I believe that these words might be a little controversial, it will spark within you either support or strong disagreement.  I don't believe that you will be able to walk away neutral on what I am going to share with you about the state of the church in North America. 

I pray that as your emotions begin to rise up and boil over, please allow the words I share be filtered through the word of God and prayer and soul reflection. I pray you will seek access to the Spirit of God to aid you in the interpretation of these thoughts on the state of the church on our continent.

Ever since time began, which began when Eve took a bite from the forbidden fruit. A fruit or lie she chose from the proverbial tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then ate without the knowledge she had just plunged her seed into eternal misery. She, like us, fell for this visually appealing specimen of epicurean delight. When she lived for the moment, she and Adam brought us, into place of death forever. 

Sin brought death and death continues to reign in our mortal bodies from our birth until we are born anew through the power of the Holy Spirit. This happens at the point when the Word of God is preached in the Name of Jesus.  At the point of our new birth in Christ, we are quickened to new life, but death still occupies a place in our bosom (read Rom 7).  It is not until we leave this planet and meet our Lord in the air that death will have lost power of us.

We must realize that death actually works under God's authority.  Our Lord uses our death through the reality of being in the flesh existence to keep us in a place of brokenness, prayer, and dependence.  Though we are more then conquerors in Christ, but only in Christ!! 

What has happened in the American church is the expression of death has increased and has taken the organized church under the grip of death.  

The current state of the North American church reveals that our churches are full of rancor and division, which alone testifies power and presence of "death" in the church.  

James 4:1 says, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?  Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?"  

When you compare our way treating the gospel message to our brothers and sisters of the 1st century, the original way of the first century apostolic church, we are brought to a great sense shame, because we just don't seem to see or experience the word pictures described for us in the book of Acts.  Only under the powerful influence of the Spirit of God and the conviction of sin which provides us with the gift of repentance that will draw us back into the good fellowship of God the Father. 

Israel had it all after the Lord wiped out Pharaoh's army in the Red Sea, yet even though they saw the destruction of their enemies they still slide away from their Only Deliverer.  They even wrote their first national hymn after Pharaohs army was completely wiped out.  

With all the glory of their national birth on the other side of the Red Sea, in just a few days, they were singing and dancing before an idol, the golden calf of Aaron, all done in the presence of God & Moses.  Moses was about to bring their marriage covenant documents from the Lord Jehovah for His Beloved People to celebrate their marriage covenant. 


But these pagan Israelites were still very Egyptian just like us!

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Death was still with them in the form of Egyptian idolatry and they did not shed these lies until Moses saw their sin openly and under Yahweh's guidance made them drink the gold powder water mixture until they craved death (Ex 32:19-21). 


In like manner, death has been seeking control of every church since the ascension of Jesus. 


Year by year, and church after church submits to the lifelessness of idolatry manifesting in the form of rites and rituals made by the minds and hands of men.  So sad for us, a people who have all we need in the Word of God and the amazing work of Christ. 


We see so often, after the Lord raises up his men and women to bring life to dead orthodoxy, that we naively cling to, the golden calf of their man-centeredness if they don't aggressively avoid this sin.  


So quickly the things God has intended for us to be established in His church becomes a symbol of the man-work that was supposed to stay under the power of heaven.  


Time and times again the Lord raises up people who feel the impulse of His heart, full of life and truth, these men and their churches, can quickly become like Aaron's golden calf. If we don't correct our love of the things made by our hands then we are back to the sewer from which we were dug.


The source of our gold, dear friends, that was intended to bless our neighbors and our world has been wrongly used to setup idols to our ideas and our comforts.


Real spiritual life in the church will return only if there is complete and total repentance by those in leadership and those who make up their congregations.  We can't keep pointing the finger, we all have had a part in the current mess that is the American church.  


Today we have become so divided that we are beyond the original recognized distinctness envisioned by the Spirit of God when the winds of Pentecost first blew in Jerusalem. 


Even in recent time, local ministers and I were praying for a major move of God to bring different denominations in our area together to reach the needs of our community.  These prayer times are essential for the power to come to our local communities.  We will not solve this problem alone.  


No one church group or denomination has all the answers.  The church of Jesus Christ is diverse and is made up of many different gifts and ministries as it should be. 


The Word of God speaks to us clearly, it says, we should no rivalry in the church, but we know that there is.


Frankly, we do not need a political change as much as we need a spiritual change in the climate of our local communities and their so-called evangelical churches.  


Our national problems can be solved if every local community and its true believers do what they have been called to do, one community at a time! 


The work of the body of Christ has been attacked so vociferously by Satan in the last few decades, now division and rancor mark our local regions.  We must fight to get back what was lost over the last several decades.


The loser in all this activity has been the local community that we are commanded to reach with the love of Jesus Christ.

 

We are but a shell of what we once were when our towns were first established in the USA, fortunately, we are realizing a new attitude in the rising generation, they could care less about denominational distinctives and hair-splitting.  


If we bring the love of Christ to our communities and the truth of the word of God they can redo the fabric of local community life. Not without opposition, but we do build will be sweet -- full of the Love of God!


I Thess. 1:9 "For they themselves report about us what kind of a *reception we had *with you, and how you turned to God from *idols to serve *a living and true God..." 

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To finalize, we will seek to tack down our argument, until the Holy Spirit brings us all to our knees, from the lofty heights of our high ranking leaders all the way down to the sinner who just discovered the power of the blood to forgive sins. If don't change and repent, we won't see anything happen that those who follow will be able to call a legacy.  


We need a complete overhaul in the church.  


A new work must come or we are headed straight for national post christian paganism as we see in many countries in Europe... where their populations call themselves christians by birthright, rather then through encounter with Jesus Christ!


Please people, no more TV type personalities with big buildings and blotted budgets... and banner waving of their ministry... no the Lord must be raised up HIGH and then He promises to draw all men to Himself.


No more Prim-o-Dona's running the show, in our time we must press Christ to the front of our ministries, even if we have to fall down and disappear until He comes.  


If we lift Him up we are promised that He will draw all men to Himself, not I might add, to our ministries but to Him!


Don't except anything but radical change for the church in America and prepare for persecution and trouble because I believe that only persecution will produce real and lasting change, for the Lord died to make us a beautiful bride not a divided whore monger, this is not your church, the church is the entire universe of diverse peoples and tongues, tribes and nations working together to perform His Will.


Let the church be the church we were intended to be and all will be well with us!


Blessings on You in Your journey onto God,



 

Jonathan