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called by God, church, experience, glory, joy, Michael Clark, prophesy, suffering, T.A. Sparks, the cross
Destruction of the Church of Reconciliation in Berlin’s ‘death zone’ in January 1985
(Picture credits https://www.rbb-online.de)
My thoughts on this issue were inspired by Michael Clark with whom I had an exchange regarding the time we might live in now, about 2,000 years after Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. Even if we merely look at the circumstances around us, the political situation of so many run-down countries, the increasing number of trouble spots in the world, and the not even remotely comprehensible approaches of “truths” in religion, science, and pseudo-scientific fields (such as esoteric and occult doctrines), we might begin to feel uneasy by the threat of chaos closing in on us.
There may be people who are still insecure about how to seek and serve God the best way and are mulling over joining a church which offers a default way of approaching the Divine for money or choosing the more difficult way of searching for God on their own… but for free. Yes, free of charge (tithes/church taxes/donations), however, not pain-free. Seeking and finding God through Jesus Christ means getting to know His sufferings too when we have taken up our cross of dying to our self-will. Nonetheless, what should not be kept secret is that the reverse side of the coin of suffering with Christ is knowing the heights and glory of a spiritual life the average church member who trusts being led by a human being (i.e., a cleric) can only dream of. You might have sensed that already, dear reader, I want to challenge you here a bit. 😉
As for the church age being over (or not), I found an interesting excerpt in one of T.A. Sparks’s articles where he reflected upon God’s pending judgment which always ends one specific age by bringing in its wake destruction and chaos before the new age begins.
The last call of God, as judgment is pending, is a call to Himself. Here then is the call of God in our time. The last movement of the people of God is to Himself: not to a movement as such; not to a teaching or interpretation of truth; not to a sect or party; not to an enterprise or mission – but to Christ. The final true and Divine movement is to the Lord Himself. The sheer pressure of the conditions in the gathering storm and tempest will demand a leaving of all lesser interests and objects, however good a purpose they may have served hitherto, and a moving toward the Lord Himself. ‘Things’ divide; the Lord unites. ‘Things’ must pass; the Lord abides. The time comes when all the means and accessories which the Lord has sovereignly used will cease to avail. This includes all the organized side of Christianity, and the Lord will force the issue as to how much there really is of Himself.
http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/002100.html
Could it be that some of us already heard that call of God to Himself and that they therefore left the former traditional gathering places in order to be part of a “not-yet-fully-established” new order God has had in mind? Could it even be possible that God prophesied such things before? For it is written,
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Is 43:18-19 ESV)
Did we not observe that the mainline churches have become deserts because they are falling apart due to more and more revealed scandals? Is that not a sign that many churches – not all, perhaps – have not been focused on Jesus Christ but merely on this-worldly things and on how to keep the “system” going?
I have found it easier to seek GOD on my own that is for sure.
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I am glad to hear that, Fred. 🙂
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Fred, don’t forget that, “…he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb 11:6, KJ2000). You are a blessing, dear brother!
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Someone pointed out that God does not tell time in hours, days, or even years like we do, but in epics or dispensations if you will. One age lasted from the fall of man to the flood, the next one was from the flood to Moses and the age of the law. That age came to a close 2000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel ch 2), not just an appointed few as in the Old Covenant.
With all this in mind, think of how traumatic it was at the end of each of these ages… a world ending flood, Egypt all but destroyed, the destruction of the temple and Israel as a nation and the Jewish worship and sacrificial system, etc. What do you think will be the sign of the end of the church age before God ushers in what I believe to be “The Age of the Bride and the Bridegroom”? Won’t it be a complete destruction of this false system built by men around the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Take a look at that picture that Susanne felt led to post with this blog! It is a picture of the destruction of “The Church of Reconciliation.” For the past few years all denominational leadership have been striving to bring all their organization into reconciliation in a sort of man made unity and it is failing no matter how many doctrines they do away with to come into agreement with one another. Jesus came not to bring peace but the sword! All man made sects will be divided against one another just as it was at the tower of Babel and Babylon the Great is the end result of the man made religions that have formed around Christianity and God’s judgement is upon it. Why? Because He is ushering in a NEW dispensation!
Peter wrote,
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pt 3:8 ESV)
A day is as a thousand years with God. We are also about to go into the third millennium of the church age, but not without a bang! Hosea prophesied,
“Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” (Hos 6:1-2, KJ2000)
Yes HE is tearing us, we the church! It is not the devil or ISIS or communism or anything else. These man made temples that Christendom is so focused on are coming to an end along with the political systems that support them. Nowhere in the Bible did Jesus command the apostles to go forth and build churches so Christians would have a place to worship! Quite the opposite! He pronounced that all worship would no longer be in holy places, but true worship of His Father would be in the Spirit and in Verity, truth in our inward parts, our hearts. He also said that the temple system would be torn down and that HIS temple would be made of LIVING stones, the very hearts of the true worshipers!
So, all that said, AFTER two days (2000 years) of Him taring us, HE will heal us and bind up our wounds. AND in the third day, not at the end of it, HE will raise us up THAT WE MAY DWELL IN HIS SIGHT! Jesus is coming back for His perfect bride, not a divided and self-destructive church system that is so focused on its own greatness that it can not see Him coming! Look up, dear saints of God who truly love the Son for your redemption draw nigh!
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WOW! What an excellent blog article of your own you just posted on here, Michael! ⭐
Looking forward to seeing it published on A Wilderness Voice soon. 😉
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Susanne, I got my blog article finished and posted. Thank you for your insights, the quote from TAS and that very graphic picture of the collapsing church. Once again God has used you to inspire me. You are such a blessing. Here is the URL to my blog… https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/the-bridegroom-cometh/
🐻
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You’re very welcome, Michael. Thank you for having inspired me yesterday to write this small post of mine.
You are a blessing to me, indeed. 🐱
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Susanne, I love the way the Spirit uses us to encourage and inspire one another to go deeper into Christ. You are a wonderful blessing from our Father to me to whom I will be forever grateful. ⭐
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Thank you, Michael. I am so grateful, too, to have come to know you and to experience more and more depths of the Spirit together with you.
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Beautifully expressed, Michael.
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Thank you, Anna.
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Much of the church attendance requirement with Hebrews Scripture quoted has been much to my chagrin. Recently I was lamenting to my mother and said, “I have been captivated by Christ, my heart has been gripped by grace, and I have not one iota of a desire whatsoever to enter into a building and play that whole scene.” I know and have “met” many who do not comprehend that…but in recent months I have learned much of the Spirit and it is better to be led by that inner guidance than anything outwardly. Period. End of story. 🙂
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Yes and amen to your story, Becky! 🙂
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Becky, this might sound harsh, but what you have and what the church going crowd does (from their lack) are like comparing being married to and living with the one you love versus going once a week to be intimate with them at the local brothel. You have chosen wisely with your heart dear friend.
As for Hebrews 10:25 which they threw in your face to validate the shallowness of their relationship in Christ, you might want to read a study I did on this verse and its REAL meaning.
https://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/just-who-is-really-forsaking-the-assembling/
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I have seen that article you wrote. It was good to read again. Thank you for your encouragement, Michael. I believe that if God wanted me elsewhere, He would let me know. Unless that happens, it is best for me to follow Him. As you know 🙂
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I’ve written a couple of articles on Hebrews 10:25 as well, more or less like Michael’s, but not plagiarized, I promise. 😉
The one unique thought about assemblies, came through my experience as a (former) Quality Control guy for the aerospace industry. One of the Military Standards most familiar to us QC guys, is Mil-Std-130 which governs part marking. Believe it or not, Mil-Std-130 defines the word “assembly” the key of which is that an assembly is a group of individual parts “joined together to perform a specific function”.
So, what “function” is the assembly of the brethren to accomplish? 1st Corinthians 14:26-33 is a good place to start.
So when the paid professional hireling usurps all the functions of the assembly entirely to himself, is it a functioning assembly? Like most every other accusation from the pulp-it, its the accuser who is most often guilty of the accusation. In the sense of fully functioning, the Sunday morning religious theater is NOT a Biblical assembly.
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Hahahaha… “pulp-it”… I like that, Jack. 🙂
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Yup, Jack, it is what we who have worked in small engine repair, call a “Box Job.” All the parts are there in the box that the customer brought to us after his failed attempt to make it work. They are assembled by the owner in a box, but they are not assembled as the Maker intended and are useless the way they are. Too bad pastors aren’t as wise as the parties that brought them to us so they could be assembled up to the specs of the Maker. 🙂
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Pingback: The Bridegroom Cometh! « A Wilderness Voice
Thank you very much for the pingback to my blog, Michael.
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You are so welcome, Susanne. 🐻
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Thank you for being YOU, Michael. 🐱
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One of the most unsettling things I’ve done to examine my beliefs, is to compare the 4 books of the gospel, with the rest of the new testament. Take the word “church” for example; Jesus used it just 3 times (Matthew 16:18 and 18:17), whereas it is used 113 times in Acts through Revelation (KJV translation). The Greek word “ekklesia”, which translators have rendered “church”, actually means “assembly”, yet it is translated “assembly” just 3 times: in Acts 19:32, 19:39 and 19:41. That passage refers to a civic gathering of the Ephesians to address the threat The Way posed to their profitable business of making and selling silver shrines of the idol Artemis (Diana).
About whether Jesus even used the word “ekklesia” (church), consider whether He would have spoken Greek, the language of Rome, Israel’s oppressors, or would Jesus have spoken Aramaic, the regional dialect at the time, or Hebrew, the sacred language of God’s people? Matthew 16:18 is such a solemn moment in Jesus’ earthly ministry, it’s difficult to imagine Him speaking any language other than Hebrew in front of the 12. Personally, I think putting the word “church” into Jesus’ mouth is not honest of the translators. And for men to undertake “church” building programs, based on Jesus comment “I will build MY church”, is man’s usurpation of Jesus role. Jesus told them to “make disciples”, not “build churches”. And where there is just ONE Lord, ONE body, ONE faith, ONE baptism, the plural of “church”, i.e. “churches”, is a lie in and of itself!
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6 KJV)
So what if Jesus has always been about the work of “assembling” His spiritual temple with us as “living stones” surrendered to Him, while men have chased their tails building physical “churches” which are a kind of Egypt? I suppose what I am getting at, is I no longer believe that the so-called “church age” was ever intended by our Savior, although He has allowed it, while quietly and invisibly He has gone about the work of building HIS spiritual temple and royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:4-9).
For years now I have struggled deeply with the verbal expression of my faith in the Messiah, for the simple reason that even our language has been co-opted by the enemy. If I say the word “church”, most everyone thinks of a building which is in direct conflict with scripture (Acts 7:48, 17:24, et al). I left all that years ago to cleave to Messiah! So how can I call myself a “Christian” when I know the Messiah’s name was NOT Christ, NOT Jesus and it was the Roman oppressors in Antioch, who began calling followers of “The Way” by the derisive name “Christians”? I reject all the Romanizations of the faith and follow Messiah alone, which is difficult because even the scriptures which tell us of Messiah are littered with Romanisms.
How does a believer even speak of their faith, when the enemy has stolen our language?
I hope in my lifetime to see the day that the Lord throws them down, with fire and violence, for obscuring the Truth.
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Yes, Jack, been there, done that too, that is, comparing the word “church” with “ekklesia”.
If I do not feel comfortable with a word in Scripture today, I am more cautious than I was in the past. Only if I find a translation that immediately hits me, I know it was inspired by God.
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The only remaining struggle I have with man’s institutional church, is for the people who remain in it and are deceived. I have, in the past, hoped and even labored for its reformation, but have only been lumped in the process. Delivering me from any feeling of obligation to help repair the IC, the Lord has not only shown me it was never of Him in the first place, but also He has shown me His intent to utterly destroy it (Revelation 18). I think we can agree that laboring to repair that which the Lord intends to destroy is the epitome of a “vain work” 😉
So, this morning while waking up, the Lord brought to mind Revelation 3:20
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
While written to the “church in Laodicea”, upon whose door the Lord is knocking, it is individuals He enters into and sups with, not the the Laodicean church as a whole (or institution).
If indeed man’s church is engaged in whoredom, where the Lord says His people are “in her” and He is calling them “out of her” (Revelation 18:4), then to ask the Lord to “come in” is to ask Him to enter into the whore as well. Hence, the Lord remains on the outside looking in and calling His people out unto Himself. Any effort by His people to go into her and reform her, or to “usher in revival”, or any other such nonsense, is futile.
There is but one call, and that is to “come out of her, My people”. Anyone who hears otherwise, is listening to their own religious nature.
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Yes and amen, Jack. 🙂
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You would have gotten along well with the Pilgrims and the Puritans. (That’s a compliment!)
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Probably … Dad always said I was a “turkey” (that’s a joke!) 😉 😀
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Some years ago, I discovered that I’m directly descended from the Puritans. Doing the research, I also found that they were nothing like the popular stereotype. According to their own diaries (primary source information), they really did have a vibrant sense of humor. They knew how to throw a good party and they were colorful dressers (They may have worn the black and whites on Sundays). What set them apart was that they made no distinction between the sacred and the secular. They did not compartmentalize life. To the Puritans, all of life was sacred. Insofar as possible, they lived every area of life so as to please the Lord and grow in character. They took their faith seriously. Imagine that!
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Unimaginable! 😉 Have you ever blogged about that, Dr.? I was unable to find anything about that on your website. I’d be interested to read more about it and the source material if you have any references. The note about humor is especially interesting because I’ve often found modern believers afraid to laugh; not that they do not have senses of humor, but because when in religious company, they’re afraid to laugh. In fact, years ago when I submitted a number of humorous original songs to the Christian music industry, one reply said “there is no room for humor in Christian music.” So I took a job in the aerospace industry making bombs and bombers.
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I remember one time after having a spinal tap and I was spared of a humongous headache for a day and my brother took me to church many years ago. The preacher was preaching and I laughed out loud. I was the only one laughing and my brother just gave me a glare. Then when we left my headache came back! I didn’t go back to that church. In fact I rarely went to church. I hate rituals. I did however go to another church about 10 years ago maybe longer than thatago to a laughing church. I thought I missed a joke. I asked why is everyone laughing? The person that took me said it was the Holy Spirit laughter. And everyone was laughing and some were rolling around on the floor and acting strange and I just didn’t get it. I didn’t go back after that.
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Ouchee!! That was Pentecostal charismatic stuff… “Holy” laughter and worse… 😛
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Well we can all guess who the preacher was. I won’t name him though. I went to another like that when I was actually laughing at the people who were acting strange. And yet another person who took me there glared at me like I was disrespecting what was going on. I just said I had never seen anything like it before. Someone pretending to be a fish? It was funny!
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Well, it was not funny when I finally realized that those demons who caused us to laugh and “more” were really EVIL and I suffered from paranoia after having left the cult. It was not fun at all, Stacey… 😦
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Here’s an outstanding reference:
Leland Ryken. (1986) Worldly Saints: The Puritans As They Really Were, Zondervan Publishing House. The author is a professor at Wheaton College. He writes very colloquially. I probably highlighted, bracketed, or circled at least 50% of it.
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Yes, Jack, I quit praying for the Lord to bring revival into that system as well, when He told me, “Michael, do you really think I want to give birth in that system so they can tear my infants in half as they fight over them?” Then He told me, “They are blind guides leading the blind. Leave them alone and let them fall into the ditch.” I know for me, falling into their effluent filled ecclesiastical ditches and lying in them for a while was the only thing that finally got me to quit following men instead of Christ.
One further thing about the present situation in the Laodicean church system, you have to remove that chapter break in your thinking and keep on reading John’s letter as it was originally written. The solution for the “any man” that Jesus wins to Himself out of that system in chapter three is no longer a closed door with Jesus locked outside! THAT is over with!
“After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the spirit, [13] and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne!” (Rev 4:1-2, nrs)
The same Jesus that John observed outside that closed door system moved on! John turned and he saw an OPEN DOOR in heaven! Not only that, but he heard Jesus this time talking to him loudly like the voice of a trumpet saying, “COME UP HERE FOR I HAVE THINGS TO SHOW YOU THAT ARE NEXT FOR ALL WHO OBEY MY HEAVENLY CALL!” What did John see? He saw Jesus sitting on His throne in all His glory.
My brother, Christ has so much for us to see and experience, but from my own experience I can tell you that we have to quit licking our wounds and worrying about that church mess and follow the sound of HIS voice and obey His upward call, not the horizontal and downward calls of carnal men. God has SO much for us, but we must finally break-off from all that is carnal and grow into all He has for us in the Spirit, but we can’t do that while we are distracted by the things which are earth bound.
“Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God,” (Heb 6:1, nrs)
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Susanne, interesting and timely post along with the comments. I do believe the hour is very late. Again, we see this by the condition of the church today. What really resonated with my spirit was that picture of the falling church and what T.A. Spark’s wrote, “The last movement of the people of God is to Himself:…” THE LAST MOVEMENT…and this we are seeing now, i.e., those who are leaving the system, the institution. Jack, what you wrote concerning Laodicea was spot on. Per Rev. 3:20, the Lord Christ Jesus, himself, is standing outside the church knocking, he will not go inside the man made institution, those who are the “called out” ones, those who hear his voice and open the door (the ekklesia) must go outside the church to meet him. His Holy Spirit no longer resides and operates in these buildings. “There is but one call, and that is to “come out of her, My people”. THIS IS THE LAST MOVEMENT within Laodicea. And what I hear often when I run into those I attended church with in the past is, “yes, this is a problem but it is not a problem in MY church.” They choose to remain inside the walls of their building puffing themselves up with the notion that they are the only church that has and teaches truth. “Not us, all the others are falling away.” Rev. 3:17, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and HAVE NEED OF NOTHING; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:” Michael, your comments were amazing, wonderful insight. We are currently witnessing not only the collapse of the church (religion) but we are also witnessing the collapse of our political system. Many evangelicals are running to and fro looking for that one candidate who will be the “savior” of America and Christianity. Yes, it is all coming to an end and very quickly I might add. The Bride says, “Come Lord Jesus!”
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Thank you, Nancy. Your comment reminds me of someone who called to tell me that they had “felt the Holy Spirit move” in the church I had left the year before.
My reply was one of those involuntary prophetic blurtages: “was He moving towards the door, and, why didn’t it occur to you to get up and follow Him out?” 😉 😀
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You are absolutely Hilarious Jack! Thanks for being you!
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Thank you for sharing your personal insights with us on here, Nancy.
What you wrote about Rev 3:17 was something I had to experience personally many years after I had left the church (eight years later, to be precise). The presence of the living God and His consuming fire made it very clear to me that I have nothing in my (old) self that would ever be worthy or useful to serve Him. Although it was a VERY painful encounter with Him, I think everyone inside or outside the system needs to go through God’s cleansing and purifying fire so that God can use us exclusively for His purposes. The apostle Peter confirmed,
“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Pt 4:17-19 ESV)
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Susanne, once again you stirred up the Spirit within me to share something from my heart.
You wrote, “I think everyone inside or outside the system needs to go through God’s cleansing and purifying fire so that God can use us for HIS purposes.”
Yes, dear sister, this is the way of the Lord and He has always required His offerings to pass through the fire. Everything and every work we propose to give must pass through His fires of purification including our own hearts. In the Book of Numbers we read a very telling commandment that the Jews who had come back from war had to strictly follow,
So many Christians come to Christ and are either unaware that they have NOTHING that God can use without it all passing through His fires of purification (the dark night of the soul and the wilderness) or they are willfully ignorant and use the powers of their flesh and their personal charisma to try and do His work for Him. The trouble is that soon the stinking smell of the flesh and their pride is all over it just like Cane’s sacrifice. God rejects it and they have to spend more and more human effort to prop it up and keep it going.
“And Abraham said unto God, ‘O that Ishmael might live before you!'” (Gen 17:18, KJ2000) and God’s answer to the works of the flesh is always the same, “But my covenant will I establish with Isaac,” the miraculous child of God’s promise.
Paul wrote,
The arrogance and pride of the church organizations of men always make men and their works its foundation. Each of these organizations are founded by a man or a woman with lots of personal charisma that men blindly follow them. Instead of each person being founded ON CHRIST, they seek a following that will give them unquestioned authority and loyalty to THEIR vision who will do what they say! Well “the day shall declare” what manner of work each of us have built. We are in that final day of the purifying fire of God and all that man has done by and of the flesh is going up in smoke. Jesus said, “The flesh profits nothing!” The real question is what will be left of all our works when we stand before the piercing gaze of God? Those who have been purified by His fire, His sheep who wait for HIM to move in their midst, will hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” And the self-motivated and self-promoted goats will hear, “Depart from you who work inequity, I never knew you.”
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Congrats, Michael! Another great blog post-to-be. 😉
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Amen!!!
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Amen, Susanne! While I was an active member of an SBC church, I too was guilty of believing that we were the only ones within our community who remained in truth, and that included all the other SBC churches as well as other denominations. After all, our preacher sure can preach a powerful sermon, not like all the other lukewarm, worldly churches. Oh what arrogance! Again, it was this attitude of “we have need of nothing,” and that is a dangerous deception. Praise God, He showed me otherwise and I have since repented. Yes, God’s purifying fire hurts, but the new growth that follows is for His purpose and glory! A word of caution (to self), we can just as easily become arrogant and prideful having been “called out,” so knowing what we know now, we should have compassion and act in humility towards those who continue to remain in blindness within these buildings. We can warn and be a witness as we are led, but it is, ultimately, the Holy Spirit who will lead them out of “Egypt.” If this is so, they will not return.
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Yes, indeed, Nancy, I think it is very easy to fall because of pride when someone thinks being called out would make us any “better” than other human beings (esp. those in the churches). We are all the same on the inside unless God saves us and brings forth a new creation with a new heart and a new mind.
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Susanne, a few posts above included several messages about the Puritans. A number of their prayers were compiled in a book called, Valley of Vision. The book is awesome.
One of their prayers included:
“Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.”
Imagine for a moment that heaven is at the ceiling of the room where you are sitting and hell is at floor level. Most ministers today begin preaching halfway in between. They’re more than happy to preach about the glories of heaven, three steps to wisdom, five steps to forgiveness, or seven steps to whatever.
However, to grow we need to fully appreciate the magnitude of the gap between good and evil; heaven and hell; and sin and righteousness. From the bottom of the well you can see the stars even in the daytime. The deeper the well, the brighter the stars.
On one hand, we don’t need to overdose on the hellfire and brimstone preaching of the early 20th Century; on the other hand, we don’t need to overdose the “Sweet bye and bye” either. We need to hear the wholeness of the gospel message from Eden to heaven. The Bible presents the good, the bad, and the ugly–straight up! We grow to the extent that we fully understand the risks as well as the rewards. What do you think?
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Lloyd, I believe that we need to know the Person sinned against on a very personal and intimate level and realize the greatness of His love and grace toward us so that we want to root out sin in our own life completely.
As for preaching, we need to speak the words God gives us RIGHT NOW. There is no rule or principle to be followed but to listen to His voice every moment (which is anything but easy). I summarized my thoughts on this issue in the following poem. I recall having posted it in a comment on your blog before.
PLEASE PRAY AND PREACH
A preacher who did never pray
Would surely not have much to say
But platitudes and human stuff
Of such bullshit we had enough
No yes-man and no moralist
No self-made man evangelist
No loveless grumpy chatterbox
No faceless coward and no ox
Who’s drawn by selfishness and fame
To play that ugly demon’s game
A man who thinks that dark is light
And trusts in reason’s fooling might
With these tin soldiers, we’re fed up
Up to the brim they filled the cup
For all those hungry, thirsting souls
Who do not know what are their goals
If all those preachers don’t repent
Their preaching will come to an end
God doesn’t need such lifeless talk
He needs a man who shares His walk
Down on his knees he’ll hear His voice
That softly shuts out all that noise
Which springs from human worrying
And fear, and pain, and earthly thing
The Lord alone knows how to preach
And that our hearts are out of reach
Whenever shallow talk comes up
In churchly social gospel club
Please, pray, and preach as you are led
After your soul by God was fed
With divine wisdom and His sword
That lifts men up who know the Lord
Discernment and compassionateness
Will help you bring to end all mess
And finally all men will see
This is a man with Heaven’s key
https://enteringthepromisedland.wordpress.com/2014/06/27/prayer-preaching-and-love-do-they-belong-together/
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I’m sorry Susanne. That was my first experience seeing something like that as I was used to being in a catholic and or more reserved churches. Looking back of course I realize just how demonic it was. And just how demonic that one church was with the “holy laughter”. And it is sad indeed if these people are still falling for it. I am cried out to be honest. When I finally stumbled on the truths I was horrified. Even some dreams left me feeling horrified to be sure. You’re right it isn’t funny but when I first saw that it was funny to me. Just being honest.
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No prob, Stacey. There were funny moments, indeed. I remember myself playing piano while kneeling on the floor. I could not “see” what I did there, but the outcome was a nice new song, though. 😉 And all were laughing about crazy Susanne kneeling and playing piano for a very long time. Sometimes we even played for hours! 🙂 By the way, the charismatic spirit moved through the Roman Catholic Church as well. May God help them all to seek and find The Truth. Amen.
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Yes I am aware. I don’t even trust charismatic personalities in which my last husband was. I was crushed. That was a very hard lesson. And not worth talking about. That is why I choose to stay single and the Lord has removed that desire from me anyways. Praise the Lord!
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Thank you for the pingback to my blog, Michael. 🙂
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You are welcome, Susanne. It is always a pleasure to point people to what you write and share in the Spirit. 🐻
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Mmmhhh…. Thanks a bunch for saying this, Michael! ❤
I am always happy to see God moving through your writings as well. 🐱
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Becky, I too have had Hebrews 10:25 thrown in my face, I can’t tell you how many times. Interesting, if these people would continue to read a little further down, they would find that they have taken this verse out of context. Your experience with “church” has actually been a gift and that will become even more clear the longer you are away from it. For those with eyes to see and ears to hear – our Lord Christ Jesus will expose the condition of it. And once our eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit, you can’t go back in. I actually feel “safer” outside the “camp.” Which brings us back to Susanne’s question, Is the Church Age over? Blessings to you, Becky.
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