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Stealing Souls from the Lord

with Feel-Good Messages

from the book

Turn back Finland! Nations, Look and Hark! I

“I charge you therefore before God

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

who will judge the living and the dead

at His appearing and His kingdom:

Preach the word!

Be ready in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort,

with all longsuffering and teaching.

For the time will come

when they will not endure sound doctrine,

but according to their own desires,

because they have itching ears,

they will heap up for themselves teachers;

and they will turn their ears away from the truth,

and be turned aside to fables.”

2. Timothy 4:1-4 (NKJV)

A member of a sexual minority who is starting a faith journey may even in the national church of Finland these days be received by a representative of the highest spiritual leadership, who openly declares that what God has defined as a sin in His Word has now suddenly been changed by human decisions to be permitted in God's eyes. (Laajasalo 2019, Bishop Teemu Laajasalo: Homosexuality is not a sin, disease or shame, discrimination against homosexuals is; Leppänen 2021, Bishop of Turku Mari Leppänen left Laestadianism - this is what a journey it has been).

If my task were not to proclaim to Finland’s national church the urgent call to seize the last opportunity for repentance, I would urge theological institutions and other related democratic bodies to seriously reflect on the failures in upholding the Word of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who granted us our independence, that have led to the current situation.

It is not enough to try to use humanistic teachings, created by people and wielded from positions of power (like the emperors of old), to change the Almighty's definition of sin into something that sounds more pleasant to human ears. Even more startling was reading the text published by a Finnish bishop, in which he expressed his view that Finland should follow the other Nordic countries in allowing same-sex marriages at the altars of Finland’s national church.

When one considers what Jesus endured on the cross as an innocent man nearly two thousand years ago to atone for our sins during the time of Easter, the idea of proclaiming that God’s holy definition of marriage should also be nullified at such a time seems almost incomprehensible. Yet even more incomprehensible is the reason cited in the writing: 'We are the last of the Nordic countries...'.

So, because neighboring nations have chosen the path of apostasy, we should follow too? Just like when the neighbor’s child ventured onto thin ice, now I want to go as well! Reading the simultaneous expression of concern for the nation’s youth in the same text, one can only join the Holy Spirit’s weeping over the state of the Nordic churches. God has clearly stated in His Word that the only way to ensure the well-being of future generations is to preserve justice and righteousness in society. The contradiction is glaring when, in the same writings, there is an attempt to dismantle the last remnants of righteousness from the churches while also expressing concern for the state of the nation’s youth. At the same time, it shows how we have forgotten how much we recently received from the Almighty when we called upon His name for help.

On a positive note, it is encouraging to see that Finland’s mainstream media has visibly responded to these concerns, at least on some level. Headlines highlight how Finland should not simply repeat every mistake made by neighboring countries. However, it is unfortunate that the impact of spiritual laws on the matter seems to be less and less understood, and as a result, one rarely sees any discussion of them alongside more secular solutions.

Both spiritual and secular actions have led to the nation’s distress, and both types of actions are needed to restore the situation to a better state.

When comparing the destructive impact of preaching feel-good messages to more familiar phenomena in the market economy, the current situation in Finland essentially resembles a scenario where a company’s managers, when receiving customers, begin recommending that they use the products or services of a competitor’s store.

Jesus should be the head (the highest leader) of all Christian and Messianic congregations, which is why I use the term 'manager' for the highest leadership in the church in this context. In practice, pastors who prioritize human desires and cravings over God’s Word are servants of the Lord who guide souls—those seeking the Almighty—into the arms of the enemy and into destruction, even in the name of our God. Just as the Holy Scriptures warn against anti-Christian actions, all of this is done by wrapping lies in beautifully packaged words like love and unity. Nothing is new under this heaven, and this situation, along with its consequences, has been foreseen in the Word thousands of years ago:

“I will stretch out My hand against Judah,

And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,

The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests

--Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;

Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord,

But who also swear by Milcom;

Those who have turned back from following the Lord,

And have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.”

Zephaniah 1:4-6 (NKJV)

Woe to Finland! What lies ahead for you if you are neither willing nor able to repent for the acts of apostasy that have already taken place, and no repentance is made in Finland’s national church! It must be remembered that even if one has not personally participated in these acts of apostasy, all citizens are in the same boat, bearing the consequences of apostasy for the entire nation. God’s own can certainly face the coming judgments with a calmer mind, but wouldn’t it be better to turn back to the God who granted Finland its independence and avoid the judgments altogether?

Dear Finnish people, those living among you, and the leaders of the Finnish nation, even if you choose, through the possibilities of democracy, to elect as the nation’s secular and spiritual leaders, and as the pastors of congregations, people who lower God’s Word beneath all human desires, God still remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. When a nation embarks on the path of preaching ‘itching ear’ sermons, as described in the Holy Word, the situation may momentarily look good in economic terms and feel pleasant. Sermons that cater to itching ears are undoubtedly more enjoyable to listen to, as they don’t stir the conscience toward repentance. But at the same time, people are being robbed of the opportunity to repent, which Jesus Himself mentioned as a condition for the forgiveness of sins and salvation.

God will certainly provide for the operations of the congregations in one way or another if the quality and results of their work are measured by the number of people praising their saving faith in worship services, rather than by the number of members or church taxes, which may have even been increased by means that mock God’s name and honor.

The ever-expanding path of liberal democracy in Finland has already provoked God’s wrath over the nation. I would not have been given the task of writing this message otherwise. Just as with ancient Ephraim, this is the last opportunity given to the Finnish nation to turn from its current path. As the Holy Word describes in similar situations, without repentance, only the valley of tears lies ahead, where the loss of all that was beautiful will be mourned, realizing too late the consequences of spiritual blindness for the nation.

If schools, homes, and even churches no longer provide teaching on the need to uphold righteousness as a condition for the nation’s independence and peace, how can we expect citizens in voting situations to have the ability to choose leaders who safeguard the things essential for the nation's well-being?

If a nation fails in the eyes of God in upholding justice and righteousness in its leadership, even the freedom of religion granted by the Almighty—to follow other gods and indulge in all kinds of human desires—cannot continue for long. When God, as the worst consequence of apostasy, takes away peace and independence from a nation, it is often only then that people realize the necessity of maintaining certain boundaries in the nation’s actions and decisions. Therefore, all I can do is hope and pray that the leaders and people of Finland will become like the exception of Nineveh, as described in the Holy Word— a nation that did not follow the example of other apostate nations, but instead chose to truly repent and be spared from judgment.

Finnish people, those living among you, and the leaders of Finland, do you truly wish to undermine justice and righteousness in the nation and turn them, in the eyes of the God who granted your independence, into a reign of injustice? This will ultimately lead your descendants to be forced to humble themselves before God once again, in the midst of war, pleading on their knees for His help to preserve their lives.

Why is the way of joy, love and teaching the Word so rarely welcomed by the people?

And is allowing everything in a nation truly justifiable with love and unity?

No, it isn't. That's why we will continue by addressing how the commandment of love is being used as a trump card to promote apostasy.

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Scriptures taken from the New King James Version:

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