Let’s pretend for must a moment that I’m not some kind of madman or gibbering idiot.
I will admit I’m passing through some inner turmoil. The flesh is never ready to serve and mind recoils at things it has never seen and cannot find a way to accommodate. And as you might expect, that old demon of depression is rattling the cage a great deal for me right now. Yeah, there’s a lot of internal struggle these days for me.
But if any part of what I see coming soon reflects reality, this turmoil is probably just a taste of what others will feel without the advantages I have. Try to imagine for a moment that I see this vision of folks just suddenly suffering major confusion and all kinds of inner turmoil — thousands of folks, maybe millions — because so very much of what they have invested their lives into evaporates before their eyes. What happens when the veil is ripped away and you are confronted with the massive scale of deception all at once?
I’ve been praying to understand why I see this vision. How would we get into that place? I’ve already warned that I suspect Zionists (or whatever you want to call them) are not far from throwing pro-Zionist Christians under the bus for the sake of some political advantage they think they see. But let’s imagine that some portion of the political-religious Christian leadership does something similar.
Stop and consider what I’ve been saying all along. Western Christianity is bad religion. It’s also incestuous with bad politics (there are no good politics in the West in the first place) here in the US. A significant portion of what passes for Christian leadership is almost entirely political in nature but waving a Bible to sanctify their political agenda. While in a very real sense it’s all balderdash with a false dichotomy between the two imaginary opposing political camps, the backlash is very real against the left right now. Bad as the right may be, it’s the only visible alternative. As you would surely expect, the right-wing players are drooling at the the opportunity. It’s their turn.
Do you suppose the combined religious and political right could come up with a decision that would alienate a significant portion of their membership? Or do you suppose something they say or do could represent some kind of very painful betrayal of trust? Or maybe they simply get caught doing something they’ve been doing all along in secret? Not just one or two figureheads, but a whole batch of them.
Do you suppose that this elitist bunch could come up with something so bad it would alienate a bunch of their captive constituency? And do you suppose I’m not a raving lunatic for somehow imagining that this is what’s coming soon to a church near you?
It’s okay if you laugh. I don’t take myself that seriously. Go ahead and comment; I dare you.
Because I have no strings attached to me, I have one Master. Because I am attached to Him, I have no fear. Because I have no fear, what they do, matters not. But, I will be there, I pray, to help in whatever way He says. Does that make me a nut? Not in my book.
Nuts or not, upon further consideration, my best guess the key issue will be money. You may recall the IRS has been harassing Tea Party folks and almost shut down their operations. But the political energy isn’t done yet. I’m guessing it’s likely the really big religious organizations will become involved in a scandal involving moving money out of view from the IRS, but won’t get away with it. The IRS will have an excuse to crack down on right-wing churches, but there are other consequences likely.
We are living in the “Mammonic Age”, so it’s most assuredly about money. The IRS would have very few, if any, tenicles around the throat of the church if the tax-exempt status was self-eliminated and sought to be an organism instead of an organization. The removal of the two foundational pillars of tax-exemption and tithing would almost certainly raze the current institutional system and perhaps initiate the long expected mass exodus God yearns to see occur. The removal of these two pillars along with the destruction of the unbiblical pastoral construct, and the resurgence of persecution, will impact the church as an organized institution and render it totally unrecognizable compared to the living Biblical presentation.
The government of man only welds the power that the church grants with adulterated allegiance to principles and laws in the kingdom of fallen man. The Kingdom of God yields no authority to the kingdom of man and mammon is no exception.
I see the dust of a collapsing institution; God is about to dance.
Thanks, enoch1970. Different tone but the same message.
Ed, this is the first toe I have dipped into the waters of this blog and I apologize. After decades of silence perhaps my initial testing of the waters was premature. My self-confidence on any level of communication barely reaches the level of notice. My intent was not redundancy, but clarity. What tone did you perceive? I’m seeking a better understanding of my own motives and convictions, your critique is most welcome even if it stings.
I hope you finally found someone to take your money for the alternator.
Warmest regards,
Bill
Sent from my iPad
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Relax, Bill; I was pleased by your comment. I see it as amplifying what I said, not redundant. Your tone was prophetic, whereas I tried to throw in more folksy humor. So you succeeded in adding clarity and I would welcome further comments on anything I write. It’s a huge compliment for me that anyone reads it at all, and a genuine blessing that you would comment. Your instincts have been good so far, so I would encourage you to trust them in posting future comments. And by all means, never fear having a different take on things. That merely enriches what I offer.
I appreciate your comments as well, Bill.
Your encouragement is deeply appreciated. The word relax is certainly contextually appropriate at this stage of my earthly pilgrimage. The anxiety you so rightly perceive is just one of the co-morbid outcomes of a VA misdiagnosis and resulting treatment of enormous daily doses of benzodiazepines for more than a decade. I detoxed a little over a year ago with subsequent long-lasting rebound effect. My current anxiety levels are significantly lower than a year ago; a pattern of decline is evident and I know that our Father is the faithful one..this too will pass. My decade long “fog” was part of a virtual wilderness that I have experienced over the last forty years (almost to the day actually). A man can have no regrets about being led by the Spirit of God into a wilderness in spite of what mechanisms God decides to utilize in the formation of the man, as well as his mission. Obedience is such a necessity that it is synonymous with believe. I hold no animosity towards the VA, nor any other person or entity; God refuses to allow me the luxury of lamenting and seeking forgiveness for a period of time that He ordained and considers a success. Most of the wilderness was the outcome of listening to and obeying Him. The last decade is almost a blur commencing with a vision, directional change, a purer heart and a renewed yearning for God’s secret places. He is revealing them once again to the caresses of my heart.
A secondary issue regarding my anxiety is my natural propensity in exhibiting an extraordinary and frequent defensiveness. My character is in the renewal process.
Then the gifting must be taken into consideration. I exhibit many of the characteristics of a man with a prophetic voice. My life has been filled with Biblical experiences, but more importantly God’s Voice; my most treasured possession. Sometime in the future I will attempt to communicate those realities in specificity. I have yet to say either publicly or privately that I am a prophet. I’ll let the outcome of my words and other people determine the veracity of my prophetic calling.
This open admission is virgin territory.
“Lazarus! Come forth!” Brother, we have much in common. Are you aware that few of the Old Testament prophets were regular guys? It’s a principle of revelation that God weaves in a measure of plausible deniability. While plenty of nuts claim to be prophets, plenty of real prophets were just a little off. I celebrate your testimony and call you dear brother and friend. The time to make noise is when you can’t be silent. I pray it burns like fire in your burns.
I have turned many pages in your life through your writing. There is more commonality in our lives than you are aware of; I know you in far more detail than you know me…a distinct advantage at this juncture.
Yes, I am acutely aware of the Old Testament prophets; all their oddities and apparent peccadilloes tend to gravitate to certain areas on the human spectrum. God provides the revelation and who are we to say what types of vessels He selects. I am convinced that most prophets don’t want to be prophets. Those that are called would rather exhibit a more gregarious personality and enjoy the acceptance of their peers rather than the rejection which typifies their calling. Due to the nature of the prophets message, along with the necessity of significant isolation, most of humanity would not qualify for recruitment for an assortment of reasons on the psychological and social scales of normalcy. It appears God has an obvious obsession of utilizing certain personality types for prophets; infused with significant experiences of rejection, the burden of truth, boldness and a dash of depression just to maintain the plausible label of eccentricity and delusion. The man is the mission.
The embers of my heart radiate intensely for God’s people, the called-out Body of Christ. I have little interest in pagans and what they do outside of how the Church has been infected through her adulterous leg spreading in the kingdom of men. God is about to address that adultery and the resulting impact will affect the kingdom of men in a much more significantly Biblical representation. When God judges the Church the pagans will see the Gospel. When the Church repents, the pagans will repent.
The proximity of His heart ignites mine and He has set it ablaze; extinguishing it is not an option.
Well said, Brother. My experience with pagans is rather extensive. Many have told me they might have taken a different path had the church not been so worldly. I sincerely hope we can provide them a better model. Meanwhile, I suggest it’s time for you to start using that blog of yours.
Blog? I sincerely doubt the efficacy of any blog I would call mine; training wheels are just fine for now.
Personally, I have worked along side many pagans as well as Christians and “Christians”. Having spent three years as an international aid worker in Afghanistan I have acquaintances and friends who are Muslim. I never quite amalgamated well with the Christians nor the “Christians”. Seems I had an intense aversion to avoiding truth. However, I never really had a problem with the pagans. I generally accepted them for what they were…pagans. One of my closest friends and confidants in Afghanistan was a dedicated Pakistani Muslim. His morality and wisdom would put most Christians to shame.