"All I Want is You" by Ramone Romero
Jesus loves His Church, His Body – as man and wife become one, so is our Lord with His Bride. But I have stepped back and realized that very little of what is called church is the actual Church. Many dear children of God are within the walls of its institutions, but at this point in time, I personally am not able to stay there (but have not forsaken the gathering of believers in true fellowship). I have not yet been able to find one close enough to attend which is aligned with the heart of Christ, or following His will and commands. He said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” John 14:15. And in another place… “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:14. Jesus didn’t teach salvation by works, but a salvation that does work. And it does not take a scholar to discover what this salvation looks like in action according to Jesus and the Apostles. The sad truth is that those who wish to obey this call often meet resistance in the local church, or are pushed out altogether.
I am not saying it’s right or wrong – or a black and white issue – to belong to an official “church” organization or not. For those coming out of cults and deception, the structure can be very beneficial and fellowship among believers is absolutely essential no matter what. The important thing is to be where God leads you, and at the moment we have been led to step outside for a time. Maybe not forever. We did not want to, but this has been the result of seeking to follow Jesus alone. I read in the scripture where He said, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also…” John 12:26. I prayed for Jesus to show me where He was working in this world, where was His heart? When He showed me, it was not in the traditional church.
Yesterday six teenagers and some adults stood for hours out in the sun on 105 degree day to host a fundraiser carwash. As they stood at the road waving signs, they could see the temperature on the bank sign down the road rising one degree at at time. Yes, complaining abounded from time to time, but no one abandoned the job, and the joy at the end of the day in loving fellowship was worth every drop of sweat. All this, not for a ski trip, or a prom, but to have money to go out in two weeks to take a meal and clothing to those who have nothing. And they didn’t raise enough to cover the single meal they wish to take. They will also sacrifice from their own resources. I am not telling this to lift them up, but to draw a contrast between the desires and love God has put on their hearts, and the most obvious love and desires of the visible church (generally speaking). Jesus also said, “But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out IN GOD.” John 3:21 – (emphasis mine) – because clearly no one can boast of these desires which God planted, and the fruit is of Him, for His glory. In fact no one would be crazy enough to do something like this with no personal payback involved unless God put an unstoppable love in his heart.
Why did Jesus care about “the least of these”? Why did He ask us to minister to them? I believe because in this we see His heart and identify with Him more than in any other act. He in fact says we minister to HIM, when we serve THEM. He asks us to offer grace and mercy to the often undeserving just as we have received freely from His hand. And just as His love has opened our hearts, love opens the door in the hearts of others too. The end goal is not to fill a stomach or cover a body, but to glorify God as our Lord by our obedience, and call others to follow Him as well.
The contrast: This group worked within a stone’s throw (tempting imagery) of a church that has just built a beautiful new addition to their small building with exquisite architecture and marble counter-tops. The cost of this gorgeous work of art was over a million dollars, most of which they still owe. But even if it was debt free, what is the value of this in God’s eyes? I won’t go any further with this point, although I could give endless examples of decadence, as well as stories of churches turning away those in need, because it wasn’t “their ministry”.
I write this out of urgency to call people to see God’s true REALITY.. not what we have imagined it to be. The dream I posted a few weeks ago still haunts me. I cannot stay in buildings that will burn or walk with those who do not have heart for those that will be brought into judgment with themselves. As Paul spoke of the coming vengeance of God on two groups of people; those who do not know God, AND those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. (II Thessalonians 1:9)
I am not the only one sensing these things deeply. This following message resonates with me as well. Test all things… including my words and these – but I must share this:
DEATH of the USURPER CHURCH by Stephen St. Louis
"Your Bride" by Ramone Romero
God has ever kept for Himself a remnant who have not bent a knee nor kissed Baal (1 Kings 9:18). We may be looking at that even now. Several months ago, the Lord gave me an insight during worship that I felt compelled to write down. I shared it with my pastor. The jist of it was that God was going to deal harshly with the Usurper Church and her leaders so that His true bride might take her rightful place once more. Whether this will happen before Christ comes back or when He comes back I can’t tell you, nor do I believe it is particularly important. The main focus (and the reason why I gave it to my pastor in the first place) is that we need to make sure we are part of the Bride and not the Usurper.
The PROPHECY ITSELF
I was in church having listened to an announcement about the money needed for the elevator ($30,000) thinking to myself, “Do we really need it? What else could that money be used for? If they can raise that money that fast to put an elevator in, why can’t they do the same to put towards missions or helping those in need in our own community?”
As worship started again, I felt this welling up inside that just had to come out so I wrote it all down (hence the desire to have the actual words). It started off with almost a rebuke about not doing those things which the Bible clearly calls us to: looking after the needs of the poor, the lost and the hurting.
Then it went into what God was going to do about it. Firstly, he was going to deal harshly with, as I said before, the Usurper, meaning the people that call themselves The Church but are not. He was using words like “expose her ugliness” and the image that I had was of a beautiful bride in a veil who is discovered to be ugly and fat and diseased when the veil is lifted. God said He was going to remove the usurper and restore His true bride to her rightful place. Now as for the bit about the usurper’s leaders I believe the words used were “fall by the hundreds and by the thousands.”
I came across another “word” that I’d written down about a month before (dated April 18th 2010). The two go surprisingly hand in hand. Again I was sitting in church during the worship. I believe I had my Bible open to 1 Samuel 5 (either that or the Lord brought that story to mind).This is what He said.
“… How much time do you think you have? Repent. Repent of substituting my idea of church for yours. I did not build my church with bricks and stone but with hearts and minds… I am going to crush the idol of mammon like I did Dagon only worse. Those that worship that idol will be crushed beneath it. Those whose hope is in mammon will be devastated by its destruction.”
The image that I had in my head while I was writing this was of an idol of stone being exploded violently such that only the tiniest pieces remained. It was shattered beyond description or repair.
Source: http://www.johnthebaptisttv.com/
More Hebrew Roots Movement postings soon!!
8thDay4Life 