Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

I have been married to a loving, caring man for over thirty-seven years. I went on two missionary trips to Israel back in 1994. One was in March and the second in October of the same year. I have been blessed with two sons, one daughter, and six beautiful grandchildren. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania where I attended an Assembly of God Church for almost ten years and where I had two very successful businesses. The Lord called my husband and myself to Baton Rouge, LA. in 2003 with a new job for my husband. We left our house and children (Luke 18:29) and obeyed His calling. After living here for a year, the Lord moved my daughter and son-in-law down here. I attended a Full Gospel Church where the uncompromised word is taught. I am a leader in our women's group were I teach the word. My heart's cry is to do the will of my Father no matter what (Luke 22:42) and to know and obey Him more.

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The Warning Before the Storm

AuthorHouse

Contents

Acknowledgements....................................viiIntroduction........................................ixThe Chilly Church...................................1The Midway Church...................................9The Spoiled Church..................................17The Lifeless Church.................................23The Lacking Church..................................31The Persistent and Loyal Church.....................39The Approaching Storm...............................49The Sinking Vessel..................................59The Thief in the Night..............................71The Overcomer.......................................79From the Author.....................................87Reference...........................................93

Chapter One

I can remember The severe snow storms we use to get when I lived in Pennsylvania. I can recall one dark, snowy night as I looked out my window and saw how beautiful it was. The snow was laying on the trees and branches; it was like another world where everything was pure and clean. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, "My child, this is how beautiful and clean anyone can be who has been washed by the blood of the lamb. It doesn't matter how dirty the sin or what it is, but what matters is My word that says though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18)."

The Bible describes our Lord's appearance as lightning and His clothes white as snow. Revelation tells us that the "bride of Christ will be clothed in the linen (Rev. 19:8)." White represents purity and God is looking for people to love him and serve him with a pure heart. If we love our Father and Lord with all of our heart and soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), then we will be able to love others the way He wants us to. We must remember that in our own flesh this is impossible, but as we surrender our lives to Him daily, he will take out that natural love in our hearts and replace it with His love.

This is the church that our Lord told Peter that on this rock, I will build my church that the gates of hell will not prevail (Matt 16:18). Then why church is the devil overcoming so many of God's people? Could it be that we pick and choose those ones that we want to love? Why don't we love the way He has commanded us to love? If they have a different skin color, are poor instead of rich, or a different nationality, we must all remember where we have come from and what our Lord has done for each of us. It doesn't matter what the sin was, for a sin is a sin and He died for each and every one of them.

Some of us have been pulled from the gutter of drugs and alcohol. Others he pulled from the wreckage of divorce, a broken family, a cesspool of pornography, adultery, witchcraft, and others He saved from false religion. Why is it that the church judges instead of loving? When the adulteress was brought before Jesus, all those around him wanted to stone her but Jesus said to them, "If any is among us that has not sinned, then cast the first stone." He knew that they all were sinners even though they could not recognize it.

For the Word of God says, "We have all sinned and fell short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23)." He did not respond the way the crowed thought He should of. Instead, He told her, "Go and sin no more." It was the love coming from Jesus that touched this sinful woman's heart. His heart that said I don't judge you but I forgive you. Can you imagine how that woman felt?

For the first time in her life she was accepted and loved for who she was. We are not to condone the sin, but we are to love the sinner. Our reaction and response towards the sinner could determine their outcome. What would your reaction be if a prostitute, man with an earring or long hair, or person with facial piercings came walking down the isle of your church? What about the biracial couples and the woman who has children out of wedlock?

If we call ourselves a Christian, then the answer is simple: we would respond to these people the same way our Lord responded to the adulteress woman, out of love. How are we going to win the lost if we shun them? Let's remember the story of Zacchaeus and how the crowd complained when our Lord honored him with His fellowship. Zacchaeus was despised and hated by all of Israel.

He cheated the people, but Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, the Great Teacher, whom he heard was the Messiah and Healer. Zacchaeus had climbed into a Sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus as He was passing by. When Jesus saw Zacchaeus, He didn't look at him as a cheating tax collector, but as a servant who invited Him into his home. Jesus honored Zacchaeus, and because of it, salvation came to his household (Luke 19:1-9). This is the love Jesus is talking about.

Ask yourself, how would you have responded? Would you have been cold and uncaring or would you have been full of compassion and love? Too many people want to be in a high position. They think they either need to be on a committee, praise team, or teach to be recognized, but this is a lie from the enemy of our soul. Jesus tells us that, he opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (John 4:6).

It's not about what position we hold with man, but how we serve the Lord. Jesus says that if you want to be first, then you must be the very last and a servant of all (Mark 9:35). If you want to be a lowly servant of the most High it means going unnoticed and unmentioned. These are the disciples that our Lord is looking for and calling out. When he chose the twelve disciples, he did not pick men who had money, fancy homes, a big car, or a high class job, but He picked twelve nobody's.

They were unlearned and uneducated men who would turn this world upside down for Him. We must remember that it's not about positions in a church, but whether or not we serve and love as He did. Let us not forget that our Lord did not come to be served, but to serve and gave His life as a ransom for many (Matt 20:28). How many are willing to lay down their life for a brother? How many are willing to love as He loves?

How many are willing to leave everything behind to follow Him? How many are willing to serve Him, no matter what the cost? Let me answer that for you: not many! That's why He told us many our called, but few are chosen (Matt 22:14). It is time for the body of Christ to rise up and love as He has commanded us to love.

First we must love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Second we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt 22:37-39). When we start loving each other despite a person's skin color, how much money he does or doesn't have, and whether he is educated or unlearned, we will then respond to sinners the way our Lord did, out of love. Remember you are to love the sinner, and not the sin. Then, and only then, will we see God move in our lives.

We must do what our Lord has commanded us to do, love. When we seek God's will in our lives, and (His will is obedience to His word) die to self, there is nothing impossible for God. The church needs to stop being so cold and chilly, and start being loving and forgiving. The reason the church is in this condition is because they are filled with too much self and not enough of His spirit, too much doing it man's way and not God's way, too much judging one another instead of loving one another, too much gossip...