Ready or Not
Here I Come!
by
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What has happened to the Church of Jesus Christ? Where has our enthusiasm gone that once inspired us to take the challenge of Christ seriously and respond to it promptly? It would seem we are in a stupor and aimlessly wandering around in a state of unconsciousness. To put it bluntly, the church has fallen asleep.
The story is told about a pastor who was rather disappointed that things in the church were not happening like he wanted. He asked one of his leading deacons, "What is wrong with our church? Is it ignorance or apathy?" The deacon responded, "I don’t know and I don’t care." (1) The pastor was given more than an answer to his question; he was given a demonstration to it.
Apathy is an indication that the church is on its way to slumber-land. It may not be totally asleep but it is losing consciousness to a lost world; it is becoming indifferent to a fervent love for God; it is losing influence to a liberal environment that grows stronger as the church nods.
Probably the biggest obstacle the church has to overcome is apathy. Persecution is difficult to deal with but it seems to drive the Christian closer to God. Doctrinal differences have caused many churches to split but at least people do search the Word even if it is only to prove their point. Poverty keeps the church from attempting new ventures but it also keeps them on their knees. But when apathy sets in the church becomes drunk on the un-cola: unconscious, unmovable, and unconcerned.
Paul was obviously conscious of the apathy already prevalent in his day when he declared,
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"And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed."
Romans 13:11
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About the Book
God has a plan and purpose for everything He does here on earth. “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” Isaiah 14:24 (NIV). For you and me to be a part of that greatest honor bestowed upon mortal humans. God opened to me His plan and purpose for my life in 1953 when he called me to preach the gospel. During a normal Sunday evening church service in the Assembly of God church in Boyne City, Michigan, Pastor Bill Severance had just finished preaching and people were assembled around the altar for a time of prayer. As I knelt at the altar, I was doing some deep soul searching and reflective praying when, suddenly, the power of God hit me and I was prostrated on my face seemingly nailed to the floor. I lay there, conscious of what was going around me yet unable to move a muscle. I remember thinking, “I can’t even lift my fingers because I am so totally overpowered by God.” I was so completely absorbed by God I had no concept of time. Then it happened! God spoke to my heart. It was neither an audible voice nor a booming thunder from heaven but an inner revelation that swept over my whole being enlightening me to the fact that God had called me to preach His word. After that very intimate experience with God, it seemed that His power catapulted me to my feet. I began to run around the church exclaiming, “God has called me to preach, God has called me to preach!” This was so far from my character that I knew that it was of God. Yes, I was called to preach the gospel, but deep down in the portals of my understanding there was a further unfolding of God’s call to me. The specific mission was to prepare God’s people for His coming.