Voice Of A Prophet

Did I Miss The Memo? Has Ministry Been Recently Redefined? (This is a bit of a read. Reading To The End Would Be Very Beneficial)

A lot has not worked for me in ministry in recent years like it used to in the previous 2 decades. So I have had to reevaluate, reassess and re-educate myself. As I sought spiritual insight and solutions, I was taught to observe 3 major categories of people.

The Mental Institution Group – these are people whose mindsets, orientation and disposition are just so twisted, it would require a miracle for them to understand & accept gospel truth, no matter how simple it is presented. The minds are too stuck with falsehoods, half-truths and hell-bound doctrines. Trying to convince such persons would be like a dog chasing its own tail endlessly.

The Tree Stump Group – These ones are stuck to old ideologies in such a way that nothing new you say or do can move them. The only (unadvised) way you can work with them is to sit still with them at their point of stagnancy, tradition, religiosity and bareness. Stumps may grow a few leaves. But, they are never going to fully grow to bear expected fruits.

The Wild Tiger Group – these are people whose unregenerate basic human (animalistic) instincts remain intact and violently active, no matter how much they act churchy. These are people who would unexpectedly pounce on you for no just reason/cause. They will seek to undermine, attack, hurt and harm you just to achieve self-interest, selfish goals and self-centered objectives. Such people rarely respond to loving interest no matter how calmly you offer it.

Lessons Observed & learned?

1. Most people are not any more interested in growing spiritually, they prefer to lie low in Biblical ignorance forever. A minister who will not remain or get stuck to their level of babyhood will soon provoke their anger and lose them.

2. If one will not permanently engage baby tricks and gimmicks to keep people caged for personal use (abuse), whims & caprices, they will not be kept in discipleship/Christian training for long. They would rather be distracted and taken over by popular showmanship or show-woman-ships that are readily available to take advantage of their personal greed, weaknesses, slothfulness, slackness, spiritual ignorance and scarce resources.

We used to see real spiritual conversions, repentance, transformation and the corresponding attitudinal & behavioral changes. We used to immediately know when people truly accepted JESUS as their LORD & SAVIOR. We used to be able to separate born-again people from the crowd of orthodox weekly ritualistic church service attendants. Now it seem more like ministry & Pentecostal churchianity or church-going are now all about transactions, numbers and statistics. Those have become the new order for measures of ministry successes.

Could it be that transformed and turned-around Christlike lives and lifestyles now NO LONGER MATTER?

I recently learned another hard lesson, many who need the help that God equipped you to offer, are not even patient enough to realize you are a helper. Many of them who even realize you can help, will take measures to resist your help on purpose, to prove that they can make it without God-sent help. From where I sit, I writhe in emotional pain a lot, when I see many end up in avoidable pitfalls. As a prophet I see ahead of people more than I say. I used to speak out to seek to help people more promptly until I realized most people do not want to learn until they make their own mistakes. Some of those mistakes are costly.

For those who do not know what my ministry is about, my work was to meet people at their levels and try to light them with gospel/Bible truth and lift them up for Christ JESUS! It is a ministry where one has to bend down really (humbly or poorly) low to try to pull people up from “drowning”, to higher, spiritual, matured Biblical lifestyle. Recent experience seemed to show most folks would rather be their own self-indulging and carnality-engaging God.

As I brooded over the thoughts that informed this writing, I was made aware of Bible precedent of the kind of times we may be living in.

1. God prepared Abram’s mind, even before he had the covenant son Isaac/Israel, his generation will be trapped as bond-servants/slaves under wrong/suppressing Masters, led by men & not God for about 400 years. Their spiritual services will be undermined and muddled up by human oppressors. Those were wasteful spiritual years outside of God’s will. God predicted the future, he was not declaring the future. Human responsibilities or lack of it, determines the outcomes that people experience in this life. Genesis 15 from 13.

2. Between the Bible books of Malachi & Mathew, nothing of significance in human religiosity mattered enough for Biblical records. About 400 years expired in between those Bible records. No mattered how much those in the 400 years generations mouthed God’s worship in those times, in one form or another, it did not register with God, or, in heaven.

3. The Acts 17 worshipers of the unknown God who were passionately devoted to conducting superstitious churchianity services, without personally working relationship with JESUS Christ would have perished in religion if apostle Paul did not call them to attention. Many did not accept the needed change regardless. Acts 17 from verse 21.

God is not intimidated by our false religion, lack of spiritual growth, abhorrence of practicing God’s will, or disregard for genuine God-ordained servants whose voices are overwhelmingly silenced. It costs God nothing to destroy everyone. He owes us nothing. Do not be fooled by those who talk about God like they made him. God is sovereign. He ALONE decides what He wants and how He wants it.

Maybe some will judge this writing as a personal rant. Maybe others will learn something and choose to count themselves in to save a few away from another impending “Noah-days flood” into JESUS Christ’s “ark”.

To end this long talk, may I invite those who identify with my concerns, to join me as I seek others to work together with, to do what we can, to lift more people up unto Christlikeness, & to light up this globe with repented, transformed, society-influencing, JESUS-Kingdom, change-agents.