Spirit1st has made a very interesting statement.
The called are right next to the elect in churches ,many more called than become the Elect!
Spirit I was going to PM you with this, but this should really be adressed here. It will clearify even more waht Krystal and myself was talking about.
I am asking this question to help myself, and the other people here to get closer to God's elect! Spirit1st, Do you honestly believe that the Elect would be in the same church than the "called". I am not only convinced that they would not, I personally experienced the seperation, and I do not even consider myself to be elect.
This is so befitting the conversation I had with Krystal, that i decided to out it here so that she can read what I am trying to show her.
I went to church on a particular Sunday with my wife and daughters who attended church on a regular basis without me. That Sunday the people sang the Lord's prayer. And my life flashed before my eyes and i saw all the filth in it! (The calling of God happened right there and then for me!) I felt like I was the only filthy person there and all the other people singing so beautifully was all holy!
Well needless to say, my outlook on life changed dramatically from that moment. For the first time I realized there is a God! And that He obviuosly HATES all this filth in my life. And at that moment He also showed me a glimpse of what my life should look like! It was PURE!
Well, that is when I was called. Today, 13 years later I am still behind His lead! But I was lead out of that exact same church! How? This i have to explain, in more detail so that i am not misuderstood!
Let us start at the beginning of how I loved the Church! The next day, Monday, after the "calling" I went to a co-worker in the drawing office and told him that there was no minister or deacon at my house in the three years since i moved in. Jan, organised a meeting that week with the minister. The man came to my house on the Wednesday and said that the area i live in has no deacon, because none of the local members are interested in being deacon.
The next day, the Thursday they had a church-council meeting and the minister called me to say that he nominated me as deacon. I said... Are you crazy? I will have your whole Church turn evil!" ... He laughed and said, he would send me the head deacon to interview me.
Le-Roy came to my house and told me how his son is being held hostage in Angola, for four years already. He told me how he and his wife would get up before sunrise everyday and pray to the heavenly Father to protect their son that day. How they pray that the Lord would make the guards fingers lame if he wants to shoot their son.
I admired the mans faith and thought by myself .. "if only I had this faith" ... The man finished and asked me if I would commit to being a deacon! I said I cannot be a deacon because I am to evil! He said if we all wait till we are angels nobody would be deacons. Well this was the first conversation we had, and not long in a little more over a year after this first meeting we will have the same discussion again, but this time I would be MUCH more informed!
It is customary that you actually sighn a piece of paper to agknowledge the office of deaconship. I wanted to decline but a voice behind me said .... SIGN! I WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR YOU!...
The man clearly did not hear the voice, and he still wanted to prove to me that I am ok to be deacon, but I heard that VOICE and nothing would stop me from signing now! I inturrupted him and said give me the pen and paper and where do I sign?
Now I was the deacon in my canton. A canton is a group of houses in a setout area determined by the church. I had like seven houses under in my area. I have to visit these houses at least once a month and collect their tithing. I would also recieve an elder that would join me in house visits. He would urge them to attend church, and help with their domestic needs! Etc. Etc.
I became a very good deacon, and my elder only once joined me in the duties. Dawie was one of the richest people in the city and as an elder he was useless! But his money was well spent and I frequantly had big cheques to buy a house or double its size! The man could not say no to my requests! He was a very special friend and he was very proud and thankful that i did both our Jobs in the Canton!
I was so hungry for the Word of God that i made notes on every sermon i attended. I went to church every Sunday. The morning and evening sessions. After the evening sermon there was a share-group meeting at the ministers house, i joined that.
I read the Word of God every minute i had to spare and i could not get God out of my mind.
I would draw the most complex structural drawings at work with only God on my mind. I was not concentrating on my work at all, I tried but i could not. And i was a better draughtsman than ever. Even my work improved just thinking about God.
I was caught, hook line and sinker. I joined eight other structures in the Church. Let me name them,,, I played in the band, guitar. I became co-youth minister. I took on a Sunday school class, I agreed to head two Bible study groups. One for 17 yearol boys, and one for grown men, and the youth minister was one of the members. I agreed to start another house cell, or share group in my house. I was the head of the Jesus Film project in the church. I led the prayer hour on Thursday mornings. I led the praise and worship in the Married couples meetings. I remained deacon, and was even elected to be representitive for the provincial council deacon structures.
I was a busy body, all because I thought God wanted me there! And I realy did all these things with all I got in me. Not neglecting one. I had no free time! NONE! My whole life were absorbed in these services! Then one day one of our ministers was in a horrific car accident.
Now I have to share this with you, or you would lose me and lose the whole God input in this.
This minister that was in the car accident was reported to be flirting and giving to much touch by two women in the church! Not two weeks later after they laid the charge, he had this accident! A car hit theirs from behind at a traffic light, and their three month old baby was flung through the front window, fell in front of the car and their own car came to rest on the baby.
PA, the minister gor out, and together with bystanders got the baby out. A private doctor had a practice on one of the corners of the traffic light. One of the bystanders was a Jewish Rabbi. The Rabbi and PA went into the doctor's practice where the receptionist showed them into a room. PA laid his son on the table, there was no life in him. Blood came out his ears, mouth and nose, his little head was fractured in a few places. please pardon my English. The two men took hands over the boy and they prayed. A Jewish Rabbi and an Afrikaans minister of the Dutch Reformed church.
The boy opened his eyes and started crying! Life returned to the boy. A doctor came in and bandageed the baby. He was tranfered to a private clinic and healed in three months. So miracoulesly that today He is a 13 yearold boy as normal as any other boy!
This minister and photos of his family was plastered all over the biggest newspapers throughout the country. Not about the accident but about the sexual misconduct, and it was NEVER proven!
Me as a church council member to this day do not know the names of one of the two women that charged the man. There names was held privilaged information! Man, to this day it is a thorn in my side! Let me continue and you will understand.
Because it was now front page news about this minister, he decided to resign as minister then the sensation would deminish. And he can protect his family. So he resigned, and this was so wrong for me. That Sunday in the morning sermon the minister opened the floor for prayer. For the first time in my life I stood up and prayed. The church was full and it is a big church, but i used to be a drill seargent in the South African defence force, so i opened my lounges and prayed.....Lord Jesus, thank you for ministers like PA and the hand of miricles of a Jewish Rabbi (also meaning Jesus) and that You Lord are so faithful to make PA the person you want him to be. Bless PA and his family with Your great Love. Amen!.... Or something in that order.
Well after the accident PA desided to re-enter the ministry, and the procedure for him to follow was to firstly gat an letter of recommendation from the church he last served at. That would be the church where i am at still.
So the letter was presented to the council for approval. Now here starts the RED in this essay i am doing now!
We met as usual on a Thursday evening. The letter was compiled by a Scribe, four lawers and a advocate, all members of the Chuch-council. The letter was not a letter of recommandation but rather one of condemnation. When they read the letter my mind was blown away!
They said with fance wording and high tone, that this man left under a cloud of suspition. Any way, I was shocked! Remember these are the same people that were so holy and I was so evil that first Sunday when they sang the Lord's prayer.
But by now I was by far the most popular person in the church! BY FAR! I spent more than one hundred and fifty thousand rand in the church in two monts. Every child in the church wanted to be in my Sunday school class. Every Bible study group invited me to come give witness. I was offered the caretakers post at the biggest youth camp site in South Africa.
Other churches in many towns invited me to give witness on my road with the Lord. I healed mane people, prayed and serviced the poor and even fed street children. Sorry I am not blowing my own horn, i would want you to understand that I love the Lord, and if He tells me to do something I did it, without question, like now! I type this because He wants me too!
Anyway, I sat in that hall, and i was furious! How can these holy people not forgive and forget. I was close to tears but i knew i had to speak. In the constitution it is noted that each member in the meeting may only talk three times on one subject in the council meetings. So i started my first one directly after one of the elders spoke. I said... How can we call that a letter of recomandation, it is a doomed letter. I just ask myself what would Jesus put in the letter. As i recall there was never a hearing, but even if the man was guilty, and I know he was sorry for a lot of things. God even gave his son's life back, is it not now our duty to give PA his back. Let us not give him a letter of recomandation let us give him a letter of appointment and appoint him back as fulltime minister here in this very church!....
I sat down, the same elder took his second turn and attacked me and PA (not present). It was not even surprising. He sat down and I took my second turn. I said... People we are the representitives of Jesus Christ tonight. Let us not ashame Him with our words or actions!...
The same elder took his final turn at voicing his opinion. Again he attackes me and PA but more personally. I expected that, and it did not bother me, so i took my final turn as well and said.... I will remind myself of the Lords Prayer that you people sang so beautifully on that first Sunday I attended this church. Remember the words... Lord forgive me my trespasses as I forgive those that trespass against me... when you make your vote!....
The elder stood up again, the chairman one of the three ministers currently still at the church, reminded the man that he does not have another turn on this matter. He said he demanded another turn as I attacked him personally! WOW now I was really the devil! This time he said that if we appoint this man we would surely lose a lot of members! And what about the two women. the man was so pressing that he kicked his chair over.
Well the vote followed and the letter was approved by 2/3 majority. i was so shocked and hurt and i closed my eyes asked the Lord to show me the heart of this church and opened them again. A table ajasent to ours was a sixty year old lady sitting facing me. I looked into her eyes and saw a black, wet and cold rock!
That was the final straw, I started crying! I cried so hard and loud they had to stop the meeting, and they took a tea-break that would have followed twenty minutes later. Boy my heart was tore apart. And all of a sudden I realised that if there was one person acting in God's will, I was the only one! I ran out, and went home. i was finished with that hypocritical church, but God had other plans.
As i drove home, only 500 meters away, i saw Satan in my chair laughing. I went back and sat in my chair and carried on crying. My youth minister Henri walked up to me and said... Cobus, you must never leave this church, you are the one that would change this church! No person have your passion! It even hurt me more to hear him say that! I cried out of control and went outside in the night into the gardens to finish this crying.
Just to share the blessing for that night. After the meeting i prayed for our churchwarden's wife, she had kidney stones, and they came out without passing water. They simply fell in her nightgown!
So i stayed, and went to Church as usual. This particular sunday it was holy Communion. Just before we entered the church I knew i was yet again not going to use Communion. So i declined for the umteenth time, if you are very clued up with the Word you will know why!
Any way i helped serve wine...blood... for the first time however. I only served flesh...bread .. before.
I sat next to Le-Roy right in front of the church. Everybody was served wine and bread and Henri prached! He said ...Drink this is my blood....And then i saw a vision... Henry took a bucket with ten litres of blood and threw it on the floor, like it was foul water. God said to me.... This is how you waste my blood in this church.... I could not stay there. I jumped up, ran out of the church and went home.
At home I knew my wife and two daughters would have seen me run out and they would be very worried if they find the car gone. I asked the Lord to give them peace, as I am finally ready to study His Word from Genisis 1 verse 1 as He verbally instructed me four months prior!
And that is how i left the church that at least introduced me to the Lord! Now I found that there is indeed a church, where Jesus Himself is the minister, and that is the church where ALL is forgiven, and ALL are Elect! That is the church where no "called" can enter, but the elect! The ones that tries to enter are the called, the ones that entered are the elect!
Luke 13:24. The many that seek to enter are the called, the ones succeeding are the elect. And the elect is where the called cannot get to. This is my point. It is easy to get to the called churches, the elect one, however, is the one I would like to join, so yeah, I am striving hard!!!
