Our God is the loving and merciful Shepherd who will leave the 99 to find the lost 1(St. Luke 15:3-7), but…

And behold, I send the promise of my father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. ~ St. Luke 24:49

The Holy Spirit has been given; Jesus has been glorified; now the waiting depends upon our fitness, not upon God’s providence. ~ Oswald Chambers, The Promise of the Highest

Then he said to them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. ~ St. Luke 24:25

Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. ~ Psalm 60:4

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. ~ 1 Corinthians 12:4-6

The same Spirit, Lord, and God led me to the good shepherd of Howells through the words; “We are called to be first century disciples.” That was three years and four months ago. What I understood in the flesh then, I realize in the Spirit now…what it means to be of one accord {Acts 1:14}.

My brothers and sisters, we are suffering from a tragic plague of charming pirates (a person who appropriates or reproduces the work of another for profit without permission) in way too many church pulpits in America. That may seem harsh…until they are held up to the light of the Acts Apostles, as God would have them be. Ye shall know them by their fruits {St. Mat. 7:16}. “98% of American millennials do not have a Biblical worldview.” ~ Dutch Sheets, The Disabled Church…and Jeremiah 23:30.

Truth in Love: We who think of ourselves as Christians are precariously in only one of two places this Lord’s day, November 5, 2023; endued by the Holy Spirit, or subdued by the enemy.

God gave His church a chance to change its business-as-usual ways in 2020, and it failed. He gave His church a second chance this year, this time on a farm. It was actually a church that led to the second failure…or was it something else? In hindsight, I believe it was two things for those with eyes to see. I believe it was God using CLOTH to reveal the subdued in light of the endued. And in so doing He was proving His Remnant who went on to accomplish the task He had given.

There is only ONE true vine (St. John 15). Jesus answered and said unto (Nicodemus), Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (St. John 3:3). This is the ONLY way to this: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (St. John 14:12).

The difference between man’s perspective and God’s perspective is revealed powerfully in John 3:3 and Luke 18:18-30. Nicodemus and the rich ruler were both sterling, worthy, upright men…from man’s perspective.

Many if not most of us know that the same shark that will grow large enough to kill a man in the ocean would remain harmlessly small in a fish tank because sharks cannot outgrow their environment. While God has given us an endless ocean (John 14:12), the pulpit pirates have turned our churches into spiritual fish tanks.  

This needs to be noted. CLOTH had a conversation this week with a widely respected political leader who pointed to “lack of spine” at the top of our regional political leadership. That same spinelessness exists in the majority of churches as well…This is the union of church and state, and this is the power of Babylon; church and state together…and they are found wanting, and they are going to fall. ~ Walter Veith, The Fall of Babylon

Our God is the loving and merciful Shepherd who will leave the 99 to find the lost 1(St. Luke 15:3-7), but Babylon will fall, and many who will not see, won’t come out of her!

Oswald Chambers asks the question each of us must ask ourselves, “Am I becoming the birthplace of the Son of God (St. Luke 1:35), or do I only know the miracle of God’s changing grace?”  (Love of God) ~ The Need for New Birth