I personally believe every church in America needs to prepare. In times of crisis or disaster, people turn to leaders for help. Even those who don’t belong to your church or congregation will come to you – and that’s a good thing! We want to share the Gospel in the Last Days! That’s what we were born for! That’s the reason God chose us to be living at this time in the history of the world! We were born for “such a time as this.”
While some may think that they’re obligation is more spiritual than practical in times of crisis, I assure you that until people’s physical needs are met, they’re not going to listen to your Gospel! There’s a verse in the Bible that talks about those who do nothing but pray and bless. This verse is usually quoted in the context of faith, but I want you to read it again in the context of practical preparations for others in need:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:14-17 ESV)
I would say that it’s pretty clear what the Bible thought of those who only talked the talk without walking the walk. Even Jesus fed 5,000 people when they came to hear him preach! (Luke 9:10-17)
When I was in Master’s Commission in Phoenix, I worked with inner-city people that made it very clear they weren’t going to listen to you or anything you had to say until they were fed! While that sounds a little greedy, it’s the truth! They wanted to see the practical side of your good will towards them or you could just keep your spiritual advice to yourself!
We were recently blessed when a mega-church ordered over a million meals in order to be ready to feed people! Now that’s commitment! That’s wisdom! That’s faith in action! While others who make fun of preparing still rattle on, church’s like this one are showing just how much they believe in faith in action and that we are in the end times! Not only are they paying attention to the signs, which are everywhere, they are also preparing for a harvest of souls!
The Harvest at the End of the Age is yet to come. The Lord said that “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” The Church’s finest hour could be when things go bad in the world – if we have been wise and are prepared to help others with their practical needs as well as their spiritual needs.
Every single Pastor out there needs to heed the warnings that we are hearing daily in our news, prophesied in our Bibles! Our dear friend, John Shorey, always says that Noah built the ark while the sun was still shining! We need an ark too! It’s time to build that ark.
Unfortunately, much of the Church is still asleep. I’m around Christian people all the time who have absolutely no idea of what time it is in the End Times, or why they need to make any special preparations for events that are on that timetable! It’s in the Bible people! Jesus said that before He comes back, there will be no food to eat! He also warns about economic crisis. Read Matthew 24!
Ezekiel 34 has some bone-chilling words for Pastors – but heaven forbid any of us would be numbered in that group. This chapter makes it clear that the responsibility for the sheep belongs to the shepherd of the house. Although this chapter was a word to ancient Israel, it is also a prophetic picture for today. Caring for the flock is not a request, it’s a mandate from the Lord.
This could be the Church’s finest hour if we would wake up, speak up, pray up, and store up!
Love,
Lori,
Today’s churches are so filled up with false prophets who are falsely proclaiming messages of “peace and safety” for America and for the Church; all the way to the point whereby; that when indeed a TRUE prophet of the Most High comes along – being sent by God Himself – in order to warn backslidden Christians of God’s judgments upon the Body of Christ herself, and upon this wicked nation, as a whole; THAT consequently, with the false prophets having ALREADY lullabied to “spiritual slumber” naive charismatic Christians with the false hope for them having to supposedly “escape” the awesome judgments of an angry vengeful God; that these same DELUDED carnal-minded Christians will not be MENTALLY or SPIRITUALLY “ready” to receive – or, at least, to seriously consider – the TRUE prophetic messages of “doom and gloom” for America and for her Laodicean-minded backslidden “prosperity-gospel” churches, at the very coming of God’s truly “anointed” prophetic messengers of warning. That is, tragically TODAY, most of your church members in the United States have been so inundated with all of these materialistic messages on pursuing “financial prosperity” from God; and so inundated with all of these false satanically-driven prophetic messages of “peace and safety” for America and for the Church – during your typical Sunday-morning sermons or weekly services; THAT, by the time the Lord actually gets around to sending out, to the churches, His own TRUE prophetic servants – to warn the Body of Christ of His inevitable judgments upon backslidden believers and upon the sinful nation itself; THAT consequently, at the very time that the Lord is already sending His prophets RIGHT NOW; that tragically, Christians today, who have ALREADY, for years, got “used to” – OR got too comfortable with – having heard plenty of self-serving, self-flattering false messages of “peace and safety”; THAT, by the time the REAL prophets come along and give the Lord’s true messages of warnings of DESTRUCTION upon backslidden Christians and the rest of the nation; THAT the carnal-minded money-loving Laodicean Christians will have already been “set up” for DELUSION by the false prophets who came BEFOREHAND; and thus, these same fleshy-minded reprobate believers will NOT be in a mental or spiritual “position” to recognize and receive a “true” prophet of the Lord; AND with these same true prophets NOT giving messages that would cater to the “lusts of the flesh”; BUT yet, would give divinely-inspired messages of “warnings”, dealing with God having to avenge Himself of His Body having “forsaken” Him; thus, requiring His due “chastisements” upon His backslidden children in Christ, of whom He loves so dearly.
Lori, if you can presently recall your basic “American History”, don’t forget the “Great Depression” of the 1930’s!! With God having “chastised” the United States by creating (or allowing) the unprecedented “Stock Market Crash” (of 1929), due to America’s unparalleled riotous lifestyle during the 1920’s; and with God forcing millions of people “out of work” – including devout Christians; THAT, unfortunately, these same disciples of Christ, back then, COULD NOT successfully evoke Biblical “positive confessions”, in order to escape financial ruin that was affecting non-Christians; AS the Lord deliberately punished America with “economic collapse”, due to America’s rebellion against the CONSERVATIVE morality that existed before the advent of the morally-loose “Roaring Twenties”; as our debaucherous nation adopted, instead, the free-wheeling hedonistic and licentious Modernist “morality” of the 20’s.
The Lord is going to bring upon America such a devastating “economic collapse”; that this imminent financial collapse in America will be so unexpectedly and unbelievably awful; that it will make the Stock Market Crash of 1929 look, so to speak, like a Saturday afternoon “picnic”!! And of course, with this great economic collapse to originate in the United States; and with us having a so-called “global economy”, therefore, the rest of the world will likewise undergo an economic collapse; and thereby, bring the ENTIRE world into financial ruin.
Even so-called “born-again” Christians – including those who particularly followed after those covetous materialistic “prosperity preachers” – will emotionally and spiritually “fall” – since they NEVER expected that; in spite of constantly using their [supposedly] reliable “name-it-and-claim-it” doctrine in order to “get” out of God whatever “it” was that they always wanted to “get” from Him; that nevertheless, these same naive and covetous Christians will LOSE – like everybody else – all of their MONEY, in the banks; and lose all of their jobs and material possessions. This will indeed be just ONE of many ways in which the Lord will “judge” His people – and the rest of the nation – for the detestable sin of covetousness and selfishness throughout money-loving America!!
And right after the economic collapse suddenly and unexpectedly hits the United States, THEN all of these Christians, who willingly “went along” with all of this “prosperity gospel” foolishness, will have ONE of two CHOICES to make. After they find out that they were “deceived” by the “prosperity ministers”, in that they would [supposedly] “never” suffer financial disaster with the “world”; thus, these deceived money-loving Christians will either get so “mad” at God Himself for ALLOWING them to be greatly “deceived” by the greedy money-minded prosperity “preachers” – and thus, out their great shock for realizing that they have become unwanton “victims” of the crash like everybody else; and realizing that their “positive confession” doctrine DID NOT “save” them from financial ruin; that, after getting over the immediate shock of having found out that they “lost” just about “everything” that they had previously have owned; that THEN, they will most likely get “disillusioned” with the false ministers and “Christianity altogether; and THEN, become so angry – and eventually so BITTER; that, eventually, these disillusioned money-loving Christians will decide to forever “turn away” from Jesus Christ, and actually “curse” God; as they come to the false conclusion that they were viciously “betrayed” by the Lord Himself; with Him supposedly having “played” such a cruel “joke” on them, for [supposedly] deceiving His very own “children”, by NOT warning them of these “sheep in wolves clothing”, that……
These same cowardly thin-skinned self-deceived Christians will forever abandon “The Faith”; and never want to have “anything” to do with Jesus Christ again!!! All because they themselves – in their excessive greed and covetousness – are so SPOILED with their material gains and financial successes, to the point whereby they NO LONGER care to live godly “holy” lives. These greedy materialistic Christians conveniently FORGET that “following” Jesus not only benefits them in receiving God’s material blessings; but also, following Jesus is supposed to bring on persecutions as well. In Mark 10:29-30, Jesus says to his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold NOW in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life” [KJV].
Because most American Christians [whether they be “charismatic” or not] have long been so greatly spoiled by their nation’s long-held political freedoms and economic opportunities, the Church as a whole has long ago taken on a “worldly” attitude, whereby – like most people who have already heard the “Gospel Message” – these so-called “Christians” pretend that they “love” God; but deep down inside their wicked hearts, they really “couldn’t care less” about the “things” of God; and really don’t want to study their Bibles, or have anything to do with “all that Jesus stuff”. Instead, like unbelievers, they IGNORE the Lord and go on their “merry way” to follow the gross dictates of their corrupt flesh, thus living out their lives in the sinful, abominable pleasures that Satan deceitfully has to offer in this present ungodly world.
OR………………
These same naive Christians who went along with all of this false hedonistic, materialistic madness – will humbly and fearfully approach the heavenly Throne of Grace, seeking forgiveness from the Most High God, through Christ Jesus; sorrowfully and tearfully confessing their detestable sins of covetousness, selfishness, and greed; and thereby receive from the Lord, His tender mercies, in order for them to “get through” the very tough “times” of having to try to “survive” under the rough and unparalleled adverse conditions of a world-wide economic “depression”.
So Lori, no doubt there will be many spoiled saints in America that will get SO “angry” and self-righteously “indignant” towards God, all the way to the point whereby they may bitterly decide to “leave” the faith of Christ COMPLETLEY; due to the fact the Lord, “folded His hands”, so to speak, and utterly refused to “intervene” on their behalf; by REFUSING to give the saints economic “favor” during this time of global financial crisis; and thus, with the saints wrongfully feeling so “abandoned” by God; that, in their greedy spoiled mind, they will falsely perceive the Lord as being most “unfair” to them; in having them so-call “suffer” monetary and material LOSS – just like the rest of America and the world; and thus, these same arrogant spoiled Christians will realize that they can NO LONGER “use” God in the same occultic “name-it-and-claim-it” fashion; i.e., NO LONGER taking Him “for granted” that He would continue — EVEN during times of economic disaster – to so-call “bless” them with more MONEY and material things; as they would want the Lord to continue satisfying their ongoing and ever-increasing ungodly desires for unlimited luxuries and comforts; and thus, these same “fair-weather-friend” Christians will decide that; SINCE, they themselves have become unexpected “victims” of the terrible worldwide economic collapse just like EVERYBODY ELSE; then therefore, these same spoiled American Christians – out of their extreme bitterness and resentment towards God – will SEE the Lord Himself as [supposedly] being “NO LONGER” of any “USE” to them, for satisfying their insatiable desire for unlimited amounts of finances and “creature-comforts”; and thus, these same disloyal pleasure-loving/money-seeking Christians will FOREVER renounce their so-called “faith” in Jesus Christ.
But Lori, as you are perfectly aware, the choice is OURS as to how the saints are going to RESPOND to the upcoming worldwide economic disaster. Either we can get really “MAD” and “ungrateful” towards God; i.e., responding with such rage, and utter contempt and disdain towards the Lord – and self-righteously feeling “abandoned” by God; and thus arrogantly deciding to forever forsake the Faith………OR………………
We can respond with utmost FEAR and reverence towards the Lord; as we should confess that we were most foolish in ALLOWING ourselves to be “duped” BY all of these opportunistic greedy “prosperity ministers” who have “fleeced the sheep”, so to speak, out of a lot of our MONEY ; since we falsely anticipated that we OURSELVES would likewise be “blessed” by the Lord — with as much MONEY as the “wolves” themselves [supposedly] were “blessed” by God; but NEVERTHELESS, with us becoming victims of the upcoming economic disaster; we should realize that we were “WRONG” all the while, and confessing to the Lord that it was actually our OWN covetous hearts that deceived ourselves into believing all of the lies of the false “Word-of-Faith” ministers – since, in the deep recesses of our greedy carnal hearts, we “loved” all of that “sweet talk” about being continuously “blessed” – financially and materially – by God Himself; BUT NOW, with the upcoming global economic crisis having adversely affecting even CHRISTIANS; then therefore, Lori, our very “victimization” of the economic disaster itself should indicate to us that perhaps our “positive confession” theology was WRONG all of the while; and that, with us being the so-called “Body of Christ”, we need to go back to Biblical “basics”, and start re-living the true and unadulterated words of Jesus Christ.
Your eternal brother in Christ Jesus,
Charles Reece
2/5/14
Well said!!!!!