Saturday, April 24, 2010

ANOTHER CALL FOR RESTORATION

Restore the Church to Jesus Christ and His truth and save your nation! Restore the Church to Jesus Christ and His truth and save the nations! Restore the Church to Jesus Christ and His truth and see your loved one(s) come to the Lord!

It is obvious to many Christians that the devil and his demonic forces are enemies of God, enemies of God’s kingdom, and enemies of His Church. Many Christians also understand that the flesh fights against the things of God. What is not properly understood by many Christians is that the Church herself is oftentimes a hindrance to God and His purposes.

To one with true spiritual discernment it may be obvious that the Church is a hindrance, even a major hindrance. Others may nod in the affirmative but see from spiritual prejudice rather than from true discernment. For example, they may castigate those who are not part of their group and/or don’t see things as they see them. This perspective in itself is a major contributor to the Church being a hindrance.

At this point, I must acknowledge that I cannot communicate to you what the Holy Spirit is saying to me if I lean to my own understanding. Neither can you understand what is being communicated if you lean on your understanding. Therein is a major crux of the problem in and with the Church: too many Christians are leaning to their own understanding of God, His kingdom, His Word, and their reason for existing, rather than listening to the Holy Spirit and rightly discerning Scripture.

Before you become defensive and turn me off, do an intensive study of the Church at Ephesus and our Lord’s message to her in the book of Revelation. Ask the Holy Spirit to be your Teacher. You will see that this Church received a high revelation not only of the Lord but also of His Church. In a few short years, however, the Church at Ephesus was the first church corrected by our Lord in His letters to the churches. She had many good works and programs, as it were, but she received a stern warning to repent, or else. She needed restoration! She needed to return to the Lord and His biblical truth and pattern.

Recently, I was listening to a well-known minister on TV as he was teaching about certain world conditions. Toward the end of his message, he said that nothing was lacking that needed to be done before the rapture of the Church. It did not upset me to hear what he said, but it deeply concerned me. There are so many ministers who love God, His people, and the lost, but they just do not see or understand that the Church is in desperate need of restoration. Now, I do fully understand that our Father can send Jesus Christ for us whenever He decides to do so. But, presently, we are coming up short in carrying out God’s biblically-revealed will in some vital areas. You might ask, what are those areas? There are several areas that are obvious to the discerning mind; I will name only five at this point. First, we are lacking in holiness and obedience. Second, we are lacking in maturity. Third, we are not unified in faith. Fourth, we have not forsaken all to follow Jesus. And lastly, we have not witnessed the gospel of the kingdom as biblically directed.

I have been praying for and calling for the restoration of the Church for many years. What do I mean by restoration? In brief, what I mean by restoration is that the Church needs to be fully restored to Jesus Christ and His biblical truth and pattern. What is involved in becoming restored? Among other things, true humility and repentance, full surrender to the Holy Spirit, and sanctification by truth. Sanctification by truth (washing of water by the Word—Eph. 5:26) will remove all traditions of men and private interpretations of Scripture that have infiltrated and captivated the various parts of the Church over the centuries. These two major culprits—traditions of men and private interpretations of Scripture—have been greatly instrumental in producing a Church that is in a mess for the most part. They are major contributors to the five areas listed above where the Church is lacking. I will list them again. The Church is lacking in carrying out God’s biblically-revealed will in:

1. holiness and obedience.
2. maturity.
3. unity in faith.
4. forsaking all to follow Jesus.
5. witness of the gospel of the kingdom, as biblically directed.

What is involved in becoming restored? Among other things:

1. true humility and repentance.
2. full surrender to the Holy Spirit.
3. sanctification by truth (His Word is truth—John 17:17).

We are given free will to humble ourselves, repent, and surrender to the Holy Spirit. When the Church is restored to holiness and obedience, moving in maturity and true spiritual discernment, united in faith, forsaking all worldly interests to follow Jesus, then His supernatural power will enable us to preach the gospel of the Kingdom as a witness.

If restoration seems too monumental for the Church, then consider the alternatives. A future alternative is to weep before the Lord because of the realization that we really missed fulfilling His will while on earth. A present alternative is that we are going to experience unnecessary devilish storms. We are already experiencing those storms, but darker clouds are gathering. I have been warning for years that we either have Godly restoration or there will be devilish storms. This short message is another call for restoration, which includes revival and awakening. Who am I that you should listen to me? I am just an unknown voice out in the wilderness. Who are you to hear what I am crying out? That is between you and God, but the stakes are high.

Restore the Church to Jesus Christ and His truth and save your nation! Restore the Church to Jesus Christ and His truth and save the nations! Restore the Church to Jesus Christ and His truth and see your loved one(s) come to the Lord!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

A Call For Humility

How can Christians who profess Christ be so divided and in opposition to the prayer of Jesus in John 17? Please don’t miss this point! Christians, for the most part, are not only not standing on a foundation of unity with one another, but are also not fulfilling the Lord’s Prayer for unity. Some will miss and/or even oppose this point because the devil has planted a wrong understanding of unity in their minds. The devil is a defeated foe while at the same time he is a foe to be contended with. Never under estimate him.

How can we be so divided? One of the main reasons is that many if not most Christians tend to lean to mental understanding, either their personal understanding or the understanding of others that they have adopted as their own or a mixture thereof. The natural mind can be religious, but if left to its own can not discern and comprehend spiritual things. As concrete hardens, the minds of many Christians, especially those in the United States, are stubbornly locked into various mindsets concerning certain aspects of God and His Word. One of the things that confuses Christians about this and other things is that they know in their heart that Jesus is real and that they love Him and He loves them. They also know that certain parts of Scripture are clear in their minds, but what they have not fully comprehended is that in spite of all of this and more too they can still be leaning to their own understanding about the Lord and His Word in certain areas, even in key areas. Always remember that a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

The devil is subtle and deceptive. He causes Christians to buy into a little leaven and then works to enhance their pride and stubbornness about their beliefs. He deceives them into thinking that they are being staunch and dedicated defenders of the faith that will overcome him eventually, but in reality they are holding on to things that make place for the devil. Specifically they are holding on to things that sustain disunity rather than bringing unity in the body of Christ. We are to be a unified body, a unified army of the Lord as it were. One can put a thousand to flight and another one can put another thousand to flight, but the two together can put eight thousand more to flight. Pray for the spirit of wisdom and understanding; please do not miss this. I do not want to frighten you, but more than you can imagine is at stake.

Will you ask the Spirit of God to clear your minds and hearts of anything that is devilish leaven? Will you humble yourself before God? Ask His Spirit to reveal the full truth of 2 Chronicles 7:14 to you. It means that Christians, God’s people, are to humble themselves, pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways and then and only then will He heal their land-be it the United States or any other part of the earth.

Some of you are so captivated and absorbed by and with various end times teachings of prophecy that it is hard for you to hear or fully hear God speaking prophetically. I do not mean to offend you. But while you are trying to discern the times please do not miss what God is trying to say to you.

Will you hear and heed this call for humility and then pursue what follows in 2 Chronicles 7:14? God placed me in the wilderness several years ago. He has spoken several things to me that I have tried to pass on to others. One of those was concerning restoration, revival and awakening- three key words. He then spoke, among other things, that there would be godly restoration or devilish storms. Then a few years ago, I asked Him to do something for me, but not to do it until I was what I should be. I did not know what would be involved, but I know that the Lord God is working to fully form Christ within me. I desire above all else to spend eternity with God and to know Him intimately while I live on earth. I want to love God and to love you; I want to always be humble, broken and contrite. I want to minister God and His Word of truth, be it a pastoral Word or a prophetic Word, but I want it to always be ministered in love. There is much more that I could say, but if you have hearing ears you will hear.

I love you; I love the Church and I love the world. It is my desire to be so given to God that He can love the world through me. I have been deserted by some and others have been like John Mark, but I pray that like John Mark was returned to Paul that we will all work together to fulfill our Father’s will on this earth. May His kingdom come and His will be done.