Are You Following Jesus or the World?

The question is, are we going to follow God’s design and purpose and be conformed into the image of God? Are we going to allow God to transform us from the inside out? Are we willing to empty ourselves out every day, over and over again, and instead be filled up with the fullness of God by Grace working through love? Are we self-seekers, or others-centered? Jesus had NO SELF, NO SIN. Jesus promised us the same.

Ephesians 3:19 “And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.”

In the decentralized Body of Christ there is no hierarchical leadership system—just the opposite. Leaders in God’s Kingdom are the servants of all–FOOT WASHERS. Those who lose their life in the Kingdom will gain it for all eternity IN CHRIST.

Matthew 20:26–28 “It is not this way among you, but whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant, and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Seeking and standing on truth, Jesus, is the answer to all our issues, problems, and suffering.

John 8:31–32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Do you hear two voices in your heart? As the observer, do you hear two voices? Self and selfishness with self-protection and self-promotion (self-righteousness)?

Do you also hear the Spirit of God—the Spirit of Truth—the Holy Spirit of Truth speaking to you as Jesus Christ, your Shepherd, High Priest, Lord, Master, and King? Do you hear both voices? Do you have a choice of which voice to follow? YOU DO—by Grace—as a free gift of God’s love for you!

Galatians 5:17 “For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.”

The Bible declares that we can't save ourselves, only Jesus can. I receive this as truth, do you? Then CONFESS IT AS TRUTH. The Bible declares that we are blind, deaf, and lost, in need of a SAVIOR. This is certainly true in my case—how about yours?

Isaiah 53:6 “All of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all to fall on Him.”

The Bible declares that we can only serve one master, and trying to serve two masters is, by default, sinful and leads to death. There is only one choice—serve Jesus and His Kingdom, or serve SELF and your own kingdom.

Personally, I am clueless and I know nothing. The only thing I know has been given to me by Christ, and I expect Him to reveal a lot more and keep revealing until I am made into His exact image. I can’t do that for myself or anyone else, only Jesus can save me, and you–by Grace working through love.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The Bible declares that there is only ONE voice, ONE Spirit, ONE Truth, and ONE Lord—and unless we deny ourselves and die to ourselves, we can't be connected to the ONE voice, Spirit, truth, and Lord. Currently, those who are NOT IN CHRIST are separated from God, lost in their sin, depending solely upon themselves, self-protecting, and self-promoting.

Those IN CHRIST, on the other hand, are forever CONNECTED with God our Father, for all eternity through Jesus Christ who has given us the Holy Spirit as our guarantee of eternal life with God–IT’S HIS GIFT TO US TO RECEIVE, or REJECT.

Ephesians 4:4–6 “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all, and through all, and in all.”

Having been made by Christ in love by RIGHTEOUSNESS, all disciples of Christ are given new IDENTITIES IN CHRIST. The world tries to give us our identity, but they are all lies. Unfortunately, all too often, we fall for the lies, and we take on false identities given to us by our parents, society, and the ear-tickling pastors. I call them NASCAR Pastors because they only know how to go counterclockwise–against the flow of Christ. And they travel a long distance but do not get anywhere, round and round, and... Is your Pastor a NASCAR Pastor? Pray for him or her, and love them as God moves them to repent or replaces them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Satan is tempting us to listen to both voices—or worse yet, only his. Satan lies and only can lie. Satan convinced Adam and Eve that God was not absolutely good, and that was a lie. Satan got Adam and Eve to doubt God’s absolute goodness. But unfortunately, they believed the lie and separated themselves from God, eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I don’t know about you, but most Pastors, like good life coaches, only teach about the knowledge of good and evil.

NASCAR Pastors no longer trust God and want to know good and evil for themselves and to determine good and evil for themselves, which is sin, rebellion, and ultimately led to the fall from Grace. God’s Grace works to destroy the lie and lies of Satan and restore all truth by Grace working through love, which is to KNOW WE ARE IN CHRIST.

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Jesus is the ONE MAN, the ONE HEAD, connected to and directing the ONE BODY—the ONE Body with many parts (you and me). Jesus is the absolute KING, LORD, and MASTER because He is Truth, and He acts in LOVE—selfless, life-giving love by the Spirit. Whereas Jesus is ONE MATURE MAN—CHRIST, the dwelling place of God—Satan is a multi-headed BEAST: many heads with no truth, full of chaos, death, and darkness.

Ephesians 1:22–23 “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

Satan presents many heads and many different voices—and none of them are truth. Not one. Nothing.

James 3:15–16 “This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”

Satan wants us to be okay with the two heads—the mixture—listening to both the Spirit and the flesh, yet continuing to bow down to the flesh, serving its lust and pride, full of self-promotion and self-protection. Being a two-headed human is to take on the Mark of the Beast. Everyone studying eschatology wants to know about the Mark of the Beast. NO ONE WILL MISS IT, as the two-headed human is impossible to overlook or miss–way too scary to miss.

Revelation 13:16–17 “And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark: either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

Some people will only listen to Satan’s voice, which is the multitude of voices—evil, deception, distortion, and deceit. Many more people listen to both voices. There are Carnal Christians behind the pulpit in unbelief, walking in doubt, listening, and attempting to follow both voices—trying to enjoy the benefits of Heaven (Grace) without denying self, picking up their cross, and dying to self to follow Jesus. What’s worse, they are teaching many to do the same. For them, there is a rude awakening coming.

2 Timothy 4:3–4 “For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

Babylon and the Mark of the Beast, as taught in Revelation, is a multi-headed monster of confusion, hate, oppression, violence, despair, and death. Too many voices and too many heads lead to chaos, deception, and decay. Instead, Jesus invites us to follow ONE VOICE and return to the absolute goodness of God—reconciled back to the Heart of God to fulfill the full purpose of our existence, which is eternal life in His Kingdom of Love and Goodness. According to the Scriptures, one must die to enter.

John 10:27–28 “My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

Babylon and the modern-day church beast system is centralized, producing scarcity, bondage, and no life. Jesus and His Kingdom is decentralized and full of eternal abundance—just the opposite of self-kingdoms and self-built human empires posing as the Kingdom of God but are not.

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”

Being "centralized" is the Mark of the Beast. To “buy and sell,” people will have to take the Mark of the Beast—separating permanently from Christ and rejecting His voice—instead listening and trusting the multi-headed centralized oppressive system. Babylon is the perfect example of centralization, and so is the modern-day carnal Amercian church. Our choice is simple, pursue HOUSE Churches—or, settle for the centralized church and take on the Mark of the Beast.

Revelation 18:4 “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive any of her plagues.”

I know I sound very harsh. But before you demonize my message, go read Chapters 2 and 3 of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is in those two chapters that Jesus WARNS US ALL.

Decentralization was demonstrated by Jesus in His earthly ministry two thousand years ago. Here is a good question… during Jesus’ earthly ministry two thousand years ago, which religious organization and/or religious hierarchy did Jesus submit to on earth? Which one did He support? NONE. Jesus is a KINGDOM, and His Kingdom is coming. Which KINGDOM do you belong to, which Kingdom do you serve?

Luke 20:1–2 “On one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?”

We are called to be wise virgins with all five talents invested into the Kingdom of God—not into the world system, not Babylon, and certainly not the carnal American church. Jesus conducted much of His ministry IN HOMES, in houses, in kitchens. None of Jesus’ ministry was for or to the religious organization or religious leadership. ZERO. None. Jesus rebuked the religious leaders of His day, referring to them as of the devil.

Matthew 25:4, 14–15 “However, the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps... For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents…”

Jesus sent out His twelve disciples first, and then later, He sent out seventy disciples. He sent them not to synagogues but to homes. While instructing and teaching His disciples, Jesus sent them to people’s homes—to stay for a time. I hope you are waking up!

Luke 19:5, 9-10 "When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house… And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham… For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Jesus instructed His sent-out disciples to give HIS peace to the house that took them in, but to take it back if rejected. Jesus sent His disciples to homes to minister. Jesus said, Follow Me! When Jesus returns to earth, will we find Him behind the pulpit in the American churches? No, He will be in the HOMES.

Luke 10:5–7 “And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they provide…”

What religious organization and leadership did Jesus construct and build while on the earth? None! He rebuked them and then showed them the right way to do it—to go into the homes and live and minister in a very intimate, one-on-one experience. Jesus was not kidding when He said, FOLLOW ME!” He is the only way to the Father. Surrender, deny, die, and finally live serving and loving your enemies.

Matthew 23:8–10 "But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ."

Let’s compare today’s mega-churches (or, multi-location churches) with the model Jesus taught and established through His disciples and the first-century Church. Also, let’s compare the first-century Church and the persecuted underground churches in India, China, Iran, and Iraq. It seems the best way to grow the Church is to follow Jesus—the model He instructed and taught—the same model that has made the Church in China the largest Christian Church in the world. There are more Christians in home churches in China than there are US Citizens living in America. Should we consider our ways?

Acts 2:46–47 “Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Remember, Jesus fed 5,000, and then 4,000, and healed tens of thousands of people (picture multi-location churches in your imagination). Yet toward the end of His earthly ministry, most people left Him, and instead of following Him, they demanded His crucifixion. Feeding the 5,000 was like a modern-day mega church. Think about all those people experiencing the miracle of the loaves and fishes and witnessing all the signs and wonders—yet when push came to shove, they all abandoned Jesus and put Him on the cross instead. Bigger is not better, not in the Kingdom of God. “Community” is bigger than big.

John 6:66–68 “As a result of this many of His disciples left, and would no longer walk with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to leave also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life."

The HOUSE CHURCH is the model Jesus left us and commanded us to follow—to make disciples of the nations, baptizing them all into His Kingdom. Baptizing means soaking, immersion, and total transformation over time through soaking. The first ever known use of the word BAPTISM was found in a recipe for pickles. Cucumbers that are soaked in special water are forever transformed into PICKLES and can never return to being a Cucumber. Get soaked, immersed, and baptized in COMMUNITY in a House Church.

Matthew 28:19–20 "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Ponder this… only one out of ten lepers was grateful for healing. People are carnal and in desperate need of a Savior. Only death to self, resurrection, and glorification will transform the wicked heart—and only King Jesus can do it. Only communal, intimate, loving long-term discipleship will work.

Mega churches—and even most local churches—are not the answer, nor the model. It is time to return to Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, and follow Him.

STAY TUNED and BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OUR BRAND NEW eBOOK, "How to Start a HOUSE Church." COMING SOON!

Luke 17:17–18 “But Jesus responded, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

Let’s close with the foundational Scriptures Jesus gave me as we wrote this together (which perfectly seal this revelation):

Ephesians 2:20–21 “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”