~ by Mary Lindow
There are many things going on in the midst of God’s
people.
Yet significantly there are two things we need
to speak about.
One
is a movement, which is organized by man. And in this
realm we find the organized church system with their planned programs,
teachings and sacraments.
The
other is a movement of people coming into a frustration with
those organized systems and coming out of those established order of
things.
So many churches have gone through pain and devastation
because of uprising in their ranks.
Church leaders and members separate.
Their unresolved issues and wounds infect others around
them. With their tongues and pen, (and emails and Facebook postings)
their resentment and bitterness spread in uncontrollable proportions.
Christians in other Churches receive the bad
report. They don’t even know the people involved but… ...Because they have
inclined their ears to hear them, the report poisons them like toxic waste in their
souls. If unchecked, this becomes a hideous, malignant cancer cell eventually
damaging their mind and attitude towards Churches or Christians.
But the most sorrowful part is to see these believers
drifting without any type of solid anchor to hold themselves steady
And that becomes another thing in itself.
The enemy quickly moves to make them into another established ‘independent
group’, away from God’s original thought and purpose.
The
age-old serpent, the ultimate enemy of our souls, has not lost the art of
deception even after centuries! He, even now, can cause God’s people, including
the sincere ones, to miss the mark!
I believe that this touches the greatest widespread
PROBLEM IN WESTERN churches.
The consumer culture has invaded the church.
Pastors and people are not united "for
better or for worse" but just like it is practiced and encouraged in
secular commercial organizations these days, until the pastor “fails to
perform.”
And “performance” is compared- even though
unconsciously most of the time – with film and television performances!
Church goers in Western countries watch between 15-20
hours of television a week, AND UP TO 100 hours are spent on mobile phone and
social networks - and then THEY come to church.
They bring with them expectations of the
pastor-as-preacher, pastor-as-counselor, pastor-as-comedian and all around nice
guy! Which are in all roles, for 99% of pastors, unreasonable and totally
impossible to ever fulfill.
Pastors are being asked to be a one man/one woman,
three ringed circus act and need to jump through hoops of fire, be shot out of
cannons, and get into a cage filled with lions and tame them, in order to
somehow “Wow” the people, to convince them that they have a desire for them to
stick around long enough to learn the basics of a godly life!
The consumer culture we all now live in
and sadly…embrace, is less about serving one
another, or encouraging one another, or …having patience with one another!
It is much more interested with getting “top dollar value for tithes and time.” “Or…I Pay - YOU pray!”
Today things have degenerated into
vagueness, irrelevancy and uncertainty.
The real meaning of what God’s purpose in
His people really is meant to passionately reflect…. is missing.
Things that ARE NOW being said and done… do not mean what they did mean
originally in His Word.
So many spiritual and
scriptural terms are put into motion, but they are not in the same dimension
and point of view, which are in the Divine plan!
The tragedy is that so many well-meaning believers
have gone on with the outward appearance of searching for the will of the Lord
and they fail to see that the power of His radiant life is missing!
Well, the Apostle Paul warned us in his letter
to Timothy about this….“ This know also that in the last days perilous times
shall come…Having the form of godliness (true religion) but denying the power
thereof .”
My heart is really sad to see things as they are
around us.
Everything
is falling short of its original design.
There is so much labor and “muster” being pumped
out there and is being poured into the “church machine” more than any time in
the history of God’s people! Yet the toil is ending in heart breaking
disappointment!
Nothing is fully and finally getting through to
the end. It is all stopping at some place. Is that not what we read
in the past moves of restoration or reformation? They all stopped
somewhere.
Beloved, there is something that is missing and
eluding.
There is something that is absent which hinders
the ultimate issue. Is there any one who asks, “Lord, why is this thing
happening?” Sadly… The Majority is going on in their frenzy to find a
place where they can dictate on their terms just how THEY have decided to serve
Him.
Saints, only those devoted to humility and honor
can be saved from this deadly poison that lulls those
longing to be entertained and pampered, into apathy and spiritual paralysis!
God’s truly
DEVOTED PEOPLE in this hour should seek Him and that which is upon His heart.
What the Lord is doing in this hour is so
different …and we should be sensitive to Him! He is looking for His New Vessel in which the power of
resurrection may freely work.
The Apostle Paul said
“according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20b). These
vessels will have to be men and women who have “seen”! They shall be like
“a voice in the wilderness”.
It is becoming more and more clear that God must do a
FRESH thing AMONG HIS PEOPLE!
And that fresh thing is that He is drawing them
to seek the Lord Himself and His manifested presence!
The Psalmist said, “When You said oh Lord,
Seek My face; my heart said unto You, Your face, Lord will I seek.”
Will you set your face to seek Him?
Oh that God may find His ‘Davids’ in
this crucial hour that will set their faces towards Him at the command of
His voice!
Duplication
and sharing of this writing
is
allowed as long as the COMPLETE message and
website
and podcast information for Mary Lindow is included.
Thank you.
Mary Lindow – The
Messenger
©2014
