"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
2nd Corinthians 4:3-7

Don't Let Soon Become a Thing of the Past



January 3rd, 2012

Recently I sent out a few emails to people that I know personally or that have been in contact with our ministry at some point in the past.  Also on my email list are some ministers that are located all around the globe that have been a blessing to us in the past.  The purpose was to let people know about a fellowship meeting we are having this coming weekend (January 6-8, 2012 - titled A New Church Order).  Someone recently replied to me personally asking if I knew about how I had CC’d (carbon copied) everyone on one of those emails and that people then started to email one another with ‘reply all’.  As it turns out everyone’s email address was exposed (my terminology).  Let me tell you something – I had actually planned on doing a BCC (blind carbon copy), but I (without thinking) clicked the CC button when I added my contact list  – didn’t notice – clicked Send…and the result of my mistake was that a communication between people was stirred up and a few Christians stepped up to the plate to offer their financial assistance to some out of state folks that want to, but can’t afford the cost of coming to ATL.


We cannot afford to think that this (or any future gatherings) are just going to be ‘another church gathering’.  Every one of us knows that there is nothing good down here in the world which could possibly be worth holding on to and to that end, every one of us believing knows that at some point – God is going to move mightily.  We really have to let go of every preconceived notion about ‘church’ as we know it – even when we are still in the midst of even doing what seems to be ‘church’ as we know it.  What’s important is that we are being prepared for something NEW.  Nobody can possibly know what something NEW is going to be like because _________(fill in the blank).  However, I can tell you with 100% certainty that this weekend is going to be nothing less than at a minimal – an outpouring of God’s spiritual blessings on His people.  We are going to be so blessed with God’s favor this weekend because we are standing up to honor Him!  Who would want to miss that?  On the other hand, what I CANNOT tell you with 100% certainty is that God WILL pour out of His Spirit – the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit upon his people – which is indeed our expectation at some point in time.  I wish I could tell you that but I really don’t know…BUT what if he does do it now and you are not partaking?  What if this happens the week after and you are not a partaker – next month, next year?  This past weekend we had a preview of this as we gathered together in prayer and sharing and afterward there has been numerous testimonies of refreshing and being energized (how many times have you been energized after only 3 or 4 hours of sleep – that’s not possible is it?:)

Again, especially to those that are local to Atlanta, but this does apply to people outside of Atlanta as well:  It is time to be more inconvenienced.  I'm not speaking with pride here but many of us locally have been inconvenienced ourselves at least one day a week (albeit for only a few hours anyway) for years now.  And that in itself is just scratching the surface of being inconvenienced – so therefore it can’t be something to be proud of.  The gospel is not convenient or comfortable to the flesh.  The flesh does not like to be inconvenienced.  It's time to step further out of our comfort zones.  I’ll end this plea with this scripture (red letter’s included), that should instill the fear of the Lord that we absolutely and desperately need to walk this out to the end:

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad – Matthew 12:30.

The context of that verse has the Lord telling us about binding the strong man and spoiling his goods – destroying the works of Satan in our lives and then being able to deliver the captives!  This is what it is all about – and we CANNOT be afraid of it and that is exactly what our main problem is – we’ve been afraid but we think we are not afraid.  It’s time for us to face and conquer that fear!  In that verse the Greek word for ‘gathers’ is sunago (4863) – it is a compound of 2 words – 1.) sun (union, association, companionship, possession, completeness), 2.) ago – to lead, to bring, to drive, to induce).  The Spirit of the Lord is absolutely leading us into this union – and it will be and must be coordinated and led in the natural realm by males.  I came up with my own little analogy :) – soon ago: he is coming soon, but if I don’t step up to the plate now I will be passed by (past – ago get it?) – i.e. ‘get thee behind me Satan’.

Dinner for 2 and a movie or a basketball game: $100 (probably more right?)…how many times have we dropped 100 bucks without even thinking about it.  There is not much time left to count the cost for real.

At least come and join us for a few hours on Sunday but this entire weekend is going to be an important time of fellowship – not just listening to preachers!

For those that do have a regular church fellowship (which is the absolute necessary iron sharpening iron), I encourage you to gird up for war and not to be complacent with sitting within the friendly confines of your meeting place week after week.  There are gates of hell that must be attacked by an offensive Body of Christ and it going to be brutal – we cannot emphasize enough the need to come together now so that we can be prepared to individually accost the powers of darkness in these last days.  This cannot be done with intellect and mental ascension – we must have the mind of Christ formed in us.  The appointed time is coming very soon and there is no Plan B for this.

Blessings to all of God’s children!

Tom Gaughan