A Coming Reformation
Recently at a prayer meeting held at my church in Kansas, we had several prophecies come forth regarding Isa 43. The Lord gave three of us the same Scripture with various applications. To sum it up, and give application to my homeland of Scotland, the Lord spoke and identified the church today as the people of Isa 43. These are His people coming out of exile and heading back to Jerusalem. He is the one that gives water in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. As unlikely as it seems, I believe that this will begin in my homeland of Scotland.
There is no doubt that the church in the West right now is a spiritual wilderness, a dry desert indeed. Yet a reformation is coming. Not a revival. God is getting ready to sweep away all that has become “established.” There will be a new found awe and reverence, a Holy heaviness if you like.
We will capture again something of His majesty, His “awefulness,” meaning full of awe. This “cheap,” god that we currently worship will be no more. The Church is only as great as its perception of God. This missing “shekinah,” will be restored.
Shekinah means “the presence of God visible.” God has spoken to me several times this year in regard to His manifest presence and many of the posts will be what the Lord has given me. There is a unity coming, not an ecumenical unity, a unity of believers who will band together for a common purpose. The purpose is to defeat the forces of darkness.This of course would be a dramatic shift, a reformation indeed. It will only proceed forth from the presence, the manifest presence of God. We, as a the Church, do not deserve this. We look as worldly as the exiles coming out of Babylon. Yet we are a Covenant people and He will do it not because we deserve it but because he loves us and understands our frailty.
If Christians would passover into the promised land, into the most intimate chambers, they must be abandoned to the battle. It is time for the Church of Christ to arise and set their sights on entering into the manifest presence of God. They must be willing to lay down their lives, die to themselves and all of their fears if they are to enter that place where they will be engulfed in the flames of Shekinah glory. This is a higher place than miracles, although miracles will follow in the path of this new generation, but as an unintended consequence of the outflowing of Gods presence. Like a mighty incoming tide the warriors will be swept into His presence. And as with every tide that flows in, it will flow out. And as we flow out on a tide of majestic reverence then we will take a portion of that glory back into the darkness of the world, a world that the Lord so loves.
Right now, the “Church,’ is in a similar situation to those Israelites of Ezra’a period. We have joined ourselves to the world, and we have lost our distinctiveness. It is no surprise that the world cannot tell us apart from them. In 9:12 The Holy Spirit speaks prophetically through the priest and says “Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor take their daughters to your sons, and never seek their peace or prosperity, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it as an inheritance to your children forever.”
We, as the church here on earth have given our children, sons and daughters in marriage to the world. We have sought peace by giving up our principles and turning from the word of God. We have sought prosperity and the things of the world and we are not strong. We are entering into the days of the Lords indignation. God says to us in Ezekiel 22:24″ You are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation. The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey, they have devoured people:26: Her priests have violated My law and profaned My Holy things, they have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy.27: ” Her leaders are like wolves tearing the prey ………to get dishonest gain.”
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
We can “know,” the love of Christ which passes knowledge. How can one “know,” that which is beyond knowledge? And not only know this God, but we may be filled with all His fullness!!!!! What?
Yet here the Scriptures are telling us that we can know this remarkable mystery, that we might be filled by the fullness of God, a fullness that all the universes that exist cannot contain for He contains them. This is a remarkable promise from God to His people. He will allow Himself to be known.
Are you ready to only get your joy from Him? That all your contentment flows from Him? That all of your peace flows from Him. There is a revolution coming, a reformation of His church is coming and the Lord will be doing some separating and it will be the call that will separate us. He never compels any of us to do anything, He calls. Are you at a place that you are willing to lose everything for Him? Your job? Your reputation? All that gives you pleasure? Your pride? Your ego? Your place in society? Your place in the church?
I have come to a point in my own life where if I cant move forward in His presence then I just want Him to take me home.I have seen and walked in the futility of “life,”(as a Christian mind you) and there is nothing in this life that I want. I prayed the Moses prayer and told the Lord that the only way I want to move forward is if He is with me. I fast every week and I do it for selfish reasons, to come into His presence.
I think it all boils down to being in His presence or seeking His presence. I think that should be our permanent state. I know that sounds too simple, but I believe that this is the essence of our lives in Christ. I think that as a church we should always be seeking to come into His presence, it should be foremost in everything we do.
For God is not powerful, He is power. God does not have authority, He is authority. If I am in Him, in His presence, then I am moving and abiding in power and authority, it automatically comes with being in His presence.
In His presence I am changed, In His presence I have fullness of Joy, In His presence mysteries are revealed, In His presence I am healed, In His presence, offenses melt away like wax, In His presence I experience eternity, In His presence is the essence of Hope, In His presence I dwell in power, In His presence the crossed wires of my dysfunctional life are uncrossed. In His presence I forgive. In His presence I forget. In His presence I count my brother and sister in Christ higher than I count myself. And of course, in His presence there is fullness of Joy. And since I am still in the flesh, in His presence I abide under the shadow of His wings, and even that shadow is brighter than a thousand suns.
And when I necessarily come out of that presence(oh that I would dwell there forever) then I take a small portion with me, a portion of change, a portion of joy, a sense of His mystery, a portion of healing, I love more than I am offended because I care less about myself,my hope is increased, my knowledge of eternity and the eternal destination of my soul is greater, and I am less dysfunctional and more like Him. Then I pass on a small part of that to those I encounter and God is glorified . And I am encouraged and I begin again to hunger and thirst for that place and attempt to do whatever to come into that place again. I am totally addicted to the presence of God and it is my one and only motivation to even live.
Every problem will melt like wax in the presence of the Lord. Its not that we will be problem free, its that our problems will pale in comparison to His presence, as Paul would say “Our light and momentary afflictions,” will seem very small as we move in the vision of the eternal. The Church is only effective in relation to its perception of God. We , as a community in general, have been worshipping a weak and anemic God.
Yet just one-second in His manifest presence blows that perception out of the water, that is why this coming move, this Reformation, is a reformation of our very walk with Him. Ego’s will have no place in this new move. There will be no powerful personalities in this new move, there will just be servants who the Lord will use to usher His people into His presence and in His presence we will only be conscious of Him and Him alone. And when we come out of that presence and go back into the world then we will glow, just as Moses did glow and the people who dwell in the darkness of this world will see a city set on a hill and they will be drawn to that, the light of Christ, the light of the world.
A Coming Reformation! PDF file
Ervin Midgette said
We need a Holy fear and reverence of God and his Word, to be retored,if you will, to us. A Holy Visitation will produce this. We lost it along the way. obxmidgette
appolus said
Amen, a visitation will take place when we come to the alter with an offering……Frank
David said
I had a prophetic dream that I want to post here in this thread.
About a week and a half ago or so ago…around September 12, 2009 I had a dream. The dream was recurring, meaning I dreamt it over and over all night long.
The dream:
There was this grand old mansion that had seven floors. I was made to reside in this place, to live there. This grand old house was in disrepair and falling apart everywhere. As I visited all the floors in this house, and visited the different rooms, it occurred to me that this place must have been very, very beautiful to look at at one time.
People were living in various parts of this falling down rickety old house, but the Lord directed a certain of us who were there to a place in this old house which would be safe from the falling in parts of this house.
I myself am a carpenter and a Construction Engineering Technologist (diploma) in real life. In the dream I got to go and visit the various places where people had attempted repairs to this grand old structure.
It seemed to me that an extensive amount of repairing was going on, but it was also very apparent to me that those doing the repairing of this building were not skilled enough to do the massive amount of structural, building envelope, esthetics repairs that were needed…and these repairs that they did were about to give way (fall apart due to lack of structural integrity)…The Lord says: except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
The Lord impressed upon me that if I dwell in the house where He instructed me to, that I will be safe from all harm that would come to the building when it collapsed in on itself. This building was a grand structure in its beginning, bigger and more beautiful then any that have been built to that day, and it is about to undergo some major changes, so that its latter end of it will be greater then in its beginning.
Most of this grand old building is about to be demolished and collapsed in on itself, except the core part of it that I told you about, that if I dwell there I will be safe.
And so it begins.
I believe the Lord is going to send skilled labor into the field…His carpenters and engineers of which He Himself is the Chief building engineer. This structure that is going to go up will be built according to His specifications and design, and no one will be allowed to deviate with their own repairs, but will follow His design. The latter end of this house will be greater then the former.
I believe that God is about to make war with denominational/institutional Christianity which He hates, which caused His house to be in disrepair. He is about to make war with the great harlot, which is Adam’s unredeemed fallen race.
During the coming revival/reformation, people are going to forget they are Baptist or Pentecostal or, Alliance, or Assemblies of God or whatever…I believe there is a remnant of Christians that God is calling out to Himself from all denominations, to a place of the wilderness, where He will lead us and feed us with manna from heaven…to prepare us and make us ready fro harvest.
I believe that something is about to happen, that is going to occur that is going to bring Christians together, and God shall dwell among us in an unprecedented move of the Spirit of God. I believe we are at the gateway to the time known as the Great Tribulation and that the time is short.
I feel as sense of urgency and a leading of the Holy Spirit, that the time is short. It is time for ones sitting on the fence with their Christianity to sit up and take notice – to wake up to what is coming and to get ready.
This dream/vision has left its mark in my soul, its essence lingers still…I believe that the Lord Jesus is about to do a new work in His Church.
appolus said
Hi David,
Thanks for dropping by. I appreciate you sharing your dream and I have no doubt that the Lord was showing you the state of the “established church,” coming judgement upon it and the the fact that He has a remnant people. The Lord has been showing many of His people from all over the world this very thing. Now brother, I was a Bricklayer for over 20 years and I know something about structures, especially foundations. Sometimes a building cannot be repaired and simply has to be torn down and replaced. You may relate to this word the Lord gave me
http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/the-latter-rain-the-remnants-jouney-to-the-valley-of-acacias/
Frank
David said
On Aug 27 2010 at approximately 4:30 A.M. the Lord gave me this dream, and I feel it is about what is coming to/for the Body of Christ – His Church:
A revival and persecution coming…
I was a preacher, one of two preachers of righteousness,(the much lesser one). And in this dream we were encountering a lot of opposition from preaching from Babylon (which was a political institution that governed). The opposition that came was from a massive amount of ice that was sitting on top of the Church placed there by Babylon, and on top of the ice was toxic poison so as it could not be easily removed.
It did not seem that I was amounting to much of anything, but I was very zealous for the things of God. While the other preacher was out preaching his message, I went after the ice with a vengeance to remove it, but “the powers that be” did not like it.
I removed the ice, slab by slab, until I got to the very last one, and when I got to the last one I was careful removing it so as not to get any toxic poison on me, and lifted the slab of toxic ice over my head (The Spirit of the Lord was upon me with much zeal!) I took the ice slab to the city of Babylon (what was representative of it) and cast the ice before it so that it shattered into uncountable pieces. After this, being full of the Holy Ghost, I said….”I PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF JESUS CHRIST”!!!! Seven times did I say this with such zeal and power in my voice that my voice thundered!
After this, I noticed that the “powers that be” (the spiritual wickedness in high places) had taken great notice of what just transpired, and I knew from that point that a great war was about to begin (a war between the powers of God and that of evil)….and then I woke up from the dream and typed it out.
David said
I believe the time for this vision to come to pass is even at the door. There is a remnant, of whom God is calling out into the wilderness, whom He has chosen and set apart for this time that is before us. There will be a great falling away from God, of all of humanity(Adam’s race)which includes some of the fractured parts of that which is also known as the church.
I do not believe that the R/C church is in the way of the Lord at all, and neither is most of what is known as established denominations, Protestant, evangelical or otherwise.
The collapse of the Grand Old Mansion is imminent, the judgement has been set, because of what man in his vanity has done to it. They have turned intimate relationship with God the Father into empty, dead, and lifeless religion,(come out from among them) and the Lord will collapse this old house now (except for the core part or remnant)and will rebuild His Church from the remnants of the ruins from the ground up. This occurs during the time of the Great Tribulation which we must go through as a body…
During the time of unprecedented persecution against Christians, and in the midst of all the global chaos (Great Tribulation), there will be a revival and a move of the Spirit of God, …such as has not been seen to this day, no not even in the beginning…for God shall pour out of His Holy Spirit upon the Body of Christ …to strengthen and purify/beautify the Bride of the Lamb, that she may be pure and holy – and without spot or blemish, or any such thing…and her gown shall be as white as snow….many will turn to the Lord during this time in a global revival which is the rebuilding of the “Grand Old Mansion” of which it is also written:
The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:9
David said
and so it begins (just the beginning)…the collapse of the Grand Old Mansion
January 18, 2010 12:52 a.m. EST
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/WORLD/americas/01/18/haiti.earthquake.faith/story.haiti.pap.church.afp.gi.jpg
The ruins of a catholic church in Port-au-Prince.
“In Haiti, you have Protestants and Catholics, and you have your percentage of each,” said J.B. Diederich, a native-born Haitian who now lives in Miami, Florida, but returned to the Caribbean for several days after the earthquake. “But everybody is 100 percent voodoo.”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/18/haiti.earthquake.faith/index.html?hpt=T1
David said
I believe the time for this vision to come to pass is even at the door. There is a remnant, whom God is calling out into the wilderness, whom He has chosen and set apart for this time that is before us. There will be a great falling away from God, of all of humanity (Adam’s race)which includes some of the fractured parts of that which is also known as the church.
I do not believe that the R/C church is in the way of the Lord at all, and neither is most of what is known as established denominations, Protestant, evangelical or otherwise.
The collapse of the Grand Old Mansion is imminent, the judgement has gone out, because of what man in his vanity has done to it. They have turned intimate relationship with the Father into empty dead lifeless religion, and the Lord will collapse this old house now (except for the core part or remnant)and will rebuild His Church from the remnants of the ruins from the ground up. This occurs during the time of the Great Tribulation which we must go through as a body…
During the time of unprecedented persecution against Christians, and in the midst of all the global chaos (Great Tribulation), there will be a revival and a move of the Spirit of God, …such as has not been seen to this day, no not even in the beginning…for God shall pour out of His Holy Spirit upon the Body of Christ …to strengthen and purify/beautify the Bride of the Lamb, that she may be pure and holy – and without spot or blemish, or any such thing…and her gown shall be as white as snow….many will turn to the Lord during this time in a global revival which is the rebuilding of the “Grand Old Mansion” of which it is also written:
The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Haggai 2:9
PBob said
David
Below is a vision the Lord gave to me in 1997. I feel that it is in line with the dream you had.
AN ADMONITION AND WARNING TO THE BODY OF CHRIST
In 1997, shortly after entering full time ministry, the Lord gave me a vision. He told me that I would see this happening in my lifetime – I was 56 at the time.
I saw His Holy Spirit turn the churches upside down and shake them violently. I saw that a few were falling out of their comfortable pews and into the world. When the churches were turned right side up there were still a large number in the churches. I assumed that those remaining in the churches were the true followers of Christ.
In 2003 as I was pastoring a small rural church I was given the rest of the vision. I saw “The Body of Christ” – the true believers – meeting and worshiping in their homes; witnessing in the streets; ministering to the lost with the love of Christ. They were giving of themselves much more than of their money and worldly goods. They were truely fullfilling the Great Commission and being His ambassadors – bringing the agape love of Christ to sinners. Many were repenting of their sin and coming to Christ as His people.
As this was happening those who were remaining in the “churches” were persecuting the “True Followers of Christ”.
I heard the Lord say, “The time is near when many will be deceived. Go into the streets and warn my people saying,” (Romans 11:17-22) 17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.”
I firmly believe that the Lord is urgently calling and warning with a “Compassionate Roar” “The Body of Christ” to repent and to fullfill the Great Commission.
(Matthew 28:18-20) 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He has been patient with His people long enough as we have interpreted His Word for our convenience; divided His Body with our denominations, legalisms, doctrines and traditions; ignored His commands and His Holy Spirit. As we have attempted to have it both ways – a worldly life and a life in His kingdom.
He will no longer tolerate the preaching of a gospel which focuses on success, prosperity and abundant worldly living. He desires a repentant committed people willing to say,
“Yes Lord I will go where you send me and I will be obedient, for I no longer live but Christ lives in me. I am willing to be your temple and to be that living sacrifice you desire that I be that I may be your instrument to bring the good news of salvation to those around me.”
As I write these words I am reminded that “You can’t kill a dead man!” It’s time to die.
We are rapidly reaching the point where each “christian” is deciding to do “what is right in his own eyes” regardless of what the Word of God tells us. Many have decided in their own hearts that there is no right or wrong and there is no absolute truth. Governments and ‘churches” have made laws and created doctrine to justify abortion, homosexuality, homosexual marriage, sodomy, divorce, pornography, etc. while doing all that they can to prevent the name of Jesus from being spoken or the Ten Commandments from being taught. All of this that we might not offend someone!
Brothers and Sisters in Christ – now is the time to make a choice! Now is the time to decide whether we will follow God or man! (Luke 16:13) “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Whether we like it or not we, “… are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that (we) you may declare the praises of him who called (us) you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1Peter 2:9)
He has created us, equipped us, and sealed us with His precious Holy Spirit that we might be His witnesses.
As we are called to repent and obey we must also be prepared to be living sacrifices – to be persecuted – to be hated by men and the world even as Jesus was. (Matthew 24:9-13) 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
In summary Crying in the Wilderness Ministry exists to go to the Body of Christ in the streets, in the churches, in the parks, in the campgrounds, in the government buildings, – wherever the Lord says to go and…
1. Call them to repentance
2. Warn them of the deception and wickedness of times
3. Warn them of His coming judgement
4. Exhort them to be His witnesses
5. Exhort them to be light and salt
6. Remind them of the true character of God – His love, grace, justice,wrath, mercy and judgement1
7. Remind them of His total message sin, judgement, repentance and salvation through the Blood of Christ.1
1. Ref. “A Compassionate Roar” – Raising An Urgent Voice In Our Window Of Mercy”, page 2; by John O. Anderson (2004) Published by: Bridge – Logos
TRUE LOVE WARNS
TRUE LOVE SPEAKS THE WHOLE TRUTH
TRUE LOVE SPEAKS WITH A PROPHETIC VOICE
Do you call yourself a Christian – a follower of Christ?
How would anyone know?
It has been said that, “What you do speaks so loudly
no one and hear a word you say”.
IF NOT NOW WHEN? IF NOT YOU WHO?
martha norman said
Hi Frank, i really enjoyed the dream that David shared.What a dream! Tho, i appreciated the interpretation, i would also like to share what came to me.As I was reading about the dream i could see The great America, as we know it, falling down. And that no one can repair the damage that has been done but God. This grand country that was so great is being redesigned, by the great Architect.The old structure will be no more.Even tho i believ the Church is being reborn, i believe that includes the whole world, Thanks, Martha
appolus said
You are right Martha, the old structures are being readied to be swept away. The Lord is going to do a new work in our day, perhaps the last great move before He returns…………Frank
Anonymous said
dear ones,
The dream of the old structure reminded me also of America. America is the only nation I know of in this world, that is a nation under God. America was God’s Idea not man’s. Also the seven rooms speaks of how God mesures time. A thousand years is on day and one day is a thousand years.The seventh sabbath of 1000 years long is just at the door. I have been waiting now for over 40 years for my vision to be fullfilled. What I have read is so exciting!
Jack Hodgdon
Spokane Valley, Wa
martha norman said
Hi Frank, i really enjoyed the dream that David shared.What a dream! Tho, i appreciated the interpretation, i would also like to share what came to me.As I was reading about the dream i could see The great America, as we know it, falling down. And that no one can repair the damage that has been done but God. This grand country that was so great is being redesigned, by the great Architect.The old structure will be no more.Even tho, i believe the Church is being reborn, i believe that includes the whole System of things. Thanks, Martha
appolus said
Amen sister
Sophie Edwards said
My own experience has been that I can have more of God’s presence when there is less and less of me in my interaction with God. I have been a Christian for 22 years and that entire time I have lived through many difficulties and hardship with pain and sorrow many times and even my own brothers and sisters (natural and spiritual) turning against me. God has used every experience to mould me, to make me more like Him, to break away my fleshly striving and has brought me to a place where I love Him so much that only He is my motivation and reason for living. God has to break away all our fleshly motivation and striving before He can use us as bread to feed the world. There is a cost to being a Christian. The greatest blessing to mankind ever required the greatest sacrifice ever.
appolus said
Amen sister. The pain and sorrow and the afflicitons that you have faced in life, you yielded to them and allowed the Lord to shape you. This is the markl of God’s Remnant people. They embrace the trial and the affliciton knowing that the Lord will have His way and afrwards we can walk in the peace that surpasses all understanding, truly a light in the darkness of this present world. This is what God’s Remnant people will be. He is shaping them in the desert of affliction no doubt, as we speak.
http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/sheep-from-goats/
Donna said
Around the late 70’s
The Big Bag of Deception!
I was in prayer & the Lord showed me this vision: I saw Him standing tall & holding a huge white bag by the four corners, filled to the full. I asked the Lord what was in the bag & He named all manner of good things to me! He named denominations, church meetings, preachers, groups, leaders, good activities, etc.–all those things, that at that time, I couldn’t comprehend that they were “not good” & I felt uncomfortable w/ that…perplexed, you might say & in wonderment. Then I watched & listened as He dropped the huge bag in the ocean. I saw it sink deep into the ocean until it reached the bottom. (I believe the sea refers to commerce in the Bible.) Then the Lord said, that’s where it all belongs…the only thing that counts is JESUS. And you will never be the member of any denomination.”
Even though I’ve visited churches off & on thru the years, b/c I was lonely, I do believe that He always used it for His purposes. At times is was to teach me positive or negative things regarding me or the Organized Church system or confirm something to me. Sometimes it was to use me in some way & to show others that even though I had not been partaking w/ them, the Lord had me anointed & set apart & that was very encouraging to me…there were a few times I was afraid & did not speak up, but He is faithful to continue to work in me always. So I have stayed away from the Organized Church as much as I could & watched the Lord work when I did peek in & see Him do a marvelous work…but, at the same time, I can see/sense/feel the great difference there is between the two…the OC & the individuals who are followers of the WAY. Those of us who are in this INvisible Kingdom of God & are trusting God to lead them have eyes to see & ears to hear & this pleases our Lord. We who are letting Jesus Christ be formed in us realize that Jesus Christ is our King & we are subject to Him. Those who are in the VISible Kingdom (whether they attend a church or not) are blind & deaf. What a marvelous translation to be chosen for the Kingdom of God what wonderful transformations take place in us who are subject to our King Jesus instead of religion…What a blessed gospel…the only gospel the Lord ever preached, which He began to preach before His crucifixion!
appolus said
Hi Donna. Thanks for the comment. I can relate to what your saying on many levels. I had a vision one time where the Lord showed me that most of the activity of the organized church was taking place in the court of the gentiles or “Cain’s court,” as He put it to me. You can read what the Lord gave me to write after the vision….
http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2007/12/28/a-vision-of-coming-into-his-presence/
What I would say is that I do know quite a few within the Visible church who are aware of what is going on. The vast majority are blind, but there remains a few who are there, I believe, in order to show people the way out……….Frank
Donna said
Hi Frank,
In reading Hebrews 13 today I was once again reminded of how the Lord would like us to come out from among them & be separate. In Heb. 13:12-14 it says, Hebrews 13:12-14 (King James Version)
12Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
God bless you & all of us to become more & more emptied out to let Him fill us to the full & the walk in the Spirit with Him, the Beloved of our souls. Donna
appolus said
Hi Donna, I believe that will happen soon. The Lord is getting ready to do something completly different. God bless you sister…………Frank
Eddie Dunn said
Frank, David, et al…
I too do not believe in coincidence and think I have miraculously come across your site here…perhaps a “Godcidence” as the Lord has purposed. This goes beyond “Reformation of Structure…”
I will do my best to be short here, but the Lord has been downloading in me for several years, a circulatory system…a future state of a global network of Kingdom believers connecting to each other. I don’t think I could do it all justice here, but would welcome a dialog and possibly cross-pollinate on this an other things that serve our King.
There is a small remnant of house churches here in the US, specifically in the North East that are beginning to connect to each other. More and more networks are beginning to emerge across the US…a nameless and faceless band of Kingdom believers who are void of any churchianity, traditionalism or anything that would suggest the old structure. Simple church gatherings – a new wine and new wineskin. It is not visible to the rest of the world just yet…but we are here, no doubt.
I have started a Face Book page called – Kingdom Starfish Network It is the starting point of where we are headed. Here is the link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=209557203968
I am specifically looking for a core team of like minded Kingdom believers who can see this vision and come along side a team of radical believers who want to be a part of what God is doing in this area.
It has been a tough road over the last several years, but the greatest adventure of my life. It is not easy building a bridge in the middle of a desert, but build we must in simple obedience.
Again, would welcome an opportunity to connect.
All & Every Blessing,
Eddie
appolus said
Hi Eddie, I do not believe in coincidence’s either. The Lord has also been working on and through me for the last several years in the same endevour as yourself. I have been involved in three revival conferences in the last couple of years. One in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Oklahoma. What struck was that I kept hearing the same story over and over again from Christians from around the world. The revival conference that we had in Greenock, my former hometown in Scotland, was attended by over 800 people from 20 different countries. And that thread in the conversation came up again and again. That’s when I began to realize that the Lord is mobilizing His people around the world, nit just in the States. In fact there is a very hungry and thirsty group of believers all over Great Britain. They may be relitively small in number, bearing in mind that just under 3% of Brittish people now attend church on a regular basis, but they are definately the Lord’s Remnant and it totally blessed me to meet these fellow sojourners on the way. That is why I posted this particualr post http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/are-you-a-lonely-christian/
“Are you a lonely Christian,” because there is so much confusion amongst the people that God is calling out. They feel lonely and islolated and not always seeing the bigger picture, just knowing that there are other believers out there, from all over the world bring them comfort. They are being stripped of all of their dependency upon the established church, and they are being molded in the desert for the coming move of God. Yes, a new Wineskin is on the horizon, and it will be filled with the beautiful new wine of His presence. http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/surrounded-by-a-wall-of-fire/
Building a bridge in the desert, I love that phrase brother. E-mail me at appolus@aol.com and I will e-mail you my phone number………….Frank
bert said
The “church” started in small groups, in homes. One senses that is where the Father is taking those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. It is a strategic move; a large body in public is an open and easy target for elimination; small groups, gathered in private; not so easy. Our Lord does indeed, “have our back”. But His hand of discipline is among us. For your consideration, the following:
An Urgent Dream with Interpretation
On September 26th, I had a spiritual dream. Within my dream(which will be called primary), I was dreaming(which will be called secondary). Within the secondary dream, I was standing on an overlook, observing a panoramic view of mountains, very similar in appearance to the Badlands of South Dakota.
Suddenly, within the secondary dream, the mountains began to collapse; some mountains collapsed individually; some collapsed in small groups or clusters. It was as though the foundational elements of stones of the mountains were being pulled out from the underside of the mountains as the mountains disappeared from sight incrementally until they were no more. I awoke from the secondary dream into the primary dream. Immediately I was standing on a mountain exactly like the mountains in the secondary dream. I could see the mountains in great detail. They were completely barren, lifeless, and dry, made of crumbling sand and clay, very worn and eroded. There were a great many people walking about the mountains, some were laughing and carefree, others were trying to navigate the mountains with great seriousness. Suddenly, the mountains began to collapse; some individually; some in groups or clusters. The people on the mountains became very alarmed. The mountains collapsed as though the stones of the mountains were being pulled out from the underside of the mountains, and the mountains disappeared incrementally, but with people being carried away with the mountains as they collapsed. Although people were trying, they were unable to anticipate which mountain was going to collapse as there were no distinguishing features to indicate if one mountain was more secure than another. Suddenly, it seemed as though a very dark dome was dropping over and covering the landscape. I could see but a faint sliver of light at a distant edge of the dome. At once the mountain I was standing on began to collapse. I immediately heard the voice of the Lord say, “You will rise again.” His voice was firm and resolute. As He was speaking, the mountain on which I was standing continued to collapse underneath me. As the mountain was collapsing, I thought, “I don’t have the strength to climb over to another mountain.” But I started climbing anyway, and instead of being impossible, it was merely a little difficult. I thought perhaps angels were helping me in my climb. I looked down and saw that the mountain had become an enormous stack of mattresses, as had the mountain in front of me. I kept climbing until I had reached safety. As I reached a safe place, in front of me were many people, rejoicing before the Lord, shaking hands with one another, hugging, and slapping each other on the back. Immediately, more mountains began to collapse, but those who had been rejoicing were able to reach out and help others in danger and bring them to a safe place. I walked to the edge of a mountain and looked over the edge to see what had happened to the mountains that had collapsed. Over the edge of the mountain, there was absolutely nothing; no debris, no clouds of dust, not even vast darkness; just a complete void. When I returned to the people, there was some sadness, however. A very beloved pastor that I know had died during the collapsing. When I learned that he had died, I asked about another pastor I know who is also loved, but others said this pastor was lost, as no one knew where he was, or what had happened to him. I awoke from the dream and the Lord provided an immediate interpretation of the dream.
Interpretation of the Dream
The mountains in the dream represent kingdoms and nations of the earth. As with the topography of the mountains, the kingdoms and nations of the earth are dead and lifeless, because the vast majority of the people of the nations do not follow after the Lord. The dry, crumbling sand and clay represents the people who have not been nourished by, and do not walk in, the power of the Spirit. The collapsing of the mountains represents the collapse of nations, the very foundations of which are being shaken by the Lord and being brought to naught. The dome of darkness over the mountains represents the kingdom of Satan which is attempting to annihilate the world of men. The sliver of light represents God’s Kingdom in the world; it cannot be extinguished. The rejoicing people are those who have put their trust in the Lord; He has sheltered them in a time of trouble. Those who have been sheltered, who are reaching out to save others, represent the salt and light believers are to be to those who are lost.
The sadness of the dream, the pastor who died, represents the reality that some will lose their life in the cause of the Lord. The pastor who was lost, signifies that some who claim the Lord will fall away from the Lord during the times of shaking.
The sequence of events within the dream(s) represents absolute urgency. The Lord is issuing a call to His people. The details of the call are as follows:
The Lord’s Call to His People
Fast in humility and obedience before the Lord
Pray for believers; for strength, courage, and boldness
Reach out to the lost; give them the message: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand
Scriptural Passages
The Lord brought the following Scriptural passages to mind during and after the dream:
Psa. 56:3 What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Joe 3:16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD [will be] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.
Hag 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
appolus said
Amen brother Bert. s I read your vision I hd many thoughts. Not only could I see it as the nations collapsing, but I saw it as the collapss of the Visible Church. I also thought about William Booth’s vision as I read yours. Although his was in realtion to the lost, I could see the ties that it would have to your vision http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/a-vision-of-the-lost/
God bless you brother and I can say amen to your vision, and also the urgency. The famous quote is “the fierce urgency of now,” and that is exaclty where we are……….Frank
Ian Williams said
Hello people! Greetings from Christchurch, New Zealand. I have been blessed with a series of dreams, visions & revelations since the early eighties. Through all this, Jesus showed me just how He is to build HIS church, how it is ‘structured’ and that it is not of man’s making or manipulation – it is a a BODY, not made with hands, forever in the heavens.
Reading what you people say is refreshing in the sense that you are seeing SOME of what is to come and what is now happening, but having ‘been there and done that’, I also see some of the blind spots which remain, and I surely have my own too. I could explain things to you but you alrady have ONE who can do that far better than I, and by the evidence of what I read here, you are already developing hearing ears.
Paul said that when perfection is come, then we will know even as we are known – he also said that we have the Mind of Christ and know even the deep things of God thereby – and John said that we have a teacher who will lead us into ALL TRUTH, which is the person, Jesus Christ – the manifestation of God’s ‘DNA’.
About 6 years ago, the Holy Spirit had me pray for a young man who had been run down and left for dead – his body was shattered beyond any human intervention – yet over two weeks, God rebuilt him from his DNA and he left hospital with the doctors telling his mother that they were frightened to go near him – he was FULLY restored and the doctors were freaked out that a spinal choird broekn in 5 places could heal. I haver met this man and he has a holiness beyond anyone I have ever met – he humbled me by his mere presence.
Later, Jesus was to tell me that this man was a template for His NEW MAN created in righteousness, a living stone in His Temple. He did it to show just how He could take that which was utterly broken and discarded, left for dead, and resurrect it to NEWNESS of LIFE.
For anyone who wants a precis of the visions etc, you may contact me and I will answer as led.
Jesus has shown me how that if you have truly laid down your life, that you will look up to everyone, and when I asked Him to distill the essence of what He has taught me these last 10 years particularly, He said, “Ian, it is like this, there is no US and them, there is only US, it is just that soem of them do not yet realise it. He also told me that most problems Christians experience, and the reason the kingdom is restricted and even closed to them is unforgiveness and judgment – that we are blinded by our own lovelessness and conditionality from our law based, works bound doctrines of devils, and that they do not get that the separation is between flesh and Spirit, not good and evil.
He told me that the cause of debt is unforgiveness, and that so many are imprisoned by their own unforgiveness toward their fellow servants and by traditions which they think are Christ – even closely held beliefs considered to be the milk! He told me the answer is to daily commit to cleansing – to not hold on to our pearls – our coping mechanisms – and to stop trading them with others thinking that they have value when they are simply vanity and will dissolve in the New Wine of His presence. Only the Gold, Silver and Precious Stones of Faith Hope and Love will endure – the organics burn!
The key is simply to give it all up – all our presumptions and prejudices, all OUR knowledge – exchange it for that Pearl of Great Price! Live out of your heavenly man! Give Jesus total and free reign and rein to remove all which offends, all which casues you/me/us to stumble and ask Him most of all to show you the Rolodex experience – ask Him to show you the secret accounts which you keep, your secret files which you have not yet reliniquished – the tabs you keep on other servants who “owe” you.
He challenged me thus – “If you were cast up on a desert isle, with no contact or communication of any kind, no bibles, books or computers, no means of communication with any human being, from where would you get you daily Manna, and your fellowship?” He has writ HIS LAW – not the law of Moses and the Jews, but HIS LAW – on your heart, and every man shall know HIM, from the least to the greatest.
What he told me to convey to you is that you need to know what NEW really means. It is a mystery which few know, but it is key to the NEW thing which He shall do. John gives the key in 1 John – “Yet a NEW commandment I give to you, yet not NEW but OLD, as at the beginning.” Consider your election and calling, how that you were named and framed before the foundations of the worlds, and that he had a Lamb already slain – a NEW THING – as at the beginning.
Now you need get the rest from Jesus by His Holy Spirit within you – all you have to do is say, “Jesus, I purpose to know NOTHING except you, Christ Jesus and YOU crucified – I relinquish all my knowledge, all my pearls, all my means, all my cherished doctines and beliefs, so that I may go on to know only you and your manifestation.”
If you think that you do not need this, then consider this, how much Holy Spirit Power do you wield? The kingdom of heaven is not in word, but in manifestation of POWER – and the POWER is the GOOD NEWS! Or as Jesus said to me, “Would you give a starving man a recipe or a cake?”
The reason why we have to get back to the ONE FOUNDATION before the real building begins is that we have been blinded by Babylon to become tower builders, ad we have missed what Jesus said when he said to COUNT THE COST of OUR building. The cost is that we labour in vain, and we forsake our relationship with HIM to build that which exalts us and lifts us up instead of that which exalts Jesus.
A while back I went to church, and saw a vision of Jesus and a young man falling down and ‘worshipping’ Him, and he said, “If you follow me, you will be in MY WAY, but if you just ‘try’ to worship Me, then you will just get in My way.” The True followers worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, not a falling down false piety to cover up for the hidden sins of judgment and condemnation and the accounts we hold against others. Be utterly open – He will have His Way anyway! 0(:->)
appolus said
Hi Ian, good to hear from an Autrailian brother. God bless you brother. Please know that the truths that you share God has given to “many,” within the Remnant movement. This movement is not heralded and the Lord Himself has gathered and is gathering His people to Himslelf as we speak. You are absolutely right, it is a Body and that is why in the coming movement it will not be shepherded by “personalities,” or big names, the only name that will be raised up is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am glad that you spoke of blind-spots, we all have them of course, and we all (as in His Remnant people) have a portion which the Lord has revealed to us. Yet , if you travel, you begin to see a commonality amongst Christians from all over the world. Christians who have languished in their church’s , ignored, and considered too “enthusiastic,” especially about the State of the Church and the times in which we live. When the Lord pours out His new wine into New Wineskins, His people will move in the true power of Penetecost. http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/stabbed-in-the-heartbaptism-in-the-holy-spirit/ God bless you my brother. ……………………..Frank
bert said
Hi, Ian. I’d really like to hear/read what the Spirit has revealed to you. How may I link to your site?
Bruce Sillence said
There is a great shaking about to happen but what most Christians don’t realize is that the so called leaders of the church are the ones who have lead it astray. [ read Ezekiel 9 ]
He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. 2And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. 3And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; 4And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
Peter said this also in 1 Peter 4:17
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 18And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
What is Gods JUDGMENT about, how will He judge?
The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. Isaiah 24:4
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:31
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:26
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 9“not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. 10“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 11“None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. 12“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:7
THE NEW COVENANT IS GODS WRITING HIS 10 COMMANDMENTS IN OUR HEARTS BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? Romans 6:14
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Romans 7:6
THE BELIEF THAT GODS 10 COMMANDANTS HAVE BEEN DONE AWAY WITH IS THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE GREAT APOSTASY IN THE CHURCH
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Daniel 7:25
THIS IS THE GREAT ANTI CHRIST POWER THAT ALL THE PRESENT CHURCH LEADERS WANT TO UNITE WITH AND WHO THE PAST CHURCH LEADERS CALLED THE GREAT HARLOT CHURCH
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16“So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
IT IS LATER THEN WE ALL THINK
Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 47Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. 48But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; 49And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; 50The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, 51And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Bruce
appolus said
HI Bruce, thanks for the comment. The Lord gave me the same Scripture several months ago …. http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-glory-of-gods-presence-is-departing/
Also I think you may be blessed in reading this piece the Lord gave me. It is called “Woe unto the Pastors for the church is dead.” I was writing it from the near future in my mind’s eye…………Frank
http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/woe-unto-the-pastors-for-the-church-is-dead/
Gladys Brierley said
David,all I came across your word on the church in another list and was linked here. First I want to say that as a prophetic woman of the Lord your vision and heart is witnessing to my spirit. I have been serving the Lord for over 30 years and many times in denominational churches but also in non denominational churches. I had a word about 24 or so years ago that God was was calling people from the back side of the desert, John the Baptist’s who would come out from obscurity and preach the pure word of God, that God was not into personalities and power positions that He would use those who no one knew and raise them up to be warriors in His kingdom.
I have seen some rise from obscurity since that time and turn around and chase after the gospel of prosperity and get rich off the backs of fixed income elderly and others who are looking to feel and know the presence of God and do not understand that God will meet you in the laundry room, in the bath room on the job and alone in your quiet time if you are open to His voice and correction and if you desire to be His heart and reflection in the earth. God wants a people who will stop in the middle of anything and praise His name. He wants a people that will unashamedly intercede, pray for the lost, give a helping hand, and lay down our lives for the brethren first and then reach out to the world, our own communities who so desperately need Jesus, need love and need peace and joy in their lives.
I have been so disheartened in churches these past many years, as I have committed myself to be a part of a local fellowship and watch the church fail to rise up to worship the Lord, give of itself, and lay down their lives for the brethren, never mind the world. I see money as the foremost thing in peoples minds, if you have it you are IN if you don’t your are on the outside looking in and wishing you could be part of the inner circle.
The inner circle that use to be a place of honor to be close to Jesus and enjoy others that are close to Jesus is now corrupted and the inner circle now is the place where the beautiful people hang out and when any of those people see some annointing on some uncomely soul who is truly after the heart of God they grab that person and ride on their coat tails to make more money, often corrupted the very inspiration and diluting the annointing of the Lord.
We who want to know Him and His presence, good pleasure, approval, and truly be in the inner circle with the humble annointed saints, then we must die to self, forgive our enemies, take a lower place of service, reach out to those less fortunate than us, work to make money to GIVE not accumulate wealth, but to be a channel of blessing to others so that the gospel will become real to them.
I am very blest by these comments, dreams and insights, not one person here is preaching money, prosperity and going to the NEXT higher level, which is really LOWER to God as we humble ourselves HE will exalt us in due time, but not for our own exaltation but to preach the gospel and be a blessing.
It is so sad to me that the gospel of love and sacrifice has been reduced to a gospel of feel good, self promotion and things, instead of the excitement of seeing the God who owns the universe bless us with the ability to help others and to live modestly before men.
Thanks for this site and I am eager to read more and be a part of it. I am in the Bible Belt of Mississippi where the religion is steep and the people are stubbornly safe they think in their church social clubs. I a Yankee have grown to love these people in spite of their racism, and superiority complex. Please pray for me as I have not seen much fruit of my labors and I wonder sometimes if I am making any difference, my perspective is either rejected or agreed to but not acted upon, people continue to go from church to church looking for what only can be found with the remnant, those who are willing to lay their whole lives down for the gospel.
appolus said
Dear Gladys, sister, you are a perfect example of a Remnant child of God. You write…….. “Please pray for me as I have not seen much fruit of my labors and I wonder sometimes if I am making any difference, my perspective is either rejected or agreed to but not acted upon, people continue to go from church to church looking for what only can be found with the remnant, those who are willing to lay their whole lives down for the gospel.”
I have found in my travels that the Lord has been seperating out His people by one’s and two’s. In this way He can isolate His remnant children and test them in a fiery desert. They lose all of their support systems, as they get none but condecending, at best, nods from their church. In this way they come to rely on the Lord Jesus Christ for evrey single part of their sanity, because only in Him have they found any satisfaction. You are making a difference Gladys, you are light in the darkness of a world that calls itself the church. Very soon, the Lord will call His people out of what is known as the church. It will be His timing and it will be a hungry and a thisrsty people that will come out. Here is a prophetic promise to you Gladys and to the rest of God’s Remnant people…….
Amo 9:11 In that day I will raise up the booth of David that has fallen, and close up its breaks; and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;
Amo 9:12 so that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the nations on whom My name is called, says Jehovah who is doing this.
Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that the plowman and the reaper shall draw near, the treader of grapes, and he who draws along the seed. And the mountains will drip must, and all the hills will be dissolved.
Amo 9:14 And I will turn back the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the cities which are desolate, and they shall live in them. And they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall also make gardens and eat their fruit.
Amo 9:15 And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says Jehovah your God.
Now these are the days in which we live right now……………………..
Amo 8:9 And it shall be in that day, says the Lord Jehovah, I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the light of day.
Amo 8:10 And I will turn your feast into mourning, and all your songs into weeping; and I will bring up sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head. And I will make it like the mourning of an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day.
Amo 8:11 Behold, the days come, says the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of Jehovah.
Amo 8:12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.
Amo 8:13 In that day the beautiful virgins and the young men shall faint for thirst.
Hang in there sister, the days are coming, when the new wine will be poured out into new wineskins………………….Frank
PS You will never see anything about money on this site, or anything for sale. The only thing you will see on this site about money is a condemnation of the hirelings who take widows money.
peter coch said
Having shared many of the negative church experiences related, I became interested in the Messianic approach. Understanding what is intended in the original Hebrew scriptures goes a long way to restoring the excitement Yeshua’s disciples obviously experienced.
The kind of church that will emerge from the ashes of prosperity gospel is made up of small localized groups who put into practice the true Torah which Jesus said He came to fulfill. It has a way of extracting leaven till we are left with the original.
Yofi said
I found your site linked through the Revival List moderated by Andrew Strom. Last night my husband and I led our first “small group” in our home. I was in Messianic Jewish ministry for 10 years, until moving to Illinois 13 years ago to marry my wonderful husband. We have had a difficult time finding a church home, but I do believe we should be committed and in covenant with local believers. We have been a part of a small church for some time now, but I felt God wanted us to do more.
I have felt for some time that we have about two years – to 2012 – to get our act together, and then the troubles will really begin in earnest. I believe that God wants to put us in small, committed groups in the end times during the times of persecution, and that is the way we will be most effective in helping others.
I believe we (the Western Church) have been deceived by the Dispensational/Replacement Theology teaching that we can get saved, live however we want, because God is going to “helicopter” (pre-Tribulation Rapture) us out before it gets bad. I believe that is one reason many will fall away.
We believe our small group is ordained of God to build covenant, faithfulness, and loyalty to help others during the times that are coming.
One of the things in the particular church that has frustrated me is the sense of “control” the pastor has on everything. It’s a spirit that is in operation, and it dampens the Spirit of God from moving. I have been praying against it and that God will break through in our congregation. How would you deal with this situation?
Thank you for all the words, visions, and articles. There is so much, I can’t read it all, but what I have read has been such a blessing.
appolus said
Hi Yofi, yeah I met Andrew at a revival conference in Wales in Moriah Chapel in Lougher. Lougher is the viallage in Wales where the revival started and then they built Moriah. I was leading the concerts of prayer there and Andrew was one of the speakers. I was deeply moved by what he shared and the passion he shared it with. I am definately in agreement with you when it comes to the deception of the western church and the coming tribulation. I am not a pre trib/rapture believer. We will face serious persecution, it is coming, and we might as well get ready for it. I actually believe it will be a glorious time because the Lord’s grace is sufficiant for us and we will need a lot of grace in that time. He will pour out His Spirit on us in such a way as had not been seen before, I believe, because the times of persecution that are coming will be greater that we have seen before. Now, that is a pretty incredible claim given the persecution the true church has suffered in the last 2000 years. Yet the Word of God confirms this….
Mat 24:21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time; no, nor ever shall be.
Mat 24:22 And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.
You write……”One of the things in the particular church that has frustrated me is the sense of “control” the pastor has on everything. It’s a spirit that is in operation, and it dampens the Spirit of God from moving. I have been praying against it and that God will break through in our congregation. How would you deal with this situation?”
Brother, you are absolutely correct in your assertion of control. Those of us whom the Lord has clearly spoken to about the coming new movement, about the wine of His presence being poured into new wineskins, have all agreed that there will be no “one man show.” Its completely ungodly and more akin to the Catholic priest model, even the mystery religions of the ancient world, where all the power lay in the “priest.” We know that we are a priesthood of believers. Each of God’s children have gifts and these gifts are for the edification of the church. So for example, in a gathering of 100 people, there may be ten who have the gift of teaching. Each of those with the gift of teaching should be teaching. Now, just because one is a teacher, does that mean that he is a pastor? Absolutly not. Each priest according to his own gift. This is one of the major reasons that the new move is coming, it will sweep away this notion of the one man show where the priests have become mere spectators, akin to being at the movies or any secular show. To have a healthy Body, each part must be fuctioning. Now, how does that work out practically in a smaller group or even in a larger group? Freedom is very important. The Lord must have His way in a meeting. Its that vital. The Lord will never come down and justify a man’s ministry, He will only ever come down to glorify Himself in the midst of the people. And while there needs to be an order, a skeleton of a program, it must always be flexible enough to allow the Holy Spirit complete liberety. Now the enemy knows this and has mounted the most serious of campaigns to shut this down wherever it is atempted. He knows well the dangers of these kinds of gatherings. And so we need discerment. We do need leadership, and it has to be leaders that are full of the Holy Spirit( a loaded phrase I know) as we see in the book of Acts with elders and deacons. The people knew who was full of the Holy Spirit. These people must be as nameless as they can be. They must have a spirit of John the Baptist who would say Joh 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. The only names that should start to arise from our gatherings is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only person that people should want to press into and get near to is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what happens when the manifest presence of God invades a building. He is exalted and magnified and lifted up. All men are drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ when He is lifted up. One of the great tragedies of the age is the cult of the personality. In the West we are obsessed by personalities, there is nothing that will hinder the presence of God more than to have a personality teaching from the front. There is nothing that will hinder the praise of God than to have a worship leader who is a personality. In the new move of God, which will all be about His presence, the personality will be replaced by the person of Jesus. God will pick the teachers, each man or woman will have the opportunity to be the worship leader. To be prompted by the Holy Spirit to sing a hymn, and for the congegation to join in, that is what makes a worship leader. For sensitivity to His voice, and to His leading will be the major qualification in the remnant movement of God in these last days. Hope that helps in a way Yofi……………..brother Frank
Donna said
Hi Frank,
I really enjoy your writings. In Him, Donna
Thanks for your reply re the vss. in Heb…there’s a thought I’d like to share w/ you & anyone who’s interested & that is that there still seems to be this idea that we christians here in the USA are somehow going to be treated differently than our brothers & sisters in other lands, i.e. excempt or excluded from persecution as it has been going on thruout the ages…we know that our brethren are suffering & will continue to do so…did they have an outpouring before their sufferings? Ummmm Also, you said that the Holy Spirit would be poured out as never before & you used this verse right after your comment: Mat 24:22 And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect’s sake, “those days shall be shortened.” It doesn’t say anything else…I’m just sharing w/ you & I’m a stickler for the word, as I see it & understand it to this point; I realize there is always so much more to see & learn & understand.
appolus said
HI Donna, good question. Let me tie it together for you if I can. First of all if we look at Amos 9-11-15 we see God’s promise to His Remnant people. He is going to raise up the “Tabernacle of David.” that had fallen. Listen to how Matthew Henry describes the Tabernacle of David…
I. That in the Messiah the kingdom of David shall be restored (Amo_9:11); the tabernacle of David it is called, that is, his house and family, which, though great and fixed, yet, in comparison with the kingdom of heaven, was mean and movable as a tabernacle. The church militant, in its present state, dwelling as in shepherds’ tents to feed, as in soldiers’ tents to fight, is the tabernacle of David.
So in the end days God promises to raise up the Tabernacle that has fallen. He also promises, after much judgment(read Amos) that “Amo 9:13 Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that the plowman and the reaper shall draw near, the treader of grapes, and he who draws along the seed. And the mountains will drip must, and all the hills will be dissolved.”
So, when the plowman overtakes the reaper, its because the reapers are still gathering in a great harvest.
In short, at the same time the Lord’s presence returns to His “Temple,” then the persecution will too begin to arise. And to the degree that the Lord pours out His Spirit on His people, they will be pesecuted by the world. If you go to my homepage, you can check out exactly what happened to the early believers on whom the Spirit of the Lord came upon mightily from Pentecost and onwards. The Spirit of the Lord ,poured out, will enable His Remnant people to go through great tribulation………..Frank
PASTOR JOHN KAOTO said
THAK YOU FOR GOOD WORDS OF GOD I RECEIVED TODAY WITH ALOT OF HAPPINESS AND THAKSGIVINGS
appolus said
Amen brother, may the Lord be praised………….Frank
Mario C. Alleckna said
While working on a book (Awakening the Sleeping Giant; The Church and the Road to Revival), in my final chapter where I am dealing with the end-times, I believe the Lord gave me a prophetic Word for His end-time Church. Allow me to share it:
“Many have walked on the “leading edge” and I chose to do some of My work, but this is a new season, a final call before the great day of the trumpet. There will be no more “leading edge” for I am going to cause you to jump off the edge. Yes, by faith, uncompromising faith, you must trust Me and jump! And as you leave the old ways behind, and as you renew and open your mind, you will know that I am doing a new, a final thing.
But before you jump you must take off your shoes, for behold, after I will catch you, I am going to set your feet on a truly solid ground, and I will give you new shoes that you must walk in. Shoes that will lead and empower you for good works. You will walk in the anointing and in the light of My righteousness. You will walk and not faint. You will walk with boldness and authority. You will surely trample on demons and serpents. You will walk on a strait and narrow path; the path that I, the Lord your God, have prepared for you. These are the days of the first harvest, My harvest. For I Myself am bringing into My house a people, selected and equipped for war. They will walk and talk in the Spirit, and with great power. They will be My road-crew, making a way in the desert, a strait road to Jerusalem. They will prepare the coming of the Lord, and they will bring in the great, second harvest of many souls.” (Please note the two types of Harvests.)
All for Jesus!
Mario C. Alleckna
appolus said
Amen
The Remnants Reformation « Scottish Warriors For Christ said
[...] A Coming Reformation [...]
Donna said
Hello,
Blessed be the name of the Lord! Someone sent me an email re this so-called Kansas City revival outbreak which you can read about at the link below (which I would not trust as a good source–notice in the artice that there is an 11 & a 9 [happened on the 11th of Nov. at 9:00!]) & also view videos online. I pray none of you will be deceived. This is NOT a move of God nor is it glorifying Him…only the one who initiated it in the first place is receiving worship from all those he’s fooled!
I noticed there were about 5 posts & only ONE of them had any discernment. I also left my post there in agreement w/ Scottie. Brothers & sisters, revival is not to be our priority but rather, our Lord Jesus Christ & His Will! Revival is then a part of our daily lives as God stirs in our spirits to magnify & honor Him, not to have wild manifestations which had nothing to do w/ Pentecost. When we are in need of fresh awakenings & we seek Him, He is faithful to stir within us once again. I could write a lot on these false moves, but please check out http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com for more.
http://blogs.cbn.com/ChurchWatch/archive/2009/11/25/revival-breaks-out-at-kansas-city-ihop-spreads-via-web.aspx
Mario C. Alleckna said
It’s ALL about Jesus!!!! Without Him we have nothing, less than nothing! We should not seek Revival, instead we should SEEK HIM! Revival will come (if He desires so), when we seek Him! 2Chr. : “If my people…then I will heal their land.
Why do we seek revival in the first place?????
Here is where the “rubber hits the road”! If our reason is not to: 1. see Him glorified; 2. to see lost souls saved, then we are self-serving (devil serving) and our motives are WRONG! (Remember Peter’s problem…Jesus said, “Get behind me ,satan.)
All honor and glory to Jesus! To Him alone!
Blessings to you and your house!
Mario
appolus said
Hi Mario, I totaly agree with what you are saying. I wrote this in “No Revival until we ignore revival,”……….”There is one way to achieve this, we must ignore thoughts of revival, for when we are thinking of revival, we are thinking of the result, not the object. One cannot focus on the result and expect results. This is the way of the world, not the Lord. Only by focusing on Jesus, can any significant move be achieved, and achieved is the wrong word, for revival is merely a by-product of a people crying out to and focusing on Jesus.
We, as a people, have greatly neglected Jesus. How many worship songs today do not mention His name? Personal pronouns litter today’s modern worship. It is time to return to complete focus on Him. “If my name be lifted up,” Jesus said that He would draw all men unto Him. Let us seek the Giver, not the gift, not the result, just Jesus.”
http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/no-revival-until-we-ignore-revival/
Donna said
Yes, Mario, I heartily agree! But revival to me is a restoring, reviving, stirring of the Love for Jesus & His interests, His heart, His jealousy…so that stirring, filling, moving, fervency, passion is all a part of Jesus & loving Him & following Him as a revived person.
Mario C. Alleckna said
Thank you, Appolus and Donna.
Yes, Revival is a wonderful blessing. It is a gift of God- an expression of His love, compassion, forgiveness, wisdom, and power. It is the spiritual awakening of the church through the reviving of the people in their passion for Jesus. When God’s Holy Spirit comes in His power, pouring down from Heaven as living water, He brings new life, and His overwhelming presence is revealed through the signs and miracles that only He can do. (Rev.22:1,2; Jn.4:10) However, many believers today think that we need a Reformation rather than a Revival. I personally think that we need both because not all of His church has completely strayed from truly loving Him. There are still people who earnestly seek His face. (We might find them even on this forum.) In short: True lovers of Jesus need a Revival because they feel dry, having walked in a spiritual desert, a dry land without water, living water. (Of course there are two different types of Revival: Personal Revival and general, corporate Revival.) Those who have left the straight and narrow and who have fallen from the truth, having been deceived to worship anything or anyone other than Jesus (i.e. fancy band performances, money [the prosperity gospel], idols, preachers, programs, buildings, doctrines, traditions, themselves, etc.) need a Reformation. Again, I believe the question we should ask is why people are seeking Revival…what is their motive? To me that is where the rubber hits the road.
So much of the problem I see in today’s church comes from a worldly spirit of seeking pleasure and entertainment. (Js.4:4; 1Jn.2:15,17) Many Christians are seeking Revival because of the thrill-factor it holds.
True Christianity is found in a simple, no frills, yet profound life of loving others in a practical, tangible way. Jesus and His disciples gave us the perfect example.
May the Lord soon send Revival to those who consider themselves to be a dry and thirsty land. (Is.44:3;55:1)
Sorry about my preaching here….
This is such a BIG topic…
Blessings to you!
Mario
http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0539.html
appolus said
HI Mario, I believe that no one seeks genuine revival for a thrill. There are those who seek entertainment, and that can come in the form of Tod Bentley and people of that ilk. That is a thrill to them. Yet, I believe that the genuine Christian knows that the coming into the presence of the Lord can be an agony as well as a life changing experience. The prophet cries out in agony “Woe is me for I am undone, I am a man of unclean lips.” Malachi writes………Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
And the saint, the genuine saint knows that he must pass through the refiners fire. He must lay it at the brazen alter. Today we shout out, “come to the alter and get saved, get blessed, get healed, get something,” and yet the true alter, the brazen alter is where you bring something, not where you get something and what do you bring? Your imperfections, your pride, your ego, your reputation, you bring things fit to be burned and it is a painful process yet only those who come willingly, seeking this refiners fire, will pass on through and come into the presence of God. This true revival will never be sought by those who seek a thrill. Those who seek thrills do so in the soulish realm, in the court of the gentiles, not in the Holy of Holy’s……………brother Frank
Mario C. Alleckna said
…and where does our ability to love Jesus and our neighbour come from? Can we drum it up to love others? Does He want us to be honest and real with Him?
Every good thing comes from Him! “For without me you can do nothing!” (Jesus)
I can do all things as long as I am connected to the Vine from which flows the life He desires for me.
He alone gets ALL the glory!
Rejoice in Jesus alone!
Mario
Sara said
There is much to read and take in on this page. I will feed in it for days. I concur in what you are saying here. I also wrote about a coming reformation on my blog here:
http://believersjourney.blogspot.com/2009/12/unity-or-separation-revival-or.html
God bless, In Christ, Sara
Mario C. Alleckna said
Yes Brother, the genuine Revival seeker differs greatly from those who have been deceived. As they did not continuously abide in Him they became vulnerable to deception. Unfortunately they associate a Revival with a Holy Ghost buzz or a thrilling “flying high in the Spirit” experience. So many have been deceived by a false grace message. They know nothing of God’s all-consuming Holy Fire because many of our modern church leaders have strayed far from the WHOLE truth. One major problem is that today the office of Christian leaders is pursued much like any other career–with some formal training and a degree at the end. This training commonly involves subjects such as speech-making and how to do a professional presentation. (Let’s remember what the highly educated apostle Paul had to say about “eloquent speaking”; 1Cor.2:1) Simple fishermen with a true calling from God would not easily qualify for a position in today’s highly educated church.
You mentioned Todd Bentley…
One subject that becomes amplified when dealing with fallen leaders, is the important and under-emphasized issue of the fear of the Lord.
Our love for Jesus can only be true if it co-exists with a deep sense of respect for our Saviour and His values:
“Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you”(1Sam.12:24).
“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him”(Ps.103:11).
“He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him”(Ps.145:19).
“The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him”(Ps.147:11).
“Happy is the man that feareth always”(Prov.28:14).
The Lord isn’t just a compassionate, forgiving and loving father-friend. As the God of the whole universe, He is also a great King and Ruler, who is almighty in His power! Most of us like to embrace only the attributes of love and compassion we see in God, not realizing that it is His other characteristic that will free us from the devil: “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy”(Amos 3:8)?
To fear the Lord, which is nothing other than the result of a mature understanding of His sovereignty, is something that seems to have been swallowed up in our modern day church by a deceptive concept of God’s grace. Misinterpreting His love and mercy, many believers (including those in ministry) have concluded that some of the Lord’s principles and commands are mere suggestions and therefore optional, (surveys, showing that the divorce rate among Christian couples was at some point higher than with non believers, confirms this).
The over-emphasis that is placed on God’s grace has caused a terrible imbalance in today’s teachings. Vital issues such as repentance and the fear of the Lord are not easily addressed in an environment created for comfort. “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword”(Matt.10:34). Like it or not, the almighty, righteous and sovereign God of the whole universe does not fit into a box with “grace only” written on it!
We need to realize that just because Jesus brought salvation to us doesn’t mean that God’s Holy standards and values have changed. He still hates sin, and a lukewarm Christian walk makes Him feel as sick today, as it did during the time of the Laodicean Church.
Culminating in a widespread laissez faire attitude regarding our Christian conduct, our lack of such a Holy fear has caused us to drop our guard, subjecting ourselves to all kinds of evil attacks such as self-exaltation and a focus on money.
Reading a post by Rick Joiner’s ministry, ( “… donations to help with the restoration of Todd Bentley can be made to…”), one can only conclude that money is viewed as important as ever in these Christian circles (clubs?).
Perhaps one, if not the biggest, problem our “professional” preachers, teachers and so-called apostles have, is that they ignored the Scripture where the disciples were asked not to take anything with them, solely relying on the Lord’s provisions. Far be it from our well-paid church leaders to make tents on the side in order to pay their own way. Today we are so much more sophisticated than the Apostle Paul. Surely, God wouldn’t want us to waste time working an ordinary job when we could be blessing the church with our tremendous giftings and inspiring sermons. After all, God really needs us to do His work, right? (And how the masses like their ears tickled!)
Ah, the sweet allure of FAME and MONEY. (Satan’s promise: “You will be like god’s.) Simon the sorcerer sure knew how God’s precious gifts could benefit him financially. Mr. Bentley should perhaps consider a quiet, non-flashy, nine-to-five job as a way of finding restoration.
ALL for Jesus!
Mario
The Road to Revival is paved with many, many prayers of a deep and true repentance.
http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0539.html
http://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Sleeping-Giant
appolus said
HI Mario,
Whitfield wrote a letter in his day which said that most of the clergy know nothing of the new birth. We are seeing many “young,” pastors taking over churches. Many of them in their 20s and 30s. Most of them have grown up in the church. This does not bode well for congregations. Solid teaching, even if they have that, and programs cannot replace a genuine relationship with Jesus. http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/what-fire-has-the-younger-generation-acquired/ ……………Frank
Mario C. Alleckna said
Hi Frank,
yes,… and these young people are often very educated to be professional speakers etc. Don’t get me wrong, there certainly is nothing wrong with education as long as it doesn’t interfere with thinking…as someone once said.
… about some of today’s church leaders… ( I call it the “The Saul syndrome“)
…as it was in the days of Saul…
the people were not content with their God alone, who was invisible and seemed so distant at times.
So they wanted a king, a leader they could look up to and hold in high esteem. A real person with flesh and bones, someone they could see and touch. Someone who would speak to them; someone they could admire, and who would give them direction. Today there are many believers (perhaps more than we think) who go to church and almost never study their Bibles because they figure it’s the leaders job, since he gets paid.
We have created our own false prophets and leaders. We are the ones who have financed and supported their kingdoms. May the Lord forgive us for committing such adultery and idolatry!
Instead of first and foremost developing and cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, many Christians are quite content to follow a charismatic human leader. It is no surprise that people like Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland and others have such a following.
We will not be ready for a true prophet as long as we are not right and content in our own personal relationship with Christ. Some Bible teachers question the need for prophets today altogether since we now have the Holy Spirit and God’s written Word, which is prophetic in many ways. “Is it not the flesh that desires to look to a “person” rather than being content with the Holy Spirit and the Bible as guidance?”, they ask.
God only knows if and when we are ready (mature!) to discern a real from a false prophet!
(“…and if this time was not cut short even the elect would be deceived…”)
A. W. Tozer’s words ring true more than ever:
“ There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives.”
When we look at the people who hated and opposed Jesus and His supporters the most, we see that they were the scholars who knew all the Scriptures in and out. They even wore them around their necks. At the other end of the scale, there is Peter, a simple fisherman with a calling from God. About three thousand people accepted Christ as their Saviour, after he preached a very basic ser mon (*Acts 2:41).
It wasn’t Peters’ eloquent speech or a possible degree in theology that determined his success; it was rather the King’s invisible signet ring of divine authority Peter was wearing, and the supernatural, spiritual energy that flowed from the words he spoke. The apostle Paul said it this way:
“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him cruci fied. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God”(1Cor.2:1,2,4,5).
The message of the cross in its powerful sim plicity, when presented in the divine anointing of God’s Holy Spirit, is the transforming truth that changes lives forever.
One of the greatest deceptions in our modern church is over-intellectualizing; the more knowledge we have, the better we think we can serve God. I am sure this is going to cause a few eyebrows to raise when in the last days more and more children will prophesy (**Joel 2:28).
(“And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. Knowledge
puffeth up, but love edifieth”(1Cor.8:2,1).)
After all, our relationship with Jesus Christ is a heart issue, not a head issue!
I personally believe that the near future leaders of God’s church will be the no-names, the simple fishermen, who walk in great humility, and who will receive a powerful Holy Spirit anointing.
Blessings,
Mario
appolus said
Amen brother Mario, I just wrote a word the Lord laid on my heart a few weeks ago………
http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/the-saul-spirit-is-rising-beware/
The remnant will definately be “led,” by no name servants of the Living God. A group of people who are hungry and thirsty and zealous for God to get all the glory and to build His kingdom and not their own.They will be sensitive to the Spirit, they will be men and woman who “know,” thier Lord, who have lived and walked through the valley, not once , not twice but have been valley dwellers. To look at the life of Paul for instance and we see a man beset by trials and even desparing unto death, yet never staying down, always able to put his life and his trials into a persepctive based on his “knowledge,” of God, based on His encounters with the Living Lord. And because he knew something of the glory to come, because he had caught glimpses of His majesty, it ruined him for this life. He longed to be away with the lover of his soul. He longed to go to that place that he had caught glimpses of in the moments he stood in the shechinah glory of the living God. This burning within his heart, this standing in the manifest glory, this was the reason that all of these trials could be described as mere “rubbish,” in comparison to what lay ahead. Oh that the priesthood would once again take hold of eternity. To see the Lord high and lifted up, to see the temple filled with the train of His robe. Oh that we would cry out “my eyes have seen the King” Cry out tonight saints, cry out “Oh that I would answer the knocking of the door,” and the door opens and behold the throne-room of the almighty and we fall on our faces and we cry “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.” And we look around and as far as the eye can see, there are saints from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, swaying as one, as a wheat field flows in the wind like the waves of the sea, as they are moved by the Spirit of the Living God. Yes brothers ans sisters, one moment in His throne room, one moment when He steps down, is better than to live a thousand years of mere life………brother Frank
Mario C. Alleckna said
Amen, Brother Frank. I am very blessed by your articles. (Just read the one about Saul.)
You are a true Brother in Christ; one who has been given spiritual eyes and discernment! Keep pressing on!
In your article regarding Saul you are addressing satan, which in my opinion is vitally important. The Lord prompted me to write a whole chapter about the devil in the book. I absolutely agree with you that we must address him, the father of lies and deception!
Allow me to share some more stuff that the Lord put on my heart over the years. Some of these things are also in the book He asked me to write.
Death by Entertainment
We must realize that our Christian walk is not about the flashy (fleshy), party style gatherings and spiritual experiences. Instead, it’s all about Jesus being at the centre of a humble and rather un-spectacular life of loving and serving others. That’s it! Doesn’t sound very exciting does it? But that is exactly what it’s all about; loving and serving.
Especially in our Hollywood influenced and saturated western world, there is such a hunger to be entertained. There seems to be an ever growing energy drawing people to lust after being entertained 24/7. I call it “Death by Entertainment”.
Every year people spend billions of dollars on entertainment. Unfortunately, wanting to be entertained has, in a very subtle way, infiltrated the church. We have fancy stage performances with professional bands and costly sound systems, and professional preachers, tickling our ears with messages of how God just wants to bless us.
Through a non-biblical prosperity gospel many believers have been brainwashed to think that we should ride into Heaven in a fancy Mercedes when Jesus rode on a donkey. They have been brainwashed to think that the Christian life is a great, fun-fun, party with a constant feast. And then, when we go to Heaven, we’ll have the feast of feasts. They have been brainwashed to becoming selective readers, picking out the raisins from the Scriptures. Meanwhile, in other parts of this world, Christians are suffering persecution, hunger and terrible afflictions. They have been brainwashed to think that, as Christians, we are entitled, we “deserve” whatever our flesh desires. They have forgotten that our flesh is evil. They have been blinded to think that the narrow way is a street of gold and silver, an easy walk in the park. (Tell that to a Christian brother in Vietnam!)
Many Christians have yielded to the spirit of compromise and adultery with the world:
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God”(Js.4:4).
G. Campbell-Morgan wrote these very challenging words:
“If the church of God in the cities of today were aloof from the maxims of the age, separated from the materialistic philosophies of the schools, bearing her witness alone to the all sufficiency of Christ and the perfection of His salvation, even though persecuted and ostracized and bruised, it would be to the church that men would look in the hour of their heart break and sorrow and national need. The reason why men do not look to the church today, is that she has destroyed her own influence by compromise.”
“Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light” (Eph. 5:14).
Will there be a great End-Time disappointment followed by a great falling away?
Just as it was in Jesus’ days, many believers are expecting that Jesus, the Holy Spirit, will come in glory and power during the end-times, sweeping through the Christian Church with great signs and revivals.
Jesus did not come the way the Israelites hoped and expected He would, freeing them from Roman oppression. Instead, He came clothed with humility, allowing to be mocked, spit upon, and even killed like a criminal. In fact, Jesus was rejected by most! This, I believe, is going to happen once again! Satan knows very well that He (Jesus) IS THE ONLY WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. Jesus alone is the door that gets us in. The devil is already working hard to set the stage for globalization with the anti-christ as the final leader of a one-world order. The European Union could be viewed as a forerunner or test for a one-world system. There also is already a great push from religious leaders for a uniting of faiths under one faith umbrella. Those who will oppose this move of “peace-making” between religions and who insist that there is only ONE TRUTH and ONE exclusive WAY to Heaven (Jesus) will be charged with hate crime, being prejudice, un-accepting of others, un-loving and against peace.
Over the past years I have tried to collect evidence showing that we live in the end-times and that satan is real. This search was sparked in the mid nineties when I received a newspaper article from a friend in Germany. In the article the Anglican Church of England states that the devil is mere fiction and that he was invented by man to describe a source of evil. The same article also stated that there is no Hell and that people either go to Heaven or to a place of non-existence.
In the wake of Sept. 11 many calls for a uniting of faiths where heard. This has continued and is still spreading today. After the Tsunami hit Asia, our local newspaper asked for a prayer gathering that should include all faiths represented in our city. Then there was a TV broadcast from Vancouver where the audience was invited to ask questions to the Dalai Lama and archbishop Desmond Tutu. Lama and Tutu were holding hands and promoting one faith and world peace. Just last year the Pope went to Istanbul in Turkey where he visited with the Islamic leader there. The commentator said that this visit was a positive sign showing that these two different faiths are coming closer. A while back one of our large Canadian Newspapers stated that globalization would be the answer for the eradication of poverty in the world.
My latest discovery was in the book section at our local grocery store. There I found a book entitled “Night time prayers for children”. Looking at the book on the shelf, I found myself wondering if Jesus’ Name would be in there. So I opened the book. There were the most wonderful prayers to God (god?) but no mention of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Then, as I came closer to the end of the book, there were two prayers, both for peace: A Hindu children’s prayer for peace, and a Buddhist children’s prayer for peace. Everywhere you look there seems to be a push for the one world faith WITHOUT JESUS!.
There are many Scriptures that show a rather humble end-time scenario of persecution and ridicule for Jesus’ faithful followers.
By ignoring these Biblical facts and painting a glorious picture of joyful victory for the end-time church we will only set ourselves up for a great disappointment which might lead to a falling away.
Truth is: If anyone wants to be a teacher, he should think twice; for his teachings will surely be tested in the fire and judged accordingly. And if anyone hears God’s call to be a Prophet he should run instead of rejoicing as though he is foolish; for the life of a Prophet is usually marked with great suffering, often ending in a painful death.
May God have mercy on all of us who attempt to teach.
Blessings to you and your house,
Mario
mcaall4j@telus.net
“http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0539.html”
“http://www.amazon.com/Awakening The Sleeping-Giant”
Sophie Edwards said
I am so disillusioned with the church system and have been crying out to God what to do. My faith is being weakened by attending church and strengthened when away from church and just with God. Bible says do not forsake gathering together so what does one do? Church lives by worlds ideology which does not work. Their ideologies only work for the prosperous and they say if you are not living the good life it is your lack of faith and your own fault. Faith crushing belief.
Everyone has the answers. If Haiti is result of their voodoo then why are so many evil people so rich with an easy life?
I love Jesus with a passion and my faith has cost me dearly. The bible clearly says “in the last days there will be difficult times hard to deal with” and “in this world you will have trouble but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world”. Imagine how it must have felt for Christians who lived through the traumas of World War I & II with bombings and huge loss of life. We don’t have all the answers but we have God’s Word and we are seeing the fulfillment of the signs of the last days. Am I right or wrong in believing this?
David said
The prosperity gospel is wrong and is a lie Sophie. Being disillusioned with a particular body of believers is one thing, being disillusioned with God is completely another, and I am glad you are not disillusioned with God. Get out of the prosperity church, they are not in the way of the Lord.
Yes Sophie, I too believe we are seeing signs of the end of the age…so look up and smile and say “Come Lord Jesus”!!
David said
I want to add this as a video response as well.
Come out from among them – Run – Carter Conlon
appolus said
Hi Sophie, its a tough spot to be in, and countless thousands, perhaps millions of people all over the world are experiencing, in fact it’s one of the reasons that I have this site. There is a prophetic element to this as opposed to a cycle the church is going through, I believe. If you go to my home page and read through many of the posts and sermons, you will see believers from all kinds of backgrounds going through your exact same position. Watch the video David posted, I love Carter Conlon and David Wilkerson. They are among the few I would say. Also we have a prayer meeting every Tuesday night. This prayer group has been praying for a year and a half for revival.You can find out how to join us if you click on “home,” above. I had the priveledge of leading the prayer meetings at last years revival conference in Greenock Scotland where Carter Conlon was one of the speakers. He came back to Greenock this year and brought 230 of his people with him, God moved mightily
Sophie Edwards said
http://www.preachtheword.com:80/sermon/gospel084-earthquake.shtml
Please read the sermon in the above link. Wisdom from God.
Kirk said
Thank you for your post. I had a dream that reflected some of things that you mentioned. You can read it here at the original URL:
http://web.me.com/feroxfueltabs/Site/Home.html
Forwarding URL: http://www.comeuntochristnow.com
-kirk
Mario C. Alleckna said
Thank you,Sophie,for the link to the sermon. It is very insightful.
One day prior to the Earthquake in Haiti I did something that I almost never do, because after trying a couple of times I decided that, at least for me (I hear others’ reports) I don’t think it really works–I asked the Lord to show me His plan for me in a couple of areas through some Scripture. As I opened my Bible, hoping to find some revelation, I found myself in Isaiah. Isaiah 24 to be exact. At first I did not see what this passage would have to do with my request for guidance, but the Earthquake that followed the very next day made things very clear.
Isaiah 24
“Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 2And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. 3The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. 4The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 5The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 6Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 7The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. 8The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. 9They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 10The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 11There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. 12In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.
13When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. 14They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.
16From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. 17Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 18And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. 19The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 20The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 21And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 22And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 23Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.”
Let us be ready for what is to come, ever so eager to seek His face and to spread the ONLY good news, which is JESUS and Him crucified!
IN CHRIST ALONE, I PUT MY TRUST!!!
Blessings.
All for Jesus!
Mario
“http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-0539.html”
“http://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Sleeping-Giant”
appolus said
Below is a word that a dear sister, Elizabeth, got from the Lord and left it on another post, I thought it would edify the readers of this post…………brother Frank
This morning 10 February 2010 the Lord gave me this prophetic word which He has impressed upon me to share with you all..
“For I would search out the lost; I would lift the wounded; I would give comfort to the hurting and I would give answers where none lie..but My people are self-contained. They imagine they are doing My will but they are surrounded by myths and relics. By My Spirit I would enter into hearts but they are full of litany and vain repetition. Why should I work by My Spirit to bend those who do not want to change? I am able to do as I will, but hearts that are crying – I will hear and I will change. Hearts that are not satisfied, I will satisfy.Hearts that are real, I will perfect. Hearts that would be empowered,I will fill.
Are My workings able to be counted? Is there a plan of Mine known to the heart that is not quickened? Do I work in ways without number? Do My ways not move in the dark to issue forth great Light? For it is this Light Who changes dead hearts to living. I countenance the whole earth. I behold the clamour and the selfishness of man. I watch and listen and know that I am not part of his plan.I have a plan to overturn the works of darkness. The gross darkness will bow to My plan. There will be a shining forth of My Light that will spread across the earth, brighter than the rising sun.
There will be encounters in which My people will be victorious..but their hearts are far from Me in My desires and My plan. I am waiting for hearts that will be one with My heart; then, will issue forth those things that will identify fully with the action I have purposed for each one of My children.I do not work according to the plan of man. I am not limited to his over-seeing. I am searching for hearts to receive of Me – in ways that will astound the workers of iniquity. I will expose. I will not let the cries of My little ones go un-heeded. I will send forth My empowered army to deliver. I will, by My Spirit, encounter the encountered. I will forge new ways where the fine works of man have failed. I will break down the bulwarks and send My great army in. There will be deliverance for the captives of My people.
Do not think that ease of distraction is of Me, when there is such a weight of work that I purpose. Would you rest whilst I search for hearts that will receive of Me to give of Me? I am the One who prepares the willing for action. There is a dismantling and re-building and new works to be established in the hearts of My people – not according to how I am expected to work; I will move, but I will perform according to My plan in these days. There are so few hearts willing to stand still to receive of Me, but it is in this standing still that they will receive.
There is much `doing` throughout the earth. I behold the good works and intentions but they are like mists against the roar of the tide – unless My Almighty arm empowers, then My people will be driven and tossed. If they will stand still in their actions; if they will cry for their ears to hear My will from My heart for their way forward, then the calamities will fail, and My plan will cause a great recovery from the surge of evil on every side.
There is an end of self seeking when the battle cry is heard. There is an end of self indulgence and lethargy. So it will be with those hearts that cry night and day for My stirrings and My enabling and My empowering.
From My lofty place I see the runnings hither to and fro of My people. Do they not know that I have a set plan? Do they not know that I am the One who will set it in motion? By My Spirit I will perform all things that are in obeisance to My workings. I will blow on the erected platforms and scaffold towers; I will cause to crumble all that is not devised by the workings of My Spirit, for how will the workings of man resist the incoming surge of the seas? How will they stand? They will fall and be devastated. How will the fragile fortresses of man-made endeavours display strength against the invading darkness? As sand, they will crumble and fall flat.
I would empower My people by My Spirit, to build in unseen ways that nothing can destroy or undermine. If My people will cease from their own labours and hear My way forward – then they will be victorious and build according to My plan.”
Elisabeth.
appolus said
There is a great multitude today who are desperately hungry and thirsty. All over the world the people dwell in great darkness and the darkness increases every day. Hell has opened its vaults and is beginning to spew out evil with increasing speed and urgency because it knows its time is short. There is desperate darkness coming and it is coming at us with alarming speed. Yet, as in the time of Noah, the world is ignorant of the impending disaster about to befall it. Like the children of Israel when Jesus says ” O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!”
The rise of the remnant, the fall of the church……. http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/the-rise-of-the-remnant-and-the-fall-of-the-church/
appolus said
What and who are the Remnant ? http://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2010/09/22/the-remnant-who-are-they-are-you-part-of-the-remnant/
appolus said
Here is a powerful and profound word from our prayer meeting last night. “The Land is in ruins, weep all ye people!”
http://www.box.net/shared/sc7a9k0c1s brother Frank
Babes said
i have a question for frank.
i have been watching the prayer conference for over a year now and wondering why don’t the people there just get together and pray even overnight instead of having lots of teaching and very little prayer. This is not a question of criticism but i guess that was the first thought that struck me when i started following the event. i know we you have the prayer hot- line on tesday nights, but if in these events you have people paying a high cost of coming from different places in the country and have the same common cause and burden to see God come down and perform a mighty act. why not spend the time, the whole three days you get together on contiuous intercession. Just a thought, i hope you understand i am nt coming with a spirit of criticism.
appolus said
Hi Robert, I totaly get where you are coming from. I dont take it as critisism, although it would not bother me if it were. Let me explain my own position. We do meet have every Tuesday night, that is correct. And there is a core group of people that have been meeting in this fashion for almost three years, praying every week for God to revive His people and for a mighty reformation. While the prayer call has ties to sermonindex and has led prayers at some of their gatherings ( myself included) it is a seperate entity. I have sympathy with what you have said. I have stated myself on many occasions that we do not need to hear another fine sermon, but we need a demonstation of the power of God to fall upon a people and ” ruin them for life.” Last year at Barnsdall we had the prayer group up front and center and not off to a back room somewhere, we had the people pray, anyone who felt led , were given the opportunity to stand and pray or give a Scripture or even begin to sing a hymn if that is what God laid on their heart. Yet, these revival conferences are not ours, ” ours,” meaning the prayer call people from Tuesday night. We have a limited say in how things should unfold. Anyway, we are having, what we are calling ” A call to the Remnant,” in November. It will be from the 14th-21st. It will be in an old cinema in Barnsdall. It will be much as you described brother. We will gather simply to call upon the Lord in our desperation. I hope that answered your question brother………….brother Frank
appolus said
Hi brother and sisters. Here is a message that was delivered last week at a revival conference in Dallas. This is a message to the nations. Every pastor should listen to this message and join in this cry. Please pass this message along. It will pierce your heart. “A desperate hour calls for a radical response.” http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=20654&commentView=itemComments
appolus said
“THE CHURCH OF TOMORROW “
-by Andrew Strom.
A lot of people probably read some of the writings on this website and
wonder, “Where is all this headed? What is the goal?” A glib answer might
be- “We want to get back to real ‘New Testament’ Christianity.” But what
exactly does that look like?
This is an important topic – and something I have pondered a great deal
over the years. What exactly would the ‘New Testament Church’ look like if
it was translated into a modern western city?
To get started, I want you to forget about today’s church just for a
moment – with all her obvious problems and contradictions, and picture
something quite different. I want you to imagine that you are still living
in the same city, in the same year, but you are right in the middle of a
‘Book of Acts’-type scenario. Somehow everything has changed.
For some reason, all of the Spirit-filled Christians in your city have
left their Denominations and divisions behind. They have truly begun to
fulfill the prayer of Jesus – “That they all may be ONE”. They now hold
huge gatherings all over the city – right out in the open. And as well as
these united gatherings, on most streets there is now a house-meeting,
where all the Spirit-filled believers from that street gather together,
eating and sharing and having communion, etc. (ie. A “NEIGHBORHOOD
CHURCH”). The power of God flowing in these house-meetings is amazing.
Many healings and miracles are occurring. The ‘gifts’ flow freely every
day.
It seems also that many of the church buildings and cathedrals have simply
been abandoned. No longer do Christians want to hide themselves away
behind “four walls”. They want to gather out where the people are –
presenting Jesus to the whole world. They want to be truly “one body”.
There is no way that any of their old buildings could contain the crowds,
anyhow.
And the men whom God has raised up to lead this vast movement do not seem
much like the ‘Reverends’ or even the ‘televangelists’ of old. In fact,
quite a few of them have never even been to Bible College, and they seem
to be very plain, ordinary people from humble backgrounds. But what an
anointing! It is very clear to everyone that these ‘apostles and prophets’
(as they are known) have spent many years in prayer and brokenness before
God – drawing closer and closer to Him. When they speak, the very fear of
the Lord seems to come down, and many people repent deeply of their sins.
Demons are cast out and the blind and crippled are made whole. -These
kinds of things are happening all the time. The whole city is just in awe
of what is going on, and thousands upon thousands are being saved. Even
the newspapers and television are full of it.
As soon as someone repents they are immediately baptized in water and
hands are laid on them for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. -This is
expected from day one! And it is also expected that every Christian has a
gift and calling from God – and that they should be encouraged to move
forward and fulfill their calling. No longer is there a distinction made
between those who are “ministers” and those who are merely ‘laity’. Now it
is expected that EVERYONE is a minister of the Lord! (However, there are
‘elders’ – ie. older Christians to guide things).
Some of the bishops and pastors from several denominations have actually
denounced this great move of God very strongly. They say it is “deception”
and warn their people to stay away. (-Every Revival in history has been
accused of this – usually by religious leaders). But to be honest, it is
so obvious to most people that God is the one behind it all, that very few
take these men seriously. The Spirit of God is sweeping all before Him.
The glory of the Lord has come.
One of the reasons that these leaders are so upset is that a lot of the
Christians’ GIVING now does not go to church buildings, but rather to the
POOR. In fact, God has spoken to many people to start supporting widows
and orphans overseas, etc. They also give generously to anyone in their
midst who is in need. Many even sell their own possessions in order to do
this.
The huge over-riding theme of this great movement is LOVE. “Behold how
they love one another” is the catch-cry of many who watch this ‘new
church’ in action. And everyone is given to MUCH PRAYER.
And so, gathering “as one” in the outdoors and breaking bread from house
to house, they eat together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and
enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord adds to their number
daily those who are being saved.
CAN THIS REALLY HAPPEN?
The above description is taken straight out of the Book of Acts – as
applied to today. Everything in the above paragraphs is put there to give
you an idea of what it would be like to live in the Jerusalem church at
the start of Acts. -And it was like that for YEARS. Imagine the impact of
such a church on the world around it! God is wanting to do this again. And
He wants to use ordinary people like you and me to help bring it to pass.
I am convinced that we are NOT supposed to treat the early church as a
“special case”. It was given to us as an ‘example’. It is what the
“normal” church should be like all the time! And yet we have fallen so far
below this standard. Only in times of Revival do we approach it again for
a time. But I believe it is supposed to be “normal” for the church to be
like this – day in and day out. This is the way that Jesus always wanted
us to be.
However, one thing is clear. It will take a great “SHAKING” for us to get
anywhere close to the above description today. You have to be aware that
in order to get there from here, a whole lot of ‘hierarchies’ and church
boards and careers and titles and positions would be on the line. And a
lot of men simply don’t want to lose those things. It doesn’t matter to
them whether it is Truth or not. If it affects their reputation, their
position or their organization, they will oppose it with everything they
have.
Sadly it is very difficult to see a “smooth” transition to this kind of
Christianity. I believe we are in for a shaky ride. But I certainly
believe that it is on God’s agenda. And like the Great Reformation before
it, I believe He will do WHATEVER IT TAKES in order to get us there.
Here’s to true ‘NEW TESTAMENT’ Christianity, my friends – the kind that
Jesus and the apostles actually invented in the beginning.
Let us settle for nothing less – WHATEVER IT TAKES.
dAVID mARSH said
My brothers and sisters in Christ
have a look at http://www.theapostleshandbook.com
IT IS A COMPLETE RESEARCH ON HOW TO WALK WITH THE LORD IN THE SPIRIT.
Yours in Christ
david marsh
Mario Alleckna said
Hi David,
I don’t have your e-mail address. Just wanted to say that I have finally begun reading your book (the apostles handbook). I am very impressed and believe that you were given a great deal of understanding. Your position on the topic of “Faith” absolutely agrees with what I believe the Lord has shown me when I wrote a chapter on “Faith” in “Awakening the Sleeping Giant”. I will continue reading your timely, insightful work.
Blessings, and All 4 Jesus!
Mario C Alleckna
mcaall4j@telus.net