From Pew To Purpose

By: Lincoln & Lynetta Dent

Copyright 2008

www.thesiloamconnection.org

 



Sunday after Sunday thousands of individuals pack churches to hear the word of God. They enjoy powerful praise & worship, they fellowship with other believers, and as I said before, they hear a powerful word.

Now that sounds like the perfect formula for moving one into a powerful purpose. Don’t get me wrong, the Word of God, fellowship, praise and worship are all power components for a successful Christian life that is full of passion, purpose and fulfillment. However, these are not the only components but they do play a major role in our success as Christians, especially The Word of God.

So, what about you? Are you walking in the purpose God has for your life? Or are you the Christian that goes to church every Sunday, enjoys powerful praise & worship, fellowships with other believers, hears the Word of God…….but you are absolutely unfulfilled.

For years I lived an empty Christian life. I did all the religious things but there was always this sinking empty feeling inside of me. I prayed, or so I thought, but I never seemed to get an answer. I began to question if I was really saved. There were times I even thought Jesus really did not love me. I would look around and see all these saints running and shouting and giving these powerful testimonies. I wanted what they had. I wanted to run around the church, shout and tell all these wonderful stories of the goodness of God. Now, don’t get me wrong, God had been very good to me, but at the time I couldn’t see it. All I could see was that my life didn’t look like all the other Christians around me. They seemed free, powerful, and almost invincible.

 THE GREAT COVER UP

As time passed, I found out something about all these “free” Christians. I found out something that would change my perspective from that moment on.

Now you remember I told you earlier that I would watch these Christians run around the church, shout, praise God, and give testimonies . Remember I said I wanted to be free, just like them? Well, guess what? I found out I was just like them! Many of them, I found out later, were just as empty as I was! Some even worse off than me. I didn’t get it at first. I asked myself why would they do all of these things in the house of God and it have no effect on their life outside of the church. Why were they publicly appearing to have this awesome victorious life but privately were failing at Christianity? This is when I discovered something I call , The Great Cover Up.

If we are going to move out of the pews and into real Kingdom purpose, one of the first things we are going to have to realize is that we can’t cover up all this mess in our lives any longer. The bible teaches us that we are naked before God. In other words we can fool church members, family members, friends, co-workers, pastors, etc, but we can’t fool God nor cover this crap up. And guess what God doesn’t want us to. He already knows “the real story” and He wants to show us, by His Spirit, how to take that mess and turn it into a powerful message of hope and victory, not only for you but for other people.

HOW TO TURN YOUR MESS INTO A MESSAGE

The quickest way to turn your mess into a message, to move you from your seat to the street, is to realize, as I said before, that everything is not perfect in your life, admit it, and get with it!! Whoever told you that everything would have to be perfect in your life before God used you,…… lied to you!! Plain and simple. Why do you think so many people pretend and fake in the house of God? Well, honestly some, not all, feel they won’t be accepted in the “church click” if they don’t pretend. So year after year the great pretenders keep showing up with no fruit of purpose manifesting in their lives.That is not the Church of Jesus Christ. And it is totally contrary to Kingdom law. You can take that to the bank!!

Am I saying we should have a bunch of loose canons running around? NO! Am I saying that you can be in all kind of sinful acts, unsubmitted, rebellious, going forth in Jesus name? NO!  This article is not for wolves! I have other teachings for wolves, such as “Go sit down”, “This Ain’t Your House”, and “Not On My Watch”. NO! Am I saying that Christians are not already free in Christ by faith in Him? NO! Am I saying we shouldn’t praise God, worship God, shout, testify, no matter what’s going on in our lives? NO! NO! NO! This teaching tool is for those individuals just like myself, who:

·        don’t want to pretend any longer.

·        want to walk in the true liberty that Christ has made available

·        know they have a purpose and need to be shown how to fulfill it

THE POWER OF THE WORD OF GOD!

Please read the following scriptures:

John 4:24 -God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV- For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,"declares the LORD.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Romans 8:1,2 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death

Romans 8:15- For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father

Romans 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed

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Romans 3:16-For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

II Corinthians 5:17-Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

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Colossians 3:4-When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

Jeremiah 29:11- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

REMEMBER THIS

Wow, can you see that the Word of God is for us and not against us? Can you clearly see that our Father God loves us so much and wants to see us prosper and go forth? Can you see that our Father doesn’t base our success on past failures and mistakes? Can you see that our Father has a perfect plan for us that will prosper us and give us fulfillment? Can you see that our Father doesn’t see us the same way we see ourselves? Can you see that our Father looks at the heart and not the outer man? If you skipped the scriptures go back and read them. Never skip over the scriptures, for in the scriptures you will find who you are and who God is in you.

Our father God functions on a divine level. And as Kingdom Citizens we can too! Listen, God is not carnal, He doesn’t see you as you see you. He sees you walking in your purpose. He sees you fulfilling the dreams He’s placed in your heart. He’s looking at the heart and begins an awesome work from the inside out. He doesn’t start from the outside in. He and he alone will help bring our hearts closer to Him. And as He draws our hearts closer and closer and closer, our hearts start changing. Little by little, day by day, as we choose to allow Him to work in and through us, a new life in Jesus Christ begins to emerge. A life where you no longer pretend, lie, fake, etc. This new life begins to spill over into the lives of others. And guess what? You wake up one day and realize you left the pews and moved into purpose when you realized what this thing was all about.

Tips:

·         Give your life to Jesus Christ

·         Committ everything to Him by faith. Don’t worry about this and that just Committ. Understanding will follow Committment. Gen 12:1-4

·         Committ to reading His Word even when you don’t understand it all & praying

·         Allow the Holy Spirit to help you,  work in you & through you

·         Ask God to lead you to a spirit led, Kingdom preaching church. Get up under the teaching and let nothing move you away from your covering even if you mess up a few times.  There’s protection when you have a spiritual covering.

·         Serve in your local church faithfully.

·         Take on God’s heart and become a giver of time, resources, help, finances, etc. Don’t worry God will lead you.

·         Remain teachable.

·         Stay away from wolves (gossipers, whisperers, backstabbers, phonies etc) They are trouble makers in the church and you do not want any part of what they do.

There are many other tips I can give you. But this will do for now. Just allow the Holy Spirit to lead you. You will have a lot of questions along the way, but God will answer them as you remain faithful.

Go, forth! Break Forth…Break Free

Lincoln & Lynetta Dent

Recommended Book- “SENT” by: Apostle Lincoln Dent

Lincoln & Lynetta Dent

Lynetta Dent