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Didn't Mr. Flurry warn that we were slipping into a Laodicean attitude when he had his unfortunate incident with alcohol? Didn't he say, after prayerfully wracking his brains to understand why God had allowed that to happen, that we have to be careful not to get proud due to our abundance of revelation (II Cor. 12:6-7)? Have we learned that lesson? Has he? With his preoccupation with all his religious titles and self-promotion, we really have to wonder and be most concerned!
Holy, righteous CHARACTER is more important to God than all
revelation in
world! We definitely need
gifts of
Holy Spirit, but God says we should want
FRUITS of his Holy Spirit even more! GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT! (I Cor. 14:1) I'm convinced God's about to empower His people like never before, but wants us to be spiritually ready (having learned from
Corinthians' mistakes), and our ministers mature enough not to get in
way! (Joel 2:28; I Thes. 5:19)
As far as revelations go, God can inspire unconverted men like Caiphas and speak through donkeys! All truth is from and belongs to God, so why should some become puffed up with pride that they're something special rather than just an instrument serving God's purpose? And why get bloated with self-importance when God can quickly pop that balloon? (I Cor. 4:6-7).
Warnings from History
If what happened in
Church during
70's was a warning of what could happen in
80's what about
90's? Having survived our Worldwide ordeal, are we now home safe (Jude 5)? Let us pray and examine ourselves this new century: Do we love God or fear men (Acts 5:29)?
God has an ordained government for His Church, but it can graduallly fall to Satan - made over in some man's image - if we blindly follow it and forget that it's also a means to an end, and not and end in itself! Isn't that how God's Church got off track? The Mother spoon fed
brain-dead! We need
Father! When Church government stops directing us to God and substitutes doctrines or a personality cult instead (III John 9), and refuses correction, God's glory has left such a bankrupt administration! Will God destroy
very government He's installed because we've failed to use it properly? Some are actually worshipping
government rather than
Governor!
Didn't God level His Temple, stop
sacrifices, and disband
priesthood? Didn't he empty
House of Israel and scatter Judah? Wasn't Jerusalem-headquarters forcibly shut down? Even Hezekiah had to destroy
brass serpent God told Moses to make, because they had perverted its purpose (II Kings 18:4). Too often, that which God had intended to become a blessing, became a curse! Such historical warnings don't curry favor with "the top brass, " but it's evident God would rather work through a very faithful few than let many misrepresent Him! (Jer. 26:18; Eze. 5:3-4)
What have we learned from our WCG experience? Haven't some since scrambled for positions of power, while others claim we're all equal? (Num. 16:3; I Tim. 1:7; James 3:1) God isn't an anarchist, and neither should we be. We mustn't throw out
baby with
bathwater, just because of abuses of power! Proper leadership encourages us to "be all we can be," within God's law; it encourages us to think and become like our leaders, and able to teach what we've been taught—after all we're PRIEST-KINGS IN TRAINING. (Matt. 10:25; Heb. 5:12; 2 Tim. 2:2, 15).
The proper use of God's government never plays politics or acts jealous, but truly has everyones' best interests at heart. (I Cor. 14:26) We're all members of God's Royal Family, therefore we ought to respect each others' part in God's plan and place in God's Church. (I Cor. 12:18)
I truly believe in GOVERNMENT FROM THE TOP DOWN—and it starts with GOD THE FATHER! That's why we must always OBEY GOD, even if it means we must disobey men! Wasn't it ministers who told you to throw Malachi's Message away? Wasn't it Church leaders who threw out
faithful? Didn't we just take their word for it, rather than check out what GOD had to say? Don't be fooled again! Do you now CONSULT CHRIST, or are you still playing "follow
leader"? Which is truly learning how to follow God's government? Have you finally learned this lesson? Or did you ask your minister for permission to read Beyond Babylon? Worldwide all over again? Not if you continue to read and apply Malachi's Message to yourself! That's
only way to prevent a "repeat performance". Hopefully, once was enough!

David Ben-Ariel, an American author who has travelled widely and who has lived throughout Israel, shares a special focus on the Middle East and great interest in Jerusalem, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out www.benariel.com