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True Hope for aNew Millennium

Gods Hearts Desire or His People!

In December 1999, a well-known para-church organization producedand distributed to over 300,000 congregations, a video intended to warnand awaken ollowers o Jesus and call them to a more committed walkwith God. While distributing the video was done with good intentions,it inadvertently revealed a much larger and more atal issue. Tewriting that ollows was distributed at the same time the video wasreleased in order to help all who wear the name o Jesus to go ar past

being motivated, into being equipped and transormed.

Every honest person in christendom who is permitted to seebehind the curtain o modern christianity and go backstage,can see it. We can see the problems. But will we be willing to goto the Highest Places or REAL solutions? Or will we, like thelittle Dutch boy, just put our nger in the dike like we have orso many generations? Lets go all the way Home or our Solution!Its in the Heart and Ways o the Messiahthe way HE livedand the ruths HE taught and deposited with His Apprentices.

Right? J

As always, i we can help you in any way, please contact the church here atP.O. Box 68309, Indianapolis, IN 46268 USA.

www.JesusLifeTogether.comCopyright 1999 RealPeople@JesusLieogether.com

Copyright laws, as crazy as they are when we are talking aboutGods Word, require us to say the ollowing: Tis material is copyrightedand may not be quoted and/or reproduced without its complete context

(the entire document) except by the authors permission. You may, however,reely reproduce this in its entirety. And, o course, this publication is never

to be sold or any price (2 Corinthians 2:17, Matthew 10:8).

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On the ollowing pages are some quotations rom modern UnitedStates national leaders in the denominational world. Tesequotations were recorded on a video distributed recently to 300,000religious organizations in the United States. Te hope was that thisvideo would be played on New Years Eve, 1999 all over America.I it is listened to correctly, it will be quite an eye-opener or many.I one can avoid being dazzled by the aulty solutions at the end

o the videosolutions that have been tried in every generationto no availthen perhaps there will be many more hearts openednationwide and worldwide to the radical need to start over GodsWay. Perhaps then well be ready together, without ear o man, oraddiction to how weve always done it, to look or REAL solutions.Te paradigm has been aulty or a long, long time. We know itbyits admitted ruit.

The amazing thing about these quotes below is what the leaderso the religious world admit about their own congregations.

From Jack Hayord to ony Evans to Craword Loritts to Henry

Blackaby to Anne Graham Lotz to Kay Arthur to Bill McCartney...person aer person on this video ADMIS that the religious worldis NO afecting the world positively or Christ, but rather it is allailing terribly to represent Jesus well and change lives. Te majorityo millions attending modern congregations, with the Sundaymorning service, program, clergy way o building...are alling apart.Te congregations so oen look good on the outside, but this way obuilding IS NO WORKING, according to its leaders. Te truth is, ithas not and cannot work because it is not Gods Way to build. Tereis no such animal in the Scriptures as the modern-day way almost all

have church. And clearly, by the testimony o its own nationally-known leaders, the gates o hell have prevailed against the religiousworld. Clearly, thereore, this cannot be the kind o church thatJesus said HE would buildthough there are certainly many goodChristians within.

It is because o these ne people, and their children, that we mustreconsider how we are building in the local churches. It is or thesake o soulsthe unsaved who wrongully consider themselveschurch members, and the unsaved who do notit is or them that we

must rethink this thing we call church. We must reconsider HOW

we have dened leadership, HOW we have dened church, andWHO we consider to be church members and christians. Tereare answers, brothers and sisters, i we have the courage to embracethem! And it wont be in more programs, ministries, better speeches,home groups, mass meetings or preaching or prayer or worship, andecumenicalism. SO many things sound good and eel good, and inthe right context could be Useul to God, but have instead borne the

terrible ruit listed below. Good things are only 5% eective becausethey are done in the context o man-made church structures.

Check history and youll nd that weve been up and down thoseroads o exciting religious xes or so many years that theditch is deeper than the Grand Canyon. And we are now WORSEo, not better o, according to the builders o the aulty building.We wait in vain, beating the rock again and again, as Moses did. Forsome reason, we still expect God to eventually change His mind andmake everything okay, in spite o disobedience to His Commandsand Ways.

In any other endeavor o lie would we expect things to change byutilizing the same solutions that had never produced lasting resultsin the past? I you were in high school and admitted you were 150pounds overweight, and were also ailing all o your schoolwork,what would you do? Would you keep on doing the same things youhave always done, and expect anything to change? How oolish thiswould be! Could you change anything by talking about it more, orgetting inspired by speeches about it? You know the truth. You wouldhave to pay a price to DO something about it. David didnt conquer

Goliath by holding a conerence on the subject o Giant Killing.

Below youll nd some o these quotes rom this video. Readthem careully and prayerully. Understand how terrible theproblem really is. Also understand that the 150 pounds o obesityand the ailing grades dont go away by doing the same things wevealways done. A ew exciting programs and sermons and even goodthings wont make these acts go away. How we build matters! Aerso many years o all o the hype and mass meetings and programsand para-church bonding organizations and prayer things andconerences and seminars, things are worse, not better. Te programs

and systems and gimmicks and big things are NO serving God very

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well, according to their very leaders. And our marriages and childrenworldwide are paying the price or man-made and aulty buildingtechniques! When we build with bricks instead o stones, when wesubstitute externals and speeches and hierarchies and meetings ortrue daily lie and a Kingdom o priests, the devil will take certainadvantage o our poor building, and ravage the House.

Here is what the national leaders have said recently, about their

own churches:

America is a reection o the condition o the people o God,the churches.

In a recent research study, out o 66 liestyle categories, Christiansare not demonstrably diferent than non-Christians in ANY o the66 categories.

Christians have no credible moral voice in this nation.

For the rst time in history, here in the western world, the divorce rate

in the church is higher...HIGHER...than those that are not churched.God looks into our churches and sees as much divorce in the people oGod as He does in the world. God looks into our churches and sees asmuch abortion in the people o God as He does in the world. God looksinto our churches and sees as much gambling in the people o God asHe does in the world. And the surveys taken say the dierence betweenthe churches and the people o the world is not hardly recognizable.

When it comes to marriage and amily, we have not done well.

80% o all young people raised in the church, aithully attending

church...80% o all o them, have lef the church when they leave home.

We have substituted programs or prayer, and scheduled activitiesor the Spirits leading, and orthodoxy or obedience, and CEOs orpastors and shepherds.

We are at a decisive moment. God must do a new thing inHis Church.

We are at a crossroads, and have got to make serious changes in thechurches. We stand on the critical moment o judgment or revival. We

must decide i well obey.

From a historical perspective, it seems certain that i the nation willsee a revival, the church must rst see a revival.

We have so entangled our lives with the aairs o this world, and wehave made Christianity a show.

As with the selection o a king to replace the organic Leadershipo God, the cost o building mans way is very, very high(1Sam. 8:4-20). Our version, though ar rom and even disobedientto the Scriptures, is to substitute or Jesus Headship our ministriesand missionaries and para-church organizations and servicesand human systems and organizational charts. Even christendomsmodern leaders see that it has been a serious and obvious ailure.Te Lord has declared, You know the tree by its ruit.

And yet, by the end o the video, it seems apparent that most still dontrecognize that weve continued to try to nd our solutions in the sameold used-clothing barrel, generation afer generation.

Why dont we, instead, regardless o the cost, go all the wayback to the Principles that Jesus and the Apostles laid down

about what a Church really is? Acts 2:42-47 was NO a culturalphenomenon, but rather 3,000 brand new Christians, led in GodsWay to have Church, in keeping with the simple eachings o theMaster. What were their priorities or living? Adding Christianity totheir busy schedules, or living, moving, and having their being inChrist, each one seeking rst the Kingdom every single day? Youknow the answer, right? J

All the Believers were together, and had everything in common.

Coness your sins one to another and pray or one another,so you may be healed.

See to it, brothers, that none o you has a sinul, unbelieving heart.

Tis is not about communal living, but about SELFLESS living,each one passionately wrestling to present every man perfect inChrist. How did they function with one another? As an audienceon Sundays, with some program involvement thrown in during theweek? OR, Daily, as a priesthood of believers? Were their meetingssimilar to todaypreprogrammed and controlled by a man? ORwas it, When revelation comes to the second, LE HE FIRS

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ONE SI DOWN!? Why? Because the Master said, You are ALLjust brothers.

Oh, Family, there is SO much more to talk about regarding howJesus and His hand-trained Apostles built the Church that theMaster desires. As the Apostle Paul said, we need to know both theunsearchable riches o Christ andthe administration, or practicalworking out, o the unsearchable riches, in order that, Now, through

the Church, the maniold wisdom o God might be made known tothe Principalities and Powers! (Eph. 3). We can quench the Spirit andgrieve Him with HOW we unction, or we can participate with Himin His ever-increasing Government!

Know that the tragic state o aairs conveyed in the quotesrom that video CAN BE DESROYED, to the Praise o HisGlory! Broken hearts and broken lives can be healed i well buildon His Foundationi well participate in uprooting, tearing down,destroying, and overthrowing [all that is man-made] in order that

He may build and plant(Jer. 1:10).Ill conclude with an excerpt o some thoughts rom some years ago,which speak a little more o nding our Solution in Jesus...

Freedom is AvailableI saw a news documentary this evening, about a college proessorand research scientist. He put an advertisement in a local newspaperasking or students. He oered to pay them $15 per day i they wouldplay a little game. Hal would be prisoners in jail and the other

hal would be prison guards. Tere would be no physical abuseonly play-acting. Te results were incredible. In just ve days, allo the guards had become hostile tyrants, endlessly inventingdeviant mind games to torture their prisoners with. And all o theprisoners (ormerly strong, stable, intelligent, college students) wereexperiencing depression, hallucinations, and other manias. One byone, they literally crumbled emotionally and intellectually. Tey hadorgotten that they were all (both guards and inmates) just collegestudents playing a game. In FIVE DAYS! Tey were so mesmerizedand intoxicated by their expected roles, and the white collar expert/

authority gure that gave credibility to the happenings, that they

lost touch with what was real and became people they never wantedto become. In ve days.

Te Kingdom message may be obvious, but Ill say it anyway. Tereare a ON o good people out there, earnestly desiring to be devotedto Jesus and to grow in intimacy and maturity and sel-sacrice withHimthat ail again and again and again. Tey become people thatthey never intended to become. Tey ail throughout their lives,

either becoming comortable with compromise, worldliness, religiousrituals, and a seared conscience, or living in misery. WHY??!! It neednot be this way.

God has Designed an environment that will help the rail humanmind, and weak will, to Know Him and overcome sin. I will buildmy Church that the gates o hell cannot prevail against!Jesus, knowingour rail rame, birthed His Church to allow common Christian menand women to be Overcomers. And, o course, when I say the wordChurch, I certainly do NO mean anything that can be attended. I

mean what the Scriptures mean when that word is used. I mean whatJesus meant when He used that word. I mean deep relationships (whichcan NO be attended!) where the Word o God is lived and applied inevery man, woman, and child, DAILY! (Heb. 3:12-14; Acts 2:42-47). Ireer to the Church that Jesus said HE would build where every man,woman, and child has a HUNDRED mothers, brothers, and sisters,lands, possessions, persecutions, and aer that, Lie Eternal. Nothingelse is truly a Church. IF it is truly a Church, it must be characterizedbyeverytrue member loving Jesus and knowing Him, while bearingone anothers burdens, and so ullling the Law o Christ, conessing

sins one to another, serving one another, loving one another, andso many other powerul vital signs o a real Church. Anything elsehas lost, or will lose, its Lampstand and will not be considered aChurch by Jesus, the Christ and Head.

IF it is a Church by Gods denition, the gates o hell cannot prevailany longer. Well not lose our teens to the world and the spirit othe age. Well not lose our mens minds and energies to mammonand prestige. Te list o victories is endless, WHEN the Church isreally the Church rather than a pep rally to attend on Sunday. It willnever be, when we desire to bring pleasure to Jesus, playing games

with perception management by orchestrating the perect show

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on Sunday to excite and entertain, and perect programs to geteveryones egos stroked so they wont leave. Tats not a church, youknow. Even i the songs are great and the preaching is scripturaland helpul, it cannot be considered a true Church simply becauseo these things. Church mustbe dened as GOD denes it (Mat.16:18). Every member with a true supernatural experience that feshand blood did not reveal, but God the Father personally touched and

revealed. And, (1Jn. 1:7) the way to have ellowship is not relatedto attending or eatingbut it is all about walking in the Light,together, as He is in the Light. I were not letting others inside o us,and vice versa, well never know the Kingdom and its Benets. It is,aer all, neither here nor there, but within.

I we are really unctioning in Gods Ways rather than the traditionso men that nulliy the Word o Godi were really, reallythe Bodyo Christ in a unctional, daily way as He intends, then the guard/prisoner problem is solved! At last, normal people that honestlywantto live or Jesus rather than or themselves can see their deepest

problems rooted out and their greatest potentials realized. God knowshow rail we are, and how easilywe all into the guard/prisonerinsanity reerred to above. Te expert/authority gures in theworkplace, and in government (or religious) schools requently havethe same hypnotic efect on us toward evil. Bad company corrupts(even) good character! OUR ENVIRONMEN MAERS!! Teaverage man (or woman) in the workplace, the average child in agovernment or religious school, or the average woman at homeall have ar too little relationship, direction, and help in growing indepth o reality with Jesus and others. Tey are le to the world o

peer pressure, greed, ear, lust, ambition, laziness, depression, andspiritual psychosis o every kind. Tey are in the alse world o guard/prisoner that the world system has set up, and there is no deensewithout Jesus in His Church, that the gates o hell cannot withstand.About ve days is all the average person can be big enough to stayclear o leaven and the deceptive problems that ollow. HASwhy GOD said, Admonish one another DAILY, as long as its calledoday, so that NONE will become hardened and deceived.

It doesnt take long or any o us to get in a conused state (like the

students mentioned above) concerning where we really are and who

we really are. Jesus knew we would desperately need Gods Ways inDAILY heart-rendingand exposingand teachingin the Church. Tatcorrupting infuence o bad company has happened, unchecked, to aHUGE percentage o christendom at this very hour.

Sure, there can and will be weaknesses and mistakes no matter whatour situation, or how wonderul a real Church may be. But there isonly one Place designed by God to give us the Resources to grow

into the ull measure o the stature o Christ, no longer inantstossed to and ro. And that is in DAILY, revealing relationships in atrue Churchone that is dened by a revelation o Christ in everymember (Mat. 16) and a connectedness in reality (1Cor. 12) tothe Body o Christ in daily Lie. Only there will we recover all o theground that the enemy has meant to take rom us when we DO makemistakes out o our ignorance or our fesh. Tere, in His Church, thegates o hell will NO prevail.

So, What Do We Do When it IsntThat Way Where We Happen to Be?What is our part when our environment is nota DAILY expressiono the lie o Christ, but rather attending some cool meetings andthen going back and living in the world, disconnected rom DAILYbonding and light-walking and sel-sacricing, burden-bearing inthe Church? I cant make it any more complicated than this:

1) Pray ervently and ast to the Lord o the Harvest, both or laborersand or harvest. Te more it matters to us, the clearer and more

persistent well be. Be a worshipper in the secret place, and a workeron your knees.

2) Leave no stone unturned in laying down your lie or others NOW,daily, nightly, serving, conessing your sins to one another, anddoing all the walking in the Light as He is in the Light that canpossibly be squeezed into your days and evenings. Ten Leave therest to Him.

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So! Were all totally convinced now o how ar out o hand thingshave gotten. Everyone in the know, including the leaders, is

convinced o the serious need or change in the religious world. Eventhe good, exciting mega-places are lled with leaven, deying theCommands o our God. Now, lets consider that a radical problemdemands a radical solution! And lets assume that this is not Godsault or not miraculously making a silk purse out o a sows ear.Rather, lets assume the bad ruit is our responsibility, because o ourdisobedience to His most basic ruths about what a Church really is.Now, or the sake o the Lamb o God and His little ones, and a worldthat deserves to see how they love one another, lets go orward inobedience, by His Grace. You are not your own; you were bought or

a Price, is a wonderulprivilege, and opportunity, today and everydayor the rest o your lie. Expect nothing less, rom yoursel, your amily,your church, and everyone you know who claim to be His! Itll be un.

May we end together, as we began?

Every honest person in christendom who is permitted to see behindthe curtain o modern christianity and go backstage, can see it.

We can see the problems. But will we be willing to go to the HighestPlaces or realsolutions? Or will we, like the little Dutch boy, just putour nger in the dike like we have or so many generations? Lets go

all the way Home or our Solution! Its in the Heart and Ways o theMessiahthe way HE lived and the ruths HE taught and depositedwith His Apprentices. Right? J