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The Ananias Movement HELP US LORD TO BE SO CONNECTED TO YOU THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE SERVANTS OF OTHERS. WE COME TO CHURCH THIS MORNING, WITH HEAVINESS ON OUR HEARTS, LOOKING ON WITH GRIEF AT WHAT HAPPENED JUST A SHORT DISTANCE FROM HERE AT VIRGINIA TECH.. AS 33 PEOPLE DIED AT THE HANDS OF GUNMAN. LET US BOW OUR HEADS IN PRAYER. (names of the dead are read out, as the bell tolls after each name) THE EMERALD QUADS OF THE COLLEGE CAMPUS.. THE SWIMMING POOL AT MCCOMAS HALL THE BASKETBALL COURTS SIGNS TAPED TO BUILDINGS ACROSS CAMPUS READ… CLOSED DUE TO TRAGEDY…
A HOUSEHOLD NAME AND FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS… IT’S BEEN FASCINATING TO READ THE LETTERS TO THE EDITORS IN VARIOUS PAPERS.. THEY ALL SEEM TO BEGIN WITH SOMETHING LIKE …
WHAT ARE WE TO MAKE OF THIS TRAGEDY MY FRIENDS? IN ADDITION TO SHOWING OUR SUPPORT FOR EACH AND EVERY VICTIM, PRAYING FOR EACH OF THE WOUNDED… BEYOND ALL THAT… AS BELIEVERS IN JESUS, I BELIEVE WE HAVE ANSWERS THE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR. I WOULD BEGIN BY SAYING GOD DID NOT ORDAIN THIS… THE MOTIVATION FOR SUCH A TRAGEDY COMES NOT FROM HEAVEN… WHAT WE SAW ON MONDAY WAS THE VERY INCARNATION, THE VERY FACE OF EVIL… IF WE BELIEVE IN JESUS, WE MUST BELIEVE IN SATAN, AND THIS SITUATION FOR WHAT IT IS… THE VERY DREAM OF THE EVIL ONE. IT WAS CS LEWIS WHO SAID… AS CHRISTIANS, YOU AND I ARE IN ENEMY-OCCUPIED TERRITORY.. THAT IS WHAT THE WORLD IS. CHRISTIANITY IS THE STORY OF HOW THE RIGHTFUL KING (JESUS) HAS LANDED, YOU MIGHT SAY…IN DISGUISE… AND JESUS IS CALLING US ALL TO TAKE PART IN HIS GREAT CAMPAIGN OF SABOTGAGING EVIL. IT WAS PAUL AFTER HIS CONVERSION… SO CONVINCED THAT SATAN WAS REAL WROTE IN A LETTER TO PETER THAT: “SATAN PROWLS THE EARTH LIKE A ROARING LION LOOKING FOR SOMEONE TO DEVOUR. RESIST HIM SAYS PAUL, STAND FIRM IN YOUR FAITH.” REMEMBER, SATAN DOES HIS BEST WORK WHEN NO ONE GIVES HIM AUTHORSHIP. SATAN LAUGHS AND LAUGHS WHEN WE SAY… IT WAS A PSYCHOLOGICAL ABERRATION OF A VERY LONELY PERSON, COMPLETELY ISOLATED EVENT… IS THIS WHY NEARLY A DOZEN OTHER SCHOOLS RECEIVED SUCH THREATS? YET, WE ALL HAVE TO BE ON THE WATCH IN OUR OWN HEARTS… JESUS OFTEN SAID, WE ACT OUT OF THE OVERFLOW OF OUR HEARTS. WHAT WE PUT IN WILL COME OUT… THE VERY CHOICES WE MAKE COME FROM WHAT WE PUT IN HERE… WE LIVE OUT OF THAT OVERFLOW… SO IF WE ARE PUTTING SCRIPTURE IN EVERY DAY… WE WILL LIVE OUT OF THAT OVERFLOW… OUR ACTIONS RESULT FROM WHAT WE PUT INTO OUR HEARTS AND MINDS… UNDERSTANDING THAT THEN… HOW CAN ANYONE BE SURPRISED THAT SUCH A TRAGEDY OCCURRED WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE FINGERPRINTS OF EVIL THAT ARE OVERFLOWING IN OUR CULTURE? THIS MORNING LET ME OFFER 2 SUCH FINGERPRINTS… THE FIRST… YOU’RE WATCHING FOOTBALL OR BASEBALL ON ESPN…AND THEN THE COMMERCIAL… IT IS A SHOOT-EM-UP BLOOD GORE AND GUTS VIDEO GAME ADVERTISEMENT, HAVE YOU SEEN THESE ADVERTISEMENTS? THEY MAKE WHAT HAPPENED IN VIRGINIA TECH LOOK LIKE ROMPER ROOM…. I’M NOT SURE HOW THE CREATORS OF THESE VIDEO GAMES SLEEP AT NIGHT, WE LIVE OUT OF THE OVERFLOW OF WHAT WE PUT IN… DARE I SAY ADULTS ARE PUTTING THAT KIND OF A THING IN, IT WILL COME OUT SOMEHOW, YOU CAN COUNT ON IT…. 2ND FINGERPRINT.. SCHOOL PRAYER… WHEN THE CHOICE IS MADE TO FORCE SCHOOL PRAYER OUT OF SCHOOLS, GUESS WHAT? THERE IS ANOTHER ENTITY THAT COMES IN, BY TAKING PRAYER OUT OF SCHOOLS THERE ISN’T JUST AN ABSENCE OF PRAYER, BUT WHAT FLOWS IN, IS THE PRESENCE OF THE ADVERSARY. 8 YEARS AGO THIS PAST FRIDAY, WE SAW ONE HUGE CONSEQUENCE… 12 CHILDREN MURDERED AT COLUMBINE… ONE SUCH CHILD WAS RACHEL SCOTT. HER FATHER DARRELL WAS INVITED TO ADDRESS A HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE… NO ONE WAS PREPARED FOR WHAT DARREL HAD TO SAY, NOR WAS IT RECEIVED WELL… IN A PORTION OF HIS TALK… THIS IS WHAT DARRELL SAID:. SINCE THE DAWN OF CREATION THERE HAS BEEN BOTH GOOD AND EVIL IN THE HEARTS OF MEN AND WOMEN. WE ALL CONTAIN THE SEEDS OF KINDNESS, AND THE SEEDS OF VIOLENCE. THE FIRST RECORDED ACT OF VIOLENCE WAS WHEN CAIN SLEW HIS BROTHER ABEL IN A FIELD. THE VILLAIN WAS NOT THE CLUB HE USED, THE TRUE VILLAIN WAS CAIN AND THE REASON FOR THE MURDER CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN HIS HEART. I AM HERE TODAY TO DECLARE THAT COLUMBINE WAS NOT JUST A TRAGEDY, IT WAS A SPIRITUAL EVENT THAT SHOULD BE FORCING US TO LOOK AT WHERE THE REAL BLAME LIES… RIGHT HERE IN THE HUMAN HEART. I WROTE A POEM HE WRITES…THAT DESCRIBES MY INMOST PAIN…
YOUR WORDS, EMPTY AIR…
YOU’VE OUTLAWED SIMPLE PRAYER-
PRECIOUS CHILDREN DIE-
AND ASK THE QUESTION…WHY?
THROUGH LEGISLATIVE CREED-
THAT GOD IS WHAT WE NEED! HE CONTINUES… WE ARE MADE UP OF MIND-BODY AND SPIRIT… WHEN WE REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIRD PART OF WHO WE ARE… THE SPIRIT… WE CREATE A VOID THAT ALLOWS
SPIRITUAL PRESENCES WERE PRESENT WITHIN OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS FOR MOST OF OUR NATIONS HISTORY. MANY OF OUR COLLEGES BEGAN AS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARIES… THAT IS FACT… WHAT’S HAPPENED TO US AS A NATION? WE REFUSE TO HONOR GOD AND IN SO DOING, OPEN THE DOORS TO HATRED AND VIOLENCE…. AS MY SON CRAIG LAY UNDER THAT TABLE IN THE SCHOOL LIBRARY AND SAW HIS 2 FRIENDS MURDERED BEFORE HIS EVERY EYES… HE DID NOT HESITATE TO PRAY IN SCHOOL. I DEFY ANY LAW OR POLITICIAN TO DENY HIM THAT RIGHT! I CHALLENGE EVERY YOUNG PERSON IN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD TO REALIZE THAT ON APRIL 20, 1999 AT COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, PRAYER WAS BROUGHT BACK INTO OUR SCHOOLS. DARE TO MOVE INTO THE NEW MILLENIUM WITH A SACRED DIS-REGARD FOR LEGISLATION THAT VIOLATES YOUR GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE WITH JESUS… SCOTT MAKING THE POINT THAT IF THERE IS AN ABSENCE OF PRAYER, THERE WILL BE A PRESENCE OF THE ADVERSARY… 2 THOUSAND YEARS AGO THERE WAS ANOTHER SUCH VIRGINIA TECH CRIME ABOUT TO HAPPEN. THE STORY OF ANOTHER MURDEROUS MAN ON THE LOOSE. HIS NAME WAS SAUL AND HE IS ON A VIOLENT WAR PATH… HE’S ON HIS WAY TO DAMASCUS TO WIPE OUT THIS GROUP OF JESUS FOLLOWERS. AS SAUL ARRIVES ON THE EDGE OF THAT CITY TO DO HIS NASTY WORK… GOD STRIKES HIM DOWN… SAUL, I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO… AND IN AN INSTANT… GOD MAKES SAUL BLIND… AND FOR 3 DAYS SAUL
IN THE MEANTIME, GOD CALLS ON A HUMAN BEING… A MAN WE MIGHT SEE AS THE MOST FORGOTTEN HERO IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE. A MAN NAMED ANANIAS… THE ONLY THING WE KNOW ABOUT ANANIAS IS THAT HE IS YET ALSO A DISCIPLE OF JESUS, AND SO GOD APPEARS TO ANANIAS… AND I LOVE HOW HONEST THE BIBLE IS… GOD SAYS ANANIAS… YES LORD…? DON’T YOU WISH IT WAS THAT EASY BY THE WAY… ANANIAS HEARS GOD’S VOICE… BUT WHEN HE HEARS WHAT GOD WANTS HIIM TO DO…REPLIES…YOU’RE CRAZY. REALIZE MY FRIENDS THAT THE NEWSPAPER HEADLINES IN THOSE DAYS PROBABLY READ… SAUL COMING TO DAMASCUS TO REMOVE CHRISTIANS… IT WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE THAT THIS MAN SAUL,
JESUS IS SAYNG TO ANANIAS, GO… LAY HANDS ON HIM, RESTORE HIS SIGHT BECAUSE HE IS THE MAN I’VE CHOSEN TO GO BEFORE KINGS AND AUTHORITIES. THIS IS LIKE SAYING… BOB, OSAMA BIN LADEN IS HANGING OUT AT 8105 CONNECTICUT AVENUE… GO TO HIM, LAY HANDS ON HIM BECAUSE HE IS MY CHOSEN.. YOU MIGHT LAUGH, BUT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT ANANIAS HEARS! GOD SAYS GO TO STRAIGHT STREET… HOW SPECIFIC.. THAT WAS THE MAIN DRAG, THE CONNECTICUT AVENUE OF DAMASCUS! IF YOU’RE ANANIAS… YOUR REACTION MIGHT BE RAGE AND INDIGNATION! YOU WOULD TAKE PEPTOL BISMAL AND GO TO BED! HERE IS THE MIRACLE MY FRIENDS… ANANIAS, SAYS YES LORD…. GOES, LAYS HIS HANDS ON SAUL AND SAYS… BROTHER SAUL, I’VE BEEN SENT TO RESTORE YOUR SIGHT AND RESTORE YOU TO A RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS… ANANIAS PUTS HIS LIFE, HIS REPUTATION, HIS VERY EXISTENCE ON THE LINE… NOT ONLY THAT BUT HE CALLS SAUL… BROTHER! HOW AMAZING! BY SAYING BROTHER HE’S SAYING, I’M MEETING YOU WHERE YOU ARE…I AM WITH YOU. CAN YOU IMAGINE SAYING THAT TO YOUR ARCH ENEMY? ANANIAS TURNS WHAT WE WOULD NORMALLY DO UPSIDE DOWN! BUT HERE IS AN ETERNAL TRUTH! HOW MANY TIMES IN HISTORY HAS THE LESSER MAN LAUNCHED THE GREATER MAN? HAS ANYONE HERE HEARD OF ALBERT MCRACKEN? HAS ANYONE HERE HEARD OF BILLY GRAHAM? ALBERT WAS THE ONE WHO INTRODUCED BILLY GRAHAM TO JESUS! IT WAS A VILLAGE PRIEST WHO INTRODUCED D.L. MOODY TO JESUS IT WAS A RANDOM TEACHER WHO INTRODUCED CHARLES ELIOT TO JESUS!
ARE VITAL LINKS IN THE CHAIN BY WHICH GOD CHANGES A CULTURE. AND DEFEATS EVIL. MY FRIENDS, TO SABATOGE THE EVIL IN OUR CULTURE… WE NEED TO CREATE WHAT I’M CALLING TODAY AN ANANIAS MOVEMENT! AN ANANIAS MOVEMENT IN 2 KEY WAYS… THE FIRST IS THIS… BEING AN ANANIAS TO SOMEONE ELSE IN YOUR LIFE… AS ANANIAS CAME ALONGSIDE SAUL… HAVE YOU EVER SENSED THE NUDGING OF JESUS TO COME ALONGSIDE ANOTHER PERSON AND AND DELIVER THAT PERSON OUT OF THEIR OWN PERSONAL HELL AND STRUGGLE? THE ANANIAS MOVEMENT. WHAT IF ONE PERSON HAD COME ALONG SIDE THE VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTER, I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT HITTING HIM ON THE HEAD WITH A BIBLE, BUT EARNING AN ENTRANCE INTO THAT LONER’S SOUL BY SIMPLY WALKING WITH HIM…AND OVER TIME SHARING WHO JESUS IS… MAYBE IT WAS ATTEMPTED, BUT WHAT IF IT NEVER WAS? YOU SEE, SAUL WAS EVERY BIT THE MURDERER THAT CHO-SEUNG-HUI WAS… HAD ANANIAS NOT INTERCEPTED SAUL ON THE WAY TO DAMASCUS, THERE COULD HAVE BEEN CARNAGE, CIVIL WAR AND DEATH… WHAT IF THERE HAD BEEN AN ANANIAS IN CHO SEUNG HUI’S PATH TO POINT HIM TO THE REAL JESUS? DO YOU KNOW OF THOSE LONERS IN YOUR LIFE? HEAR ME ON THIS… SATAN SPECIALIZES IN ISOLATION… SATAN HAD CHO SEUNG HUI JUST WHERE HE WANTED HIM… AS SOON AS WE ARE ISOLATED, SATAN CAN DO HIS GRANDEST WORK IN US… TO MAKE SURE WE ARE NOT LIVING OUR SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL LIVES IN ISOLATION! OUR ALPHA AND LIFE GROUP LEADERS ARE THE ANANIASES OF OUR DAY! DO YOU SEE THE GOSPEL NEED TO BE AN ANANIAS? WHILE THAT’S ON AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL… THE ANANIAS MOVEMENT HAS TO WORK AS WELL ON THE COMMUNITY LEVEL. I-E……….. DO WE AS A CHURCH HAVE THE COURAGE TO SPEAK TO OUR CULTURE WITH ONE ANANIAS VOICE THAT EVIL EXISTS… WHILE GOD DID NOT DESIGN THIS, THERE IS EVIL IN THE WORLD. CAN WE AS ONE VOICE SAY THAT AS LONG AS EVIL GOES UNCHECKED IN CULTURE, THERE WILL BE MANY MORE SUCH TRAGEDIES… IN THIS ANANIAS MOVEMENT.. AS A CHURCH ARE WE WILLING TO PRAY FOR PRAYER TO BE PUT BACK IN SCHOOLS… AND NOT JUST PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BUT EVEN CHURCH AFFLIATED SCHOOLS THAT HAVE LOST THEIR WAY! CAN WE REFUSE TO BUY VIDEO GAMES THAT PAVE THE WAY FOR SUCH TRAGEDIES? ARE WE WILLING TO BE AN ANANIAS PEOPLE? HEAR THE GOOD NEWS…AS ANANIAS PEOPLE… IT’S NOT FOR WHAT WE’RE AGAINST, AS MUCH AS WHAT WE ARE FOR! WE ARE FOR THE LOVE OF JESUS MAKING AN INROAD INTO THE HEART OF;
WE LIVE AS PEOPLE WITH JOY EVEN IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH! REMEMBER PSALM 23… YEA THOUGH I WALK THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL… 1 JOHN 1:4…JESUS WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER THAN THE EVIL IN THE WORLD! IF WE CALL UPON THE NAME OF JESUS THERE IS NOTHING WE NEED TO FEAR! JAMES TELLS US THIS… SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD, RESIST THE DEVIL AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU… GOD TO JEREMIAH SAYS… I WILL NEVER STOP DOING GOOD TO MY PEOPLE AND I WILL INSPIRE THEM TO FEAR ME SO THEY WILL NEVER TURN AWAY FROM ME.. I WILL REJOICE IN DOING THEM GOOD AND WILL PLANT THEM IN THIS LAND WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL… AND OF COURSE THE HOPE WE FIND OUT OF THE MOUTH OF EZRA IN HIS BOOK OF CHRONICLES… 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 WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN AND HEAL THEIR LAND! ISN’T THAT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT? LET’S BE EXCITED TO BE AN ANANIAS PEOPLE WE’VE GOT THE BEST NEWS AROUND! LET’S BE EXCITED TO BE AN ANANIAS PEOPLE WITH A WILLINGNESS TO TAKE JESUS OUT OF OUR CLOSETS AND BEGIN TO ALLOW HIIM TO SPEAK THROUGH US INTO A WORLD OF PAIN AND SUFFERING. BUT MY FRIENDS, THERE IS ONLY ONE THING THAT CAN CAUSE US TO FAIL… IT’S THAT ONE RESPONSE THAT KILLS THE ANANIAS MOVEMENT EVERYTIME… THAT ONE LINE… MY FAITH IS A PRIVATE ONE… NOTHING GIVES EVIL MORE SUCCESS THAN THAT ONE PIECE OF FICTION… IN REALITY, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PRIVATE FAITH. WE OFTEN USE THAT LINE BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW HOW TO TRANSLATE OUR FAITH! THAT ONE ANTI-ANANIAS STATEMENT HAS RESULTED IN THE SPIRITUAL DEATHS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE THAT WERE NEVER TOLD LIKE SAUL WAS… PEOPLE WHO MAYBE EVEN SECRETLY BEGGED TO BE TALKED TO, BUT WE GOT NERVOUS AND KEPT QUIET. ARE WE AN EMBOLDENED ANANIAS PEOPLE… DO WE REALIZE HOW MUCH THAT PERSON YOU’VE BEEN AFRAID OF TALKING TO ABOUT JESUS… DO YOU REALIZE JUST HOW MUCH HE OR SHE IS BEGGING YOU TO TELL THEM EVEN IF RIGHT NOW THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW IT? AND OFTEN ALL THAT MEANS IS A SIMPLE INVITATION TO CHURCH, AN INVITATION TO ALPHA, TO DINNER OR LUNCH.. IN THIS ANANIAS MOVEMENT… ARE WE WILLING TO BE DARRELL SCOTTS, ALBERT MCKRACKENS…? MY FRIENDS,… IF YOU ARE OVERWHELMED BY THIS CHALLENGE… OVERWHELMED BY THE DESTRUCTIVE DIRECTION OF OUR CULTURE… OR SIMPLY OVERWHELMED BY THE EVENTS OF THIS WEEK… REMEMBER THIS FROM OUR GOSPEL READING, AND PSALM 23… …THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD… AUTHOR MARY WELCH, IN HER BOOK…MORE THAN SPARROWS… A BOOK WRITTEN ABOUT GOOD AND EVIL… WRITES: “INSTEAD OF SAYING… I’M SO WORRIED… STOP AND SAY… THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD…THEN SAY…SO I’M WORRIED TO DEATH!” THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD…SO I’M WORRIED TO DEATH! THE TWO DON’T GO TOGETHER BUT THAT’S THE POINT… THE CONTRAST PUTS EVERYTHING IN PERSPECTIVE! TO BE AN ANANIAS PEOPLE, OUR TRUST HAS TO BE FIRST AND FOREMOST IN JESUS OUR GREAT SHEPHERD… OUR EYES FIXED ON HIIM… IF THEY’RE FIXED ON EVIL OR FEAR… WE GET DEPRESSED… IF OUR EYES ARE FIXED ON JESUS, OUR WORRY AND SADNESS MELTS AWAY! BUT FURTHER WE ARE GIVEN AN ANANIAS SPIRIT. ONE GIRL, AFTER PRACTICING THIS METHOD, WROTE THE AUTHOR AND SAYS… I’VE BEEN PRACTICING THAT FOR MONTHS NOW AND I HAVE FELT THE MOST AMAZING PEACE OF MIND, AND NOT JUST THAT, BUT THE COURAGE TO GO OUT IN THE NAME OF MY SHEPHERD JESUS… AND REACH THAT PERSON WHO CULTURE SAID WAS UNREACHABLE… LET US PRAY. |
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