Even though we are living in uncertain times, we know that God is with us. The past few weeks, I’ve been reading through the life of Jesus. I don’t know how many times I’ve done this, but each time I make new discoveries and gain new insight into our Savior and Lord.
This time, I’m noticing how often Jesus would tell people to be quiet about what He had done for them. This was very odd because you can also see all the things He did when crowds of people showed up at His doorstep. In those times, He healed everyone and drove out demons. Then there were other times, in certain places, when He would heal someone and tell them to keep quiet about it.
There were even times when people, including His own family, wanted Him to go public with some type of great campaign to display His power and spark a movement to overthrow their oppressors, but He always retreated from those aspirations. It seems that Jesus was very sensitive to seasons and regions.
He had come into this world with a very specific mission and He wasn’t going to allow critics to deter Him, or His biggest fans to propel Him. He was going to remain in step with His Father’s plan and purpose.
Today, Jesus’ journey is giving me some wisdom and confidence for the future of our little gathering and the entire Church in America. As we watch the suffocating grip of a new system of government slowly coming upon our nation, all of us are left to wonder, how the church can continue in such an environment. Freedom of speech is essentially nullified. Gay Rights and Pro-Choice activist have vilified all religious organization. Muslims, within America, are now being called upon to start a holy jihad against Jews and Christians, and even Homeland Security has now classified many Christian groups as domestic terrorist.
Believers all over America are having dreams about soldiers invading their homes through the initiation of martial law; stripping away all citizen rights. Like us, many pastors and Christian leaders are beginning to implement plans and strategies to launch home church and under-the-radar gatherings, right here in America.
As I share these things, please don’t panic. The Church has survived all kinds of cruel and harsh governments and movements. It’s just that in America, now it’s our turn to face the real struggle that has been going on, all along, all over the world.
I also noticed, in my daily Bible readings, that Jesus was still able to preach the message of the Kingdom and travel from place to place even though they were under the dominating rule of the Roman Empire. The Romans were performing military house to house searches back then. They were tormenting and harassing average citizens back then. They were wrecking the lives of business owners back then. They ruled, in many regions, through martial law. Everything that we see coming upon America, was being done in the world in which Jesus Christ was spreading the message of the Kingdom of God.
This has assured me that we can trust God to help us to navigate through whatever awaits us in the coming months and years in America. Like Jesus, we’re not trying to become famous or takeover the governments of this world.
We are not trying to display miraculous power just to gain access to popular mainstream media. Most assuredly, WE WILL DO GREAT THINGS FOR GOD, but they are going to be done to reach and teach those who have an ear to hear and a heart to receive the true and living God.
This upcoming Sunday, we will continue with our STEALTH Ministry Training. STEALTH is our acronym for Spiritual Training for the Equipping, Anointing, Liberation and Transformation of Hearts and Homes. This is part of our effort
to obey God’s command to me, to RESET ourselves and prepare us for a new way to minister in this new version of America.
It is our hope and prayer that by the time we complete this training, we will have established strong Believers who can serve God and their families by doing the work of the ministry outside of the four walls of a church.
Our goal is to build a team of people who can serve God and one another, without seeking fame, glory, recognition and praise. It is our goal to build a team of people who can help us rebuild, renew and restore hearts and homes in the urban community.
