Does the Holy Ghost want you to play it safe? I have been haunted by this for the last few weeks. I spoke with some people I have known for a long time. Why doesn't the Holy Spirit move in services like He used to? How long since you have heard a spontaneous message in tongues and interpretation? OR even a word? It's become so rare it is almost non existent. Why??? Playing it safe. What if someone said something really silly? What if someone took the preplanned service off course? What if someone we don't even know spoke a word that caused many to wonder about something that was going on IN THE CHURCH?
I believe with all my heart that the desire on the part of many to "play it safe" has caused the move of God to STOP DEAD. Other than at some of my Black Church venues I don't even hear people pray publicly in tongues any more. It is an illusion that playing it safe from any influence of the Holy Spirit is safe!
I believe playing it safe is the most dangerous place of all and because of that we have dead and dying churches in the western world. Oh sure you can get an occasional move of God but very quickly someone will harness it as being too "Dangerous". Since Pensacola we have drifted downhill. The last time anything significant happened was Lakeland and that crashed. Church leadership has become cowardly as a response to not letting it "get out of hand". In their hearts they "Don't want another Lakeland".
This move towards safety is P. I. N. O. Pentecostal in Name Only. (Not Rick Pino. He is full on.) We no longer have any discernible expression of Pentecost in churches that once considered themselves to be Pentecostal. Respectability and caution have become the false gods of the western church. We have fallen into the trap of becoming acceptable, seeker sensitive and trying to avoid offense. I glad Peter and the other 149 on that early Pentecost morning weren't afraid to be "drunk as you suppose". You don't see anything like that any more. We have drifted into an insipid useless state. As a result 30% plus of the USA no longer has any fear of God whatsoever. They don't HATE God, they are just NONE. Our salt is tasteless and our light is flickering out.
Tom Trask before he resigned as General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God prophesied that if the AG didn't turn away from a trend toward "Playing it Safe" they would end up just like the Methodists in 20 years. It only took half that time. They used to be the big guns in the Pentecostal expression. Oh, the AG is still a very large movement, just not Pentecostal anymore.
I read what Jesus says about Playing it safe. He called it lukewarmness. It's too late for most denominational churches. The angel of the Lord has already nailed an Ichabod sign above those church doors ...it's not visible, but it's there. It will stay there until leaders decide to allow God to do what he does best (bring about Heaven touching Earth)....and it's not even close to safe. It will blow up your need to have control. I know THIS is the Heart of GOD. Jesus is calling to the Church, "Time to step out of that boat of safety and begin to walk on water". Will you?? Or will you stay behind in the safety and security of a sinking boat? Peter became a key to building the Kingdom of God after Jesus stepped back into eternity because of his demonstrated willingness to take risks. He made dumb mistakes, but he was bold. He was trusted by God to reach the Gentiles. He was the one chosen to speak to the masses on the day of Pentecost. That spirit has been quashed by the need to be safe. Caution can be a spirit, it can even manifest as a demon when you have people around you warning you off from being bold. Boldness that is needed in this day. BE BOLD BE STRONG FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU. Step out -- step up.
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