The Choking Church Requires Cosmic CPR
by Tommy Tenney
The church is choking on the larger-than-life servings of man-driven religion, and it is time to perform a heavenly Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the flesh blocking our inspiration. I pray God will perform cosmic CPR and impart the life-saving breath of His presence to the fainting church.
Once we all come back to the dinner table again, things will have to change. Frankly I'm tired of talking about man. We need to talk about Him. He said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
Scripture Reading
Mark 7:6�?/FONT>8, where Jesus rebukes religious critics for focusing on the outward appearances common to man-centered religion instead of worshiping God in obedience to the Word and from the heart.
Across North America God sees millions of lips moving but far too little passion moving through human hearts to His. Praise of the lips without motivating praise from the heart is vain and hypocritical at best. The spiritual choking crisis is virtually universal ..... it happens in churches of every description, size, and condition. The cure is a divine encounter with the only true Object of all praise.
There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
It seems that at least one Pharisee and elder of Israel among the many was a desperate man. Nicodemus was choking on the man-made system that was rejecting Jesus, and he risked the extreme disapproval of his peers to visit Jesus by night.
The next time we hear from Nicodemus, he is speaking up on behalf of Jesus in the face of his fellow Pharisees, and was honored to be cursed as a "Galilean" along with Jesus.14 In his third and final appearance in the Gospels, this desperate man demonstrates the passion of a soul beginning to be cleared of the fear of man. He dared to join Joseph of Arimathea and prepare Jesus' body for burial.15 What happened to this man? Nicodemus's encounter with Jesus initiated a gradual Heimlich maneuver of the spirit that was setting him free from religious bondage and the fear of man.
Are you "choking on larger-than-life servings of man-driven religion" that block your ability to praise and worship God freely? Ask God to force that blockage out of your life with an emergency procedure of the Holy Spirit. Your destiny could be at stake . . .
Prayer
Lord, dislodge every fleshly obstruction blocking my inspiration from Your presence. Perform cosmic CPR if necessary to impart the lifesaving breath of Your presence to me, to my family, and to my church family. I've made up my mind to keep my eyes on You and pursue You on the winds of fervent praise and worship.
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
First 