"UNDER THE WEATHER"

I believe that the Lord would say that modern churches are feeling "under the weather." The phrase is an idiom used in the English language to denote sickness, but not to the level that would require a visit to the doctor or the hospital. The fact is: whether the church is comatose or "under the weather" the result is the same--it misses its calling and purpose. The church's purpose is to interpret prophecy, to warn the congregation and the world of impending doom, and to hear the cries of its people. A church or congregation that cannot hear the cries of its people and respond urgently and appropriately will not survive. The key is having an appropriate response. If each time someone asks for oranges, you give them an apple, eventually they will stop asking and try to find someone else who can hear and respond to their request for oranges. 

The spirits of the remaining men and women who still inhabit churches and other congregations are crying out for deeper meaning and purpose in life. They want to know that this earth represents more than a passing encounter with life. It is their sole opportunity to grab hold of an eternity that seems to be eluding them, leaving them with no more than a passing encounter. Deep within their spirit they know intuitively that they can have infinitely more than a "treadmill" existence, fueled by a repetitiveness that appears to have no end. If that is all that the church or congregation provides, the remnant also will leave eventually. 

In order to survive in this current spiritual climate, a congregation must literally and figuratively touch the face of God and connect with eternity. It is a powerful and explosive encounter that is facilitated by God's Holy Spirit. When we connect with God's Holy Spirit, we connect with eternity. When a congregation connects its members with God's Holy Spirit, it connects them with the eternity they crave, and in a manner that cannot be rivaled by any other entity or organization. One cannot tell them that they have God's indwelling Holy Spirit if they don't. Their spirits know truth. They feel and experience the empty hole at their core that yearns to be filled. People of God, be filled with his Spirit and allow that Spirit to consume every inch of your being. A congregation that is filled with members who are filled with God's Holy Spirit will be passionate, vibrant, alive, growing, urgent, loving, and teeming with unmatched miracles.