She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. (1 Samuel 4:21)
In early spring of 2009, I had a very unique dream. The setting was in a large city somewhere in the United States, but the exact city is inconsequential. What was important was the whole atmosphere and the characteristics of it. It was indicative of our current church situation in this country.
In this dream, I was more than just an observer; I was able to interact with others somewhat. I arrived at the front entry of a very large and ornate church; more like a cathedral, with a tall steep pitch roof and stained glass windows. There were twenty foot high, double entry doors made of fine walnut or mahogany; decorated with detailed hand carvings. I passed through the entry and found myself in an elaborate foyer of immense size; approximately eighty by two hundred fifty feet. There were many people, too numerous to count, all talking in small clique like arrangements with a few loosely mingling about. Most of the conversations were gossip and small talk.
The floors were of fine decorative plush carpet; the walls adorned with huge exquisite paintings with elaborate frames; from the ceiling was suspended the most beautiful crystal chandeliers I have ever seen. There were multiple doors leading to the auditorium. I ventured through one of them and discovered a gigantic auditorium with dim lighting and incredible interior architecture. The floor slanted down toward the front stage which contained musical instruments of many kinds and a state of the art sound system. The podium appeared to be made of real gold. The floor and furnishing were beyond plush. The carpet was so soft and cushiony; I was not totally sure what it was I was standing on. The chairs were actually not ordinary chairs at all, but fine recliners–and there were seemingly hundreds, perhaps thousands of them. I proceeded to sit down on one of them near the back row, and immediately I was greeted by an usher that handed me a pillow for my head. He then asked me if he could get me anything else.
As I was sitting there, quite comfortable I might add, the music started with soft soothing melodies at first, slowly building to a very loud crescendo that was more reminiscent of a rock concert. After about half an hour passed, the entertainment ended, and what seemed to be the pastor, ascended the platform and approached the podium. He was a middle aged man, dressed in much worn blue jeans and a pull-over shirt. He began to speak: first reciting a poem, then a famous quote, followed by a “psychobabble” teaching. He ended his “sermon” with, “and remember, Jesus loves you”. All this took about twenty minutes. I cannot recall a time when actual scripture was quoted, or read for that matter.
Everyone was then dismissed; the foyer was filled with people again, slowly filtering out the main doors to the outside walkways and parking lot. I noticed everyone’s conversations and attitudes had changed. They were all talking about how good they felt about themselves and everyone else. They marveled at how the “pastor” brought out such a profound message, and how he projected so much love, and his words transformed the entire atmosphere, saturating it with peace and tranquility. They all felt so good that day. But of course, it was a Sunday.
As I left the building, walking a fair distance from the entry, I turned and noticed a sign above the double doors which read “ICHABOD.” I was incredulous of this whole event and thought to myself, “How could this even be called a church?”
I then found myself driving down the street, and much to my dismay; I noticed another “church,” also having a sign above the entry doors with the word “ICHABOD”, almost identical to the previous one; right next door, then another, and another, and another. There was a whole block of them; as a matter of fact many blocks of them. As I drove down the boulevard there seemed to be an endless amount of these “false churches.”
After what appeared to be miles of this, there at the very end, was a tiny white building, plain and unassuming. It resembled a small house. But it was not a house, it was a church; and what a church indeed!
I got out of the car and walked up the narrow concrete walkway and entered the building. Inside was just a single room, aside from the small restroom and closet in the back. The floor was plain gray colored tile over concrete with metal chairs arranged in neat rows. There was enough seating for about forty people, but there were only thirty present.
I sat down in the back in order to observe all that went on. The well dressed pastor walked to the front where a small wooden podium stood. He immediately bowed his head in prayer and everybody else followed his lead. He prayed for all his parishioners, then various family members of the church body, and finally the people of the unsaved world outside. This followed by him leading everyone in singing. All the songs were praise and adoration to the Lord only, and with no instruments; not that they were against such music in the church, there simply wasn’t anyone there that was musically inclined. Most of them were standing with hands raised to the Lord with such great enthusiasm; I was hard pressed to remember a time like it.
After this part of the service was over, the pastor delivered the most powerful sermon I have ever witnessed. His preaching was one of conviction. He talked of the need for repentance and holy living; to clean up one’s life and really desire to do God’s will out of love for Him. He recited many scriptures from memory and others he read directly from his well worn Bible which contained many tabs, markers, and highlighted text. He concluded his message with a call for salvation. There were three young people that immediately came forward. They were in tears and almost ran to the front. The pastor and his wife prayed for them, they then prayed for salvation with utmost sincerity; pouring out themselves to the Lord.
After some time, the pastor dismissed the people with this scripture passage:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
As I was leaving the small quaint looking church, I saw a sign on the interior above the door which read “Entering the mission field.” All the people slowly meandered out into that mission field with great joy and renewed purpose to “win souls for Christ.”
Through this dream, God showed me not only the immense contrast between the false church and true church, but also the vast difference in numbers between the two.
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Author: Michael Furman
Michael Furman is President of Freedom’s Hope Ministry, Inc. a nondenominational ministry committed to bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations. Freedom’s Hope cooperates with numerous ministries around the world to help Christians grow in their faith and share the Gospel message with their fellow countrymen. God is using Freedom’s Hope to reach multitudes of people and meeting their needs in currently over 35 countries around the world.
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Wow! Can you get anymore accurate than this? This is exactly what the church is like on the planet. It’s not just in America. I am from the Caribbean and I have grown so weary of church it is no longer funny. I visited a church recently and during the hour of worship the worship leader led the congregation in the ‘song of the Lord’ which I could only call a chant comprising 4 lines for 30 minutes!!! The next 30 minutes was divided into two more 15-minute chants. I stood there and said “God, I ain’t know what this is but it ain’t worship!”
Many have been deceived into believing that what is really manufactured presence is the true manifest presence of God. Every church I visit it is the same thing. Entertainment from start to finish and my country is dying spiritually.
I can go on but I wouldn’t. My heart is grieved. When will the true Church of Jesus Christ stand up and be counted?
australia too – probably worse actually. i despise these new types of worship songs – they are not worship at all but someone penned a few words together put it to music and called it worship.
nothing about the blood, repentence, sin etc and hardly ever hear the name jesus
Paula,
I am not sure I understand the problem behind singing a worship chorus repeatedly. Do you mind clarifying?
A blessed good morning Sujit. How about singing the same two lines over and over and over for 30 minutes like mindless drones?? That is what the worship is like in a lot of the churches in my country. We are not robots and God has blessed us with the ability to express our love and worship to Him in many ways. I have no issue with the song of the Lord; I just have an issue when we sing the same line over and over and over again. Surely we can express ourselves to God differently and in a variety of ways. That kind of worship becomes monotonous and tiring. There are so many different ways to express your love to your spouse, so why do we behave as if God is any different?
I have heard the argument the angels surround the throne saying the same thing over and over and over and my response is they exist in eternity and they are not humans. I believe too that they get a different revelation of God’s holiness every time they encircle His throne.
When we get our glorified bodies and time no longer exists then this will not be an issue.
Hi, Paula,
Thank you for clarifying. I can see what you mean. Frankly, even I have wondered how do the angels keep doing that and how would I ever keep doing that.
I need to thank my Z3 family for helping me wake up. May God bless you.
God bless you too!!
It is truly God working through His people.
That reminds me of my old hometown, Wichita, KS. It has more churches per capita than anywhere else in the country. Police would come in and direct traffic, but they all reminded me of country clubs. Big, entertainment filled country clubs.
We also had the infamous “Dr.” Tiller in town, who went to a local Episcopal Church! Oh, and we had BTK, who was a deacon at his church.
Very few churches actually preached the Gospel, they were usually rundown, lacking resources, and hardly filled.
I fear massive judgment will happen there.
Without the full anointed, inspired preaching of The Word AND the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit, people have just met for a social meeting (while just touching lightly the things or Word of God).
The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the church. We are NOTHING without HIS Presence and Power. Jesus is sitting at the Right Hand of the Father. We have been given the precious Gift of the Holy Spirit so that we can be empowered to edify the Body of Christ and do His exploits on the earth.
Is that happening in this final Laodicean church age?
See Revelation Chapter 3 on the Laodicean Church.
AMEN!!!! We cannot do anything worth accomplishing without the Holy Spirit working through us.
I haven’t read this for a while (it’s from 8/14/2016), but “ICHABOD” in your post reminded me of it. This word is through PASTOR BENJAMIN FAIRCLOTH and it is titled “Ichabod! The Fire Has Gone Out- The Spirit Has Departed!” I will re-read this now.
http://www.ignitedchurchlife.com/ichabod-the-fire-has-gone-out-the-spirit-has-departed/
Brother Sam,
I reside in KS and most churches are not even lukewarm…they are cold. I have attended everything from Methodist, Christian, Baptist, Presbyterian, and I have finally settled on Assembly of God. For me…they are closer to a Spirit filled celebration than most of the others…who never want to preach about the spiritual. And I am still exploring other possibilities. I have found an Apostolic Church in Topeka, KS that I want to try. I am not going to find a “perfect” church. I am not looking to leave my current church as I have developed my own “ministery” within the church. But I need more.
Is not the Apostolic Church better known as “Jesus only” in doctrine, whereby they dont believe in the Trinity? Be careful out there. The AG church I’ve found is fairly safe, I dont think they have the roman catholic issue figured out yet fully and I still think remnants of Rick Warren creep into some fellowships which I’d avoid. Just my opinion.
Jerry…I have not researched to that detail…thanks for the heads up…I will look into further. There was a prophecy here on Z3 several months ago about Apostolic, Prophetic churches…so I googled Apostolic churches and found the one in Topeka. I like AG churches…I always look them up when we are away from home. I am seeking spirit filled worship as I have grown out of the traditional worship…which is my current church…though I have a growing group of Brothers and Sisters that are seeking the Spiritual.
I think it will be a great shock to many a people who think they are saved. May their eyes be opened before it is to late.
Wow.
Interesting how after reading Michael’s post I had a powerful dream about my own denomination the same night. In it I was weeping bitterly with tears of lament over my denomination’s apostasy, as though calamity is coming soon. It reminded me of the kind of tears Jesus shed as he wept over Jerusalem – as if it didn’t have to be this way.
Of course timing is so hard to discern, but my sense is we are heading quickly toward a shaking of the church. The spiritual/moral condition of many of our churches and denominations is simply appalling.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17
I know there are false churches and false teachers and prophets, but I don’t know if we can categorize all churches into true or false or even do that just based on their worship sessions being like entertainment.
I believe there are churches where the pastor has to preach the milk of the Word instead of the meat because the people being pastored are incapable of digesting the meat. And if a believer accustomed to the meat of the Word were to visit such a church, he or she would probably walk away dissatisfied. Does that make the church false or the pastor a false teacher?
There are churches that shun the entertainment but gravitate into an ultra-holiness form of worship. Does that make the church true and its pastor a true teacher?
There are also fellowships where the Gospel is preached all right, but unless I agree with everything about the fellowship, I am a false teacher or false prophet. Maybe the fellowship could be called misguided, but false?
There are fellowships where the gifts of the Spirit are emphasized, but the Word is minimized or vice-versa. Again, there is a need there for correction and redirection, but are they false?
Some fellowships even prioritize one gift of the Spirit over the other or one Christian responsibility over another. Does this make them false?
No Sujit, it simply means they are imbalanced.
I agree.
I basically agree with you. And some people are given over to the belief we must exit all formal fellowships which are under the banner or title of “church…so and so”. As for the worship being like entertainment and that being the rule or guide for judgment, I dont know. All I know is I left one church I was attending simply because the congregation sat silently in their seats like zombies when a fantastic praise and worship ensemble started worshipping God. I just couldnt take that level of apathy. Jesus mentions if the people dont praise Him the rocks would cry out.
Michael,
That was an EXCELLENT message.
The church was never meant for people to feel good about themselves where they are without continual growth and change in the inner man—- walking in the Spirit; without love and concern for the lost that fall into hell each and every day.
This is a right now message. A-to-the-men!!!. Amen!!!
The “once saved, always saved” and the “hyper-grace” (doctrine of demons) teaching in many churches has certainly NOT helped matters. People prefer lies to the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:10b-12 They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
Martin,
The “hyper-grace” doctrine is only one side of the coin. On the other side of the coin is “hyper-condemnation.” And that doesn’t help matters either. Unfortunately, some Christians get caught in this web.
I was once on a retreat for christian singles up in the mountains where we were in a small chapel worshipping and praising God. There was an older man playing the guitar and his future wife up there as well I believe. As the “worship” went on, suddenly I was overcome by a sense the Lord was giving me a supernatural word of some type. Yes, indeed, suddenly the word of knowledge or wisdom came to me and it was……”the glory of God has departed…Ichabod”. Wow, it was a shocking moment for sure!