All around us churches steeped in tradition are languishing, propped up by the faithful few, awaiting, praying for the inevitable. There is no power in the American church, no Holy Fire, saving, healing, sanctifying and transforming from the pulpits to the parishioners. Unbelievers come looking for love, healing and supernatural relationship and are met with pews full of warn out, bitter, elderly, stodgy people who call themselves Christian but resemble Him in name alone. Where is Christ evident in our eyes, hearts and lives. Where is the power of God’s love written upon our foreheads, so apparent that others come to see the Shekinah Glory. Where is the guiding, helping and counseling presence of the Holy Spirit, waiting to give you the words, the energy, the POWER of God to wield on Kingdom’s behalf.
The wicked agenda of self servers is winning in America because their is no other attractive option. Unbelievers are looking for examples of what it means to be blessed by God, yet all they find in the churches or in the desk next to them at work are worldly, frustrated, self-concerned and self-dependent hypocrites who wouldn’t know the grace of God if it bit them in the posterior. Through adherence to worldly, pagan or denominational practices that have no foundation in the Bible, for which most Pastors cannot name their origin or purpose have quenched the Power of the Holy Spirit, leaving Him outside knocking asking to be let in. No bright ideas will save these churches. No Pastor with fancy or spirited speeches will save these churches. No list of tithing special interest givers will save these churches nor will a conformance or capitulation to their tight-fisted demands. The only thing that will heal, build, purify and prosper these churches is a humble review and dedication to responding to the criticism and direction given them by Jesus Christ in Revelation 2 and 3.
We have grown lukewarm or worse yet cold, turning the body of Christ into businesses, that have light bills, food and rent bills which require X amount of monthly dollars. These dollar requirements for a “place of worship” force the pastor and elders into worldly servitude to the bank and other creditors. Additionally, the church is held captive by “special interest” tithers who control the purse strings forcing leadership to either maintain programs and processes that don’t work or pursue paths that are neither Holy Spirit inspired nor steeped in wisdom. Givers are shamed into giving by the passing of the a public offering plate, which is in direct conflict with God’s direction for Spirit inspired offering. We don’t know how many orphans live in our neighborhoods, we don’t know how many widows live within a square mile of our church, heck we don’t even know the people who live in the surrounding homes. We come to church for several hours, if that, and leave just as quickly as we arrived, turning the house of God into a worldly membership meeting that we endure until we can get on to the real business of our Sunday afternoon or Saturday evening. We have become a shell of the Body’s original intent. Perhaps the persecution we all know is not far in the future will once again give us a heart for God and His people.
We need to get about His business. We need to demonstrate our love for God by obeying His commands and answering His call for the remaining lost sheep. He will not prosper disobedient children, just as your Earthly Father would never consider rewarding disobedience. Look, I did not design God, He is not some custom organized servant for my or anybody’s worldly requirements. He is God. He gets to make the rules, not you and certainly not me. We cannot prosper our churches through our own power, authority, gifts or ideas for then it is no longer part of the Body of Christ it is now a self-help feel good shop for new age thinkers. These prosperity gospel clubs are full of the birds of the air who have come to nest in the bountiful mustard tree. They are certain to have true believers in their midst but the majority of these branches will be tossed into the fire at the day of harvest. If there are hungry sheep, I must do my best to feed them. If there are sick, blind, tired, fatherless or forgotten women or children, I have a responsibility to find them and offer assistance. If there is one person within hearing distance of my voice, who has not heard the Word of the Holy Gospel of Christ it is my duty to share the Good News so that they may be saved from eternal separation from God. If our church is dwindling then either what are doing is not what Christ intended or for some reason He has chosen to diminish us. Which is it in your case? If it ain’t working then do something else and you aren’t doing what Christ told you to do then I would start the list of “something else” with complying with His direction.
Salvation, the Love and Grace of God are pure joy, this is what unbelievers crave. Lord let your light so shine through my life and my eyes that those thousands of miles away must come and see the burning fire that you have lit within my heart. I am not the light but that doesn’t mean that I cannot be the best darn lantern ever conceived. Shine for those around you, go find the sick and the lost, then bring them back to fellowship with Saints. Don’t just sit on your keester waiting for them to come in the front door, especially when you refuse to open it up while Jesus is knocking.
awrkhakhaya 