Hard Messages That Must Be Preached

This Sunday Lou Engle preached a message that frankly left me shaking in my boots. The morning for our household was a hectic one trying to get my parents, my husband, and my baby out the door and on time for the baby dedication was enough to make me pull out my hair. My mother, God bless her, made this adorable little vintage dress for Shiloh to wear for the dedication, but it wasn't quite finished till about 10:30am on Sunday. That was the time that we were supposed to be at church. If you are not from the south you wouldn't understand the "making a dress" thing but it is an important thing. However I would have been willing to forgo the tradition to get to church more than 30 seconds before they announced for the parents to bring their babies up. I dropped our stuff at the back of the sanctuary and handed Steven Shiloh and we booked it up there. We were not in the best spirits at that point and I hope that it didn't show for the entire congregation. Anyways... it was lovely and Mike came over to pray over Shiloh as well as my dear friend Jess Wilson. (She is my hero but that is for another post)

So after the chaos began to settle I started to focus on Lou and his message immediately began to pierce my heart. Lou isn't a hater of any kind, on the contrary he is a man of principal and of the word who is unwilling to compromise with darkness even for the sake of political correctness. So as he was talking about the seriousness of the situation in our nation I gulped. Our nation on November 4th cried out with a loud voice like the Israelites of old....Give us a king of our own choosing. We have a president that is fiercely pro-choice and who will in a matter of years undo so much of what the founding fathers and church has fought to protect. The unborn will be exploited, the children indoctrinated, and the homosexual's will rage like the fires in California if the church does not rise up. We must awaken the sleeping beauty of America. The Bride of Christ must clean herself and pray. Lou's frustration and soul agony isn't with President Elect Obama, neither should ours, it is with the laziness of a church who would rather see "change" than righteousness.
Lou showed a video of some IHOPer's who were being openly persecuted in the Castro District in CA. It was horrifying, something you would expect to see in Africa or in the Middle East from terrorist. This wasn't a foreign outcry of injustice, this was demonic rage coming from the homosexual community in the light of Proposition 8 passing that defines marriage between a man and a women only. I do not hate or despise the men and women that are lost and deceived in homosexuality, but there is a demonic attachment to such immortality and given over to it a person is not themselves and the demon rages at whoever would challenge its stronghold. It was frightening and worrisome that the Governor of CA was allowing this to go on all across the state. Riots, protest marches and violence against the "christian haters" as the media put it. The most alarming part to me was not that it happened or that it would soon make its way across America, but that my heart responded in a way that I am ashamed. I thought to myself as I watched the video that "they shouldn't have been in that district after the election. Didn't they know that was going to happen." WHAT!!!! I caught myself and immediately remembered a Man who came from Glory and walked among the filthiest of us all including me and yet He opened not His mouth as the sinners He came to save crucified Him. As believers it isn't for us to protect our life even unto death...no, it is to love to the end. The martyrs of old knew that when they signed up to follow this Christ that they also signed their death decree. It is the same today and will be till the day that Jesus stands in Jerusalem as KING over all.
As Lou continued to talk about how their is no peace in the land as long as unrighteous decrees are going forth. How when Jezebel is in power the prophets must take their stand and declare the word of the Lord. He talked about adoptions, about fasting and prayer. I found myself standing at the end with my hands open waiting to receive from the Lord a fire in my heart to stand and to proclaim His word. At that moment I felt the stillness of the Spirit on me and my heart was tenderized. I told the Lord "If I never bare a child from my womb, I would be OK... but God fund my house to be a house of refuge for the "unwanted" and the oppressed." To my heart then and now it makes since. I do not believe that God has made me to have illness in my body and I will contend for healing till Jesus returns or until I die which ever comes first. I will see Is. 53 manifest in my body. But there are little ones in and out of the womb that have no one and unless the church steps in and provides a refuge for them, they will be fed to the wolves of society and brainwashed with wicked ideals until their little hearts are seared and dark. It isn't a matter of a nice thing to do, no we must as Christ servants, as ones who want to get lost in the beauty of His holiness, take these ones in. We must do this for our beautiful Jesus. We must give them safety from the storm and a safe place for them to lay their head so that Jesus can come and heal their wounded souls and restore them. This is our assignment, our calling, the fast that He has chosen for all who call Him Abba. Isaiah58:6-9 Is this not the fast that I have chosen:To loose the bonds of wickedness,To undo the heavy burdens,To let the oppressed go free,And that you break every yoke?7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;When you see the naked, that you cover him,and not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,Your healing shall spring forth speedily,And your righteousness shall go before you;The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
I am not one for conflict or taking a stand. I would rather hide and pray for God to break in. But there is a time for weeping and a time for rejoicing. I think that America and the church will have a time of weeping. I think that as America take a turn towards darkness (a turn that has been gradual but steady for years) that we are going to see more and more upheaval in the earth. This is the story line that is laid out in the word. This is the beginnings and the end is already written. This could be the greatest hour for the church or this could be the greatest time of judgement for us before the great falling away and the end of this age. It is a time for us to put on our robes of righteousness and leave behind the rags of political correctness or complacent surrender. I am not going to start yelling at people who voted for Obama even though they knew what he stood for. As much as it makes me question their Christianity that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about not agreeing with any form of wickedness. Anything that would promote the desensitization of abortion and homosexuality. Abortion is a brutal act of murder against an innocent life and homosexuality is a blatant slap in the face of God at the perfection to which He created a man and a woman. It goes against the prophetic symbolism of the Bride of Christ and Jesus at the end of the age and the wedding supper of the lamb. These are not just differences of opinion but demonic strongholds designed by Satan to draw men and women into his web of deception and ultimately into eternal damnation.
We have as believers surrendered to Jesus. In that surrender we gained every spiritual blessing and a seat in the heavenly places. We have gained fullness, wisdom, and revelation. We have acquired the peace and patience of Christ and we have been given citizenship into the household of God by the spirit of adoption bu which we cry Abba. But this all comes a price. Holiness, purity, and life unto death. Matthew 5:10 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We are living in a time where who you are in secret will be discovered and how you love God will be challenged.
Lord let me be a light set upon a hill that cannot be hidden, even if it means that I only burn for a moment and then I am snuffed out. At least I burned bright when it was important.