CRUSHED GRAPES MINISTRY |
Frank B. Smith, Director, PO Box 3009, Vista, CA. 92085-3009 |
December 13, 1999 Dear Friends and Loved Ones, May the warmth and love of this Holiday Season draw you deeper and deeper into the awesome love relationship with Jesus. The story of His birth is perhaps the most tender and at the same time majestic message ever given to man. God wrapped Himself in human flesh and actually became one of us.Laid in a lowly manger so humble and vulnerable. And even now the likes of us can pick Him up and enter this wonderful relationship with Him. May He be born again and again this Holiday Season in the hearts and lives of all our friends and loved ones. I'm Outta Here. My son is flying me to Taiwan again. God-willing I will leave on December 15, and return on the 27th. I have a ticket for China Airlines on one of their 747's. (They've crashed six of them in the last six or so years) Please pray for a door of utterance to be opened wide for me during that time. Prophesy (previously Emailed) At a recent meeting of Pastors and leaders a word began to stir in me, and as some of the assembled representatives of God continued speaking about authority and oversight and accountability, the word began to roar in my spirit. I have titled it, Get out of the way prophesy. "Behold, Zion is in travail; she is great with child. The woman clothed with the sun, moon, and stars is giving birth to sons. The Church is bringing forth overcomers who, together with Me, will rule the world with a rod of iron. You shepherds and leaders, stop shielding them from Me. Stop thinking you know how to prepare them and nurture them. You do not. Do nothing with them without a direct word from Me. Stop protecting them from Me. If you don't get out of the way, I will go through you, and that will not be pleasant." This is a very severe warning especially to those of us who are in a position to disciple others. Hear it well, and heed the admonition. If you are having trouble hearing from the Lord one on one, set everything aside and sit at His feet until the relationship is restored. If you are not led by the Lord, you will be in His way in this pregnant time, this most exciting time in the history of mankind. I sent this to the Email list, and received a great deal of response. Almost all positive and confirming, but one or two negatives sparked the following reaction. When taking a controversial stand or making a shocking statement, it is easier and less incriminating to quote somebody else. Here is a quote that two respected authors and servants of Jesus referred to, but let it be said up front, "I think the woman is right." My friend, Gayle Erwin, author of The Jesus Style quoted Father Girzone author of Joshua, saying that a woman came up to him after one of his meetings and said, "The Catholics worship the Church, and the Protestants worship the Bible, and damn few ever find Jesus." Selah. Is Jesus there in the "Catholic Church?" Yes, He hangs around there some, but look for Him behind the bells and smells and pageantry and falderah. We need to know Him, not the liturgy or form. Is He there in the Bible? Yes, He hangs around when you read it, but look for Him behind the ink and paper and words and doctrines. The book is the written word of God. Jesus is the living word of God. The written word can and does kill. The living word comes to bring life. The written word, without the living word kills. "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 2 Cor. 3:6. The word for "letter" is the same word that is usually translated "scriptures" i.e. 2 Tim. 3:15. You see, our problem is that we want to take the things of God, things that are "God-breathed" and God-ordained, and make them into an end in themselves instead of using them for the purposes for which God gave them. For example: 1) The brass snake on the pole was to bring healing from the snakebites and provide a most powerful picture of Jesus on the cross. What happened? The children of Israel worshipped the wonderful gift from God and it became a curse to them that brought death. It had to be destroyed. 2) The Ark of the Covenant was ordained of God to focus the truths of His relationship with His people, and the awesome picture of Jesus as the "blood covering." What happened? They used it like a good luck charm to bring victory to the armies, or as a nice religious thing that could be man-handled. God put a stop to all of that, and finally took it away. 3) The Temple was a concession from God to His people to which God pledged Himself. God later had His servant Nebuchadnezzar level it. Then it happened all over again. He allowed and commissioned another one which was leveled in 70 AD. This is a "thing syndrome." It is the desire of fallen man to take a "thing" from God, and make it into an idol that is given way too much place and clearly gets between God and man, thus becoming an idol. For many, this is true of "The Roman Catholic Church," and also for many it is true of "The Inspired Scriptures." I love the Bible. I read it, eat it, seek to make it become flesh in me. But I hate it when it becomes an idol. None of the evils perpetrated in the name of God or the name of Jesus were ever done without "scriptural justification." Every single heresy, every inception of a different, broken, isolated, fragmented part of the body of Christ began with "Bible Truth." Now we have literally thousands of warring gangs, each of which justifies its existence and separation from the rest by "the word of God." Give me a break. This is sick. The problem never comes from too little Bible training, it comes from doctrines, words, ink, and paper without the living Word breathing His life into it. Enough of my ranting. Well, maybe a little more. Watch out for Idols The Apostle John ends his
first letter with, "Dear children, keep Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus. Love, Frank
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