by Lu • 153 views
What did Jesus say to the potential and actual disciples he called? Go to church on Sunday? Come and listen to the preacher? Come and join the experience with the Evangelist coming to town? Come and join our arm waving praizzzzzzzzze meeting? No NEVER, did he say that.
What did he say to Peter when he was amazed at the fish he caught with Jesus’ help?
He said, “From henceforth thou shalt catch MEN!”
What was the last thing Jesus said before he left his church (body of believers)?
He said, “GO into all the world and preach the Gospel!”
And they always talk about “What would Jesus do?”
Well, what DID he do! He walked and traveled and hoofed the dusty roads to tell the people! He HIMSELF the SON of God, OUR VERY CREATOR, DID CHRISTIANITY! Every day he went at it, talked to the people, networked with others, taught his disciples to do what? Wave arms and praizzzze Him? No! He taught them to praise him with their works, with their deeds, their obedience! To do what he said. He said, “If you KNOW these things, HAPPY are ye if you do them!” “Here in is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit!”
Christians talk about how we graduated from animal sacrifices to giving our hearts instead, the circumcision of the heart! Well, perhaps you are not sacrificing the blood of bulls and rams anymore, you got that point at least, but perhaps you are still living in Old Testament style because you insist on going to the tabernacle and instead of sharing testimonies, you listen to THE PREACHER and THE EVANGELIST and THE PRIEST like all the Catholics do.
Or you are listening to that yearning Gospel singer, ever yearning with his yearning begging voice for closer intimacy with HIM, and you are forced to join the PRAIZZZE meeting and close your eyes, wave your arms, and prattle words of praise, etc. …. For an hour or more… and FEEEEEEELLLLLL so close to the Lord!
Now can you just imagine that ALL THESE PEOPLE GO OUT ON THE STREET AND LOVE THE NEXT PERSON WITH THE LOVE OF GOD?
Now don’t get me wrong; It is nice to feel close to the Lord, if you can. And I love praise songs, as long as they don’t yearn in lack of faith, but spread confidence that the Lord is nigh already and we are already sitting with him in Heavenly places! Like the next guys. They make me confident in Him, and I don’t feel like cringing away under the altar! 🙂
OR this one is great too. Now it is not because they are black OK? Jesus is the winner man! Positive! Confident!
Now if we want to really weep, lets weep for lost souls!
And it is great to praise the Lord continuously, all day long, even without your arms outstretched. Praise is an attitude of faith and appreciation of Him who carried our sins on the cross and paid for them with his blood and his death. That sure is praise worthy. But that is not what he mainly asked us to do!
I met a native Taiwanese lady yesterday, what we call a Yen Zhi Ming lady, a Christian aborigine. In answer to her question I told her that I serve the Lord just by being a humble paper boy passing out tracts and witnessing if people ask any questions. I said, how about you?
She said, “Oh yes, I pass out tracts too!”
I said, well, God bless you! Did you know that we are part of a segment of perhaps a mere ten percent of Christianity? IF that much!”
She said, “Yes I realise that.”
Then she said, “I think 80 % of British people are not Christians!”
I said oh yes! Christ has moved East! He works more in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia even…Well you get the point.
That Preacher Phenomenon
So this whole Preacher phenomena to me is a trip off, and a take away from our real calling, as He said, “Here in is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, SO shall ye be my disciples…” Now I am not saying this to knock people. I say this to inspire them to find the right way to follow in his literal footsteps! FOOT STEPS! Hoofing it, walking around, going somewhere to witness. I heard enough preachers! Sorry!
All these Christians are searching for the latest and rightest preacher! Miss Baker, Mr. Bill, Mr. Lazulli, Mr. Quest, Mr. Kingdom of God, Mr. Revelation, Mr. Endtime Prophet, Rev. Nephilim, Mr. Higher Praise than you, Mr. Intimate with Christ, Mrs. Praise Forever, etc.
Or they are searching for the mostest Christian musician, who praises the most, and “yearns” the best “heartfelt”, and bla bla bla..
Nobody asks the question, how many people did he personally reach this week, how many tracts did I give out, how many souls did we pray with to receive Jesus. No! We have to describe some greatness to some personality without even the obviousness of all such qualifications, or for all the wrong qualifications.
How do I know what the right qualifications are? Well listen to what Jesus asked us ALL to do!
“Peter do you love me?
“Yes Lord, you know I do.
“Well then Peter feed my sheep!
He had to repeat it three times to get it through his thick skull!
What set St. Paul apart in the beginning of Christianity, He was doing it more than the others. He said so himself. “2 Corinthians 11:23 “Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind talking like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.”
He did more for the Lord. I never heard of Paul leading praise meetings with an hour of Greek harp music. He taught and taught and taught, for hours, so much that people fell asleep and fell to their death from a top window! And did he teach funny doctrines? No! He taught basics to newcomers. Because that is what he wrote and wanted people to stick to. He was the one who said, “I’m afraid, lest by any means, as the Serpent (Satan) beguiled (deceived) Eve through his subtlety, that similarly your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ!” 2 Cor. 11-3.
Here is the first search page results in Startpage. Significant, enlightening, I’d say!
Man Worship
Another pitfall of popular Christinality (that’s what many Taiwanese call it!) is this damned man worship!
“Oooh! That preacher lady is so close to God, crystals and diamonds and jewels fall out of the sky when she preaches!”
Where is that in the Book of Acts? Where did Jesus tell us to wait for that?
He needs us daily to share HIM with others. That is the highest service, the highest calling, the highest activity, the highest doctrine, the highest fellowship with Him and with others!
WHEN does the Scripture say the HOLY SPIRIT comes and manifest itself most to us? And isn’t that the One (Holy Spirit) they try to get and feeeeeeeeeellllllll when they come together to have a praizzzzzzzzze meeting to wave arms? Is that when the Holy Spirit comes and manifest itself? Perhaps for some young inexperienced seeking Christians that got lost and strayed into such a meeting looking for God? And because nobody around him witnessed to him with simple salvation, God Himself had to manifest himself to personally witness to that soul! I can believe that! God is more concerned about souls than we are!
SO when does the Scripture says, we can expect the manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8
Of course this verse put the receiving of the Holy Ghost FIRST, because it hadn’t been given yet, but ever since after that, the Holy Ghost POWER would only really come and manifest and be felt, when YOU make the first step and GO OUT and start witnessing for Him to all countries and cities and neighbourhoods in the entire world. THEN He or She (Do I care what gender the H.S. is?) does manifest itself! How? You will start smiling at them, you will feel love for people you never met, you will tell them the words of God when they are hungry, otherwise if they are not yet, you will encourage them with words, so they will know HE loved them that day!
So do you want the Truth? Go out witnessing and the Truth will come to YOU, because it will be coming THROUGH you, as ye pour out to others, HE will pour into you!
Another very pertinent key verse on this very matter is this one:
“And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.” Acts 5:32
So we want to feel Jesus and His Power? We want to FEEL GOD? Then GO and obey Him, by feeding, by preaching (not in church to other Christians), by tracting, by talking to someone, by fishing men, by bearing fruit, by witnessing, by hoofing the streets like Jesus himself did, by “loving the ones you’re with!”
Now, isn’t that simplicity in Christ? It is so simple! It is liberating. And it is tremendously inspiring, and it will send you like nothing else. Of course, it will crucify your pride a little in the beginning, but once you’re inspired, you will be flying down the street in the Spirit, like you are living in the Book of Acts! Ha!
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isaiah 57:15
You may say, well Lu, it sounds as you are being a preacher. Well, I am not trying to be a preacher. I am trying to get ’em to stop preaching to the preachers, so the preachers can get out of church onto the streets to start preaching the Gospel! That’s why. 🙂
This is Spurgeon’s Take on it
“The love of Christ constraineth us.”
How much owest thou unto my Lord? Has he ever done anything for thee? Has he forgiven thy sins? Has he covered thee with a robe of righteousness? Has he set thy feet upon a rock? Has he established thy goings? Has he prepared heaven for thee? Has he prepared thee for heaven? Has he written thy name in his book of life? Has he given thee countless blessings? Has he laid up for thee a store of mercies, which eye hath not seen nor ear heard?
Then do something for Jesus worthy of his love. Give not a mere wordy offering to a dying Redeemer. How will you feel when your Master comes, if you have to confess that you did nothing for him, but kept your love shut up, like a stagnant pool, neither flowing forth to his poor or to his work. Out on such love as that! What do men think of a love which never shows itself in action?
Why, they say, “Open rebuke is better than secret love.”
Who will accept a love so weak that it does not actuate you to a single deed of self-denial, of generosity, of heroism, or zeal! Think how he has loved you, and given himself for you! Do you know the power of that love? Then let it be like a rushing mighty wind to your soul to sweep out the clouds of your worldliness, and clear away the mists of sin.
“For Christ’s sake” be this the tongue of fire that shall sit upon you: “for Christ’s sake” be this the divine rapture, the heavenly afflatus to bear you aloft from earth, the divine spirit that shall make you bold as lions and swift as eagles in your Lord’s service.
Love should give wings to the feet of service, and strength to the arms of labour. Fixed on God with a constancy that is not to be shaken, resolute to honour him with a determination that is not to be turned aside, and pressing on with an ardour never to be wearied, let us manifest the constraints of love to Jesus. May the divine loadstone draw us heavenward towards itself.
paradisepostblog.wordpress.com 