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Monday, October 13, 2008 A PASTOR FINDS THE REAL JESUS
For ten years I served the Harlot Church system as a Saul. I worked extremely hard doing that which I thought was the work of God. Later I received a true revelation of Jesus and I left being a Saul to become as Paul. It happened to me as it did to this author I quote below. I receive a meditation every morning and only one. It is by Chip Brogden and he knows, preaches and teaches the real Jesus. Here in today's meditation Chip writes of how, as an ordained pastor he finally found the "real Jesus." He was like so many ministers today that don't know Jesus, but have built ministries of self righteousness and dead works around a facsimile and counterfeit of the True Son of God.
Today's organized Christian religion has usurped the position of Christ and His body. This false, corrupt and emaciated religion is made up of many Saul's that stand in their raised pulpits preaching to more Saul's sitting in their congregations. My prayer is, that Jesus will reveal Himself, that these like Saul might be thrown to the dust, and from the dust would rise up men and woman, as modern day Paul's sharing the true Gospel of Christ. As we approach the end of this age the world writhes in pain, groaning to hear and know of the True Jesus and the Saviour of the World.
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"And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" (Acts 22:6,7).
All it takes is a millisecond of time for the Revelation to strike you down. I recall when I first received the Revelation of Jesus Christ. I had had many religious and spiritual experiences up to that point, more than the average person. I had been a pastor and teacher for many years. I thought I really knew the Lord. But one day God revealed His Son IN me. I was sitting in the backyard reading the Word and without warning, in my heart of hearts, I "saw" (not with my eyes, but inwardly) Jesus seated at God's right hand, and I saw myself raised and seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).
That day was like walking out of one room and into another, closing the door behind me. I got a glimpse into another world. I finally knew what before I had only talked about. Though not as outwardly dramatic as Paul's experience, inwardly a massive earthquake had taken place and my foundations were ripped to shreds. It was the beginning of the end of my career as a preacher for Organized Religion. I saw the real Jesus and realized He was nothing like flesh and blood had said. Hallelujah!
For the rest of Chip's article you can find it here:
http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/articles/revelation.html
If you care to receive his daily meditation this is the link given for that: http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/join.html
In His Sweet Lord Jesus,
Jack
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Kratos Rests Tonight in the Father's Bosom.
 We received this e-mail from Karen,
John (Kratos) McManus' wife,
today, August 24.
Hello Brother,
Just wanted you to know that John, my sweetheart went to Heaven on August 21st. We had a wonderful service yesterday and the Lord was with us...now I am seeking His will for our son and myself to know how to live until we are all together again. Thanks for all of your prayers and support with John in the past.
Love in Christ, Karen
We would be remiss if we did not take this opportunity to reflect on John.
John was a Jesus man, by that I mean life centered in obedience to Jesus. A great deal of how I perceived John was typified in the WWJD bracelets worn by so many in the organized church world. I understood so much of what he wrote because we both ministered and hung with the same group, known as the “faith movement”. When we first became acquainted, he would debate a point from that view. So much changed these last three years as we grew in our understanding of our Lord. We were all it seems in the school of Christ together.......and we shared from our most different aspects and lessons.........
John and Jack debated on several forums and sometimes you might even find me involved........lol. We all grappled with the things God is making clear to us now…somewhat like the proverbial story of trying to describe an elephant to each other from opposite sides of the beast in a dark room.........…..Here are just a few of the topics we discussed;
* eternal torment vs. all will be saved,
* sovereignty vs. free will,
* need for covering, submission vs. Jesus is our head and only covering
* new age doctrines vs. Jesus is enough.
Every doctrine and creed was examined and re-examined over the three years we knew John. And yes, we came to love and respect him deeply, as a champion of the faith.
Often John and Jack would be on opposite sides of a debate. They were relentless with what they believed God had shown them in an unusual, spirit led way. They would lay it on the line with each other and all……The first tangle he and Jack got into was on a forum called “The Eagle Forum”, the discussion centered on;
Eternal Hell and Torment vs. Jesus will save and restore all men.
John was a moderator on the site as he and Jack began to debate. As I read their thoughts, one day I would be on John’s side and the next day on Jack’s. By the end of the month long debate over a 1000 hits showed many others were daily reading that thread. Very few joined in the debate as it was a holy thing, something God was doing between these two men…for our benefit. I was blessed to be part of that large audience viewing, I finished each night pondering their words.
How I recall the part that forever endeared John to me. So much of that debate had been on equal footing. Both men knew their stuff, so to speak. Then one night John began to ask Jack questions some honest inquiries not relating to the debate, you could feel the hush. After an anointed response from Jack, John wrote something close to...........
Jack I see it ..... I see what you have been saying and the Lord has made it real to me .....it was true, the spirit had made it real to John and to me, and so many others that month…it took God using both John and Jack to clear out the traditions of men ..... and when it was over you knew Jesus had cleared out the money changers again ..... whew!
Karen, your husband left an inheritance that gives all men hope and the hearts of many were touched by him including ours……..Many times he shared about his family and asked for prayer. So in a way, we feel we know you all. We will miss our beloved friend and we will continue to pray for you, please keep in touch….
Love in Christ,
Joian and Jack |
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I was over on the Jack Gray's Blog today and saw this picture he had drawn and scanned onto his blog site...A picture the Lord gave him some years ago depicting where he was being led.....I loved the simplicity of it....and understood I am at the beginning of living in the reality of it.....This drawing and the scripture he shared would have been a welcome confirmation that I was hearing the voice of the Lord some six years ago.......lol..... That's when I first climbed over the church walls....on my trip into the wilderness...into his arms..... Joian and Jack  Where is the Lord Taking Us? Some years ago, as I was seeking to understand and praying about what the Lord was doing with us in separating us from the institutional church, I got the picture above. It may help some of you, as it enlightened me, as to the direction in which Father was taking us. The upper part of the first section of the picture represents the existing situation where churches are enclosed in denominational walls and divided from each other. In the lower part I tried to illustrate the word from the Lord which initiated our move out. As I explain in the first part of “My Search for the Church” that word was that if we wanted Church Father’s way our ways would have to die and be buried so that He might resurrect it according to His will. Perhaps now I would add a picture of some simply escaping over the walls to look for a better way. In the second section is reflected what is the experience of many when they come out. They find themselves very alone and isolated. Why should this be? In Hosea 2:14-20 is the key. In that passage the prophet describes a wilderness experience in which he acts with great compassion and love to win the soul to a deep intimacy with Himself. It concludes with the moving words, “And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord.” With that threefold vow the believer is bound to His Lord in love and is drawn to know Him in an experience deeper and more real than ever before. We must not fear that wilderness, but gladly permit the Lord to have his way. In the third section I see little groups, twos and threes of these wooed believers informally coming together to interact in fellowship together whether in homes, around the meal table or somewhere in the open air or a restaurant. They are not in any religious organization. As expressed by Zechariah they are “Villages without walls.” When they are together their conversation is about the Lord. The prophet Malachi pictures such groups in 3:16-17, “Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another; the Lord heeded and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who feared the Lord and thought on His name. They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, my special possession on the day when I act.” In the fourth section we see God’s ultimate purpose as all these villages are bound together, not with the ties of institutions, but in a living body. No humanly devised walls now separate. The only wall is the presence of God around the whole as expressed again in Zechariah 2:5.and He alone has the glory within. posted by Jack Gray at 17:00 on 25/07/2008 |
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 As with so many of us, I have been involved in a lifelong struggle to trust, rarely seeing the bigger picture. I have learned to lean hard on God through it all, not blaming or correcting him. I no longer have answers for all the questions, but that I trust my Father loves me.......and all his children.
Yes, I've come a long way baby.........to blindly trust, to throw the oar into the river and hang on is scary for us Martha types, at the same time thrilling.........lol
I will spend the rest of my life living out that message .........perhaps I am circling the mountain for the last time. Coming out of the wilderness as a dead man, experientially so......and singing, Lead On, Oh King Eternal...........
This article below, by one I've come to trust especially moved me. I always see the working of the Lord as he writes, especially shining forth in the love for his wife and family. He has this humble vulnerability and transparency as he shares.
by Jack Gray-excerpt from blog on The Pilgrims Path………
Stepping out Blind
“The destination cannot be described. You will know very little till you get there. You will journey blind. But the way leads to the possession of what you have sought for so long in the wrong place.”
The above quotation comes from T.S. Elliot’s play. “The Cocktail Party.” I read it only a few months after Margaret and I had taken the big step out of organized church and, because it struck me strongly as relevant to the journey we had just embarked on, I noted it in my diary. Now, more than twenty years down the track, I see how true it is. Having been for so long and so deeply involved in institutional church life and activities, it was a venture into the unknown.
All we knew was that God had spoken to us more clearly than ever we had experienced before and called us to break camp and move on saying that if we wanted to know Church His way we had first to die to the old.
That is Father’s way often. When He calls He does not always show us what is ahead or fully reveal the destination he intends but He looks for those who will simply and trustingly obey. That was His way with Abraham when God called him to leave homeland and family to go to a land which he would be shown.
Isaiah has a prophecy along similar lines: “I will lead the blind in a way they know not, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things that I will do, and I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)
I am still on the journey and can testify to the truth both of these words and those of the T.S. Elliot character. Progressively I am coming into possession of what I had sought for so long in the wrong place, a deepening intimacy with Jesus, a fuller understanding of God’s way of Church, and heart fellowship with fellow-pilgrims along the way.
May this be and encouragement to any of hungry heart who hesitate to leave the old ways and step out in faith with their hands in the grip of the sure guide who will show them where to plant their feet.
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My father was sixteen years older than my mother who was a widow with three children when they met. It was just after WWII. Long Beach was overflowing with sailors returning from the war. Often my Dad would stop and ask one of the young men if they would like to join us for a homecooked meal.
On those occasions, Dad would turn to one of us kids and say pick a sailor so and so......which meant we were going to have company for dinner and many times the night. My Dad had a playful side to him that delighted in surprises and bringing a stranger to dinner was just one of them. If Mother scolded him he would just pinch her hiney and say, just doing our part for the war, and Mother would quickly get over the inconvenience.
A couple of times a year my father's, father would join us with my grandmother for the holiday. Since my father was already fifty when I was born...........his parents seemed ancient to me. Besides being very old, my grandfather never spoke to me or acknowledged my existance . It didn't seem odd or hurtful to me. Instead, I just assumed that was how grandfather's were. He never really spoke to anyone much except my Dad. Because of that I knew he could talk,......lol....Yet, I was unaware of what was obvious to everyone else, my Grandfather was nearly deaf.
I am only assuming now but I have to believe that my Dad wanted to share his new found belief with his father, as we all do when we find the Lord but would have been unable to because of the hearing loss.
So perhaps the last surprise he gave came as a gift to his own father. At my father's funeral as The Old Rugged Cross was being sung, my grandfather leaned over to my grandmother with tears in his eyes and said," I can hear, I can hear every word"..........and some very powerful words they were..........how merciful is our Heavenly Father.........
Old Rugged Cross
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
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So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
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O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
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In that old rugged cross,
stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;'
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.
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To the old rugged cross I will ever be true
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He'll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I'll share.
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So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross
And exchange it some day for a crown.
(George Bennard 1913)
Love,
Joian |
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