Jn. 19:16b- SO THEY TOOK JESUS AWAY.
Wow! what a statement the Word of God makes that just rang in my spiritual ears as I read this portion of Scripture. The religious crowd was clamoring for Him to be taken away and the scenario of today is no different in our modern, Americanized church world. You know, I don’t believe in having big, gaudy symbols and stain glass everywhere in order to have a tabernacle where Jesus is worshipped, but when I hear preachers say things like “our church doesn’t have a cross or anything like that in it” as a statement of relevance and persuasion to attend I GET DISGUSTED! Are you insinuating that somehow the Cross is a negative? Are you admitting that what you are doing is so different from the DNA of the Kingdom that you are ashamed of the King and the work He accomplished on Calvary by purchasing eternal life for all who believe on Him? Some would say that the symbol of the Cross is too offensive…and i would ask TO WHO??? Those perishing in sin for need of that glorious Cross to be applied to their life (that they cant see anymore cause you took it down)? To religious people who have moved on from the Cross and no longer want to be reminded of the price paid for them? To carnal and comprising Christians who don’t want to be confronted with a sign of conviction because they are too busy to ever think of telling anyone else of the wondrous cure for sin found only in Jesus’ suffering?
Don’t think that the Cross no longer in a building is the only way in which Jesus has been taken away. His precious Word is being manipulated and torn apart to fit what itching ears want to hear and what scintillates the crowds. When topics like “7 nights of sex” are preached and reported on by the news media it brings me to ask, Where is God’s Word? Is that something Jesus ministered? Is that found in the writings of Paul? Did Peter, James, or John present something similar to the early church? I not only think not, I KNOW NOT!
A final arena I will address in this humble blog is that of the removal of the precious Holy Spirit from all aspects of Christian walk and leadership. No longer are the fruit of the Spirit valued. (Anyone with a bad temper on the golf course is now deemed “competitive” and not simply carnal and lacking self-control.) No longer do leaders allow the gifts of the Spirit to operate in the gathering of believers on Sunday morning for fear of making some poor visitor uneasy. (most have no need to disallow because they couldn’t move in the gifts if their life depended on it!) No longer is seeking the Lord Jesus for His direction and heart something required to lead a church. With creative teams and multimedia presentations becoming our only focus there is no room left for the direction of the One we used to know as Master.
My prayer today is that religion would be exposed, the agenda of man erased, and the person of Jesus would restored back to His rightful place as Head of the Church, Master of our lives, and Lord of the Harvest.
Jer. 10:10- But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at His anger. The nations cannot stand up to His wrath.
Right on target… Sad that it even has to be said! So is the world offend by our faith or are we?
What a powerful post here….it is good to know that there are still men of God who understand the importance of the Cross. Every time I read your stuff it is eye opening.
AMEN! I agree totally…Jesus has been removed from the “church” but th B.e sad thing is that most of them don’t even see it. The Church, the Bride, is lusting after the world and what the world thinks rather than having the presence of Jesus and his Holy Spirit. One of my favorite quotations is that “the thing that makes us different from any other religion of the world is that we have a PRESENCE…” but the bad thing is that some churches don’t want the presence because it OFFENDS people. We need to get over OFFENDING people.
Brad B.
PS- Very powerful word. Love your Blog Pastor Joel
What a great word! I especially agree that many who don’t move in the Spirit, CAN’T even if they had too!
Creativity, and innovation is needed in the church (We serve the original Creator & Innovator), but not at the expense of His Presence.
It is a shame that many people’s shallow understanding of Jesus is viewed as “insightful” & “original” when actually the reason why their ideas seem new is because those same ideas were tried before and failed to produce eternal fruit.
If we had revival there would be no need to entertain in church, people would be to busy being healed, freed, filled, and saved!
Amen & amen. The cross reminds us that we are all sinners destined for Hell without Jesus’ gift of salvation. We have to believe in the wrath of God to believe in the love of God. The devil has made popular the idea that Hell, if it exists, is only for the most vile & violent of sinners, & that very idea is what makes the cross seem like an unnecessary relic or decoration. It’s a veil of confusion that I held over my face as a non reborn Christian; I simply did not appreciate the enormity of Jesus’ crucifixion, the sacrifice of the perfect lamb of God. Would the Trinity allow that if all the good guys were going to Heaven anyway? “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” (John 3:36) In the free world, it’s easy to believe that rejecting some of the teachings is not the same as rejecting the Son. The politically correct grasp of the enemy is tight on many & makes strategy in soul-winning so important. I’ll never threaten anyone into a radical conversion, so the love has to be strong without falling into traps of compromise – all while remaining holy & sanctified so the Lord can work thru us & to avoid being labeled a hypocrite by our actions. Praise God for continually molding & forgiving us & to the HS for guidance. I have great respect for the 220 leaders training as many young apostles as can be reached. I believe with such groups all over the nation & elsewhere, revival will be a theme in upcoming generations. Blessings!
What a tremendous responsiblity we have. No one will run to Jesus without an awareness of the hopelessness and total depravity of our sin. We can’t just run tell people about Jesus. We have to make them aware of thier condition. Hell is not resting. It doesn’t burp anyone out or take time to wipe its mouth. It is in a constant gluttony state of being. I pray often that I (we) do not waste the grace that has been given to us in the promise that we have been anointed to set the captives free and heal the broken hearted. Now I know what it means to be wise as a serpent but harmless as a lamb. We have to be in the striking position to yank people out. And love them through their guilt to take them to the cross and we do that by remembering where we’ve come. Lord let that path not become dusty for us, but let us travel it often with a new soul. Lord Let us be obedient!!!!!!!!!
Powerful word Pastor Joel. It saddens my heart to hear/read it, yet I know it is true. Thanks for sharing it with such boldness and clarity. We must continue to lift Jesus up and therefore the Cross, it is our very salvation. God Bless you servant of Christ.
This was posted on my facebook today, and you might have seen it before. I posted it to my site because I had not ever seen it. This is a powerful Word, and might I add, the center of it being the Cross and how it was meant by God to hold all things together. How Great is our God. This video is at http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=40609c083b0d6d8b19bf. Check it out. You may have seen this before.
The first thing that came to my mind while reading this post was this: “We are not here to please man but to please God alone.”
Every single day we need to re-visit the cross. Jesus on the cross is the ultimate sacrifice and miracle. How can that ever be taken away? My heart hurts to think some churches would do such a thing. The devil is a LIAR!!! He is behind all of that nonsense.
Let me tell you, whenever I see a cross in Church or in my mind, I cry. Why? Because I am thankful for all that Jesus has done for me and for others. Because I STILL NEED the cross. AND BECAUSE I know it’s power.
If we keep caring about what people think, we will NEVER be able to do God’s work. You have to be God centered… not man centered!
This is right on. I believe the church has embraced great ideas and formulas rather than the presence of God. I am not saying these things are not needed today, but they can not replace the manifest presence of God. I believe that a large grouping of churches today are operating in the gift of wisdom/knowledge/leadership and have put away these other gifts. This is building a church based more on man’s abilities rather than the ability of the Holy Spirit. As we get closer to the final harvest, I believe that God is going to bring His church back to Himself and all of these things that we have built will fade away, and all we will have is Jesus. I believe that it is possible to have a church that is full of excellence and that is relevant, but these values should only be the icing on the cake. This world needs a Savior, a hero, someone to set them free, someone to give them hope, and His name is Jesus!!! Thank you for this timely word. God has been speaking to me on the very same thing. Oh God purify Your church. Make us holy. Oh that we would welcome Him again!!!!! I pray God’s blessings on you and Bethany!!!!!
This is a ” right now ” word to the church!! Many churches today totally keep the blood and the cross out of their message. Even on christian tv it’s hard
to find anything ” real. ” Most programs are about gaining wealth.
I was blown away the day I flipped by a program and decided to stop and check it out. I had never watched this Bible teacher, but most people would recognize her name. I must have picked a bad day because she was sitting at the desk with Donald Trump and they were discussing finances and money!! I can’t say ” The Donald ” didn’t get around to discussing the Bible because I didn’t stick around for the whole show.
Could this be the beginning of the formation of the apostate church?
Thanks Joe ….. for keeping it real!
Awesome! lol!
i believe in what you are doing Joel your work affects thousands of lives across the nation including mine 220i is but a year away from me though i am freaking out about it because you make it sound so darn hard i believe God wants me there my friend Jessica Fleming went now Breann Bart is there then its gna be me im radical but i am a wild stallion that needs tamed i must say being completley honest. I’m willing to recieve of the full Spirit not just the wild part but also displine. I receive of Gods annointing but with that i would like to be transformed into character He had i am taught to “be radical with good character” anyone can say powerful words i say but what is there motive is it to please God or to be heard? my generation is treading on thin line between the two
2 Timothy 1:12
For this reason, (For this purpose) I also suffer these things, nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know (You know, I know) who I have believed (I know who I believe in) and am persuaded (I am persuaded) that He is able to keep (Protect) what I have committed to Him until that (great) Day. Have faith, in God.