a way he had never before experienced. Even though he had attended church most of his life, Steven had no solid foundation in the Word of God. It took him 23 years to finally understand the undiluted love of Jesus—and his depression was healed!
I wonder how many millions of lives out there have been robbed of true joy and fulfillment by a “watered down” gospel?
Live Ammo!
In these last days, we are clearly in a battle for souls. I hope you’ll join me in fighting that battle. Our weapon is the sharp sword of God’s Word. Our goal is to help people come to Christ, get rooted in the full truth, and then teach them to go out and reach others.
Amazing Facts is now preparing an army of God for spiritual battle, with live ammo of truth, through our diverse AFCOE programs, which equips people to become evangelists, Bible teachers, and missionaries. It’s a place where students are carefully grounded in the undiluted Word of God and equipped to speak the truth.
Since completing AFCOE, Steven has become actively involved in ministering to others and making the most of his artistic talents for God’s kingdom. Praise the Lord! Thank you for making it possible.
Friend, the second coming of Christ is closer than we think. Yet millions of dear souls have been deceived into thinking they are Christians, only receiving a weak and diluted dose of the gospel serum. They need the full message of present truth to set them free!
I hope you see how your financial support makes a profound difference in the lives of searching souls all over the world. With it, Amazing Facts provides the whole truth of God’s Word through all of our ministry programs—not watered down or compromised to “tickle people’s ears.”
God bless you,
Pastor Doug