What is not usually done by the denominational church

They do not demonstrate the authority and power of Jesus over His enemy

They do not destroy the works of the enemy

They do not publicly stand up for the values and purposes of the Kingdom of God

They do not worship in public

They do not take ground from the kingdom of the enemy so that the enemy takes ground from The Kingdom of God

They have given Satan the earth and all on it rather than fight Satan and increase the influence of the Kingdom of God on the earth, recapturing that which rightfully belongs to Jesus.

They tolerate the sins that resulted in so many dying in Israel and Judah and eventually resulted in the people being removed from the land!

They do not teach the true cost of what Jesus did on Calvary!

They do not teach personal holiness and sanctification and became compromised by the world!

Their worship has become fleshly and self-centred, no longer being led by The Holy Spirit

They enjoy the chief places at the feasts and the importance of having large churches.

Numbers and prosperity are more important that humility or holiness!

They do not use God’s weapons of warfare and so are easy prey for His enemy!

They do not protect the people in the congregation adequately because they use their own weapons and defences and not God’s!

They do not fulfil God’s requirements for true religion… the loving of their neighbour as God loves them!  Helping the widow, orphan the sick and the needy!

They do not grieve in their heart over the lost and the fallen in the church!  They do not weep over them as Jesus does!

They are too busy building “organisations” and using the latest “approved” method to listen to The Holy Spirit’s Leading!

They spent money on buildings and personal “junkets” and “necessary” luxuries, rather than on the lost and needy around them.  Many of the ministers also have a lifestyle better than the people they are supposed to Love as themselves!

They are too busy playing “important pastor” of “prominent church” to develop intimacy with Jesus.  Their activity on His “behalf” are no replacement for a vital, close, relationship with Him!  Jesus has shown people who have gone to heaven that these pastors, if they make it to heaven, have little or no reward, having received their rewards on earth for the fleshly pursuits they chased.  The rewards in heaven are for spiritual accomplishments and not fleshly ones.

They do not develop the gifts of the people under their authority or disciple them!

Unless they are “trained” or “officially” approved, people cannot minister in “their” church!

They condemn many to consider themselves inadequate for God’s service because of this!

They do not teach “their” people to minister to those outside the church, but only “trained” people are allowed to minister “officially” in or outside the church and not allowed to minister in other denominations until approved by that denomination.  This is one way Satan limits ministry.

They do not teach people what God’s Love is so they can show it to those living around them, and by this, win many to Jesus!

They do not properly disciple new followers of Jesus but process them, so many do not mature, or fall away.  Those that remain are churchified and fit in to what is required of them by the church and denomination.

They reject God’s prophets who are calling them to repentance but listen to those who “tickle” their ears with prosperity and ease!

They do not learn or teach how to share in God’s fellowship of suffering or teach others what it means!

They do not carry out the commission in Is 61:1-3, Math.28:18-20, or show they believe in who Jesus is Mark 16:17-18 or teach “their” church to do so!

They do not used God’s gifts, or delegated authority, properly… but use them to build numbers… not heal or deliver people then train them and send them forth to a lost and hurting world!

Nine things that are wrong with Christianity

When the Kingdom of God is not demonstrated then Christianity is no different to any other religion or moral lifestyle.

When the Christians stopped meeting in public places and used special buildings they became a closed society and no longer informally met people in the public places to discuss the Christian faith as the early church did.

When they stopped hearing The Holy Spirit or believed He was not personal or could be heard by people, they became like any other religion and had to use man’s way of doing things.

When they stopped laying up treasure in heaven they laid up treasure on earth and grew wealthy and worldly.

When they stopped showing God’s Love and Mercy to people they had to find a new direction and purpose for being a church and justifying their existence.  Man’s ways of doing things became the churches way of doing things so it grew less and less like The Kingdom of God and more like the world.

When they lost their personal relationship with God they lost their identity of whom they were.

When they gave authority to a person (pastor apostle etc.), they placed themselves under man and not God and lost direction and purpose being guided and driven by man and their processes rather than God.

When they paid others who were “certified and trained” to do their social work and evangelism they lost their purpose for being a Christian.

When they became insular and self orientated promoting their own church or denomination they lost their focus on The unity of The Kingdom, their purpose in the world and God’s heart for it.

How to stifle a church

Do not make God a personal God

Do not make Him relevant for daily living - only for special occasions such as Easter and Christmas

Do not make His miracles or His Gifts to be for today, but only for the time of Jesus

Do not believe or teach the personal guidance and power of the Holy Spirit

Do not make The Word more important than reason, tradition or denominational rules

Do not make the work of God personal - use agencies for charity and evangelism and not church members

What is not preached

Hell and God’s Judgment:  We are not told what we are saved from so that salvation does not become imperative.  Restoration and deliverance do not mean anything as there is nothing to be delivered from.  We do not realize our potential as we are not told we need to be delivered from the effects of the fall on the ‘flesh’.

The Victory we have over demons and temptation won by Jesus at Calvary or even the fact they attack us.

The rewards of the Kingdom of Heaven: so we do not know how much better they are so that we do not realize that the pleasures of earth are not worth holding onto because they pale in comparison to what is going to be given to us in heaven.  It is the rewards in heaven, that make suffering worthwhile. If there were no rewards there would be no reason to suffer.  The true Christian does not suffer for reward but out of love for Jesus.

The Love of God expressed towards us: so we don’t know how special we are to God or what He does for us each moment of the day.  We are not taught the extent of God’s Love towards us!

Salvation as a personal relationship: so God becomes impersonal to us and the depth and quality of the relationship with Him is not realized. Thus we do not serve Him out of love but of necessity for the purposes of self-esteem or avoiding going to hell.

The Grace of God is not taught. How much God gives us and gently deals with us out of no benefit to Him.  That it is God’s unmerited favour towards us.

Who Jesus is and what He gave up for us: so we don’t appreciate His Love for us and what He gave up to help us.  Thus we do not realize any sacrifice we make pales in significance when compared to what He gave up for us!

What it means to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom: so we do not realize what it means to be a citizen of God’s kingdom and all it requires of us and as well as the rewards offered toward us for service in this kingdom!

The gifts of The Holy Spirit and the delegated authority of Jesus so that the church is sick, without power and has nothing spiritual of The Kingdom with which to do the work of Jesus.

The return of Jesus when all will be restored on earth and things will be as they should have been.

The complete work of Jesus at Calvary so that people are emotionally crippled by guilt, shame and condemnation instead of being released from these.

The roles The Father, The Holy Spirit and Jesus have in the life of  believer so people do not relate or approach them as they should.

Does it Matter?

Does it matter how good your theology is if there is one person going to hell because of it?

Does it matter how good your church programs are if there is one person you can reach who has not heard The Gospel that you can but do not teach them what Jesus can do for them?

Does it matter how wealthy and prosperous your church is if there is one person who is hungry that you can help?

Does it matter how good your facilities are if there is a child sleeping in the streets you can help?

Does it matter that the needs of the congregation are met but the wounded spirit and the broken hearted outside the church are ignored?

Does it matter how well your church is run if those outside it are not ministered to as they need it?

Does it matter? Will it matter when you face Jesus?