My Recent Dream about the Burden of the Unmentionable Calling ...

i've come to the conclusion that the burden of the unmentionable calling is to bear the message from God of our need of "urgent" repentance, the telling of the blessings in store for our pro-actively doing so, and the warning of the dire consequences if our repentance has to be re-obtained to God by our reacting to His correction ... i've not used the word "judgment" here on purpose for my tenure here on SI has shown me two of the quickest ways to stop up the ears of saints to a plea of God via an earthen vessel is first for that vessel to dare call themselves a you know what, and second to use the word "judgment" ... We humans may not be so readily sensitive to the things that offend our Lord, but we're sure hyper-sensitive to what offends us ...

My calling in our Lord has been a virtual emotional roller coaster ride thus far - almost manic-depressive for lack of a better definition ... There are times when i feel as low, lonely and forlorn as Jer. 15:15-18 and Jer. 20: 7-18, only to then be taken up by Holy Spirit in rapture of such a personal promise as Jer. 15: 19-21 or His enabling me via some extra dose of continued faith to boldly be comforted by the likes of Jer. 20: 11-13 ...

i'm posting this because of a series of incidents that just recently happened to me ...

As many of you know i have a tremendous burden for the repentance of the Body of Christ back to our first love and works status, and have proclaimed such within my assignment ... Well needless to say it hasn't made me popular, and the folk that i can draw mutual spiritual strenght from are very few, so i can be prone to hurt if one such friend comes at me in a way that wounds ... This happened to me just recent, and really screams our necessity to not lean on the arm of any fellow human for support beyond His everlasting arm (Jer. 17: 5-8) ...

Anyway i was speaking with a sister about some things i believe our Lord has shown me about America, the American Church, and the coming economic fall that will be instrumental in our Lord regaining a more total attention from His Church ... This is something that we've discussed before, and each time her reply to me would be "uhhhh that's so scary" ... And then i'd reassure her that if we but put our trust totally in our God beyond our pension plans, savings accounts, house values, etc, the Bible says that we have nothing to worry about ... i thought progress had been made with her, but in our most recent discussion she said to me regarding a pending toppling of our economic idol as the only way God will truly get our attention she said to me "I hope you're wrong" ... That sent a shiver thru me because i'd once confided in her my fear of being in need of serious psychiatric help if what i believe i'm hearing from our Lord is not from our Lord ... But what was it that made this truth of how she really felt come out ... It all had to do with a discussion of her money, pension, investments and house ... i'd just said to her that all we American saints to a greater or lesser degree worshipped also at the altar of materialism, at which point after her telling me she did not at all in the next breath wished me in need of psychiatric help if in fact the only way our Lord could get the attention of we American saints is to knock down our economy ... Christ sure did hit it on the head when He said, "No man can serve two masters - We will either love one and hate the other" ... i've never been real big on money, or attaining things, not because i don't like things but i've just never had the drive or the entreprenural gift to make money and amass ... Therefore i don't have much ... But i've noticed that folk who do have, get very, very upset at someone like myself who comes and proclaims that God is about to knock down our other god of "materialism" ...

[b]Here's the dream i had the next night ...

i presented myself at the door of the same sister's home ... This sister very much loves her spacious house with it's white carpets ... When she answered the door she graciously said "Come on in"! ... But as i entered her vestibule she noticed that i was dragging what seemed like a rather large and heavy duffle bag (my burden message from our Lord) that i'd also been previously dragging thru the streets ... She said to me, "You're gonna have to leave that bag in the vestibule" ... i said to her, "i can't, our Lord gave it to me and He's shackled it to my wrist" ... She paused for a moment then she said, "Oh, ok, well come on in" ... Well i did, and immediately everywhere i went in her house that bag left a staining trail all along her white carpets, it also moved furniture and toppled things in it's unwieldy wake, and i could see her irritation rising ... The final straw for her was when i proceeded to go upstairs to the bathroom ... She yelled, "STOP"!!! ... Then i woke up ...[/b]

What i believe our Lord has shown me from this dream is that we individually and more importantly corporately (as His Church) have created for ourselves our own little personal homes/agendas//churches to our liking with everything we like comfortably in place, and that our Lord has raised up those with His burden of the message from Rev. 3:14-22 to upset such happy little homes/agendas/churches because our Lord is sore displeased that He's left standing and knocking on the outside ...

Like my dear sister i believe many of we saints/churches have entertained someone dragging a burden of our Lord behind them only to tire of them and either stop them in their tracks, or at worst throw them out of our own little self justified lives/congregations ... But i believe what we've all not realized is that it would have been far better to pro-actively repent, thereby loosing the burden bearers from their unwanted and unwieldy burden of the need for repentance preaching, but instead we've brought ourselves to the necessity of having to have our Lord to Himself come thru His Church with whip and overturning of all that is not Him ...

Even so at this point i still want to feel sorry for myself and ask, "Why Lord does my life in You seem so difficult"? ... But i already know why, it's because of this burden that i'm dragging around - and everytime i try to rid myself of this burden, especially when i feel at my last straw, Jesus will always turn it around to my continued heading in the same direction ...

At this instance He's had me go back thru the book of Jeremiah for the ump-teenth time and tho i know it was written to ancient Israel i hear Him speaking in terms of us today in passages like Jer.1:16, Jer. 5:21-31, Jer. 16:5-8, Jer. 17: 5-8, Jer. 18:7-10 and all of Jer 23 ... When the time comes, man will i be glad to be disconnected from this burden to my next one ...

Blessed be the name of Jesus, and may He do "quickly" all that's necessary to get us ready to revival, harvest and His second coming ... Amen!

Hi, Rahman, Thank you for sharing your burden. I suppose it is a bit like the burden of parents who see their adolescent children make harmful choices, and yet refuse to heed warnings. You know that they will experience painful consequences at some point. But, of course, they don’t believe any warnings. So you wonder, how do I cope with the painful burden in the meantime?

…if in fact the only way our Lord could get the attention of we American saints is to knock down our economy ...

Long before Scotland’s reformation under John Knox, the nation was being prepared through significant political, intellectual, and ecclesiastical changes. Years later, at another point in their history, the hard work of ministers educating and teaching their congregations prepared them for revival.

We live in a pampered me-centered entitlement generation that tries to shield itself from discomfort, catastrophe, or the unpredictable. Man feels in control, and is terrified if he feels out of control. We value a tidy, attractive outer appearance – clean white teeth and clean white carpets. And we work hard to keep them looking white!

I fear that if there was a major catastrophe right now, many would totally fall apart. They would not be able to cope. Many could become as terrified as animals trapped in a cage, and do anything for self-preservation – even at the expense of fellow humans.

Perhaps it is God’s merciful hand that is holding back catastrophes that should surely have fallen on us by now.

I do not know what will awaken our present-day generation. Perhaps there needs to be a period during which our values are eroded, our pride, our confidence in man’s institutions, in man’s achievements, in the church, and our craving for the “white-carpet” look.

When she answered the door she graciously said "Come on in"!

… everywhere i went in her house that bag left a staining trail all along her white carpets, it also moved furniture and toppled things in it's unwieldy wake, and i could see her irritation rising ...

The final straw for her was when i proceeded to go upstairs to the bathroom ... She yelled, "STOP"!!! ...

Richard Owen Roberts brought out the point that historical revivals were really about conversions. More and more I believe that it is no different. FEW in our modern world, including our churches are genuinely converted. THAT is the burden we carry.

We must plead for the salvation of souls, and with that comes the evidence of Spirit-filled living. We must pray for the preparation of the straight “highway” - the road that leads directly to the core of the heart. That is the only place where true conversion can take place.

Diane

Rahman,

I like to borrow Job 42:7 a bit if I may,

"After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."
I lived through similar experiences.but I try to take comfort from the above verse sometimes, hoping the LORD see me as Job, who spoke, or at least try to speak rightly of GOD before man. Although I am not deluding myself as if I were as righteous as he had been in the flesh.

R.Anderson wrote a book called "The Buddha of Christendom",depicting some 'Jesuses' are like Buddhas in their 'temples', as the golden calf at Mount Sinai. When we do reckon that some of the churches or Christians out there are living in falsehood, all we could or perhaps should do is really just to speak up, help them understand, or separate ourselves from their fellowhip. Try to remember that the results of your effort belong to GOD, and HE will take care of all and all in the end.

Sadly, I believe that things will get worse and worse, let us endure with much faith and prayers..

I for one, appreciate your heart,
humbly,mml

Sis D you wrote:
"You may be right, and yet, catastrophes are no guarantee that people will turn God-ward."

(((It'll turn those that it's supposed to turn)))

Sis D you wrote:
"We live in a pampered me-centered entitlement generation that tries to shield itself from discomfort, catastrophe, or the unpredictable. Man feels in control, and is terrified if he feels out of control. We value a tidy, attractive outer appearance – clean white teeth and clean white carpets. And we work hard to keep them looking white!"

(((Precisely! )))

Sis D you wrote:
"I fear that if there was a major catastrophe right now, many would totally fall apart. They would not be able to cope. Many could become as terrified as animals trapped in a cage, and do anything for self-preservation – even at the expense of fellow humans."

(((This will happen too ... Our Lord has shown me much coming social unrest ... Look to New Orleans for example where 6 people were killed over beer)))

Sis D you wrote:
"Perhaps it is God’s merciful hand that is holding back catastrophes that should surely have fallen on us by now."

(((That's it exactly ... Many saw 9/11 as the alarm going off to wake us up on time but what did we do? ... Hit the snooze button ... Now we're late )))

Sis D you wrote:
"I do not know what will awaken our present-day generation. Perhaps there needs to be a period during which our values are eroded, our pride, our confidence in man’s institutions, in man’s achievements, in the church, and our craving for the “white-carpet” look."

(((Sis this "period" that you speak of has already occured since the 60's)))

Sis D you wrote:
"This is really about Christ, isn’t it? We eagerly invite him – but not past the door; not into the inner chambers of our hearts – where we store our treasure. And we certainly don’t want him to mar the look:"

(((Sis it's ALL about Christ, who points us in the direction of it's ALL about His/our Father ... Amen, i can get to your analogy, tho the Laodicean keeps Him on the outside period, which has always made me wonder if Christ just walks away when we don't answer or kicks the door in ... But lets say yes we invite Him in but like in my dream we tell Him that the burden that He's dragging behind Him He can't bring in because first off it's gonna upset our house, and second of all He's gonna give us our part of His burden to share ... We don't want that ... We want all of the freeing benefits in Christ, but we want non of His burdens, we want none of His cumberson cross to drag around that makes us stick out as to peculiar ... We might swallow fashionably peculiar but John the Baptist type peculiar (being used to make straight) uuugggghhhhh )))

Sis D you wrote:
"Don’t you think that God is doing this very thing right now in the lives of many –so subtly, and so patiently? And yet, there is a tendency to become irritated when we are no longer in control, when our lives are messed up."

(((Of course ... i read somewhere where a brother said that at the end of the 70's, beginning of the early 80's that God raised up some to the unmentionable calling to drag their burdens thru-out the house of God and that know those servants have become pretty quiet, a lot of them pretty beaten up by the children of God for being bulls in their china shops ... i believe our Lord is about to do a new thing and i believe He's about to do it Himself via all the things He told us He'd do in Rev. 2 & 3 if we didn't pro-actively repent ... i believe our Lord is about to clean up His house)))

Sis D you wrote:
"Richard Owen Roberts brought out the point that historical revivals were really about conversions. More and more I believe that it is no different."

(((Precisely! ... Revival is about His harvest)))

Sis D you wrote:
"FEW in our modern world, including our churches are genuinely converted. THAT is the burden we carry."

(((See, to me it's the burden that "we don't" carry ... i believe that all saints should carry the burden of Christ, as i also believe when we don't properly do so He'll call out individuals to Himself to burden them with an extra added burden to go into His house and disturb the status quo ... There have been times when i've been very angry at having to carry this extra burden, mad at God, and mad at my assignment ... Here's one thing i've found out about a lot of us saints, we're content to let the handful who pray, witness and tend to the poor in our churches do so all by their lonesomes, but God is interested in communal, corporate ... This was my first complaint to God so many years ago when i did my Jonah, i told Him, "Lord i ain't doing this all by myself", and i ran ... Again i know what many say about God not going against our free will, but take it from someone who's experienced it - If God has something for you to do, He'll twist your arm )))

Sis D you wrote:
"We must plead for the salvation of souls, and with that comes the evidence of Spirit-filled living. We must pray for the preparation of the straight “highway” - the road that leads directly to the core of the heart. That is the only place where true conversion can take place."

(((Ha! ... ha! ... i hear you sis, but do you think we're corporately about to do this on our own? ... As my Mom always says, "Actions speak louder than words" ... i think just like with the Father and Israel with us Christ Church, our Lord allows us long-suffering leeway, then He has to step in and rebuke as many as He loves so that we can become reconnected to our first love/works ...

i spoke last evening to the sister concerning this dream, and a second one He gave me the following night ... Again she was gracious, and after some additional conversation i could sense the tension easing out of the conversation ... i totally understand how she feels as i thought back on how i reacted when our Lord sent folk with a burden into my own house, staining my own self justified white carpets with His cross and blood, moving my own comfortable religious sofa by their saying He requires more of me, and knocking over things that i'd pedestaled in place of Him ... But in retrospect i've come to lie on my face before Him to thank Him for sending me those brave souls, who i certainly chucked a few stones at, to get my attention to pro-active repentance ... i can only attempt to tell any saint that we really don't want to be on the recieving end of reactive repentance ... God's terrible grace is still grace, but it's so unnecessarily painful ...

i bless God that my former burden has waned greatly in it heaviness, and i sense that soon He will remove this one altogether and replace it with another ... i could be wrong but i sense this one will be lighter, tho broader ... One thing i can say about my walk with Him so far, it may have been difficult, even downright tedious at times, but it's never been boring...

As always sis D, God bless you! :-D )))

Hi mamaluk ...

You wrote;
"When we do reckon that some of the churches or Christians out there are living in falsehood, all we could or perhaps should do is really just to speak up, help them understand, or separate ourselves from their fellowhip."

(((Reckon ... now that's a word you don't hear every day ... i looked it up and it means: to make a calculation ... Just to be totally clear i didn't come to the conclusion on my own that much was amiss in the Body of Christ and that i must do something about it, but believe our Lord chose me to such a mission which required that i first be broken ... i guess out of the three things you mentioned "speak up" is our Lord's mission for me ... i'm designated that kid in the crowd of elitist wanna-be's who shouts out, "The emperor (church) doesn't have any clothes on" (if you know the story) ... )))

You wrote;
"Try to remember that the results of your effort belong to GOD, and HE will take care of all and all in the end."

(((Amen, that's the hard part that Holy Spirit keeps ministering to me ... i would really feel a total failure in this if it were not for the Biblical accounts of others who've struggled in this, and that Christ is our High Priest in heaven who understands first hand all of our infimaties)))

You wrote;
"Sadly, I believe that things will get worse and worse, let us endure with much faith and prayers..."

So do i, but i equally believe that the worse things get the better the Body of Christ will become and that's really my most important dsesire - To see and be a part of His Bride in correct action with the will of our Husbandman )))

You wrote;
"I for one, appreciate your heart"

(((Amen, and ditto ... i appreciate this as this is something that bro. Mike (Crsschk) too has said to me on a number of occasions and i want to take this time to say this ... Bro. Ironman has a saying about "the beauty of fellowship" which certainly does apply to this SI forum, for on this forum our Lord via His own can make us aware of something we otherwise would not hear and pick up as to the continued growth He's bringing us to ... Our Lord Himself said,
"for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" ... When i look and hear the things that come out of my mouth now i marvel at what He's done in me, for mine was one of the most foulest mouths you could be around, but Holy Spirit has replaced my speech! ... God has changed me in ways that could only be done by Him, others i know see and have commented on it, but it's truly amazing when the realization that you've changed for the far better hits you! ... Blessings in Christ Jesus! :-D )))

Rahman,

Yeah, thanks for reminding me of HIS Sovereignty,
I tend to get a bit too pessimistic (spelled right I hope) some times.
Frankly, as I get older, I feel more and more hopeless towards all that is in this world, I probably shouldn't be, but..o well,

coveting all your prayers
mml

bro Rahman
God bless you for sharing what you did for it serves as encouragement for the unmentionables that the Lord is indeed Faithful and True. for the ones who would resist the word of God via the unmentionables it serves to show that the Lord will have His way and the testimony of those unmentionables who went before us is that once the word of God is out there, noone has an excuse.

i've come to the conclusion that the burden of the unmentionable calling is to bear the message from God of our need of "urgent" repentance, the telling of the blessings in store for our pro-actively doing so, and the warning of the dire consequences if our repentance has to be re-obtained to God by our reacting to His correction ... i've not used the word "judgment" here on purpose for my tenure here on SI has shown me two of the quickest ways to stop up the ears of saints to a plea of God via an earthen vessel is first for that vessel to dare call themselves a you know what, and second to use the word "judgment" ... We humans may not be so readily sensitive to the things that offend our Lord, but we're sure hyper-sensitive to what offends us ...

the word judgment seems to invoke revulsion from the saints and it is because we are averse to God's Righteous Judgment in some measure. the Lord used the illustration in my life of getting a ticket. i was speeding, got pulled over, got ticketed and was mad. praise God i didn't show the officer i was coz that may have ended differently. The Lord showed me i had no business doing 80 or 90 and yet i was mad at the officer for ticketing me. how many of you have reacted this way to being punished for something you know yo shouldn't have done? if we're averse to punishments meted out by the law on earth, how much more will we be averse to God's own judgement in our lives?

... We humans may not be so readily sensitive to the things that offend our Lord, but we're sure hyper-sensitive to what offends us ...

AMEN bro! and i know we know why this is the case. We are not sympathetic to the Father, or we are inasmuch as it is convenient for us anyway. Self is the issue, we've yet to die to self wholly that our only concern [i]is[/i] the Father. i mean, if someone curses you out, cuts you off in traffic or something, it'll be on like a pot of neckbones in a hot minute...let someone curse God out or take His name in vain and we say nothing...seems like our priorities are way off...God set us right.AMEN. if even those who come as unmentionables proclaiming repentance are met with such resistance, how much worse will it be for the unmentionables who come for the purpose of governing the Body? or better yet, how much worse will God's judgment/correction be on His body for not heeding His word through these His unmentionable and most unmentionable servants? God quicken us that we would heedyour word no matter who the messenger. AMEN.

Anyway i was speaking with a sister about some things i believe our Lord has shown me about America, the American Church, and the coming economic fall that will be instrumental in our Lord regaining a more total attention from His Church ... This is something that we've discussed before, and each time her reply to me would be "uhhhh that's so scary" ... And then i'd reassure her that if we but put our trust totally in our God beyond our pension plans, savings accounts, house values, etc, the Bible says that we have nothing to worry about ... i thought progress had been made with her, but in our most recent discussion she said to me regarding a pending toppling of our economic idol as the only way God will truly get our attention she said to me "I hope you're wrong" ... That sent a shiver thru me because i'd once confided in her my fear of being in need of serious psychiatric help if what i believe i'm hearing from our Lord is not from our Lord ... But what was it that made this truth of how she really felt come out ... It all had to do with a discussion of her money, pension, investments and house ... i'd just said to her that all we American saints to a greater or lesser degree worshipped also at the altar of materialism, at which point after her telling me she did not at all in the next breath wished me in need of psychiatric help if in fact the only way our Lord could get the attention of we American saints is to knock down our economy ... Christ sure did hit it on the head when He said, "No man can serve two masters - We will either love one and hate the other" ... i've never been real big on money, or attaining things, not because i don't like things but i've just never had the drive or the entreprenural gift to make money and amass ... Therefore i don't have much ... But i've noticed that folk who do have, get very, very upset at someone like myself who comes and proclaims that God is about to knock down our other god of "materialism" ...

bro you know i share in this cup with you, that most of the people our Lord has had me share this coming economic collapse with either hope i'm wrong or think me crazy. of course the Lord showed me this and the only reason i can think of is His using the foolish things to confound the wise. i'm no economic wizard or guru (don't even know what the dow Jones is about) yet it seems to always have pleased the Lord to use such unqualified people in the eyes of the world througout history...i have a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with Him wanting all the glory...our Lord showed me that any aversion to what is coming comes from a lack of trust in Him. Sure we run our mouths and say "oh i trust in the Lord" now the time is coming to put our money (or if we end up with none our lives) where our mouth is and people are balking. this lack of trust leads to fear and the enemy has a field day. brethren remember Ezekiel at the brook of Kidron, he stayed there untill the water ran out and even when it did he stayed coz he didn't hear from heaven to do otherwise. We serve a mighty God whether we believe it or not. will our Lord not make provision for His children?

i look forward to the coming correction because at the end of it those who will grow in the Lord will grow indeed but ultimately, He will glorify Himself in and through His Church for all men to see. Lord Glorify yourself in your Righteous Judgment and correction and cleansing of your bride that through Her yo may receive your due glory throughout the earth. AMEN.

mamaluk you wrote;
"Yeah, thanks for reminding me of HIS Sovereignty, I tend to get a bit too pessimistic some times."

(((Ha! ... Ha! ... Yeah i understand what you mean about having to be reminded of His sovereignty ... We serve actually a seemingly "quiet" God ... We seem to be able to see the increasing workings of evil everywhere, but seem to forget that even evil is housed and must operate within the goodness of God ... Evil stemmed from created beings, and whether evil spirit or evil flesh both operate and are housed within God's good creation, one day to be eternally seperated from the good and eternally abyssed away ... For me even tho God seems quiet i'm ever mindful of His sovereignty, i never think of anything that God has said in His Word in terms of "if", but of "when", my problem is always "how long oh Lord"? ...

Know what a good cure for pessimism is? ... Faith! ... i once heard that Christian's should be the most optimistic folk on the planet ... i totally agree with that, but in so many instances it doesn't seem to be the case ... For me i may become aggravated in my faith, but never pessimistic ... Why by the mere fact that i can become aggravated in the "wait" of my faith lets me know that it's still optimism, for one doesn't get aggravated if one has totally given up on the "wait" that faith demands ...)))

mamaluk you wrote;
"Frankly, as I get older, I feel more and more hopeless towards all that is in this world, I probably shouldn't be, but..o well"

(((i don't know how old you are but i'm one month away from 56 ... When i was around 48, till 50, i went thru a coniption about becoming "old" ... Know why? ... In retrospect it wasn't because i was becoming more and more hopeless toward the world, but because i was becoming less, and less paticipatory in the world ... i was slowing down with arthritic knees, bursitic shoulders, gray hair, and the world was distancing itself away from my grasp ... Old habits die hard and can oft times cause depression in the process ... But by God's grace by the time i became 50 a real sense of apprecition that God had spared me all these years took over and it just totally uplifted me spiritually ... Now as i'm getting even older by His grace, tho i have a few more pains than i had then, i'm thankful to be freer of all the lusts that so easily accompany youth ... As an older man my mind is so much less cluttered with sins that so easily beset a younger man, and my vision of Him and His will, way and Word seems so much more clearer to me now ...

Mamaluk the world is hopeless, scripture says at 1John.2:17 "And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever" ... Now come on fellow joint heir in Christ, the last part of this scripture should cancel out and replace your "hopelessness" toward the world with the "assurety" that you abide forever! ... Folk seem to focus more on the tearing down aspect associated with the unmentionable calling, but the major gist of the calling is exhortation "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" ... So "no ifs, ands, buts or oh wells" :-P ... Come on, "be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might :-P . Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day'! ...

i believe as saints the older we get the more we should become even more and more hopeful toward all that is not of this world cause we're getting closer - amen ... :-D

Bro. Ironman you wrote;
"it'll be on like a pot of neckbones in a hot minute"

(((i picked this first because i'm sitting here eating lunch and when i read this it made my stomach a little queasy :-? ... When i was a kid, when things were a little tight financially, my Mom would put on a pot of "neck bones and macaronni" ... Awful, awful, awful ... i'd opt to go to bed without supper (because the rule at our house was if you didn't like what was on the table you didn't eat ... period!) ... Ok to more important stuff! ... )))

Bro. Ironman you wrote;
"our Lord showed me that any aversion to what is coming comes from a lack of trust in Him. this lack of trust leads to fear and the enemy has a field day. brethren remember Ezekiel at the brook of Kidron, he stayed there until the water ran out and even when it did he stayed coz he didn't hear from heaven to do otherwise. We serve a mighty God whether we believe it or not. will our Lord not make provision for His children?"

((( Fear. Lack of faith is exactly what it is. In talking to my dear sister that was what came up constantly, would our Lord see her thru? ... [b]The second dream i had concerned her and i being in a car when all of a sudden something horrendous like a massive earthquake occured and the road we were on was lifted up and tilted about 45 degrees causing our car to slide backwards at which point we instictively grabbed hands and she began to do what our Lord has gifted her with best ... She began praying (and man can this sister pray!) and i then chimmed in, then all of a sudden that car began to tumble like crazy ... When it finally rested all these people came running toward us ... i just pushed on the door, it opened, and we both got out not a scratch on us, but when we looked back at that car it looked worse than the one Princess Di died in[/b] ... i knew instantly what He wanted me to tell her, what you and i both already know and believe - Nothing can happen to us, especially if we're marked for a work, unless He says so!!! ... i relayed this dream to her, and it just seemed to instantly melt away the tension caused my telling her the first one ... Amen )))

Bro. Ironman you wrote;
"i look forward to the coming correction because at the end of it those who will grow in the Lord will grow indeed but ultimately, He will glorify Himself in and through His Church for all men to see."

(((Aaaaaaaaaaa-men, you know i totally feel you on this one! ... This is one of the sore points that many folk have with me, that being my wanting to see the Lord's correcting hand applied to His Church ... i love bro Ravenhill very much, but Lord knows if i can be spared from praying constanly for revival and never seeing it in my lifetime - Then please Lord spare me!!! ... What i look forward to is what i call the "bed of hot coals" experience in a corporate worship of our Lord in Spirit and in truth, a worship as Holy Spirit directs and not the same old tired church program ... But what i really look forward to, and want to see is us bringing in His harvest as He directs us, into Spirit filled nurturing congregations heaven bent on giving as much as we can instead of getting, taking ... i believe this to be part of a glorious church without spot or blemish that our Lord could come for! )))

Dear Rahman,

Very well advised, my previous spiritual mother's favorite admonition to me was always with Eph 6, the armor of God, she went with the Lord few years ago. Sigh..

shame shame, I'm never strong..
truly thank you for the exhortations !

overwhelmed, mml

mamaluk ...

i know you're honestly coming from where you spiritually are at present ... But scripture says that when we're weak, then He is made strong so He's got some fertile ground in you in which to glorify Himself ... So i'm praying earnestly to our Lord that by His Spirit He will soon take you from "over-whelmed" to "over-comer" ...

There's a reason why our Lord had your previous spiritual mother pound the necessity of Ephesians spiritual armour to you ... It's more than important to a Christian soldiers well-being, it's essential!

May i admonish you to keep reading Eph. 6 till you can stand in a mirror and see your complete spiritual suit of armour on, while naming what each piece is and does ...

This will help:
http://www.judahsglory.com/kidskjv/armor.html

Blessings and strength to you in the love of Jesus Christ! ... ;-)

PS - Also don't forget vs. 18 as part of the armor, it's often omitted: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints"

(((Hi bro Karl(Healingwaters) ...

Good to see you still knocking around SI ...

Please forgive this long reply but mine is a burden to proclaim repentance and you hit a gusher in me with your statement of "why bother" to keep in repentace ...)))

Healingwaters you wrote;
"I know of a friend of mine who holds the office of a (the unmentionable calling) ... But today after being beaten up by the church, shy's away from going into any church. But he does share some things to the body on an individual basis."

(((As stated previously i've purposely not used the "p" word you used and the "j" word as they are both lightning rods ... What i've learned on SI is that i can freely talk about the burden of the Lord that comes with the calling as long as i don't mention the calling, and i can get away with the word "correction" in reference to Christ dealing with His house tho scripture itself uses the "j" word ...

i can certainly understand why your friend chose flight after a while. i've done that a time or two myself, but in my case having to drag my burden thru only one pastor's house (to continue the analogy) i got sent back by Holy Spirit's unction three times ... After the third time i heard our Lord say in my spirit that i'd done all that He'd required me to do in that season, and that He'd (personally) handle my pastor from there ...

Shortly after that i went to a house prayer meeting because the same dear sister refered to in this thread called me and told me that God's man of that house had said to her that anyone who'd been seeking our Lord for an answer as to what to do next should come ... Well i'd been asking our Lord if i could leave (flee actually) my present assignment because there was nothing for me there ... i'd said/written to the pastor what i believe our Lord told me to finally do and it became a really further alienating experience ... i went to that prayer meeting and the word that came forth for me was out of Jeremiah stating that i could either stay (at my present assignment) or go with the Captain of the Guard (who i viewed as Holy Spirit) to Babylon (which i viewed as an oppurtunity to "thus saith the Lord" to the nations) ... i chose the latter, because nobody can beat a fellow saint down like other saints ... When fellow folk (especially pastors) in Christ take on a "well just who do you think you are" attitude about someone dragging the burden of an unmentionable, that persons in for a bruising ... And God help you if you humanly react to that bruising, because it will be used as further proof/justification that you can't possibly be a spokesman for our Lord, tho even Elijah himself ran having an actual ability to call down fire from heaven ...

i'm now in the same place as your friend in sharing my burden with individuals, tho i don't shy away from all churches ... As long as i don't hear our Lord telling me to confront a pastor i can get along fine, tho i'm still turning off some saints)))

Healingwaters you wrote;
"That church that once manifested the power of God in great demonstration has sold it's birthright for a bowl of soup.

Even though I speak this way, I too am no different. The feeling of being lost seems to be a common thing in and amongst believers everywhere. When one begins to remember how one spent his time when he first fell in love with the LORD. One begins to wonder what happened."

(((The same has happened with my assignment ... i've asked about this to our Lord often ... He assigned me to a Pentecostal circle, and in the past 25 years i see where that circle has lost it's grasp on the quest for holiness it had back then ...

Amen on that sense of many saints feeling lost, tho mind you i know that all saints ain't feeling lost, but i encounter many past the pretense of "i'm blessed" ... In retro i think the major thing that's happened to the Body of Christ is that we've been leavened by this false gospel of prosperity ... First love of Christ for me is that initial fiery zeal to love, honor, worship and adore Jesus, with that equal zeal toward the first work, that of telling others about Him! ... First love/works for God to me is to seek His face and feet, but that seems to have been replaced with a seeking of His hands ... We've been altered from seeking what we can do for God to show Him how much we love Him, to seeking from God what He can do for us to show us how much He loves us (as tho He could do anything above His sending His Son to die for our sins toward our re-obtaining what Adam lost for us) ... It's like it's come down to ok Lord i appreciate you sending Jesus but that's only an invisible blessing, but if you really want to show me you love me give me that big house on the hill ...

We've all been tainted by this prosperity horror to a greater or lesser degree, and it's what i hear our Lord saying to me that has saddened His heart so ... The love of money is the root of evil, and our pursuit of it as a nation, and more importantly as His Body is reeking all kinds of spiritual havoc ... In my prior assignment within 25 years it's went from emphasis on Bible Study to emphasis on how to make all our programs bigger, better and more exciting to the soul/flesh in order to bring in more $$$ ... Striving for kingdom building elevates the spirit of man because that's what Holy Spirit is all about, and this is the only outcome when truly Holy Spirit is bearing witness with our spirit (it's inspiration) ... But empire building, that of taking on the money centered corporate ideology of the purpose driven church, elevates the soul and flesh of man, grieves the Holy Spirit thereby starving man's spirit, and eventually doing serious damage to him soul and flesh (it's perspiration in direct conflict with the will of God and somewhere along the line He will make it fail) ...

He's given us space to pro-actively repent, but like Israel we ain't gonna believe Him until we have to re-act to His divine correction ... So it's no wonder to me that i'm hearing our big Dagon idol of materialism whose fire we're sacrificing our children in is about to be toppled, to the destruction of all the false wall builders who've gotten rich in their Balaamism ...

It's amazing to me how much trouble an unmentionable can get into by making such statements in the house of God ... It's statements like these that have caused a lot of ire from those who cross into my assignment ... With me bro Karl i don't feel lost, if anything there was a time when i would have like to have gotten lost, nay what i feel more often is lonely, being all by myself, and that sometimes gives me a most awful sadness ... But blessed be the name of our Lord, for weeping only endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning ... In this "wait" my flesh may still want to throw a fit every now and then but in my spirit i'm sitting at the Jordan, dawns glimmer just breaking the darkness, and i'm/we're going to the promised land! )))

Healingwaters you wrote;
"Things" have crowded in"

(((Exactly!!!)))

Healingwaters you wrote;
"One gropes in the darkness, knowing not where he goes, but knows that something is wrong, but doesn't know how to get back into the light. One thinks about repenting, but alas no tears, just words. One thinks to repent anyway, only to shun away from the thought because one will do it again and fall prey to sin again, so why bother. It's an endless cycle of sin/repent, sin/repent. I am sure there are many ones out there that must feel the same way."

(((Bro Karl you seem to be just as prone to feeling sorry for your self as i am :-P .

Amen there are a lot of saints entertaining this same self pity, but the important thing is is it fleeting or is it chronic? ... Mine once was chronic, but now happens to be fleeting and i think it's this way because of a few things ...

1 - i keep my face in my Bible about His assurances ...
2 - Because of #1 Holy Spirit has much ammo to shoot down my self pity when it rises ...
3 - Holy Spirit has shown me that my proness to self pity only manifests itself when i become refocused on me (what i can't do), and that it evaporates once my focus is brought back on Christ (what He's already done) ...

i once felt about repentance similar to what you've expressed ... We all have sin(s) that so easily beset us, many that we've placed varying degrees of "guilt" on (this usually greatly influenced by what the majority think) ... We have a sin, we yield, ad-nausem, and as you said, in the throes of self pity the question becomes "why bother to keep on repenting'? ... What i'm about to post is not for anyone who uses 1John 1: 9 as a liscence for continual sin, but for we truly fighting the spiritual battle ...

i think we keep on repenting ...

1 - Because even tho seemingly continual, it's an outward manifestation to Christ that we acknowledge our wrong ...
2 - Because it's a manifestation to the devil that no matter what our weakness we trust our Lord to forgive us of all unrighteousness ...
3 - Because it's a manifestation to us that we're ever mindful that we are not our own, tho we may still be acting with our flesh like we are ...
4 - Because we're indwealt by Holy Spirit and it is He Who's giving us that gnawing conviction to repent, and that we never want to get ourselves to the point of what's the use of reacting to that conviction in consequence of perhaps being turned over to a re-probate mind ... Uggghhhh ...
5 - Because eventually i believe after a point the sin(s) that we struggle with will substantially decrease, and eventually cease in our gaining of a more mature love for Christ due to an increasing understanding of the brevity of what He's done for us ... We are in Him, He has overcome the world, thereby the same power that is Him worketh in us, giving us His strength to as Nancy Reagan used to say "Just Say No" ... i'm not totally perfect in this either but when i'm determined that i can do all things thru Christ strength (and not my own) i can walk away from sin ... Our Lord showed me something about this scripture:

Rom.12
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

We all in Christ, by God's grace, have the ability to "present" our bodies either to God or to our desires ... Now as a babe in Christ i'll cede that it's possible to still fall prey to sin, but speaking as someone who now has a certain maturity in Christ falling prey to sin is not what we old heads do ... We oldsters willfully make the decision to present ourselves to sin, and from experience i can tell you that this is when i really gag on repenting ... But God is faithful, even when we're not, and it was in times like that that i could hear Holy Spirit screaming at me to repent, and so i did ... But i'll tell you this bro. Karl i do have a much increased love of Christ that now helps me to sin less, but the greatest deterent to sinning period in my life now is not wanting to feel the unnecessary awfulness of Holy Spirit's grieving within me as He's crying His conviction toward obtaining my repentance ... i feel so much more better in my everyday life when i feel what i call "clear" before our Lord ... 1John 1:9 with it's ability via repentance to clense us anew is such a vital weapon in our armory against satan when he comes at us with his accusatory finger after we've committed wrong ...

These scriptures come to mind showing me that our Lord already knows our struggles and that we'll all have our bouts with sin(s) as long as we're still on this side of glory ...

Matt.18
[21] Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
[22] Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.

1John.1
[8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
[9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Rom.7
[18] For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
[19] For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
[20] Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
[21] I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
[22] For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
[23] But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
[24] O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
[25] I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Heb.12
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

And finally in answer to your statement of "why bother" in regards continual repentance, this is one of my most beloved passages of scripture ...

Heb.4
[14] Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
[15] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
[16] Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Bro Karl (brothers and sisters), if this ain't reason enough to keep repenting before our righteous and loving God i don't know what else to say ...

All praises to our God who has covered all our bases even before we ever get there - Jude 1:24)))