At the beating heart of everything that we are and do must lie the Golden chalice of Christ Himself filling our heart to the brim. Our relationship with Jesus quite apart from any religious externals must be the driving force of our lives. Externals can change and even fall away but our relationship with Jesus never changes. He walks with us daily, He comforts us hourly, He intercedes for us at all times. It is Jesus that is the centerpiece of who we are.

I know people, good people who will say things like, ” you must come to my church, you must hear my pastor, you must come and see our worship team,” and so on. What happens when your church fails, when your pastor falls, when your worship leader runs off with the youth pastor? I say it tongue in cheek but you get my point. Each one of us should have such a relationship with Jesus that if we have an opportunity to speak to anyone about the One that we love then we are able to speak by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are for the most part, a spiritually impotent generation. And let me say first and foremost that it is our own fault. Each of us who know Jesus have the ability to share with others. Remember that the steps of a righteous man and woman are ordered of God. If you “happen,” to be speaking to someone and that conversation turns towards the spiritual then know that God knew that and the fact that you are speaking to that someone is no surprise to God who brings order to the universe. He knows that person and He knows you. He makes no mistakes.

The dividing line between the clergy and the laity has fundamentally weakened Christendom. It has served to disenfranchise the believers and has turned most of them into pew warming spectating tithers whose main purpose is to pay the bills and play their part in a religious spectacle that typically serves to promote the professional pastor and the professional worship leader so that they can build their kingdoms and franchise their organisations. And since we now have the technology, when it is franchised then they can simply pipe in the original ” team,” into another location thus nullifying the prospect that anyone may rob them of any of the glory they have so dearly sought while typically hiding it under a mask of humility.

If our denominations and churches only exist on the plane of external religion, then how can they ever make any significant impact on our communities? If our communion, our fellowship, is not enthroned upon the Spiritual, if the central aspect of our gatherings is around anything other than a supernatural Jesus who gives sight to see that which is not visible and gives ears to hear that which is not audible then what do we have?

If we are left only with the religious externals then all we have is religious entertainment of one sort or another. A building or an organisation that only truly exists to perpetuate itself and promote certain individuals. We must cry out for Jesus and for Him to once again be preeminent in our gatherings. If we make Jesus the centerpiece of our life, if we allow Him through His Holy Spirit to be central in our gatherings then I believe we would then be truly equipping the saints to be witnesses to His glory in season and out of season and especially in this day which could very possibly be the end of the ages.