JUDGEMENT STARTS IN THE HOUSE OF GOD

It’s no surprise that the church, and our nation, desperately need to hear “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” to awaken, convict and restore.

It wasn’t so long ago that we were concerned about how far New Zealand could make the move away from God.

No longer my friends do we need to be concerned, – It has already happened.

Today we’re picking up the pieces of a broken nation.

The moral heartbeat of New Zealand ceased the day when we acknowledged failure to protect the citizens of this nation.

As a nation we fail to Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; we stand back and let them die.” when we cut off the source of life. We need resuscitation, renewal, and revival.

I am convinced, we are too late for a revival of huge proportions of the population returning or even turning to God, but we will still see a revival of some proportions.

I’m convinced that many of the churches in this country are seeking to please the masses rather than convict.

Repentance is rarely sought, and sin is often excused.

Today’s Christianity wants to build a church rather than break a heart, leaving people confused and deceived because we teach and live a form of Christianity void of repentance … void of truth.

In this Podcast I am going to offend those going against truth.

Evangelist and writer Lord Leonard Ravenhill is quoted as saying “If the church today had as many agonizers as she has advisers, we would have a revival within a year.”

 Ravenhill continued, “We need to close every church in the land for one Sunday and cease listening to a man so we can hear the groan of the Spirit which we in our lush pews have forgotten.”

You may ask, “What’s the big deal? We’re doing fine.” But 2 Timothy 3:1-5 says otherwise, 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.

Consider this, under the heading of A Form of Godliness: 

Before believing surfing on a Sunday was a better option than serving the lord, the man once considered the “Hipster” of modern evangelism Rob Bell wrote an article asking the question, “did Jesus say anything about homosexuality?”

The negative responses from supposed Christian readers simply revealed the spiritual condition of the church. One disgruntled man wrote, “Those of us who don’t go to his church or believe in his ‘god’ aren’t troubled by his opinions, and we certainly won’t be governed by his bigotry.”

You know it’s not funny when a pastor like Rob Bell leaves his flock, but neither is it funny the number of so-called Christians who occupy both church pews and pulpits who support the lifestyle and actions of those practicing homosexuality.

Now consider the heading of Brutality:

We read and hear of this continually in the news, where children die at the hands of parents or other family members who mistreat or go as far as killing our young children.

And who can forget the half million lives sacrificed in this country on the “alter of Convenience” at abortion clinics around this “kind” land formerly known as Godzone.

There was Lovers of self … of perversion:

Don’t tell me Kiwis are not so self-obsessed with themselves.

Anyone inspection of any social media platforms will confirm our obsessions with ourselves.

Once upon a time, people would run away from a camera, nowadays they see one and its instant, self-gratification to be a part of it, some will even go as far as photo bomb other people photos.

I have to ask, how many photos do you have compared to say, your grandmother.

Our sex-saturated culture will continue to pervert with the goal of destroying ourselves. Most men view more perversion in a week than our grandparents did in a lifetime, and many young adults now dream of being porn stars.

Are we so naive to think that this pleases God?

In the scripture there was reference to Disobedient, abusive, treacherous:

In a podcast I touched on how teenage crime was escalating with young people as old as seven were involved in what has become a crime pandemic.

When you get to the stage when young people are ram raiding dairies to steal ice cream, you know there is something wrong.

We hear in the news that our children are failing in the education sector, but truancy is at an all-time high in this country.

Once upon a time we could take a person’s word, nowadays it’s more likely your words will be stolen and used against you as society has trust issues. 

Ah …The Blasphemers: 

They are about in droves, whether at home, in entertainment, at work, your friends with some, but question yourself, am I one, am I guilty of being a blasphemer.

God help us. “Judgment must start in the house of God.” God’s house must break; God’s house must repent. He revives us to revive others.

Reading the Old Testament book of Joel, you can draw some parallels with New Zealand today.

The nation of Israel was prosperous like we have seen here in New Zealand, but they were apathetic; they had religion but not a relationship; “they had a form of godliness…” The only difference is that prosperity has not yet been taken from us in many cases.

Keep voting for the current government and it will.

 But peace has been consumed from our land; fear grips the hearts and minds of many; morality has been ripped from our hands; truth has been raped and taken advantage of, and God continues to be blasphemed.

Don’t confuse His patience with His approval.

As in Joel’s day, our land has been ravished.

Satanic influences, strong and without number, have laid waste to our hearts and minds.

 Families are being devoured; lives destroyed … truth has fallen in the streets.

But it is God who offers the solution: Joel 1:14 says, ” Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the Lord your God and cry out to the Lord.

Joel 2:12-14 adds, “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and morning.”

¹³ Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
¹⁴ Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

Prayer opens the hand of God.

The word secures the truth in our minds.

Worship brings heaven down to our hearts.

 Obedience opens the door to God’s blessings.

But fasting and mourning starve the flesh and moves the hand of God in ways that other spiritual disciplines do not.

Fasting is often tied to humility … to “afflict the soul.”

Sorrow must match the situation. We need to feel the pain that we have caused and mourn over sin.

Blessings come from brokenness, restoration from repentance and revival through mourning.

Woe be to the church who is in a hurry to burn through a sermon, scurry through worship and head to the nearest restaurant.

It doesn’t matter what we think, or do not think, God is clear: (2 Chr. 7:14).  If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This begins with me and with you.