(Revival Hymn)
Dear American church:
I
have been a Christian since 1994 (approximately 22 years). I have
preached the gospel for nearly 20 years of that time period. I have met
many different people from many different walks of life and have
preached in many different types of churches (independent Pentecostal,
Church of God, Church of God of Prophecy, Assemblies of God, Baptist,
etc). I am no authority on the subject of revival, but I do know that
all of these denominations were started with a mighty outpouring of
God's Spirit-a revival of religion. The same can be said of every true
born again Christian, they were birthed into the Kingdom of God by a
life changing encounter with The One. Unfortunately, the revival fires
that birthed these great movements are now merely smoke and ashes; and
most would be glad to have even that. Now, I'm not saying that there
aren't congregations that are experiencing New Testament level
manifestations of Divine power, but I will say I personally don't know of any, and
if there are some, they are very few and far between.
Some
will say, "Well, I know of a church with 10,000 people in it. They have
to be on fire with God!" No, they don't! People are attracted to
personalities. You want proof? In 2009, a Paul McCartney concert sold
out in 11 seconds! That's 40,000 tickets in 11 seconds! Is Paul
McCartney
on fire for God? Of course not, but he doesn't have to be because
people are attracted to personalities. The truth is any preacher (with
plenty of charisma) that will go light on sin and
will hire some good musicians can fill a church with gullible souls! It
also helps if they have good hair and an attractive smile.
Dear
reader, the sobering fact of it is there is no revival in America
today. Why? What happened? These denominations (and the majority of
Christians I know) did not continue doing the things that brought the
fire of God into their lives in the first place. Preachers became
silvered tongued orators. They quit preaching on eternity. They became politically correct in order to keep from
offending lukewarm Christians who might withhold their tithe. Churches
forfeited their all night prayer meetings. Fasting became non-existent.
Their Bibles gathered dust. The concept of the traditional family unit
became perverted (men were feminized, women masculinized, children
became head of the house). The end product is a church world full of
unregenerate men and women who hate the holiness of God; an American
church world that operates quite well with Jesus standing on the porch,
knocking, wanting in; a church world that thinks they can build the
Kingdom of God with the arm of flesh.
Ga 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
I'd
like to ask you to search your own heart. Can you remember when you
first came to God? How your heart was consumed with passion and desire
for Christ and the things which pertain to Him? How you sought God day
and night for the baptism in the Holy Ghost? How you couldn't get enough
of the Word of God? How it grieved your heart if you were hindered from
going to church? How you wanted everyone to receive the same life
changing experience that Christ gave you? How your heart overflowed with
love toward everyone?
Now,
let me ask you if you presently find that these traits are no longer a
part of your every day life? That you are simply saved by association?
That you claim to be born again because you go to church and no longer
smoke cigarettes? Do you find that the love, joy, zeal, and desire you
once had is a thing of the past, a relic of days gone by? Have you
become entangled with the affairs of this life? Entangled to such a
degree that you go days without visiting your secret place of prayer?
Days without reading the Word of God? Months without pushing the plate
back? Years without winning a soul to Christ? Are you now doing things
(sinning) that you one time would never do? Honestly, have you allowed
the fire of God to die out of your life? Have you allowed troubles,
trials, heartaches, pain, death, sickness, sin, or something else to get
the best of you?
The
bottom line is this: are you on fire with God or are you lukewarm? Have
you become apathetic and disconnected from God? Honestly ... are you
walking in the Spirit?
For
the vast majority of you, I know the answer to that question. So I want
to ask you whether or not you still care that you are in this
condition? Do you even care whether you get up? Do you no longer "feel
like traveling on"? Tell me, do you have a desire to get up?
If
you are finding it hard to get up; if you are finding it hard to locate
a DESIRE to get up; I want you to do something for me. I want you to
pray that God will give you a desire for a desire. I know that sounds
strange, but it's not. If you're not willing to do right, become willing
to be made willing. God will come to you. He will help you. If you can
find even an iota of desire He will place a divine spark in your heart
that you can kindle into a holy inferno!
No matter what, you cannot stay like you are. You cannot stay lukewarm. Listen to what the Bible says about the lukewarm soul:
Re 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
You
will be vomited out of the body of Christ. You are not going to leave
here in the rapture! You must get concerned about your soul. Pray that
God will give you a desire for a desire. When the desire comes, the rest
will be much easier. You will find that God will send a great fire into
your hearts. You must maintain that fire or it will go out, leaving you
in the same condition you were in the beginning.
God bless!
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