Religion verses Relationship 3: “We have Abraham as our Father!”

Dear Beloved Reader,

Religion or relationship; which one do we have in the church in America? The answer to this question will determine which way our nation will go. If we can bear to see the truth of how far we have fallen from the Glory that the church was born with, perhaps, we can truly come to repentance and change our lives, church and nation.

Beloved, “the spirit of religion” is killing us just as it did when Jesus walked physically on the earth 2000 years ago. That same spirit was killing Israel and its present leadership and it is doing the same thing today with many in our nation as well.

Yet amidst this truth there is a stirring in the hearts of many believers that there must be more to being a Christian than going to church on Sunday or doing a ministry. Many are becoming discontented with the “business as usual” mentality so many of our churches have week after week. Our whole church function is based on a time and a day to meet, then a daily committed walk in the Holy Spirit following his leading.

For those who are being stirred and restless in the Holy Spirit for more of God realize that going to church each week is predictable and stale. They can almost predict exactly what is going to happen at our church services every time we gather to meet. These hungry ones can tell how long the service is going to be and what exactly will happen at the same time each week. Below is a typical church service in America every Sunday,

It starts with a person or persons standing at the door to greet you and give you a bulletin. You sit down until the worship leader comes out or the person who starts the service begins to address you. You get welcomed and are told, we are now going to start worship service. Depending on the size of the church the Worship Leader will start with at least 3 or 4 “fast praise songs.” Then there is a 2 songs of transition to get to the worship time with God. Then we sing 2 or 3 slow worship songs to bless the Lord even more and get in His presence.

Some churches “sing in tongues near or at the end of the worship if there is time left. Some churches wait for a prophetic word to come forth through the Body at the very end of this kind of worship. All the words of the songs are on the screen for everybody to sing along as well in this style of service.

Then the Pastor says a few words and then has someone read 10 minutes of announcements telling all the exciting things their ministry is doing. If the church is large, they may put the announcements like a commercial on the screen. They also might put pictures and music to it. Next it is offering time. Here we preach about Malachi 3, encourage them to give, sing another song.This takes 5 minutes.

Then it is time to hear the “message!" The message is the highlight of our gathering. Most Pastors preach about what is going on in America or some bible study topic, maybe even a series of teachings. They teach usually no more than 30 minutes to an hour. The whole jist of the sermon is to make it “funny, likeable and real to those who come.”The people must leave entertained, which we understand to be “changed.” Are they really changed, Beloved?

Next comes the alter call to save the lost, to have the backslidden return, or people to respond to the message given. A ministry team may come to pray over you and then after this time everyone goes home. This whole process is never more than 2 hours long.

The question I am presenting to you dear reader is this, have we developed a relationship with God or a “dead religion?” I assert to you that this is the heart of what religion is made of. The emphasis of our whole understanding of God is this, “church is a place we go to every SUNDAY to learn about God.”

Beloved, this is not God’s idea of church. Though no member of a church would disagree with my next statement and may even speak it, it is not a living reality in the hearts of the American church today. The statement i,s “we are the church, the Body of Christ.” If that is true, why is it most important thing we do is to go somewhere or do something called “church” then become somewhere and be something in Christ “the real church?”

Religion always wants you to make or do something for God. It always has to have a “type or a way to do something the same over and over again to be successful.” A relationship with God is spontaneous, living and vibrant and never the same! Religion usually reeks of death under a law of repetition instead of the law of the Spirit of Life.

Beloved, the church in the USA is powerless in comparison to the church in the Books of Acts. It is sickly according to the New Testament standard, and it is not even making an impact on our nation any more. We have taken the cross out of the churches that symbolize death to our old life and ways, and instead preached the gospel of convenience and prosperity or how to be “good people.”

There is no more preaching against sin in most churches or about coming out of darkness unless you are unsaved. But what about the sin in the church or the call to come out from the world as found in 1^st Corinthians chapter 6.

Would the book of James be taught in our services today? James directly speaks to the Christians in the churches under his leadership. Would the present leadership of the church in America say to our churches what is found in James 4:4? “you are like unfaithful wives having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God. Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God?

Where are the preacher’s of righteousness in our generation of leadership in the American Church? Are we afraid to lose the people because they will take their tithe, offerings and labor with them so we can’t build our vision?

Why is there little to no teaching about living Holy before God or what the requirements are of being His disciple? Why are there so few preachers who preach about the price of picking up your cross and following the Lord where he leads? Or about the daily surrender of walking in the Spirit so we won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Today’s American church services are built to be entertainment centers to please the needs of the people instead of the needs of God. You may be asking, Brother Henry are you not being a little critical of all of us? But I want you to read an advertisement for one of the churches in a particular area of our country, and have you discern the state or condition of the church in America is truly in. This is a real ad!!!!

“Check out our friendly, totally relaxed, non-threatening, and yes even FUN approach to doing church.”

1. One hour services answering life’s’ toughest questions.
2. All Original live music
3. Women’s Fitness programs
4. Great programs for kids, pre-teens and teens
5. Café/Food Court
6. Special Events Each month

Fun day Sundays: BBQ: Jumping Castle Games and Events for Kids and Adults

Cool down Tuesdays” BBQ, Swimming, Water Games and a Live Guard on Duty, (Yes, we have a church with a waterfall”

You will see quickly why the ____________church is one of the fastest growing churches in America. Services 9:30 and 11:00 am.

Beloved, this is a real ad coming from a real church! Did you see what it does not say? What about God? What about the cross? This is a typical ideal American Church today. The church in America is an entertainment station at worst, and a place maybe to get saved at best. Please understand that I am not criticizing this church or Pastor, a few years ago I would have done the same thing, Yet thankfully God gave me a word of prophecy, "no longer would I build an Ishmael, but I would build and Isaac, after the kind God had truly placed in me."

My heart weeps as I write this today. How are all the things above not about religion? A form of godliness but denying the power there of is what we have become. We get more Christians at a Christian Concert than we do going to church to pray and seek the face of God.

Why is our nation so messed up? Look at us the “church of the living God.” Look at what we want as a church. The church ad I read you was based upon the fact of what “do the people” want when they come to church?” I know this for certain. I attended a meeting many years ago with 300 Pastors on how to make your church grow.

At this meeting they brought in a Christian marketing manager to give us ideas on “how to build the church.”They gave us a survey with many questions to pass out in our community. The survey asked questions like “how long would you go to a church service?” What would you like to see when you go? What things would make you comfortable?

The man who directed this meeting glowing told us how the survey worked to build a large church. He told us about one church in the Midwest that put a bowling alley in their building after passing out this survey in his region, The people wanted a Christian bowling alley so they didn't have to breath the smoke or put up with alcohol, and now that church has over 10,000 people attending,

What is happening to our Christians churches? Christianity has become a place to be entertained and not trained, a ritual and not spiritual, a religion and not a relationship with God.

Everywhere I go and have our conferences, people who are really hungry for more of God come to attend. Many of these people have been Christians for years and are faithful in attending churches. Yet, when God moves in the Holy Spirit at our meetings He goes right to them and begins to minister to the deep hurts and pains in their hearts and bodies they have had for years.

Many are filled with the hurts of rejection, suffering, afflictions and sicknesses for years. They went to church Sunday after Sunday and Wednesday after Wednesday, but they were never healed or set free, how can this be in the household of God? Many never had a prophetic word spoken to them or anyone lay hands on them to be healed.

Many of them don’t even know the word of God in which to fight the enemy. So many precious saints have told me that they don’t have to bring their bibles to church anymore. They get a handout with all the preaching notes on it. Others don’t even know the Word of God to stand upon in trials; they believe that God is not powerful enough, or big enough to help them. Worse, they believe that God may not want to help them and may not even hear their prayers at all.

I am not making this up! Travel with me and you will see that for yourself. Teenagers are cutting themselves with knives to get rid of the anger and pain in their hearts in Christian High Schools. Many of the “types of clicks” in secular schools are in Christian schools, (skaters and emo’s) and in the church today.

At our first Omega Generation conference last month in Greeley CO, I had to preach against what “emo’s are and do. Emo’s is name for a group of teens means “emotionals.” Emotional’s form friendship where they can be “real” with one another and allow all their emotions to come out, even bad ones, and they will still love each other.

These young people cut themselves with knives to get rid of the pain in their hearts or anger. They often are close to being homosexuals physically and spiritually. The boys wear girl tight jeans, girly converse sneakers, girly hair and nails. This is not just in secular highs schools but in the Christian schools beloved!

Why I am writing all this? Is it to be critical of my fellow members of the Body of Christ? God forbid! This is not them, this is US! Beloved reader, We must look at “our true state” and condition as the church and a family of God in America. This is not about we and them, but this is “us.” This is what we look like to the world and yet even worse to God Himself.

Ask yourself this question today, did the Glory that came down at Pentecost ever intend to make a church like we see in America today? Was that Glory to be reduced to something we “do” once a week on Sunday’s? Was that Glory to be reduced to doing ministry, or having a BBQ or a swimming pool? Was it to boast that we are “one of the fastest growing churches in America?” Was the Glory to bring us just Christian Television shows?

What happened to Jesus Christ the Son of God? Where is He in what we have built in His name? Is His presence and Glory really in our midst when we gather together? Can we tell that He personally in our midst when 2 or more gather together? Is He really able to come and be with us when our concern is to get out of there in an hour or two?

When will we wake up Pastor’s and Leaders and see what we are building? It doesn’t look anything like what Jesus was crucified, died and rose again for. It doesn’t look anything like we saw on the day of Pentecost and after? We look, talk, and taste exactly like the world, the difference is that we are "religious” and they are not.

So the question is this, do we have a “religion” in the church in America or a “true and genuine” relationship in Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit? I will let you and God decide the answer to the question. If this blog is getting you angry, then ask yourself why are you angry?

Hers is the New Testament standard we can compare ourselves with. Is our shadow filled with glory that people are being healed? Are we working miracles at your work place like Steven did in handing out food? Are we seeing angels come and rescue from persecution when you were thrown in prison like Paul and Silas? Is God using us at our Gate Beautiful to say silver and gold have I no to a lame man? Is that lame man rising up and walking in the name of Jesus? Are we selling our possessions and giving the money to all who had need as in Acts 2:42-46?

If the answer is yes to those questions in your church or in the American Church, than you can throw this blog in the garbage. If the answer is no, and you go to church every week, pay your tithe and do your ministry but don’t see those things happening in you or your church than pay attention.

Be honest with yourself. Is Jesus Christ your first love? Are you laying your life down to do His will everyday? Are you truly a disciple of His by denying yourself, picking up your cross and following him? Do you love your house, job or family more than you love God as in Luke 14? Are you to busy to answer the call of God to truly know Him and be His disciple?

The Pharisee’s thought by all they did everyday, and doing their ritual worship at the temple, and doing all the law of Moses they were right with God. Yet these same men couldn’t recognize the Messiah in front of them, can you?

They wanted to kill Jesus because he called them “brood of vipers, white washed tombs, Hypocrites!” He told them their spiritual condition and they gnashed their teeth at him, will you do that today Christian brother, sister, Pastor, Evangelist, Prophet, Apostle and teacher?

I want to leave you with this passage of scripture in John that testifies of what this whole blog series is about. This blog series is to reveal this one question, and it is a great and deep question the Holy Spirit is asking all of us today. Do we have a “ religion that is dead”, or a “true and genuine relationship with God.”

Please read this passage carefully. Is God truly our Father in the American Church today? Are our ears open to His words and His desires?

John 8: 39-44

They retorted, “Abraham is our Father, Jesus said, “If you were truly Abraham’s children, then you would do the WORK of Abraham, and follow His example. But now instead you want to kill Me, a man Who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This is not the way Abraham acted.

You are doing the works of your father. They said to him, “we are not illegitimate children and born out of fornication: we have one Father, even God. Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you WOULD LOVE ME AND RESPECT ME AND WELCOME ME GLADLY FOR I PROCEED FROM GOD (OUT OF HIS VERY PRESENCE.) I did not come on my own authority or my own accord, but He sent me. Why do you MISUNDERSTAND what I say? It is because you are UNABLE to hear what I am saying.

You are of your father, the DEVIL, and it is YOUR WILL TO PRACTICE AND GRATIFY the desires of YOUR FATHER, HE WAS A MURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING AND DOES NOT STAND IN THE TRUTH. For he speaks what is natural to him, a falsehood, for he is a liar and the father of all lies and of all that is false.”

So Beloved Reader, what is the truth? Do we have a “religion” or a relationship with God? One produces death and murder to all that is spiritual in God, the other remains abiding in the vine and brings forth good fruit that remains.

Shalom!