Can you not hear the sounds of suffering all around you, or are you simply that obtuse? Have you purposely closed your ears to the loud clanking of chains and the moans made by the prisoners who are marching off toward their deaths?
Ah, but then you have fallen back into the same old rut, acting as if nothing in the world has changed, or that a new era has been ushered in. Yet, to entice the crowd and increase your size, you create spectacles meant to reach a targeted audience, for it is not the ones perishing that shall flock to your conferences and events, but the already saved, though the “lost” stand right outside your meeting halls in need of salvation.
So while you have donned the robes of righteousness, you magnify your outer appearance before others, desiring to be relevant in the eyes of man. And so in your stylish apparel do you parade yourselves about hoping to become elevated in the eyes of others. And though you are convinced that the time and money spent upon these yearly events are well worth the cost, it is an incorrect standard that you have used to measure your effectiveness, and as such, your calculations are off, for you are still relying upon antiquated tools which are unable to produce the correct results; for adding new campuses is not the metric I use to quantify success.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that a clamoring crowd means you must be on the right track. Can’t even the world elicit this type of response when offering events that feature big names? Indeed! Yet, it has become common amongst My children to run here and there looking for new spiritual encounters, and as such, attend gatherings that foster this type of atmosphere.
Then you are like a vehicle with spinning wheels, not really gaining the correct momentum to see the areas where you are planted become flourishing fields, as your insistence upon adhering to the status quo shall prevent much new ground from being taken.
[Vision: I saw a church building being stripped down, where even the pictures hanging on the walls were removed until the building was just a hollow shell, ready for reconstruction.]
Then, say I, Awaken Church: “Awaken! Things must change!” To see a well-fortified army emerge during this season, it can no longer be business as usual! Or do you not comprehend the seriousness of the hour? It is, therefore, time to change focus by switching your attention from ‘building your platforms’ to that of equipping the soldiers I have sent in your direction. It is not teaching these warriors how to ‘serve in church’ that is vital, but the implementation of instruction that is designed to reclaim their communities. Just as a child must be trained up in the way he should go, it is the same with My children, and as such, greater emphasis must be placed on building solid regiments through committed disciples (those who are true followers of Christ) than by developing loyal churchgoers.
Know then, that because a shift has occurred in the unseen, I am calling for realignment across the entire Church. Therefore, roll up your sleeves and prepare to get in the trenches, for I am leading you beyond the comfort of your congregational halls and out into the forefront of the battle: that terrain where the lost dwell and the perishing are found.