Sometimes I wonder what would happen if the majority of the time we as leaders would focus on what the bible says those who are called to preach should be focused on.
This scripture is a great guide:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised
I have this bad ability that Jesus gave me to see the intents of the heart very easily and clearly. This causes me to have a different perspective and not to get on trends very easily.
The church has spent long enough building its kingdoms. God wants to build his kingdom. Part of his kingdom are those that are in need of healing and have what some call broken lives. Some have sat so long in the church building that they are blinded. They dont understand the needs of those hurting around them because they would have to ask God and really listen to him. But they have been conditioned to value the opinions of those around them in order to stay in perfect unity than to stay in the unity of the spirit.
Im not going to say much about this right now. But here is a chapter the Lord has given me for a while now. And I heard a sermon preached recently that soothed my spirit as I watched because it was what I was given in my spirit while I spent years battling to help turn the ship around in the area I am in. I have the video posted below.
If I was Jesus talking to these communities, I would say this:
You have made yourselves and eachother very fat. You have enjoyed the fruit of the land. But people have come into your tabernacles needing a drink from me. And you would not look because you were busy laughing and soaking up the merriment of the celebrations of the victories that I gave you. Ignoring the needs of these sheep caused a personal offense against me. I myself brought them to be watered, and yet you did not help when the ability was there.
God is going back for the ones who were scattered from churches and church homes. God is placing them in places where they will be nurtured and looked after and God will restore what the wickedness took from them.
In this season I am personally noticing caring for and reaching in the spirit for these people that have been scattered. My prayer is that the church homes that are healthy and have the right spirit (JESUS) as king, would have open arms for these sheep to come and sit on their pews without asking for their resume.
Ezekial 34
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Here is the video that TIPHANI ( WHO I AM SO PROUD OF) PUT OUT
I live in a rural area, a small city. When I visit larger cities everything becomes lager spiritually perspective wise, and dynamic. I plan, I move slow, I stay still and move slow with instruction.
I visited a nearby “medium city” for work. I’m familiar with places homeless hang out to get help, use the internet or just pass the time waiting on the lord or something else.
I went to one of those places instead of tim hortons, mcdonalds or biggby. I arrived about 15 min. before our free breakfast. I met a young lady that had been sleeping outside. I connected with her over a conversation about her shoes. They were rugged, yet sporty and girly. I said those shoes look like they’ll get you through anything!
I left that area and went to another and ate breakfast near some others, but just sat knowing we were enjoying our biscuits, gravy and eggs with exactly 8 oz. of orange juice, unless someone got another members; who didn’t want theirs. At first people just wanted to eat and it was a bit chaotic, but after that it felt like being at a family reunion.
I finished, went outside to smoke a cigarette and that’s where almost everyone else was and vaping a lot of THC. I vaped a couple times myself, sat as the others planned their day too and I saw the young lady again. She had gotten herself together, brushed her hair and had made the decision to go learn about career classes. I told her she looked sharp and she asked if I was staying outside tonight around there. The shelters were full. I just told her I would be around to take the train at night and I need to know where to get another free meal.
It was a church nearby that was having hot dogs that evening. I told the lady, thank you for being so friendly and having a couple real conversations with me. I told her I’d be thinking of her while she was working on her stuff and if she thinks about me, that really means I’m probably thinking about her and that I would be hoping I’d see her later at the end of the day.
It was expected and it happened. I was able to sit quietly and connect with her even more at that event, I learned she does know the lord and whenever she mentioned that she always feels like she has no value, I had to speak the word as plain encouragement to keep her focused on the truth; that I really cared for her more than the world I valued her just the way she was right now. I let her know that I experience that most of the time too, but it’s not real, it’s the pressure of the world and you can think around it.
It was definitely trust issues. But also to build trust I told her, I don’t want much in this life or I don’t need much, one or the other; that I was interested in what others wanted and if I fit into the plan God has for their life. This kept the environment sound. I had to ensure her I didn’t want anything but to sit close, care, relax because I know we both worked on stuff that day and to know her hearts desires.
We didn’t get that far, we just had hot dogs. But as another human being I needed those few connections that day and I wouldn’t have gotten that at any of those other places. *This is the way I’ve lived and miss it when I’m not connecting with others like this.
The Church has gotten to be like the this… – Lord Tytler identified “Eight Stages of a Democracy”, from beginning to end. The eight stages go from bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence, and finally from dependence back to bondage.
I didn’t preach to the woman I met that day, she ended up preaching to me. And that happen in a casual conversation about our situations.
I’d say to you, thank God for the church and what it takes to maintain worship, praise and the preaching of the word for generations. We all can always do better, if you have to leave the church building to do it, do it. If the church rejects you for reaching into the private places, do it anyway, it might be the only way to make real connections that get people really saved. Remember, the eight stages I mentioned… Church is for sinners! It’s a conundrum.
You can’t force feed truth or preaching, but you can get it close to the lips and ears. lol.
If you end up alone, fulfilling your purpose on your own, even pulled down to hell; if you love Jesus you’ll make it. You’ll really win the lost, really edify the church and really know Him forever. He’s with you wherever you are. He will hold you and hold you up.
If you know what needs to be done, do it. You’ll face persecution, people will want you imprisoned, people will hate you and want you dead for abandoning the current traditional church to really love yourself and others. You’ll learn to move slow, be still, move slow and follow instruction and mysterious dangerous things will happen right alongside miracles. I only go to church for worship now.
Oh, and a similar variation happen at the church event, similar to me being preached to instead of preaching or what I do in ministry. “Someone from the crowd” sang one of the most intimate jesus songs ever. Moved by God, he just stood up and asked to sing the song and he did and some of the lyrics were, “Jesus, jesus, “something, something, something” lay be down at your throne, something else and something else really beautiful. But I thought that’s an old hymn that sounds almost like a modern love song.