Posted by appolus on March 19, 2018
Are you weary of externalism, and do you long after God? I long after God. This is not old age talking, and this is not the results of anything I have been reading, except the Bible. This has been growing in me through the years. The only gratifying thing I have apart from my communion with God is the knowledge that I am not alone in my journey. God has His people everywhere who are in revolt against pretense, textualism, externalism and tradition. They want to seek God for Himself, as He is in the Scriptures, as revealed by the Holy Spirit. God has His people, but there are not many of them. Are you one? ( Tozer)
The question is, are you weary of trying to change from the outside in? It is simply not possible to change from the outside in. All spiritual change comes from the inside out. It has to begin in the deepest parts of who we are. To be changed from the inside out requires an encounter with the Living God. Only this can change you. You cannot turn over a new leaf, try harder, read the Bible more, follow the traditions of your church, you have to encounter Him. This encounter takes place in the realms of the heart and soul, not in the head. It is the most dangerous thing in the world to encounter God. Why is it dangerous? Because your life will never be the same.
Your desire will be for Him and no matter what other interests you have, they will give place to Him. He consumes the soul. He fills us in ways that nothing else that exists can. Are you ready for that kind of mad passion? A passion with such intensity that it relegates all other things to second place and beyond. This kind of passion is dangerous to normal natural living. When that which is supernatural invades that which is natural then it overflows the soul. The soul is huge and not able to filled with anything that exists. Yet God is vast beyond our ability to understand. It was once said that if everything that exists, this universe and all universes beyond with all of its trillions of planets could be placed in a five gallon bucket, and we compared a five gallon bucket to the Indian ocean the Indian ocean would be God.
This of course is a limited analogy because God is more vast than that. Yet here is a thing…….That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Eph 3:17-19)
You see that brothers and sisters, we might be filled with all the fullness of God!!! The fullness of God. Somehow in our spirits we might comprehend the breadth and the length and the depth and the height of the fullness of God who is vast beyond our ability to comprehend in our heads. But the Spirit of God communicates the fullness of God to the spirit of man and that man is captivated and forever ruined for the things of this life and his drive is to continually seek out this God and know Him in His manifest presence. You will be like the deer who pants for the waterbooks but you can never be like this deer unless you encounter the reality of God in the depths of your spirit. This is where the fire is set, this is the fire that spreads to the bones and possesses all of who we are.
It is from this place that we are changed. This fire that He ignites through His Holy Spirit, this baptism of fire makes us lovers of God. It makes us avid readers of His personal diary, His word. It makes us lovers of men and women for we love what He loves for He has melded our hearts with His in the fire that He ignited at the center of who we are and that fire radiates out in every direction and changes everything and it changes those around us. It may drive people from us or it may draw people to us but it is not passive for it is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself burning in the center of who we are. He has lit up His saints so that they would be a light that shines in the darkness. And the greater the darkness the greater the light shines.
As Tozer says, God has His people and it is true that there are not many of them. The reason that many are called but few are chosen is that there is a price that comes with such an encounter. Is there something in you that is willing to forsake all? Very few saints ever have to pay that kind of price but in the depths of who they are God knows they are willing. Just like Abraham on his way up the hill with his son and the means of sacrifice. Willing to sacrifice all of his ambitions, all of his dreams, all of his future just for the sound of the voice of God speaking directly into his life. Encountering God and continually seeking after Him is grand adventure and motivator of the saints. Stand fast saints, this hard journey that you are on, this narrow path leads eventually to the glories of heaven and along the way God gives us glimpses of that glory and fills us to beyond capacity. He fills us to overflowing and sustains us on our journey.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, The Psalms, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 3 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 11, 2018
Jesus did not come into the world to start a religion, He came to destroy all religion. Religion is the apex of the pyramid. It is mans highest and best efforts to touch the heavens. Jesus, on the other hand takes us straight into the depths of the Father’s heart. Regulations build the hierarchy of men, relationship with Jesus makes us one with the Father.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 6, 2018
I was born under an angry sky
At the edge of the world in darkness
A place where the rain never ceased to fall
And boys grew up to be heartless
Tears were banished right from the start
And the foundations of the walls that surrounded our heart
Were laid deep in our souls and minds every day
It was a well-worn path and there was no other way
And the wind blew hard upon the window pane
There was never-ending darkness and never-ending rain
And the hearts of the boys grew dark in the night
Only in your dreams could you run and take flight
Still the morning would come and darkness remained
Look out of the window and it continually rained
Every blow to the heart another brick in the wall
The more you laid bare the more it grew tall
The land of broken hearts is full of high towers
Tis a black and white land ruled by darkened powers
Towers of lost tears and towers of pain
Tis full of dark clouds and continual rain
Yet there were some who spoke of a world of light
Where tears could fall and no continual night
This world had a King who had come to this land
They put nails in His feet and nails in His hand
The powers of darkness screamed in delight
As they pierced His side, this King of the Light
He had come to replace the hearts that were broken
With power and love in every word He had spoken
So they nailed the Word to the cross that day
Then they took Him down and in the cave He would lay
And they rolled a stone just to shut Him in
And the darkness fell and rejoiced in its sin
And the brokenhearted wept for their King
He had taught them to pray and taught them to sing
Yet the rain and the darkness seemed to prevail
By the power of the sword and the power of the nail
Then out through the darkness broke forth a great light
The rolled away stone revealed a glorious sight
The grave could not hold Him and death was defeated
Look up to the throne and see where He’s seated
Our King was victorious, the chains they were broken
Those asleep in the darkness were gloriously awoken
In victory He arose and He broke deaths spell
In the land of broken hearts the towers fell
The captives came forth their hearts were renewed
And the powers of darkness were finally subdued
No longer prisoners of the darkness and pain
Their tears were recovered and they fell like rain
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 4, 2018
The true power of those who walk the Kingdom walk lies not in an alleviation of circumstances but an elevation of Spiritual awareness.To enter into the Glory. Just one glimpse of His glory elevates us high above the circumstances of our lives. His Glory is the updraft that raises us high above our circumstances. To look into the eyes of Glory means to rise above the storms of this world. There is no set of chains that can restrain the child of God. There is no trial on earth that can hold our bodies down. When we see His Glory, when we fix our eyes on His majesty then no matter what our circumstances are we begin to rise up. There is a heavenly choir of glory that beckons us to come up. The only thing that can hold us down is our own hands. When we let go of our circumstance and lift our eyes up to Jesus that name which is above every name, then we begin to rise up. Will you lift your eyes towards heaven today saint? The Lord sees you in the midst of your trial, can you see Him? Will you let go today? Will you release your grasp today from the circumstances which threaten to destroy you? No matter how terrifying this may seem, will you let go today, there is glory that awaits you. Lift you voice in praise today, let it rise up to heaven itself and suddenly you will find yourself in the midst of Glory.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 2, 2018
God has made many promises to His people yet much of Christendom has failed to possess the promises of Christ which are yes and amen. The failure is our part for God is faithful to those who are diligent in His pursuit. We want to partake of the glories but we do not want to partake in the humiliations. We want abundant life in Christ but we are not willing to take up our cross and die. We desire the feast but we have no stomach for the fasting.
The Lord inhabits the praises of His people. We praise God with our lives, we praise God with our desire to follow Him. We praise God when we can glorify Him even when we are hungry, when we are naked, when we walk through the valley’s and walk through the fires and the floods. God is looking for a people to inhabit all the days of their lives.
Imagine escaping Egypt, coming through the desert, crossing the Jordan river and even seeing the walls of Jericho fall but then rather than possessing the land you fall back into the desert and then wake up one day and find yourself back in Egypt. The gifts and the promises are to be possessed. Unless we can leave Egypt behind us we can never push on and possess all that God has for us. You cannot run forward while you are looking back.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on March 2, 2018
Wind of the Spirit play the strings of my heart
Discover who I am, each and every part
I stand before you my heavenly King
You look at me and see everything
Nothing hidden, no secrets just you and me
With eyes ablaze that can truly see
Your Blood and your love they cover my sin
And with coals of fire I am cleansed from within
There is fire in your Blood that flows from the cross
And love from above that’s more than all loss
My thoughts of these things are so very few
When I consider that now I am found in you
The strings of my heart play a glorious song
As I am swept up in a heavenly throng
The hand of My God plays a sweet melody
My heart’s in Your hand and forever shall be.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 27, 2018
Lay me down in a troubled land
I shall ever rest in the palm of your hand
My soul is refreshed by the waters of your Life
You are the Husband and the Body is your wife
I shall shout for joy from the depths of my soul
For I was broken and you made me whole
You lifted me up when I was down
It’s in Your love that I now abound
I have never hungered in a famined land
Even when I fall you make me stand
Your Living waters refresh my soul
You have replaced what my enemy stole
My leaf has not withered even in the drought
And from the mountain-tops you shall hear me shout
Glory hallelujah to the King of all the nations
I stand here not on sand but on your firm foundation
I have known your favor and Your grace rescues me
I an surrounded on every side like the deepest sea
The radiance of your beauty lights up my whole world
And Your banner over me is simply love unfurled
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 27, 2018
I have shouted for joy, the radiance of His beauty has lit up my whole world and His grace and His favor and His abundance has surrounded me like deep waters. Who could know the depths of these waters? I rest beside the rivers of life and my roots are drawn down into the depths of who He is and it fills my whole being with radiant light even in the midst of gross darkness. And despite the ravages of life my leaf has not withered and I have never hungered and His living waters is life to my thirsty soul even in a dry and thirsty land.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The Psalms, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 24, 2018
When the rainbow bursts into a thousand pieces
And showers down into my heart
And my soul lights up with the colors of heaven
And shines out boldly into the dark
When life and all its ways flood in
And the perpetual winter is here to stay
And spring is just some distant dream
We cannot rise but fall and pray
We know there’s a bright and morning star
That rises through the depths of winters loss
And the Balm of Gideon soothes our pain
Yet we know we shall never be the same again
And twilight echoes in the sky above
Cascading down in a shower of love
And the memories fade but linger yet
Like the setting of a sun that will never truly set.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, the crucified life, the deeper life, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 22, 2018
It is devastating to lose a loved one. The word that comes to mind for me is “brutal.” It tears away at your heart. Its like losing a limb without the aid of anesthetic. If there were not a balm in Gilead then the winter of our loss would be perpetual and the spring would never come. Yet of course there is a bright and morning star that rises in our hearts after the long winter of our loss. Even still, we are never the same and we remember our loved ones like a setting sun that never quite sets.
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Posted by appolus on February 22, 2018
The wall is about to crumble!
There is a wall spoken of in Ezekiel 13:10-16. The wall is constructed upon false-hood and lies. Lying prophets who tell the people what they want to hear. They cry peace and prosperity where there is no peace, and their prosperity is the gold and silver of this world. Their gold and silver and jewels are truly wood, hay and stubble and it shall surely come to nothing when the Lord comes against this wall.They lie to people and tell them that God is at peace with them and that they can, no matter what, fall back upon His mercy and His grace and that He will sustain them in their time of trouble. They have no peace for they do not know Him and their gold is fools gold and will not buy them peace.
There are many who plaster this wall and they do so with ” untempered mortar.” Now, I laid bricks for over 25 years. In the beginning, when I was an apprentice, we went to a trade school. The trade school was inside and we built many beautiful structures. We built egg-shaped sewers and Gothic arches and so on as we perfected all the finer points of building bricks and stone. If you were to walk into the large room where we were hard at work, you would see some fine examples of brickwork. The untrained eye would not notice and really could not notice that the mortar between the bricks was only sand with a small amount of lime, it was untempered, it had no cement. When the project was finished it was simply and easily taken down and the material would be scraped off and used again. If it were outside, it would not last very long and if a storm or rain were to hit it, the structures would simply collapse on themselves as the mortar that held everything together had no integral strength.
This is the kind of wall that Ezekiel is talking about in Chapter 13. Christendom itself is just like this wall(not the Church). It has been constructed by false prophets and the mortar used to hold it all together is religiosity. It gives a beautiful appearance and it encompasses a stronghold, but the time is coming soon when the Lord Himself will come against this structure. The Lord Himself will cause a storm designed specifically to bring the structure down. This is just like Matthew 7:26 where the Lord talks about two houses. One is built upon a foundation of Truth, that is Jesus, and the other has no foundation at all, it is merely built on sand. Now, in the normal course of events no one would ever know what house had a foundation or which did not. Yet, when a storm comes and the rains of persecution pour down, in the end only one house will be left standing, the house that stands entirely upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
This storm is coming brothers and sisters. In fact the fore-winds have already begun to blow. There will be a flooding rain, great hailstones shall fall and a stormy wind shall tear it down. Tear what down and expose what? The great wall of religion and denominationalism shall soon be exposed as the birth pangs of persecution begin to intensify. God has always had a remnant of people who dwell outside the walls, outside the systems of men. They are witnesses who testify of the truth. Indeed, as Stephen says , God does not dwell in temples built by human hands. God’s kingdom dwells within the hearts of His children. His structures consist of living stones. These living stones together, are the temple of God.
This great storm of darkness that is descending upon the world is designed to leave only the true children of God standing, and by standing I mean never faltering, standing fast to the end , a prevailing, enduring and overcoming stand. That which is without the foundation of Jesus, which is constructed by un-tempered mortar will not stand. And by not standing I mean shall fall into compromise with the world.They shall not stand fast, they shall not endure and they shall not overcome. That un-tempered wall shall be no more when the climax of the storm comes, when Jesus Himself shall descend in all His glory with the saints and with a shout of glory and triumph. Those saints still alive after the final martyrs have been slaughtered shall arise and join Christ and His army in the air, that glorious army of saints who come with Christ and then every knee shall bow, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.
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Posted by appolus on February 22, 2018
God will not keep a man on the right path, He will lay it before him and the man chooses. When he goes down the wrong path he will often be met with “success.” Men will tell him how wonderful he is and it all acts as confirmation, drawing him deeper down the wrong path. It may take six days, six months or six years or even a lifetime, but it is never to late to go back to where the axe fell, the fork in the road and take the path that God has laid before you. It is not where we start, it is where we finish.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 2 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 18, 2018
What shall become of us?-Mark McCourt
Its time to put away superficial, fairy-floss Christianity! Yep I am talking about the one hour dry-cleaning-check-the-box-complete-with-girly-man-songs-and-fluffy-sermon-church-meetings kind of Christianity! It’s time to stop pretending that it is okay to go through the motions by having a form of Christianity that is so blended with the world that if some of us were arrested for being a christian they would have to let us go for lack of evidence! Many Christians have become so obsessed with keeping up appearances that they have fallen in love with Churchianity rather than Christ. They have forgotten that it was Christ who was nailed to a cross, by a godless world and who then told us to follow Him to our own cross. But most churchmen today have become so enamored by the world that they dare not offend it lest they too end of on a cross. And so the Christianity we are leaving behind for the next generation looks cool and sounds amazing but it lacks “teeth” and it has no fire and alas I fear – God has already departed much of it. We are leaving behind a “hip” church that has losts it’s way and lost much of it’s soul…filled with passionless clones who have been trained to no longer think for themselves.
They have forgotten that they are children of the Light and sons and daughters of the soon and coming King. They have become so accustomed to this world that their allegiance no longer lies fully with their Lord, but somewhere between darkness and light. A bland shade of grey.
So I ask myself this question tonight, “Mark have you too lost your passion or is there still a fire burning in your heart for truth and righteousness and is there still a desire to live fully for Christ, no matter the cost”?
With the world growing darker by the hour we must have no allusions that we can just lie still with our head in the sand and hope the darkness will pass over us. Satan is rising up and the abyss is opening wider. True Christianity and all that stands for freedom is under siege like never before and we had better not put our trust in men or money or even the church-house. We must trust, rely, depend on and be immersed in Christ and Christ alone! He is our ROCK, He is our FORTRESS, He is our STRONG TOWER and He is our ever present HELP in time of trouble!
That time of trouble will become so intense in the coming years that we will be glad that we turned aside from the soul-sucking-rat-race and sought after God with all of our heart. Not just for what we are enduring today, but for tomorrow and next year and for the next 10 or 20 years from now. And we must seek Gods help not just for ourselves but for the day when we will no longer be here and it will be our children and our grand children who will face the darkness alone. They too must be ready and they must be strong in the Lord! Like never before we must turn aside and if need be, our lives must take on a sense of loneliness and solitude where we are forced to dig wells of righteousness and strength for future generations. May God Himself empower and quicken us for what lies ahead.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 14, 2018
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
(Son 2:1-4)
On this day the world celebrates love ( in a crass commercial way) it is good to consider the lover of our souls. Who is it that measures out the oceans in the palm of His hand? And considers the nations as a drop in a bucket, it is He that sits upon the circle of the earth. He is high and lifted up yet He knows every hair of your head. He know your every thoughts and His thoughts towards you are more numerable than the sands of the sea. He loves you with a perfect love. How much? Look up to the cross, look up to the heavens and behold His love and His glory.
He is closer to you than a brother and He will never leave you nor forsake you. What love is this that knows everything about us, every thought , every word and every action yet still loves us and keeps us despite the knowing of it all. Such love is impossible for men and women but our Lord and God is above the ways of all men. Today and every day I thank you Lord Jesus for loving me. A love that changed and is always changing everything.
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Posted by appolus on February 13, 2018
The crime of spiritual abuse: One of the most dangerous ideas in decades. The article below is a very important one, please take the time to read it, it is quite short. It speaks to a new category that the authorities are thinking about introducing, “Spiritual Abuse,” or SA for short. The implication if this were ever introduced would devastate Christians and Christian children specifically. Let me just say that I believe that this will be introduced and sooner rather than later. Just another sign that Jesus is at the door and the gates of hell have been pushed open wide…………………bro Frank
In a world of ‘safe spaces’ it appears that no space is safe. So it was with interest and a degree of concern that I heard of a new term about to be added to our legal vocabulary. As well as sex abuse, child abuse, racial abuse, hate crime abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse and domestic abuse, we now have ‘spiritual abuse’ (SA).
Organisations like the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) have been raising the profile of SA and seeking to get it recognised as a legal category. Surely that should be a good thing? Abuse is manipulation, bullying, exploitation and misuse of power. When that happens in religious circles then surely it should be dealt with? So why has the Evangelical Alliance produced a report that is highly critical of the term? …… read the complete article by David Robertson here……… https://theweeflea.com/2018/02/13/the-crime-of-spiritual-abuse-one-of-the-most-dangerous-ideas-in-decades/
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 5 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 12, 2018
The universe speaks to the vastness of God. When we think of the countless trillions of stars we are reminded in Isa 40 that God knows them all by name. If He knows every single star by name and every single sparrow that falls to the ground then it comes into clear view that He knows every single human being and every hair that is on their heads. When the Scripture tells us that His thoughts of us are more than the sands of the sea, when we consider the vastness of the universe and peer up into the night sky then this Scripture is easy to believe. Its the wonder of it all. The vastness of the universe and the glory of the infinitesimally small that makes up the human body. We stand in the midst of that and God stands outside of it. Imagine, if you will, a God that holds all of it in the palm of His hand.
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Posted by appolus on February 8, 2018
It was one heart that formed the mountains
It was one heart that tamed the mighty seas
It was one heart that raised me back to life
Twas this one heart I found upon my knees
And with this one heart I am saved forever
And this one heart has opened up the door
This one heart laid the foundations of the world
And in this one heart I will dwell forever more
It was one heart that carved out the valleys
It was one heart that planted all the trees
It was one heart that formed the little babies
Twas this one heart I found upon my knees
And with this one heart I was born again forever
And this one heart will take me gently ore
This one heart created all the heavens
And in this one heart I will dwell forever more
This one heart belongs to God the Father
And the Blood flowed from Jesus Christ His Son
And by the power of the blessed Holy Spirit
We shall all stand together here as one
One heart, one soul, one mind, one Body
One purpose in everything we do
It is this one heart that holds it all together
And it is this one heart that will see us through
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christian poetry, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, poetry, revival, spiritual poetry, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 6, 2018
It’s not good enough to come to the cross, one must come to the cross and die. The ultimate offense of the cross is death. Jesus said that whoever seeks to save his life would lose it, but whoever loses his life for the sake of Christ would gain everlasting life. In Roman times, the one thing you knew if you saw a man with a cross was that the man was surely going to die and the dying would not be easy.
The message of the cross remains the same ” I bid you to come and die.” You cannot accept the benefits of the cross while refusing to die. In order to live eternally one has to die. It is a very rare thing to hear this message today. The message for the last few decades typically begins with “All you have to do.” This is not the gospel. See Jesus in the garden and see the agony. For us mere mortals the flesh will not go quietly into that good night, it will rage against the coming of the light.
It will demand to remain in the darkness and there it will make its stand. Salvation is a brutal bloody thing and the flesh must be found dead upon the brazen altar. It is the work of the cross that slays it and today Satan is still selling that old lie “surely you will not die.” Bow down and worship me, he says, and you will not need to die upon a cross. Will you die that you may live or will you live this day and bow down to the world. It must be one or the other. Cheap grace has given the illusion that there is a middle ground, there is not.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, testimony, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 3 Comments »
Posted by appolus on February 4, 2018
In much of the church we are living with the triumph of form over substance. The evidence of that is the lack of depth of Christianity in our society. We have had many charlatans that have used the power of the media and the rules of entertainment to water down the message while promoting themselves. Three of four generations into an entertainment driven church we are left with a shallowness of showmanship that engages the ‘audience.” Tozer writes “The church that can’t worship must be entertained. And men who can’t lead a church to worship must provide the entertainment.” I would argue that all across Christendom in the west we are seeing leaders who lead the people by providing entertainment.
Tragically, we have seen that as the world goes so goes the church. Of course it should be the exact opposite, yet here we are. You will hear excuses about staying relevant and keeping up with technology and so on. I personally have nothing against technology but when it becomes an integral part of the “show” on a Sunday morning then you know that the plot has been lost. Today we are being driven by the form and not the substance. The cultural winds have simply taken a hold of the church and the church is being driven along by these winds towards what destination? What is the end for such a church? The complete amalgam of the world with the church. This is a tragedy. The church was supposed to be a counter-culture not a sub-culture.
Yet if there is an enemy that seeks to swallow up the church whole by means of swamping it with the world, he has miscalculated. We see in the secular world that given enough frustration the electorate eventually rebel against the establishment that has become corrupt. This last election cycle is a perfect example of rebellion against the establishment with men like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. If the world can react against the corruption they find in the system then even more so can good brothers and sisters in Christ. As always Satan will overplay his hand and brothers and sisters will simply leave the corrupted institutions behind. The more our enemy overplays his hand the more he drives saints together and actually helps the Scriptures come to pass. Jesus prophesied in John 17 that we should be one just as He and His Father are one. We shall see this come to pass.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ……….And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:(Eph 4:4-13)
Brothers and sisters God is raising up apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers. Not the children of the system that we see today, but genuine saints whose primary goal is the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry and the edifying of the Body until we all come into the unity of the faith. The unity of the faith is the work of God Himself through His Holy Spirit and the spirit of the world that has invaded the church will only drive the saints towards such a unity that will undoubtedly be forged in the fires of persecution. Pursue the substance of God with all of your heart and soul and mind and do not be distracted by shiny things that make a lot of noise and attract attention. The substance of God will triumph over the form of man.
Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, The presence of God, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | 1 Comment »
Posted by appolus on February 3, 2018
We now face in this country, the rise of the sociopaths and the rule of the schizophrenic. Both these groups will accuse their victims of the very crime or behavior that they themselves exhibit. Angie and I watched the movie “The Post,’ last night. Being a bit of a history buff I knew the story well. Basically it was about the Washington Post and the New York Times publishing what was called “the Pentagon Papers.” These papers were marked secret and were stolen and then given to the press.
The bottom line of the documents showed that Robert McNamara, the defense secretary knew as early as 1965 that the war in Vietnam could not be won. L.B.Johnson knew this as did Nixon, yet more and more troops were sent over to kill and be killed in order that the American government would not be “embarrassed.” Young men bled and died while politicians tried to figure out how to get out and save face. As Christians we know how deadly pride can be.
Yet brave journalists, facing a paranoid Nixon, risked it all in order that the truth would come out. The same happened shortly after this with Watergate. Just for my British friends, Watergate was the building that housed the DNC, the Democratic National Committee. Nixon wanted the inside scoop on what the Democrats were up to, so associates of his, broke into that building to get some dirt on Nixon’s political opponents. They got caught, the cover up began and the rest is history.
Fast forward to today. Rather than the press being the fourth estate, a neutral free press that speaks truth to power, an entity that resists the powerful to inform the people, they have now melded into a political wing that represents the Governors and not the governed. Today’s Watergate did not need men to break into a building, they had technology to do it. A warrant was obtained illegally and with that illegal warrant one political party spied on the other party. And in doing so they managed to corrupt and taint the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Intelligence agencies.
Yet unlike the press of old, most of today’s press were fighting hard to keep information secret for their paymasters. This is a complete 180. Now the rulers of the country no longer have to fear a press that fits neatly into their pockets. Think about the Pentagon Papers. The person most hurt by them was actually L.B.J. Can you imagine todays press fighting hard to expose one of their own? Rather they are mere puppets in the hands of their Idealogue masters. When the press fight to keep corruption secret then they are no longer the fourth estate they are merely a tool of the State. This will not end well.
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A Call To The Remnant 