Just a Thought
Tears of the Alter
The old church was getting a make over. It seemed fitting since he was taking over as the new pastor. Unfortunately the new floor plan did not allow for the old alter he remembered as a child. Sad as it seemed the pastor, being the first to arrive for the work day, knew it would make more room for the new platform. It was still to early for anyone else to arrive so he thought he would put the alter to use one more time before it was taken out. As he knelt to pray a bright light pierced the darkness as an angel of the Lord appeared. The pastor shuddered with fear as the angel spoke and said " Fear not, for the Lord has sent me to inquire of this alter." The pastor still shaken asked in a trembling voice, "Have we angered God by intending to remove this alter?" "No," said the angel, "But God has a request". "Anything" said the pastor. "Before you take out the alter God would like you to count the tears of all the saints that have knelt at this alter." The pastor thought for a moment of how this could be possible, but all of a sudden he could see the tears of all the saints shining like diamonds upon the alter. "It’s not possible" said the preacher "there are to many, I could never number them all. "I understand" said the angel "let’s look at them one saint at a time." Suddenly he could see the tears one person at a time and even though it seemed difficult he tried to count the tears as the angel would reveal them. The first were the tears of sorrow from a woman the pastor knew who had lost her son in the service. He remembered how God had comforted her when she was at her lowest point. The next ones were tears of joy that a couple had shed after God had healed their child when the doctors had given up hope. Each time more and more tears appeared making it harder and harder to count them. Suddenly the alter lit up with such a great amount of tears the pastor could not count them. Overwhelmed, the pastor asked the angel where all these tears came from surely he did not expect him to count them all. They seemed so familiar to him. "These are the tears of a woman very dear to the Lord. For years she cried for her son to be saved so that he would be used of God. Years went by and she watched him as he threw his life away on drugs and alcohol. She never stopped praying, though, until the day she died." What a sad story thought the pastor. "Was her prayers ever answered" asked the pastor. "See for yourself" the angel replied. When the pastor looked he was confused. "But, those are my tears!" he exclaimed, "the night I turned my life over to God. I had hit rock bottom and my mother had just died, I never got a chance to tell her how sorry I..." Suddenly it was all so clear as he sobbed uncontrollably. The angel put his hand upon his shoulder and said it’s ok she knows. And with that the angel was gone. Just about then the men started to come in. As the pastor tried to regain his composure one of them asked if he was ready to start taking out the alter. "No" said the pastor "there has been a change in plans. There are a lot more tears to be shed at this old alter."Written by, Steve Hollis
The Time is Now
It's time to start building alters. We live in the greatest time in history. When things are possible that have not been seen by any other generation. God is taking a few from here and there to start the greatest revival ever seen. Not just of numbers but of the real power of God. The bible says these signs shall follow them that believe (Mark 16:17-18). Shall follow! If we are believers. The time is now for the true believers to stand up and take the power that we were promised. I am so tired of hearing pastors make excuses why we are not going to see God move in this time. It is easier to make excuses than it is to admit that we are not doing enough to receive the promises that are clearly for us. There are to many scriptures telling of the things that would be in this time to accept that way of thinking. The church has not yet seen what was promised by Jesus. No, not even on the day of pentecost. Believers, true believers, are not people who have religion as a hobby, but those who are willing to sacrifice it all to get it all from the Lord. How do I know this to be true? It's already happening. God is coming face to face once again with the few that are willing to seperate themselves unto God and be seperate from the immorality of this world and the benefits are out of this world. The God I serve has not lost his power.The God I serve is the same yesterday today, and forever. We need to make the alters bigger not smaller.