"And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." - Acts 2:42

Without Biblical authority, or any other right under the sun, carnal religious leaders have introduced a host of attractions that serve no purpose except to provide entertainment for the retarded saints. It's now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment & a minimum of serious instruction. Its scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God's professed children are bored with Him, for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games & refreshments. This has influenced the whole pattern of church life, & even brought into being a new type of church architecture, designed to house the golden calf. So we have the strange anomaly of orthodoxy in creed & heterodoxy in practice. The striped candy technique has been so fully integrated into our present religious thinking that it is simply taken for granted. Its victims never dream that it's not a part of the teachings of Christ & His apostles.  Theology lectures & teachers on movie screens don't cut it either! "Itching ears",  - I've heard that somewhere.

"Forgive me, Lord, where we have played into the hands of those wanting striped candy instead of You. Help me to demonstrate a God so real that no one could ever be bored with Him, in Jesus' name, Amen."

Trials and Pain: Few Lovers of His Cross

"For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise." - Hebrews 10:36

When God needs a person for His service-a good person, an effective person, a humble person-why does He most often turn to a person in deep trouble? Why does He seek out a person deep in the crucible of suffering, a person who is not the jovial, "happy-happy" kind? I can only say that this is the way of God with His human creation....

Ezekiel did not come out of pleasant and favorable circumstances. The light had gone out in his heart. He probably thought that God takes a long time to work out His will.

Doesn't this same view surface in much of our Christian fellowship? We don't want to take the time to plow & to cultivate. We want the fruit and the harvest right away! We don't want to be engaged in any spiritual battle that takes us into the long night. We want the morning light right now! We don't want to go through the processes of planning & preparation & labor pains. We want the baby this instant!

We don't want the cross. We're more interested in the crown. The condition isn't popular for today. Thomas a Kempis wrote long ago, The Lord has many lovers of His crown but few lovers of His cross.

"Lord, make us lovers of Your cross as well as lovers of Your crown. In Jesus name, Amen."