Please read the following for Part 5 of The Vision: Even More Revelation..........
EVEN MORE REVELATION
Many ministers have become comfortable with handling the Holy things of God, with unclean hands...carrying out ministry, while carrying iniquity in their heart (1 Corinthians 9:27 & Ephesians 4: 1& 2). Many ministers are taking these same unclean hands and praying for folk, causing demons to be transferred. Too many of our ministers are serving God’s people with filthy hands. Most people wouldn’t put up with this in a natural sense. Filthy hands contaminate the food and produces disease causing bacteria and germs on food, which makes those that consume it sick. Here's a little illustration. A chef is preparing dinner. While they're cooking, they're picking their nose and scratching various body parts. Then they take a break to play with their pets and to use the bathroom. Then they return to cooking and they've not once washed his or her hands, but just continue to prepare dinner. Once the dinner was ready, instead of bringing it to you on a nice clean plate, they serve it to you on a nasty, grimy, slimy, disgusting garbage can lid. Now most people would not receive this food. The church must hold those that serve and prepare their spiritual food to the same level of accountability. The church must hold there ministers accountable. The church must demand it’s ministers to live HOLY! Too many ministers are proclaiming God’s word with spiritual filth (sin) in their lives and serving the people of God contaminated spiritual food, which is producing spiritual bacteria and germs that is causing many to be spiritually sick! That’s why there’s so many messed up folk in church, because there is too much polluted word being preached!
Instead of leading the sheep, many ministers are now sleeping with the sheep. Ministry is more and more being viewed as a profession, job or career, rather than a calling or a "God ordained" duty. A lot of ministers are in love with ministry, BUT NOT in love with God! They love doing the work of the Lord, but don't spend proper intimate one-on-one time with Him. Many ministers have over inundated themselves with ministry endeavors and engagements, that their personal relationship with God has been adversely affected. Due to an over extensive travel and ministry schedule, they have neglected or shortened the time they spend with God in personal prayer, seeking, fasting, studying, meditation, praise and worship, without even realizing it. As a result of being over extended, they began to abbreviate their devotion time with God, almost unknowingly. As a result, ministers begin studying the word of God just to preach on it, but not studying it to live on. They are "learning it" so they can preach to others, but not receiving in for themselves (there's a big difference between learning the word and receiving the word). Learning it puts the word in your head. Receiving it puts it in your spirit! Learning it gives you knowledge, but receiving it gives you revelation! Knowledge gives you theology, which is good, but revelation gives you Rhema, which changes lives! So they're well learned and but not anointed...they're exegetical (can break down the text), but not consecrated! They have the "expertise", but not the power!
In addition to this, in many cases their marriages tend to suffer as they neglect their spouses (for those that are married), without even realizing. Their children (for those that have children) are also adversely affected as well; as they aren't getting the attention they need either. Without even realizing it, many ministers spend more time speaking into other folk’s lives more than they speak into their family's lives. This is one of the major reasons why divorce and family dysfunction in the church has sky rocketed. Many of our ministers are spending too much time on the road, traveling to minister and are spending way too much time away from their spouses (and children), and for way too long. This gives too much room to the enemy to bring temptation (and other devices) to attack their marriages and rebellion (and other devices), to lead their children astray, in an effort to ultimately destroy their families. This is a trick of the enemy to use God's ministry to harm God's people. God never intended His ministry to be the cause of broken marriages and damaged families. The church must remember that the first ministry we are called to is our marriage (if you have a spouse) and our family (if you have children). The church must learn balance in ministry and in life, and not over stretch themselves with ministry projects and engagements, that they are left with no quality time for their marriage and family. Many are going forth in ministry endeavors, "in the name of the Lord", that God has never even signed off on. Some are even going forth in these ministry projects, in hopes to gain a key to the city, and/or to obtain a great name and notoriety in the community. The Lord says, before someone breaks out in a new ministry, they should ask themselves, "Is this for His glory, or for my own???"
Many pastors have unknowingly and without realizing it (in some cases), positioned themselves as "the face" and focal point of their church's ministry, rather than making Jesus the face and focal point. More and more churches have pictures up in and around the church of the pastor, or pastor and first lady, or pastor, first lady and their children, but NO pictures of Jesus! Who are we pointing the people to, Jesus or our-selves?! Any ministry that has been centered on a man (or woman), will not stand. Ministry MUST be centered on JESUS CHRIST (Ephesians 2:20)!
More and more of our pastors are leading their congregation based upon the latest "church fads", rather than the leading of Holy Spirit. Now-a-days, it seems more and more pastors want to have multiple churches in multiple locations. God did not call everyone to do this! More and more ministers are starting their own denominations and church fellowships. God did not call everyone to do this either! Everyone is not called to the apostolic office, but yet more and more people are calling themselves apostles (Revelation 2:2). By trying to follow the fad, many pastors are putting extra unnecessary financial strain and pressure on their members. With multiple churches, comes multiple rents/ mortgages...multiple utility bills...multiple property insurances...etc. This causes a need for more money, which causes a need for more offerings to be raised and more fund raising events to be had.
More and more churches are having more fundraising endeavors, than soul winning endeavors. There are more and more fundraisers going on, but yet more and more churches are going into foreclosure every day. This is part of the reason why money (or the love thereof), is ruining the church. More often than not, the money raised is misappropriated, misused and abused, and not alwyas used for the purpose it was raised for. Over time (in most cases) this kills the congregation’s zeal and passion for giving, making them apprehensive and hesitant about doing so, as they do not always see the fruit of their giving, as it relates to the church. When members lose their jobs, get laid off and/or fall on hard times, often times they can't receive any financial assistance from the church, yet the church steadily receives their tithe checks/ money.
More pastors are starting to preach/ teach on Malachi 3:10, as an effort to encourage their members to pay more tithes and give more offerings. However the first part of that scripture ("bring all the tithes in the storehouse") is being highlighted upon, but not the second part("that it might be meat in my house"). More and more members of churches are saying, "I'm paying my tithes, BUT WHERE IS THE MEAT?!?!?!"...Who are we helping?...And why is there no meat in the house, so we can help somebody? Often times the only people benefiting is the pastor and those directly connected to him. IF the Church is doing well enough financially to buy the pastor a brand new Benz, surely they can buy one of the single mothers in the membership, currently with no car, a brand new minivan for her and her kids, at least. If the church is doing well enough to buy the pastor a million dollar home, surely it can buy at least $100,000 home for a family in the membership, currently living in the projects. If the church is doing well enough to send the pastor and His family on a lavish vacation, surely they can send one of the married couples in the membership on a weekend get-a-way, all expenses paid (I commend those pastors and churches that already do this type of outreach). For this cause more and more people in the church are using their would-be tithe money to pay bills as many no longer trust the church (I do not condone this by any means. I’m just sharing what God shared with me).
The Church has even polluted praise. The modern church has turned praise into a method of manipulation to try to hoodwink God into giving us whatever we want. The church has prostituted its praise to get God to give them stuff. If I praise Him, He will give me a financial blessing...If I praise Him, He will give me the promotion...If I praise Him, He will give me a new home...If praise Him, He will send me a spouse...If I praise Him he will bring my child out of prison...If I praise Him, He will heal my body...etc. In much the same fashion as the Indians would do, when they danced before their rain gods to entice them to send rain, so too has the church used its dances of praise to entice God to bless them, because after all, “when praises go up, blessings come down.” This is true, praising God will cause blessings to come down, but the church has perverted and abused it's praises to God. God will in deed bless us when we send up praises unto Him. However, we have made getting things from God, the primary purpose for giving Him praise. Getting stuff from God isn't the primary purpose for praise. We are supposed to praise God, because that's what he credited us to do – GIVE HIM GLORY (Revelation 4:11). We were created to glorify God. This is the primary purpose of praise. If he never gives us another blessing, He's blessed us so much over the course of our lives, that we could praise Him none stop for 24 hours a day (straight), 7 days a week (straight), 365 days a year (straight), 10 years a decade (straight), 10 decades a century (straight) AND THAT STILL WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH!! If he chooses to never bless us again, we still have a debt of praise that we owe unto Him for the innumberable amount of blessings He has already bestowed upon us - and we must pay up....WE OWE GOD OUR PRAISE (Psalms 29: 2)!! God is looking for some folk that will worship and praise Him for who He is to them, and not for what He can do for them or what they can get from Him (John 4: 23)!
TO BE CONTINUED..........
Please revisit WWW.WEEKLYRHEMA.BLOGSPOT.COM next week (Sunday) for the Part 6 of this revelatory word from the Lord: The Conclusion & Final Plee/ Warning. Until then, may your hearts be filled with the unspeakable joy of the Lord!!!
"ADVANCING THE KINGDOM, ONE SOUL AT A TIME"
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