What some call Christianity, and the real Church.
Posted: Monday, August 30, 2004
- written by jerry golden--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thegoldenreport.com/asp/jerrysnewsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=858&z=1
Okay, so get mad at me if you want but I have been inundated with crazies over the past few weeks. We have at least two Elijah’s a week show up here in Jerusalem, all with a following of sort. Some even dress like the two thousand year old Prophets, or at least what they think they dressed like, all have a white beard. I see one regularly in the center of Jerusalem who wears a tailored made and neatly pressed sack cloth shouting at Jews as they walk along the streets, he thinks he is doing the Lord’s work, and who knows maybe he is, God does look on a man’s heart and we are unable to do that, but by the gift of Discernment of the Spirit. But it sure appears he does far more harm than good. The same number of Moses and other great Prophets show up as well. Jerusalem is full of spiritual freaks of all kinds. There are at least two-dozen cults that refer to themselves as “Christians”. There are also hundreds of elderly women who have either left or lost their husbands and feel it their duty to try to lay hands on you giving as long a prophecy as you are willing to sit through. In the front row of every Charismatic Church there are at least two of these women who prophecies more in one week than Elijah did in his entire ministry.To add insult to injury I receive some of the most demonic emails all believing themselves to be led of the Lord or at least that is who they say is leading them. If I sound upset or bitter over this, you’re wrong. I am just telling it like it is, you see I know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and He is real. It is just hard to handle when you have a ministry that has both feet on the ground and seeking a God that does real things with real men and women in a real world, and only He can do this supernaturally. But every time you look around you are confronted with these insane people who misrepresent “Christianity”. What disturbs me the most is they are such a bad witness to my precious Jewish people that they shove them further away from the truth God would have them to know of their blessed Messiah Yeshua.
Like in the States we have “Messianic Churches” here that come in all flavors. Many try to imitate the Charismatic movement in the States with the loud Honky Tonk music, with little to no resemblance to what a New Testament Church should look like. Others have forgot it is by Grace through Faith you are saved and have fallen out of God’s grace by believing they can do the 613 commandments. Believing that to find the Jewish roots of Christianity one must be total Torah Observant to the point that the work on the Cross is to no avail. While others believe you can do whatsoever you want because you are saved, claiming the Law is dead.
Some believe in the Trinity others don’t, making the Word of God in the eyes of the Jews a mockery rather than the truth. Once saved always saved, or predestination, that some were simply born to be saved and other were meant to go to hell, also making the Word of God worthless with a doctrine meant to make a religion of easy-believeism. Some believe in Pre-Tribulations but have never taken a good look at Sudan, or Ethiopia where millions are dying every year of hunger, disease and war. Some believe in Pre Trib and say they find it after Rev. 4: Mid-Trib because of Rev. 7: and then those who believe in Post-Trib because of the rest of the Book.
There must be over a 100 different denominations all contradicting each other on nearly every point. All can put together a set of Scriptures from different redemptive flows in the Bible not meant to be confused or mixed to prove a carnal point. And a conversation with most of them always turns out to be who can beat up on the other with the 10 verses of Scriptures they have memorized.
So you may be wondering what I believe, well I wrote a book on that subject a few years back called “Gifts of the Spirit through the Tabernacle” You can find it here http://www.thegoldenreport.com/asp/jerrysnewsmanager/anmviewer.asp?a=5&z=3 it has many grammar errors in it, and some spelling I wish wasn’t there but it will give you a picture of what this messenger believes the Church should look like. I hope to have it as a free download on the web site soon. You can also see my statement of faith at http://www.thegoldenreport.com/StatementofFaith.asp In a nut shell I believe God has never stopped doing anything, He never changes, we can depend on that and that includes the gifts must troubling to many, Tongues and Healing, but He does it His way not man’s way, for His ways are not man’s way. As for the activity in the Church, there must be order, but that order must be brought by the Ruach Ha Koddesh (Holy Spirit) and administered by the one God puts in charge. He must know the difference between wild fire and strange fire, and how to handle both of them. There must be freedom for the Ruach Ha Koddesh to move unhindered, yet the elders and leaders must and should be the judge of that movement, not allowing everyone the freedom to speak at will. We must understand that God is sovereign and not at our beck and call. The Ruach Ha Koddesh is not our errand boy He is God. And when praying we should not seek anything other than His Holiness and righteousness, we should be reporting for duty asking what is it You’d have me to do?
The Torah must be taught but not in denial of the work of the Cross and the Blood of Messiah Yeshua. The Catholic has robbed the Church of Yeshua of its Jewish Roots and they are very important in understanding the Words of Yeshua. He was Jewish, His Disciples were Jewish, and nearly all his converts were Jewish. The Church is a place where Believers come to rehearse the things of the week that God has done, to give testimony and hear the teaching of the one God has sit before them. The Torah should never be placed over the New Covenant for it is here we find our salvation; in the Torah we can find our sins and shortcomings, the Tenach (Old Testament) point us to the Cross. Church is not a place to play games with the others present, but a place to give our testimony laying our soul bare before the congregation for others to witness and be able to minister, that we might grow in the Ruach Ha Koddesh. We gather to worship and praise His Holy name not to prove how spiritual or knowledgeable one may or may not be. We gather to minister to each other’s needs and show our love for each other, in so doing we will make others want to know Him.
Church is not a place where the “Pastor” makes so much money he can drive the latest most expensive Mercedes, have a private jet, and a summer home in Florida and a winter one in Maine. But he should be well taken care of in order to be free to study and hear from God without stress. He should be handling the tithes and using them to minister to the less fortunate among the congregation and have a heart only a Pastor can have willing to bleed with the sheep and teach them the way out of their situation.
We need to know that Eph. 4:11 is the center of the Church, the offices and that they are mobile in charter not necessarily geographically but as the Spirit has need He has the ability to move others into and out of the offices of the Church, sending out Apostles (Missionaries) Prophets, Evangelist, and Pastor-Teachers. That as individuals grow spiritually they move into Eph. 4:11 and the Church grows because of that spiritual growth.
In my personal case, I was and still am an Evangelist, for ten years I traveled the US and Europe Preaching the Gospel of the Messiah. But God moved me as only He can into the roll of an Apostle (Missionary) to my own Jewish people. And after another 20 years He has shown me that I am to go after Jews and bring them home. He has shown me the way and often times I feel like Noah building an Ark in the desert but build it I will with God’s help. So you see God moves us around as we mature and He has need.
I just read over this article, I didn’t start off to write so much on this subject but it kept coming so you have it straight and without being watered down. Many will be offended I am sure, some will say take me off your mailing list. But others will see I am speaking truth and without truth we have nothing in God, for God is not a man that He should lie.
In closing, God is not happy with what is being called the Church of Yeshua today, and the perversion is so wide spread that eyes are totally blinded to the truth mostly because of the doctrine of men. But He is getting ready to shake everything one last final time, and those who have ears to hear will know the truth others will continue on the way of easy-believeism. Don’t try to be to spiritual, God made you special and everyone reading this is different from any other person that ever lived. Your spiritual DNA can be found in motivational gifts Roman 12. in those 7 Gifts, you have one of them very strong and different degrees of the others you are special, find out who you are in God and rejoice in it. If the Church you are attending is operating properly others will have already identified your gift or gifts.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for our son Joel and all the IDF soldiers. Pray for those who have come to fight the Islamic enemy. Pray for this Ministry and your part in it. Shalom, jerry golden