Imagine. Last time people, despite their personal misgivings,
respected the chuch in the old days. During the time of God's
Generals (Smith Wigglesworth, Maria Esther, Joe Cook and so on)
because despite their unbelief, could see the power operating in
the church. When the church realizes it's supernatural annointing
and moves in it. There was deliverance, healing and all sorts of
mircales goin' around as the normal affair it really was.
And this was during a time 1850s-1950s when atheism and rationalism
was even more militant then today, where atheists and the like
dared to go to meetings, stand up, and speak up against the
speaker. But many of who were promptly silenced by the power of
God. Just look at the cases of William Brahman and is it Maria
Esther? Where pple who dared to challange them publicly collasped
writhing and crying in deliverance or suddenly lost their voices
and could not speak (undoubtly these pple were changed by their
brush with the hem of God's cloak). Despite all their curses,
misgivings and such, the unbeliever respected the church in those
days.
Nowadays. Even we who claim to be charismatic hardly operate in all
the supernatural described in the book of acts which we had been
called to do so. When people look at the church today, they scoff
at it, basically, they see the entire thing to be a scam. And maybe
they are not far from the truth, for prehaps we have sold out a lot
to the ways of man in trying to move in the flesh rather then in
the spirit. We've prehaps became so seeker sensitive that we've
dulled our area of being God sensitive.
Of course, I'm not saying that we should and must follow the path
of the gu ren in the old days, or look back whistfully on them and
live in yesterdays hour. But we have to go on to the next level in
our lives and such. I certainly dun believe what we as a church,
esp. in singapore, are being and doing everything God has called up
to be and to do. There's still quite a lot of work to be
done.
Basically, prehaps the problem could lie in our pride over our
acomplishments, where we build big buildings, live in them like a
country club and pat ourselves on our backs. Assuming that we've
indeed done what we've been called to do. Not that these things are
bad, but I think we should open up our eyes to our surroundings.
When was the last time we helped change things for a friend? Do we
actually spend more time preaching to our friends, not that is bad,
then actually helping them? Moving in the flesh? Hmm?