A GILDED WALK: ON AND OFF THE ROAD TO PARADISE is about a journey, your journey as well as the author's. It's called LIFE. And since our actions determine how the journey proceeds and how it ends, it's worth some planning. The author explains how he handled the curves and the high-speed roads and bumps along the way. It is basically a matter of power: God's power to help you grow in the Christian faith and to help others follow that path. As your reading progresses, you will learn about: ���� the Lord's guidance from childhood ���� the many side roads that can detour life ���� how God wants to travel with you ���� how being saved isn't optional ���� how this is just the first step of the journey ���� the depth of journeys in the kingdom ���� the Holy Spirit as tour director Thankfully, our Lord is not only forgiving, but died that we all might live. Think of how Christ forgave Peter for his lack of trust and forgave Paul for persecuting Christians. Therefore, this is the story of a life not always on the path, but always being led back to the straight road toward Him.
A Gilded Walk
The Path to HeavenBy Jerry McDermottiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2010 Jerry McDermott
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4502-1691-3Contents
Preface.......................................................vIntroduction..................................................viiAcknowledgements..............................................xiPart 1: PROBLEMS..............................................1Chapter 1 - Religion or Relationship..........................3Chapter 2 - Ecclesiastical Dehydration........................6Chapter 3 - Ritual Frustrations...............................11Chapter 4 - Why Another Church?...............................15Chapter 5 - Yipes and Gripes..................................21Chapter 6 - Missing Words.....................................24Part 2: BEGINNINGS............................................29Chapter 7 - Some Personal History.............................31Chapter 8 - God's Plan........................................34Chapter 9 - A Mystery Explained...............................38Chapter 10 - Kingdom Living...................................41Chapter 11 - Daddy-Do-The Father's Love.......................43Chapter 12 - Where Is the Growth?.............................49Part 3: RENEWAL...............................................53Chapter 13 - Rebirth and Renewal..............................55Chapter 14 - The Charismatic Renewal..........................60Chapter 15 - Getting the Gifts................................66Chapter 16 - It's About Influences............................70Part 4: EXPERIENCES...........................................73Chapter 17 - Silent Prayer or Meditations.....................75Chapter 18 - Bible Reading....................................78Chapter 19 - A Black & White Experience.......................81Chapter 20 - Hamstrung Alone..................................83Chapter 21 - Journey Tales....................................88Chapter 22 - Tongues Not So Diverse...........................91Chapter 23 - A Divine Hello...................................94Chapter 24 - Heavenly Walks...................................98Part 5: INSIGHTS..............................................101Chapter 25 - Little Words.....................................103Chapter 26 - Contrasts Happen.................................107Chapter 27 - The Good News....................................110Chapter 28 - The Cross Explained..............................116Chapter 29 - Secrets & Mysteries..............................123Chapter 30 - Optional or Necessary............................126Chapter 31 - Angelic Helpers..................................132Chapter 32 - Political Savvy..................................136Chapter 33 - Rapturous Observations...........................139Part 6: CLOSING THOUGHTS......................................145Chapter 34 - What's Next?.....................................147Chapter 35 - The Mortgage-Free Home...........................153Chapter 36 - A Scenario.......................................155Chapter 37 - A Prayer of Thanksgiving.........................157Chapter 38 - Meditation and Summary...........................159About the Author..............................................163Bibliography..................................................166
Chapter One
Religion or Relationship
Before we begin our walk together, I have to clarify some items that have the potential to detour us off the direct path. Since this book is about religion, I don't want you to stumble at the very beginning of our journey. Typically, religion is described as a set of beliefs, rules, and rituals organized by a group of people toward a supernatural being.
Most people figure religious history went like this: God established a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the Jewish religion became a fact. Then Jesus came as the Messiah, freed us from the stringent Mosaic Law and while being rejected by the Jews of His day, the Christian religion was established. The only thing wrong with this scenario is the definition of Christianity. According to common belief, it is a religion. According to God, it is a relationship.
Think of the Book of Genesis where God actually walked and talked with Adam and Eve. They had a relationship. This is what Jesus came to restore. Jesus taught us a wonderful prayer called the Our Father where we were joined with Him and with our mutual Father. He talked about the heavenly Kingdom which exists and the earthly Kingdom which will exist.
Jesus preached in the Jewish temples and courtyards of His day. He was also quite at home preaching on the sides of mountains, along paths, in boats, and at the dinner tables, but through all His gatherings, He never called these assemblies churches. Furthermore, Jesus didn't preach about the cross and His passion except to His closest followers. What He preached constantly was about God's Kingdom.
Where was the Kingdom of God? Were the churches that were built centuries later the Kingdom of God? Is any church structure, cathedral, denomination, assembly, or any other building the Kingdom of God today? The answer is a resounding NO. Jesus clarified this completely by saying the Kingdom of God is within us. Well then, what about being saved by belonging to a particular church? Jesus said that He is the Way; the Truth; and the Life. He also said that unless a man is born again he will not see the Kingdom of God. This distinction is so evident when you see an interview with a Christian personality on TV. The interviewer may not understand what the believer is saying, nor comprehend that salvation comes through repentance and belief in Jesus alone in our era of diversity. Since the church was started by men and women gathering together, the idea evolved that we are saved by belief and good works.
Martin Luther's teachings showed the scriptures where salvation is a gift from God. Unearned, it is a free gift without limitations. The only requirement is to make Jesus the Lord of your life (Galatians 2:16). How then can any denomination guarantee salvation when salvation is only through Jesus Christ? We are not denying the usefulness of churches for other reasons, but salvation is from the Lord.
With this truth firmly established, what is the Body of Christ? It's obvious, the Body of Christ is a collection of His born again followers; it is the invisible church, the Kingdom of God.
The modern practice puts the church denomination above everything. But the Kingdom is not part of the church; it is quite the opposite as the Kingdom is the larger entity.
When John the Baptist started preaching, he startled the folks by telling them to repent and that "The Kingdom of God is Near". When Jesus started preaching He gave the same exclamation. Furthermore, the main message Jesus gave was about the Kingdom. Consider His analogies in the gospels of the Kingdom being like yeast, a server, buried treasure, a fine pearl, a dragnet, a mustard seed, and so many other comparisons.
What is this Kingdom? It is the same Kingdom that God established when He created Adam and Eve. It was the first political body and it was established by the creator as a reflection of the heavenly Kingdom. The difference was that He gave man authority over God's earthly Kingdom, but that wasn't the major miracle. The wonderful result of God's purpose was mankind's relationship with his creator, not a distant relationship but a 1 on 1. But it didn't last. What happened?
Man was given authority as well as complete freedom except for one fruit tree that he was not to touch nor eat. Adam and Eve disobeyed and were banished from paradise. More importantly, they lost that personal relationship with God.
The main purpose Jesus died for us was to re-established this relationship. But how many people actually have this relationship? Knowing about Jesus either through scripture or teachings or sermons is not the same as a deep, personal, and intimate knowledge with Him. As you continue reading, I trust you will gain a deeper impression of God's infinite love.
A little later we'll talk more about the Kingdom, but next we will examine the contemporary church.
Chapter Two
Ecclesiastical Dehydration
A friend recently came over with a situation. A widowed relative had befriended a Pentecostal woman and he wanted to know about this religion as their adherents were known as being "over the edge." I explained some New Testament references and offered some reading material on the growth of the church with signs and wonders after Pentecost. He wasn't interested in further discussions of this denomination.
In reflection, thank God someone is over the edge today as so many church followers are just following a ritual or are Christmas and Easter Christians. Over the edge means something different than anything in their particular religious experience.
How can we describe the Christian Church today? I know I'd like to say dynamic, but I only know a few TV preachers that fill that bill. Most of the religious church preaching isn't even powdered milk and so far from real meat, we need a miracle to inflame our preachers. In our previous church, the teaching one Sunday was a history of cathedrals. Really, nothing was life-changing there. Another Sunday, it was about Albert Einstein. What happened to the explanation from St. Paul that he didn't preach with the wisdom of men, but by the power of the Holy Spirit (1Cor.2:5)?
I'm also concerned about numbers. I look around so many churches and see a lot of gray hair, in fact, mostly gray hair. What will happen when this generation is gone? To show how out of touch the preachers are today, one clergyman asked the congregation of mostly senior citizens and golden agers to give up smoking and pornography for Lent. After Lent, he preached on the evils of jealousy. Then the next Sunday, the pastor spoke on the evils of having an affair. Remember whom he was speaking to!
These sermons are at services full of older folks where canes, walkers, wheel chairs, and oxygen units are their accessories. You can't miss them; the machines are parked everywhere and you can certainly hear the on and off hiss of the oxygen tanks. What then is today's church?
Malaise-now here's a fancy word that is perfect to describe the church today. It comes from the French and means "a general weakening of the body" or that something isn't right.
We have so many distractions today that I believe the Lord has a tough time getting through the worldly allures. And when you come to church, you get baby food or less. I remember a Sunday when the celebrant talked about saying "Eureka: I've found it." He said, "I hope you say many eurekas when you find who is within you." What a perfect time for a salvation message, but it was only an admonition. It was not a call, nor a talk about the means, nor a talk about the how, nor about Jesus dwelling within us. I guess he forgot "Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). He didn't pursue the obvious stronger and Christ-like message. How can you imagine a sermon about being a Christian and who lives within you and not mention Jesus?
Here is a good example of the malaise among the clergy. Surprisingly, it happened on Pentecost Sunday. After the reading about the coming of the Holy Spirit from scripture, the celebrant proceeded to his sermon. One of the first things he asked was: "Are we going to ask for the same gifts of the Holy Spirit as the apostles received on Pentecost?" His answer was a resounding, forceful, "No, we are not going to ask for the use of the same gifts."
He said that the Holy Spirit can do anything He wants but usually we are more effective in just ordinary things. As an example, he stated that he recently visited someone in the hospital and afterward learned that he had said exactly the right words that were needed by the patient.
Another example was that a lady had set a good example and that meant something to others. I guess he forgot that Jesus said that we would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us. What he said was true, but it could have been blended with the gifts which minister to people.
After the sermon, baskets were passed through the congregation to pick a gift. I happened to pick WISDOM with the description "Wisdom is the comprehension of God and all things divine insofar as is humanly possible, allowing us to love as God loves." When I ask the Lord for wisdom in my prayers, I don't want Him to tickle my brain and remind me of something. I want His wisdom or a scripture verse. If it is considered humanly possible, then why call it a divine gift? Jesus said, "The Holy Spirit will teach you all truth" (John 14:26). Finally on loving as God loves, we can never love with the same intensity as our infinite Lord for scripture says that "God IS Love" (1John 4:8).
During the basket passing, two scriptures came to my mind: whether in the last days there will be a form of religion but not the power (2 Tim. 3:5) and secondly, do nothing to sadden the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).
This church was decorated in red for Pentecost . It was all very religious and symbolic. To me, this was a marvelous opportunity to talk about a personal spiritual growth, but the pastor elected to refrain from that and seemed to instill in the parishioners the idea that most probably the Spirit would never use them in a powerful way.
Afterward, people commented how wonderful the ceremony was, but it was all fluff. The people still didn't know the teachings, nor how Jesus wants each of us to demonstrate His power and love. I'm sure the folks left the church convinced that they needed to set an example, but little else. In context, the approach was really to be a nice person.
J. Lee Grady wrote an excellent article, I Think We Lost Pentecost, for Charisma Online, part of which summarizes my thoughts above. He said, "Look around at your own church. Is the Holy Spirit welcome? Is there a sense of holy expectancy? How long has it been since someone gave a prophecy or a message in tongues in a service? How long has it been since a sick person came to the altar for healing? How long has it been since someone was so overcome by conviction that they ran to the altar for salvation? Is there freedom for the Holy Spirit to move, or are things so regimented that God can't interrupt?"
As I'm writing this chapter, Europe has become known as a former Christian continent. The ecclesiastical malaise seems to be worldwide except that a recent study shows the Pentecostal/ Charismatic churches are encountering an incredible growth. This isn't surprising as the Lord said He would pour forth His Spirit in the last days and these churches provide signs and wonders as well as preaching by the power of the Spirit, following our Lord's example.
Recently, I heard a speaker on TV say that signs and wonders should be evident in your church, and if they aren't, take down the sign in front as some may think the building is a church.
We have been fed milk for so many years that we wouldn't recognize or believe a current church established like those in the book of Acts. Surprise! They are around; they are called by various names, but Pentecostal/charismatic/full gospel is fairly descriptive as the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit abound in these churches. We'll talk about these gifts or charisms later, but let me introduce them now. These are distinct from talents as they are from the Holy Spirit. They are:
Word Gifts - tongues, interpretation, and prophecy
Intellectual Gifts - discernment, wisdom, and knowledge
Power Gifts - healing, miracles, and faith
Fruit Of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control
The Word Gift of tongues is an unlearned language for personal prayer and unique for each person. The other gifts are for ministry to individuals or to edify the church. The Fruit of the Spirit are good qualities to improve the individual.
Many of these gifts are in evidence in Christian television programs and televised conferences. Also, many of the TV preachers are Spirit-filled and preach and use these gifts in their ministry. There really is hope now that the religious churches will be changed into Kingdom churches where the presence of Jesus is a reality and the gifts of the Spirit are practiced.
Chapter Three
Ritual Frustrations
The generalization of this title may be popular with some Christian authors because of so many indifferent mainstream churches. Maybe it is the end of the age, or maybe even the end times and yet, there is a widespread disdain to preach and teach necessary subjects to the body of believers. I use the word believers, but how can they be when the full gospel is not being preached.
The subject is one of many not heard in today's church. It could be the End Times, The Last Generation, the Importance of Israel, the Rapture, the Gifts of the Spirit, the Baptism of the Spirit, prophecy fulfilled, that miracles still happen, or that God still heals. Or they could even be the false teaching that there are many paths to heaven and we'll all get there somehow or the apostolic age of miracles ended with the deaths of the apostles and disciples.
The driving force for this concern, fueled by compassion, is that prophetically, God has given us a mandate to change this generation. Thus, it is frustrating when so many folks just don't care about growth in their religious practices or a deeper knowledge of a personal relationship with Christ. So many church goers are very content to just occupy a pew each Sunday.
Earlier, I spoke of malaise as the problem. People aren't gambling with an eternal resting place; they just don't care or are too busy. Their church has told them they are cool, so why worry? The only problem is that the Bible says their approach is far from cool. The letters to the seven churches in the book of Acts define the issue, but one book, to the Laodiceans, is particularly significant for our times. Jesus said that because they weren't hot or cold, He would spit them out of His mouth. I guess He is serious. After all His Father sent Him to us and He died for us.
In June, 2008, my wife and I attended a revival conference in Tucson. One of the topics was on churches. The speaker said, "You know the church is dying! Do you agree?" Everyone agreed.
The speaker then said that Christ wouldn't recognize the main stream or institutional churches as so many dogmas and rules had been added by men. This reminded me of a passage from Isaiah: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men" (Isaiah 29:13).
The mainstream churches and seminaries have either officially denied the Gifts of the Spirit or just don't bother with them in spite of the teachings of Jesus. With these concepts and explanations in mind, the speaker asked, "What are we going to do to help the churches survive"?
The answer may surprise you. It wasn't a complete list of action committees, a list of platitudes, nor a call for some economic help. It wasn't a call for joint task forces, a list of must-do's, nor calling for more ministers. It wasn't for an army of street evangelists. The simple answer was, "Let them die!"
The reason for this seemingly strong reply is simple as the institutional churches are more focused on their denomination and their rules than on what Christ desired. How can you just ignore the teaching of Jesus when He said His followers would imitate Him? How can you misinterpret the words of the full gospel? How can you have a Sunday sermon and not even mention Jesus? Thankfully, there is a perception that in the large denominations there is a growing number of people more interested in their covenant with Jesus than a bunch of rules and regulations.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from A Gilded Walkby Jerry McDermott Copyright © 2010 by Jerry McDermott. Excerpted by permission.
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