The Great Overhaul Of The Church

Mary Lindow

Denver Colorado USA

www.marylindow.com www.globalprayerrooms.com

A prophetic teaching from the Holy Spirit through

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore (overhaul) you and make you strong, firm and committed." ~ 1 Peter 5:10

We have all heard about the re-possessing of an automobile or a home, and understand that this occurs when something is being taken back, re- possessed - because the terms of payment were not met.

So in a similar way, the church at large is being "re-po-ed"...in the sense of repossession or re-po-sition!

REPOSITIONED FOR WHAT?

We have been hearing the words shifting, shaking, re-aligning, reformation, and so on… for over three to four years now. God is sending a clear warning shot across the bow of the "church ship" which is now finding itself in uncharted waters. I think that if we were all totally honest about it, we could even say that we feel like there have been times we have all been one of the members of the famous Gilligan's Island tour group, simply looking for a pleasant experience on the USS Minnow, only to find ourselves on a strange island rather than returning from a three hour tour!

THE WEATHER IS GETTING ROUGH!

Amazingly, the theme song for Gilligan's Island had a verse in it that goes like this:

“The weather started getting rough, The tiny ship was tossed, If not for the courage of the fearless crew, The Minnow would be lost!”

IS THE CHURCH LOST AT SEA?

It might appear that we are in a place of great turbulence and with all of the earthly calamities that are roaring in unrelenting waves, we might feel that the place we used to run to for security is also in a major crisis of sorts! The storms are raging literally with hurricanes termed as, "biblical in proportion" by many media reporters!

Local church establishments are inundated with traumatized people from not just hurricanes! Utility bills are predicted to rise anywhere from 70 to 90% due to the "Oil” shortage. Major corporations are laying people off from long- term jobs. Inflation is on the rise, but cost of living salary adjustments are...disappearing! The Swine Flu is being dramatized and claimed as potentially "pandemic!" And we haven't even touched the issues of homicides, child kidnapping, and the rise in pornography and abuse issues!

THE AMAZING SHRINKING CHURCH WALLET

As people of church affiliations of all expression feel the pinch in their wallets begin to irritate and hamper their lifestyles, the church is going to experience a major tremor. YES. TREMOR! What was once applauded as an " Ambitious visionary advancement" into greater influence, will soon become a burdensome weight to those who presumed that God was into the "Marketing and Merchandising" wave of luxuriously pampering the bride of Christ! Sort of like the story of the Princess and the Pea. No matter how many mattresses were stacked one upon the other, the pouting and over indulged princess could still feel the irritating little pea resting underneath all of them.

THE COMFORTER VERSES THE CONVICTOR

Somehow. The Holy Spirit has been diluted into some esoteric, floaty, glitter duster who simply drops heaps of goodies on fat little sheep, never warning them about over indulgence, sluggishness or sloth! Let's look at what the Lord himself said to us about the Holy Spirit….and the roles He plays.

COMFORTER ”But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will guide you into the whole, full Truth. For He will not speak His own message on His own endorsement; but He will tell whatever He hears from the Father. He will give the message that has been given to Him, and He will make known and declare to you the things that will happen in the future.” John 16:13

CONVICTOR “And when He comes, He will convict and prove to the human race and bring demonstration to it, about sin and about truthfulness of heart and right standing with God and about judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in Me, trust in Me, rely on Me, and hold on to Me.” John 16:8 & 9

WHEN THE BENEVOLENT GET TIRED OF GENEROSITY

Already, the coffers of Bail-out Aid, Earthquake Aid, Hurricane Aid, Tsunami Aid, 9/11 Aid have been fed into the enormous gaping black hole of need. And... for a while people will pull together to make heroic attempts to bring a fix to the problems all of these catastrophic events churn up.

But! Ask folks to give sacrificially and then…you will see a real reason for the need of the laser cutting conviction of the Holy Spirit!

If we who call ourselves believers and followers of Jesus lean upon either our own personal wealth and blessings as a place of safety or…if we lean upon the wealth of others if we have little ourselves…thinking that either of these things are acceptable…we will continue to have the shaking and convicting of the Holy Spirit "ROCK OUR WORLDS!" YES! Both in a planetary way and in our own little "spheres of influence" until we awaken to the reality that we are to see our lack of trusting, leaning, relying, and holding on to Jesus as SIN!

IN GOD WE TRUST?

When we trust in self implied or planned securities and rely on them, or when we hold on to a hope that the wealthy among us might be our source and answer to needs unmet…we have wandered very far away from the shores of safety in Christ!

Human beings and yes… "CHRISTIAN" human beings can become very protective of their "assets" if they are not in a place of brokenness and listening to God's plan for them to share "honestly" with others, without contempt for their lowly place and genuine neediness. One needs to only look at the story of Lazarus and the rich man to know how cruel the worldly and corrupt folks of wealth treat their fellow brethren. But also…let us not forget Annanias and Sapphirah whom were supposed believers… who lied to their brothers and sisters, the Apostles and above all, the Holy Spirit about their self-protecting and devious plan!

THIS FULLY ADDRESSED THE SETTING THEN AND ALSO RIGHT NOW IN THE ERA THAT THE CHURCH IS IN!

When those who have substantial blessing and abundance start turning to "selective" blindness when they see another family member in the Body needing assistance to be sent into mission locations to care for the devastated or to train a new emerging generation into truth and instructed direction, and simply continue to say things like; "God bless you, I will pray for you, Be at peace!" …God does not Himself…turn a blind eye to their darkened eye of soul.

HE SEES THE WICKED HEART OF THE LOVERS OF "SELF PRESERVATION AND GRATIFICATION"

And

HE SEES AND HEARS THE HEART- CRY OF A GENERATION AGONIZING TO BE RELEASED AND SENT.

John 16:20 “I assure you, most seriously I tell you, that you shall weep and grieve, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART II and III