Contemporary Compromise: Standing for truth in an age of deception

by John Goetsch

The emergent church movement has placed God's truth ''up for sale.'' And so called ''Christians'' are flocking to the movement, heedless of the error. The contemporary church has become man-centered, pleasure oriented, and entertainment driven. Modern deception and trickery are hiding behind the attractive masks of pluralism, tolerance, spirituality, and compromise. God's Word warned us of these very events, and equips us to stand strong upon the truth in a world tragic, spiritual heresy. This book gives a clarion call to every believer to ''try the spirits!'' Every page pulls the mask off of modern compromise and equips Christians to stand for pure doctrine and holy living in age where both are at stake. Once again we need a generation of believers who will firmly grasp the baton of God's unchanging truth and securely place it in the hands of the next generation.

Genres: Christian

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2010

Reviews

[Omar · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I agreed with most of the main points of this book I have to say it is very shallow and poorly written. I believe much of the book was transcribed from sermons and so is full of personal stories and at times it was hard to follow the line of thought. It seems he was not careful to check the context of many Bible proof texts and often his logic was faulty as well. I had a hard time figuring out the intended audience. At times he wrote as if to new believers, and at other times as if to mature christians. In either case, it was not written to convince.

That being said, there was still a lot of truth in the book, but it was also full of oversimplifications—as on page 43 where he writes, “Stay with the Truth and you’ll stay on track!” While true, does the author not realize that everyone "stays with” what they think is the truth? The main point of the book seemed to be, “Why would you choose error when you could accept truth?” (as if everyone recognizes the singular “truth” but stubbornly rejects it and says, “no, I want to be wrong.”)

Also, I nearly drowned in the personal stories, like his retelling (P.30) of a young pastor who had been preaching for three years without a single convert. Finally, he switched to the KJV and they, “haven’t had a single Sunday since where someone did not get saved!”

I would also have liked more clarification of what he meant on page 143 where, speaking of people backsliding into sin, he says, “Every step you take toward Him [God], He moves a step toward you. Every step you take toward Him gets doubled, because He is moving toward you with each step. The reverse is likewise true. When we move away from God, He moves away from us… We may mot think we are moving that far, but the distance doubles with every move.”

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book twice now getting more out of it each time. Mr. Goetsch does a good job building a case as to why we are seeing a continual decline in the way people view living for the Lord and the church. If young people growing up in churches today would read this and allow God to use it in their life than the future of our churches will be much stronger than they appear to be head in most churches today.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a timely book for our generation. Worth the read. I especially thought the first half of the book was helpful.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encouraging

[Daniel Woodcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was very pleased with this book. Glad to see some standing for the truth.

[Sue Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent presentation of the Biblical principles of separation with illustrations that stick !!