Dear Father in Heaven: I love You very, very much. Thanks for covering the sins of we sinners, and please accept my apologies for my sins. Please help us to repent, help us all to repent. Thanks for watching over us this day, and I want You to know that I appreciate that also. I really do love You very much and I am so happy that You have taught me the real meaning of love. Please be with Tom Sansoni and help him with his breathing. Lord, please help me with the daily message and to get it dispatched. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Good Holy Week Monday, my dear brothers and sisters. Please keep near to our Lord Jesus each day all year, but this week, please take extra time to remember all He did for each of us and why. With that said today, I want to get right to the message, The Empty Church.
Monday: March 30, 2015: The Empty Church (Day One)
Mark 11:12 - The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to find out if it had any fruit. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for the figs. 14 Then He said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And His disciple heard him say it. (NIV)
I want to bring out this scripture today and tell you what God has planted on my mind about His statement. Here is this tree, full of leaves, and it did not have any fruit. Sounds to me like some Christians, or people who claim to be Christians. What they are saying is not supported by their actions. You might find some of these "Fig Tree Christians" in a church, maybe even in the kitchen or doing other things around that church, maybe even at the pulpit on Sunday mornings. There could be a lot of them, and still one might find the "Empty Church." So let me explain what I mean by "Empty Church," and I am not talking about the church at night or on a day when no activities are going on, I am talking about an "Empty Church" as being one when people have forgotten to invite in God The Father, Jesus, and The Holy Ghost. Now let me tell you about a day when Jesus emptied the church.
Mark 11:15 - On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as He taught them, He said, "Is it not written: 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" (NIV)
Here we find Jesus going into a Temple of the Lord and while He found people in there, they were there for the wrong reasons, they were not there to do the Lord's work. So I ask this question, how many churches use their church for other reasons than to praise, worship, study and learn about our Lord Jesus? While I do understand that there is sometimes a need for fund raising, there really should not be. A church, the "storehouse," should be able to run the church on tithes and donations from the members and others who attend the church. Dinners and such that are held in other parts of the church that were designed for those support functions I think are just fine, but when we go into the sanctuary and up to the altar area and we have set up places for selling things or even playing cards, I think that would be wrong, and I do believe that is why Jesus made that temple become an "Empty Church." Now I will walk out on a limb here and tell you that I think we are going to see more and more churches becoming "Empty Churches" as they cross the line on the teachings that are going on in the church. Some of them will sit and rot away, while some will be turned over to others who are indeed in love with Jesus and are full of the Holy Ghost and will put that church on fire for Jesus again.
Growing up in the city of Harrisburg, PA, I saw things happen to churches that caused them to become "Empty Churches." Those beautiful churches were full of people who called themselves Christians but would not open the door for a changing neighborhood. Yes, it seems that those white folks with money did not want to worship with those of other colors who were coming into that neighborhood. In some cases the inner-city church was just left sitting and a new place was built in the suburbs. I do not understand why people who love Jesus or who claim to love Jesus do not want to sit and worship with a person of another race or skin color even when we are indeed all BROTHERS AND SISTERS. I have seen churches support missionaries all over the world but will not open their church door and witness to those right in their own neighborhood. I am sure all of you have seen this if you are my age or older. Very, very sad.
Rate your church, the church that you attend, the church that you support with your attendance and also your tithes and gifts. Would the Holy Spirit be welcome in your church or would He find it to be an "Empty Church?" This meaning would He feel welcome or unwelcome? What would happen if Jesus would show up? How would He feel? As most of you know, I love vehicles and there was a time when Dolores and I spent a lot of hours on top of those big Honda Goldwings. Those of you who know me also know that I have a long beard and hair. There are many times that we would be riding on a Sunday morning and pull into a church parking lot, take our helmets off and with our leather jackets on and helmets in hand we would walk into the church. There were a lot of mixed emotions as we would seek out a seat. We could tell right up front which churches were full of the "Holy Ghost" and which ones were not. In some churches you could hear the hush as we walked in. When it was greeting time in some churches we received a handshake, while in others we were hugged and really made to feel welcome. One thing they all did was they did pass that collection plate.
Brothers and sisters, what I am saying is, there are so many "Empty Churches" that have people attending them. When we see that happening, you can be sure it involves this. Jesus is not welcome, The Holy Ghost is not welcome,and chances are new people are not really welcome. And more than likely there is infighting in the church. So how does it get turned around? Here is my opinion on that. Have a meeting and invite God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Ghost and start the meeting in prayer and pray until something happens. Brothers and sisters, if you want to see how the Spirit is in a church, sit near the front and really get involved in singing and praising the Lord. If you raise your hand in praise and jump around like you are on fire and people look at you like you are nuts, you are indeed in what I call an "Empty Church." Brothers and sisters, we need a good old-fashioned Holy Ghost Revival in our country, and it must start, and hear me out on this, it must start with the one you see each day when you look into the mirror.
Brothers and sisters, this is indeed a day that the Lord as made, and He makes all of them. How many more? I don't know, but I want to be on fire for Jesus the rest of my life. So if you think I am a Jesus freak, that is okay. I hope that I can live up to that. Let us pray.
Dear Father in Heaven, I want to be on fire for You, and I ask that You please, please throw a few more logs on the fire. I ask that You please send the Holy Ghost over me and my family, and let it show in all we do. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Now go forth and share your blessings and share your love of Jesus with everyone you see. Love ya. Please share my love also.
Pastor Dan
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