WILL WE BE READY FOR PERSECUTION?

Yes, I've already written my daily post.  However, a very strong urge to write at this moment is placed upon my heart.  I believe for good reason.

Let us give care to our absolute, most foundational, stance before God.  At the moment I think we don't.  Allow me to explain.

Our spiritual world in America has been quite relaxed; selfish, if I may say so.  We (others and myself) have divided and then perpetuated Belief Camps; each often contesting the other.  Within each Belief Camp usually there is the list of Belief DOs and Belief DON'Ts.  Thus, the exercise of standing against those in another Belief Camp.  And....we very much mean it.

Individuals, families, and even businesses subtly suffer due to our divisive, yet highly promoted, styles.  Such religious contests seem to offer drive and energy.  Debates have been held.  Feelings have been injured.  The entire religious scheme gets little more than an apathetic shrug by the masses who are annoyed with the lot of us.

What I'm about to say is only me.  So do allow the grains of salt to assess.  But I believe American churches are in for a very rude, yet wonderfully necessary, awakening. Persecution is a heartbeat away.  Bible-toting citizens are most likely going to be challenged like we've never known.

And this is why I write about this.  Be ready for the stress that one like me can't quantify nor describe.  But, be prepared.  Terror is in the wings.  It will terrorize.

Yet, I believe that something will happen simultaneously.  Our religiosity will suffer set-forward (not set-back).  We will drop our accusations toward those we thus far have deemed obscene in several of their beliefs and we will embrace Jesus; the very one who has been banned from most of our doctrinal argumentations.

Jesus, in His Spirit, will begin to receive the accolades always intended.  Churches which have fought over worship styles, yet not being necessarily overt worshipers themselves, will find a delightful desperation for experiencing the presence of the Spirit.  We.  Will.  Worship.  Like we've never done before as we are forced to decide; Him or the enemy?

I believe we are already seeing believers of various preferences drawing to one another due to Jesus.  Indeed, we have our convictions; and well we should.  But we have allowed ourselves to make our beliefs our god.  Opinions run rampant.  Experiential relationship with God has not been our driving call.

Life in any church is not just WHAT we believe.  Nor is it WHERE we do our believing. It is clearly essential that the WHO should dominate our voices as well as our practices.