church

Complacency Has No Place in the Kingdom

/ www.LivingLarger.life

Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I love beginning a new day outside on the porch because God always has a surprise for me. This morning, it was these twins that felt safe enough to approach the front porch the same way I feel safe enough to approach the Throne of the God of all Creation. Looking out across the fields, I thought about how even though they change with the seasons and they’re graced with something “new” each day, the fields are still the fields. I know what things will look like from the front porch in each season, but there’s always something…some sort of God surprise that makes each day a little different than all the others. God used this simple observation to remind me to look below the surface of the fields of this crazy world of ours…one that is changing for the worse at lightning speed…not just for the Wisdom to see things the way He sees them, but to clarify my Marching Orders to do His Will before it’s too late. A New Day is coming soon, and it’s the Season to share the Good News like never before. Mine is a Voice to be heard. Is yours?

It’s amazing how most people think the world has changed abruptly, but the world has been spiraling downward for a very long time. Plenty of people blame the changes on politicians or other people in “power”, but politics and powerful people are just the distraction our adversary uses to win. Because we’re distracted and deceived, things just keep spiraling down. Over fifty years ago, we gave the green light to murder babies in the womb – one of the most savage acts in the history of the world. The mere thought of killing babies in the womb should have driven every Christian in America to the streets in protest…but the church slept instead. Today, we’re standing by as innocent children are being sexually mutilated in an attempt to change their birth gender…but that’s not possible, and God makes no mistakes. This kind of perverse abuse of a child should have sent every (sanctity of life) Christian in America to the streets in protest a LONG time ago…but the church slept instead. It’s been over fifty years since prayer in schools was labeled “unconstitutional” in the “One Nation under God”. That should have been enough to drive every Christian in America to the streets to defend our God and our rights…but the church slept instead. Sexual immorality and perversion have become the norm, and we’ve surrendered to “accepting” unspeakable things…things considered to be vile in the eyes of God. Just the hint of legal measures being put in place to protect the rights of things that mock the Hand of the Creator should have driven every Christian in America to the streets in protest to defend what we know is Truth….but the church slept instead. America isn’t the problem…the Church is the “problem” as it sleeps away these last days and refuses to stand up for Truth…despite the cost.

The Bible warns us about the condition of the Church in the book of Revelation. The church of Ephesus had lost its first love – God was no longer front and center. The church of Pergamos was a compromising church; doctrine was twisted to fit their own desires. The church of Thyatira was an adulterous church – immorality was perfectly acceptable to them. The church of Sardis was the dead church. The church of Laodicea was lukewarm…they were neither hot nor cold…so God said, “I’m about to spit you out of my mouth” – they were financially wealthy but spiritually deprived. If you look closely, you’ll find these flaws in the Church today in one degree or another, and if you look closely at the condition of our world, you’ll see that the problem isn’t with this dark world; the problem is that the Church is asleep. As long as God’s people insist on riding things out from their spiritual recliners, you can’t expect God to “heal” our land.

Many professed Christians lean on 2 Chronicles 7:14 for their hope – “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land….but it ALL begins with humility. The kind of humility that seeks the Truth. The kind of Humility that accepts responsibility. The kind of humility it takes to repent of our own “wicked ways” instead of spending our time highlighting the wicked ways of the world. We’ll know when Humility has hit God’s people when they stop blaming the world and everything in it for our problems, and they begin to Repent for what they did and didn’t do that got us here. It’s time to stop quoting the Scripture of hope and to start living it out instead. Just sayin’.

I spent my time in the Presence of the Most High God this morning, and I’ve been Strengthened and Readied for His Work. I’m a Voice for the Living God, and I don’t think He’ll be silencing me any time soon because my Heart desires to Please Him. My Instructions (and yours) have been clearly defined and written in black and white. I have my Marching Orders, and my Purpose has been Defined by the Hand of God. The King is coming, and this dark world needs the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ more than ever. My tongue praises Him, so I’m not going to “curse” others made in His image. I have ONE ENEMY behind ALL the mess, and I fight him with Spiritual Weapons and not insults. When I speak the name of Jesus…and I do it often…I am empowered and protected. When I speak His name, every demon in Hell knows where I stand, and they know that they have absolutely no power over me. You won’t find me sleeping, I’ve got too much Work to do! You won’t find me settling because I serve a God that doesn’t Compromise Truth. You won’t find me afraid of this world because my God HAS NOT given me a spirit of fear. You won’t watch me weaken because “I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength.” I was born for such a time as this, and I’m Readied for battle each time I Meet with my Master.

I’m a Voice to be heard, a Spiritual force to be reckoned with, I’m a Willing Vessel and an Ambassador for Jesus Christ.

How about you?

The Deception is Working…

/ www.LivingLarger.life

Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s a new day of a new week and although it’s starting out cold, it will be warming up by this afternoon and much of our beautiful snow (and ice) will be gone. All it takes is a little snow, a little drifting, and a little ice, and navigating around the farm gets pretty challenging. Although getting snowed in is one of my favorite things, getting snowed out isn’t so great. We had to cancel service at The Well yesterday to avoid anyone getting stuck on roads that have drifted over AND to ensure their safety around the barn from field parking to the sanctuary. Kids everywhere pray for snow days so that they can stay home from school, but canceling church for any reason is heartbreaking to me. I miss my friends. I miss the fellowship. I miss studying His Word together. I miss seeing the joy of the Lord on their faces. I miss praying with them and for them. Missing church is a big deal to me but it sure isn’t to a VERY large number of folks these days. They’ve traded attending church for Sofa Services and nothing could pry them away from the TV on Sunday morning. As I sat in the Presence of the Most High God this morning I cried as I prayed for the remote ones, for the state of the Church today, and for all the Beauty they’re missing by trading church for the couch. Isn’t that the way you see it too?

I know what it looks like to tune into church remotely because I did that very thing myself years ago when my home church was in turmoil and I was in limbo “church hunting”. I know what it feels like to “go to church” in a comfortable chair and to not hesitate to get up for unlimited coffee refills in the middle of the sermon. I know what it feels like to watch church “in comfortable clothes”. I know what it sounds like to have a conversation during prayer time and/or to freely critique the music as if the musicians were a part of America’s Got Talent instead of a church choir. I know what it sounds like to LIE to myself (and to others) about how “whenever two or more are gathered” is a fitting scripture to defend Sofa Services…but it’s not. We can thank the COVID debacle for making a way to draw Christians out of the church and boy, did we make it easy! We can thank the Devil himself for deceiving God’s people into thinking it’s ok to detach from the Church Body even temporarily. The liar from Hell got even more than he bargained for because “52% of “regular church attendees” who left during COVID have never returned” and unless something changes in their Hearts, they never will.

With the Church laser-focused on making the congregation comfortable at all costs, it isn’t hard to figure out how (and why) so many Christians fell into the Devil’s trap of Sofa Service. Coffee shops, professional praise bands, lights, cameras, and ACTION have grown the numbers, that’s for sure, but fellowship (relationship) has taken the back seat in the process and people have disappeared without even being noticed. Gone are the days when churches welcomed a spontaneous testimony about the power of God and time didn’t seem to matter when God was moving. The testimonies we no longer have time for STRENGTHENED the body and spurred us on…AND they were in keeping with what God tells us all to do in and out of the church. Gone are the days when we’d miss a Sunday in church and somebody would reach out to see how we were doing…they noticed and they cared. Unfortunately, the churches today believe bigger is better, and instead of doing their part to get the people BACK into the church where they belong, they’re hiring Pastors who are online experts to build the numbers just like any good business does. Having people attend church remotely while taking their offerings via an app is far too appealing for them to ignore and some studies suggest that one day in the near future the brick-and-mortar church will cease to exist altogether because of it. I hope the Lord calls me Home before that happens because that’s too sad to even think about.

We had to cancel church yesterday and I was LOST because of it. My brothers and sisters in the Lord are my family and they strengthen me for the Journey…and I do my best to strengthen them! David said it best in Psalm 16: “As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” You won’t find me “forsaking the assembly” because I know if I do then I’m working against the Plan God has for His people and I care more about pleasing Him than I do about pleasing myself. Just so you know, if you’re reading this and you’re attending Sofa Services (by choice not necessity) I’m praying that God lights a fire within you that cannot be contained that will propel you from the recliner to the alter one day soon.

May God richly bless you on and off the sofa.