YEEESSSS! ISSUE 1,000!

THE FIRST ISSUE OF PGIM WAS ISSUED ON 21 OCTOBER 2001!

Since then, through God's grace we have clocked up 1000 weeks without missing one! 

I thank God for my good health that has enabled this to happen. 

Going back to Issue 1, it came out 4 weeks after 9/11, a day which all adults will never forget. 

I remember that I was driving to a breakfast meeting, when I heard the first tower had been hit. I got inside and saw the second tower being hit, something no-one could believe, and then watched both towers collapse. 

A third plane hit one corner of the Pentagon, while a fourth plane, through the actions of some brave passengers, crashed into a field in California, shortly after it was hijacked.

It has taken until this week for a greater number of people to die in America in a day from a sindge event, with over 3,000 dying of Corona.

Following is first article of the first PGIM!

1st PGIM EDITORIAL!

ONE MONTH ON.....

THE LORD's MESSAGE FOR TODAY.....

A MESSAGE TO THE (NON-PERSECUTED) CHURCH

 The Reformation in the 16^th century has been attributed to Martin Luther with his 95 Theses, nailed on a church door in 1517. It actually had its roots more than a century before with the first modern bible translators, such as John Wycliffe in England, published in 1382, and others in Europe, in their languages also.

 The Bible was brought into the hands of common man, through the wonder of the printing press, invented by the German Goldsmith, Johannes Gutenberg, in 1439.

At the time of the Reformation, the Lutherans were persecuted by the dominant Roman Catholic Church, and the Anabaptists, even more harshly, by both.

This set the pattern for new revelation churches to be persecuted by the established ones, right up to today, albeit in a gentler way!

In the 18th century, the great evangelists John Wesley and George Whitfield were kicked out of the established church and stoned, amongst other things, by the general populace to whom they took their message. Wesley, in particular, tried to stay in the church, but the message of salvation he preached was too radical for them.

Nearly 100 years later, the famous evangelist Charles Finney, spent his time evangelizing Christians in the church.

A more modern illustration of this church rejection can be seen in the last 120 years, when the Holy Spirit came back into the church in power through the Pentecostal and then Charismatic movements. The Pentecostals were rejected, often loathed by the established churches, and they thrived, meeting in homes, led by people called, not paid, and they grew greatly, both numerically and spiritually.

However, eventually the movement grew so much they built churches, paid pastors who had to have a diploma or degree from one of their new theological colleges in order to be employed. Pastoring became a job rather than a calling and today, most Pentecostal are bereft of the Holy Spirit, as other churches are. Sure, they have loud music and enthusiastic worship, for that is their spiritual substitute.

Revivals, right up to recent times, have primarily revived Christians, rather than bringing unbelievers to Christ.

We can see a pattern here. When persecution of Christians decreases, when churches are accepted as a part of society, they lose their spiritual life and develop a token belief in Jesus. They die spiritually and become little more than clubs where people go on Sunday to be encouraged as to how God loves them, how all their sins are forgiven without repentance, how they can be successful in life and rich with a positive mental attitude, and go to heaven when they die.

Church has become an entertainment centre, with strobe lighting and worship bands, clever video presentations and a congregation who spend as much time on their phones as listening to the message.

Legalistic tithing, rather than giving from the heart is encouraged, in order to run the church infrastructure of buildings, staff and programmes. Missions and looking after the poor are relegated to the back place of priority, if they exist at all. Evangelism may or may not be talked about, but it is seen as the role of the paid professionals, not the lay people. Spiritual duty is attending a church service, where all are on their best behaviour, before going back to worldly living for the rest of the week.

The non-persecuted church worldwide needs to get back to the spiritual foundations of teaching the consequences of sin, the necessity for repentance, encouraging discipleship and holiness, choosing the narrow path that leads up the mountain to where the presence of God dwells.

The ‘hard’ verses of the reality of sin, repentance, and the necessity of developing the character of Jesus in our lives through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, need to be taught but first seen in the lives of those teaching them.

If people do not live the Christian life, in spite of saying the unbiblical sinners’ prayer, their salvation is not real. Two good initial signs of genuine repentance and belief in Jesus are, forgiving those we have wronged and what we do with our wallet.

Arguably Billy Graham was the greatest evangelist of his time. Yet after 1 year, only 6% of those who accepted Christ in his crusades had made a noticeable change in their lifestyle.

In our churches, there are many attendees who have not been truly saved, as defined by living a godly lifestyle. Attending church does not make anyone a true follower of Jesus.

A case in point….. is me! I was brought up in a Christian home and attended a Baptist church. I was baptized and in mid-20’s my pastor suggested I should go to Baptist College to train to become a minister. I told him that if he knew what was inside me he would never have asked. After a period in the world through my 30’s, my very successful business collapsed as a result of the 1989 share market crash. I was devastated! I had to register for the dole (unemployment benefit) in order to feed my family. It was in the queue in the Social Welfare Office that I truly gave my heart to the Lord. I went from knowing about the Lord to actually knowing Him personally. I am not unusual in that our churches are full of unconverted Christians, for whom church is a lifestyle but who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus.

The church is our first harvest field, as Charles Finney recognized in his day. Nothing has changed.

The church (assembly or gathering) at Laodicea, the last of the 7 churches of Revelation that Jesus evaluated in the early chapters of Revelation, is widely recognized as a picture of today’s church…..

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  (Revelation 3:15:17)

God is rejecting today’s church – unless it changes soon!

¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (Revelation 3:18)

The refining of gold talks of overcoming trials and temptations, so purifying the dross from our lives. White clothes speak of righteousness and holiness. Eye salve is a product that Laodicea was famous for. Our eyes need to look to the things of God, not those of the world.

¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Revelation 3:19)

As I have mentioned several times already, repentance if required as the first step in returning to God.

²⁰ Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3 :20)

While Christians generally apply this verse to the unsaved, it was actually written to the church! Jesus is knocking on many doors of Churchians , who are not opening their door to Him!

But there is great reward for those who do! In fact the greatest reward promised to any of the 7 churches.  (people, not buildings etc.)

²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)

HALLELUJAH!

Remember…….

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14) 

The process is beautifully illustrated, if not fully understood, in the verse Revelation 12:11.The Lord gave and explained the verse to me 25 years ago as the foundation on which His ministry, not mine, Walking With Jesus Ministries, was to be based.

It gives the recipe of the way that satan can truly be overcome in our lives. It reads, with some explanation in the brackets ()…….

They overcame him (that is satan) by the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) and the word of our testimony (through the Holy Spirit); they loved not their lives so much as to shrink from death. (obedience to God the Father)

(Revelation 12:11)

Traditional and Evangelical churches know about forgiveness of sin through the blood of Jesus.

Pentecostal and Charismatic churches know of the infilling or baptism if the Holy Spirit.

But the revelation of the end time kingdom church that of obedience to the will of God the Father in our lives is little understood or taught today.

It is only through the application of all three parts of the verse that true holiness can be found.

There is much titillating teaching today about a great end time move of God through which many, or all will be saved and we will all live happily ever after!

Actually, my Bible teaches me that there will be a great falling away in end times.....

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

.....and much persecution of the church!

⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:4-14)

Persecution s coming! Many can see it on the way! A falling away from the ‘country club’ our churches have now become is already happening. Church attendance figures throughout most of the non-persecuted world are declining, brought about by increased wealth, generating self-reliance – or when things fail, reliance upon the state. God is no longer necessary in a growing number of people’s minds.

The false doctrines of hyper faith and prosperity bringing wealth, have taken over much of the church. Here in Africa, it has become an epidemic, for the people have little. Instead of relying upon God to help them in their challenges of life, many now look to false teachers who con them out of the little they have in order to grow rich themselves. Of course, it doesn’t work, and the people become poorer than ever!

But this is not only restricted to Africa or other poorer countries, it is found throughout the world, coming initially out of America, the wealthiest country of all.

Please be warned. Unless your church gets back to the basics of repentance of sin, discipleship, missions/evangelism, helping the poor and living holy lives, your church will die, constantly reducing in numbers, and most certainly, in spiritual death.

The choice is up to you. Are you going to lead your (actually not your, but God’s) church into oblivion? Or are you going to repent and seek God’s guidance, applying basic biblical principles to your teaching.

However, all is not lost! God will always have His way! Through persecution a new and stronger church will arise, one that is truly sold out to Him! For np longer will it be the thing to do to go to church. In fact it will be extremely costly personally to follow Jesus!

The true God focused church, will likely have to go underground, as seen in the church in China over the past 50 years or so. While certain, powerless state approved churches may nominally exist; the true dedicated followers of Jesus will be forced to share their faith in secret.

For there is a new church arising! God’s end time, sold out to Jesus, kingdom church, one not in place, but in spirit.

There are no formal church regulations, no register to sign, but a ‘church’ of overcomers, of those fully dedicated to Jesus, living holy lives le by the Holy Spirit, obeying God the Father’s will  in and for their lives.

This was perfectly illustrated in the Old Testament through the Tabernacle of David, where the Ark of the presence of God was housed in a simple tent, free for David and the people to worship at for a short period before the Temple (symbolic of Jesus reign on earth) was built by King Solomon.

The really interesting, prophetic aspect though was that throughout this time, the Tabernacle of Moses remained at Shiloh with the priests carrying out their religious duties as they always had, even though the presence of the Lord had long departed to Jerusalem via the Philistines to be with King David.

That is an apt message and warning to the church today. Is your church one of the presence of God, or are you simply carrying out your religious duty day by day, as it has always been done?

The kingdom church is a David’s Tabernacle church, one of people from all churches, those who wish to live their lives in the very presence of the Lord.

Where are you at as a church leader or a congregant today? Whom will you follow? Are you comfortable living the old religious ways, or do you to sit at the feet of God through Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit, enjoying His presence in your life, and obeying His will for you personally.

The choice is mine. The choice is yours. What will you personally decide?

David Tait (Servant of God)

WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES wwj.org.nz   david@wwj.org.nz

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ABOUT US

WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry, started in New Zealand and now located in Malaha, Webuye, Kenua. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God's people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ's return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord's direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our website 

wwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.

Walking With Jesus Ministries

P O Box 2

Webye 50205

Kenya ( Not recommended)

Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz

Web: wwj.org.nz

Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "... so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is encourages your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole - and have a smile while doing it!

For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
david@wwj.org.nz