Saturday, June 27, 2009

A Prophetic Warning about Our American President

As you know this is not primarily a political blog, nor will it ever be. My preeminent concern is the kingdom of God, with Jesus as King. Having said that, I also believe our role as Christ followers is to be salt and light. While we are not politically driven or allow ourselves to be drawn into another form of secular sectarianism, I also believe we have a vital prophetic role to play to help people understand their world from a kingdom perspective. And perhaps never before has this role been so necessary in America. I believe this country is in grave danger after the 2008 election. In place now are people who have no desire to honor our Constitution and build upon the foundation laid by the Founding Fathers… people who laid that foundation with the fear of God in their hearts. For years one party has patiently and incrementally and systematically disassembled our freedoms under the guise of “giving us things”. The other party has either acquiesced or actively co-opted this agenda. The result is, months into his term as President, Barack Obama has rapidly accelerated this slide into socialism, or maybe something worse. Tragically, this ongoing “revolution” is taking place without the firing of a single shot. Uninformed people elected a man with no demonstrated loyalty to God or our country. The media continues serving up the Kool-Aid of hero worship. And day by day, our freedoms are getting legislated away with impunity. Our children are increasingly the victims of generational theft. And the public warnings which should blare as loudly as civil defense sirens are mostly silent as our Great Republic is set up for implosion, destruction by foreign powers, or maybe both.
So what should we do? First and foremost the people of God must pray. But then we must ask our Heavenly Father what He wants us to do to stem the tide, to stand in the gap to keep The Enemy (Satan himself) from devouring this nation. There is time, but there is no time to play or delay.
This posting was prompted by a piece a talk show host read on the radio on Friday June 26th, 2009. I urge you to click on the link below to read it. I believe it is the most insightful perspective on our President that I’ve read. Please read it completely, pray fervently, and I would love for you to post your thoughts when you finish the article. May our Heavenly Father have mercy on us!

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/06/obama_the_african_colonial.html



Monday, June 15, 2009

Lifeless "Christianity"

"In the Day of Thy Power" is a book about revival and restoration. But at the end, Arthur Wallis puts the focus of attention on the alternative: judgment! Wallis used the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation as a backdrop to describe what may very well be true in our day. Very revealing is his treatment of the church in Sardis, the one with the reputation for being alive, yet in reality it was dead. Wallis describes the church first as one that lived in the glory of its past reputation, then moves on with more devastating doses of truth:

"Men are impressed by externalities, the Lord only by realities. When the saints at Sardis lost that "single eye" that was set on pleasing the Lord, they became occupied with maintaining forms and traditions, "sadly contended with a show of things". Activity and organization continued, but life and power waned. The church had striven to maintain appearances, and she had succeeded- "Thou hast a name that thou livest," but a the cost of her life - "Thou art dead." Sardis had become like the Necropolis of Cairo, whose streets and houses appear from a distance like those of a thriving community, but when viewed from within it is discovered that the houses are roofless, and in place of the hearthstone there is a tombstone.

Secondly, Sardis was a church not fulfilling her works. "Be thou watchful, and stablish the thing that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine fulfilled before My God" (Rev 3:2). It has already been pointed out that the deadness of Sardis was not to be accounted for on the ground of her inactivity. It was the quality rather than the quantity of her works that revealed that she was dead "The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed" (I Samuel 2:3). The output of this church , when placed upon the balance of the sanctuary, was found to be deficient of that vital element,"the spirit of life'. Here was the activity of converted men without the activity of God. Here was the action without unction. here was a form of religion that, despite its orthodoxy, denied the power thereof.

Thus with all the energy put forth there was no consummation and no fruition. Before God the works were unfulfilled, that is, the divine purpose in them was not being achieved. There was gospel testimony with no conversions; prayer gatherings with no spirit of intercession and no answers from heaven; ministry of the word with no enrichment to the church; much being done but nothing being achieved. "I have found no works of thine fulfilled". Unless the life of the Spirit was pulsating through her activities, how could there be fulfilment so as to satisfy the eye of God? She was working in the energy of the flesh, and it is always true that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:8). The case of Sardis is a vivid illustration of the truth that "the mind of the flesh is death" (Romans 8:6). She was sowing to the flesh, and thus she could not reap fruition and fulfillment, only corruption (Galatians 6:8) Well might the Lord have said to Sardis what He said to Israel years before: "Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wates earneth wages to put into a bag with holes " (Haggai 1:5-6).

Monday, June 8, 2009

A Phenomenal Celebration Midwest 2009

We had an extraordinary time at the event in Warrensburg, Missouri this weekend. I will have much more detail on the sermons and some of the events surrounding it in this space. But I did want to put a link for the sermons here for you without delay.

You can go to the link below to hear or download the 3 messages from the Main Sessions and 2 others from One Blaze (the Youth Event). Enjoy!

http://www.newfrontiersusa.org/cms/index.php/mediaarchive-archive



Thursday, June 4, 2009

Celebration Midwest and a New Home for Catalyst Church Charlotte




I'm excited about the weekend because its time for Celebration Midwest. This will be my second year at the event in Warrensburg, Missouri. It will be good to hear some anointed preaching of the Word, join in worship with other members of the Newfrontiers USA family members, and catch up with old friends we've made in the short time we've related to this church planting family. Those friends include Terry Virgo, who will preach this weekend. I say that not as an attempt to "name drop" but to communicate more about Terry than about me. The family of churches the Lord has used him to build now tops 600 around the world, but he continues to be personable and humble.






There is big news to report on Catalyst Church in Charlotte. After a year in our first temporary location, Pleasant Grove AME Zion Church in Cabarrus County, we are moving to a new place to accomodate our growth. The fine folks with The Branch Family Church have opened up their school to us for the summer. So beginning Sunday June 14, we will begin Sunday morning meetings at The Branch Academy, at 9100 Olmsted Drive. For those of you in in the Charlotte area, we would love for you to join us. For those of you outside our city, we covet your prayers as we continue kingdom building for God's glory.