General Principles

Life Questions

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Someone I love had some good questions recently:

  1. Life’s not free, why do Christians say it is free when it is not? You have to work to live.

I answered by saying that this life is not free in the sense she meant but that eternal life is free. If she died tomorrow morning or in the next few minutes she would go straight to heaven because Jesus died for her sins, past, present and future.

2. Ok, so why is it wrong for a Christian to commit suicide since we go straight to heaven when we die?

The point is valid. Christians are not afraid of death and, as Paul says in Philippians 1:23, to depart and be with Christ is far better than continuing to live in this life.

One of the reasons for not committing suicide could be that it would be painful but that’s not a strong argument, there are probably painless ways to go.

Another better reason why Christians (or indeed anyone else) should not commit suicide is because everyone lives in community. If you commit suicide someone else left behind will suffer loss. Potentially, though, that doesn’t apply to everyone (the very old for example, or those without friends and relatives). Either way anyone contemplating a quick exit from this earth would do well to consider the impact on those nearest and dearest to them.

However, as Christians, there are valid reasons to rejoice when someone, young or old, departs to be with Christ which is far better than living out your years here, especially if they are martyrs. The church has a long and glorious history celebrating those who were cut off in the prime of life or even as young people who died on the mission field or as a result of persecution. Many Christians celebrate the short life of Jim Elliott for example. In the nineteenth century many missionaries from Europe left for Africa in almost complete certainty of losing their lives very quickly to disease, wild animals or antagonistic natives. These days you could volunteer to bring the gospel to Afghanistan or other places in the Middle East and run a real risk of not returning. If you die that way then it is glorious normally. Certainly many of our brothers and sisters in many parts of Asia run the same risks and gain the same glory on a regular basis. Not being afraid of death and being prepared to die for the sake of the Gospel is a clear Christian prerogative (e.g. Rev. 12:11).

3. So why did God create the earth then?

My friend is a deep thinker. This question naturally falls out of the previous ones. If a short cut to heaven is the best approach to life then why is the daily toil and general tedium of life entertained by so many Christians?

I started by referring to a scene in Bruce Almighty. In the film, God (played by Morgan Freeman) gives Bruce (played by Jim Carrey) His job for a while. Bruce’s main concern is to win the love of Grace (played by Jennifer Aniston). At a pivotal moment in the film Bruce asks God why he can’t get her to love him without violating her free will? God replies, “If you find the answer to that question, let me know.”

God wants us to love Him. But there is simply no way to do that without them choosing to love freely. It makes no sense to say to someone “I love you” if you have no choice. So we are given lots of choices, starting with Adam and the forbidden fruit, and going right through to the many and various temptations to love money and the things it can buy today.

Life is a series of tests and choices. God wants us to choose life, love and truth, i.e. Him. The more we make the right choices in life, the more we fall in love with Him. If we love Him we will obey Him. If we obey Him we will be happy and fulfilled whether we live or die.

In Philippians 3:10-11, Paul also gave another good reason for continuing to live in this life in the same letter in which he says it is better to depart and be with Christ: to somehow to attain to the resurrection (out) from (among) the dead, i.e. the first resurrection (see Rev. 20). I deal with this idea in other blogs on overcomers.

We ended by praying Paul’s prayer from Colossians 1:9,10 “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way”

The answer is always to fall in love with God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and then, out of that overflow, to love your neighbour as yourself.

Autobiographical, General Principles

On being asked to speak

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The last time I got asked to speak it turned out that the only reason I was asked was because I had given the recipients enough money to buy food for the congregation. When I asked them if they would have come if there was no food the answer was a simple “no”.

Apart from that I can’t remember anyone ever asking me to speak from any kind of platform.

So this is kind of significant for me. What do I speak about?

I could speak about eschatology. I have a wonderful systematic theology on the end times that I can quote Scripture and history about for hours. Millions of people used to believe this version of the end times theology unswervingly for centuries. But I am sure most people now wouldn’t agree with it. I am not even sure I agree with it myself. So I won’t speak about eschatology.

I could speak about dealing with important but debatable matters and how best to do that. It would certainly help. But no, it is not important enough for my first speech.

I could also speak about the relationships between free will, the devil’s will and the Father’s will in terms of three heavens. That is a clever exposition of Scripture. Perhaps too clever.

So what shall I speak about? There is only one thing I can speak about: The Name of Jesus.

Jesus met me on the back of a bus on the way from Mullingar to Galway on May 7th, 1980 and irreversibly changed the direction of my life forever. I stopped using foul language immediately, lost any desire to over drink and fell in love with the Scripture. I simply cannot stop reading it, studying it, getting lost in it. The words are living and active, jumping out of the pages at me. I find myself sitting down with a bible in my hands rubbing the sides of it as if I was fondly caressing something alive. My hunger for Jesus’ spiritual flesh and blood seems insatiable as if only His Holy Spirit can satisfy the cavernous appetite of this earthen vessel’s soul capacity.

What can I say about Him? His patience with me over 40 years as He pours in revelation, joy and peace and I ignore Him or run after some James Bond movie or something much worse. How is it that I can seek comfort in something other than Him? And yet this I have done time without number.

And yet He stays kind in His patience with me. There is never a sense of frustration with Him.

He never strives with me. He continually honours my choices and makes me great by being so gentle with me. My greatness is my free will which He continually wants to make more and more free because He wants people to be with Him because they love Him.

Unlike me, He doesn’t boast about anything. I wish He would sometimes but He seems content to let His creation speak for itself.

He is not arrogant, though if anyone had a right to be condescending it would be Him.

He is never rude. Sweetness hangs like honey on every word He speaks.

He doesn’t look out for Himself. No self-protection prevented Him from experiencing the Cross or rejection or any of the myriad other sufferings of the Son of God.

He is not easily provoked. I think in 40 years He might have been angry with me once. He knows our frame.

If I ever hear something or someone reminding me of sins I have committed in the past, I immediately know that is not the voice of my beloved. He seems to have forgotten them all even if I haven’t.

He doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness though. He never condones my sin.

He rejoices over me with singing when I am aligned with His mind on things.

Over 40 years He has carried me through thick and thin.

40 years of believing in me even when I haven’t believed in Him.

40 years of always hoping, joyfully expecting, that I will do what’s best for me – His will.

40 years of enduring the dark inner workings of my filthy soul as He reaches down inside and removes the sh..

He has never failed and He never will.

General Principles

Transition Well

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The step from this world to the next is a transition from a place of limitation to a place of excessive freedom. It is from a place where weariness and pain are part and parcel of people’s lives to a place where such things are unknown.

The transition can be sudden or drawn out: In the context of eternity any amount of time is trivial though it may not seem so at the time.

If I draw a line representing my life to date and what is left to come, it disappears as soon as I add the infinite line that is called eternity to it.

So many people are concerned with this life and what may come in the “end times”. They spend hours, days, weeks and months of their lives trying to work it all out. People can get so concerned about their eschatology. But if your mind is on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father you won’t be so worried about your eschatology.

What is your life if not just a vapour, here one minute gone the next? How much better to be filled with joy for these fleeting moments, to place our hope fully on the grace to be given to us when Jesus is revealed, when we who are hidden in Him will be revealed with Him?

To transition well from this life to the next is better than to spend your time afraid of things that may never happen in this life. Many people have been predicting dire events and tragedies to come while comfortably enjoying food fit for kings in dwelling places which are better equipped than the most sumptuous palaces of even 100 years ago. Peace and security reigns in their societies where they walk the streets and countryside protected by the rule of law with the only real causes for fear being those they have invented within themselves.

And instead of being grateful for the blessings they experience every day they worry and cause others to worry about things that have not yet happened.

What if there are terrible things yet to come? How would worrying or trying to predict them help in any way? Surely, if they are so terrible then there is nothing you can do anyway? Would you not receive the grace required at the time you need it?

What did the early Christians do when faced with persecution, loss of life and property? What did those involved in the reformation do when faced with unimaginable tortures, disgrace and loss just because they didn’t wouldn’t pay the pope his “Peter’s pence”? What do our brothers in China, Myanamar, the Middle East, Pakistan, India and many other parts of the world do today?

I can’t remember any of them trying to encourage their brothers and sisters by saying “its going to get worse!”

If you call yourself a Christian and are on social media promoting negative conspiracy theories about dire events to come (or even those you believe are happening now). Stop. Please. You are not helping anyone. No amount of self promotion about intercession, knowing the times and spiritual warfare justifies it. We are not impressed by your knowledge and interpretation of the Old Testament prophetic Scriptures, events in Israel or your insights into the “woke” liberal left.

There are more important questions that need to be answered than those. How is your relationship with your wife and children? Are you in submission to your brothers and sisters in Christ in a healthy church (not just an echo chamber you have joined yourself to)? Are the fruits of the Spirit increasing in your life? Love? Joy? Peace? Patience?

Will you transition well? What is Jesus going to say to you when you meet Him? Well done good and faithful servant or depart from Me I never knew you? Or will there be a cloud of gentle, humble believers standing with Him that you can’t see because of the brightness of the glory surrounding them? A glory you missed out on because your mind was on earthly things?

Keep your mind on things above not on earthly things (Col. 3:2).

General Principles, Life College

Tree of Life International Ministry School

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As a couple, Olive and I have been coming into a period of grace and overflow. There is a lot to be said for loving others because you have an overflow in your own lives. Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength causes the springs of love, peace, joy, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to overflow so you can lay your life down for your friends and love your neighbour as yourself.

This current period of blessing in our lives can be attributed to a number of secondary causes under God but there is one I want to draw attention to in this blog.

Two years ago (October 2019) I went on the business trip of a lifetime. The first week was spent in Apple’s new “spaceship” HQ in San Francisco and the second week was spent in Los Angeles at a conference.

Apple’s HQ

During the weekend in between I travelled by car from San Francisco to Los Angeles and stayed in Monterey. I had prayed before I went to the US and felt led to go to a church like the one we attended at the time (Openarms.ie) and look for people that were like us at that church, i.e. mature Christians but not on the leadership team.

I identified Chris and his wife and spoke to them for about 15 minutes, swapped contact details and moved on.

A few weeks later back at home I got an email from Chris recommending that we get in touch with Keith and Susan Schaad of the Tree of Life Ministry School in Monterey.

We weren’t aware of it at first but it turned out that Keith and Susan were regional directors of Bethel.

Tree of Life Ministry School offers online and in person courses which are an affordable online opportunity for encouraging, equipping and empowering individuals and groups in developing their biblical and practical spiritual ministry. It focuses on getting the student exposed to the Culture of the Kingdom and operating in their Prophetic, Healing and Out-of-the-Box Evangelistic gifts.

Olive and I decided to do the courses ourselves. So far we have completed first year and are part way through the second.

What we have noticed is that there is an increase in the fruit of the Spirit in our family lives: Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Some of this at least we attribute to the way our minds have been changed about some things through the teachings we have received over that time.

In addition we have been experiencing increasing health over the last two years. One could argue about the reasons for this but at least some of it is related to the teaching and mindset changes that we are experiencing. We are not getting any younger. Someone asked me recently did I have any pain and I can honestly say I don’t. I did some years even months back (and still do if I overdo exercise or come off tea!).

So that is why we want to introduce this teaching to Ireland and elsewhere internationally. I will also say that the Holy Spirit has been confirming this to Olive and I, the leadership team at Tree of Life and others connected with us.

If you want to be invited to take part leave a comment and one of us will get in touch. We plan to start the course online and in person on Monday Sept 13th, 2021.

[Edited 07/09/’21]

General Principles, Wisdom

Disputable Matters

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Olive and I are following Nicky Gumbel’s excellent Bible in One Year reading plan. This morning’s NT reading was Romans 14. When it comes to disputable (but important) matters there is no better guidance than that given in this chapter about how Christians should deal with them.

Paul takes two important topics (vegetarianism and holy days) as examples of the type of disputable matter that we need to treat as he advises. His advice carries all the wisdom and inspiration of Scripture behind it so we would be wise to follow it.

I have reprinted Romans 14 below using two other examples of disputable matters which I am sure you will recognise. Hopefully, this will help you when it comes to dealing with these two topics which seem to take up a lot of social media space these days:

14 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters. 2 One person’s faith allows them to take any vaccine, but another, whose faith is weak, only takes the ones they got as an infant. 3 The one who takes all vaccines must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not take every vaccine must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

5 One person considers one political party more sacred than another; another considers every political party alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6 Whoever regards one party as special does so to the Lord. Whoever takes a vaccine does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

10 You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

‘“As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
“Every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.”’

12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling-block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that none of the vaccines are unclean in themselves. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because you take the vaccine you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your taking a vaccine destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of taking or not taking vaccines, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of a vaccine. All vaccines are clean, but it is wrong for a person to take any vaccine that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to take a vaccine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they take the vaccine, because their taking of it is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Challenging words! How many of us need to follow the advice given in v.22?

church, General Principles, History of Faith

At the Mention of Your Name

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“The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” 1 Cor. 1: 25.

One of the things that encourages me that the Lord is coming back soon is how well the world has been prepared for His coming. The knowledge of God’s ways and character – His Name – is widespread and acknowledged by even many who do not follow the forms of religion that are so often followed in the West. In this the saying is true, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

Peacemakers understand the power of forgiveness and apply it to all sorts of conflicts and situations. Blessed are the merciful is one of the beautiful attitudes Jesus describes as being the heart of followers of His Name in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). Many recognise the superiority of mercy over judgement.

Love is understood by many to be the ultimate virtue. God is love, many believe this. Many also understand and celebrate in culture and films that this love is most shown by someone laying down their lives for another. It is just a small step for evangelists to point out the most Supreme Sacrifice of them all and so help others to fall in love with the One they love.

This is so obvious that many Christians (especially religious ones) cannot see it and go about creating religious kingdoms of their own so they can more easily contain – and control – God’s kingdom. The generosity of God and His working through the poor in spirit, the meek and simple lovers all over the world at this time is missed by them while they dispute about how many angels can dance on the top of a pin or which politician most reflects their particular viewpoint.

If we all understood a bit more history we might find it easier to see God’s Kingdom on the earth as it is being manifested in our days. Before Jesus came this Way was not understood. Tom Holland (an historian) puts this point very well in this article from his website*. He says that here in the West we are like goldfish swimming around in a goldfish bowl and completely missing the fact that we live and breathe in a culture completely suffused with Jesus’ way of thinking about things. A Way alien to those other cultures. Where power and wisdom ruled in Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome and those kingdoms inspired by them, Jesus substituted the foolishness of a message about a crucified and resurrected God who is meek and lowly in heart (Matthew 11:27-30) and whose dwelling place is with those of a similar heart (Isaiah 57:15).

Thanks to multi-media there is nowhere in the world now that is not affected by this wonderful way of thinking, this Name of Jesus, though some places reflect it less well than others. My wife and I have lived in what is probably one of the more alien cultures – that of the Middle East – for some time. When you hear someone tell you with a straight face that it is “right” for the older brother to kill someone in their family who converts to Christianity or witness the atrocities of the Taliban you can get a glimpse of what it might mean to grow up in a culture suffused with another name that that of Jesus.

For millennia peoples took their lead about how to behave and what was right and wrong from the four great cultures that dominated their thinking: the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. The thinking (the names) of these great civilisations have continued their influence down through the generations. However, a greater Name – a different understanding and practice – not made by humans in their wisdom but carved out by God, has struck these edifices with the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Son of God. Since then this Name and Kingdom has been growing into a mighty mountain that is filling the earth with His ways and all other thinking about how to do things is scattering in the wind of His Spirit.

The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar saw this in a dream and the prophet Daniel explained it to him (Daniel 2). Later on Daniel had further visions of the four beasts and what would follow (Daniel 7). We are living in the days of the Great Kingdom of God that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people or civilization for none will come after it. His Kingdom will endure forever.

We need to be careful how we promote this Kingdom. It’s primary way of growing is through the relentless growth of the underdog like grass in a great savanna or the welling up of waters from hidden springs. The poor in spirit and the meek inherit this kingdom and promote it. The peacemakers rule here, the merciful and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In this Kingdom you gain your life by losing it, not by trying to hold onto power, but by yielding to your persecutors and rejoicing while being persecuted. This way, that is so like the way Jesus took as He went to the Cross, is alien to us and needs supernatural power to walk in. Our reason revolts at the idea of winning a victory by laying down your life.

Jesus

Let us see His Name in others. Don’t judge and you will not be judged.

God is doing more and is greater than the narrow bounds of your religion would have you believe.

Maranatha!

*Call out to Kris Vallotton for pointing me in the direction of Tom Holland’s views on this issue through a post on his FB feed (9th July ’21).

church, Creation, General Principles

What is a human being?

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Nicky Gumbel uses an analogy to describe the limitations of science in one of the excellent Alpha videos. If someone finds a cake then if they are a scientist they could potentially tell you what it was made of, when it was made and how it was made but without knowing the cake maker they could not tell you who made it or why it was made (and they might struggle to know where it was made).

Similarly, we need God to tell us why we were made.

So here are some things God says in His book on that subject:

“For we are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19,20a

One of the remarkable things that God has done in making human beings is the collective purpose He has for us. Together we worship together to become one and somehow, astonishingly, corporately become a member of the Godhead.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Ephesians 5:25-32

Daughters of kings are among your honoured women;
    at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

10 Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
    Forget your people and your father’s house.
11 Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
    honour him, for he is your lord.
12 The city of Tyre will come with a gift,[d]
    people of wealth will seek your favour.
13 All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
    her gown is interwoven with gold.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
    her virgin companions follow her –
    those brought to be with her.
15 Led in with joy and gladness,
    they enter the palace of the king.

Psalm 45:10-15

General Principles, His Story

God is Love

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1 Corinthians 13:4-8 describes what love is. God is love (1 John 4: 8, 16) so therefore this passage also describes God. These attributes describe the way God the Holy Spirit is when He is working in us. It explains how He acts towards us and towards others.

This mindmap lists the same 16 attributes of love as the first picture but in their original Greek. The original Greek does not always lend itself to a one word for word English translation. Sometimes there are nuances which need several English words to capture. These are listed at the end of the branches. For instance, the Greek word often translated as kind in our English translations carries nuances of mercy and love.

For the first 9 attributes I also give cross references to where the Greek words are used elsewhere in the New Testament. One of my favourite cross references is to Matthew 11:30. Jesus says that His yoke is kind. The impression one gets is that it doesn’t chafe.
The third attribute can be hard to translate. In the Greek it is ζηλοι from which we get the word “zeal”. Elsewhere in the New Testament this same Greek word is used in a positive sense but is often translated by a negative in this passage. The Holy Spirit is above all gentle when dealing with us. He doesn’t strive because He doesn’t have to. However, in the Scripture, we humans are told to strive. The same word is used by Paul just a chapter later when he exhorts people to strive/ desire earnestly to prophecy.

If you love to gaze upon the Lord as I do then these words carry deep emotional, spiritual and mental impacts with them (see Hebrews 4:12). Meditate on them and let the Holy Spirit breathe within you.

General Principles

Humming Birds

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A friend and I were sharing some time in the Lord’s presence recently when he got a picture of a hummingbird somewhat similar to the one featured here. In his picture the bird was also taking nectar from the flower while on the wing or “humming” as he put it. Or in other words, the bird was singing and simultaneously drinking, a feat impossible for any bird except it as far as I know.

The picture was connected to worship. We are spiritual creatures and when we worship we also drink deeply from the Lord’s presence. As Jesus put it, we drink His blood and eat His flesh – an expression of utter intimacy.

We too can sing and drink at the same time. And we should, often.

church, heaven

Dwelling in a Dark Place

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Then Solomon said, “The Lord has said that he would dwell in a dark cloud;”

1 Kings 8:12

When God decided to show the Israelites (and us) what Heaven was like (Hebrews 8:5), He instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle or a Tent. This had three parts which represent the three heavens. The Most Holy Place (Exodus 26) represents the third heaven and it was not brightly lit – at least in it’s old testament shadow. This was mainly because there was a veil between it and the Holy Place where the light was. Thankfully that veil is now taken out of the way because of what Jesus did on the Cross (Matthew 27:51). Likewise, when we are born again we can see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3) and the veil over our minds is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16).

The light in the Holy Place was bright and lit up all the things in the Holy Place once it was alight (it was never supposed to go out). The things the lampstand lit up included the Word of God (the table of showbread) and prayer (the altar of incense) as well as the throne of God Himself (the Ark of the Covenant) which contains our pure spiritual food (gold jar of manna), God’s promises to us (the stone tablets of the covenant) and all authority (Aaron’s rod that budded). But as the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews writes: “We cannot discuss these things in detail now.” (Hebrews 9:5)

The lampstand consisted of 7 oil lamps which were the brightest lamps available at the time. Without the lampstand, filled with burning oil the Holy Place would have been dark indeed. The Holy Place was covered over by four layers of coverings.

Rose Publishing. Rose Guide to the Tabernacle (pp. 59-61). Rose Publishing. Kindle Edition.

We know from the Book of Revelation (chapter 1 verse 20) that the lampstand(s) are the Church, the Body of Christ. Each local church is a lampstand. The olive oil that was used as fuel (Exodus 27:20, Lev. 24:2) was also used for the priest’s anointing oil (Exodus 35:28) and the flame is the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:3). If a church, the body of believers, are not anointed and burning there is no light and everything about God is dark, hidden. It is up to the priests to make sure the lamp is kept full of oil and lit at all times.

5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:5

The church is the light of the world:

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 

Matthew 5:14-15

But if the light that is in you is darkness how great is that darkness (Matthew 5:22-23)! This explains why churches without the anointing can be some of the most oppressive places on earth.

We must approach God with boldness to find grace to help in this time of need (Hebrews 4:16). It is critical that those who call themselves Christians have a pure, spiritual understanding of what it is to know God who is Spirit (John 4:24). We cannot afford to be so earthly minded we are no good for heaven or earth. Unless our good deeds flow from and through God we may end up with nothing to show for it all on the Judgement Day (Matthew 7:22, 1 Cor.13:1-4).

Are you sure what you are doing is being done in the sight of God (John 3:19-21) and isn’t just built on the wisdom of man (1 Cor. 1:18-31)?

A Christian in a relationship