Mr Webb,
I think
it would behoove you to find out more about someone before you
attempt to slam them in their own home. So lets start with just who
I am and what my calling is.
To put
it simply I am one of the redeemed. My life was bought with the shed
blood of Yeshua and as such is not mine anymore. My life is to do as
He wills ,and as such, Jehovah has called me to be one of many
prophets called forth for this time. We are called to exhort our
fellow brethren to a more righteous life in Him. To return to the
love that we have forgotten in favor of social networking and a
country club atmosphere. To realize that the great commission says to
GO out into our communities showing His love to the world, not
huddled inside our church buildings hoping that the lost and dying
will bother to grace us with their presence so that we can show them
our westernized, feminized, powerless god. I am called to point
people back to our Redeemer, Yeshua the Messiah, The only begotten
Son of of the Most High. To point them to His love nothing less
nothing more. I am simply a guidepost He is the message.
This is
not a calling I am comfortable with for it is not in my nature. I am
an extreme introvert with some possible aspergers symptoms. I am not
some kind of megalomaniac such as the self proclaimed “prophets”
you mentioned, but I do take my calling VERY seriously. I have felt
the weight of His presence and heard His voice. It is an experience
I will never forget and one I wish others could understand. I use
this blog in some regards as a sounding board to lay out my thoughts
and in some ways just maybe some soul will take them and run with
them. The very fact that I have been given this charge is humbling
because I understand the gravity of my calling.
Lets
address some of your comment.
First
lets get something straight. I do believe you took something I said
out of context.
This is
what you quoted me as saying.
“Our
churches have lost sight of this simple principal. We have become
believers looking for the quick fix to our own little problem.
Looking to shake the great piggy bank in the sky and get our “due”.
After all we are children of the Lord.”
Here is
the quote in context.
“So
where does that leave us? What if you believe that the decline of our
nation is ultimately part of His plan? I think the answer is there in
the scriptures. Be faithful to what Jehovah has called you to do. I
know that it sounds simplistic, but often truth is simple. If we are
faithful then we can expect that great things will happen. Our
churches have lost sight of this simple principal. We have become
believers looking for the quick fix to our own little problem.
Looking to shake the great piggy bank in the sky and get our “due”.
After all we are children of the Lord. “
What
was written was done quickly in a comment on another blog as such my
grammar was not the best. After I said “Our churches have lost
sight of this simple principal.” I had moved onto a new thought
ending in some sarcasm. Please reread it in that light and you will
see that I was deriding the tendency toward materialism that has
crept into our local church bodies.
On
the subject of the “church”, can you explain what you mean by the
church? What defines what a church is? Your comments about the
“universal church” are quite perplexing. If I was called for a
time such as this what is the point of bringing up the past or the
future. When Jehovah called His prophets in the past they were for
that time. While some of what those prophets said were canonized and
told prophecies, they were also called to exhort those in their time
to be faithful. That is my calling. What about my calling could
possibly impact the past and my impact upon the future will only be
what He wills.
“Then,
does this mean that what we call churches today are sanctioned by
God. If you believe the scriptures, specifically the Book of Acts of
the Apostles, this is our only choice. Anyone that gives the
impression that they are called by God to slam His Church and to tear
it down anyway they can have enthroned and worship themselves. Christ
told His disciples that they would be known by their love for Him and
for each other. Criticism from the inside can be good, even
wonderful, and can redirect it back to its roots and thus back to its
Master. Criticism from the outside is especially dangerous to the one
or ones doing the criticizing.
You
must be humbled to a place of follow ship before you can be trusted
with a place of leadership. Get yourself involved in a Bible
Believing Church, and get involved in its theology, doctrine and
history. Then and only then will you become a viable member of the
Church.”
Oh
my, how very astute of you. I read this and can not help but think of
the number of outsiders from the religious orders of the day are in
the Word. You do realize that the Pharisees and Sadducees were the
accepted leaders of the “church” in the time of Yeshua and John.
Each of them challenged the status quo. Please do not preach to me
about the “dangers” of challenging our preconceived notions of
what the church is. The scriptures teach that the church is Yeshua’s
bride which consists of those whom have accepted His divine gift and
made Him their Lord. There is no one way in which it is prescribed
that believers are to meet and fellowship be it a mega church or a
humble home congregation. What is important is that we learn and
grow in Him. Something I have been doing for over 25 years regardless
of my current church affiliation. I have been in the “humbling
fellowship” as you call it for 23 of those years. Ten of them in a
very controlling abusive setting. I learned quickly that if I wanted
to continue in a ministry position I had to toe the line, not make
waves, and most importantly not challenge the elders in the church.
When I did I quickly found myself on the outside. Your comment on
becoming a viable member of the church smacks of the same kind of
mentality. I spent the last 3 years in the “wilderness” as Heidi
said. I have been learning just what it means to be a prophet. It
does not mean that I have not had fellowship with other believers,
just that I am not currently a member of a specific “church body”.
If you want to make that out to be some kind of apostasy, I challenge
you to truly study the Word and open your eyes to see that our
western idea of what the body is in fact a man made convention.
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