Community Service Gone WRONG

Reader warning, you may experience times of discomfort. Possibly feeling as if you’re reading more of an op-ed deviating from the teachings of our editor and chief of the holy scriptures, Jesus. The One who was, is and is to come.
Maybe somewhat explaining “one” of my experiences may help you understand my boldness.
The spirit of religion temporarily pulled one of the oldest magic aka witchcraft tricks on me. You know the one where a willing participant is put into a box and the crowd ewwwess and ahhhs as he or she appears to have swords go through the device they crawl into. Then after the trickery is over the participant jumps up out of that box better than ever with the crowd cheering them on. Maybe I’m using my imagination too much but I’ve felt like that participant…
but in a building of believers.

Religion put me in a box. Wondering how, since I obviously hate it so? By membership to a church that operated in a spirit of religion so I, a willing participant, aligned with such. I can see it so well because my redeemer Jesus allowed me to endure it so He could use me as a vessel to break it!
God doesn’t “need” my help but He uses people.
I’m one of His people.

This church wasn’t all bad, I LOVE many of the people there. Even still, when the Holy Spirit would give me strategies, wisdom or knowledge it was never accepted by the “leaders”. Never discussed, well not with me at least. I was a loud woman with lots of ideas and opinions of how to reach the lost that included breaking some church traditions. I fit the lifestyle mold but I didn’t fit in spiritually. The Kingdom living I was after, wasn’t understood there. Slowly the rejection daggers cut me deep. In true sadistic fashion that religious spirit, controlling many rural churches today, wanted to contaminate my mind to seeing myself as the blind crowd or in my case the blind church did. Many of them really thought I was a woman who after being boxed in and stabbed/corrected by rejection, was in fact better by the experience. If not for the tenacity to never lose zeal gifted to me by the Spirit of our Living God, dear Lord I would have shrunk before you one day ashamed of how I undervalued, never discovered even cheapened the Blood of Jesus in my life.
But God.
I say all that to point out, I realize I walk with a limp. My emotion is raw and while I no longer carry bitterness, by the mercy and grace of Jesus, I never want to lose that thorn that even today still pierces my heart. It’s a part of my assignment, it’s a part of my flesh intended to be a reminder of what I can never yield to again. When the emotion gets to me I remember as Paul surely also had to remember over and over again, His grace is sufficient for me.
Most unbelievably, I’m headed in a complete different direction with this post. It’s not the petrified rocks in the dead religious church the Holy Spirit spoke to me about today. No, it’s the business structured churches. I will share what the Lord God said to me and then into what He revealed through scripture.

The Lord of Host asked me,

Why does My church continue to serve public schools that don’t allow prayer? Why is My church boasting about service that only encompasses cleaning up of a road, a river or building something that will never share My name? Service is not manual labor with the brethren helping secular causes all the while never encountering the hungry, the widows and orphans directly. WHO WILL BE SAVED BY YOUR BOASTING OF CLEANING UP ROADSIDE GARBAGE? You want real clean up beloved, you want to really serve My children? Then go to homes. Go door to door with the same tools in hand and ask families, What needs to be fixed here? What are you saving to purchase for your home or kids? Do you have enough food? Do you need your leaves raked? Is your washing machine in good operation? That is how you serve and honor Me! Not one life is changed in your current business model of community serving. You want to be seen, and so you shall NOT be seen. Stop your wayward paths now. Begin to do as I have instructed above and see that you are not to monopolize real Christian service with organizations, local governments and even school boards that deny Me. When you begin going door to door, the lost will be saved, the hurting will find joy and you will be changed as well. Then you will not have to boast any longer of your ignorance. No, the ones you serve will tell others about ME. I WILL BE GLORIFIED AND I WILL ADD UNTO MY HOUSE, says the Lord God Almighty!

So, I realize many of you who attend larger churches that have made quiet the public scene of service will not be happy. Well, take it up with the Holy Spirit…I’m only a messenger but with pure confidence in this word. Therefore, I worry not of man’s view.
Brothers and sisters as much as it seems incomprehensible to many of you, we have been serving all wrong. First it begins with the brethren. See, we are to first care of the needs of our brethren. I wonder how many families in churches are hungry, having their power cut off and paying for a service that a brother or sister in the church could do?
Romans 12:13 contributing to the needs of God’s people, pursuing the practice of hospitality.
You may be thinking but I serve at the public school by helping them build a building, provide desk and keep up some landscaping. Really? How is that service bringing anyone to Jesus? Is a desk more important that meals for children. See I fully support feeding kids at schools and previously I would have found any of those other task honorable. Not anymore! No, not when the same ones needing help are not courageous enough for Christ to pray in their classrooms aloud. Why are so many fearing losing their jobs more than fearing God? Didn’t He provide you that job to begin with? Wont He take care of you again?
Why do we not consider service the same as ministry! Community service day has turned into a business tool of large churches. That’s right the Holy Spirit said it to me. It’s all about making the children of God sweat and serve a community while never sharing the gospel with anyone and for what? Oh, publicity from the mayor or whoever else of how wonderful XYZ church is. All the while tax dollars can continue to be wasted since hey the church is low on attendance so the local government thinks… call the church and get it done for free as long as we give ‘em a shout out they’ll love it. Sickening.
I wonder what the neighbors of some of those churches think when no one from that church has ever came over to tell me about Jesus but hey they cleaned kennels at the human society.
“There must be Balance”
Act 2:44-47 And all those who had believed (in Jesus as Savior) were together and had all things in common (considering their possessions to belong to the group as a whole) And they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing the proceeds with all (the other believers), as anyone had need.
I think it’s safe to say very rare would the modern church have current examples of the above. Well I can think of one church, Brunna Valley Baptist Church. Pastor Patrick Washington has a heart for God’s people to not be without first. The Holy Spirit blessed them caring for each other so that now the church helps the community with food, basic needs, clothing for everyday and even clothing for formal events. They feed the community. Why does the Holy Spirit flutter with pleasure as I type this, because it’s in order. Divine Heavenly order of how this church dedicates itself to Jesus, each other and then REAL NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY OF SHARING THE GOSPEL. They do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit (Philippians 2:3) and any tv news plug is to let the lost, poor and brokenhearted know THERE IS HOPE AND WE CAN HELP YOU NOW!
I will conclude with this, the Holy Spirit is displeased with the operations of so called service. Correction is love so if this applies to you or your church rejoice for He loves you enough to radically change you! If you are reading this and lost, just think of how shameful some must be to know Jesus Christ and yet they have used His mercy for profit. Think how ashamed many will be when reading this and realize they haven’t shared the good news of reconciliation with Christ on any “service” day. Even still, they will approach the throne of grace, ask forgiveness and He will not remember their sins. He forgives me when I fail, and still calls me His too. So how much easier it is for you reader, who is lost to approach the thrown of grace. Someone who doesn’t understand that there is a love that heals and makes you new. Confess your sins that He is convicting you of now, ask forgives and be adopted into the family as I was on that glorious day. Then, be better than me. Be better than the religious or business church. Go love others and share your story of how Jesus saved you. I’m praying for you, but when you do accept Jesus please pray for me too.

Jennifer