I Think a Refresher Course is in Order
May 29th, 2008
Mr Webb,
I think it would behoove you to find out more about someone before you attempt to slam them in their own home. So lets start with just who I am and what my calling is.
To put it simply I am one of the redeemed. My life was bought with the shed blood of Yeshua and as such is not mine anymore. My life is to do as He wills ,and as such, Jehovah has called me to be one of many prophets called forth for this time. We are called to exhort our fellow brethren to a more righteous life in Him. To return to the love that we have forgotten in favor of social networking and a country club atmosphere. To realize that the great commission says to GO out into our communities showing His love to the world, not huddled inside our church buildings hoping that the lost and dying will bother to grace us with their presence so that we can show them our westernized, feminized, powerless god. I am called to point people back to our Redeemer, Yeshua the Messiah, The only begotten Son of of the Most High. To point them to His love nothing less nothing more. I am simply a guidepost He is the message.
This is not a calling I am comfortable with for it is not in my nature. I am an extreme introvert with some possible aspergers symptoms. I am not some kind of megalomaniac such as the self proclaimed “prophets” you mentioned, but I do take my calling VERY seriously. I have felt the weight of His presence and heard His voice. It is an experience I will never forget and one I wish others could understand. I use this blog in some regards as a sounding board to lay out my thoughts and in some ways just maybe some soul will take them and run with them. The very fact that I have been given this charge is humbling because I understand the gravity of my calling.
Lets address some of your comment.
First lets get something straight. I do believe you took something I said out of context.
This is what you quoted me as saying.
“Our churches have lost sight of this simple principal. We have become believers looking for the quick fix to our own little problem. Looking to shake the great piggy bank in the sky and get our “due”. After all we are children of the Lord.”
Here is the quote in context.
“So where does that leave us? What if you believe that the decline of our nation is ultimately part of His plan? I think the answer is there in the scriptures. Be faithful to what Jehovah has called you to do. I know that it sounds simplistic, but often truth is simple. If we are faithful then we can expect that great things will happen. Our churches have lost sight of this simple principal. We have become believers looking for the quick fix to our own little problem. Looking to shake the great piggy bank in the sky and get our “due”. After all we are children of the Lord. “
What was written was done quickly in a comment on another blog as such my grammar was not the best. After I said “Our churches have lost sight of this simple principal.” I had moved onto a new thought ending in some sarcasm. Please reread it in that light and you will see that I was deriding the tendency toward materialism that has crept into our local church bodies.
On the subject of the “church”, can you explain what you mean by the church? What defines what a church is? Your comments about the “universal church” are quite perplexing. If I was called for a time such as this what is the point of bringing up the past or the future. When Jehovah called His prophets in the past they were for that time. While some of what those prophets said were canonized and told prophecies, they were also called to exhort those in their time to be faithful. That is my calling. What about my calling could possibly impact the past and my impact upon the future will only be what He wills.
“Then, does this mean that what we call churches today are sanctioned by God. If you believe the scriptures, specifically the Book of Acts of the Apostles, this is our only choice. Anyone that gives the impression that they are called by God to slam His Church and to tear it down anyway they can have enthroned and worship themselves. Christ told His disciples that they would be known by their love for Him and for each other. Criticism from the inside can be good, even wonderful, and can redirect it back to its roots and thus back to its Master. Criticism from the outside is especially dangerous to the one or ones doing the criticizing.
You must be humbled to a place of follow ship before you can be trusted with a place of leadership. Get yourself involved in a Bible Believing Church, and get involved in its theology, doctrine and history. Then and only then will you become a viable member of the Church.”
Oh my, how very astute of you. I read this and can not help but think of the number of outsiders from the religious orders of the day are in the Word. You do realize that the Pharisees and Sadducees were the accepted leaders of the “church” in the time of Yeshua and John. Each of them challenged the status quo. Please do not preach to me about the “dangers” of challenging our preconceived notions of what the church is. The scriptures teach that the church is Yeshua’s bride which consists of those whom have accepted His divine gift and made Him their Lord. There is no one way in which it is prescribed that believers are to meet and fellowship be it a mega church or a humble home congregation. What is important is that we learn and grow in Him. Something I have been doing for over 25 years regardless of my current church affiliation. I have been in the “humbling fellowship” as you call it for 23 of those years. Ten of them in a very controlling abusive setting. I learned quickly that if I wanted to continue in a ministry position I had to toe the line, not make waves, and most importantly not challenge the elders in the church. When I did I quickly found myself on the outside. Your comment on becoming a viable member of the church smacks of the same kind of mentality. I spent the last 3 years in the “wilderness” as Heidi said. I have been learning just what it means to be a prophet. It does not mean that I have not had fellowship with other believers, just that I am not currently a member of a specific “church body”. If you want to make that out to be some kind of apostasy, I challenge you to truly study the Word and open your eyes to see that our western idea of what the body is in fact a man made convention.