The Rogue Christian: The Status Quo Has Failed; It's Time to Go Rogue

By Mike Genung

God's people can sense it; we're losing our country. Sexual depravity is everywhere, the occult has gone mainstream, suicide rates are rising, and mass shootings are commonplace. Our nation is divided in a cultural civil war, and Christians are the enemy.
Yet, most churches rarely discuss these issues openly, let alone act as if there's a problem outside their doors.
The Rogue Christian takes a hard look at where we are today, explores the root causes of why the church has lost its salt, and provides the biblical action steps every believer can take to spark the spiritual awakening that will turn the church and our country around.
Rogue Christians have a passionate love relationship with the Lord that transcends status quo Christianity. The first step does not involve programs or checklists, but taking you deeper in your relationship with the Lord.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9781732312838

Book preview

Blazing Grace Publishing

PO Box 25763

Colorado Springs, CO 80936

www.theroguechristian.com

The Rogue Christian. The Status Quo has Failed; it’s Time to Go Rogue. 

©2020 by Mike Genung

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission, except for brief quotations in books and critical reviews. For information or reprint permissions, contact Blazing Grace Publishing at the address above.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

ISBN: 978-1-7323128-2-1

Printed in USA

More copies of this book can be ordered at www.blazinggrace.org or www.theroguechristian.com

Table of Contents

Part I:  The Status Quo Has Failed

1 The Onslaught of the Orcs

2 The Church under the Hood

3 The Sedating Effect of Positive and Encouraging

4 The Problem with Verse-by-Verse Teaching

5 Why We’ve Lost Our Salt

Part II: The Rogue Christian

6 Do You Know Him?

7 Perspectives

8 Your Most Powerful Weapon

9 The Power of Silence

10 Can You Drink the Cup?

11 Living in the Flow of Grace

12 The Way of the Rogue

13 The Rogue Church

14 How to Create a Safe Church

15 Invasion

Notes

Part I:

The Status Quo Has Failed

It is the battle of Helm’s Deep. Tens of thousands of orcs have flooded the valley; they’ve taken the bridge, and breached the gate. In the city, Rohan’s forces bravely put up a fight, but there are too few to withstand the advancing horde. As each line of defense collapses, the orcs continue to advance.

The women, children and elderly fled earlier to the interior passageways of the mountain, but that will only delay the inevitable. The orcs have no interest in taking prisoners; their purpose is to eliminate every man, woman, and child, or die trying. There is no way out through the back of the mountain; there is no escape. Apart from a miracle, Rohan is doomed.

1

The Onslaught of the Orcs

O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses;

you have been angry; oh, restore us.

 You have made the land to quake;

you have torn it open;

repair its breaches, for it totters.

You have made your people see hard things;

you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

-Psalm 60:1-3

It’s Sunday morning, and you’re in church. 5:00… 4:59… 4:58… A countdown timer is running on the twin, 20-foot LED video screens that adorn the front wall. Most of those who’ve arrived are in casual dress. The big game is this afternoon; some are wearing sports jerseys to support the home team. You spot cups of Starbucks coffee throughout the sanctuary. Some of the faithful are on their phones—texting, calling, or pulling up an app. By the time the service is about to start, half the sanctuary is full.

The worship band jumps into an energetic song to get the faithful going. Four clusters of megawatt speakers, arrayed on the ceiling, pipe the music through at a volume so loud no one can hear their neighbor singing. The video screens display the words of the song, intermingled with shots of the worship band, including the young woman on stage who is dressed in form-enhancing yoga pants.

Fifteen minutes into the service, most of the seats are filled. The worship band’s fourth song slows the pace, with a reverent tone to get the congregation ready for the message. The worship band leader encourages everyone to take a minute to greet the person next to you. Suddenly, everyone is smiling. Hi, how are you? I’m good. How about you?

The pastor prays and asks God to bless the service and then launches into a verse-by-verse message in Luke 10 that focuses on Mary and Martha. His message is uplifting and encouraging, spotted with a few jokes to lighten the mood and just enough salt to nudge people in the right direction.

Twenty minutes into the sermon, someone’s phone rings. The cute ring tone goes off three times before the embarrassed party can silence it, triggering irritated glares and quick glances from those in his vicinity. The good-natured pastor acts as if nothing happened.

His sermon ends with an invitation to those who are hurting to come forward for prayer with one of the pastoral staff. Out of a church of 500, three people take up his offer. As the worship band launches into their last song, the faithful begin to leave early.

The service ends, and the rush for the doors is on. Within minutes, only a few are left in the sanctuary. The comforting message coupled with uplifting music has brought God’s people a sense of peace. All is well. 

Every week, this scenario is played out in thousands of churches, and every week, Satan’s grip and influence expands and strengthens in the US.

The US is being torn apart by a cultural civil war in every corner of society, including the church.

Our government has split into two factions, both fighting for power. One nation under God has faded. During the past decade, the cultural civil war was inflamed with racial tension among people of all colors, particularly blacks and whites. Wedges grew among law enforcement, the military, and the general public.

In the big picture, we have lost wide swaths of cultural territory to those who have been deceived by Satan into believing that there is neither God nor absolute truth, and that everyone can do as they please, create their own reality, and see themselves as gods. Those of us who believe in the Creator of the universe are now enemies who must be silenced, instead of neighbors and allies who are on the same team, regardless of our disagreements.

The church isn’t immune to the virus of division. After Christianity Today, founded by Billy Graham, published an article proclaiming that President Trump should be removed from office, Billy’s son Franklin Graham lambasted it. The realms of Christian social media exploded, with God’s people squaring off on both sides.

What struck me was that I didn’t see anyone pointing out that the civil war in the secular world is just as pervasive in the church. Maybe it’s because we don’t want to face the truth that the fabric of every part of our culture, including the church, is being torn apart.

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste,

and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

-Matthew 12:25

Satan has rapidly expanded the territory he’s taken in the US

In the movie The Two Towers from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Saruman, a warlock, is seen creating an army of orcs. J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings books, describes orcs as evil spirits and demons. Orc is the Latin name for Orcus, the god of the underworld.

The orcs of The Two Towers have the bodies of men. Their teeth are pointed like fangs; their skin is leathered charcoal-gray. They possess eyes that burn with hatred. Orcs are bred with one purpose: to steal, kill and destroy.

Today, Satan’s army of orcs has infiltrated the US.

In August 2018, a group who call themselves the Satanic Temple unveiled an 8 foot statue of Baphomet, a demonic entity, at a First Amendment rally at the Arkansas State Capitol to protest a Ten Commandments monument already on the Capitol grounds. A cheering crowd of free speech advocates gave its approval of the display.

Four months later, the Satanic Temple installed another statue in the Illinois State Capitol. In a GoFundMe campaign to raise $1,500 for the spectacle, the group stated its mission: Chicago will no longer allow one religious perspective to dominate the discourse in the Illinois State Capitol rotunda during the holiday season…. Please consider what you may do to help us bring Satan to Springfield!1

The occult has gone mainstream. In November 2018 the Satanic Temple settled a lawsuit with Warner Bros. and Netflix after a reboot of the teen witch show Sabrina used a copy of the Baphomet statue in an episode. The Temple argued that using the statue not only infringed on its copyright, but damaged its reputation by portraying the statue as evil (emphasis added).2

Recent studies show that there are now as many as 1.5 million practicing witches in the US.3 This is up from a survey in 1990 that showed only about 8,000.4

Christian witches are cropping up with their own websites. One of their prophets stated, The Bible is a huge book of sorcery. You literally can’t get around that. You can’t get around Jesus being a magician.5

Go on Netflix, and you will find a wide assortment of shows with demonic or occult content. Broadcast TV has its dark offerings too. Fox premiered Lucifer in 2016. Satan, the central character, has left hell for Los Angeles to run a nightclub while acting as a consultant for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). After Fox cancelled the show in 2018, Netflix picked it up. One critic wrote, Lucifer’s got sex appeal, but the show’s hackneyed cop procedural format undermines a potentially entertaining premise.6

The occult is for sale, and the US is buying. Last year, while my daughters and I were out Christmas shopping, we visited a store with a display of supernatural products that included merchandise with a pentagram. During another trip to a mall in New Mexico, one store had an assortment of spell books and other paraphernalia for witchcraft. You might think those products were hidden in a back corner, but they had prime exposure in the middle of the store near the cash register. 

There may be no greater example of how the occult has gone mainstream than the ongoing flow of stories about groups of witches who are placing curses on President Trump. Some of these accounts have been published by national news outlets.7 Google witches place curses on Trump, and you’ll see what I mean.

Mass shootings are commonplace.

The New York Post reported that mass killings reached a record high in 2019.8 The news media and progressives often scream for gun control; a few talk about mental illness. But when is the last time you heard someone broach the subject of the demonic realm and how it influences and manipulates those who commit those crimes?

Churches aren’t safe havens from these acts of violence. In 2017, a man killed 26 people and wounded 20 others at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.9Other church shootings include the Charleston Church Massacre on June 17, 2015, where nine African Americans, including the senior pastor, were killed during