Radical Disciples – A Remnant Revolution

In the onslaught of exposed lack of godly character in Christian ministers, significant questions may have arisen in our minds. Questions like: Where is discernment? Why do so many people follow impure leaders? Where are the safeguards and controls to prevent such episodes of moral failures? What can be done to fix the systems so this does not happen and the people are not misled? Where is God in all this, and why doesn’t He correct these issues?

There are some basic major answers to these and other questions that most people may not be ready to deal with. It is futile to try to alleviate the surface problems without dealing with the root causes. The need is more that dealing with the issues of the ministry by better minister training or setting up checks and balances. It is not just the fruit on the limbs of the religious systems that is sick. The entire tree from the root up has been infected and is decaying. The decaying religious systems have born good fruit in the past centuries and will continue to produce some good fruit as long as the trees are standing. Many of us were born again through the church systems or some outreach of them.

Though the systems have born fruit, they have not been able to bring forth the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. The disease has made it impossible for them to bear the desired fruit of the real kingdom of God. Since its inception around the third century, the religious church systems have had a genetic predisposition for the whole tree, from the roots up, to dry up and decay to eventually become enriched soil for the new grass of the kingdom to spring forth and blossom with the beauty of the glory of God covering the earth. Back in the early 80s when God began to pour revelation of the kingdom into me and other seed planters, He told me that eventually it would come up like grass in a field. Grass grows close to the ground and seems to come from nowhere. It is not just a few tall trees, but it is many plants all at the same ground level.

A Season of Great Historical Significance

In this historical season of God’s transformation of His people from religious systems to the kingdom of God the old is coming down to allow the new seeds of the gospel of the kingdom to grow into the world. The religious systems have spawned the secular systems that both compete and cooperate for the rule of the world. The whole adulterated world of religious and secular darkness mixed with the true light must give way to the pure and glorious light of the kingdom of God.

God is cleansing the darkness from our midst, first from the children of God and then from the world.

The core answers to the questions above regarding the corrupt leaders and lack of discernment is that the church left the reality of the headship of Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit. Discernment is by the Holy Spirit. Empowerment for holy living is by the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God is in the Holy Spirit. When men after the first few centuries set up church government and turned to their own minds for guidance, the Holy Spirit pulled back leaving the then apostate church with only human intellect to discern the word and guide the church. Christianity became a religion, modern theology was born, and a hierarchy of men replaced Jesus as head. Doctrines were devised without the revelation of the Holy Spirit that favored the new system and shrouded the truth of the gospel of the kingdom. The void created by the loss of the Holy Spirit was filled by powerful religious spirits that have infiltrated and affected the religious church and the world ever since.

Though reformation began four or five centuries ago, there is much yet to be dissolved before the true gospel of the kingdom can be fully implemented. What we are seeing now in the uncovering of the corrupt character of ministers is a part of the major cleansing and dissolution of the religious systems that are decaying before our eyes. That which God used in the past is not usable in the kingdom age that we are entering. God is preparing a people of faith who will walk in holiness by the Holy Spirit and will be used to destroy the works of darkness and bring forth the pure clear light of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Love Never Fails Overcoming evil with good

Is it possible that the destruction of evil is now within the potential of Christ in man? Is it not possible that the Bible word is true and that good can overcome evil? Could it be that the Spirit of Christ bringing forth His love in the body of Christ throughout the world can bring forth righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit and overcome the evil of the world?

If we look at the problem, the multitudes of evil men who are bent on destruction, and the great deceptive philosophy of seeking carnal pleasure that rules men around the world, certainly it does not seem possible to the natural mind that evil can be defeated and the kingdom of God can and is coming forth into our world. Looking at the giants in the land is exactly what the enemy wants us to do. (Num 13:32-14-1)

The victory waits for men to grow in faith to really believe the words of God. Faith grows where there is righteousness, peace, and the joy of the Lord in the Holy Spirit. Faith in God cannot be strong in carnal pleasure-seeking people. The prayers and faith of righteous people will unleash the power of God to change the world. The great outpourings of the Spirit of God upon His mature sons can bring forth revival and people will repent of their mixture of seeking carnal pleasure and seeking to serve God at the same time. Many will turn to God with their whole hearts and become holy humble servants filled with the love and power of God by the Holy Spirit.

In the same season of great outpouring of Holy Spirit revival, great shakings of purifying judgment upon all the earth will continue. We will enter the kingdom age through much tribulation, and all pride and loftiness of man that lifts itself against God will come down.

Acts 14:22: “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.”

While at the same season of spiritual revival, the great apocalyptic cataclysmic events of the book of Revelation will destroy evil works and quickly alter the entire scheme of things in the world. Yes, it may be a bloody, fiery road to the kingdom, but God can protect and deliver His children. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God. (Rev 11:15) We will rule and reign in the earth with Him. (2 Tim 2:12) We will overcome the evil one by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. (Gen 18:14)

This is a miraculous transformation of God from the church age to the kingdom of God age. Only God could have ever orchestrated such an apocalyptical and cataclysmic series of events that would in the end bring forth the beauties of holiness in the glory of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Rev 12:11: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

All the rich history of the people of God all the incredible acts of godly people all the pain and suffering of Christ and the many who have willingly followed Him and suffered and died through the ages all the sacrifices of the saints all the victories that have been won all the revelation from heaven and all the faithful service of men and women in the church age have all been moving toward the season we have just began to enter the season of the proclamation and the manifestation of the promises of the ages for the redemption of all the kingdoms of this world as the kingdoms of our God. Christ Jesus, the rightful king of all, will fully reign with His holy Bride upon Planet Earth. And there shall be no more pain, no more sorrow, for the old will have passed away and the kingdom of heaven will be fully manifested on earth as it is in heaven.

We need not be discouraged when the unsoundness of mixture and corruption is revealed in the decaying church systems that have faithfully done and continue to do the works of God while striving with darkness of religious futility. When our own inner futility is revealed, we must count it all joy and be made holy and be made whole. The presence of God is among us to change us into the original design of image and likeness of God to rule and reign with Him in pure holiness and humility of love and power.

However, this is not just about our sanctification and empowerment; it is about our becoming redeemed sons of God to carry out the mission of restoring the kingdom of God on earth. We have a glorious and worthy mission , a mission that will only be done as Christ Jesus is formed in His Body by the Holy Spirit and we become as Christ in this world. Our mission includes the glory of God covering the earth, a goal worthy of losing our lives, that we find His life. Be greatly encouraged God is on the throne, and His love wins.

Keep on pursuing love.
It never fails.

Ron McGatlin
Coordinator OpenHeaven.com

http://www.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

“After much prayer, careful study and reliance on the Holy Spirit, I have concluded this about Christ’s intercession for us. Jesus died on the cross to purchase peace with God for me – and He is in heaven now to maintain that peace, for me and in me.” — David Wilkerson

Today is a sad day for me, for the man who led me to the Lord, died in a car crash yesterday, Rev. David Wilkerson. My heart and prayers go out to the Wilkerson family. If I were to say that I had a true Spiritual Father, it would be David Wilkerson, his writing and sermons shook and molded my life. David Wilkerson was like the John the Baptist and the prophet Jeremiah of this generation.

Of all the godly men that the Lord has used to impact my life, Rev. David Wilkerson impacted mine the most.

Rev, David Wilkerson started his ministry off in the streets of New York, reaching out, ministering the gospel message and love to the drug addicts and gang members. He went on to establish Teen Challenge in 1971 and then Times Square church in 1987, which today has over 8000 members.

His book, the Cross & the Switchblade had a very big impact on my life which was also made into a movie where Pat Boone starred as David Wilkerson and is one of my favorite movies.

His love for people and dedication to being a true watchman of the Bride was matched with a life of honor without compromise in regard to the truth about the Lord, His Word and the Kingdom of God. Like that of Jeremiah, Rev. Wilkerson was faithful in releasing the word that the Lord gave him to release. Making such bold comments as:

“Our nation is being led astray by ungodly judges, mayors and governors, who are given to change, defying the Constitution and substituting their own wicked agendas”.

And when asked about the modern day revivals he was quoted as saying:

‘Do I believe any of the “revivals” represent the last-days outpouring — the last great revival before Jesus comes? No! Not at all. We should rejoice in every work of the Spirit that results in true conversions — but any “revival” that purports itself to be “the great revival” and is promoted and “spread” by its leaders must be immediately discounted. When the last great outpouring comes, it is prophesied to come “upon all flesh.” It will not be isolated in just a few areas. No one will be counting numbers. Hungry seekers will not be falling backwards — but frontwards, on their faces, humbled and broken. The preaching of the cross will be central. There will be no fundraising, no introducing of star visitors. The meetings will be times of wooing by the Holy Spirit, because He never drives people to altars — He woos them. No one will have to defend such an outpouring. All manifestations will focus on Christ, not flesh. Weeping, brokenness, a lifting of holy hands in thankfulness for God’s mercy and grace will produce a true spirit of joy’.

He spoke about the state of affairs in much of the modern day church:

“I believe modern Babylon is present-day America, including its corrupt society and its whorish church system. No other nation on earth fits the description in Revelation 18 but America, the world’s biggest fornicator with the merchants of all nations. Ancient Babylon was long destroyed when John received this vision“.

and…

“Tragically, however, few ministers today have the anointing of God’s Spirit. They may be able to tell a good story or inject humor into their sermons. But they have no fresh word from heaven, because they don’t spend time alone with the Lord. The result is a widespread famine of a true word from God in the land”.

David Wilkerson was one of the few respected modern day prophets who had a track record of following the Word and his prophesies were always based in scripture. Even when it cost him much support in the United States as many of the main stream churches turned their backs on him, calling him such names as false prophet and prophet of doom. Yet the prophetic word’s that he spoke have come true and I am sure that history will prove those to be truthful as well for which he prophesied about the coming days.

Yet his love for the truth of God’s Word was always a motivation to speak in truth especially to those seeking the “perfect church” :

“Then you can go to any church, no matter how dead it may seem. Why? You do it so that you can connect with other Zadok seekers there! He has hungry servants everywhere — and he will supernaturally bring you to those who share your hunger to minister to the Lord”.

At the age of 15 my sister Roxanne took me to one of his crusades held in Bangor, Maine some 2 1/2 to 3 hours from our home and I can still to this day, some 30 years later remember most of his sermon. His words were on fire with the passion of the Lord and they found their mark in my hardened heart, breaking up the hardness until it was cracked to the point of the Lords words entering in and leading me to cry out to Jesus to be my Lord.

In the times when I would stumble, the Lord would in some way bring his messages back into my life and every time, this mans words of truth were used to return me to seeking the Lord. Over the past 10 years as I have walked in ministry, Rev Wilkerson’s sermons were a constant reminder of righteousness as well as holiness and have always been an encouragement to me to seek the Lords Kingdom and His righteousness first in my life. His daily devotionals were always spiritual food for me. There was a season last years when I was not attending a “church building” and I would sit and listen to his and Carter Conlon’s messages on Sunday morning’s and they continued to not only build up my faith, they encouraged me to also live a life of no compromise.

He was never afraid to speak on the subject of sin and hell, even in a day when it appears that many choose to appease the people, tickling their ears and entertaining them rather than remaining faithful to the power of God’s Word. Yet he was always sure to thread into every one of his messages, the grace and mercy of a forgiven God such statements as:

“God’s way is this: accept God’s gift, Jesus Christ. You can’t buy this love. He loves you even with all your sins and offers salvation to you — free. You don’t have to reform yourself. He’ll transform you”.

It is my prayer that when my time comes to go be with the Lord, that people will look back on my life and be able to say, like that of David Wilkerson, that I was faithful with the Word of the Lord in my life, and in the pulpit – not merely in my messages but my life’s actions as well.

In one of his messages he penned the following statement that will always be part of my life:

The messages to the seven churches were directed to “the angel” of the churches, meaning the pastors, leaders or messengers. John is saying,

“What I share with you is what every minister of the church ought to know and preach. This is the heart of God revealed against sin and apostasy – see that you hear the words, heed them, then preach them.”

I am honored to have been one of the thousands that God used David Wilkerson to bring into His Kingdom. My life will never be the same because of him. One day, when I walk the streets of heaven I hope to meet him once again, just to say thank you David, for your faithfulness in love & service to the Lord and His Bride!

IHS,
Russ Welch

The Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him and called out his name “the Lord.” Then he passed in front of Moses, calling out, “The Lord, the Lord, a compassionate and merciful God, patient, always faithful and ready to forgive. He continues to show his love to thousands of generations, forgiving wrongdoing, disobedience, and sin. He never lets the guilty go unpunished, punishing children and grandchildren for their parents’ sins to the third and fourth generation.” Immediately, Moses knelt, bowing with his face touching the ground.  (Exodus 34:5-8)

What man or institution has these qualities? In addition, He is the eternal Creator, Healer, Savior, Judge, and the very pinnacle of wisdom, understanding, and grace.

Yet, mankind is so deluded that, without realizing it, many worship their consciences formed by their own earthly experiences.

A true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ will walk as He did, spending time with the Father and allowing Holy Spirit to form the truth of who God the Father is in our hearts & Spirit that we be not mis-led by our own hearts or the opinions of others. Jesus showed us the way to live our lives friends, by going to Father God in prayer and spending quality time there.

We need to be like Moses crying out – “I want to see your face” and “I will go no place unless You go with me Lord”

Oh that we would indeed being as willing as our Lord to do what the Father has called us to do:

Jesus stirred people up so that they said, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:46). He challenged and exposed the hypocrisies of the religion of His day and was moved to deep anger by the shameless exploitation taking place at the Temple. He was of such personality that He walked unscathed through hostile crowds. Jesus was meek, but the term indicates that He had the power to use as He willed, restraining it as an act of mercy, wisdom, and love.

Christianity is not for the soft and sentimental. We have a war on our hands, and our God is a powerful warrior—the Lord of Hosts is His name. He is on our side, but He demands our loyalty.

No soldier(H) gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (I) An athlete is not(J) crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is(K) the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. (2 Tim 2:5 AMP)

We must get to the place as Disciples of Christ where the appeals of this world no longer entice us.  More and more the desire to watch any TV is dying in my life – not because all TV is bad, it is because it takes away from the time I could be ministering the gospel message. TV robs our time – it consumes seconds, moments and hours from time that we could be consumed by the Lord’s presence! The same is about getting all tied up in the celebrated holidays that are not of the Lord, they can consume your time and money – even your joy!

As to TV, I found that I would watch the news just to find out what was going on in certain political parties and would get all riled up. Then  I read this chapter in Timothy and had to get on my knees and say “Your right Father, the affairs of this world must not consume my time – my faith is in you and you hold all things in your hands.

We will have to discipline ourselves. In Timothy’s case, the rules are scattered throughout Paul’s epistle to him. In terms of the Sabbath and the annual feast days, they are the only days in the entire Bible that God designates as “holy.” They are part of “the rules.” God never gives His approval to Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, but only the seventh day, the Sabbath. He never gives His approval to Halloween, Christmas, Easter, and all of the other man-made holidays, but only the ones He points out to us in Leviticus 23.

The Sabbath must not be a tradition or stumbling block – it must be viewed and lived just as the Lord intended it – a day of rest – a day to spend with family and friends to rejoice in all that the Lord has done for us!

Let us lay down the ways of this world and pick up the WAY of the Lord to direct our life!

Welcome to my blog – here you will be able to read some pretty radical idea’s in regard to the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ – then again the people considered the Lord’s teaching pretty radical 2000 plus years ago – they were radical because they went against the traditional religious beliefs in that time – even today the true teachings of Jesus are a swift slap into the face of the man-made traditions that many of the churches hold onto – their sacred cow doctrines.

The Father is sweeping across the vast “church” landscape filled with walled divisions and man made empires that have been empty of His Presence due to their claiming the glory rather than placing it where its due – Upon His Son.

Prayerfully this blog with shake any religious mud that may have become cakes upon your spirit man and bring a clear understanding of who we – the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ – are really called to be – our radical life style of selfless servant-hood – laying down our lives daily and picking up the cross that the Lord has prepared for us – the thirst to see the Fathers Will carried out in our daily walk – the hunger to see the harvest field filled with workers and the desire above all else to see the name of Jesus Christ lifted higher than anything else.