Following man’s word over God’s word is always rebellion and the result is powerlessness. Powerlessness means victory for our enemies. Although most who are part of a denomination and even independents say they follow the word of God, most follow the teaching of men like Luther, Calvin and Wesley just to name a few. I once was part of the Free Methodist church and Wesleyan Church. Both followed the teaching of John Wesley, but the Wesleyan church unashamedly announce the man they follow in their name. The seminary I went to, Asbury Seminary, glorified the men they follow so much so that they built idols of them, John and Charles Wesley, Francis Asbury on a horse and like most institutions have the names of financial donors or people of importance on their buildings. They even sell trinkets in their store.

    One of the defenses for how they view scripture is the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. When defining the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, the Wesleyan Church’s website states, “it is a way to understand our four-sided approach to answering questions about Christian belief and practice. It provides a sound defense or foundation for what we believe. More specifically, it recognizes the primacy and authority of Scripture as understood through the light of tradition, reason and experience.” Notice how that is backward. Scripture stands alone and should define tradition, reason and experience. They also stated why this is a really bad approach to God’s word. They said, “Questions arise, however, over interpretation. Scripture alone rarely settles controverted points of doctrine or practice. When detailed exegesis among the best of biblical scholars fails to stem the tide of debate, we turn to tradition, reason and experience to clarify our understanding. They function as cooperative partners in our interpretation of the Bible, not as judges. They are ancillary sources, not usurpers of Scripture’s primacy, helping us grasp God’s word with greater clarity.” Maybe they should have turned to the Spirit of truth but that is difficult because of rebellion and a refusal to repent, God has turned His face from the church. Instead of turning to God, they turn to themselves. Jesus said John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

    Men should be teaching what the Holy Spirit is saying, not what men and others are saying. I struggled in seminary with the higher criticism of the bible and the approach they taught you to use. I don’t use what they tried to teach me. It still amazes me that I made it through seminary in one piece. At the time of my ministry, going to seminary was required. I said to a seminary professor one time “if the bible is written inspired by the Holy Spirit, should it not be read inspired by the Holy Spirit.” Now I would add read and understand. Basically, his response was if you were stupid before you became a Christian, you are stupid after. I hope he was joking, but he never clarified. The disciples being unschooled and ordinary men gives us stupid people hope. Jesus said, John 16:12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” The church, because of rebellion, is not being guided into truth, has much division, so the church does and says what it thinks best and agrees to disagree with others who say something different. Even though many say they agree to disagree, they do not. Jesus made it clear when He said, John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is no such thing as denominational Christians or distinct doctrines, as there is only one truth, not many. You cannot be a Baptist, Methodist, Catholic Christian; you are Christian.

    This box / quadrilateral really is a dangerous approach to the word of God and most churches have followed this approach and obviously they do not call it Wesleyan and are just as void of the Holy Spirit as the Wesleyan church and the Free Methodist church who follow the man named Wesley. Others do the same with Calvin, Luther etc. This has become so bad in some churches they are no longer a box but a triangle as they have almost left out scripture completely and have followed their traditions, reasoning and experiences instead or they are still a box but have distorted scripture to their own liking. The danger of this is that reason, experience and tradition will say something is okay and even though scripture states otherwise, the word of God is set aside for the reasoning, traditions and experiences of men and women. Later we will be talking specifically about homosexuality. For many, reason, experience and tradition affirm what scripture calls an abomination to be okay, so scripture is ignored. They then explain away what God clearly stated. The reality is this quadrilateral way of thinking is very dangerous as we will talk about in a moment. I admit math was never one of my strong points. One time whilst building a deck I asked a friend who did have the math chip how to square my deck to the house. He looked at me almost with unbelief in his eyes and said did you not take high school math? He said all you do is use the Pythagorean theorem which is measure one side at 3 the next at 4 and the third side when square will be 5. Maybe if my math teacher taught me how to build a deck, math might have made more sense.

    So, I was looking for something else that would put scripture back in the centre where it should be, but every time you try to use something as an example it always falls short. The danger of the quadrilateral is that the bible is not central. This is bad because some / many have chosen to have a square where all sides are equal or a rectangle where two of the sides are equal or as some do, place tradition like a trapezoid with that side being the longest and the bible the shortest and so on. There may be something that describes it in geometry, but I stopped looking. The bottom line is that the bible is supposed to be central and everything revolves around the word of God not the other way around. The word of God establishes our experiences, reasoning and even traditions though all three can be very dangerous when greater emphasis is placed on them. What has happened as the person above described is reason, tradition and experience changed, gave new meaning or distorted scripture which happened because God has turned His face from the church. Each group gave the bible their own meaning that would fit with their own distinct teaching. God’s word changes our experience, reasoning and traditions but most are not willing to be guided by the word of God and refuse to repent. Tradition tells me one thing, the bible says another, tradition goes. There are millions who will go to their deaths still holding onto their sacred traditions, reasoning and experiences and will not hear well done good and faithful servant even though they have been told they would.

    One example of this are the sexual sins and abominations that are sweeping through the church. Just look at the Catholic church and fallen leaders of many different churches. Today our focus is on homosexuality. There is no debate according to scripture but because reason, experience and tradition have been elevated above scripture, the church ignorantly continues to debate. The church also has a faulty view of God’s love and thus thinks that God has softened His heart and changed His mind from what is stated in scripture. There is a huge difference between loving someone and accepting someone without expecting them to change according to the word of God. As we will talk about later, that change cannot happen with human strength but only with power from on High. The church is powerless, which is why the debate continues. This lack of power has happened because scripture has been set aside for reason, experience and tradition. These abominations that the church debates are not new, as scripture is very clear on this subject. Not only was death introduced when Adam and Eve listened to satan over God, they also became aware of their nakedness. Genesis 3:7 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” Then we see another example of nakedness that would lead to God promising the land of Canaan to His people. Though detail is left out, there was something more to the gaze of Ham on His father Noah as he was furious when he found out what Ham had done to him. Genesis 9:20 “Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” This was so bad that his family was to be cursed. Then we see in Leviticus a whole list of sexual sins. Leviticus 18:1 “The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. 5 Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord. 6 “‘No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. I am the Lord.” And that list continues, and sexual sins will increase throughout the world. Then you have Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19:5 “They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” Then there is the same story in Judges 19 in a town of Israel. Judges 19:22 “While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.” Many who are trying to ban books need to be careful or they are going to get the bible banned for its content.

    Sexual sins would continue and today the list of letters keeps getting longer and include gender and sexual preferences - lgbtqia2s+. Truthfully, I think the letters are easier for most to accept than hearing the words associated with them. Just to be clear there are other sexual sins such as we saw with David and Bathsheba. Scripture is very clear on sexual abominations, but many in the church have ignored what the bible clearly states and have settled for the world’s views and their reason, experiences and traditions has overruled scripture. Jesus said Mark 7:8 “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” 9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” The church, though some still are standing firm at least on this subject, did not stand on scripture but accepted what God calls an abomination or detestable as something that is acceptable before God. Yes, God is a God of love as we have talked about, but these are still abominations that if a person remains unrepentant, will not inherit eternal life no matter what a church tells you. Because scripture is so clear on this subject is why speaking this way is not an act of hate, but love. There is a reason the love passage (1 Corinthians 13) is between 12 and 14 where the power is talked about.

    Jude said Jude 1:3 “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” That means there are leaders in the church, who as Peter said blackest darkness is reserved for, who are teaching what is false. Jude also says “12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.” Jude concludes with 17 “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” The problem is the church is powerless to do anything about it because of its rebellion against God’s word.

    There are many topics that scripture touches on very briefly, but this is not one of them. Scripture is very clear Leviticus 18:22 “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable / abomination.” Romans 1:26 “God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” 1 Corinthians 6: 9 “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Just to be clear, these sexual sins are not in a class of their own as you can see the others listed here are also in the church such as gossip. Proverbs 16:28 “A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.” Romans 1:29 “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.”

    Many churches have accepted these abominations and perversion of what God made holy in the beginning and some have not and have separated because of these issues. A church really should be diverse but only when referring to race, age etc. but not inclusive to include LGBTQIA2S+. This is where some will be upset with what I just said. The churches who have included LGBTQIA2S+ are saying God approves and ignore scripture due to their reasoning, experiences and traditions. They do not believe or expect any change is possible or necessary. The only way a church can accept LGBTQIA2S+, is to make sure they know that there is power to change and heal and must repent. They are expected to change, not stay the same. It needs to be made clear that this behavior is unacceptable and is an abomination before God. It does not mean God’s love is not available but with God’s love comes power to heal of which is supposed to be present. That usually does not go over well mostly because at this point the church does not have the power it was supposed to have to heal. What is happening now is some make it very clear they are not accepted and are very outspoken against this behavior. Others have caved to the pressure to accept and do not make it clear change is possible or even expected No matter how great the sin, think of David and Bathsheba and Paul approving the death of Stephen, the church should be seeing people transformed by the power of God. Scripture is very clear that these abominations void any possibility of eternal life. To tell someone God loves you no matter what and does not tell you that you need to change is a lie from satan.

    But herein lies the problem; without power and authority that can never happen. Like many of the self-help organizations such as AA that basically tell you once an alcoholic always an alcoholic, they tried to do the same with therapy, like conversion therapy, which in many places has been banned. “In January 2022, Bill C-4 became law nationwide which formally banned conversion therapy, the widely discredited practice aimed to change a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression based on the belief that identities that are not cisgender and/or heterosexual are not preferred.” Now here is why there is a problem. “The United Church of Canada affirms the value and dignity of all people and rejects any therapy or practice that labels LGBTQIA+ and Two-Spirit people as abnormal, broken, or otherwise not whole individuals. We strongly condemn the practice of conversion therapy or any efforts that attempt to change a person’s sexual or gender identity through treatment that is hostile to a person’s identity, unethical, spiritually and psychologically damaging, and not supported by evidence.” They like others fully support LGBTQIA+. Their reasoning, experience and tradition rejects the truth of god’s word.

    Drinking, drugs, obesity are not something you just stop, which is why they say once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. Yes, some people by sheer willpower can change, but most cannot. The same goes with sexual preferences. This is very real, and you cannot treat it or expect someone to stop and change just by saying they should. People will say they finally became the person they were meant to be which is another lie from satan. Even though this is a lie from satan, many are getting their affirmation from the church. They were meant to live holy lives in the presence of God, but they cannot while still accepting what God calls an abomination. Yes, some will stop and give the appearance of change, but will be tormented their whole lives. Or they will find a church like the United Church above where they are welcomed and not expected to change. There are more and more of those churches. Gender and sexual preferences are everywhere from commercials, to politics. As we see in the United States, policing this will never work, but only will make it worse. I do think that if most were honest they would say they do not agree with this but do not see an alternative. The alternative is right before our eyes in scripture; power and authority to destroy the devil’s works but most would rather continue on the path they are already on.

    There are many with a voice that condemns this behavior but do not offer a solution. The same goes with abortion. They protest against the woman and her choices but not the man. They say they are pro-life but do not provide for the life they say they are trying to save such as funding for the usually single mother, schooling cost and housing. Protesting and financial support are two very different things. The same goes with those protesting against LGBTQIA+. They protest but do not offer a solution because they do not have one. As Paul said they are all talk but no power. This is why so many churches have caved to the world’s view and now do as the world does. Since they have rejected the word of God and elevated their own reasoning, experiences and traditions above scripture, their only option is to accept as truth what God has declared to be an abomination in His eyes. It is important to remember Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The only way to defeat satan is with the power of God and the church is supposed to have that power and authority.

    I read somewhere that people of old did not understand homosexuality as if it was not commonplace. It was very common as we read about in Leviticus. We also saw that 1 Kings 14:22 “Judah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. By the sins they committed they stirred up his jealous anger more than those who were before them had done. 23 They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 24 There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.”  Many in the church try to say that what the bible is saying very clearly is in fact not clear at all and should mean what they say it should mean. Basically, they are denying the word of God. They do this because they are afraid of the fallout. If they actually taught what the bible states, they may lose people and even their charitable status with the government. Most are not willing to risk that.

    This issue is a huge problem as more and more churches continue to struggle over what God’s word clearly states. The main problem is the rejection of God’s word. There have been many splits over this as seen with the United Methodist schism. “Thousands of congregations have left the United Methodist Church amid contentious debates over sexuality, including a dispute over whether to accept gay marriage and LGBTQ+ pastors.” "It's been brewing forever – for at least the last 20 years." It doesn’t mean that those splitting will have any power to heal with what they disagree with, but they are making a stand at least on this subject. This is not a new issue as Paul addresses homosexuality in the first chapter of Romans. Romans 1:24 “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

    The church desperately needs revival, and many people desire revival but are unwilling to change. Revival is not a gas /charging station where you fill up and then keep going in the same direction. There have been many revivals down through the ages, but the church continues to get further and further from the truth. Revival is a return to the word of God which changes reason, experience and tradition. This is about being brought back to life. The reality is revival should be the return of power and authority the church had at the beginning. Psalm 80:2 “Awaken your might; come and save us. 3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved. 14 Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! revive us, and we will call on your name. 19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.” Psalm 85:6 “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you” The church I went to growing up always had camp meetings in the summer. These would recharge the batteries, but every year people would be back and still be powerless. Some in charismatic circles went so far as to call them revivals ahead of time???

    There are also many examples of what a revival is not as they are what they call counterfeit revivals. We were told 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Most did not test the spirits and were greatly deceived. When I was in seminary there was a false revival called the Toronto Blessing and there was one called Brownsville. Without going into detail one of the men that was involved was Rodney Howard-Brown. “What Rodney Howard-Browne refers to as “revival” had its genesis in July of 1979. At the age of 17, he says he gave God Almighty an ultimatum: “Either You come down here and touch me or I am going to come up there and touch You.”9 He began to shout over and over again, “God, I want your power!”10 He shouted until he was hoarse, frightening nearly everyone present. Rodney recounts that suddenly: The fire of God came on me. It started on my head and went right down to my feet. His power burned in my body and stayed like that for four days. I thought I was going to die. I thought He was going to kill me….My whole body was on fire from the top of my head to the soles of my feet and out of my belly began to flow a river of living water. I began to laugh uncontrollably and then I began to weep and then speak with other tongues….I was so intoxicated on the wine of the Holy Ghost that I was beside myself. The fire of God was coursing through my whole being and it didn’t quit….Because of this encounter with the Lord, my life was radically changed from that day on.” It was not God who responded, but satan and many have been deceived. While there was manifestations present, this was not God, and many were deceived and to this day are still being deceived. Another false teacher Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Redding California was deceived by the Toronto Blessing and his ministry still shows it. This shows many were searching but are now worse off than they were before they found these counterfeit revivals.

    Another revival that seems to keep happening over the years is the Asbury University revival. I wrote about this here. This was not a charismatic revival and appeared to be student led. People began to flock to Wilmore KY to be part of this event. I wrote that this was not a revival but a gathering of people who were not changed. I say not changed as people were not changed, the school carries on the same, the names of men are on the buildings, idols still stand. The seminary I went to is across the street. Yes, people desired to be closer to God but as one young woman showed, she did not know her scripture. Here is a quote from what I wrote. “I came across an interview with Tucker Carlson who was very gentle when he interviewed the student body president of Asbury University. Tucker Carlson is not really a person you want endorsing anything, just saying. In the interview she tried to explain what was going on. She said to Carlson with millions of viewers watching, that there was a verse from Habakkuk circulating that said, Habakkuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” Now on the surface that sounds great, but this is where the mature, a teacher, a leader, a minister around her should say to this young leader, who I am sure wants to meet God with all her heart, that she needed to keep reading to find out what God was saying to Habakkuk. The verse continues and says, Habakkuk 1:6 “I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across the whole earth to seize dwellings not their own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.” Eventually the school shut this down. Can you imagine shutting down the presence of God? Actually, it is possible to imagine because this was not people turning away from their wickedness as a revival should be.

     Another example I came cross when looking into this so-called revival was a young man who was very clear about being a celibate gay man. As I share this, this is not an attack on one individual, or even a group of individuals but this one individual gives a picture of what is happening in the church and the lack of power. The world can do and live however it wants, but if you call yourself a Christian, you cannot as you must live according to God’s word. You cannot pick and choose what you want to believe as this young man has done. This is from a video I watched that was recorded about a year after the revival. This is the description from the video. “Elijah Drake is a third year student at Asbury Theological Seminary and has been part of the Asbury revival from day one. He's prayed over many people, been prayed over by others, experienced repentance and reconciliation, and has witnessed the overwhelming presence of God at Asbury. But the revival hasn't been without its challenges. As a celibate gay Christian, Elijah has experienced ruthless attacks from people who don't think Jesus has a place for gay people in the kingdom--let alone a revival.” He describes the revival and the presence of God. He even says “I don't know if you'll mention this in the introduction but like I'm a celibate gay Christian so I like am on this campus I affirm the traditional sexual ethic but I'm definitely out like people know that I'm gay and like I really care about the lives of lgbtq people and that's something that like my heart is really like broken over a lot of the time.” He then talked about “queer people have been leading worship these last you know couple weeks.” He also talked about the attacks he would receive. Someone said, “the fact that this guy is at Seminary the fact that they let him be there is a demonstration that this isn't a real Revival and it even got to the point where anytime the president of my Seminary would pose for the universe or the Seminary would post anything people would respond to it with screenshots or links to me.” At no point in the video was there any sign of remorse or repentance. Yes, I am sure people did attack and probably what I am writing could come across as an attack. During this testimony / recall of the so-called revival, neither the interviewer or Elijah had any remorse whatsoever and continued to talk about the presence of God while at the same time completely ignoring scripture. This happens not only with homosexuality but most sins as people do not want to hear repent and turn from wicked ways. Jesus said Mark 1:15 “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” The kingdom did not come near as when the kingdom comes near this happens. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” This is why I call this a so-called revival.

    When he talked about “queers leading worship”, I thought of Ezekiel 8:6 “And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the Israelites are doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable / abominations.” So, to say God is present, is a stretch. Basically, this is a complete rejection of God’s word, justifying their own sin and refusing to repent. In this video Elijah described himself as a celibate gay man. This is one of the arguments many have made. They say because they are celibate, being gay is okay. Paul said in Romans 1:28 “Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.” Whether a gay person is celibate or not, they have a depraved mind and need to be healed. A person like Elijah has been able to gather enough people to support him, that he is able to continue on with a depraved mind but will not see eternal life.

    This is where the church has failed. Yes, many people speak out and quote scripture and there is plenty of scripture but what is missing is power and authority over the work of satan. The word of God is not powerless, the church is but it is not supposed to be. As we have talked about many in the church do not believe the church has the same power and authority the early church had. By believing that is a statement of rebellion. Basically, what they are saying to God is we have rebelled against your word and do not believe. They said miracles, signs, wonders all stopped with Paul because they no longer read about them or felt the church needed them. Most of the miracles Paul did were not each written down. What we are told is Acts 19:11 “God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.” I think one of the most powerful scriptures is 1 Corinthians 6:11 and sums up the church. Paul said 1 Corinthians 6:9 “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” This where the church stops and can go no further. Many quote this verse and say you will not inherit eternal life, which is true, but the problem is they do not offer a solution. Yes, many have tried with the self-help groups but that does not work. The only solution is God turning His face back to the church and reinstating the power and authority the church was supposed to have.

    The good news is Paul did not stop with this verse and as I said makes one of the most powerful statements as it describes the power and authority of Christianity / the church is supposed to have. Paul then says, 1 Corinthians 6:11 “And that is what some of you were.” That is the power and authority available to the church, if only the church would return to God’s word. These few words tell you that homosexuality can be completely healed. This powerful change cannot be manufactured, and it is only the power of God that can in this case change a depraved mind to the mind of Christ. Paul then says 1 Corinthians 6:11 “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” The church should be filled with people who said this is what I was but now I have been washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus. Instead, the church is filled with people who have not been changed nor as we see from this young man, have a willingness to change. Yes, many are trying hard to change but that is not the powerful change we are talking about.

    I truly hope, he and the young lady that thought being attacked by Babylon was a good thing, that someone comes along side both of them and leads them down the narrow path to truth. In his testimony, Elijah shared how during the revival a pastor did come alongside him, but not in the way he should have. Elijah had posted a prayer request about LBGQ and someone erased it. In the video he said “then this pastor who again like was a Methodist Pastor he like walked back up to me on like the on the side aisle and came up to me and just like whispered into my ear and he said your prayer request is back on the board and in that moment I realized that not only had he listened to me but he had like listened to me and he responded by going up to that prayer award and making sure that my request was there that queer students would be cared for and that was just like the dam broke I was sobbing and I said to my friend I was like I think that's what the church is the church is it's so broken but through those cracks like God's light is going to shine through sometimes and there's going to be a lot of times where people don't notice you and don't see you but there's going to be moments when he does when people do see you and God does see you and that beauty is the church.” Can you imagine the testimonies if God really was present as they said he was.

    The truth is the church is broken and lgbtqia2s+ needs to be prayed for but their sin cannot be accepted. But it doesn’t stop there as the church is filled with sin and one sin isn’t greater than the other. Paul said, Romans 1:29 “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Prayer should result in healing and demons cast out.

    When God turns His face back to the church, there will once again be the power and authority to do as Jesus did and to do what the early church did. The disciples were told to wait for the power. Luke 24:45 “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Pentecost came and they went out and did what Jesus did with power and authority given to them. The power is not just salvation as so many in the church say. If there is no power, you do have to question salvation because God’s word is not being confirmed with power. Mark 16:20 “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” Hebrews 2:4 “God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. As the true gospel of Jesus Christ goes out once again, there will be signs that accompanies His word.

   This young man is in turmoil not because he has resistance but because he is resisting the truth of God’s word. Ezekiel was told to confront Jerusalem with its detestable practices. Ezekiel 16:1 “The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices /abominations.” In the prior chapter they were called a useless vine. Ezekiel 15:6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. 8 I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.” This is where the church is now as God has turned His face from the church. Jeremiah 32:30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord. 31 From the day it was built until now, this city has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove it from my sight. 32 The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done—they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. 33 They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. 34 They set up their vile images in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. 35 They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.”

    The church should be desperately seeking revival so that once again God will turn His face back to us. God said, Zechariah 1:3 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Again, revival is not just being recharged and going in the same direction. The story of the lost son is the story of the church. Luke 15:17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”

    There is hope not just for Elijah but for all of us as none of us deserve God’s compassion. Anyone can be changed and healed but we must turn back to God and away from our wicked ways. 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” Jeremiah 33:11 “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,’ says the Lord.” Psalm 126:1 “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”