Trouble still brews...
Sometime in 2001, a colleague and I were invited to a lunch hour fellowship which we attended and in which we were thoroughly blessed. However, the rigours of work soon saw to it that I forgo that particular fellowship. Some months later, I saw an article which shook me to my roots and got me thinking. It was by that same guest minister they had at the lunch hour fellowship. I promptly made copies and shared amongst friends, family and colleagues as far as my limited resources would allow. While pondering on what to share in this issue, the Lord led me to look for that article and share it with you the reader. Please read, enjoy…and repent. Have a wonderful, Christ-centered life!
Many Churches are in Trouble!
Visit the average church on Sunday morning. Check out the equipment. Most likely a Korg M1 or some other sophisticated Yamaha keyboard. You'd probably hear a man preach with skill and declare a profound revelation of some scripture. Then there are the suits and ties on display, the matching resplendent uniforms of the choir and the beautifully created bulletins chronicling the supposedly mighty things God has been doing. Minister after minister perform their role in the well orchestrated service.
Then there's the inevitable “offering time, blessing time” chant which is many times an exercise to make more money for endless building programmes. Then the “grace” is said and the people troop out. This organized ritual is repeated the following Sunday. BUT WHERE IS THE TOUCH OF GOD? On every street is a church building, signboards advertising service hours, vigils and meetings litter the landscape. New ones spring up everyday all in a bid to attract more attendees. Multitudes pour into church on Sunday morning yet the moral climate of the nation is gloomier than ever before. Where is the touch of God? Where is His power?
Church growth is usually by transfer- Christians hopping from one church to the other. Deception and lies abound. Dulled minds seem to be the norm…many churchgoers seem to take off their brains (before going into church) and become gullible and bound by the chains of church.
Something definitely must be wrong. God must be saying something. Unless someone discovers how to touch God, we remain in serious trouble. Like Saul, who reigned without seeking the ark of the Lord, we're having Church without God. Posters advertise “Revival”, churches advertise “Breakthrough” seminars, preachers promise “signs and wonders” yet people leave these man-centered shops as they came. A REVIVAL NEED NOT BE ADVERTISED. Did John the Baptist advertise his revival? Genuine revival eludes the church. Many of God's people have become masqueraders staging a parade of pretense every Sunday morning. Many are deluded, holding on to the men of God and their meetings. Others sense the futility of programmes and drift back into the world, disillusioned. WHERE IS GOD IN ALL OF THESE?!
Unless someone is willing to pay the high price of revival, the church might as well close shop and go home. Today, across the front doors of many Churches hangs an invisible sign: ICHABOD (the glory of the Lord has departed). What we only see left behind are form structure, activity ritual, works, repeated sermons, special numbers and people who do not know what revival is all about. All they want is to receive a blessing: they describe services as “good”, sermons as “powerful”, Churches as “fun” and pastors as “anointed”.
Where is God in all of this?-ICHABOD!
The Church has abandoned the way of the Spirit in favour of the traditions of men. Indeed, Jesus stands knocking at the door of the Church. The greatest need in the body is not another sermon. We hear sermons all the time. We do not need to hear a new song of worship. Someone should save us from another 'special' number, away with those respective bulletins! ALTHOUGH THESE MAY EVENTUALLY BE NECESSARY, what we need most today is the touch of God. Unless somebody somewhere discovers how to reach God, we're in trouble.
Unless someone is willing to pay that high price of revival, we might as well give up on this “Church” thing. WE DESPERATELY NEED TO FALL ON OUR FACES AND WEEP AND CRY AND POUR OUR HEARTS OUT TO GOD IN REPENTANCE. The formula goes beyond our prayer vigils and fasting. It requires a honest seeking of the Lord with fear and trembling. It will have to be a humble cry in order for God to avert imminent judgment upon us for the desecration and iniquity in the temple. A dire situation requires a dire solution. Away with exhausted patterns, let us fall on our faces before God!
An article written by Pastor Tony Rapu
Culled from City People Magazine:
August 1, 2001.