We don’t know the Power of His Might.
We don’t know the Power of His Creation.
We don’t know the Presence of His Power (think about that for a second!)
We don’t know the Possibility of His Promise!
And why don’t we?
Why are we PEW-OCCUPIED but not wholly SANCTIFIED?
Why is a fat lazy nation BUT NOT a HOLY NATION?
Why do we have the most immaculate neighborhood but don’t act like a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD?
I’ll tell you why – we’ve been seduced by the god of this world and do not even know it! “What?? How dare you, an untrained and uneducated (I’m a seminary dropout – PRAISE GOD!!) street evangelist says that about our beautiful church buildings and pastors? Don’t you see we have the best carpets comforts, cafeterias and chandeliers? Can’t you see we are full every Sunday, baptize regularly and have the best youth groups in town?
“Sure they text during the sermon, but that’s the latest evangelism tool!!!”…..
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| Laodecia Temple Ruins from Bible Times! |
What does this mean? Here is what Jesus Himself said in Revelation 3:17 “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”.
The first order of business after reading this admonition from Christ is to search our hearts and let the Lord reveal our own shortcomings, so we can go about trying to fix them!!
There are many books and articles which can be written about the state of the modern church, but what I feel a burden for after a prayer meeting last evening, was the state of the modern church HEART!
PROPHETIC PASSAGE!
2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.”
This admonition was about the Temple!! The House of the Lord here on Earth! We who are saved…truly saved….are the NEW TEMPLE…the abiding place of the Holy Spirit of God! We fellowship corporately in a man-made structure called the Church, but we ARE the true ekklesia. We are the true church….or we are supposed to be!
In the above passage from Haggai, the Lord is speaking directly to us through His living, breathing Word!
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| Be a Prayer Missionary ! |
OR…would they think we’re a bunch of well-dressed in our suits and khakis every Sunday; drive in our nice cars, leave after 1 hour and 34 mins and never say a word about evangelism, missions, outreach or the lost…until the next Sunday morning’s harmless (and technically correct) sermon?
Unfortunately, it is the latter! That’s right! We’re a bunch of stuck up elitists sitting around waiting for a non-existent Pre-Trib Rapture!! Yes, I went there – there is no such thing as a pre-Tribulation rapture…a topic for another day!
WE DON’T:
We don’t Pray – unless someone sends out a prayer chain request for a medical or other emergency on the phone or email.
We don’t even TALK about prayer. We don’t have prayer services or solemn assemblies. We even tell people they are “in our thoughts and prayers” which is absolutely meaningless as we’re lying! We don’t pray for them! If we did, we would find a place to begin the Travailing Intercession process by praying with them IMMEDIATELY!
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| Modern American Megachurch |
It is no wonder that most American church leaders NEVER lead a soul to Christ, while having the best study curricula, fancy vacation bible schools and more!
We don’t do Missions. What? “But we write a check for that couple living in Ghana or Cambodia..” What ARE YOU doing? Missions is not something a selected called few do in poor Third World countries. The minute you step out your door, you’re in the biggest mission field ever! Take King Jesus….wherever he stopped, there was His Ministry – the Woman at the Well; the Rich young Ruler; the Roman Centurion etc.
It is getting so bad that the biggest mission field sign is NOT over the Exit door as we leave on Sunday morning, but the BIGGEST MISSION FIELD sign is over the door leading to the Sanctuary!
This lack of Faithfulness to the Lord Jesus and His Word…even while we have nice harmless worship music and accurate preaching…has produced some horrible fruit….and this will lead to HARSH JUDGMENT on Judgment Day!
Here is what 1 Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"
This should scare any pastor/elder or deacon…but it does not! Judgment will start with church leadership who see their “good” works will go up in flames and will be grateful they’re even IN heaven!
MODERN CHURCH, SAME OLD BAD FRUIT:
Here is why: First, the rate of Divorce is higher INSIDE the church than the general population! Church members are sleeping around and fornicating and watching pornography like there is no tomorrow!! They think the Grace of God will cover a multitude of their sins!
Second, abortion and premarital sex are just as bad INSIDE the church as in the general population, as a result of this mindless fornication paradigm! My friends who run a ministry dealing with pregnant teens and young adults report that almost ALL their clients come in looking for an abortion and claiming they are Christians and go to such and such church!!!!!! Do you get what this means? Are we getting it now?!
While inward looking church leadership have their heads in the sand, their sheep are in the thicket, ripped apart by the thorns…and the elders can’t see it (or won’t). So you know what happens? Say a teenage girl gets pregnant and is shamed in her own church….they just move to another church more welcoming...because not every church is full of people who are not sinners or make mistakes!
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| Already Gone by Ken Ham & Britt Beemer! |
This is the demographic more likely to believe gay marriage is right; abortion is okay; sex and drugs and rock and roll is fine because Miley Cyrus says she is a Christian and lives that lifestyle.
This is the demographic that will post profiles on Facebook and MySpace saying they are “Jesus –lovers”; since contemporary “Christian” songs which hardly mention Jesus if ever and will more likely than not, post a semi-nude or compromised unchristian photo of themselves on Facebook or Twitter!
Even worse, this is the proven demographic which says, according to both Barna and the Pew Foundation – 57% of these evangelicals think there is another way to heaven than Jesus! Did you hear that? Our children and youth are coming out of our nice, well-behaved conservative churches thinking only 43% of what we say is right!! What kind of preachers do we have in America???!!
What kind of church leadership would produce the next generation – 57% of them- who think the 300 millions demonic Hindu gods, or Islam or Zoroaster or that rock by the stream can get them into heaven! Remember – judgment begins in the House of the Lord – the church!
Fourth and final point – all of this spiritual incompetence – both by design and accident – is a result of the lack of proper teaching of the Creator and His Creation. When we have more and more people believing in evolution and then saying they’re Christians, we have Corruption, period! A person CANNOT BELIEVE IN BOTH CHRIST AND EVOLUTION!! A true believer saved and sanctified by the Holy Ghost, will never attribute God’s creation to some massive blob exploding off a big bang ape crawling out of the sea in ancient Egypt 300 gazillion years ago…but more and more so-called Christians believe that lie from the pit of hell, via Charles Darwin!
The reaction of several church leaders I know in my own travels locally mostly is stunning! Instead of trying to fix the problems, seek Divine Guidance so God gets the Glory or go back to the Basics of the Faith, these pastors and leaders hunker down, grab even more of what they THINK IS THEIR TURF and cut off real men of God in their congregations who are the remnant that fully grasp this evil and urgency of the hour! They cut off and ignore the hurting teens, women and men in our offices, homes and even churches... and the Quiet Desperation of their people and while continuing with their Stained Glass Masquerade!
(Photos courtesy Google Images)
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