Time to prepare

I just recently completed a holiday in New Zealand.

A wise teacher once told a story to me. It probably wasn’t his but it was good all the same.

If you place a frog in hot water it will jump straight out. If you place the frog in cold water and slowly heat it up the frog will not leave the water and will cook itself.

I am from New Zealand but do not live there now. I first became a Christian about thirty seven years ago. Seven years after this event I lived in Christchurch. Things were happening in the church. We were all very excited about the future of the church and expected great things of God. A short time later I left Christchurch and started on my journey which led me to Australia. Since that time I have returned to New Zealand multiple times. Each time I returned I noticed that the country was far less moral but did not think much of this as this was happening everywhere. What has shocked me on my last trip was how spiritually dry New Zealand felt. I had no revelation at all on this trip. It wasn’t until I returned that God started showing me things again.

God showed me the mountains that I saw in New Zealand and reminded me of the parable of the sower. On the top of the mountains nothing grew. On the lower edges some very hardy plants grew but little fruit bearing plants could survive. As I arrived on Canterbury plans it was very green and all manner of things grew there. In amongst this were places where gorse and thistle grew where not much else could grow. This was so much like the parable. Then God showed me a new gardening technique. This was hydroponics. In hydroponics, plants have no soil but are feed everything down a long pipe. Water and nutrients are constantly being supplied down the pipe but there is no soil and in some cases, the hydroponics is grown inside. God showed me that this was where the church is at and why it is so spiritually dry.

The people of God have been pulled out of the soil and placed in something that is very much like a hydroponic garden. They have no direct relationship with God. They receive all the spiritual food they need from their leaders and in some places they get their spiritual food from the music that they also worship. All appears fine but they do not know where the spiritual food is coming from. They cannot tell if they are being poisoned or not because they have no relationship with God. Many cannot even pray or do not read or understand God’s word. Some leaders are not even giving much relevance to God’s word. In many churches the worship of God has been replaced by the worship of music. Don’t get me wrong, I like good music, but I am against usurping God by thinking that I am worshipping him when in fact I am worshipping the music. There is little spurring one another on in faith. Righteousness has been forgotten and there is as much sin in the church as there is in the world. Marriage is not honoured in the church.

So why isn’t the church on their knees and repenting? I cannot understand this, especially with what I see in Australia on the news. We have had our hearts hardened. We should be weeping but instead we attend celebration services each Sunday. Do not think that this can go on. I can already see the signs of persecution coming and in some places it has already arrived. The church will be chipped at until all the dead wood has been removed. Remember the parable of the vine. We are grafted in at the expense of God’s chosen people. Do not think that he will not cut us off too if we do not bear fruit.

There is still time for us, but we must act now. It cannot go on much longer.

As for the wickedness of our nations, this will all end badly. History shows that when wickedness reaches its fullness God acts. A member of parliament stated that the sky will not fall down. I tell you that the sky will fall down. It will come down in natural disasters and I see these coming very soon. Do not be afraid of these things. This is a natural part of what happens as wickedness grows. Be more concerned with keeping a right relationship with God. Even if my body is taken from me, my spirit will live and God will raise me up in the last days.

God bless