Pandemic Chronicles #6 - Clean House
Pray for the Church. The Lord is Cleaning House - Pastor Del Augusta, Facebook
I saw this post on Facebook and nodded in firm agreement.
This time of Sheltering in Place was indeed preparation for the Great Awakening Harvest and Revival and it was also a time for God to clean house beginning with the church.
Last week I saw a report on the local news about how churches in our area aren't able to pay their bills due to lack of offering during the pandemic but the virus has exposed how many churches were barely making it before the Pandemic Shut everything down.
According to an article in the Washington Post
This appears to be a nationwide problem with many smaller churches facing the possibility of closing permanently.
About a third of all congregations have no savings, according to the 2018-2019 National Congregations Study. (Link to Full Article at the end of this post)
This is very sad because there are many older adults who don't use technology and their church families are their main source of social interaction and encouragement.
However this virus sped up the inevitable for many of these churches. A lot of these churches were merely surviving and didn't have more than a few years left in them anyway.
It may be for the best that they don't reopen and members go someplace that is Spirit Filled and Spirit Led instead of steeped in the tradition of Men and religious rules.
Like the Fig Tree that Jesus cursed they have not been fruitful and they will eventually be barren.
This isn't every smaller church and it's certainly not every church that will have to close down after the pandemic but I do believe God is calling the church to a deeper level of unity and that means stop having 3 churches on one block (Yes I have seen this) and instead merging more groups together and working together.
Cleaning House: Exposing Sin and False Teachers Removed
There's something else that's happening in addition to churches closing down due to lack of finances: Sin is being exposed and False Teachers are being removed.
Don't be surprised if during this Pandemic we see popular ministries go down in flames.
Ministries that built their followings on social media, imagery, idolatry of self, and preying on the vulnerable and gullible will be exposed and their leaders will be shown for who they really were all along: False Teachers who built platforms to make money off of the flock.
Ministries that built their followings on social media, imagery, idolatry of self, and preying on the vulnerable and gullible will be exposed and their leaders will be shown for who they really were all along: False Teachers who built platforms to make money off of the flock.
God always warns privately before he exposes publicly and destruction soon follows if those warnings are ignored.
By studying the Old Testament I have learned that God will send prophets and messengers time and time again to get folks to repent.
He doesn't delight in seeing people brought down but if they don't heed his warnings and repent, then it won't be long before you meet his judgment and wrath.
He doesn't delight in seeing people brought down but if they don't heed his warnings and repent, then it won't be long before you meet his judgment and wrath.
I know that people don't like to hear about the wrath of God but I always think of this scripture in Hebrews and shiver
Hebrews 10:29-31
This is in the New Testament so God hasn't turned into a docile being who giggles at sin and looks the other way.Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. 30 For we know the one who said,He also said,“The Lord will judge his own people.”[b]31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Let's not make it about being right
I have had to check my attitude as truth has come out about ministries that I had discerned as being fraudulent.
At first I thought, "YES! I knew it! I was right all along!"
That changed as I began to read about what was said to have taken place, I found myself feeling sick to my stomach for the victims and I even felt compassion for the people who were accused of wrongdoing.
That changed as I began to read about what was said to have taken place, I found myself feeling sick to my stomach for the victims and I even felt compassion for the people who were accused of wrongdoing.
I prayed for the perpetrators to repent, surrender to the Lord, and begin the work of healing and Restoration because it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Plus these people had to be in a bad place to hurt so many people. Make no mistake about it, I'm not advocating wrongdoers be absolved from consequences but I do have compassion for people who allowed the enemy to use them to carry out his plans.
I am proud of those who speak out on behalf of those that have been violated and abused by public figures. To lay out the truth isn't gossip in this context.
When people have a major platform and have made themselves idols to their followers, victims who come forward are often shamed into silence by their abusers or the worshipers of these abusers. I have seen it happen on social media and also in my personal life.
It's important for victims to know that they did the right thing in coming forward because spiritual abuse occurs due to unequal power dynamics and often lorded over victims' heads.
Victims may hear phrases such as:
Obey them that have rule over you
Touch not thine anointed
I can ruin you
You know how the flesh does
See I knew _____ was trash and fake. What else did he do?
Even when people have alluded to things I've sensed, I told them I didn't want to know.
I would rather not know because it's not my business and honestly it would be more about being right than being righteous. I would only want to know if God wanted to use me to pray for them and I've prayed for people to repent and that God would have mercy on them...even the people I don't care for.
In this season we have to really be careful not to gloat about being right because so many people will be hurt when this stuff gets exposed whether it's in the big public ministries or the people we have been walking side by side with and thought were our friends.
The enemy wants people to get upset, fall away, and leave the faith.
Spending more time crowing about being right rather than ministering to wounded souls will accomplish that goal for him.
I pray as we see truth exposed and false teachers revealed that we would spend our time ministering to those that are hurt and disillusioned with truth, love, and grace instead of pride and gossip.
Plus these people had to be in a bad place to hurt so many people. Make no mistake about it, I'm not advocating wrongdoers be absolved from consequences but I do have compassion for people who allowed the enemy to use them to carry out his plans.
I am proud of those who speak out on behalf of those that have been violated and abused by public figures. To lay out the truth isn't gossip in this context.
When people have a major platform and have made themselves idols to their followers, victims who come forward are often shamed into silence by their abusers or the worshipers of these abusers. I have seen it happen on social media and also in my personal life.
It's important for victims to know that they did the right thing in coming forward because spiritual abuse occurs due to unequal power dynamics and often lorded over victims' heads.
Victims may hear phrases such as:
Obey them that have rule over you
Touch not thine anointed
I can ruin you
It's not just major public figures that will be cleaned out...It can hit close to home as well
Even when it hits closer to home and there is revelation about the truth of the situation, we have to get our minds right so as not to go dance on graves or want to know more of the gory details to make ourselves feel better about being right.You know how the flesh does
See I knew _____ was trash and fake. What else did he do?
Even when people have alluded to things I've sensed, I told them I didn't want to know.
I would rather not know because it's not my business and honestly it would be more about being right than being righteous. I would only want to know if God wanted to use me to pray for them and I've prayed for people to repent and that God would have mercy on them...even the people I don't care for.
In this season we have to really be careful not to gloat about being right because so many people will be hurt when this stuff gets exposed whether it's in the big public ministries or the people we have been walking side by side with and thought were our friends.
The enemy wants people to get upset, fall away, and leave the faith.
Spending more time crowing about being right rather than ministering to wounded souls will accomplish that goal for him.
I pray as we see truth exposed and false teachers revealed that we would spend our time ministering to those that are hurt and disillusioned with truth, love, and grace instead of pride and gossip.
Pruning is Painful
While it is good that Truth will be revealed and False Teachers will be removed that doesn't mean it won't be painful.
It will be painful for those of us that ministries that we supported were headed by dishonest and false teachers
It will be painful when those we thought were our friends are revealed to be the snakes that were trying to steal, kill, and destroy what God had for us.
It will be painful when the truth about people that we thought were great leaders is exposed and they are sat down by God.
It will be painful when we realize that the celebrity pastor of American Christianity is really idolatry and we have to rethink the last 10-20 years of ministry.
It will be painful when we realize that building a platform isn't the same as building a relationship with Jesus.
Jesus already told us that this was how it was going to go in the book of John. These people doing all this craziness weren't in Him. They were building platforms for themselves and turning themselves into idols.
John 15:6
6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
But what did Jesus also say?
, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
Why is this happening? So that those who are in him and producing fruit can produce even more fruit.
I keep saying Don't be surprised to see those that were in the shadows previously be raised up as leaders, prophets, preachers, teachers, and evangelists. It will be those that were least likely to be considered pre-pandemic.
Those that were sucking up all the air in the room and always wanting to be seen will be sat down right along with the false teachers.
Pray for the Church
It has been one year since we lost Rachel Held Evans and I can't help but think of this quote. Perhaps we're getting closer to that reality in this hour.
The true church of Jesus isn't going anywhere because Jesus said himself that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
Pray for the church in this hour as the Lord cleans house.
We look forward to the upcoming Great Awakening of the 21st century and Revival with many lost souls coming to Jesus.
Maranatha...Come Lord Jesus
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