As the world gets more complex it also gets more stressful. You would think we would figure out that we need others in our lives to help navigate such difficult times, yet the world motivates us to separate and isolate ourselves as tech consumes our every move. For the most part, gone are the days of sitting in a field to just think and contemplate what’s going on in our lives. Instead we all are over-busy and so dominated by the news that our thinking is filled with stress and anxiety. If we don’t wake up and change things we will struggle to have faith in God’s power.

This is the fourth and final installment about the church being called to be prophetic. My desire is to get people to think seriously as to whether the church is functioning as Jesus intended, or merely being a weak representation of Jesus himself. The church has needed to go through pruning many times since Jesus rose from the dead because, like so many things, we tend to drift from God’s word and from his purpose. Each period in church history when the church has gone off course men and women were raised up to challenge the statius quo, not to hurt the church but to make it healthy. May people say they long for revival. “True Revival” is often painful, but it is necessary. If you haven’t read the first three articles please do so to get the big picture on this most important topic on the prophetic.

This is the third installment in a discussion exploring whether we are building a prophetic church.  Previously, I wrote about coming to Christ in 1969 due, in part, to people walking in the prophetic.  I discovered that Jesus was speaking to me and countless others like me.  I learned that simple, obedient Christians who took the scripture at face value could learn how to hear God’s voice and give away the messages they heard.  Simple, obedient Christians helped others realize that Jesus is still alive and transforming people today.  If you have not already, please read the first two installments of this series to better understand the overall message about being a prophetic church.

I started the first article with this same title on how I came to Christ because of people living out a prophetic lifestyle. The truth is I came to Christ on the west coast of the United States when there were two kingdoms coming into conflict. One was the Hippie movement and the other was the Jesus movement. The Hippie Movement was a reaction to young people’s disdain towards their parents’ materialism. The Jesus movement was the counter-balance of God raising up a generation that acknowledged the danger of materialism but finding the answer in a surrendered relationship to God. One was inspired by Satan to destroy people and one was inspired by the love of God to redeem people. If you haven’t read the first article please do so before proceeding in this continued discussion on being a prophetic church.

One of the main reasons I came to Christ was because different people reflected in word or deed the character and nature of Jesus. From the old woman that taught bible class once a month at my public school to the young girl who spoke to me a prophetic word of knowledge about three things no other human being knew. These experiences reflected the nature of Jesus…. who reflects the nature of Father God.

We have been exploring the idea of how easy it is to get stuck in “Yesterday” and fail to move forward in today and tomorrow. Our memories are a wonderful thing that God gave us but some memories can be a hindrance toward gaining the inheritance that God’s Word promises us. Those memories can be good or bad.  Sometimes good experiences cause us to reject new ones and cause us to get stuck. Bad experiences are generally used by the enemy to trap us in the past.  If you haven’t read the first part of this series,please read that one first.

All of us have a past, and from my experience we all have at least one major event that has the potential to keep us stuck in pain and disappointment. If you find yourself heading there, or are currently stuck, read on and learn from one of the greatest men of the Old Testament.

I can’t tell you the exact number of hours or even days I have read God’s Word, not the number of hours I have listened to sermons and teachings from the Word of God, but it’s a lot. I’m not trying to brag, just stating the facts. I’m sure many of you could say the same thing, and depending on when you got saved the number of hours we have had in the Word of God would be astronomical. I got saved in the winter of 1969 so for me that would be about 50 years. As I was seeking the Lord this morning the question hit me, “Has The Word Changed You Much?

I started this topic of our common struggle as Christians with doubt and unbelief by saying that many times our assumptions about what the Christian life should look like gets us into real trouble.  We might assume that once we are Christians doubt just disappears because we are disciples of Jesus now. This connection to Jesus doesn’t guarantee less struggle with doubt but actually can intensify it. As unbelievers we walked in deception and now as believers we are trying to walk in truth and reality.  That is difficult! Remember the movie the Matrix?  There is the choice of taking the blue pill, which represents deception and going back to sleep, or choosing the red pill, which exposes us to what is really going on. If you haven’t read the first two articles please do so before reading this one. It will make more sense.