I would hate to live threw it but if a great hardship would come upon the people in this country,I believe you would see a great number of people turn to the Lord.Maybe that is Gods plan.It could help clean up the morals in this country and in the church.I’ve often thouht God would send his wrath down on this country because it has become so immoral.But maybe it would not be His wrath He would be sending but a blessing.
Shalom Dr. Brown,
I think the American people, who are awake, are those who are ready to see a revolution of sorts in this Nation. Reclaim America, National spiritual revival and I agree a Jesus Revolution is needed and long over due!
Shalom Dr. Brown,
When Yeshua said “follow me” did he not mean that all Jews and gentiles must observe every word of the Torah apart from following in His way? And those (different sects of Christianity) who “think or believe” that the Torah is made obsolete, and are more focused on the “New Testament” what will happen to them?
Bethany,
Jesus absolutely did NOT call for Gentiles in particular to follow every word of the Torah, and He has given all of us — Jew and Gentile alike — a new and better way to follow Him through the New Covenant. This has been addressed in many threads on this site, so I encourage you to search the discussions. I take up these issues in my book What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus?
Bethany,
Jesus frequently revealed the truth that no person – Jew or Gentile – could possibly “observe every word of the Torah” and thus the only way to the Father was through Him (John 14:6). Now true believers earnestly desire to obey Him out of love – not out of the false claims of righteousness through legalism.
God bless,
Larry
We definitely need a “Jesus Revolution.”
The documentary series, “Making Sense of the 60’s” helped me to understand how the 1950’s left a vacuum for the creation of the counter-culture revolution.
What I saw growing up and coming of age in that period (60’s-70’s) was an upturning of the social ground. The rhetoric which seemed to pour from every social arena was a call for the pursuit of something purer and higher. I do think people were, for the most part, motivated by idealism, and attacked perceived hypocrisies with a vengeance. However, many young social leaders threw the baby out with the bathwater. That upturning of the ground also damaged carefully-built structures that really didn’t need pulling up. But revolution was just in the air, and it seemed to constantly reignite itself in that combustible, electric atmosphere.
What seemed to drive the masses then is what seems to drive them now: image. Whether it was the scruffy, laid-back image of the Beattle who supposedly disdained money and urged world peace, or the stalwart, bespeckled Indian man seated in a cotton loin cloth, photography and music created the images which shaped and drove the counter-culture. It was a seductive phenomena.
Today, the advertizing talents on Madison Avenue have learned to manipulate image so expertly. Something fundamentally abhorrent can be made to seem alright, even desirable.
The Jesus Revolution, of course, begins in our hearts. For me, I had to get sick of the consequences of sin in my personal life before I could turn away from it and to God. I think there are plenty of people in my age group who’ve been damaged in this way. Old-fashioned repentance was the key to God transforming my inner life.
Today we see the Adversary winning battles for the minds of our children with the help of the media. If only it could be used in the service of God — our country could quickly be transformed!
Nonetheless, just as grass-roots organizers hitting the streets have classically effected political change, I think we need mobilized Jesus revolutionaries to show up on people’s doorsteps, bringing the Gospel right where they live. And following-up. The nation is in pain. It needs a doctor who will make house calls.
Old fashioned repetance!I say AMen to that sister Ruth.
There has been a revolution (actually two) taking place in the USA, and the world for that matter, for about 100 years (actually 6000 years). They (the revolutions) are one generation away from being completely successful. They are always one generation away from succeeding.
Abraham Lincoln saw this. He said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
The government is what we have allowed it to be because of who we let teach our children. It is what it is because of what we have let them be taught. It is made up of our children, or will be soon. This applies to church as well as state.
If we want the revolution to be the kind we want, or rather the kind that YHWH wants, then we better take this to heart. There are a lot of directives and associated blessings and promises about teaching/training children in YHWH’s word, but it works in reverse too.
Mal. 4 4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
YHWH’s revolution is stopped short every time it has not been effectively transferred from parent to child. I did not say from pastor to child, school teacher to child or even Sunday school teacher to child. The scripture places the whole responsibility on the parents, namely the father.
It is about brain washing. If we do not wash our children’s brains someone else will be more than happy to do it for us. They will do it through school(from K through PhD), media and societal norms.
So we can be lazy and let, or even pay, someone else to do the job YHWH has called us to do or we can turn our hearts to our children. We need repentance alright, but it takes more than feeling bad about what we have done. It takes hard work and perseverance if we are going to really have a lasting revolution.
More is caught than taught. We deceive ourselves by hearing the word without doing it. We also put a disconnect in our children’s hearts when they see us hear it only.
Here is the greatest commandment in context:
De. 6 1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: 2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Hear it, do it, teach it! That is what Abraham (not Lincoln) did. He was called the “friend of God”. YHWH would like to call you His friend too. YHWH knew that Abraham would pass the faith to his children so that all the earth could blessed.
Ge. 18 17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Ge. 26 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Earnestly contend for the faith that once delivered to the saints (The set apart ones, Israel)! We are no longer gentiles, but have been graffed in. Lets do those “before ordained works.”
Eph. 2 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Rom. 11 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
The revolution continues only by us hearing, doing and teaching it! Continue in His goodness.
Shalom
PS. Throw away your TV!
P.S. I grew up in a home without a TV. We grew up in the “nameless church” which began as a sect in the late 1890’s. My mother left it when she bought a television, which was forbidden.
The problem with it is that when children do leave home (or just go to the neighbors to watch it) they are then like sponges which soak it up, and often, turn against the stricture…and other ideas.
I know people do successfully raise their children without televisions; I think Dr. Brown said he did, if I’m not mistaken, on another show. I’m grateful my parents did that. We didn’t know what we were “missing,” but as a consequence, we were never “bored,” and we learned to read for amusement as well as knowledge. What I’ve noticed as a substitute teacher in the local middle school is how many students do not read well!
How can they read the Bible when they can’t even read well? I have always admonished them to use a dictionary as a matter of habit, not skipping any word they don’t know. I also think the rapid images from videos and other media have shortened attention spans, as some educators warned would happen.
I would very much like to see education go back to the basics as part of an American cultural revolution.
I agree, Bo, is begins with parents. The statistics on children without fathers bodes tragically for the future. There has to be a moral awakening. I still think we need to get the Gospel out there. I’m more likely to vote for a candidate who comes to my door than a distant face. (o:
Yes parents have become very negligent in raising thier childern.Part of it is divorce.Another part is tv.It’s teaching our kids morals and it has none.And of course it all comes down to serving the lord.Following Jesus.
Amen, Bob T. — the so-called morals on television…there are more examples of the worst behaviors humanity is capable of than than anything else. When will it ever get better?
Hi Ruth, I also grew up without a T.V. until the age of twelve, when my parents divorced. I also grew up in a “nameless church”. It was the Plymouth Brethren but we called it “meeting”. As a child, I did not miss television. My siblings and I spent a lot of time reading and playing. Even now, I don’t watch it very much and would rather read.
I’m a little familiar with the Plymouth Brethren, Rebecca, and they are very similar to the Irvine/Cooney sect known as ‘the nameless church’, the ‘2X2’s’ ‘the Jesus Way’, ‘The Truth’, ‘non-denominational church’, among others… When Cooney and Irvine had their schism, followers became Cooneyites or Irvinites, respectively.
I’m sure our upbringing would have been very similar. Do you know the origins of the Plymouth Brethren? I’ve never actually looked them up, but I’m told that in appearance, at least – many similarities.
Not to ‘hijack’ the thread here, but this ties in a little to what I was thinking when I came on today: how many times I have been helped by a little Bible tract that showed up somewhere I happened to be, or a little piece of paper with words that, for me, came directly from God.
These little tracts are put out by missionaries in America. The Reform Period was marked by missionary zeal, such as was originally found in the sect of Irvine’s, who was himself a Presbyterian Mission member until he branched off — which is another story.
Just wanted to say that America, so sick and in need of a physician, needs missionaries right here. People to bring the light of Christ to their dark , dreary, drug-filled, hopeless lives. We have all these happy, well-fed Christians in America, but where is our missionary zeal to make disciples? To heal the sick? To bring a lantern of hope into the asphalt jungles and the small towns?
I agree that we mustn’t soft sell anything. The message from the Lord is ‘Repent, turn back to God, and come to Me, and I will forgive your sins and wash them away.’ He came for the sick and the dying. We His followers need to bring Him where the sick are.
We need to make it known what He wants from us, and it might sting, but we also have the balm — of forgiveness, mercy, atonement. We need to be healing our nation. Even if they laugh at us. Even if they tell us we’re rascist, ignorant, fear-filled hypocrites, we need to uplift Jesus as the brass serpent was upheld in the time of Moses for the healing of the nation…and Jesus Himself said so:
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:12-16 (NKJV)
America needs healing. I want to help. I hope the Lord can use me in some way.
Ruth, Have you considered more formal study for ministry? I would encourage this for you, having heard your heart here for many months. And, you have a fine receptive mind of Christ.
No, I haven’t, Jabez. But I have felt there could be some form of tutelage possible, preparatory to being wherever the Lord might find a use for me, when my task of taking care of Dad has run its inevitable course…
I don’t know anything about that, just that I wish to be helpful and have had a sense that He could open up something in that vein, if He chooses. I do think He can use us wherever we are, too — all a matter of surrender, submission to His leading; without that, nothing but dryness.
I don’t feel fit for the service of the Lord to be blunt, but I’m still hopeful to spend what’s left of my life for Him…He forgave me, gave me a fresh start, has been the greatest Friend I’ve ever had, and I know He has the key to all LIFE, so I’d love to help someone else see that He is the answer.
Que sera, sera! ? (o:
Might I “amen” Jabez’s comments re: Ruth? Ruth, I have often wanted to ask if you were in “formal” ministry or if you might have a blog, etc.
God bless,
Larry
Thank you my brothers…that is very sweet and kind of you…and encouraging! May God bless us all, everyone ! (o:
Also, I do have doctrinal issues which aren’t yet resolved and definitely feel I need much more study on these issues…
Rebecca, are you still in the Plymouth Brethren?
Ruth, I suggest a read of “Changes that Heal” by Cloud and Townsend, may help clarify some realities.
Hi Ruth,
The Plymouth Brethren started in Dublin, Ireland in the 1820’s and then moved to Plymouth, England. I am not sure when it came to America. I am not attending there anymore. After my parents divorced and left the Brethren, I kept attending with my Grandmother for about two years. Then my mother and step-father took me to a fundamental Baptist Church until I married at age nineteen.
Thanks, Rebecca. That was such a fervent time, when the Plymouth Brethren began. Here is a link which details much of the history of the sect in which I was raised:
I’m currently in a group of “exes” and it has been helpful to sort out some of the false doctrine of the sect.
Jabez, thank you very much for your recommendation. I will definitely look into getting that book.
——————————————
I hope this thread doesn’t die out soon. The Kind of Revolution We Need is a very important topic! Hope more people listen to the audio link and keep expressing what they think.
I would hate to live threw it but if a great hardship would come upon the people in this country,I believe you would see a great number of people turn to the Lord.Maybe that is Gods plan.It could help clean up the morals in this country and in the church.I’ve often thouht God would send his wrath down on this country because it has become so immoral.But maybe it would not be His wrath He would be sending but a blessing.
Shalom Dr. Brown,
I think the American people, who are awake, are those who are ready to see a revolution of sorts in this Nation. Reclaim America, National spiritual revival and I agree a Jesus Revolution is needed and long over due!
Shalom Dr. Brown,
When Yeshua said “follow me” did he not mean that all Jews and gentiles must observe every word of the Torah apart from following in His way? And those (different sects of Christianity) who “think or believe” that the Torah is made obsolete, and are more focused on the “New Testament” what will happen to them?
Bethany,
Jesus absolutely did NOT call for Gentiles in particular to follow every word of the Torah, and He has given all of us — Jew and Gentile alike — a new and better way to follow Him through the New Covenant. This has been addressed in many threads on this site, so I encourage you to search the discussions. I take up these issues in my book What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus?
Bethany,
Jesus frequently revealed the truth that no person – Jew or Gentile – could possibly “observe every word of the Torah” and thus the only way to the Father was through Him (John 14:6). Now true believers earnestly desire to obey Him out of love – not out of the false claims of righteousness through legalism.
God bless,
Larry
We definitely need a “Jesus Revolution.”
The documentary series, “Making Sense of the 60’s” helped me to understand how the 1950’s left a vacuum for the creation of the counter-culture revolution.
What I saw growing up and coming of age in that period (60’s-70’s) was an upturning of the social ground. The rhetoric which seemed to pour from every social arena was a call for the pursuit of something purer and higher. I do think people were, for the most part, motivated by idealism, and attacked perceived hypocrisies with a vengeance. However, many young social leaders threw the baby out with the bathwater. That upturning of the ground also damaged carefully-built structures that really didn’t need pulling up. But revolution was just in the air, and it seemed to constantly reignite itself in that combustible, electric atmosphere.
What seemed to drive the masses then is what seems to drive them now: image. Whether it was the scruffy, laid-back image of the Beattle who supposedly disdained money and urged world peace, or the stalwart, bespeckled Indian man seated in a cotton loin cloth, photography and music created the images which shaped and drove the counter-culture. It was a seductive phenomena.
Today, the advertizing talents on Madison Avenue have learned to manipulate image so expertly. Something fundamentally abhorrent can be made to seem alright, even desirable.
The Jesus Revolution, of course, begins in our hearts. For me, I had to get sick of the consequences of sin in my personal life before I could turn away from it and to God. I think there are plenty of people in my age group who’ve been damaged in this way. Old-fashioned repentance was the key to God transforming my inner life.
Today we see the Adversary winning battles for the minds of our children with the help of the media. If only it could be used in the service of God — our country could quickly be transformed!
Nonetheless, just as grass-roots organizers hitting the streets have classically effected political change, I think we need mobilized Jesus revolutionaries to show up on people’s doorsteps, bringing the Gospel right where they live. And following-up. The nation is in pain. It needs a doctor who will make house calls.
Old fashioned repetance!I say AMen to that sister Ruth.
There has been a revolution (actually two) taking place in the USA, and the world for that matter, for about 100 years (actually 6000 years). They (the revolutions) are one generation away from being completely successful. They are always one generation away from succeeding.
Abraham Lincoln saw this. He said, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”
The government is what we have allowed it to be because of who we let teach our children. It is what it is because of what we have let them be taught. It is made up of our children, or will be soon. This applies to church as well as state.
If we want the revolution to be the kind we want, or rather the kind that YHWH wants, then we better take this to heart. There are a lot of directives and associated blessings and promises about teaching/training children in YHWH’s word, but it works in reverse too.
Mal. 4
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
YHWH’s revolution is stopped short every time it has not been effectively transferred from parent to child. I did not say from pastor to child, school teacher to child or even Sunday school teacher to child. The scripture places the whole responsibility on the parents, namely the father.
It is about brain washing. If we do not wash our children’s brains someone else will be more than happy to do it for us. They will do it through school(from K through PhD), media and societal norms.
So we can be lazy and let, or even pay, someone else to do the job YHWH has called us to do or we can turn our hearts to our children. We need repentance alright, but it takes more than feeling bad about what we have done. It takes hard work and perseverance if we are going to really have a lasting revolution.
More is caught than taught. We deceive ourselves by hearing the word without doing it. We also put a disconnect in our children’s hearts when they see us hear it only.
Here is the greatest commandment in context:
De. 6
1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Hear it, do it, teach it! That is what Abraham (not Lincoln) did. He was called the “friend of God”. YHWH would like to call you His friend too. YHWH knew that Abraham would pass the faith to his children so that all the earth could blessed.
Ge. 18
17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Ge. 26
4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
Earnestly contend for the faith that once delivered to the saints (The set apart ones, Israel)! We are no longer gentiles, but have been graffed in. Lets do those “before ordained works.”
Eph. 2
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Rom. 11
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
The revolution continues only by us hearing, doing and teaching it! Continue in His goodness.
Shalom
PS. Throw away your TV!
P.S. I grew up in a home without a TV. We grew up in the “nameless church” which began as a sect in the late 1890’s. My mother left it when she bought a television, which was forbidden.
The problem with it is that when children do leave home (or just go to the neighbors to watch it) they are then like sponges which soak it up, and often, turn against the stricture…and other ideas.
I know people do successfully raise their children without televisions; I think Dr. Brown said he did, if I’m not mistaken, on another show. I’m grateful my parents did that. We didn’t know what we were “missing,” but as a consequence, we were never “bored,” and we learned to read for amusement as well as knowledge. What I’ve noticed as a substitute teacher in the local middle school is how many students do not read well!
How can they read the Bible when they can’t even read well? I have always admonished them to use a dictionary as a matter of habit, not skipping any word they don’t know. I also think the rapid images from videos and other media have shortened attention spans, as some educators warned would happen.
I would very much like to see education go back to the basics as part of an American cultural revolution.
I agree, Bo, is begins with parents. The statistics on children without fathers bodes tragically for the future. There has to be a moral awakening. I still think we need to get the Gospel out there. I’m more likely to vote for a candidate who comes to my door than a distant face. (o:
Yes parents have become very negligent in raising thier childern.Part of it is divorce.Another part is tv.It’s teaching our kids morals and it has none.And of course it all comes down to serving the lord.Following Jesus.
Amen, Bob T. — the so-called morals on television…there are more examples of the worst behaviors humanity is capable of than than anything else. When will it ever get better?
Hi Ruth,
I also grew up without a T.V. until the age of twelve, when my parents divorced. I also grew up in a “nameless church”. It was the Plymouth Brethren but we called it “meeting”. As a child, I did not miss television. My siblings and I spent a lot of time reading and playing. Even now, I don’t watch it very much and would rather read.
I’m a little familiar with the Plymouth Brethren, Rebecca, and they are very similar to the Irvine/Cooney sect known as ‘the nameless church’, the ‘2X2’s’ ‘the Jesus Way’, ‘The Truth’, ‘non-denominational church’, among others… When Cooney and Irvine had their schism, followers became Cooneyites or Irvinites, respectively.
I’m sure our upbringing would have been very similar. Do you know the origins of the Plymouth Brethren? I’ve never actually looked them up, but I’m told that in appearance, at least – many similarities.
Not to ‘hijack’ the thread here, but this ties in a little to what I was thinking when I came on today: how many times I have been helped by a little Bible tract that showed up somewhere I happened to be, or a little piece of paper with words that, for me, came directly from God.
These little tracts are put out by missionaries in America. The Reform Period was marked by missionary zeal, such as was originally found in the sect of Irvine’s, who was himself a Presbyterian Mission member until he branched off — which is another story.
Just wanted to say that America, so sick and in need of a physician, needs missionaries right here. People to bring the light of Christ to their dark , dreary, drug-filled, hopeless lives. We have all these happy, well-fed Christians in America, but where is our missionary zeal to make disciples? To heal the sick? To bring a lantern of hope into the asphalt jungles and the small towns?
I agree that we mustn’t soft sell anything. The message from the Lord is ‘Repent, turn back to God, and come to Me, and I will forgive your sins and wash them away.’ He came for the sick and the dying. We His followers need to bring Him where the sick are.
We need to make it known what He wants from us, and it might sting, but we also have the balm — of forgiveness, mercy, atonement. We need to be healing our nation. Even if they laugh at us. Even if they tell us we’re rascist, ignorant, fear-filled hypocrites, we need to uplift Jesus as the brass serpent was upheld in the time of Moses for the healing of the nation…and Jesus Himself said so:
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3:12-16 (NKJV)
America needs healing. I want to help. I hope the Lord can use me in some way.
Ruth, Have you considered more formal study for ministry? I would encourage this for you, having heard your heart here for many months. And, you have a fine receptive mind of Christ.
No, I haven’t, Jabez. But I have felt there could be some form of tutelage possible, preparatory to being wherever the Lord might find a use for me, when my task of taking care of Dad has run its inevitable course…
I don’t know anything about that, just that I wish to be helpful and have had a sense that He could open up something in that vein, if He chooses. I do think He can use us wherever we are, too — all a matter of surrender, submission to His leading; without that, nothing but dryness.
I don’t feel fit for the service of the Lord to be blunt, but I’m still hopeful to spend what’s left of my life for Him…He forgave me, gave me a fresh start, has been the greatest Friend I’ve ever had, and I know He has the key to all LIFE, so I’d love to help someone else see that He is the answer.
Que sera, sera!
?
(o:
Might I “amen” Jabez’s comments re: Ruth? Ruth, I have often wanted to ask if you were in “formal” ministry or if you might have a blog, etc.
God bless,
Larry
Thank you my brothers…that is very sweet and kind of you…and encouraging! May God bless us all, everyone ! (o:
Also, I do have doctrinal issues which aren’t yet resolved and definitely feel I need much more study on these issues…
Rebecca, are you still in the Plymouth Brethren?
Ruth, I suggest a read of “Changes that Heal” by Cloud and Townsend, may help clarify some realities.
Hi Ruth,
The Plymouth Brethren started in Dublin, Ireland in the 1820’s and then moved to Plymouth, England. I am not sure when it came to America. I am not attending there anymore. After my parents divorced and left the Brethren, I kept attending with my Grandmother for about two years. Then my mother and step-father took me to a fundamental Baptist Church until I married at age nineteen.
Thanks, Rebecca. That was such a fervent time, when the Plymouth Brethren began. Here is a link which details much of the history of the sect in which I was raised:
http://www.tellingthetruth.info/home/
I’m currently in a group of “exes” and it has been helpful to sort out some of the false doctrine of the sect.
Jabez, thank you very much for your recommendation. I will definitely look into getting that book.
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I hope this thread doesn’t die out soon. The Kind of Revolution We Need is a very important topic! Hope more people listen to the audio link and keep expressing what they think.