Set up the Tabernacle!!!!!

    First let me start off by saying Merry Christmas everyone. It is getting on in the evening here at the house and I decided it was a good time to jump on here and start this weeks writing. It has been a few days, 11 to be exact, since I posted last, and I have done that on purpose. You see, during the Christmas season you can flip on just about any tv channel or go to any christian website, and you will see the same exact message. Now mind you this is not a bad thing, the Gospel is being put out there for the whole world to hear and recieve, which is definitely a great thing. And for that reason I decided to take a step back and pray about this blog and see which direction God wanted me to go in. You see, I felt like God was telling me not to write another "Christmas" message, that may fall on deaf ears or eyes, but to try to write something for the new year. Now I am not a "writer" but what I do is basically put my sermons down in blog form, instead of preaching them lol. So for me to come up with a "subject" was not going to be easy. SO i have prayed for the Lord to lead me in this matter and I  feel I have figured it out.
     We are exiting the Christmas season, and exiting quickly. With the Christmas season behind us , many people who were in the pews for the churches Christmas Cantata or Christmas Pageant, will now take off their suits and dresses, hang them up and forget who Jesus is, until at least Easter , but for many it will be next Christmas, if that soon, before they step back in a church for a worship service. Jesus will become a distant memory for many, a figurine in a manger scene, to be wrapped back up in tissue paper, shoved in a box , and put back in the shed or the attic for another year. Thoughts of New Years Parties will now fill many of their waking moments, as will thoughts of work, raises, resolutions, cars and many other items. The Gospel will be shelved at many stores and public places as the decorations are taken down and the music channels are changed from Christmas to music to everyday songs of lust, despair, violence, and every other worldly thing they can think of to write music about. Churches will go back to the mundane services where its 3 songs, an offering, a message, an altar call and out by noon so they can get home to watch the football game, or golf match, or some other sporting event. Schools will be back in session with the students and the teachers trying to make it to Spring Break, and finally Summer Break. All the while people will be forgetting who Jesus is, and what he did for them those 2000 years ago. Knowing that this is what is about to take place, the heart of every Christian should be breaking as tears roll down their face, but unfortunately, many who claim to know Christ will be right in the middle of this situation.
      You see this is what God was trying to get me to realize, that during the Christmas season, Christ is out in plain sight, for all to see and hear about, but the other 11 months or so of the year, he is hidden for the most part. When Main Stream TV channels speak of Jesus, it is normally not in a good light. Normally when you hear the name Jesus on Main Stream TV, its in a degrading skit, like was on Saturday night live lately, or its because someone who is in a position of leadership in a church has taken their eyes off the prize of eternal life and let sin creep in and caused them to fall in a very public way. And yes unfortunately when strong Men or Women of Faith step out in the public eye, they are made fun of or criticized for it. Again I go back to the Skit on Saturday Night Live about 2 weeks ago, portraying Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos and Jesus in light that was not so complimentary. Or you hear from one of his own team mates about how they wish he would just keep his faith to himself and not bring it out on the field with him. Well I say PRAISE GOD for men like Tim Tebow of the Broncos or Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers, for having the COURAGE to step out in public and proclaim the name of Jesus. But unfortunatley this time of year, as the Christmas Season comes to an end, so does the ability to proclaim Jesus publicly for many.
      But as the Christmas season comes to an end, we also come to an end of another year. 2011 has came and flew past us, just like a comet in the sky passes by in the span of a few minutes. We have enjoyed the seasons that it has brought to us and for many of us, 2011 has been a glorious year. We have seen lives touched by the Gospel and we have seen great progress in proclaiming the Gospel in other countries, but there is still work to be done. If you read Exodus 40 The lord Speaks to Moses and tells him in verse 2 "Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first month". He wanted him to take one day and set up the Tabernacle and to prepare it for worship. If we continue to read in the chapter, God gives specific instructions on how everything is to be set up from the furniture, to the ones who are to be ordained as the priests. Then and only then, after everything is in its proper place and everyone is in their appointed places, does the Glory of the Lord come forth and rest upon that tabernacle. You see Moses did just as God commanded, and when he was finished the Glory of God came forth and filled the whole tabernacle. 
      I believe that today God has given us those same orders. You see I believe that Jesus is giving us the same instructions for the coming new year, that were given to Moses all those many years ago. You see many of us will be in the house of the Lord on New Years Day. Some out of commitment to God, others out of a feeling of duty. Others will be there with family or friends. But no matter what the reason is, God has spoken to those who he loves and calls his own. He is speaking to the church saying "Set up the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the first Month".  He is telling us to not only put our houses in order, but he is telling us to put His House in order. No longer are we to be like the rebellious children of Israel were those 3000 plus years ago. He is calling us to holiness and renewal in the new year, and he is calling us to start on the first day of the first month. You see there are many out there who believe that the Myans have predicted that 2012 will be the last year of this Earth. They believe that with the passing of the Myan calendar on December 21, 2012, the Earth and Humanity will cease to exist. Many of these folks will use this belief to extort money, and object from the weak minded as well as those who are searching for something to fill a void in their life. Their will be many false religions and cults probably come out of the woodworks in the next few months leading up to Dec 2012. TV Shows will come on about the subject and many books will come out about the same thing. And during all this false prophecy, Christ will be pushed to the back of the heap. That is why I believe Christ is Calling us to SET UP THE TABERNACLE, THE TENT OF MEETING, ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH. For you see if we put our houses in order from day one of 2012, then we will be able to put the House of the Lord, the Church, in order and we will be able to combat the false doctrine that will be preached in the coming months. We will be able to lead those who are searching for that one thing they need to make their life complete, to THE ONE who is able to give them a life full of grace and mercy, a life that can be lived forever. We, the Church must head the words of Paul to the Roman Church, when in his letter to them said "I appeal to you therefore, brothers,  by the mercies of God,to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect".Romans 12 :1-2. On the first day of 2012, I believe we must make the commitment to become the Church that we are called to be. To be that City on the Hill I spoke of in my last blog. To be the beacon to a world in need. To be a Church of believers that when people look at us, they do not see the sinful people we were, but to see the one who gave himself as a ransom for our sin on a cross 2000 years ago, that we might have eternal life in Heaven with him. That when people come to the House of God, the Tabernacle of our Lord, they pull up in the parking lot and the presence is so thick that it appears as a Cloud by day and have a Fire in the Cloud by night, calling out to all who would see it. I pray that we, yes we, You and I , would make this coming year one of renewal in not jut our houses but one of renewal in the House of God. That we would be that which we are called to be by our Lord and Saviour. That we would step out of our comfort zone and let the Holy Spirit guide us into our uncomfortable zone, for when we step out of the comfortable and into the uncomfortable, that is where our renewal will take place. For it is in that Uncomfortable Zone where God can speak to us and we will hear him, for as long as we are comfortable in our house, we will never see the lost come to know Christ.For it is in our comfort zone where we tune out all that makes us uneasy. It is in our comfort zone where not only do we miss hearing God speak, it is in our comfort zone where we wither and die ourselves. 
       As we step into a new year, let us step into a new beginning, serving Christ with all we have and with the Tabernacle established for all to come and worship in. Let us have our houses in order and let us be a becon of hope in a hopeless world. God bless you and keep you until we meet again, whether on this side of Glory or on the streets of Gold in Heaven. 


In Christ's Love,
    Bill