Hear ye ...Hear ye ...Hear ye!

According to God’s Word, we are living in the “last days”; the “eleventh hour” prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ. In these days, we were told to be on the watch out, to be diligent, to not let our guard down for when Jesus comes, He comes like “a thief in the night” and many shall be caught unprepared. Those who are found faithful shall be caught up in the air to meet with the Lord Jesus in the clouds and then we will speed through space and outer, outer space and end up in the third heaven! Wow! Imagine that! Flying and traveling at faster that the speed of light through the universe! That’s “heavy” (or awesome)! Would you miss this for anything? Yet, in God’s word, many shall be left behind. They know God’s word but they just didn’t keep watch!

I suppose you’d be asking now, “Watch out for what?” I guess basically, watch out that you remain faithful at all times because when that day comes, we are going to hear the Lord saying to us, “Welcome you good and faithful servant.” While that is the core truth let me expand a little here.

One of the main reasons Christians will be left behind has to do with the CHURCH. We somehow blame the world for our spiritual degeneration but the way I see it, it is the CHURCH that weakens the Christian, not the world. The way we do church today is far from the way church really is in the days of the New Testament. Compare church model today with that which Christ envisioned, we have strayed far from its origin. Today you can walk into a church and if you don’t like it or if it doesn’t suit you, you can always pop on to another church. Oh, if something’s happening in another church, you can always just hop on over there and if it makes you happy, you can choose to stay. Christians are like consumers and churches are like brands. And each is trying to accommodate the other while the world just went floating by us.

One thing about church I am wary about, no, two things actually. One is the preacher and the other the church members. In Revelation it says that in the last days they will gather for themselves preachers to preach what their itching ears want to hear. That sounds more or less like consumerism! “Give me what I want preacher or I’ll go somewhere else”!

Christians love to hear sermons that make them feel good about themselves. They want to hear how God will bless them, how God will make their lives better. That’s why prosperity gospel works generally well for Christians. They love to hear about how God will make them rich. How they ought to and can be rich and live in luxury. Come to think of it, prosperity gospel works because of greed! And that’s happening in the church!

On the other hand, preachers love to use the name of the Lord in everything. “God spoke to me” or “God told me” or “God came to me. He gave me a vision and He said to me …” I saw a video where the preacher “prophesied” that this year is going to be a “greaaaaat year”. Not just great but “greaaaaaat year”. He said God said … Bottom line, it’s all about how God will pour out His blessings, and open doors and about opportunities, etc, etc. And the Christians got excited, and etc etc. I am not against prosperity and having a better lifestyle. But is prosperity such a big deal? I mean, is that what the Kingdom of God is all about? Is that what Jesus taught when He was preaching on earth? So many times, preachers misquote the Word of God to fit into their message. Take note. I said THEIR MESSAGE … not necessarily the Word of God. So very often they would say, “God spoke to me”. I think that is about control. Preachers tend to control parishioners by elevating themselves with the notion that they are the MAN OF GOD. They control the members by giving the impression that God is speaking through them. So what do you do when the preacher says, “Thus saith the Lord?”

Maybe you don’t agree with what I am saying now but let me ask you this. Why is it that when the Rapture comes, half the church will be Raptured while the other half get to be left behind? And what does it mean when Bible said that even the very elect of God will be led astray? It’s like what I’ve said. Christians will gather for themselves preachers to preach what they want to hear. It’s about consumerism! It’s what the church is becoming today. It’s not about God and His Kingdom. It’s about what I can get out of the church.

We are living in the last days. Half the church will be left behind when Jesus comes. This is no laughing matter. You and I need to be on the watch out, to be diligent. We need to rethink the way we are doing church today. And that’s why I have spent half the year taking you through the process of rediscovering church. Bear with me as we take this journey. Let’s get back to what church truly is before we stray too far off course.
God bless.