CRUSHED GRAPES MINISTRY |
Frank B. Smith, Director, PO Box 3009, Vista, CA. 92085-3009 |
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Dear Ones, I am sorry I haven’t written before this, but I have an excuse. It wasn’t a very good excuse, and now I’ve forgotten what it was. O well, if you love me, forgive me. If you don’t love me, you probably don’t want to read this letter anyway.
We did move June 30 to Laguna Woods, which used to be called
Leisure World. We’re renting a two bedroom condo that is pretty spacious,
very quiet, has lots of amenities, but lacks noise and children. I am
adjusting to this deprivation by keeping busy in ministry and taking short
trips into The ministry continues to be a non-traditional, radical attempt to follow Jesus and be led of Him. This walking out of His leading as I understand His communication to me is exciting, even breathtaking. One of my favorite portions of the ministry is teaching the men in drug and alcohol re-hab. I had the privilege of baptizing another half dozen in the ocean a couple weeks ago.
“Find out what pleases the Lord.” Eph. 5:10 Most Sunday mornings I am traveling, following through on an assignment, or just plain avoiding organized church meetings. I don’t like most of them. They seem to me contrived, choreographed, clergy dominated, and far removed from life and reality. I have, however, attended a nice fellowship where I teach a very small class on Thursdays. I asked to do this for the sake of a grandson. The fellowship is based on recovery and there is a lot of life and reality. The teaching pastor is good and shares a lot from his own experiences and presents Jesus, Yahshua, from an Aramaic perspective. I went this morning. During the “worship” time, I got uncomfortable. I am not sure all the reasons, and please hear me that this is a great fellowship. People would go up to the side of the front, where a large pile of pillows were used to kneel and pray. One of the pastors would go up and kneel and pray with them – wonderful, but why is it only the pastors who do this? The teaching pastor also plays guitar, so he isn’t included in these prayers. The pastor who did all the praying this morning is a wonderful, loving shepherd. The music was “good” in the sense of contemporary, loud, and well presented. Perhaps it was the performance aspect of the music that bothered me. Anyway, I sensed the anger of the Lord rising and became extremely uncomfortable. He started talking to me about purity and reality and the need for cleansing and change. He said He would correct the things that offend Him. Then, - everything changed. A song was introduced and we all began to join in. (It is really hard for me to get with it in much of the contemporary Christian music. It seems like a presentation rather than leading the flock into the heavenlies, and most of it is hard to sing. Notice the personal bias of an old guy.) We sang “With all of my heart, with all of my mind, with all of my soul, with all of my might – Jesus, I love You.” And, suddenly - everything changed. The Ruler of Heaven and Earth, the Captain of the Armies of God, the One Whose Kingdom is covering all the earth, the One Whose eyes are like a flame of fire and from Whose mouth comes a two-edged sword, Jesus our Lord and King, turned to mush. God’s heart melted. He is such a helpless lover. I was reminded of His (Jesus’) words in the Song of Solomon, “You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride.” 4:9 and again, “Turn your eyes from me, they overwhelm me.” 5:5 I clearly felt the turmoil and the impasse. Jesus was overwhelmed by the words of His beloved, and the situation backed Him into a corner. He had a dilemma. He hates and despises all evil, wickedness, violence, and unbelief. He especially hates these things in us, His beloved. He paid the price for it all. He drank the cup of God’s wrath. He obliterated sin on the cross and now tells us to love and forgive one another and to present Him to the world. He says we are all one in His body. We change this wonderful love relationship with Him into a @-# %&*(*^! religion and separate ourselves from one another.
Surely the love of God will triumph. Surely the Yet, when the Son of Man returns, will he find any faith on the earth?
As this pregnant time continues cramping with the
birth pangs of the
Love in Christ, Frank |