The Holy Spirit has burned a message into my soul that I cannot contain.
I want this message to get into the hands of as many people as possible—people who are on the verge of spiritual shipwreck.
I have never felt as great an urgency to open my heart to you.
Millions have left the church.
Many who were on fire for God, even those who were effective vessels, have fallen and have abandoned their faith in Jesus.
A famous Christian singer announced that he is now an atheist.
Is that shocking?
The real shock is that the church is not shocked, because this kind of recanting of faith has now become common.
Millions have left the church.
This is the reality that Christian leaders do not want to talk about.
However, facts do not go away.
And the facts are these: an entire generation has virtually discarded the faith of their parents.
Perhaps you also were among those who were wounded on the battlefield, but did not get up again.
The reasons are as varied as are the people themselves.
It may have been an abusive church.
It may have been an old habit that raged its way back into control.
It may have been a divorce, a false teaching that weakened you, or the gravitational weight of the unbelief and skepticism of this age.
The most common cause is sudden tragedy.
Something horrendous happened that ran you off of your theological map.
You felt that you had no choice but to abandon your faith.
You may be angry with God.
You are not alone. There are millions in this condition.
Let me be frank, I believe that God is turning your heart back to Him.
And He is also doing this on a massive scale with others.
He has done it before.
Just prior to the fire falling on Mount Carmel, Elijah prayed these words,
“Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” (1 Kings 18:37)
The Lord is doing this not only because He loves you, but because He wants to spare America.
“And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 4:6)
You are likely a casualty of the lukewarm American church.
Widespread compromise has left her unprotected.
The active ingredient has been left out of preaching—and that ingredient is surrender.
And that is the reason that the power of God to stand against tragedy and evil has never kicked in.
The voice of the Holy Spirit is intensifying as He calls to those who are the fallen, the wounded, and the forgotten.
His wooing is loving and hopeful, but it never disguises the truth.
And the truth is that, in America, entire churches are backslidden!
And it is not unprecedented. Look at these verses:
15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:15-20)
Okay. So you may have been caught in the cultural crossfire of the compromised church, or the toxic church—even the false church—but why should you lose your soul just to get back at false ministers and sick churches?
What Satan does not want you to think about is this:
if you brush away the cobwebs of church politics, hypocrites, and unexpected tragedy, you will have to admit that the best days of your life were when you walked with God in fervent commitment.
Those were the days of peace and joy.
The best days were the days before anybody and anything came between you and Jesus.
You prayed and sensed that no matter what, everything would come out all right.
Even those things that you still had questions about became unimportant, because of your total trust in the character and faithfulness of God!
You have never, before or since, felt anything like His sweet presence.
Those were the best days, and those days can come again.
Jesus is knocking and wants to have dinner with you alone.
“I will sup with him,” Jesus promised.
I admit I am calling forth a divine desperation to come over you.
I want you to break, I want you to yearn to come back home—to return to your best life, your only life.
There is an army rising up, composed of people that Satan thought he had, but is about to lose on a grand scale.
Won’t you turn back to Jesus, and reclaim your first love?
Do your first works over again.
Then, He will say to you, “Welcome back to the war!”
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