https://youtu.be/utWQjChjUrI All prophecy points to Jesus Christ.  Are you Bible Ready?

We have forgotten the need, the respect, the peace of sovereignty. Our sin and the fallen enemy’s creative attempts to tempt us toward it make this world nearly unbearable. Yet the Lord uses its wickedness, its rasp, it caustic nature to challenge us in ways that essentially assure our trial and subsequent improvement. Can we, consider ourselves believer and go through this life making our own decisions, plans and consumption of Glory? Or does the nature of Christianity imply an incumbent sacrifice, volunteerism, slavery to the Righteousness, Sovereignty and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have been heavily dosed with the convincing, medicinal deception that we have always been and will always be capable of living this life under our own power, plans and authority and still wake up after the first death, ready for an eternal relationship with God. The two roads do not cross. We may only understand salvation by first grasping Sovereignty. Without a respectful understanding and reverent fear for God and a shameful willingness to repent of our sinful existence, eternity with God a plane outside of our understanding.

I want no regrets when my time comes to leave my current role within humanity. I want to understand and commit to what I say that I believe and in order to do so I must fully understand the parameters of doctrine to which I am committing. the Therefore, I cannot simply trust the word of man regarding the things of God and heaven. I must seek a description that has its roots outside this worldly plane. I am left with the need for Spiritual Enlightenment, for I can only know God as He describes Himself. And even then I must take those things my flesh perceives and challenge them, overlay and compare them to the Words and prayers of Spirit, for I am man and may be fooled by my wicked heart or emotions. I am comfortable with what I am left, a dependence upon God that is real, authentic and voluntarily surrendered.

For example; God’s Words are deeper than man portrays. When the Bible says in English pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It forgets, denies or ignores the fact that the Hebrew word for peace is plural, meaning pray for the wholeness of Jerusalem, peace in its entirety which will only be achieved through Christ. The same goes for the word devotion in Hebrew, which in English is simply equated with the word, mercy. But in Hebrew it means so much more than just mercy, it typifies the devotion of God toward the Jews, a devotion that is defined by His supernatural ability to love and protect them, “No Matter What”. It is easy in our simplistic understanding to keep things simple and define words in one word explanation, but the heavenly realms are multi-dimensional as depicted by Paul’s description of the breadth, the height, the width and depth of God’s love. That is four dimension which immediately indicates a necessary enlightenment to comprehend the characteristics of “four dimensions”. Without the Spirit we have no hope of understanding the world to which we claim we are heading.

Father, leave me with no regrets. Let me accomplish that which you have anointed me to complete so that your will on Earth matches that which is in Heaven. Watch over my Brothers and Sisters as they are tempted to despair by the wiles of the enemy. Let them see your Light and obtain the fullness in Peace that surpasses this world’s understanding. Prepare us eternity. In Jesus’ Holy Name.

I know I have always asked for the crash course, so that reluctantly I can say that I waited just as you’ve directed.  But we know Lord this sped up timing is not because of anything I am waiting on from you, it is because the time is short and I did pray that you would make the man you wished me to be in the time remaining.  I am sorry that I dallied so long, it is not right for me to ask now that you some how accelerate my course, but I still do.  I see that you are going to hold me to it.  I am sorry for the costs to those around me Father, it must burdensome.  I know that just as in Isaiah as he realized he was staring into the light of God and being asked to speak, I am not worthy of your presence Father.  I am clear that it is your spirit dwelling inside me and my washing in the blood of Christs that now allow me to call you Father.  I am grateful that it is real, but I still don’t deserve it.

Lord Jesus, I see so much false doctrine, spoken of even in the circle of the saints.  I wince as I hear their version of your Gospel, I beg them listen and in some instances they hear and leave, but never do they stay and show error.  Pride prohibits them from realizing how far down the broad road that had unwittingly traveled.  I wish they would have trusted what I said when I told that the only reason I mentioned anything is because I wanted to learn the Truth together.  Too bad men cannot admit their negligence in study and prayer. Lord I pray against the false prophets they are so dangerous to the remaining few left to hear the Good News of Christ.  Lord please protect the fledgling believers that they might learn the Whole and Holy Truth of Your Gospel.

I don’t want to live out on the street anymore Lord but that is where the battle ensues.  Is there a group of believers I might join to go looking for one hundred, because it seems all the churches are satisfied with the ninety-nine or thirty-seven as it appears apostasy has reduced their number.  The youth know least, for they have not known a relationship with you.  They do not know the sweet honey of your Word.  Father, again I thank you for the discipline, the education, the instruction and the encouragement.  I know that they are all facets of your perfect love for me.  I pray that I make the best use of all that you have given me and that I lift up those around me to become fulfilled in their walk with Jesus.  Love us, cover us, come and bring us home.  We await your direction and your return, Amen.

I asked him for impetus he showed me the door, and as its creaking frame dimmed the light I knew that daylight would not last forever.  What is more valuable than the love of a Father to his son?  It is the strength of each day when we know that we are loved, cherished, appreciated by our Fathers.  There is also no more resident fear than letting my Father down through embarrassment, poor performance or simple disobedience.  The tears are too large to make it through the narrow ducts of my repentant eyes.

They told me, the many voices of my Bible Family.  The prophets, my uncles of old, filled with God’s Word, trusted, never understood, yet feared for the prophetic weight in their voices and prediction.  Kings, mistakes made, yet their faith and fealty to Almighty God indelibly impressed upon our hearts and conscience for the length, breadth, width and depths of eternity.  Brothers fallen, trying to give the last ounce of their faith and courage to show their Father their feet planted firmly upon the Rock of Ages.  Children in their innocent faith, telling truths and secrets that none of us will know til Jesus.  Women, loving in a way that we cannot understand a world that has always treated them unkindly, in a quest to measure up, never feeling good enough.

The time has come.  There are no grand excuses to be offered in obeisance.  No measure of I forgot, couldn’t get to it, didn’t have time or was held up by such and such will fill the gap.  We were not born to live upon excuse yet this world pleads us do so.  No talent, no money, no time we cry to all who will listen hoping that mercy will come from a crowd bereft of it, leaving the one hanging who has always shown us such kindness.  This is the time for performance, not words, unless the Words that you have been given to speak are those same mentioned by the prophets of old.  Forgive me for being so direct, but I have no more time for beating around any bushes, for this is my duty.  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God all his righteousness and these things will be added unto you.  It is to him you must go now seeking direction and I pray that you will listen completely and obey in Holy offering of your faithful body as worship.

Lord you are so gracious.  That you would love me as much as you do, daunts me.

There is no room between us, for I too have forgotten yesterday’s sin and know this that I cannot stand anything that brings distance to our love.  I am truly the oddball, finding no common place of belonging except with you by my side in discipleship.  I am under no false understanding that it is only me looking out for growth of the kingdom.  I am certain there are passionate believers by the millions discouraged by this failing world, buoyed in the knowledge that your return must be imminent.  It is time isn’t it Lord.  Time to determine the last scenes of this grand human history.  I am curious to my role in these tragic episodes and how I might inject your hope, Love and encouragement to empower those who feel helpless, alone, forgotten.

Father, once again, I commit my all to you.  Let no other entities occupy the space between us, reserve my heart for you.  I love these people Lord, I understand that they have fallen pray to the ungodly, the powers and principalities and lies of a world gone astray.  Forgive them Lord, let me never anger for what they obviously cannot control.  Let me speak your hopeful written word to their hearts that they might be comforted, restored and healed.  Let me be the tool of your salvation in bringing them to a spot where they might know you and confess their sins for eternity.  Let all of my talents, supply, will and strength be solely dedicated to the great work in which you have allowed us few to participate.  Let me encourage my Brothers and Sisters in their work as well, building them up to be effective for you.

None of this matters, in fact, even I may be forgotten if in so doing it brings about your glory.  For I need not be remembered Lord except by you and in so doing hold tight to the knowledge of that day where I might look into your eyes and know that I have reached home.  I see that you have sent the tests to which I must measure.  Give me courage and strength to stand in the knowledge of you Almighty God.

When I have both the Church and satan giving me the same critique there’s a problem, especially when it is in direct conflict with how I am certain God sees me.  I cannot tithe enough, give enough, clean enough, serve enough, be silent enough, have had too many wives or too few, cannot spell, smell and dress funny, don’t have the right temperament, don’t have the right social skills, interrupt like a Berean, pray incorrectly and have this odd practice of wanting to maximize the utilization of all that God has given me.  Look I see and believe that we are currently smack dab in the middle of the great apostasy.  Every where we look there are churches dwindled in population to the elect, mostly elderly trying desperately to hold on, remaining soluble.  I see that any challenge to that attempt appears to be from the enemy, but I am the guy that is out on the street funding my own ministry and I have to tell you, this is where you find the lost.  That is if you want to tell them about Christ so that they too might be saved and perhaps join the ranks of a local church.

We cannot sit in the church and expect that the lost are going to show up to be saved from coming judgment that they don’t even know about.  They view the church in a number of ways but none will cause them to come and join the ranks of our dwindling facilities.  Sure they will ask for cash to continue their unwise, sinful practices or play upon our emotions to convince us that they need help, but there are very few true, honest conversions going to come from sitting in the church catering to the few who happen to darken our doorstep.  The answer is not in new programs, better music, lighting, preaching or comfort.  The lost are out in the world, that is why Jesus showed us the example of going into the world to find them.  And as we get closer to the rapture the pool of minds that have yet to make a decision for Christ is smaller, meaning the hunt is going to be more difficult.  We must be willing to scour the territory until that last heart may be found.  That is our entire purpose for being.  Counting on age old strategy of sprucing up a nice building, having better dinners, inviting a friend from work, may provide a few folks from whom we might find a convert or two, but is never going to produce a significant body of people for testimony.  Unless having a few converts is your churches’ collective success.

There are so many lost, I do not have enough time to properly love them and tell them effectively about Jesus.  They all know that they need something, heck they are aware that something is coming in the near future and they are willing to listen, but we don’t have enough voices out there telling them.  I love being with Christians, but I cannot sit in the church for 5 hours a week, as is required for members, if that is the only time I have to go and spread the Gospel.  You want me to work so I can bring in tithe’s and offerings to the church but the church is not organized and out on the street like I am to spread the Good News.  I am sorry I have decided to serve Jesus and if he wants me on the street, using my cash to spread the good news with a piece of pizza, a coke, a sleeping bag and a smile then that is where I must be.  Your rituals have forced this decision that breaks my heart because it means that I will never be good enough to be a member of your club.  I love you folks but I must serve Jesus and your way just won’t produce the results I believe he is requiring of me.

I love you and hope that you forgive my review and critique of your business model.  I am following Jesus into the street, up to the hills and down in the valleys where the lepers skulk, in hopes of finding that last person yet to hear the Gospel, so that we might go home.  If you must ridicule me, I guess I get it.  In some way I am glad that I don’t have to be good enough, because the lost people I talk to have satan telling them that every day, so it really aides my delivery when I tell them how valuable they have always been.  In Jesus Name.

When I read about how you walked with them, just to talk and to spend some time.  I couldn’t help but rebuke myself for wanting to take their place, knowing all along that I would then have been the one who let down all mankind.  Even though life has always been a wonder, I never stop to ponder what it would be like if we had never fallen.  Thousands of years, discipline, wasted wars, stiff necks, adulteries and millions of gallons of sin poured into Christ, just to make up for that original inadequacy and disobedience.  Man we could have been living in paradise with God.  But then we never would have seen the depths of his love for us.  The lengths to which he would willingly go to see us reattached to him.

But that’s not what he knew would happen.  He knew we would let the viper wrap us around his little finger, stealing our gifts, stealing our place as in the presence of the Lord.  Of course he would steal that which he himself had lost, knowing the price we would pay, knowing how foolish any prideful quest that would remove access to the loving Father.  Then he loved us through our freakishly long lives given some of us hope that the world would someday be changed by the seed of the woman.  And man wept as he saw brother against brother and man against girl doing those things we knew to be abominable in the Lord’s sight.  All along is hope that provides us and window beyond today’s infirmity.

And I saw that you raised them up and taught them right but they chose their own path in life.  No different now as each man I know determines the road he will travel. You see because the rules are the same for everyone, then I have the same opportunity as all and the same choice to do wrong without repentance.  I mean we all do wrong, so none are right, but if we choose the right, then he is faithful and true to do what we cannot do and put our sin aside and make us his bride so that we will never be left in fire alone.  But some are still, even this moment making that terrible choice.  I see them daily and wish that they wouldn’t, and find myself inadequate again to convince them of their bad discernment.  But they don’t care and I reminded that Eve was deceived and Adam was disobedient even though they knew God intimately.

What choice have I?  I have Jesus and Spirit as guide, always inside, leaving opportunity wide open.  But Jesus was also King and each man may determine that which will govern his life.  I choose God, My Sovereign God, even when he contends with my flesh, for I am a created thing, made to serve my Creator King.  This world is a pale reflection of what he intended for us.  I can hardly wait now for the door to open into what he had originally intended for us for eternity.  Maybe somehow we are better, I mean the angels are astounded that He would step down out of time in to the this life to save those who would believe.  That has to account for something, that we may have been changed by our ability to choose through faith, that the process of choosing somehow transformed our humanity.  But I still thank the King, it’s about Him I that I sing, when I am strong or I strung, flying or hung, each part of my lung will bring forth a song, frail, pierced or long, I will sing or I’ll whistle through my lips or a thistle a prayer hymn or missive to Jesus, My King and My God.

Pastor, I mean no offense but I must know, “When are we going to tell people about Jesus”?  We sit here having good food while I personally know of a park filled with homeless people nearby, who could benefit from a bite and some Spiritual food as well.  I have personal knowledge of 5 old folks homes within 3 miles of our church, to which we could easily commit to one visit per month to spread love, joy, encouragement and the gospel.  I spoke with the administrator of the orphanage myself and she keeps making kind excuses for the fact that none of the thousand churches in our city have ever shown up to be father the fatherless children.  Then let us not mention the hospitals, the prisons or simply the public square.  When Pastor, when?

Ephesians 4 tells us how the church is to train up pastors, evangelists, disciples, etc.  When have we had one of our youth get in the pulpit to practice preach on a Friday night after a basketball game and a meal.  What about the days and nights our church is empty when there could be bible studies of all manner or foreign language services going on.  What about food pantry items, and preparations for disaster, shortage or holiday community support?  When are the men going to walk our neighborhood and let everyone know that we are here, by simply sharing a kind word of prayer, a mowing of a lawn or movement of some trash?  We were meant to be the living church, that demonstrates our love for the world by doing extraordinary things that proved we are not of this world in the power of a spirit that will imbue, empower, provide and provision the supernatural means to do so, yet we forsake all that and stay inside listening to four or five hours of sermons with maybe an hour or two of study.  Where is the meat if I am beyond the milk in my fellowship with Christ?  Where are the works as a natural outpouring of my faith?

When do I graduate to disciple or do I just get to sit here with someone telling me that a member is the next step in my Christian growth?  Sorry, this isn’t cutting it for me anymore, in fact the Holy Spirit is convicting me so badly that I have to get off my butt and actually follow Christ.  There are people who will go to hell if I don’t take the time to get outside this church and spread the gospel.  It is time to go find them and yank them back from the abyss before judgment is called.  Rapture is imminent as is Christ’s return and I don’t want to waste another day, sitting here in my comfortable chair disobey my Lord and savior not doing what He ordered me to do.  Shall I continue to follow you if you are unwilling to follow Him?  I think not.  I will follow him, I love you, but there is no longer any logical reason for me to sit here silent.  The night comes, let us use the day that remains to do great works for Christ.  In Jesus’ Name

If the model of your church works, good for you.  But the model that we have been using in the 20th and 21st centuries is not working.  Our kids are not where we want them, divorce is rampant, sin is blatant, tickling ears rule the preaching and pastors are too busy chasing sufficient funds and new generous members.  Yes, the apostasy has happened which makes it Biblicly possible that the anti Christ begin to show his face to the masses.  But it still doesn’t match what God said we should be doing during this dilemma.  Whatever the passed reason for our current ministry structure, I get it, but it is rapidly becoming the machinery behind insufficient and the eventual collapse to the infrastructure of the Body of Christ. Aren’t we one body.  Therefore if the church falls apart it falls apart for all.

Certainly Christ commends or admonishes four churches of the seven in Revelation.  I believe this is because those are the four original churches that exist in our end times era. This is insanity, no one in his right mind follows a path that he knows leads to destruction, especially if he is from the organization that claims to know the way to the skinny path which leads to eternal life.  Why then are we replicating this ridiculousness pay to play church model that builds expensive buildings, requiring their maintenance and gathered social sessions that have nothing to do with going out and finding the lost, aiding the elderly, fathering the fatherless and just plain spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  How do expect to get from here to there when our classic experiment has decidedly demonstrated that the two paths never converge?

Being that neither can I sit in the midst of continued insanity nor simply criticize the existing efforts, I feel I must responsibly ask the Holy Spirit for a new model.  His first response has been something I will refer to as “the Last Century Church”.  This model consists of property, but very humble land, buildings and assets that require little upkeep or the shared access to assets that make them useful twenty four seven, three sixty-five.   The function of the church should be divided in to categories that best support, prepare and edify those groups of believers intended and headed for field duty.  For example the church could concentrate on training, worship, prayer, field support and logistics and general operations.  In stead of having preaching and worship only on Sundays, many differing pastors could every day of the week to accommodate much smaller groups of believer in greater number events.  Additionally, having the church open all week with numerous believers coming in and out for support and replenishment would allow the church to give a broad, simple message of salvation through Christ.

The greatest difference being that the churches objective would be readjusted to an external focus upon going, finding, telling and converting the lost from its current internal focus that is the basis for our untimely demise.  We could be alive with prayer sessions all week.  We could have prayer sessions for worship, prayer sessions for edification of saints and prayer sessions for the baptism of the lost.  This new system would allow us to pool our funds and greater utilize building, personnel and mission expense assets to accommodate the larger outreach while providing a vibrant testing platform to utilize those mission events and campaigns that work.  Right now, there ain’t enough money to do all the work, pay for all the missionaries and programs that we wish to do.  What if that weren’t the case, what if we truly were the abundant Spirit filled Church with more than enough to do what we needed to do?

What if our preachers got to preach our evangelists got to evangelize and our saints got to do the important community work of disciples for Christ?  Isn’t this the structure we were meant to follow.  The work is out there.  The model is broken.  We must change or die with the rest.  God’s face of blessing has fallen from our nation.  His hedge of protection no longer protects our schools from evil doers.  We are being physically overrun by pagans and we seem unwilling to make a change.  I call myself a Christian.  I must pray to God, turn from my wicked ways and pray, humbling myself before our Mighty God who appears intent upon judging our nation.  This is the only time we have for repentance.  The end is near.  Let’s change today, pray in the park and get arrested for it today, stand in the gap for our enemy who neither deserves it nor would understand our doing so, today.  Let us save our children from the fate of never knowing God.  Return our Great Land to the protective Hand of God by setting things right, First, within the Church.  For we are the bride, if we are Holy awaiting our groom, how do you think that would change this world?

New Model Church, commit, pray and do.

I have a pleasant home, with a pleasant family, yard properly spruced up and everyone has heard me say that I am a Christian.  I go to the well manicured church, possibly spending 4-5 hours per week between, worship, preaching and social events.  I go to work on time, get home on time and pour my glass of wine on time, never hesitating to make sure that I am listening to those around me.  I rest in God’s word, tell people about Jesus and take special care to try and stop when I see people in crisis.  The folks at work know that I go to church and they know that I have a Bible in my briefcase, sometimes they even stop to ask me an elementary question or two then scatter afraid of creating what work may label as an unexceptable conversation.  My wife loves me but here’s the problem she has recently begun chastising me in the Lord, using scripture to point out that my faith really lacks any work at all.

What do you mean?  Was my first retort, I mean didn’t she read the first paragraph?  My concept of holiness is not God’s.  My concept of surrender is very different from God’s.  My idea of service in the authority of God determines to apply the least cost, pressure or investment on my part.  And what of Christ’s imminent return for the Church, she says.  Isn’t imminent tonight and doesn’t faith require demonstration of that belief in certain things which must quickly come to pass?  How many coins did the Lord give you, she says, and that one really hurts, because I am the most blessed man.  God has openly given and given and given in my life and I sit here anxious for that grace as I know that I have absorbed and enjoyed the greatest affect of his investment.  I didn’t plant to adequate measure, water and fertilize sufficiently to produce a banner crop where God might see the increase.  I did not write the books that he put in my hands, take the trips he financed, feed the mouths that he gave me to care for, heal the sick that he wanted me to bless with his healing.  Now I read the first paragraph and weap.

The kids have forgotten Him, why?  Is it something that they have done or something that we have not done?  We know this country is in trouble and we know that Christ’s return is imminent yet we sit here, eating and drinking and being given in marriage, knowing, uncounsciously that this is the environment upon which Christ said the end would come.  We see people leaving the churches in droves yet we stand there holding open the door for them to leave counting ourselves smuggly among the occupied.  We would leave the ninety nine to go get the one but the problem is the 99 has dwindled to 50 and we are afraid to go because there would be 49.  My wife is right.  None of this stuff matters except that which Christ gave us to do in preparation of his return.  If I trust him he will take care of us providing work, clothes or food for the plowing.  Maybe just maybe there is still time for me to preach to gospel to the lost, be father to the fatherless, son to the husbandless, caretaker to the innocent, soldier on the front lines for Christ.  Now my wife has the problem, she has to determine if she is going to follow me as I follow Christ.

I can’t blame anything on anything or anyone.  Some times we look into the dark when we really meant to follow the sun.  But I wander, when I meet my sin there, as I often do, wasn’t it a meaningful rendezvous from the start.  See, I’m filled with lust so I track her bust way beyond the casual admiring auditor pent on artful commentary.  Then I focus on the cash and make repeated dash in attempt to purchase things I don’t need for people I don’t know, feeding some sense of accomplishment I don’t understand, but they like, that is I think they do as long as I am catering to their needs.  All to change reality to dream, some well purchased scheme in order to write the story myself, making myself somehow worthy, when I never was, earning something I could never earn, repaying a debt too large to pay, being forgiven for the sin upon which I have a white knuckled clutch.

Wasn’t all this given to God?  My heart, my soul, my strength, my mind and my bod.  God’s got me thinking that it’s rather odd for a Christian to be entertaining each sin.  See Grace covers and wipes out sin, so if there’s sin on my face then I substituted truth for a lie.  How can I get bye with a beam in my own eye when I’m trying to get everyone’s splinters pulled out?  How is this lust in my dreams as real as it seems when it shouldn’t even enter my mind?  Freedom is a wonderful thing but how do I know, when it doesn’t show that I even know what that word even means.  Counting up beans, and little golden good deeds, removing all the weeds with each bundle.  Earning my way, hoping to pay a price beyond any personal measure.  It was done on the cross why then do I fancy the great albatross of enlightened salvation when we can’t get to there, from here except through the DOOR and His name is Christ.  Where my thoughts, works and plans and worthless demands are shouted down by depth of my sorrow.  Delightful for me, tomorrow I see is going to hold some hopeful reckoning, but what about tonight, isn’t that all I have been given?

I love, but I cannot fit into the church as it is currently structured.  I repent that this puts me in a place of judgment where I have established myself unacceptable or the church insufficient to my determinant declaration.   But we sing without tears then go drink wine and beers, chatting about all of our fears and how we have to try and tolerate, tolerate then tolerate. While God’s Good News lingers on our tongues and our fingers that we refuse to use to muse through it wonderful pages.  I know what’s coming and I can barely get my dumb ass out of the way by remembering what it took to find salvation.  I have forgotten and perhaps you may relate to forgetting my first love.  I used to put God first in everything.  Now it would be a rare day to be in scripture upon waking, be in the Bible before News, be in the street with good shoes quickly leading to the Gospel of Peace, without the slightest worldly intent to swindle.  None of this little stuff should matter, not my tea and certainly not the mad hatter, some wonderland, go no people but those I fund, got no church except the one that I fund, got no family except the one I can tolerate, masking their sins, like ignoring the silver pin in their nose and the bobby pin their chins.  Is this going to work itself out, of that I have no doubt, because it depends not on me but on Christ.  I just thank you once again for loving me and beg your forgiveness for my repeatedly falling down on this well lighted path.