The Church That Needs Nothing

     The time has come to label spirits by name and to cease the diplomatic posturing that only perpetuates problems instead of forming resolutions. For too long conditions around the church are allowed to linger because there is a gross lack of judgment in the camp. Understanding that judgment is necessary to the success of Zion is key because it is the ability to exercise judgment that will determine what is right or wrong. Assuredly, where proper judgment is not exercised there is an allowance, toleration, and a hiding place for dark, devilish, and deceptive spirits. Yet there is a tendency in human nature to continually avoid the recognition of what becomes increasingly obvious. Souls grow so accustomed to the name Church of God and the general expectations attached to it that when evil spirits begin to operate within the ranks there is a great hesitancy to admit their presence, sufficiently expose them, and properly overcome them. As a result, many for the sake of convenience will mislabel, ignore, or tolerate the existence of false spirits holding influence in the congregation of the righteous. In the end, the problems not only remain, but they grow worse and result in a body of people who still function in the business of religion but cannot be the Church of God purchased by the blood of Christ. The time for minced words, diplomacy, and politics is over, and each soul must come to grips with defining their associations by the Word of God. 

     One of the hardest actions to perform for any person or collective body is to take an honest view in the mirror. In the third chapter of Revelation the church in Laodicea professed to be rich and increased with goods and void of any needs. However, God viewed their congregation in a quite different light. He rendered the congregation in Laodicea as wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. While such labeling is significantly disturbing, the fact that this church did not even know that this was their condition is also notably alarming (Revelation 3:17). Essentially, the church in Laodicea felt strongly that they were doing well, but God felt that the church in Laodicea was falling woefully short of finding acceptance with God. There will be no success in convincing people of their great needs when they do not see any among them. We are living in the age of Laodicea. That spirit has taken hold of every fellowship across this country, and there will be no success in convincing them of their great needs. Not every fellowship consists of the same needs, but here are some of the prevalent ones among them today: 

The Great Needs

  1. Doctrine

There are many fellowships who have left off a strong emphasis on doctrine. In these fellowships you will hear statements such as: “You can have all the doctrines right, but if you have a bad spirit you are off,” or “You can be doctrinally right, but if you do not treat people right you are not saved,” or “The doctrine is not as important because by showing the love of God we will win the world.” It is not that there is necessarily anything untrue in these statements, but there is an underlying motivation for saying them. Overall, it is because along some lines these fellowships have not met the standard of doctrine set by Jesus Christ and the apostles; and teaching them with emphasis would render them condemned. As a result, they must shift the emphasis of their message and diminish the importance of doctrine in order to justify their actions. Among these groups, you will find much ignorance and carnality because of a lack of strong meat. The fellowships without a strong emphasis on the doctrine will crumble and be destroyed for their lack of knowledge. At the top, there is a heavily controlling ministry who keeps the people under their sway because they know no different. 

  1. Judgment

There is a tendency to speak boldly in the pulpit and cowardly act outside of it. Other times there is cowardice in the pulpit and outside of it. Many fellowships are tainted with one of these two problems.

 

  1. I have seen many ministers proclaim emphatically strong judgments from the pulpit. Yet in every instance where they had the opportunity to enforce the message they proclaimed they spared. Ministers will cry loudly about modesty, entertainment, amusements, attitudes, and so on, but if someone in the congregation engages in activities that fall short of the standard they can still function. 

  2. The second problem can occur as either a simple weakness in their ministry or from growing weary of what transpired in the first scenario. Some fellowships promote weak ministers who will preach in a general fashion and leave off the judgments of God. On the other hand, some fellowships realized their people were never going to measure to the standards proclaimed from the pulpits, and those behind the pulpits were never going to enforce the standards, so they ceased preaching them altogether - leaving them devoid of the judgments of God.

 Many groups find a sort of comfort in claiming they preach the judgments of God because they teach against sin and will call it out as wrong. They are really proud of how hard they can preach against sin to an audience mainly composed of people who claim to live without it. Yet when it comes to putting judgment on the wrong sitting right in their pews, the message falls conveniently silent. 

In other instances, there is a misplaced judgment or the judgment is not meted out equally. This is often the case when there are family members involved or with ones that have formed close relationships. There are times when ministers will lower the hammer on someone who did not meet the standards, but they will withhold the hammer on their family or friends. Subsequently,  they will cover it by saying that different circumstances require different measures of judgment - except that the ones to whom they are close seem to suspiciously require less enforcement of standards than others.   

Many will avoid teaching judgment in the name of teaching love. What is the difference? Preaching the judgments of God is to preach the love of God. Judgment is not harsh or legalistic, but it is meant to determine where a soul stands in relation to God. Laying down the clear lines of demarcation between right and wrong will ensure that a soul is prepared for the final day of judgment. Any fellowship that is not emphatically declaring and enforcing the judgments of God is damning souls to a lost eternity.

  1. Holy Ghost Leadership

The political workings of flesh have rendered many fellowships completely destitute of the Holy Ghost. Fellowships will promote those who bear their own mark, and it matters little whether or not there is an anointing present. Often times, these groups will place people in positions who will toe the line and avoid causing too much of a stir. When a congregation or a fellowship becomes political, it becomes more about maintaining power and control than it does about being the Church of God. 

Religio-political machines are sometimes difficult to identify because of those operating it. Politicians are not usually portrayed as being the most truthful of individuals. Rather, they are often cast as deceitful, misleading, or liars. Unfortunately, politicians do not only exist in the secular world, but they are ever-present among Church of God circles. 

Characteristics of the Church of God Politicians

  • These politicians, posing as ministers, will tell one party what they believe they want to hear and tell another party something a little different because they believe it is what they want to hear. 

  • Politicians centralize control. Decisions that would normally be made freely by a collective consensus will begin to rest solely in the hands of a few individuals. 

  • Insecure individuals (Church of God politicians) will begin to assume complete authority and push to the fringes anyone who threatens it. As a result, they will use Church-of-God-lingo to describe those on the fringes as bitter or in possession of a bad spirit. 

  • Politicians find it difficult to give freedom or liberty to anyone who might gain more influence than themselves. 

  • Politicians will engage in shady dealings and there will be a gross lack of transparency. Furthermore,  honest questions about surrounding events, people, and congregations are left continually unanswered. 

    • People will not get healed, and instead of diligently inquiring as to the “why,” they move on by sweeping it under the rug. 

    • Biblical modes of conduct will begin to be substituted with ministerial authority. For example, instead of ordaining elders, there will be titles like “Minister in Charge.”

    • Instead of ordaining ministers who are fit for the work of the gospel, the powers that be will begin using general terms like “laborers” or “gospel workers,” creating a hierarchy that works to preserve authority.

    • Ministers/politicians who were never called or anointed will have a platform and hold influence - and the politicians will do nothing to prevent it. They can even stand in pulpits and claim healings that did not happen.

    • Politicians operate under a cloud of secrecy and dislike accountability. The moment one begins to ask difficult questions or draws conclusions unfavorable to their system, they will begin to shape a narrative that is aimed to crush that one’s influence and remove the trouble. 

    • Politicians will conveniently lack evidence when they are covering for their own but will demand very little when they want to rid themselves of those they perceive as disloyal.

    • Politicians will use a public platform to strike back at those with whom they disagree without holding any type of conversation to understand concerns or gain an awareness of situations. 

    • Politicians will say the right things behind the pulpit, but their follow-through will never develop. If an attempt at a follow-through does develop, then it is only for political expediency. 

Summarily, politicians produce systems, but they will never produce the Church of God. There are far too many who are contending for a system of men that only intends to preserve the status quo. Hence, the reason they do not see their need; because they convince themselves all that is needed is found within the confines of the system. God is desiring to destroy the systems of men and bring all his sheep out of their Babylonian bondage. 

  1. Divine Healing

In every fellowship, there is a great lack of solid manifestations of divine healing. There is not one that can claim the manifestations of the morning time brethren or the sixth seal on a consistent basis. All of the fellowships are able to claim healings from decades ago - therefore, none are really set apart from the other on that basis. 

Possible Reasons for A Lack of Divine Healing

  • A lack of inspiration among the fellowship. Usually, this is because there is a lack of inspiration in the message that is not producing an inspiration of faith in the people. 

  • A lack of burden. This happens when there are physical conditions among the members of the fellowship, and the saints do not seek the Lord with a real burden. God will not heal where there is no genuine burden for him to do so.

  • Lack of Power.

Jesus also told the disciples that some answers will not come without prayer and fasting. Church of God fellowships lack the power to produce miracles or healing.

  • Achan in the Camp

God is not healing because there is sin in the camp, and he will not bless over it. At some point (and this is extremely hard for fellowships to do) an inward look is needed, and a thorough examination is needed to determine if there is a hindrance to God answering prayer. Even recently, I heard a minister poke some fun at those who claim there could be an Achan in the camp - well maybe there should be less time spent on poking fun and more time examining. 

  1. Vision

Among the Church of God fellowships, there is a real lack of vision. Instead of acknowledging the great needs and looking to God to actually meet them, there is a justifying of conditions or a claim that conditions are just not that bad. Also, there is a great stagnation with little growth or a viable path forward. In the name of “protocol,” fellowships will stunt growth without developing their young people to carry on the Church of God banner. Doubtless, they will speak of great things for the future, but they actually have nothing to offer but the rickety scaffolds of their faulty religious system. Finally, they have a skewed vision of the Church of God. Too many see it as just a conservative organization or the one group that teaches sinlessness, but there are not enough who realize that there is only one Church that must answer the call of this time and produce the results of Jesus Christ and the apostles. 

  1. Honesty

There are times when in the hopes of believing the best about some ministers and people, I concluded that they must simply be quite ignorant or clueless. However, I am becoming less inclined to think that there is a lack of knowledge. Rather, I believe some are just being dishonest. When ministers claim that standards are being held tighter than ever before, that this time is just as glorious as days gone by, and that they are the remnant - implying they are the same as Paul, Peter, and John, they are at some point either not being honest, or they are choosing to not take an honest look at the condition among their fellowship. It is time to repent of associations with fellowships who perhaps had the presence of God in the past and are now void of the Holy Ghost power. The only remedy is to flee to the heights of Mount Zion. 

     Ultimately, the problem with the False Church of God is that it seeks to preserve the goats while it scatters the sheep. God is only looking to preserve his wheat and to burn the chaff with the fire of the Holy Ghost. First, the shepherds in Church of God circles today do not care about the sheep, but they will continue to drive them away. These shepherds are not true ones but false ones and are more correctly labeled hirelings. Second, souls must cease their ridiculous efforts to try reforming these dead and apostate fellowships. It is easy to cry out that Babylon will never be reformed, but when you begin to look around at your fellowship and see the striking resemblances, it seems easier to call it something else. Many decry those who remain in apostate conditions until they swallow apostasy themselves. This is the great deception of the day, and far too many souls are already entrenched in the jaws of it. If you ever choose to mislabel what you know to be true by the Word of God, then you are swallowing an everlasting deception. Sadly, too many took a hard swallow at the first, but today they are gulping up deception by the mouthful and trying to shout in it. Precious souls will awaken in hell one day having sat in a church pew most of their lives and thought they were Church of God. The times are too serious for good words and fair speeches, but holy men of God must speak the word of God with great plainness of speech and act with great boldness. 

     We are in need of a great shaking from coast to coast in this country and throughout the world. The fellowships of the Church of God must burn, and God’s sheep must flee the ruin taking not a Babel stone. Unfortunately, so many will lament the conditions that persist across the land today, but when the time comes to take a definite stand against all Babylon (including the False Church of God), they will choose to embrace the harlot in the name of comfort, security, and familiarity. Consequently, it will take great faith to stand with the true Church of God, and it will likely mean the suffering of lost reputation and popularity, separation of families and friends, and the entire forsaking of selfish interests and worldly pursuits. As the time of Christ’s return draws closer, God is searching out Jerusalem for those who bear the mark of a burden to be Church of God inside and out. 

     In conclusion, it is a grave mistake to continue calling a fellowship the Church of God, which bears not the evidence of being so, and it is even more dangerous to remain a part of one. It is hypocritical to criticize other fellowships for not holding to standards and lacking power, anointing, and inspiration when your fellowship cannot offer the full Church of God. Also, some fellowships claim they are contending for the Church of God in the book of Acts, which would be acceptable if it were true, but in reality, they are contending for the preservation of their fellowship and will not address the deep problems persisting among them. Lastly, it is time to turn up the heat on Babylon and expose her as she tries to hide under the name Church of God. May God turn the hail and fire mingled with the blood on the systems of men that are holding precious souls from enjoying the freedom that is found in the true bride of Christ. God’s church will ride off into eternity gloriously and triumphantly, but will you be among the victorious band? 

 

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