When God Delays

Mathew 25

By Odon Bulamba

 

Thank you for all your prayers and all for being present today.  Today I’m going to share with you a short and simple topic: when Jesus delays.  Most of the time we need to see God intervene as fast as possible but He doesn’t, He takes time.  What can we do?

 

Phil 4: 6, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

 

Somehow, don’t worry, don’t be shocked with the situation you are crossing, don’t be disappointed with what you see but in every situation, go in front of God and talk to Him.  Use your prayers as a tool, tell God about it and give supplications.  In French that means to beg, “please give this to me, I need it”.  It means to present to that person what you are thinking about.  It means to express yourself in a way that you will get what you need, to ask with all your heart and present your case in order to earn what you need.  God our Father, knows all our needs and understands who we are but He wants us to talk to Him.

 

What is a prayer?  Many people think that praying means kneeling, raising hands, closing eyes and looking at the sky.  Many people think that it means standing at the wall hitting their heads.  Some think, you have to be on your knees 40 days and 40 nights.  Prayer is simply your communication with God and when you talk to your friend you don’t only talk about your daily problems but you will talk about your day, the future, what if’s etc.  Talk to God like you talk to your father, “dad how are you today, when are we going to do this and that”.  Exchanging ideas.

 

In Mathew 25 there is a story of 10 beautiful girls who have prepared themselves for the bridegroom to come to marry them.  As they were waiting it was getting late because the groom delayed.  At around midnight there was a shout, “the lord has come”.  Five of them had brought oil before going to the place but others did not care because they believed they had enough. 

 

My point here is about those 10 virgin girls.  These girls were educated, they knew where to go and understood the meaning of life and kept themselves from other men and were virgins.  Those who were not virgins did not have right to be married unless they were a widow.  If it was discovered that you are not a virgin, you could be stoned to death.  These girls started to train themselves in how to take care of the house and family and their fiancée met with them. Saying I Love is not enough when you start a relationship but your actions and way you think will add to the “I love you”.

 

Many boys will start to love a girl for the appearance while their actions are ugly.  People will become engaged after taking time to know each other and observe each other.  Colleen will know Keith very well and she will know if something happened in the house was the caused by Keith because she understands the person.  Our relationship with God is the same.  When we tell Jesus we love him, He says I love you too but we have to become husband and wife.  Jesus knows our weaknesses and strengtHoly Spirit.  Sometimes we think God is weak when He delays.

 

As the 10 virgins prepared for their marriage, they would have told people that today is the day of our marriage.  Before Ange wedded Pete, she took time.  Ladies will choose what to eat and not eat and think in advance what they will wear.  Pete went to town to a men’s suit hire shop and they chose what to wear on that day.  Ange also had to find what to wear on that day because it was a special day.  A day that can’t be compared to other days.

 

The 10 virgin girls found all they needed for the wedding ceremony.  Some took oil and lamps while it was day time.  Others took only lamps believing that if it delays a bit, we will use our lamps but during the night we will sleep. 

 

When Jesus came, it was midnight, He also delayed.  Why didn’t the bridegroom of the 10 virgins come during the day when he could see the appearance of these beautiful ladies who had prepared themselves.  When he arrived, the five with oil said to the five without oil, “because you don’t have enough, go and buy some” and they thought it was a good idea.  When the five virgins came back, the door was closed.  Whose fault was that? Should we blame them for not taking enough oil, or the groom for being late or the other five girls who advised them to go out.  If I were among the 5 foolish, I would say, “no I’m not going out, it’s dark and my lamp is dead, it is too dangerous, who will save me?  I will stay inside and benefit from your light”.  The light could have been shared, it can’t be hidden from others.

 

That is where the church today is, we don’t want to make the right decision because we think it’s better to have our own way, not to follow others or listen to others.  E.g. some people will tell you that in our church, this is how we pray and this is how it must be done.  If you pray in a different way, then your prayers are not good. 

 

Ange can sing a song from Hillsong, “I give you my heart,” and maybe she sang it better than Darlene and maybe Darlene will say, “no Ange, you have to find your own song and not sing or publish my song”.  Christians today are telling each other not to use our songs without permission.  We get it for free so we should give for free.  We have to buy cd’s and books. They will tell you to go outside and find your own oil and your own anointment because my song blesses others.  “I’m so amazing and I’m happy when I see people singing my song but I want to be the only worship leader and when others use my song, they don’t lead properly”, and they tell others to compose their own songs.

 

Those foolish virgins believed it was a good idea to find oil and they wasted time by living a life of competition to get their own oil. The lord didn’t need 20 lamps in the room.  One light was enough.  Maybe all ten could agree to share the lamps.  They could have used one lamp at a time rather than 10.  There are strategies of working with others.  Moses was anointed and he shared with 70 people.  The little boy who had one fish shared it and it fed thousands.  When you have time to pray, pray for others.  When you read the Word of God, share it with others.

 

Sometimes Jesus drags His feet and walks slower than a snail and when He reaches you, you wonder where He was.  A good example of this is in John 11, the story of Lazarus who was a friend of Jesus.  The friends and family of Lazarus sent a message to Jesus that His friend is sick.  Jesus answered, “he won’t die but if so, all for the glory of God”.  Jesus was only 3km away from Lazarus.  It took two days to reach there.  We all have a best friend and when they tell you that your friend is seriously sick and you are only 3km away, you will go.  But Jesus decided to take days.  Then He came dragging his feet.  Hi Mary, hi Martha.  “Jesus, if You were here, this would not happen.  Where were you?”  Jesus asked, “what happened?” Jesus knew of course.

 

Imagine shouting to a friend for help and they turn up really late and tell you, “I was talking to people”.  You will feel angry.  Jesus told Lazarus to come out. The family said, “Four days have passed now, he will smell bad, better to stay there with the dead”.  Imagine if your family tells God, “don’t give it to her now because she is in a bad mood”.  You will be shocked because you expect your family to be on your side.  “Because you were not pure and not in a good relationship with God at that time, I told God to not bless you”.  Today churches are praying and trying to let God know that those who are weak and dying spiritually don’t deserve life because they don’t want others to progress spiritually.

 

Colleen for example may tell someone that I read the Bible and God is love and someone will tell her, no you don’t understand it, you are twisting the word and she will get a box full of attacks because of what she believes in.  You meet with someone, “oh you pray, where abouts?  Oh with LBC.  Oh that church is not really big, why do you go there?  I’m a member of a big church with a big reputation, and my pastor is a big well known pastor”.  You feel shame of your little church and you feel you should go to this big church with a big singer and band etc.

 

Jesus said He wanted to bring Lazarus to life for God’s glory.  People may show you that you don’t deserve to be close to God.  Many people ask when they will see Little Bethlehem Church as a big church.  Many prefer to be part of a big church so they can hide themselves. 

 

You have pay some “great men of God” $200 to shake their hand because it is full of anointing and people pay for that anointment.  The “man of God” will take the money and if he shakes 100 hands, he will receive $20,000 for one Sunday.  Anointment is not what you touch with your hand or see with your eyes.  Do you need anointment? Pray to God, present to God your needs through prayers and after praying, God will listen to you and do something.

 

Lazarus came out and people saw and were happy to see him alive.  When God raises you up, how many people are happy.  In 2011/12, colleen started to have an issue with her boss at work who was mean to her.  I asked God, “Why this? Why do people have to treat others harshly just because they are bosses and above us.  They forget that all authority comes from you God”.  One time, miraculously I fell asleep and I dreamed Colleen was getting a PhD and we were singing at the river and then Colleen’s old boss asked for a job from Colleen.  Colleen is now back in the same place, what will happen Colleen if she asks you for a job?  You will feel, this is my turn now.  When God raises us up, we become stronger than others.

 

We sometimes feel like nothing but God is able to raise us up.  When he takes longer, He gives us more chance to be prepared.  We should stay inside and be next to others to work with others hand in hand and not be like the 5 foolish virgins who went outside. 

 

Next time I will explain what anointment is.  What does it mean when we say, I need anointment?  Is it for God to throw oil over you or for you to shower in oil?  Many people in churches today will buy some oil and pray for it and put it on your head and now you are anointed.  You are now someone special.  Putting oil on the head is not the anointment but a symbol to show this is the way.  Was Jesus anointed? His disciples? Are we?  Yes, but what is anointment (talk about this next time) because we need to know we can be good and have all the gifts but we lose one piece of information and be separate.  We forget about anointment.  We pray for miracles, gifts etc but forget about anointment and many don’t even know what it is.  We often say, “The program today was so anointed today,” but we don’t know what it means. 

 

I went to doctor two days ago and he said he will take my temperature.  I thought, ok, take it, where is it?  I sweat at the gym but it’s a different sweat to fever.  To understand fever, I have to come close to a doctor or nurse so they can tell me that I’m sick and the temperature can tell us if we are sick.  The thermometer cannot work without you, the sick person.  The sick person can be there without the thermometer but they can’t know if they are sick without it. 

 

How to know we are anointed.  He needs to use the thermometer to know our temperature on the inside to know if things are boiling up or not.  I have a headache and someone can touch the head and feel the heat but they can’t feel the headache.  It’s difficult to explain our pain to others and very difficult for others to understand if they are not a medical person.

 

Jesus said he will send the Holy Spirit and it was a promise.  You need that oil of the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to see the light.  He said to us, you are the light of the world but all lights need oil.  Without oil, the light will die.  Where will I get the oil?  Who will supply it so I can continue to light the world?  Today, the oil doesn’t exist in the world, people don’t even talk about it or the Holy Spirit or how it should work.  In the day of the rapture, those that are not sealed by Holy Spirit, will not go to be with Jesus.  Not only to be sealed but the oil must be acting in you.  You can be a very good person, worshipping 5x a day but without the oil, you won’t go. 

 

 

 

SIGNS OF DEAD CHURCH

By Odon Bulamba

1. Have lost their sense of mission to those who have not heard about Jesus Christ and do not pant after the Great Commission – (care less for the lost souls and want to see the church full of physical representation members) 

2. They are concerned about social change than they are about seeing people changed by the power of God.

3. Exist primarily to provide fellowship for the "members of the club" – preach what pleases to members than telling them the truth

4. Expect their pastors to focus primarily on ministering to the members' personal spiritual needs (formalities, rituals) than God’s recommendation;

5. Design ministry to meet the needs of their members than the need of God;

6. Have no idea about the needs of the "stranger outside the gates;"

7. Are focused more on the past accomplishment than the future and satisfied with its present state;

8. Often experience major forms of conflict;

9. Is more concerned with material growth than it is with spiritual growth (church is more concerned with pleasing men than pleasing God)

10. A dying church is one that loses its conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. They accept some parts and reject others. Policies, point of views and rules have replaced the Bible

11.  The often use corrupted Bibles to cover their nakedness

RESURRECTING A CHURCH

1. The church turns outward in its focus.
2. Jesus, not the institution, will become the object of our affection.
3. The Great Commission will become our mandate, and we will measure everything we do by how many new converts we make rather than whether we have a black bottom line.
4. Membership in the Kingdom will replace membership in the church.
5. Pastors will cease being chaplains of pastoral care and will become modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ.
6. And those who try to control the church with an iron fist or intimidate the church at every turn of the road will be shown the door.

N.B. Jesus’ advice to Sardis is on top of the list (Revelation 3:1-6)

More Signs of a Dead Church:

1. Don’t start on time
2. No opening or closing prayer
3. Leaders are unprepared
4. A loud minority runs the church
5. Slogans in church to praise the leader(s) rather than God
6. What they say, more than what is right or wrong
7. Complain about what’s wrong, but never how to fix it God’s way
8. Tell what to do but not how to do it
9. No order/silence in church (Habakkuk 2:20)
10. Act like they are perfect and others are not
11. Take credit for others work
12. Always looking for glory and honor
13. Members aren’t allowed to make final decision in any matter including personal life
14. Want the praise too much (anything done in your life, you have to testify in front of the church that they prayed for you)
15. No appreciation given for those that do serve the Lord
16. Censure of all preaching
17. No effort to bring anyone
18. All messages are about physical church projects
19. Discipline without love
20. Uncomfortable talking about the things of God
21. Most of them don’t carry bibles to church programmes
22. Little or no spiritual activities
23. Before praying you have to ask for leaders permission
24. Preacher not given a raise in pay
25. Not aware of other servants needs
26. No goals, programmes or church objectives for the coming season
27. Working without understanding for whom they are working
28. They have lost their first love
29. Lukewarm
30. Afraid and unfaithful
31. Tolerate sin and name it error or mistake
32. False teaching and no repentance
33. Asleep
34. Respect for the wealthy more than others
35. Not aware of God’s plan
36. Minimal knowledge of the Bible
37. No calling out or crying out to God
38. Division
39. Cliques
40. Emphasis on social rather than spiritual
41. Rejection of spiritual ideas (‘this belong to old time’)
42. Resistance to change
43. It won’t work here syndrome
44. Everything seems too much of an effort
45. Not willing to give any time
46. They are birds of same color
47. Sacrifice is out of the question
48. Not familiar with the danger of apostasy (backsliding)
49. Don’t know how to fix it
50. Blame each other
51. Not willing to take a stand for anything
52. Isolation from other churches
53. Against new ministers
54. Against revelation and the work of the Holy Ghost among them
55. Dislike new songs
56. Not against sin                        
57. Sunday school is socialization
58. Pastor(s) dominated by leadership - often wealthy people/elders
59. Problems poorly handled, ignored or magnified unless you are wealthy
60. No plans for growth
61. Little or no show of love for new comers
62. Curious to know your life – if rich you’re warmly welcomed. If poor no fellowship
63. Competition in ministering
64. Threats to kick believers out of the system
65. Forget the purpose of the church
66. Church priorities are unclear and confused
67. Lose touch with God
68. Fail to seek God’s advice and direction
69. Bitterness, hatred and a lack of forgiveness
70. Critical with a focus on people mistakes
71. Holy Ghost is not accepted to act
72. The joy of salvation and serving Jesus is lost
73. Routine, rut, ritual and action without meaning
74. Problems are not looked at as opportunities to learn from
75. Things are thrown together and done second class with God getting the leftovers
76. Confusion
77. Disorganization
78. Signs of end of time are not known or recognized by most of their members                       
79. No soul winning
80. Power struggle among the leaders
81. Preachers expect salary that eternal crown
82. Worship team likes to be glorified than God
83. Some worship team members don’t know Christ – they’re unsaved
84. Life is taken for granted
85. There’s no testimony of what God is doing in lives
86. Visitors feel that the church is cold and dead
87. Lack of unity
88. Birthday are loudly celebrated in church that a worship song
89. Long prayers for wealthy members and short ones for poor
90. Not meeting the needs of the church or the community
91. No equipping of Christians for ministry
92. No discernment
93. Pastors and elders are not teachers
94. Sermons lack power
95. No Biblical application to everyday life
96. No fear of God
97. Giving is minimal, few tithers
98. No missions or constant struggle against any giving outside the local congregation         The Biblical purposes of the church are lost
99. Church becomes family property or business entity
100. Canceling services
101. Much gossip and backbiting

Building the True Church

By Odon Bulamba (summary only)

Psalm 133

How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron's beard,
down upon the collar of his robes.
It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
even life forevermore.

Here David was talking about living in unity between brothers and sisters and that it is not a materialistic unity to gain money but it is about Jesus.

John 17:23, whenever we are in unity, although we might be sinners, with repentance slowly we can become perfect. If you repent and you accept to forgive, people will see you are really perfect and although problems can be among you, you can continue in unity because of forgiveness. Usually people want to avoid problems with others and so keep a distance or break the relationship altogether but God is looking at us to see if there is unity and how can there be unity if we don’t forgive (Mark 11:25) or accept the mistakes we make?

How will you feel if God asks you to put oil on someone’s head or if someone wants to put it on your head? One day God will ask this and it’s a big command and whenever God chooses us, people will see things that are not normal and find that our ways are different from theirs. People will think we are crazy. You will easily forgive and forget and people will say, ‘no you can’t forgive and forget you must punish them and take them to court’.

It’s very pleasant to see people in unity and it always starts with being in unity with each other and then with God and then with the Word of God. How do we make unity? By knowing the needs of others (Mat 27) it is easy to understand and to forgive and to support or lead the person in the right way. Jesus broke the bread to share with others to bring unity and when we have something, why don’t we share it. When I have many pairs of shoes why don’t I share with someone who has none or when I understand the Bible, why don’t I share it with others?

If you want unity with someone you have to keep that relationship clean and how do you keep it clean? If you lose the habit of praying you will gain gossip and if you lose the habit of reading the Bible you will find information from the television and if you lose the habit of being with God, you will find satan to be your friend. Most people can only make physical unity but not spiritual unity (we can visit the sick but don’t pray for them).

To meet together as a church on Sunday is good but it requires us to be prepared as priests and to accept the anointment of God on us and then people will start to see the anointment flowing down. We need the Holy Spirit acting in our lives and we must be in unity. We must love our enemies and pray for them and then God will manifest Himself among us. Don’t neglect yourself, get ready and tell God to make you ready. We are priests of God so how will we look after that priesthood? We need unity and that unity will take us to a place where the world will be shaken.

Building a True Church

By Odon Bulamba

(Psalm 133)

Here David was talking about living in unity between brothers and sisters and that it is not a materialistic unity to gain money but it is about Jesus.

John 17:23, whenever we are in unity although we might be sinners, slowly we can become perfect. If you repent and you accept to forgive, people will see you are really perfect and although problems can be among you, you can continue in unity because of forgiveness. Usually people want to avoid problems with others and so keep a distance or break the relationship altogether but God is looking at us to see if there is unity and how can there be unity if we don’t forgive (Mark 11:25) or accept the mistakes we make?

It’s very pleasant to see people in unity and it always starts with being in unity with each other and then with God and then with the Word of God. How do we make unity? By knowing the needs of others (Mat 27) it is easy to understand and to forgive and to support or lead the person in the right way.

Jesus broke the bread to share with others to bring unity and when we have something why don’t we share it? When I have many pairs of shoes why don’t I share with someone who has none or when I understand the Bible why don’t I share it with others?

If you want unity with someone you have to keep that relationship clean and how do you keep it clean? If you lose the habit of praying you will gain gossip and if you lose the habit of reading the Bible you will find information from the television and if you lose the have of being with God, you will find satan to be your friend. Most people can only make physical unity but not spiritual unity (we can visit the sick but don’t pray for them).

To meet together as a church on Sunday is good but it requires us to be prepared as priests and to accept the anointment of God on us and then people will start to see the anointment flowing down. We need the Holy Spirit acting in our lives and we must be in unity. We must love our enemies and pray for them and then God will manifest Himself among us. Don’t neglect yourself, get ready and tell God to make you ready. We are priests of God so how will we look after that priesthood? We need unity and that unity will take us to a place where the world will be shaken.