There aren’t many things that will freak me out, especially the older I get. I’ve never been terrified of heights or spiders or snakes. I do have a healthy respect for them and for some listed; I will go out of my way around them, but you won’t catch me standing on a chair or up in a tree screaming in absolute terror. That’s not how I roll.

There are three significant things that will stop me dead in my tracks, make my blood run cold and strike pure terror to my heart. I mean this will alter the course of my day, my week, my life forever. Just thinking about them gives me the liver shivers as Dr. Adrian Rodgers used to say.

I am going to open myself up before you and share my heart with you. In these last days which are perilous and wrought with wickedness from pillar to post, I feel it’s important that you and I share honest dialogue. The time for subterfuge is long gone and the time for brutal honesty is at hand. It should have always been that way, but God who is rich in mercy has been very kind to put up with our lack of gumption to plainly speak the Truth.

In this day of purpose driven everything and having fulfillment of anything you want. It could be your dreams to having lavish wealth, to having unbiased favor.

 It is really important that we leave the idea open that maybe; just maybe we are following a false Christ.

Maybe what we think we know isn’t what truth is after all. I feel it’s time to be honest and lay aside all of our egomaniac self-fulfilling desires and ask the question long ignored, and that is; what is really wrong with the church?

Some of you may not think anything is wrong with the church that we are doing just fine. Some of you may think all the problem lies within the leadership. Still others of you may think it lays at the doorstep of our greatest enemy the devil. Regardless of what you think the answer is, the truth is that the church, the glorious bride of Christ is literally falling apart at the seams.

So, what are my greatest fears?

My greatest fears are these three questions?

Where are you?

Where were you?

Who are you?

You might be thinking to yourself that I’m crazy but if you will bear with me just a few minutes longer I think you’ll understand.

Question 1

Where are you

We find this question in Genesis 3:9. It is after Adam and Eve have eaten of the fruit in the midst of the garden. God is coming to walk with them as He always does and they were hiding. God wasn’t really looking for them; He knew exactly where they were physically. God was asking Adam, where are you spiritually? The death that Adam and Eve died that day was a spiritual one. Up until the point of sin they had always had access to God. God had created them in His likeness and image and so the day they disobeyed is the very day they died, not physically but in their spirit man. No longer could they have fellowship with God in freedom. From that point on it would require a sacrifice to see God.

I believe there are many people in churches today that have never been honest to themselves or others about the state of their spiritual lives. God comes and they hide. They hide because they are naked and ashamed. God is longing to reach out and bring them into fellowship. God desperately wants to redeem them and we stand up in our pulpits talking about money, dreams, purpose and destiny and church people are going to hell. It’s not that we don’t care, it’s just that we have been spoon fed a line that gain is Godliness and the scripture says plainly to turn away from it or rather run from it as fast as you can. I Timothy 6:5

It scares me to think I could be one of those who are deceiving others by withholding truth. I’m absolutely terrified of NOT speaking the truth.

Question 2

Where were you

You find this in Job 38:4 after a lengthy butt chewing from his friends, Job decides to give a great speech on how much he knows about God. Have you ever found yourself doing that? I have and I’m so glad God didn’t deal with me like He did Job. God, who otherwise has been silent until now, decides to step on the scene for the first time since Job’s calamity began. He takes Job up on a high mountain and He begins to rebuke Job. It wasn’t long before Job decided he had ill spoken and he began to abhor himself all over again. There is nothing like a butt chewing from God, face to face at that to bring you down several notches.

This also terrifies me because I want to be so careful that I’m not speaking for God, when He hasn’t said anything. In a church age where everybody has a word, everybody has a prophecy to give, everybody has an unknown tongue to speak with; I’m just really hoping that they indeed have heard from God. If not, they are going to be so sorry for their words one day. You will find this in Ezekiel 22:28 and you will see how serious a matter this really is. Which leads me to question three.

Question 3

Who are you

This question is the most dreaded question I know. This one question coming from Jesus should strike Holy reverential fear in the hearts of God people. I shake in my shoes when I ponder those words that Jesus said many would hear. Many who prophesy, many who speak with tongues and cast out devils? Many will be asked by The Lord who are (you)? It stands to reason that we should be careful to know that we know Him as written in I John 2:3.

I can’t imagine any greater loss than living your entire life doing good things thinking you and God are tight only to stand before Him that day and He’s looking at you wondering who you even are. That terrifies me to death to think I could be numbered among them.

What is wrong with the church today?

What is wrong is that she’s destitute, empty and blind and her leaders are standing in the gates fat & pompous greedy for everything they can rob from her. They pimp her out like a prostitute on the street and while she does all the work to her detriment with no gain whatsoever. They sit in the gates like fat cats bragging about how much they are doing for God.

I’m sorry but I’m extremely tired of this lie. I’m tired of seeing the church stripped down like a piece of garbage in the streets, bleeding and dying and they don’t even know it. I’m tired of being eye candy for greedy, lustful men. Ezekiel 34:1-5

Wake Up Church

Wake up church! Your oil has gone, the lamp has burned out, the groom is coming and you are going to be locked out. Wake up, wake up, wake up! Matthew 25:1-12 There is that dreaded sentence again; I know you not!

What is the truth that should be taught in the church today?

Pastors you should be teaching Holiness. Hebrews 12:14. No man can see God, know God or approach God without Holiness. Yet Sunday after Sunday we are taught to ask, beg and plead for our purpose, our destiny, and our time, our will and on & on I could go. We are told to believe, believe, believe and good things will come our way. God says to obey, obey, obey then we will have reward in Heaven.

According to 1 Samuel 15:22 it is better to obey than to sacrifice.

What Jesus are we really preaching?

I would submit to you that we as the church are following a false Christ. Over and over again Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father. It was not His will but the will of Him that sent Him. There is no possible way you can say Jesus gave you permission to do your own will. He said that we would do greater works than He did, because he was going to the Father and sending us a comforter. It is extremely goofy to think that He would go the Father, whose will He explicably obeyed, and allow you to do your own.

We better wake up and turn from this false Christ being preached.

Matthew 5:3-12 Go back and re-read these very familiar passages.

Stop Playing Church

I realize this will make some of you hopping mad because hey it’s fun to be in church. We got the lights, the stage production and the charismatic speakers who sell the most books. We like the idea of a rich, therapeutic sugar daddy in the sky. Who has just enough authority to remain God, while keeping just the right amount of love to spoil us rotten. That is exactly what we have become, rotten.

Unfortunately while you and I play church the world is going to hell, the sick are dying and the hungry are starving.

I find it odd that The Lord of Glory, Creator of everything needs my money, time and talents. I find it even odder that we are seduced into believing we have to give it to a man in order to hear from God.

Jesus said to forsake all and follow me. Luke 14:33 Take up your cross and follow me. Mark 10:21

Is Your Idea of Church Worth Somebody’s Eternity In Hell?

So I’m your clanging symbol today because I care about you. I care that you don’t keep walking the wide road that everybody else is on. I care that you find the narrow gate and go that way.

You won’t be popular, but you have eternity to be grateful.

You won’t gains millions but you will have unending treasure in heaven.

You won’t always live without persecution or hatred but you will have eternity to sit at the feet of the Savior.

Please church, wake up, stop following this false Christ. Stop following the pied piper who is only leading you to that fateful day that Jesus Himself, Lord of all Glory will ask you; who are you?

It kills my heart to think that would happen to anyone. So I’m laying down my reservations, my fear of failure, my terror of your face and I’m begging you to look up and see the real Jesus. Serve the real Jesus who died for you and longs for you to tell others. Look up and see the man who forsook all to find you and do the same for others.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. II Peter 3:9

God Bless

I’m Hid with Christ

Shawn