Real & Living Relationship

Real And Living Relationship

I was talking over the phone with a friend of mine today and the issue of financial accountability in the ministry came up somewhere in the discussion. One of the issues concerning this topic that came up is ministers who use the American Church System to prosper, become wealthy and live like kings among the people that they lead. The exact statement that he made was “they live extravagant lifestyles, while some of their key members and supporters live at the poverty level and in some cases are on welfare.”

Well you know me, that pressed the preach button in me and I just had to add more fuel to an already blazing fire. So I blew on some of the things that he was saying. While I was addressing some of these issues, I found myself being pulled in another direction by the one who possesses absolute veto power. I was not being convicted by Holy Spirit. I was not being corrected by Holy Spirit. No, it was something different. I am not sure what to call it; but I was talking about one thing and thinking about another at the same time.

It was then that it all became clear to me. In the middle of the conversation that I was having with this brother, I heard something. I am not going to tell you what I said to him about his concern; but I am going to tell you that at the end of what I said to him about his concern I had to explain to him that what I just said was according to that system of government. It was then that it dawned on me that something had happened inside of me. What had happened inside of me is that the institutional church system is no longer a part of my life. I don’t believe that way anymore. I have a new and different perspective now. I made the turn and shift has occurred, therefore I am operating by a new paradigm today. You see many of us have had our fill of man-made religion and even meeting for the purpose of fulfilling some religious criterion.

Before I go any further, let me first say that I love the Ekklesia and the fellowship of the brotherhood; but I despise organized religion and all that it represents with a purple passion. I believe that Christianity has done more to divide and alienate the body of Messiah from the true purpose of Yahweh than any other religion on earth.

Now, before you start spitting at your monitor or throwing your mouse across the room let me finish. Churchianity and religion have done more harm than good in America because we have become dull of hearing and have forsaken our habitation in Him.

We have become a nation of religious bigots and cynical skeptics. I have never lived in a time when the people of this country are more confused and divided than they are today. It amazes me how President Bush or his administration can get anything accomplished for this nation. The spiritual pulse of America is weak and fading. The vital signs of America are all but flat lining. The political system is brain dead and the legal system corrupt.

It is time for reformation. It is time to find ourselves and one another in Him again. I believe that the apathy, indifference and lawlessness that we all experience on a daily basis are primarily related to a lack of real passion for the purpose of Yahweh. And we are not living our lives out of a repentant heart. Instead, we just keep living day by day as if nothing is going to change about the economy or our lives.

By now, some are saying, “Who am I? There is really nothing that I can do about the condition or state of the nation.” I beg to differ with anyone that believes that there is nothing that we can do to make the state and condition of our life in this country better. I do not believe that this governmental system can or will be reformed; but I do believe that the hearts of men and women everywhere can and will change. John F. Kennedy once said; “Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country.” When we accept the responsibility to become all that we are supposed to be in life, the people of this country will take notice, respond accordingly and change will come that will reverberate around the world. If you can hear it, as it goes in this country, so it goes in Israel and the other countries with which we are allied. Have you seen the news lately?