Pastorvirgil.com

Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.
(2 Corinthians 7:2-3 ESV)
This prompted a little heart check when I read it this morning. Paul was writing to a church that was in the process of pulling away from him. He was able to write with boldness that he had done them no wrong, and that he was committed to them, to live and die with them. Question: Can I say this with a straight face to the people I have been called to serve? Am I a missionary or a mercenary? Selah. www.pastorvirgil.com

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Healing the Weary Sometimes life is just plain tiring. When sickness is piled on top of that, it’s hard to fight the good fight of faith. We all need help occasionally.

And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9:23-24 NKJV)
I see the description of worship in the Old Testament when they got it right. Then I consider the description of worship in the Book of Revelation, where “all the angels, the elders and the four living creatures stood around the throne and fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God” (Revelation 7:11). This makes me wonder what it is supposed to look like when a group of people cleansed by the blood of Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit of God gather together to worship.
Peter said we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
Paul calls each one of us a temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians:6:19). He refers to the church as the temple of God (2 Corinthians 6:16) or a dwelling place of God (Ephesians 2:21-22).
Peter sums it up nicely in 1 Peter 2:5 when he says, “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
I’m not sure what all that would look like if we actually let Him be God. But let's not settle for a professionally produced rock concert powered by electronics and enhanced by digital technology, or for a prim, proper and predictable motivational seminar.
I want a place where leaders have been in the presence of God, where the gathering is marked by the glory of the Lord, the cleansing fire of the Spirit, and a gut-level holy awe. Paul calls it “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Ephesians 5:27). If the Presence is real and the Word is preached and the saints are taking their places, the blessings will surely flow.

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