as to the 'why' Godly threads sometimes dont go into multiple pages, there's no 'wrestling'....you get me?
for instance, if i was to start a thread on 1st John, and the section in chapters 3 and 4, where John unpacks the word, "love" multiple times, 33 if i'm correct from memory, and compare that to Paul's love chapter in 1st Corinthians, there's no implicit "wrestling" in that, there's nothing to make the HUMAN heart race, meaning man does not get to 'wrestle' with man, to argue about this 'doctrine' or that 'doctrine' nothing to get into the "i'm right/you're wrong" dichotonomy, and that dichtonomy means DRAMA follows. thats what the flesh enjoys, that heart racing trip to prove ones self RIGHT...ie self justification.
SELF----DRAMA-----> "i'm right, you're wrong"...its man wrestling with man, and since its on a cyber platform, people get to do it, without consequence. Because one is NOT face to face with another saved sinner, therefore the restraints of Godly civility CAN take a "time out".
its an evil age, and has been since Jesus breathed His last on that Tree. When i ponder "man wrestling with man", i zip right back to the Jabbok River, where Jacob wrestled with God, who in the final analysis was Jesus, a Christophany. Jacob wasnt wrestling with another "man", He was wrestling with God, because he was desperate, terrified about the eventual meeting with his brother Esau. That night, Jacob was given a New Name,Israel. He was changed...and obviously, given the platform, we cant witness a man wrestling with God, so in our futility we get a rush over wrestling with one another, which flies in the face of the Second Royal Commandment, "love your neighbor as yourself".
that face to face fellowship can never ever happen on a cyber platform. and the tragedy is many here MIGHT tell you, such threads, the contentious ones, are really "iron sharpening iron", but that doesnt ring right, because you cant SEE that other 'bar of iron', there's no FACE to it, just a bunch of words, and Godly love and restraint fall by the wayside. in the past, much to my shame, i've been guilty of this as well. to my shame. in fact there is a poster right now afoot, that would tell you, i'm guilty of such a sin, ie , restraint flying by the wayside. Now it appears to me, the dear man is of the "hebrew Roots" movement and is trying to foist up fences around the saved sinners. i wish no contention with him, i only asked two simple questions, are you a Jew?..and not of any anti-semitism, coz i'm a Jew who follows Jesus and i asked, very clear, 'are you of the 'hebrew roots' movement...asked him in two seperate threads...no answer.
which begs the point, how willing is someone, on a platform like this, willing to be transparent?...how willing is someone to authentic and real in God's Light, that Piercing Light, and clearly many people are afraid of being unmasked, to have that Light pierce right thru the brittle facade of religiousity, and reveal us how we really ARE.
i believe one of the greatest private ministries one can undertake is a fearless self examination in conjunction with God the Holy Ghost, and again i say, when this "inventory" is taken, to get real with God, and say the prayer of Evan Roberts, "bend us O LORD, bend us", and when you pray THAT, get your seatbelts, coz the Ride is about to get very bumpy, but in the end, you get closer to a Deeper Work IN Christ, and a Deeper Revelation of christ, a dying to self, and that isnt easy, because death is a hard thing, proud men die hard, as Frank Bartleman said, this death to self, death to flesh is hardest for the preacher man, becoz Heaven forbid they get their "clothes" ripped off and are shown to be as weak in the flesh as we all are!
thats what stands in the way of revival, whether it be personal, or in His Sovereign Nature, God saturated the very atmosphere of a perticular area, or assembly, the fact we are just scared to abase ourselves, to committ to a Baptism of Tears, to committ to a baptism of Fire...
simply put, Godly threads get little traction, becoz there's little to no flesh in them, and you can get the rush of bashing someone with little or no consequence, but get face to face with a group of followers of Jesus, in prayer, salted with tears...or get face to face with a basin and wash your brothers feet, and there will be consequence, said consequence being God unveiling His Mighty Arm, coming down and salting all with His Love, and all the muck and mire will melt away in this Intense Fire, and i guess thats a scary prospect for some folk.
MOSES didnt even want to appraoch the Mountain! that's how terified he was!...the very Moses who talked with God as a Friend, Face to face, yet he was terrified, think how Awe inspiring such a meeting with the Master would be!...look at Isaiah, prince of the Prophets, he started to cry out, "woe is me! i'm an unclean man with unclean lips', when he was allowed to see the Throne of God,,how much so, then a REAL meeting with God? and that real meeting is revival...and i dont speak of a meeting where you get the Holy Ghost thrill bumps, i'm speaking about standing before God naked blind and broken...and that is a heavy price to pay, but a price that MUST be paid, if we ever want to be witness to God coming down, and clearly we cannot recieve such just anonomously writing of it on a cyber platform. Every ministry, must at its foundations, have an active prayer ministry bathing it in Holy Ghost prayer. If it doesnt, it is a fact, such a ministry will go on the rocks and shoals. Thats not my vain imagination, thats Reality.
in conclusion, some may say the Azusa Street revival of 1906 was counterfeit, which is fine, people can say what they want, BUT, God put a man, flesh and blood, like you or me, in the midst, his name was Frank Bartleman. God gave Frank a gift of a facile pen, and Frank had been writing for various "Holiness" publications before the Revival, so that when God dame down on that humble barn Church in LA, nominally led by a one-eyed black preacher William Seymour, it was Frank's writing and testimonies in Holiness publications that drew hungry souls to drop everything, go to LA, for this Work..and if people want to think it waas 'about money' the only money collected was a freewill offering box in the rear of this HUMBLE building....my point is this; in His Way, God raises up men for a season, in revival, to be his laborers, and like John the Baptizer, they grow less, and Jesus grows more. for a season, these men burn like living Witnesses and testify to the Light, and then they are gone. David Brainerd burned in the wilderness,led many Indians in revival to Christ, then he was gone to be with the Lord at 29, Evan Roberts, at 26, used by God for revival in Wales, for a season, then Evan receded into the background, pressed out, and went into a private prayer ministry...out of the public, God hid him. Duncan Campbell used of God in the Hebrides from 1949-1953 in revival, and then he receded, and Jesus and Jesus ALONE was given the Glory.
thats why a forum on revival is good for ONE THING, not these sad spectacles of man wrestling with man over silly religious points of contention, but so that the Worms of Christ can indicate and testify when God comes down in His Sovereign Way in a searing Holy Ghost Revival. To DATE, this has not happpened BIG, but it will, and God willing, there will be no cameras, no 'superstar' preachers, no streaming links, no tatooed actors using their dirty hands to steady the ark, no talk of money and collections, no 'interview' in "Christianity Today", nothing of this ilk, only thousands of burdened souls being SWEPT into the Kingdom of God, and the men who God entrusts with such, will be burnt out and recede into the background....i hear the name "Barnsdall" and my heart leaps, and asks the question, could this be the Ember?
such is worthy of deep searching travailing prayer, thats maybe why God has you on here, thats maybe why God is keeping you here, so you can be a WITNESS!...but as the LORD leads,SMASH THE CAMERAS!!! NO FLESH! Only Jesus.
neil
