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E-Newsletter Archive
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The Church of
Liberty Newsletter - What is God doing?
Are we sure
we're doing "church" right? Seems like it's worth asking.
April 7, 2006
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in this issue
-- Signs of the
Times - by K.A. Graaf
-- What is NOT
in the Great Commission?
Dear Brethren,
I know that many
people on our email list are geographically distant. Please excuse
this local announcement.
This Saturday
(4/8) we'll be having an open worship time here in Liberty. We have
had musicians and others express a desire to just gather and praise
and worship and share their gifts. We needed a larger place, so
Liberty Church of the Nazarene has offered to allow the use of their
building this Saturday (1400 Southview Drive, directly across 291 Hwy
from the old Odd Fellows Home). Everyone that can get here is welcome
to come and just worship together and seek God's face - starting at
7:00pm and going until God stops it. There is no structure or order
of service or expectations on what will happen. There may be
testimonies or prayers or music or all of the above - as the Lord leads.
We believe that
God wants to do a mighty work in Liberty and that it will happen when
God's people humble themselves in unity and seek His will. Lots of
people are praying for revival, but it seems to me that before we
pray for revival to come we should probably repent for needing to be
revived in the first place! If you want a pillar of fire, you should
probably repent that you let the last one go out. Then maybe He'll
give you another one.
Anyway, we'd love
to have any come that are led to be there. If you can't be there,
please pray for us that God would move mightily on the hearts of all
gathered and on Liberty.
Doug Perry
Signs of the
Times - by K.A. Graaf
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This poem below
was written and sent to us this week by our sister, Kerrie Graaf,
from Sydney, Australia. It's very hard, but I hope it's a blessing to
you. See the link below for more of her writings.
___________________________
Sign of the Times
By K A Graaf
My eyes have been
opened and I grieve
When I see
The falling away
of Gods precious sheep
One by one they
walk away
Vowing never to
return to the church again
Disillusioned, out
into the world they roam
Leaving the
Father, never to return Home
The roaring lion
waits; ready to devour
And tear apart
Taking advantage
of their wounded souls
And hardened hearts
They left the
flock, because the shepherds
Did not care and
give them love
The shepherd's
hands are now stained
by these lost
sheep's blood!
This is the sign
of the times
And we need to
open our eyes to see
God needs
shepherds to find the sheep
Who need rescuing!
Who will go and
find them?
Who will search?
For the ones who
never will again
Set foot in a church!
They came with
their pain, their problems
Desperately
wanting love, guidance and help
Instead of
receiving what they needed
They left, and
went and walked back on
The road to hell!
They sat in the pews
The alcoholics,
the drug addicts
and those who have
been abused
But they did not
find what they were looking for
So, one by one
they walked out of the church doors
They wanted love, acceptance
and a place where
they could heal
They wanted a
place where they could be themselves
And have the
freedom to be real!
But they left,
shunned by the Religious Pharisees
Because they
didn't measure up to
what they were
suppose to be
No one gave them
the time or the grace
No one fed them so
they could grow in their faith
No one loved them
enough to make them stay
So, these wounded
and spotted sheep
Eventually strayed
Weeks went by, not
a phone call
Or a visit from anyone
The shepherds were
too busy.
They had counted
the ninety-nine sheep
But did not care
about the one!
Did Jesus stop for
the woman at the well
and Zaccheus
sitting up in the tree?
Did He open the
eyes of the blind man?
Did He heal the
lame man begging on the street?
Did Jesus feed the hungry?
Did He touch the
one who washed His feet with her tears?
How many times did
Jesus STOP for the ONE
During His
ministry years?
I know there are
true shepherds out there
But they are few
and far between
There are not
enough shepherds with Gods own heart
To care for His
precious sheep
Shepherds! Leaders
of the flock!
Get down there
with the people!
Get out from the shadows
of your high
impressive steeples!
Open your eyes!
This is the sign
of the times!
There is no more
time for religious games!
These are the
signs of the times
We are in the last days!
People are crying
People are dying
They are on a path
to destruction and even worse!
The LOST SHEEP
will never again
Darken the doors
of your church!
So what must we do?
Should we sit and
not care?
There are LESS
people in the churches
And MORE people
out there!
We must find them,
can someone help me please!
To go out and
search for all those
LOST and WOUNDED SHEEP!
Did JESUS come to
seek and save the LOST?
Are we fulfilling
the great commission or are we not!
Kerrie's
site - Bella Rose's Garden
What is NOT in
the Great Commission?
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I find that
sometimes it's helpful to point out the reverse of an argument. For
example: "IF dogs are man's best friend - and cats are not dogs,
THEN cats are not man's best friend." Or like this: "Jesus
never lied, so IF Jesus said big things would happen when we went out
in His name - and big things aren't happening, THEN maybe we're not
going out in His name."
Hmmm. Could that
be? Are we preaching another Jesus? He said that if we loved Him and
we were OF Him we would obey all His commandments - the last and
greatest of which was the Great Commission. It's not the
"Get-Around-To-It-Eventually Commission" or the
"Leftover-10%-of-Budget Commission" or the
"Somebody-Else-Can-Do-It Commission". It's the GREAT
Commission and it applies to EVERY individual. There is no escape
clause, there are no loopholes, there is no avoiding it and still
claiming to be a Christ-like Christian if you ignore it and don't
obey His command.
Maybe we're not
doing it right. Should at least be worthy of some serious discussion,
right? I mean, just if you want to please God and keep from being a
Goat at the final judgement.
Here are some
things that Jesus NEVER said to do:
If we're doing ANY
of those and it's not what HE wants, we're in big trouble. You better
be VERY, VERY sure you know what you're doing! There's going to be a
lot of blood on somebody's head if we're off track.
Just a snippet -
Read the whole article here
TheChurchOfLiberty.com
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email: help@thechurchofliberty.com
phone:
web: http://www.TheChurchOfLiberty.com
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