Lewis,What a pleasure to read your letter, and what joy and sorrow therein lies. For those who did not read it please do so.I am going to jump around a bit, and instead of dealing with imminence, I am going to deal with Why the imminence is not understood or acknowledged in the churches, so bear with me.I Have written extensively on the difference between the institutional church, which is a human (social) construct, and the true church, which is a construct of Christ himself. The Institutional church has become bigger than the people who created it, where as the True church still remains where two or three are gathered together in Jesus name. In one the institution of man teaches the members, in the other, the Holy Spirit teaches each person, and one another through fellowship. One has a presbytery, or a hierarchy, or a Pope, that is the head, while the other has Christ Jesus who is the head. Perhaps this is why so many in your church and others do not know that Jesus is coming SOON, because they have not HEARD it from their head which is a man. In the church I belong to, the Head is shouting loudly "I am coming soon!". This is THE biggest problem in the institutional churches today....That Jesus Christ is not the Head of the church, instead man has appointed himself to that role, and risen as the head onto a podium of pride.You wrote in your closing; we long to hear our masters voice.... When we remove ourselves from the churches of men, is when we WILL hear his voice. He is speaking now to his sheep, and his sheep know his voice. When we replace man as our head, and allow His Spirit to teach us, is when we will hear his voice.10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground! Psalm 143:10To Quote A.W. Tozer: http://www.the-highway.com/voice_Tozer.html"The whole Bible supports the idea. God is speaking. Not God spoke, but God is speaking. He is by His nature continuously articulate. He fills the world with His speaking Voice.One of the great realities with which we have to deal is the Voice of God in His world. The briefest and only satisfying cosmogony is this: “He spake and it was done.” The why of natural law is the living Voice of God immanent in His creation. And this word of God which brought all worlds into being cannot be understood to mean the Bible, for it is not a written or printed word at all, but the expression of the will of God spoken into the structure of all things. This word of God is the breath of God filling the world with living potentiality. The Voice of God is the most powerful force in nature, indeed the only force in nature, for all energy is here only because the power-filled Word is being spoken."A Quote from Corrie Tenboom as well:"...we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God."
So simple as this sounds, Yet so distant from the doctrines of men, in the institutional churches. The churches want to maintain power, thereby saying their leadership speaks for God. But When Jesus came, he gave to all of us His Spirit, that we may hear His voice, and be taught by Him, and get to KNOW HIM on our journey through this life.God Bless.