Interesting Church History - Don’t Be Deceived

Hey everyone out there!
I want to take you on a journey,

a little church history, very interesting
church history

and then I want to ask you some
very personal questions.

If you look at Christianity, Christianity
started in Israel as a body of believers,

who were led by the Holy Spirit,
who were preaching the gospel,

who were healing the sick,
who were casting out demons.

People repented, get baptized in water,
received the Holy Spirit.

They experienced persecution, but
they experienced the real life,

the life we read about in the Book of Acts.
So, it started as a body, a body of believers.

Then it came to Greece and became
a philosophy.

It moved from Greece to Rome and
became an institution.

It moved from Rome to the rest
of Europe and became a culture.

And it came overseas to America
and became a business, an enterprise.

But if you make the enterprise,
the business out of a body -

then that is prostitution. And this is,
sadly, what we have done today -

we have prostituted the body of Christ.
And Jesus is not going to come back

for a whore, or prostitute.

He is going to come back
for a beautiful, beautiful clean bride.

Lets look at the church history again.

Christianity started in Israel as a body
of believers who came together.

It was a movement. It was the Kingdom
they were preaching,

with a King - Jesus Christ.

They had everything in common often.
They ate together, they came together daily.

They were healing the sick.
They were casting out demons.

They were preaching the gospel
and people repented, got baptized,

received the Holy Spirit. And they
were living this amazing life

together with persecution because
that is part of it,

this life we read about in the Book of Acts,
the real life with Christ,

led by the Holy Spirit,
supernatural life.

But what happened?
Christianity changed many places.

It came to Greece and became
a philosophy.

And this is what it is for many people today.
Maybe this is what Christianity is for you

- just a philosophy. And Jesus is
just a big philosopher.

One among many.

But Christianity is so much more
than a philosophy.

And if you see Christianity as a philosophy,
one among many - you are deceived.

But what happened? It became a philosophy.
And then it grew, moved from Greece to Rome

and became an institution -
the Catholic Church.

Out of this we have the Lutheran Church,
we have many churches today

where church is an institution,

where many look at Christianity as something
you go and do in a building Sunday morning,

where the priest is a middle man
between you and God.

You go to a certain place, a holy place,
with some holy people,

who do some holy things, and then,
when you leave that place,

you leave God in that building.

Many people today see Christianity
as just an institution.

If you see Christianity as an institution
- you are deceived.

But then it came from there, from Rome,
and it spread all over Europe

and it became a culture.
And it was what I grew up in.

I grew up in culture Christianity.

I got baptized as a baby, I got confirmed.
I did what the church told me to do.

it was just a culture. I did never
go into a church... Yeah, when there was

a wedding or a funeral, because that
was what we did.

But I was christened. Why?
Because I was Danish.

It was the part of my culture.
90% at that time got baptized as a baby.

it was something you did in Denmark
because it was our culture.

I was deceived. I grew up thinking
that Christianity is like a culture.

If this is like you, if you look
at Christianity as a culture

and not as a personal, strong personal
relationship with God -

you are also deceived.

Then it moved from Europe to America
and became an enterprise, a business,

where you are not led by the Holy Spirit,
but you are led by the money

and it's all about the money, it's all
about getting that business running.

And now I am in America and I am shocked.
Like, some churches I've seen

it's almost like franchise,
the way they run it.

You run a church today like you run
"McDonald's" or "Burger King".

It have really many places became
a business.

And it's centered around the money
and about getting this business running.

I don't know where you are today.

You can see Christianity as a philosophy
and be all over the world today.

You can see Christianity as a culture
and be all over the world today.

You can see Christianity running as a business
and be all over the world today.

It's not only in America
it have become a business.

I want to say with this words:
Make sure that Christianity for you

is not a culture,
make sure it's not a philosophy.

make sure it's not a business.
Make sure that is the real stuff.

It's a movement, it's a family,
it's a Kingdom, it's a body of believers.

Make sure that your life looks like
the life you read in the Book of Acts.

That is the real thing.
Before it started to get destroyed

by so many other things.

God bless you out there!
Don't be deceived like I have been deceived

for many years. Don't be deceived.
See the truth. Take up your Bible.

Read the Book of Acts.
Read how the early church was living.

Look at your life. If your life doesn't look
life the Book of Acts,

how the early church was living,
then there is something wrong.

And it's not in the Bible there's
something wrong. It's in your life.

But I guarantee you. If you repent,
if you seek God

and start to step out on the Word of God,
you are going to experience

an amazing life, like we read
in the Book of Acts,

and it's going to change your life,
and you're going to come back to

how it was in the beginning.

God bless you all out there!
Bye-bye!