It is amazing what comes from spending time in prayer and studying the Word. The news has been bombarded with hate and killings; race being the motivator. All I keep hearing over and over again is pray. Then I heard, it is time for the dead in Christ to rise. 1Thesselonions 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”
I read this scripture and asked the Lord why he was pointing me to this particular verse. What I heard shocked me and made me think really hard. All I kept hearing is the dead in Christ must rise. This really threw for a loop because I had always been taught this verse was pertaining to the end times. Then I heard this is the end times and it is time for the dead in Christ to rise.
If you are asking what the heck I’m talking about, let me try to explain all that I heard. For the last three decades there has been a serious amount of death in the church. The shepherds have been doing exactly what Jesus was angered by when he went a little ballistic in the Temple. Matthew 21:15-16 “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
The larger church leaders are not just standing in the pulpit teaching, most are writing ministry helps books, touring around the world teaching and selling their goods. Don’t get me wrong, I admire some of the prominent Preachers and Teachers, but the truth is the truth. No matter how anyone tries color it the Church has taken on too many of the characteristics of the world. Many even confess from the pulpit that church is a business. Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
The other side of it is because a Church is considered a Non-profit, unless the Leader has a LLC, or Corporation, etc., for the items being sold they are then doing exactly as Jesus said, making the house of God a den of thieves. We have to abide by the laws and rules of the land, but bending them will make us no better than how the world perceives Christians.
Let me preface what I’m about to share with one thing, I tithe and don’t believe it is always about money. If the church would wake up then there would be less hurting and struggling members. If some of the mega churches took some of the funds and followed the guidelines set for us in Malachi 3:10-12. The church should be a place not just for us to worship and praise God, but it should also be a place for the needy to come get the needs met.
From personal experience I found this not to be so with a few of the mega churches. I personally was in a situation with my children and when I sought help from two of the mega churches and was told by one because I wasn’t a tithing member they couldn’t help; the other told me they would help but I’d have to attend a four week class for membership. Both ministries did offer to pray for me, but at that point I needed a place for me and my children. I was hurt and thankfully the prayers helped, but the hurt…hummm.
Now if as a Christian I was turned away and felt extremely discouraged and disappointed; I can only imagine what a non-believer must feel and think about Christians. To be honest, it is only my thinking, if the church did what it was intended to do we’d have no need for the billions of nonprofit agencies or wait until December to have the “Spirit of Christmas”.
Wake up Christians!!! Jesus came for us to have life and we are walking around like Zombies and going through motions dictated by misconstrued information. Focused on material gain and keeping up with the media propaganda. Keep in mind being dead is not just being in the grave, but being dead to the needs of other, dead to giving, dead to truth and dead to joy. Too many are sleep among us and when you're asleep you are not praying. Praying for the conditions in our country and putting faith into action and doing the right things for Jesus without expecting something in return.
This made me think about WWJD fad that sprung up a few years ago. If you ask me I think Jesus would once again weep. I think he would tare through some of these churches and tell them to get it together. We need to find a way to not just cross over the color line but the denomination lines and find a way to be united in these perilous times.
I’ll end my rant here and hope not to offend, but truth is truth and offences will come. If I’m incorrect, then I ask the Lord to correct my thinking. The thing here is for the last few days all I keep hear is it is time for the dead to rise and the sleeping to wake up. So, Ephesians 5:14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. Truthful Tuesday. Smooches~~
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