From the Coffin to the Cross

The inspiration for this book came from a vision God had gave me while being the lead Pastor of my first church. The vision was an eye-opener for me, my church and the rest of the world. Even though this was a very small church, I realized that God gave me this vision to have His people awake out of their spiritual sleep. This vision inspired a sermon called “The Coffin, the Veil and the Cross.” If every leader of every local church in North America could get the sense of this vision and understand what it is God is saying to His people, and pay heed by turning away from our foolish mistakes, then we will hear from Heaven. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV) When God says something to the seed of Abraham, it stands as a decree throughout all the ages. This is what Jesus meant when He said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) This promise was made to the Children of Israel sometime between 430 and 440 BC. Now that we are in Christ Jesus, we are heirs of the promises of God. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29, KJV) “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Romans 8:17, NKJV) Many of the leading denominational churches of America have become so big that they have forgotten from whence they have fallen. In fact, there is an inside joke amongst the ministers of one of the oldest Evangelical/Pentecostal denominations in America about its leaders that says “How do you know when one of our State Leaders is lying? His lips are moving.” This kind of sentiment is fast becoming a reality in so many corners of what was once the greatest Spirit-filled movement in the entire world since the turn of the twentieth century. Many ministry workers have now become opportunists driven by the mentality of “look out for your own hide.” Many of these movements have abandoned the Godly principles upon which they were founded and from which they emerged. There was a time in these denominations when the only thing that mattered was that men and women were called by God and living a life that was pleasing in His sight. These days it doesn’t even matter if a person is called of God or if they are even truly saved; but more that they are sons and daughters of the soil, whose parents have earned them the rite of passage to a leader’s position. In virtually all of today’s church organizations, the children of God have become as the backsliding priests of the old and new testaments who were so busy setting up themselves, their friends, and their family that they completely lost sight of the plan and purpose of God. “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God``? 1 Peter 4:17 (NKJV) This Book will show that genuine truth and love have but dissipated in the Body of Christ. It will show how the business aspect of church has become more important than the actual people it serves and should be seeking to bring into salvation. I’ll also reveal how young called men and women of God are simply thrown into the sanctimonious pit of a false brother-hood who legitimizes every sinful deed they do. The Apostle John understood the need for a clear understanding among his fellow Christians that they knew just how significant these two elements “truth and Love” are to the continued cohesiveness (unity) and survival of the entire Body of Christ until His return. The Christian church today must turn back to God through the doorway marked “God’s Truth & Love” if we are going to be awakened. John the Revelator, in the books of St. John, and first and second John, seemed to be preoccupied with a strong desire for believer knowing and keeping the truth and Love of God alive. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-36 NIV) “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4 NIV) I will also state how there are so many of today`s believers sitting in churches pews every Sunday who totally disagree with denominational doctrines and Biblical truth because they could care less what a church actually believes. Falling in line with the post-modern theory that you decide your own truth, many believers have just learned to spiritualize these ideals and have become “members behaving badly” in what is supposed to be the house of God. It will also show that an entire generation of believers have failed God tremendously due to constant infighting and disunity in too many churches and communities all over North America. In fact many church doors had to be closed because this issue went ignored for too long. When the Governments of the United States and Canada began adopting human secular policies into their political legislations, the ‘Spirit of the Pharisees’ also came calling on many Evangelical church leaders who were such cowards that they simply adjusted their Biblical policies to fit in with this new age mind-set. Hundreds of years ago, Satan created a distorted point of view in the hearts and minds of individuals who were so self consumed that they depended on their own comprehensive powers rather than the power and wisdom of God`s divine Holy Spirit. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5, KJV. Today there are people who are of totally different opinions struggling for control over the Body of Christ. People who are of a Calvinistic persuasion are sitting in churches whose doctrinal creeds are based on a Wesleyan-Armenian theology. Just as well, there are people who are of a Wesleyan-Armenian persuasion sitting in churches whose doctrinal creeds have been established in Calvinistic theology. For many church congregations all over North America this issue is like a big reinforced concrete hurdle sitting in the middle of the churches. All Biblical truths have to go over, under or around it. So, by the time it gets to you, it is so weak there is absolutely no substance in message. After creating this distortion of God`s truth, Satan has established another lie that says ‘none of this matters we are all one in Christ.’ Gifted people who are valuable to the work of the ministry are being lost by the wayside while a growing sense of disunity and discontentment spreads like wild fire. Until churches and their leadership wake-up and stop this haemorrhaging by simply dismissing this problem and accepting the fact that people just don`t get along in churches any more, when this is the actual problem. We cannot continue to turn a blind eye and say that it does not matter how believers choose to perceive God or what`s ingrained in them due to their cultural upbringing. The idea that God will meet us no matter how we choose to find Him dismisses all need for personal spiritual growth in today`s Christians. Too many pastors and leaders are so focused on keeping people in the pews that our spiritual truths and Godly values are disappearing. Instead, pastors and leaders should be seeking God’s guidance and direction on how to minister to this generation.