Discipleship Is Not a Dirty Word by Lee Grady

Discipleship Is Not a Dirty Word

Wednesday, 09 May 2012 08:54 AM EDT J. Lee GradyNewsletters - Fire In My Bones

Reclaiming the process of discipleship will require a total overhaul of how we do church.

I get funny looks from some charismatic Christians when I tell them I believe God is calling us back to radical discipleship. Those in the over-50 crowd—people who lived through the charismatic movement of the 1970s—are likely to have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to the dreaded “D word.”

That’s because the so-called Discipleship Movement (also known as the Shepherding Movement and the VINEYARD church) turned a vital biblical principle into a weapon and abused people with it. Churches that embraced the warped doctrines of shepherding required believers to get permission from their pastors before they bought cars, got pregnant or moved to a new city. Immature leaders became dictators, church members became their loyal minions, and the Holy Spirit’s fire was snuffed out because of a pervasive spirit of control.

"Reclaiming this process of discipleship is going to require a total overhaul of how we do church. Do we really want to produce mature disciples who have the character of Jesus and are able to do His works? Or are we content with shallow believers and shallow faith?”

I don’t ever want to live through that again. I know countless people who are still licking their wounds from the spiritual abuse they suffered while attending hyper-controlling churches in the 1970s and ‘80s. Some of them still cannot trust a pastor today; others walked away from God because leaders misused their authority—all in the name of “discipleship.”

Yet I’m still convinced that relational discipleship—a strategy Jesus and the apostle Paul modeled for us—is as vital as ever. If anything the pendulum has now swung dangerously in the opposite direction. In today’s free-wheeling, come-as-you-are, pick-what-you-want, whatever-floats-your-boat Christianity, we make no demands and enforce no standards. We’re just happy to get warm rumps in seats. As long as people file in and out of the pews and we do the Sunday drill, we think we’ve accomplished something.

But Jesus did not command us to go therefore and attract crowds. He called us to make disciples (see Matt. 28:19), and that cannot be done exclusively in once-a-week meetings, no matter how many times the preacher can get the people to shout or wave handkerchiefs. If we don’t take immature Christians through a discipleship process (which is best done in small groups or one-on-one gatherings), people will end up in a perpetual state of immaturity.

David Kinnaman, author of the excellent book un-Christian, articulated the problem this way: “Most people in America, when they are exposed to the Christian faith, are not being transformed. They take one step into the door, and the journey ends. They are not being allowed, encouraged, or equipped to love or to think like Christ. Yet in many ways a focus on spiritual formation fits what a new generation is really seeking. Transformation is a process, a journey, not a one-time decision.”

Reclaiming this process of discipleship is going to require a total overhaul of how we do church. Do we really want to produce mature disciples who have the character of Jesus and are able to do His works? Or are we content with shallow believers and shallow faith?

A friend of mine had to face this question while he was pastoring in Florida. As a young father, he had a habit of putting his infant son in a car seat and driving him around his neighborhood at night in order to lull him to sleep. Once during this ritual the Holy Spirit spoke to this pastor rather bluntly. He said: “This is what you are doing in your church. You are just driving babies around.”

My friend came under conviction. He realized he had fallen into the trap of entertaining his congregation with events and programs, even though the people were not growing spiritually. He was actually content to keep them in infancy. As long as they filled their seats each Sunday, and paid their tithes, he was happy. Yet no one was growing, and they certainly were not producing fruit by reaching others for Christ.

How can we make this paradigm shift in to discipleship? How can we add “the D word” back into our vocabulary?

Churches must stop exclusively focusing on big events and get people involved in small groups, where personal ministry can take place.

We must stop treating people like numbers and get back to valuing relationships.

Leaders must reject the celebrity preacher model and start investing their lives in individuals.

When we stand before Christ and He evaluates our ministries, He will not be asking us how many people sat in our pews, watched our TV programs, gave in our telethons or filled out response cards. He is not going to evaluate us based on how many people fell under the power of God or how many healings we counted in each service. He will ask how many faithful disciples we made. I pray we will make this our priority.

J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of The Mordecai Project. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His latest book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma House).

Strange Sun Rise in Hawaii !!! (May.11-15.2012) Planet X Nibiru

GREECE-RUN ON BANKS-is this the David Wilkerson prophecy coming true?

ATHENS- Greece put a senior judge in charge of an emergency government on Wednesday to lead it to new elections on June 17 and bankers sought to calm public fears after the president said political chaos risked causing panic and a run on deposits.

Greeks have been withdrawing hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) from banks in recent days as the prospect of the country being forced out of the European Union’s common currency zone seems ever more real — although there has so far been no sign of a run on bank branches in Athens.

Political leaders failed to form a government following an inconclusive parliamentary election on May 6, leaving the state with its coffers almost empty and no elected cabinet in place to satisfy lenders it deserves the money needed to stay afloat.

After meeting President Karolos Papoulias, whose powers as head of state are limited, heads of various parties which won seats in parliament named the new interim leader as Panagiotis Pikrammenos, who runs the supreme administrative court.

A new poll confirmed what other surveys have shown: that radical leftists who reject a bailout agreed with the European Union and International Monetary Fund are now poised for victory, and the establishment parties that agreed the rescue are sinking further after an historic wipeout 10 days ago.

The leftists argue they can tear up the bailout and keep the euro, but European leaders say if Greece fails to meet promises to them, lenders will pull the plug on financing, driving Athens to bankruptcy and a swift exit from the EU single currency.

On Monday, according to an official account, the president told party chiefs that figures collated by the central bank headed by George Provopoulos showed savers withdrew at least 700 million euros ($890 million) from banks.

“Provopoulos told me there was no panic, but there was great fear that could develop into a panic,” minutes of the cabinet meeting quoted the president as saying.

“Withdrawals and outflows by 4 p.m. when I called him exceeded 600 million euros and reached 700 million euros,” he said. “He expects total outflows of about 800 million euros, including conversions into German Bunds and other such things.”

Several banking sources told Reuters similar amounts had also been withdrawn on Tuesday. Nevertheless, there was no sign of panic or queues at bank branches in Athens on Wednesday. Bankers dismissed suggestions that a bank run was looming.

A senior executive at a large Greek bank told Reuters: “There is no bank run, no queues or panic. The situation is better than I expected. The amount of deposit withdrawals the president mentioned referred to three days, not one.”

Still, some were taking no risks. A 60-year-old textiles store owner who gave his name only as Nasos said he had transferred 10,000 euros over the phone to a bank in fellow eurozone state Cyprus on Tuesday afternoon.

“Any way you see it, things are difficult. If they call elections on June 17—a Sunday—then everyone will take their money out on the Friday.” That June 17 date was

Greeks have already been withdrawing their savings from banks at a sharp clip — nearly a third of bank deposits were withdrawn between January 2010 and March 2012, reducing total Greek household and business deposits to 165 billion euros.

A senior bank executive said there had been withdrawals in recent days but there was no sign yet of a panic, as had happened in April 2010 when 8 billion euros were withdrawn just before Greece obtained its first foreign bailout.

Analysts predicted Greece would avoid a bank run, if only because so many people have pulled out their savings already.

“We have witnessed periods of tension before when the banks experienced large outflows. In my view, the majority of people with these concerns would have done so by now,” said Alex Tsirigotis, Greek banks analyst at Mediobanca.

Greek banks have made up for vanishing deposits on their balance sheets by accepting costlier European Central Bank financing through the Greek central bank.

The spectre of Greece quitting the single currency sent the euro and European shares to a fresh four-month low on Wednesday and raised the yields on Spanish and Italian debt, reflecting the risk that other European countries will be hurt.

Patience is wearing thin among EU policymakers exasperated that a country which accounts for barely 2 percent of the euro zone’s economy should drag the bloc into deep crisis yet again.

“The 16 other governments in the euro zone really are at the end of their patience with Greece. There isn’t room or any willingness to move,” said one official involved in talks over Greece at the European Commission. “The decisions are really in Athens’s hands. But it doesn’t look good.”

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference in Brussels that Greeks must realise what was at stake in their election: “It is important that the Greek people now take a decision fully informed about the consequences.”

DREAMS FULFILLED FROM THE PAST -EJ Ouellette

In September 2004 

In September 2004 

I had a dream. I saw the ocean between two major countries from high up in space. I was looking down when I saw a great stirring in the water. I wasn't sure what it was but then suddenly in the middle of the stirring I saw a calendar floating on the water and the date was December 26. I don’t often get dates in dreams but in this one it was very clear. I told a friend about it overseas and he thought I was crazy for telling everyone that something was going to take place on that date. He warned me that I would be making a fool of myself if I did and if nothing happened. Well such is the life of a prophet I said and just ignored him.

On December 26-2004 the tsunami in Indonesia happened and I never heard back from him.

In September 2007 I had a dream that 5 angels came to me to tell me the stock market was about to collapse.

I told many people including my doubting Thomas friend and again he rebuked me, for sending it out.  I had told another friend who completely lost it at a restaurant when I told him and made a huge scene calling me a fool in front of everyone for even suggesting that his beloved God the stock market would crash.

On October 6th 2008 the stock market crashed.

I never heard from him again.

On April 23 1986 I dreamt radiation was going to fall over the world. The voice of the Lord came to and asked me to pray.

On April 26th 1986 the Chernobyl Disaster took place.

On March 20th 1989 I had a dream in which I was floating high above the earth. Down below I could see the Alaska coastline. Suddenly I was on the Alaskan beach and black tar started to roll under my bare feet. Everywhere I looked people looked down and moaned.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 to 119,000 m3) of crude oil.[1][2] It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters.

On June 21 1985 I dreamt I was aboard a very large commercial jet. I was up in the cockpit when I heard a loud explosion in the cargo hold underneath the plane. The pilot and I looked at each other in horror knowing we were going to die.

On June 23, 1985, Air India Flight 182 Boeing 747-237B crashed off the southwest coast of Ireland when a bomb exploded in the cargo hold. All 307 passengers and 22 crewmembers died.

Dec 20th 1988 I dreamt of another plane explosion while I was aboard. I remember seeing the body of the plane was black or dark and it was a 747. The pilot again looked at me in horror.

Pan Am Flight 103 was a Boeing 747-121 that was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. The crash killed all 243 passengers and 16 crew and 11 people on the ground (all of whom were residents of Sherwood Crescent, Lockerbie),

In August 2001 I had a dream in which I saw the streets of a Major city covered in white dust and people walking out of the city covered in dust. When I awoke the Lord began to speak to me saying, “The blood of the unborn children cries out to me and I will satisfy their cries. This land and the US shall be laid waste for their murder of the unborn children. No amount of fasting or weeping will cause my arm of Judgment to stop until I have satisfied their cries. For this generation is an abomination in my sight.”

ON September 11th 2001 The Twin towers in NY were demolished.

On April 15th 2010 I sent out a dream about oil spilling everywhere and it wouldn’t stop.

On April 20th 2010 The BP deepwater horizon spill took place in the gulf of Mexico which lasted three months.

I could go on and on as I had these prophecies since I was very young.  I once estimated that I have had over 10,000 Dreams about the future that took place in one form or another. In other words most of my dreams are literal but there are some that were symbolic that I could not identify until the dream took place. I excluded many that would be exposing the evil government behind these.

Its now 2012 and I have had countless dreams concerning the end of the USA in the near future and know beyond a shadow of doubt they will take place. They only thing that could change the outcome of course is repentance and I’ve never once seen that, only arrogant people posing as Christians defending their stupidity.

EJ Ouellette

DREAM OF DEC 21 by EJ Ouellette

12-05-12 Dream: 

I dreamt I saw Nostradamus on a hill overlooking the ocean. He was dressed in old-fashioned clothes of the 1500s era. Next to him were several scientists dressed in clothes of the same period. I could hear him speak to the scientists warning them of the coming disasters to the world. He said, “This is not the first time these planets have passed this way and each time caused immense destruction”. The other scientists looked very depressed at the news and looked down. I turned to my left and looked out over the world and saw a calendar floating in the sky. It read Dec 21. The page tore off and there were no pages behind it. Suddenly I saw the earth rip and tear and huge earthquakes happen all at once. The oceans flooded inland and overtook the vast coastal cities. I heard someone say “There will be no Christmas this year”. I knew the survivors would be going back to pioneer days after this. I then awoke feeling very sad.

EARTHQUAKE DREAM 7.6 May 10-2012 EJ Ouellette

Had another dream last night about a massive earthquake. Since I had one last week with the same number it aroused my curiosity to see if it meant something else. Often when I get numbers in dreams it is about a scripture reference. In this case when I looked up 'E' (as in earthquake) 7.6 I was shocked when I read the word as it is identical to what the Lord has been speaking to me concerning what is to come over the last two years and doubly this last month. WE are at the door.!

Ezekiel 7 New International Version (NIV) The End Has Come 7 

The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says to the land of Israel: “‘The end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land! 3 The end is now upon you, and I will unleash my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 4 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will surely repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. “‘Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ 5 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “‘Disaster! Unheard-of[a] disaster! See, it comes! 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes! 7 Doom has come upon you, upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come! The day is near! There is panic, not joy, on the mountains. 8 I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 9 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you. “‘Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes you. 10 “‘See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! 11 Violence has arisen,[b] a rod to punish the wicked. None of the people will be left, none of that crowd— none of their wealth, nothing of value. 12 The time has come! The day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. 13 The seller will not recover the property that was sold— as long as both buyer and seller live. For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve their life. 14 “‘They have blown the trumpet, they have made all things ready, but no one will go into battle, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. 15 Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. 16 The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, they will all moan, each for their own sins. 17 Every hand will go limp; every leg will be wet with urine. 18 They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Every face will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved. 19 “‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin. 20 They took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. They made it into vile images; therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them. 21 I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile it. 22 I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it. 23 “‘Prepare chains! For the land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of violence. 24 I will bring the most wicked of nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. 25 When terror comes, they will seek peace in vain. 26 Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will go searching for a vision from the prophet, priestly instruction in the law will cease, the counsel of the elders will come to an end. 27 The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair, and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. “‘Then they will know that I am the Lord. ’”

New Wine, Old Wineskins and the Fear of Change by Lee Grady

This article reminds me of the things God has been reminding me of lately. EJO

The Lord wants to unleash a gushing river of new wine into the church today, but we must leave some things behind.

A woman from Orlando, Fla., was in the news last month because she decided to retire from driving her 1964 Mercury Comet. Rachel Veitch, who is 93, bought the car new for $3,300 when gasoline cost 29 cents a gallon. Today the light yellow car, which Veitch calls “Chariot,” has 567,000 miles on it.

That’s great news for Veitch—who will probably get $44,000 for the antique car because she took such good care of it. But whoever buys it will either store it in a fancy garage or display it at an auto show. There are not too many miles left on this relic of the past.

“We cannot rely on church growth gurus, popular books or rock-star preachers to lead us into genuine innovation. Copying spiritual trends is just a form of carnality.”

Cars have a life expectancy. Most 1964 Mercury Comets have long been doomed to the junkyard. Engines die, carburetors rust and models go out of style, so we trade them in for newer vehicles. In our fast-paced world, Apple debuts a new iPhone every few years and the most popular apps have almost monthly updates. We’ve come to expect frequent upgrades.

Yet for those of us involved in ministry, we tend to think the church needs no remodeling or renovation. We expect congregations to hum along perpetually for years and years, thinking the world will want to pile into our 1964 yellow Mercury Comet and enjoy the retro ride. But that is a faulty assumption.

While the message of the gospel itself is both timeless and flawless, the packaging we wrap it in must adapt with the times or we will quickly lose relevance. Pipe organs, steeples and choir robes were never wrong, but they won’t help us reach today’s generation. Nor do stale religious systems, tired terminology or worn-out denominational programs that should have been mothballed long ago. (The same can be said for telethons on Christian TV that have the look and feel of a 1978 game show.)

Jesus told John the Baptist’s disciples that people don’t put new wine in old wineskins because the skins will burst and the wine will be wasted. “Put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved,” Jesus said (Matt. 9:17, NASB). But many churches and ministries today insist on pouring their new wine in the old models, again and again. We resist innovation and we fight progress.

I’m willing to guess that 90 percent of what we are doing in church today needs a total makeover. We are facing the most daunting renovation project in the history of the church. But the task is not impossible. It will require us to take these painful steps:

1. We must break free from the fear of change. God is always on the move. He might lead us to camp in one spot for a while, but we can never get too comfortable in one place. His trumpet will eventually blow and the cloud of His presence will shift. Don’t park when God is calling you forward. Stay open to His fresh directives, and expect Him to stretch your faith. He is adventurous!

2. We must be willing to defy tradition. People who are married to the past cannot embrace the future. Sacred cows do not belong in the pulpit; they must be sacrificed on the altar. “The way we’ve always done it” will not work in God’s new season. The crowd chooses the comfortable pews of nostalgia, but God is with the courageous few who are willing to blaze a new path into unreached territory.

3. We must ask the Spirit to reveal His new strategies. We cannot rely on church growth gurus, popular books or rock-star preachers to lead us into genuine change. Copying spiritual trends is just a form of carnality—and it is a sad substitute for real innovation. If the work of transforming the church is not totally led by the Holy Ghost, then our changes will be shallow and our impact will be pitiful. The last thing we need is a superficial upgrade.

I believe the Lord wants to unleash a gushing river of new wine into the church today, but He is directing us to prepare our wineskins. What is old must be renewed by the Spirit, what is outdated must be remodeled, and what is ineffective must be replaced. God wants to do a new thing. Don’t resist it.

J. LEE GRADY is the former editor of Charisma and the director of The Mordecai Project. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. He is the author of several books including 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 10 Lies Men Believe and The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale.

THE COMING REVIVAL by EJ Ouellette

Today I was pondering some prophecies I received over several years. Sometimes God reminds me a lot of things that he told me over the years and they fit together like a big puzzle. Some of the puzzle pieces came as dreams others were revelations given to me in the night and some came as Rhema words during other times. Lately I seem to be running in to the dumbest of people. I can only equate the conversation to having a blind man tell me there's no such thing as color. I mean how do you answer to that? But often in the church of today that's exactly what it's like when God reveals to you some hidden things that he only tells those who are close to him. When I inquired of the Lord about the futility of the situation he showed me something that he has shown me many times in the past. I saw Jesus coming on a donkey, and only the children recognized whom he was. This is a constant reminder to me that he was invisible to the Pharisees and they were prevented from seeing who He really was and is, He did this on purpose because what he had and has was meant for the children and not for the brood of Vipers. Time and time again I have seen this principle repeated and seen the children enter in while the adults completely missed the boat. In the end, the marriage supper of the Lamb and those who were invited made excuses to why they couldn't come. God had shown me many times that the end time revival would be about God's love. That for the first time in a major outpouring, God's people would feel the manifest love of God. But exactly like at the marriage supper of the Lamb those that were invited won't even enter in and will reject this outpouring and say it is of the devil. This revival will be dominated by children and young people that will ignore these religious spirits and fall headfirst head-over-heels in love with the Lord. In essence this group will be the bride of Christ. A bride totally smitten and won't care what others think. They will be given understanding that the others couldn't come close to grasping. They will know who they are in the Lord and will be unmovable in him. It will be a Song of Solomon relationship. These children won’t be manipulated nor will their relationships be half hearted. They will jump in with both feet, not caring what the modern Pharisees (Christian Fundamentalists) of the day say. In fact the world will jump in before they do as in the marriage supper. “Go into the streets and find whoever will come”

EJ Ouellette

O, Canada! More Americans Heading North- You can't escape Gods judgments

O, Canada! More Americans Heading North

From ABC News

By MARCUS BARAM

July 31, 2007

Blame Canada!

It may seem like a quiet country where not much happens besides ice hockey, curling and beer drinking. But our neighbor to the north is proving to be quite the draw for thousands of disgruntled Americans.

The number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada last year hit a 30-year high, with a 20 percent increase over the previous year and almost double the number who moved in 2000.

By EJ Ouellette 

Recently I was returning to Canada after a few days in the US. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fly back, as it was a little far for me to get to the airport and the bus was far easier. Getting near the Canadian border I spent most of my time talking with the bus driver, as he was extra friendly and obviously Canadian. At the border we lost two young men in their early 20s. They were refused entry into Canada. I honestly had never seen the Canadian border guards so aggressive and felt intimidated coming home to the Promised Land even though my entry only took a few seconds. We waited an hour at the border, which later caused me to miss my connecting train in Toronto. The driver went on to tell me his recent experiences at the border. He said he loses at least 2 every trip of Americans escaping to Canada. He sometimes loses more. One of his co-workers lost all 53 passengers on one trip and only the driver made it across! It seems there is an epidemic of Americans trying to escape the impending doom. I mean who told them to run? Was it God? There own common sense? They never listened to me before when I preached about the coming end to America. The Canadian border is shut down to Americans by the looks of it. Its funny, I saw many times when God showed me the coming judgments he also showed me that none would escape. It is clear that if you are destined to escape, God will provide a way and if you are destined to go through the fire you will not escape.

OH Yah and dont blame Obama, this exodus started with Bush's rein of terror.

THE GREAT SURRENDER dream April 26-02

12-04-26  Dream.

I dreamt I was at someone’s house and we were in the basement. I think a prayer meeting was about to start. I knew the people that were there and they were similar in the sense that all were going through great trials. Just then a pastor and his wife I knew and hadn’t seen in over ten years came in the door and down the stairs towards me. (Side note: The last time I saw this couple I had given a prophetic word that they didn’t accept. In fact they had publicly denounced me because of it, as it was word of rebuke and Judgment. They were head of several church’s all over and were well known. I had received several dreams concerning them but in the end I saw a great surrender and they were on a different road all together. In fact they and I became friends again.

As they descended the stairs I saw something different in them. They seemed to have a real glow and humility. I suddenly felt the presence of God and knew I had a word for them from the Lord and told them so. They smiled and sat down. I then began to quote John 12:24 Verbatim to them. They both began to weep and it was as if the scales fell from their eyes. I could see them think through all the trials and loss they went through over the last ten years and a smile came over their faces. He got up to lay hands on me and pray over me. Immediately I felt the presence of God very strongly and felt some kind of healing in me. I knew that the great surrender they went through installed a new level of apostolic authority and they were ready to go forth.

When I awoke I realized it was just a dream. It was so vivid I thought it was really happening.

John 12

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

The truth is, if your a christian and you are called to service, at some point in your walk you will get buried and hidden away for a long season. The season will remove the dross and hinderances from you producing the fruit your were designed for. Its happening to me now. I dont really like it but its necessary. -EJ Ouellette