Turning the World Upside Down..Again!
In Acts 17, the radical believers of my Jesus almost turned the world upside down. Some interpreters would like to believe that they indeed turned the world upside down. Well, I think they did...in their natural Jesus-self (it was Jesus really living in them, not them anymore) the world shuddered in unbelief, perplexity, and animosity, seeing the radical and extreme life of Jesus Christ in the church. And it went like a ravenous mad dog chasing after the believers.
Every time the world sees Jesus, it will react like a greedy mad dog. That's why harm and chaos come to the worldly church when it tries to "see" Jesus. We think that if worldly people see Jesus they would repent and be born again and everything would be nice and peaceful, with everybody worshiping God so beautifully. WRONG! Persecution will come. And that's how we know that God is in us and our midst, moving and turning the world upside down. When Jesus is genuinely seen in believers, right and wrong is established, the guilty get offended (they'd say that true believers are so judgmental and self-righteous), and they'd gather together to persecute believers.
That's genuine turning the world upside down. And God wants the church to do it all over again in these last days. We have to urgently, passionately, and desperately desire to live the life of Jesus, or have Jesus Christ himself living our lives daily, each moment, 100 percent (and that means 100 percent holy living, the real thing!), so that the Holy Spirit will move mightily and supernaturally in awesome ways. This sight will surely be turning the world upside down...again! And then some from the world will see and desire Jesus and get genuinely saved.
Don't you hunger for this? Are you still content with what ornery things you see in men's churches today? Are you snug or passively comfy with men's worship programs and what other things the worldly church does? Do you still want to be a part of all that?
I've grown tired of men's churches and have given them up a long time ago. No matter how "sound" their doctrines are and how "bible-based" and how solemn or lively their worship is. Even the devil is like that. It's got to be the very LIFE of Jesus or nothing. And the Jesus LIFE can never be had through the kind of church we have today. You have to get out first, meet God in the wilderness, spend quality time with him there, and then come back to "Egypt" to tell God's people that they're in Egypt (they don't know that) and that they're supposed to get out and go to the wilderness to set out for the Promise Land. That is where they should build for God--not in Egypt. Most churches today build in Egypt for Pharaoh.
And then Pharaoh and all the Egyptians will get angry at us and then the world will turn upside down.
As it is, it is the church being turned upside down by the world. The church is sometimes even more worldly than the world. Just watch how the church does things--they hold elections to choose their leaders; they say "Mr. chairman, I move that we do this and that..." and the others "second the motion," just like how they do it in Congress; they observe the SMART principles when planning, just like what Marketing companies do; they campaign themselves or their ideas during their election time (and they also cheat); they try to imitate what they see in the world (particularly in showbiz) when they "worship" God in church; most worship teams try to be like their favorite rock stars (no one wants to imitate Jesus); they are led by their manuals (which they have peppered with bible verses to make them look correct and spiritual), not by the Holy Spirit.
And they do many more worldly things you never find Jesus nor the Acts church doing in Scriptures. Jesus and the Acts church were very supernatural; the church today is very natural ("worldly" is the right term). And moreover, denominationalism itself is not in Scriptures, but men's churches stubbornly and tightly cling to it for centuries. They don't want to give up their petty empires. They've been building their own kingdoms--men's kingdoms.
Today, I see some small churches, unique and radical churches of Jesus, getting the ideas and starting to let Jesus live in them 100 percent, turning the world upside down--again--initially in small ways. It seems the big and main stream are left behind, though they have all the resources in the world to expand their denominations. You really have to give up everything and pick up the cross daily--otherwise, you won't be able to follow my Jesus.
Every time the world sees Jesus, it will react like a greedy mad dog. That's why harm and chaos come to the worldly church when it tries to "see" Jesus. We think that if worldly people see Jesus they would repent and be born again and everything would be nice and peaceful, with everybody worshiping God so beautifully. WRONG! Persecution will come. And that's how we know that God is in us and our midst, moving and turning the world upside down. When Jesus is genuinely seen in believers, right and wrong is established, the guilty get offended (they'd say that true believers are so judgmental and self-righteous), and they'd gather together to persecute believers.
That's genuine turning the world upside down. And God wants the church to do it all over again in these last days. We have to urgently, passionately, and desperately desire to live the life of Jesus, or have Jesus Christ himself living our lives daily, each moment, 100 percent (and that means 100 percent holy living, the real thing!), so that the Holy Spirit will move mightily and supernaturally in awesome ways. This sight will surely be turning the world upside down...again! And then some from the world will see and desire Jesus and get genuinely saved.
Don't you hunger for this? Are you still content with what ornery things you see in men's churches today? Are you snug or passively comfy with men's worship programs and what other things the worldly church does? Do you still want to be a part of all that?
I've grown tired of men's churches and have given them up a long time ago. No matter how "sound" their doctrines are and how "bible-based" and how solemn or lively their worship is. Even the devil is like that. It's got to be the very LIFE of Jesus or nothing. And the Jesus LIFE can never be had through the kind of church we have today. You have to get out first, meet God in the wilderness, spend quality time with him there, and then come back to "Egypt" to tell God's people that they're in Egypt (they don't know that) and that they're supposed to get out and go to the wilderness to set out for the Promise Land. That is where they should build for God--not in Egypt. Most churches today build in Egypt for Pharaoh.
And then Pharaoh and all the Egyptians will get angry at us and then the world will turn upside down.
As it is, it is the church being turned upside down by the world. The church is sometimes even more worldly than the world. Just watch how the church does things--they hold elections to choose their leaders; they say "Mr. chairman, I move that we do this and that..." and the others "second the motion," just like how they do it in Congress; they observe the SMART principles when planning, just like what Marketing companies do; they campaign themselves or their ideas during their election time (and they also cheat); they try to imitate what they see in the world (particularly in showbiz) when they "worship" God in church; most worship teams try to be like their favorite rock stars (no one wants to imitate Jesus); they are led by their manuals (which they have peppered with bible verses to make them look correct and spiritual), not by the Holy Spirit.
And they do many more worldly things you never find Jesus nor the Acts church doing in Scriptures. Jesus and the Acts church were very supernatural; the church today is very natural ("worldly" is the right term). And moreover, denominationalism itself is not in Scriptures, but men's churches stubbornly and tightly cling to it for centuries. They don't want to give up their petty empires. They've been building their own kingdoms--men's kingdoms.Today, I see some small churches, unique and radical churches of Jesus, getting the ideas and starting to let Jesus live in them 100 percent, turning the world upside down--again--initially in small ways. It seems the big and main stream are left behind, though they have all the resources in the world to expand their denominations. You really have to give up everything and pick up the cross daily--otherwise, you won't be able to follow my Jesus.
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