Jesus is Knocking on The Door of The American Church

 The LORD is trying to get the attention of the American Church. He is speaking clearly. His warning is much like the warning to the Church at Laodicea. His word is clear but are we listening? What I mean by "we" is the Church as a whole. There is always a remnant that self-sacrificially does the LORD's work. I know many that are.

The Church in Laodicea was prosperous and seemed 'self-sufficient.' The city was known to have a problem with its water supply. Unlike some of the surrounding towns, which had an abundance of cold and hot water, they had lukewarm water that was disgusting.

Jesus likened their spiritual condition to their lukewarm water supply. In no uncertain terms, it made Jesus puke! 

Jesus is knocking on the door of the American Church - to reveal our blindspots to us. He loves us and has given us an abundance of resources. Our prosperity has blinded us to our lack of spiritual depth. Many are satisfied with being entertained and have become complacent about the needs of the world around us. I am guilty of this. 

I believe the Church in America is experiencing the discipline of the LORD because he loves us. He is calling us to recognize our spiritual poverty. Political power and excessive materialism cannot be our goal. It's time to wake up and regain our ability to see and hear what Jesus is saying. He desires us to repent so - that - we can bless the world and have intimate fellowship with him. 

Hear His call:

To the Church in Laodicea

 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 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. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” - (Revelation 3:14-22 ESV)

To Decree Or Not To Decree? That Is The Question

 Over the last few years, I have become concerned about some well-known charismatic preachers and their practice of "decreeing things." They teach that we can decree things like who should be president and energy independence for the United States. 

The main verse they use for this teaching is Job 22:28 KJV which says, "Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways."  The proclamation of Truth with our mouths is a biblical practice. But, to decree something, because we desire it does not guarantee we will have it.

 In Hebrew, the word for "decree" is (gazar, "to cut"), in the sense of deciding a matter."  (Net Bible Second Edition with notes.) The ESV version uses the word "Decide." 

When you read Job chapter 22 in context, this verse is about Job's intimacy with God and answers to his prayers.

I contacted three highly respected biblical (Charismatic) scholars on this issue. I chose not to include their names because these were private messages. The first quote is lengthy:

(1) "It concerns me. A lot depends on what one means by “decree.” If it only means that we are declaring as truth something the Bible clearly promises or asserts, then it is ok. For example, if one “decrees” that God will overturn the curse on creation and redeem the natural realm (Romans 8:18ff.), then good. That is simply making known what God has promised he will do. Countless other examples could be cited, such as the final judgment on Satan (Rev. 20:10ff.). 

 

 But if by “decree” someone means that by saying certain words with great passion and “faith” the thing stated will come to pass, there are problems. We have no basis or grounds for decreeing things that God himself has not previously revealed as certain. When people “decree” in this sense it comes perilously close to the Word of Faith heresy, the idea that simply by believing something and speaking it out we create or bring to pass some reality that isn’t explicitly endorsed in Scripture.

Again, it all depends on what these people think they are accomplishing by their “decrees.” I can “decree” that whoever believes in the name of Jesus will be saved, but I can’t “decree” that a particular unbelieving pagan will be saved. Maybe he will. Maybe he won’t. But that is something not in my power to know or decree. It is only God’s to determine.

 My fear of people issuing “decrees” is that it feels presumptuous and arrogant. And what happens to that person’s faith and confidence in God when what they “decree” doesn’t come to pass?

 Be sure that these people aren’t developing their concept of “decree” on the basis of Robert Henderson’s books, primarily his Operating in the Courts of Heaven. It is a horrible book." 

(2) "I think such commands are to be done at God's leading, for something we know to be God's will and have enough confidence to do so. But merely "decreeing" things we want seems just a newer version of "positive confession," which has the wrong object to its faith."

(3) "...the practice is not of God at all. It is how they claimed Trump would win!"

 

 

Spiritual Gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14: Dr. Craig Keener

How George Müller Started His Day

George Müller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller, 27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898) was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement. 

He cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime and provided educational opportunities for the orphans to the point that he was even accused by some of raising the poor above their natural station in British life. He established 117 schools that offered Christian education to more than 120,000. - Wikipedia 

"While I was staying at Nailworth, it pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, irrespective of human instrumentality, as far as I know, the benefit of which I have not lost, though now...more than forty years have since passed away.

The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit.

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed the morning. Now I saw, that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, whilst meditation, my heart might be brought into experimental, communion with the Lord. I began therefore, to meditate on the New Testament, from the beginning, early in the morning.

The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord's blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God; searching, as it were, into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word; not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon; but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul. The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that though I did not, as it were, give to prayer but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less to prayer.

When thus I have been for awhile making confession, or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go on to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it; but still continually keeping before me that food for my own soul is the object of meditation. The result of this is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and that my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, very soon after, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word that I have myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man.

The difference between my former practice and my present one is this. Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the time. At all events I almost invariably began with prayer… But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc.; and often after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then began really to pray.

I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart being nourished by the truth, being brought into experimental fellowship with God, I speak to my Father, and to my Friend (vile though I am, and unworthy of it!) about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.

It often now astonished me that I did not sooner see this. In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me. No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to this matter. And yet now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning-by-morning is to obtain food for his inner man.

As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time, except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow. Now what is the food for the inner man; not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts....

I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it myself, and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow-believers to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials in various ways than I had ever had before; and after having now above forty years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it. How different when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials and the temptations of the day come upon one!" 

GeorgeMuller.org - The George Muller Web Site

 

Psalm 25:4-5

 

It's Reformation Day: Take A Stand

 

  

A monument to Martin Luther in Worms, Germany.

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong." -1 Corinthians 16:13 NIV

Many Protestant Christians celebrate Reformation Day on October 31st every year. It recognizes the day that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church in Germany in 1517. Another day that stands out in the Reformation happened on April 17, 1521, in Worms, Germany. Martin Luther stood up against the Church and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

I  don't agree with everything Luther taught and did during his ministry. But, his boldness in the face of the corruption of the Church of his day is something I admire. He spoke truth to power even under the threat of death.

"Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law." - Proverbs 29:18 ESV

Christians cannot control our culture, but we should bring a prophetic vision to it. 

Many Churches in our day have lapsed into apostasy. Sexually objectable behavior in our culture is being approved by certain Christian denominations. 

We have a "Woke" culture - we do not need a "Woke" Church.

" 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? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved,

    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” - 1 Peter 4:17-18 ESV

It's time to take a stand against spiritual darkness in the Church. Believers are to love those who do not know Jesus.

 Refusing to speak the truth is not how we love others. 

How can we expect the world to follow Jesus in the path of truth if we walk in darkness?

Scripture for meditation:

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ..." - Ephesians 4:15 ESV

"If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." - 1 John 1:6 ESV

 "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” - John 11:10 ESV

“...I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6 ESV

Daily Rhythms

 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV)

(Transformed) “That word is used one time in all the gospels, namely, about Jesus on the mountain of transfiguration (the mountain of “transformation” — same word, metemorphōthē): “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:2). (1)

(rhythm – a strong, regular, repeated pattern of movement or sound.)

“Our core being is expressed in language that follows the rhythms of our life, inhalation, and exhalation. We cannot breathe out what we have not first breathed in. The breath that God breaths into us in daily Pentecost is breathed out in our prayers, ‘telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11). – Eugene Peterson(1)

God has made a way through Jesus to enter his presence so that we can worship him and experience transformation by his power. Our minds are the daily target of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Giving into negative thinking, uninformed by Scripture – is harmful to our souls. 

Departing from God’s way of renewing our minds – disturbs the rhythm and design he has for our lives. Practicing the presence of God must become a daily habit. 

Deep meditation and contemplation of Scripture bring life to our souls.

Idolatry is placing anything in the path between God and ourselves. Unnrenewed minds will focus on worldly success and mind-numbing entertainment. And slip into patterns of carnal thinking.

Life is about rhythms: The Sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. The tide goes in and out. The planets revolve around the sun – seasons come and go. So it is vitally important to establish a daily rhythm in our prayer lives – like going to sleep at night and waking up each morning. I find it helpful to start the day and end it in prayer. 

The bottom line for me is: Will I allow idols that compete for my affection for God every day to disrupt my time with him?

We must guard ourselves against those things that seek to displace Jesus from the throne of our hearts. Our goal is to renew our minds daily.

(1) Eugene Peterson, Answering God, page 60.