Church Weary? ~Gen Jim

From Revival to Revolution

Not all is dreary. Once in a while, we meet church men and women who have gone “From Revival to Revolution.” One pastor from London said, “Our meetings were seldom led from the (church) pulpit. We actually had no ‘front’, no ‘platform’ or worship leader to tell us to ‘stand up’, ‘clap’, ‘sing’, ‘dance’, or ‘shout’. The Holy Spirit orchestrated the meetings, and we simply learned to be led by the Spirit. Jesus was (and is) the director.”

Depend Upon Divine Guidance

We started our Christian walk doing this. As new-born Christians in 1971, my wife and I began fasting once a week, reading the Bible daily, and witnessing to ANY and ALL we encountered. We had no church, no pastor, no one to tell us yes or no—just the Holy Ghost. We learned to follow His Divine leading and sometimes pushing.

Then the day came when we actually joined a Pentecostal church and spent the next five years there with leaders telling us to “stand up,” “clap,” “sing,” “dance,” and “shout”—we were ever so faithful to their commands. But then the time came when the Holy Ghost plainly told us to leave the organized “church” and follow Him. We disobeyed for a year and suffered the consequences of that wrong choice. Eventually, we followed Him into the prayer closet, with lots of fasting, prayer, sacrifice, and hard work.

The time came when we were introduced to “revolution”—it changed our whole lives. We no longer found our walk with the Lord to be boring, dry, or even regretful at times, as we did in “church.” God began to feed us some pretty good spiritual food—fresh, invigorating, and energizing. This has taken us around the world several times. No longer were we being fed “church sandwiches.”

We hear it all the time from church leaders and followers alike: “Church is so dry and stale!” A hymn or two, a prayer or two, another hymn, church business announcements, a hymn, a “church sandwich” (sermon), a prayer, a closing hymn, and finally, the benediction. No Spirit, just form.

I must admit, at least our Spirit-filled church was not really dry or spiritually dull like those of the non-Spirit-filled churches. But routine became monotonous anyway. Thank God for REVOLUTION!

No Anarchy

Revolution, Spirit Revolution, is not anarchy but a definite change in the way things operate. You see, Pentecostal loud music and singing, shouting, dancing, and clapping may not always be anointed of God. Some is, some is not. Let the Spirit lead and guide you. He will not let you “dry up” or “run wild,” but will purpose your lives to bear fruit and growth. Isn’t this what true Christianity is supposed to be?

Spiritual Benefits

The Bible tells us how, why, and which things to do to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ (2 Peter 3:18). The Word, spoken and written, will take you into spirituality and extract you from carnality. It will feed you with milk and meat. It will spur you into ACTION to REVOLUTION, not just church forms and rituals that leave so many dry, and some dead!

Complacent and Uninvolved

Ranks and ranks of these people fill churches every week. No vision, no passion, no action. They waste their time on church entertainments and know nothing about Spirit Combat—NOTHING! While Satan is preparing his end-time army, the Church is entertaining her children and their parents. Friends, it is time for a radical departure from that kind of mentality. It is time to lay aside, even DESTROY old church traditions that have become lifeless, even sinful.

Grow Up, You Leaders!

For God’s sake, GROW UP! Why do we need dumb and stupid things to keep people in church when the Word tells us to GO!? Some of the things I’ve seen being done in churches border on illicit sex, wild parties, drinking, drugging, (gambling is in!) and dozens of other “daring” things. This all spells DEATH to that church.

“Church kids, as one minister recounts, watch TV, play weird and violent video games, read love novels, go to not-so-good movies, attend all kinds of worldly sports games, etc., etc.” Precious young souls are taught to waste God’s time and their time on the things of the world. I raised my kids in the mission fields.

Christian! Christian! Christian!

Yes, just about everything is “Christian”: Christian Rock N Roll, Christian art, Christian drama, Christian business, Christian recreational centers, Christian sports, Christian tattooing and body piercing, Christian fornication, Christian drinking, Christian adultery, Christian homosexuals/lesbians, transgenders, bi-sexuals, transvestites, Christian gambling, Christian vice and corruption... and on and on and on. The Church has adopted just about everything of the world but has stamped “Christian” on it, bringing it all into the Church, and now it has all become “fossilized” into the Church itself. This is “Church”!

Decadent to the Core

Rebellion against God’s Holy Word, standards, commands, etc., spells “DECADENT.” Devilish and disrespectful are her (the Church’s) children who need not sound Bible doctrine but puppet shows, clowns, stage props for Rock concerts, drama presentations, and everything else of the world. Skits of every kind—ALL done right in the Church. I don’t find this kind of STUFF in the Bible. I do find casting out devils, healing the sick, preaching/teaching the Word under Holy Ghost fire and power, rebuking sin, winning the lost, baptizing, and training up men and women in soldiering concepts, equipping the “saints” for lifetime service (not for a two-week mission vacation), and much more.

Dare to Be Different!

Will you dare to be different? If so, this in itself, in this generation, will be revolutionary. Church leaders have become nothing more than “glorified errand boys and girls” who obey the commands of the congregation: when asked to jump, the leaders ask, “How high?” If not, the leaders get the boot in the butt—“Find yourself another church to pastor!”

Meat or Mini-sermonettes?

My dear church folks, you can’t exist on a mini-sermonette and a song. You’ve got to get FED. The Holy Ghost will do just this, but you must be available. But if you’re walking in the ways of the world (spiritual claptrap!), don’t expect the Spirit to chase you down. We’re to seek higher things, not crawl like maggots on a rotting carcass (i.e., the Church), hoping to be beautiful and fly as a butterfly. Don’t close the door to the radical move of the Spirit.