With that kind of ‘righteousness’ freely served to the masses, the masses then warmed the pew every weekend and enriched the lives of their leaders awaiting for a kingdom to come from the sky somewhere in the future whilst the world withered away

Far from being the light of the world, they supported the PRIDE of the world!

So what went wrong?

The problem LIES in the word IN.

Reread it as….Are you IN the deal with Him. Are you IN God’s business WITH Him? Do you regard Him as the Leader of a new world order? Did he mean what he said when He said He is….THE WAY? Is He the one who will succeed where the first Adam failed? If He is the second Adam, are you willing to identify WITH and IN His cause?

If you accepted His way as the way, you have to follow the path of the cross. The cross defines the separation, the cross defines the price you need to pay to be part of God’s kingdom.

As He had borne the cross( this symbolism is rich in revelation. we are just beginning to see some facets of it), the true sons of God will likewise bear the same cross!

Today’s churches know nothing about that cross. If they do and preach that cross, they will be out of church business and in trouble with certain authorities – sued, imprisoned or condemned by the ‘free press’.

COWARDS cannot preach that cross!

And if you don’t have the GUTS, please don’t call Jesus Lord who pioneered THE WAY!

For thus says the Lord. I am that I am.

I have created one church, one Bible, and one truth. Therefore, all who profess to believe in Me must believe to one truth, one God, and one church. Where do we find one church? Where? Why are there so many organizations that use My Name and do not bow to the will of God for one church?

In My Word I condemned factions and denominations or sects of My church. You will find it in I Corinthians 1.

Obey My Word now! Return to the days of the book of Acts where My people were one; humbling themselves under the might hand of God.

Turn away from the sins that you have. Destroy your divisions of Me. Become a local church that will not, under any circumstances, change or alter what the Bible says.

Leave any church that will not confess that God is all and they are nothing. Return to the humility of the first century church. Look at what My Word says and believe it; not what some theologian interprets. Stand for all of God’s Word and lead the world to Christ!

Thanks for the various inputs and references from the word. Its good for learning and gaining perspective.

So let’s keep it as that- a friendly exchange ya…

Here’s my other reference on the message of the cross:

From 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

to be fair, others may also accuse me of that so i am going to look at the whole context, of your message, and even more(from other books) when it is appropriate to do so.

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins( the trespass from the beginning. without an understanding of what that trespass is, the rests of your interpretation of the scripture will falter);
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world( the world and its glory belong to Satan’s rule and that’s the issue here and Christ is making a call to separate ourselves from its rule), according to the prince of the power of the air(religious – they rule spiritual matters and ideologies), the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience( similar to the trespass from the beginning):
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others(infected by the spirit of this world).
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins(under the rule of the world), hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) – (grace comes from the new and living way)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:( we are lifted from our earth bound thinking to heaven wards thinking.from fleshly mind to spiritual mindedness)
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus( Christ way, through the cross as there is no short cut, will make our world a gentler and kinder world)
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God( now this is where the problem lies. you cannot enter into grace through some kind of ‘mental gymnastic’ taught in today’s churches. the spirit of God is the grace of God who will work in those who pass themselves out of the other side of the cross. if you are not prepared to lay down your life and crown, you are not going to experience this grace):
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast( after the fall of man, two sons emerges. cain and abel. who was accepted? not the works of cain but the SACRIFICE of abel(types of the true sons of God) – if you can’t understand this revelation, you will not understand most of the scriptures especially the book of romans).
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them( good works or fruitfulness come from the other side of the cross – when you cross over to the kingdom of God).
Eph 2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands( God desires circumcision of the heart, not the flesh);
Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ( not knowing Christ way), being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel( outside of God’s favored people – in spiritual context – by grace), and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ( the cross we are to carry as shown by Christ. to shed His blood is to lay down His life – life is in the blood – and thus, we too need to lay down our lives like how He has shown the way).
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us( through the way of the cross, we are united)
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances( from walking after the ordinances of the flesh to the rule of the spirit); for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace( the era of the second Adam);
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross( an important emphasis – the CROSS), having slain the enmity thereby( the enemy is MAN – the ways of CAIN):
Eph 2:17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Eph 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens( citizens of the new city) with the saints, and of the household of God;
Eph 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone( realize they are at the bottom, not on top of the temple);
Eph 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
Eph 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit( the kingdom of God within that translate to the kingdom of God without).

the gospel that was delivered to you is powerless. it makes you look within all the time. not only have you become myopic, you also resist and deny the cross( no understanding of the true cross even though we are using the same language) that you are to carry and therefore – a false gospel!

Can we trust Him enough but refuse to allow ourselves to be changed by His Spirit into His likeness? Can we choose which area of our lives that we want to be changed, and which area is to remain status-quo(same)?

How many “christians”, ex-disciples mentioned in NewTestament, who had called JESUS Messiah & Lord and then stopped following Him, shipwrecked their faith,or wandered from the faith ???

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? John6

Wasnt Lord Jesus, 11 of his disciples & many others, crucified for preaching against the hypocritical church(synagogue) leaders, the Pharisees who always say but never do & love big titles? Mat23.

JESUS said “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” J12