by Mike Tackett
1. We must restore God to His proper place
We have lost contact with reality. We have forgotten the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient Being we serve. Most have reduced God to a containable, controllable being who is allowed into only part of our lives. The average Christian is lukewarm, putrid in the eyes of God (Rev 3:16). It is of the utmost urgency that we let scripture, in all its lofty and frightful language EXPLODE the truth of who our God is. It is our first duty to re-introduce the church to God, and call it to the proper respect and fear that He demands. The days of seeing God as marginal, semi-necessary and a “Sunday thing” must end.
2. We must see ourselves for what we really are
Do you ever wonder why it is so hard to get christians on fire in the USA? It’s because we are rich. Too rich. We are at the greatest disadvantage possible when it comes to being saved. Jesus said, “It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle” (Luke 18:24-25). Our “riches have rotted and our garments have become moth-eaten. Our gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure” (James 5:1-3). We must strip away the façade and the delusion that we are self-sustaining. Most christians are starving to death. We are the picture of the emaciated child with a distended belly and tear-filled eyes. We are not nourished with The Word. Sadly, we aren’t convinced we really need Him. God is calling us to open the eyes of this blind generation.
3. We must break the grip of the temporal world
The attitude of most Christians is summarized in the contemporary song, “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now”. Our prayers focus almost entirely on things temporal. “Heal us of our diseases, cure our money problems, extend our lives, make us safe on earth”. Why are we spending so much time praying for the things that certainly will not last? Why are we focused so tightly on the staying here, as comfortably as we can, for as long as we can? Is that what God wants? We have to teach our people to lift up their eyes, to lift the veil between the temporal and the eternal. We must show them how to live with one foot on earth, and one foot in heaven. Our prayers must change, our thoughts must change and our treasure must be placed in heaven, or else our hearts will be earth-bound (Matthew 6:21).
4. We must convict christians to get about their singular business
We have one mission: That “repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:47).
