I believe it true, all men truly desire to know the Lord. I don't know if there is a single person who has not desired an encounter with Him. Too often, however, people have been caused to believe, "You can't experience God."
Jim Morrison of the Doors said, "You can't petition the Lord in prayer."
Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull said, "God is not the kind you wind up on Sundays."
Because men in the churches have chosen to not wait on the Lord and follow Christ's example of departing to a solitary place (as was his manner) well before dawn to pray, the Holy Spirit has left the churches. If someone goes to a church to find an experience with God, he finds only religious structure. The Holy Spirit has left. God's presence is not there. God can't be wound up on Sundays.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in a man's life can only be evident as he spends intimate time with Him. It was said of the disciples, "they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus (Ac. 4. 13)." Follow His example, watch and pray as He said, "Can you not watch with me for but one hour?" God's presence will become undeniable in you.
Jim Morrison had it wrong. You CAN petition the Lord in prayer. You MUST petition the Lord in prayer and be contrite and repentant before Almighty God. Living that way will cause you to move the hand of God in prayer. To any person who stays out of the place of defilement and regularly waits on the Lord, will the Father send a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The presence of the Holy Ghost will be undeniable in his life.
Since this is an individual event, all those in each church must similarly wait on the Lord every day for the presence of God to be evident in their lives and in their church once again. I pray, O God, those leaders in the churches will live this way and teach the people accordingly. Your message to the churches is, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Re. 2. 5)."
Cause them, O God, to see the candlestick (from which comes the presence of the Holy Ghost) has been removed. Cause them to remember from whence they have fallen. Grant them, O God, repentance. May each individual be of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Every day, O Lord, you remind me how far I had fallen, the shame of choosing the pleasures of Egypt and you show me your mercy. I'm no better than anyone. I'm simply a beggar who has found where there is food.
Showing posts with label dead church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dead church. Show all posts
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches
I believe the Church will have to endure some suffering. We read
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand (Da. 12.10).
This purification can happen now, voluntarily, or later, to our shame.
We read abundantly about the Church departing from the truth. This happened on an individual basis. I returned to where God wanted me to be shortly before Bible Rock Church broke up. In 2000, I had a rough time of hard pursuit after the world when God used Linda to shock me into repentance and back into the Kingdom. On February 19th, 2005, I made up my mind to return to the Lord with fasting and prayer. I fasted on the 21st & 22nd and prayed for my family, church, President, nation, military and local govt.
Later I set out to find a church which believed in and practiced prayer. Having found none, a year later, I ended up in Manhattan on 51st & Broadway in the quest for a praying church.
The fact is, if we don't return to the Lord with all of our hearts now, while we can see the nation being destroyed, it'll be very difficult for us by the end of the year. We have got to hear from the Lord. Our pastors are content to take our tithes and offerings, provide some entertainment and intellectual stimulation but are not giving any insight on what is at hand. Times Square Church pastors, however, are faithfully sounding the alarm.
Beloved, the Lord has promised, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets (Am. 3.7)." We must frequent the prayer closet and He will keep us ahead of the world system. We also have to warn the Church.
I had a picture of the Church on a showboat above Niagara falls. The water was perfectly calm. In the water were people, who were not part of the Church and unaware the boat was there. The people on the boat were oblivious to the people in the water headed toward the fall. Someone had released a dinghy from the boat and was going about rescuing souls. His partner with binoculars had noticed the peril ahead and was shouting at the boat to warn of danger. The band played on and the captain and crew continued dancing. Some were on the railing telling the two in the dinghy not to be so extreme, "This boat is a sturdy, powerful vessel with a dynamic pastor and great band," someone said.
The wet towel treatment is the religious response of those who have been studying scripture many years. They seem to be the "pit bulls" of the Church preventing oil from entering the lamp that the flame be not re ignited.
Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually (Lv. 24.2).
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Rv. 2.5).
Isn't it amazing how those "pit bulls" want to keep the Holy Spirit from returning to the Church?
Nonetheless, our job is to seek the face of God, warn the church and win souls. Some will listen. Maybe there will be an influential person in some church, somewhere, who will listen, seek God's face and lead the church into repentance.
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments: 6 Neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O LORD, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. 8 O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets (Da. 9).
I don't know about you but I am sickened by the notion that many churches are perceived by the members as so great, "Isn't this a great church, how'd you like the service?". The Church needs to repent like Daniel (one of the three most righteous men in the Old Testament).
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (Da. 12.10).
This verse is for this time, the time of the end. It is about those who will be obedient to Christ in this present darkness. We will be those righteous who pray effectually and fervently. We will be those who preach the Word, being instant, in season, out of season. We will be the wise for the winners of souls are wise. We, also will be those who sound the alarm, keeping clean hands.
Back to the question of the century, "When will the Church wake up?" Maybe later in the year, when the economy is in complete collapse. Many will be dumbfounded as we were at 10:00 am e.s.t. on 9/11/2001. But the wise shall shine as stars in the firmament.
Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand (Da. 12.10).
This purification can happen now, voluntarily, or later, to our shame.
We read abundantly about the Church departing from the truth. This happened on an individual basis. I returned to where God wanted me to be shortly before Bible Rock Church broke up. In 2000, I had a rough time of hard pursuit after the world when God used Linda to shock me into repentance and back into the Kingdom. On February 19th, 2005, I made up my mind to return to the Lord with fasting and prayer. I fasted on the 21st & 22nd and prayed for my family, church, President, nation, military and local govt.
Later I set out to find a church which believed in and practiced prayer. Having found none, a year later, I ended up in Manhattan on 51st & Broadway in the quest for a praying church.
The fact is, if we don't return to the Lord with all of our hearts now, while we can see the nation being destroyed, it'll be very difficult for us by the end of the year. We have got to hear from the Lord. Our pastors are content to take our tithes and offerings, provide some entertainment and intellectual stimulation but are not giving any insight on what is at hand. Times Square Church pastors, however, are faithfully sounding the alarm.
Beloved, the Lord has promised, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets (Am. 3.7)." We must frequent the prayer closet and He will keep us ahead of the world system. We also have to warn the Church.
I had a picture of the Church on a showboat above Niagara falls. The water was perfectly calm. In the water were people, who were not part of the Church and unaware the boat was there. The people on the boat were oblivious to the people in the water headed toward the fall. Someone had released a dinghy from the boat and was going about rescuing souls. His partner with binoculars had noticed the peril ahead and was shouting at the boat to warn of danger. The band played on and the captain and crew continued dancing. Some were on the railing telling the two in the dinghy not to be so extreme, "This boat is a sturdy, powerful vessel with a dynamic pastor and great band," someone said.
The wet towel treatment is the religious response of those who have been studying scripture many years. They seem to be the "pit bulls" of the Church preventing oil from entering the lamp that the flame be not re ignited.
Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually (Lv. 24.2).
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Rv. 2.5).
Isn't it amazing how those "pit bulls" want to keep the Holy Spirit from returning to the Church?
Nonetheless, our job is to seek the face of God, warn the church and win souls. Some will listen. Maybe there will be an influential person in some church, somewhere, who will listen, seek God's face and lead the church into repentance.
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments: 6 Neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, which spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O LORD, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. 8 O Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets (Da. 9).
I don't know about you but I am sickened by the notion that many churches are perceived by the members as so great, "Isn't this a great church, how'd you like the service?". The Church needs to repent like Daniel (one of the three most righteous men in the Old Testament).
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever (Da. 12.10).
This verse is for this time, the time of the end. It is about those who will be obedient to Christ in this present darkness. We will be those righteous who pray effectually and fervently. We will be those who preach the Word, being instant, in season, out of season. We will be the wise for the winners of souls are wise. We, also will be those who sound the alarm, keeping clean hands.
Back to the question of the century, "When will the Church wake up?" Maybe later in the year, when the economy is in complete collapse. Many will be dumbfounded as we were at 10:00 am e.s.t. on 9/11/2001. But the wise shall shine as stars in the firmament.
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