Posted by STICKS on November 09, 1999 at 14:02:40:
In Reply to: To the angel of the church of Crossover, write these things... 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
I find your words filled with the power of Gods wisdom. I'm in NC also and would like to get in touch with you if you are still around. I'm a minister of music for WARRIORS FOR CHRIST ministries and we have a song that was written about the same time you posted your message entitled "WAKE UP O'SLEEPER" PLEASE contact me at SIMPLICITY@skantech.net