Posted by John Kluttz on April 09, 1999 at 07:16:08:
Grace and peace to you all in Christ Jesus our Lord. I have spent much
time in prayer for you lately, and I thank God for the part you have
played in my life with Christ. Before I descend into the true text of
this letter, I feel a bit of preliminary catching up is in order.
First of all, Kelli and I have moved to North Carolina. The reason for
this sudden move is simply that God ordained it. Here He can effect in
our lives the changes and preparations necessary for our ministry in
Ireland; as well as the changes necessary in our marriage. We have
been up here since February and have been actively involved in the
ministry of the local church. I have learned a lot in the past few
weeks, especially concerning prayer and fasting. I was deeply grieved
to hear of the problems you as a church body have been facing and it is
upon this that I wish to speak what God has lain on my heart.
Firstly, as concerns your complacency: Christ our Lord once said, "if
your arm offends you, cut it off, for it will be better to enter into
salvation maimed, than to be whole and be cast into outer darkness.
And again, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out, for it is
better to be blind and saved, than to see and be lost." I ask you
simply this, if Jesus truly expected us to live by this harsh
principle, would He not also live by it? If He commanded us to sever
members of our own bodies that were hindering us, will He not also
sever members of His own body that are hindering Him? WE are the body
of Christ and HE is the head. But what good is a head when the body
refuses to function? What does it profit the head to command the hands
to raise a glass of water to the lips, if the hands would rather stay
in the pockets where it is warm and comfortable? Would such a body not
die of thirst? Our God IS a consuming fire. This is more than just a
rocking praise and worship tune. This is a cosmic truth. God is a
CONSUMING fire and He will consume everything that is not of Him.
Every sin, every attitude, every desire, even every thought we have
which does not flow from Him must be purged from our lives. How much
more so must God be a consuming fire in His church? We are to be the
bride of Christ, but we must be made pure and spotless, for a Holy God
will have nothing less than a holy bride. This is why the scripture
says that every thing that can be shaken, will be shaken. If the price
of a spotless bride, a pure and holy eternal mate, is the severing of
members of the Body, then God because of His LOVE for His bride, WILL
PAY IT. I am not speaking here of individual members of Crossover,
rather, I am speaking of Crossover as being a member of Christ's
universal body, and to mince no words, if the apathy, the complacency,
of Crossover is a hinderance to the body of Christ, then Crossover must
be severed. I urge, I beg, I pray that you would not let this happen.
It is true that God is Love. It is true that God wants only the best
for His children, and has our best interest in mind. It is also true
that sometimes what is in our best interest is painful. Severing is
painful, but if it is necessary for our salvation, then God will do it.
He MUST do it, for any god who did not love His children enough to
discipline them, enough to purge what is unloveable in them, so that
only what is loveable (i.e. of God) remains, any god such as this would
be no god at all. God is raising up a generation that will not
conform, that will not play games with Him, that will not offer Him lip
service. He is raising up this generation, because a tremendous
revival is approaching, and He wants His Church to be ready. No pun
intended, but God is sick of spewing the lukewarm out of His mouth. He
wants a generation who will do warfare against the kingdom of darkness,
who will advance the Kingdom of God, and who will stand fast in these
last days. Will you be part of this generation, or will you be
severed? Will you stand for Christ, or stand around out in the parking
lot waiting for Him to spew you out of His mouth? Will you be wheat or
chaff? Sheep or goats? WAKE UP! Where is the fire that once burned
so brightly in you? Where is the passion for prayer, that once shook
the very heavens? Where is the burning desire for Christ that so
attracted me to you as a body when I first came? Wake up O sleeper!
Come out from among the dead ones, and Christ will shine upon you. But
first, you must wake up.
Secondly, to those who have been faithful: take heart. God will
establish a remnant among you to continue the work He has placed in
your hearts. He will keep you in Him and in His will. He will guard
you and your work, just as He will guard those who for a while must
experience His consuming fire. I am confident that He who began a good
work in you will be faithful to complete it. Take heart, but also, and
I can not stress this enough, PRAY. Without ceasing, PRAY.
I want to close this letter by saying to all of you that I love you,
more now in my absence than ever. I miss you, and God only knows how I
wish I had been more faithful to you while I had the chance, for you
see, this letter was written purely out of experience. I know now what
it means to serve a consuming fire. I know how it feels to be purged.
I know what severing is. This is why my heart bleeds so much for you;
I do not wish any of you to go through what I have gone through. I
love you all.
May the peace of Christ which passes all understanding keep your hearts
in Christ until He comes.
John Kluttz