The most significant thing about the wedding in Cana that we read about in John chapter two was not the miracle of water being turned into wine. 

The most significant thing about the wedding was that the presence of the ONE who was able to turn the water into wine was there. And the only reason HE was there was because He was INVITED!

John 2:2 says Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.  I think a large portion of the Church has it's focus on the production of the service rather than focusing on what it looks like for a family of believers to come in and express a full blown INVITATION TO THE PRESENCE of Jesus to come in and do WHATEVER HE WANTS!

People don't need to encounter a production. They need to encounter HIS PRESENCE! Maybe many pastors have forgotten who the great Shepherd of the sheep is. And it's not them - it's Jesus. And listen, I'm a set pastor of a local church  But Jesus is the ultimate shepherd of us all. So let's make our gatherings about Him! 

I want to see leaders let go of controlling things and allow the people to have real raw encounters with the presence of God. And real, raw encounters will only be a byproduct of the focus being on the ONE thing and that's an invitation for Jesus to come!

- Pastor Blake Perez

The Summit church

A few words

 

Words are like flowers sprouting

  in the fertile soil of our minds...

They can comfort, exhort, teach,

  or they can be unkind...

I use them to provoke, to inspire, 

  to cause ignorance to expire...

To convey wisdom and knowledge 

  and revelation not taught in college...

They can make or break relationships, 

  with a word in due season or lack of it...

Their absence can be a blessing in disguise 

  when what is needed is a hug or a look in the eyes...

They've started wars and ended them too...

When it comes to words - what about you?

Are your words kind and wise and good?

Do you mean what you say

 and say what you should?

Or do you speak out of turn,

 or when your anger burns?

Your tongue is the rudder of your soul -

  is it disciplined or out of control?

What you say will let me know  -

  do Satan's or God's words reign in your soul?

Jeremiah 33:3

 

Call unto Me

    and I will answer thee

(what a precious promise!

  what a wonderful guarantee!

   He will respond to every heartfelt plea!)

And show unto you

    things both great and mighty!

I've gone to prepare for you a room

   befitting for My Bride, saith your Groom...

And the delights that await...

  Oh your eternal fate

      is beyond all that you can ask or think

Come all ye thirsty  - to My fount and drink

 Come all ye hungry  - come to Me and eat

 Come away from all that seperates you from Me

 for this I say  "Deep is calling unto Deep"

 I alone can satisfy your every want and need.

Give your flesh to Me  -

 by doing so you'll save it.

Cling to it selfishly 

 and you'll lose it and enslave it...

Yet this I promise quite joyfully  -

 Call unto Me and I will answer thee 

You are the apple of My eye 

You are worth every tear I cry

 My love for you will not be denied

I will not rest till I've drawn you to My side...

My love       come   away

  far from   all that's depraved

(Though you have been legally "saved"

 My salvation you've yet to fully embrace  -

 better to be pierced through with sorrows now -

both for the sins of others and your own  -

than to be pierced with eternal sorrows

 and regrets as Hell becomes your eternal home -

I will save you   from all that enslaves you

but you must be willing to be free,

you must bow low and come unto Me,

and) Call out to Me  -

For I will answer thee:

Every cry of your heart  -

and fill you with My presence 

    that from one another

        we will never again depart

Sometimes I think I'm really wonderful when I'm not. Other times I think I'm really horrible when I'm not. We shouldn't think too highly of ourselves,  for sure  - the scriptures are very clear about this  - but we also shouldn't despise ourselves,  or think too lowly of ourselves - when Christ dwells within us - for He makes us incredibly valuable  -  So don't beat yourself up over something God's forgiven. We're highly exalted when we refuse to exalt ourselves. 

Lord,

When you are exalted

  in my heart instead of me,

My senses become clear

  and I can finally see

All that I am

  and all I'll ever be

exists to please You -

This I'll do

                 Joyfully. 

May this be said

   with my final earthly breath -

He gave his all to God,

 that God would receive glory

      and in the end

   there was nothing left

          to give

                        for he gave his all

to the One who died

                  that he might live.

So take now my words

 and all my remaining deeds

  and use them all to fulfill 

     your will, Father, perfectly. 

Take every breath, of each remaining day,

 and use them all, to reveal to all,      

               Your will and Your ways

that every creature I meet

  will not fail to give You praise 

For You deserve it all

  not i, not one tiny bit  -

You deserve men's praise

  and every heart's worship. 

You deserve our love

  proven by our obedience. 

We give to You our frail offerings 

   imperfect though they be,

You deserve my heart

    repentant and       holy.

 "FOR HAVE I NOT RAISED UP TRUMP FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS? HAVE I NOT SAID "THE LAST TRUMP WILL SOUND"  and then the end will come? OH MY PEOPLE - WAKE UP! WAKE UP TO MY GLORIOUS PRESENCE IN YOUR MIDST! WAKE UP TO THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU - TO KEEP YOU SPOTLESS AND BLAMELESS IN A WICKED GENERATION WITH HELL IN THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS.  WAKE UP TO MY EVERLASTING LOVE FOR YOU  - A LOVE THAT WILL NEVER FADE OR GROW DIM.

You are worth waiting for, saith The Lord.  You are worth all the tears, all the blood I shed for you  - you are worth it all, saith The Lord.   I can hardly contain myself  - yet I will - for a moment longer  - if perhaps,  one more soul will come to Me, and receive from Me all the love I have for them. 

DO NOT LOVE ME HALFWAY,  MY PEOPLE:  EMBRACE ALL THAT I AM TO BECOME ALL THAT YOU ARE; and you will see My hand upon you  - to protect you even as the heathen perish in the waves of fire, to be seen or heard no more, in this world, but you are not so, My people  - As in the days of Noah, I have provided you an "Ark of Safety" , that you may rise above the wickedness of this perverse and evil generation. 

Come with Me, My beloved, come away from all that despises Me, saith The Lord. "

"In a moment,  in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,  and we shall be changed."

- apostle Chris

 The love of God

       is so rich and so pure

On His love I can depend

       of this I am sure.

The love with which

       He rules from His Throne

is a love I can forever rely on,

 but if I do not

  in heartfelt response 

       love others with like mind -

I am, of all men, most blind.

For to receive and not give

  is to die and not live,

for the only appropriate response 

       to the love of God

is to pour out His love on the lost.

- apostle Chris

 Oh my soul, take flight and go

                 to that mountain high

Where the air is clear

        and the only One near

is the God who answers your cries.

Clarity comes with the refreshing 

  of pure water to bathe the

      inside and the outside of you  -

Peace filled days full of whispered praise,

    learning His ways

so that when He sends you back down

   to the cities and the towns

     full of madness and pain  -

     you won't get sucked in again  -

You'll rise above             their    hate

held aloft by the breeze of His love  -

In the world  - not of it  -

Suffering because of their weakness, not your own...

Oh my soul  - this world is not your home!

Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, 

so when He sends you back out into the world, 

you won't be overcome or undone

because of the flesh  - which seeks to live

apart from Him  -  in sin.

Oh my soul  -

From time to time  -

withdrew to that mountain High 

where the angels draw near

and minister to your every tear

and your lover Most High 

breathes upon your every sigh

and gently takes upon Himself 

every scar and blemish given you

by the children of Hell...

 We must learn to develop our "spiritual taste buds". We must learn to (quickly) discern what is good for us and what is bad  - before we swallow it, as soon as it enters our mouth. We must spit it right back out, for if we swallow it,  it will make us sick and cause us all kinds of pain, some minpr, some major, but it may eventually kill us if we keep eating it  - though our hearts cry out to us  - don't eat it!  It's bad manna, rotten revelation - from Satan, not God.

Babies have no choice but to swallow whatever is fed to them, the good, the bad and the ugly - but as we mature,  we learn to tell the difference between bad spiritual food and good. The problem is, the devil knows this, so he'll feed babies bad food while continually calling it good, disguising his poison with good tasting pop confections,  junk food that is really bad for us but tastes great. So we must test the long term effects of what we're receiving but above all, we must learn to discern the voice of The Lord, the Holy Spirit's voice, and the Father's.  We do not rely on logic or our own understanding,  for the wisdom of man is foolishness to God. We rely on Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our understanding by revealing truth to us  - and leading us into "All truth".

 "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior: who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the Truth"

Sermon: "Qualifications to be saved"

1) You must be born of the flesh. You must be a man or a woman. "All men" means "All mankind". Are you a man or a woman? 

2) You must be a failure. A sinner. You must be unclean,  unholy,  unacceptable to God, apart from Him - neither knowing Him or His ways or wisdom.  Are you a sinner? "ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD" therefore "All" are eligible to be saved. The only ones ineligible are the ones who don't need to be saved  - in their opinion.  So how about you? Do you need saving? Are you a sinner? If you answered yes  - congratulations! God's word guarantees you can be saved! Believe this in your heart and confess with your mouth "I'm a sinner in need of a savior"! Ask Jesus to be your savior. Ask him to sit on the throne of your heart - ask him to baptize you in his holy Spirit. Dedicate your remaining days to Him. Rejoice  - now, and again I say rejoice  - you'll rejoice when you die.

 We all, from henceforth and forever,  will with one mind (the mind of Christ), seek together to find out what is acceptable and pleasing to The Lord. Scripture provides an outline, broad brush strokes as to what pleases Him but specific details within each gathering must be revealed by Him in the moment.  We are His canvas, we must allow Him to sketch whatever He pleases in each meeting.  We must prove what is specifically acceptable to The Lord (Eph:5:10) each time we gather and by so doing we must disapprove of what He does not accept  -  we must no longer have fellowship with, allow into our midst, the "unfruitful works of darkness" that many churches are full of today - religious rituals and endless ceremonies,  traditions of men and doctrines of devils that are the "fruits of darkness" not light, for the light of His presence in their midst, showing them the way forward, is missing. 

What is acceptable to God? "Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost". Religion seeks righteousness apart from God, without the Holy Spirit's presence in them and in their midst. As a result,  they end up with an endless series of do's and don t's, right doctrines and wrong, all meant to prove they're "right", with God and each other - and all are as filthy rags, unacceptable to Him - because it's all done apart from Him - the Holy Spirit,  who alone can imbue us with the living presence of THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

They also seek peace, with God and with each other, apart from the Holy Ghost.  Impossible! Why are denominations so divided? Because they are not of Him - His Spirit - who alone can bring to pass the unity Jesus cried out to The Father for  - only when we are one in spirit, His Spirit, each submitted to Him, will we achieve perfect unity - the "UNITY OF THE FAITH AND OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE FULNESS OF CHRIST". 

And so, finally,  at the last Trump, they'll lack joy, true, everlasting Joy, for there is an order here - without peace with God we cannot know joy, and without righteousness we cannot know peace and without truly repening of the unfruitful works of darkness (sins) we cannot know righteousness.  Without the Holy Spirit  - the key ingredient to a life pleasing and acceptable to the Father will forever be missing  - that is to say, Holiness. His Spirit is known first and foremost as "Holy" for good reason  - without Him, we can never be holt, for we have none of our own: Just as Jesus imparts His Righteousness to us, so too does the Holy Spirit impart the Father's holiness to us.

Apostle Chris

Part Two

 

Another aspect of His glory we must wholeheartedly embrace is His Holiness  -  He is completely without sin. He is without spot or blemish  - and so shall we be - faultless  - as long as we're in His presence,  He covers us with His own glory. Like a mother who changes her child's diaper and bathes them daily, cleansing them of the filth of the world and their own flesh - so does our Father cleanse us. See Jesus washing His disciples feet - see our God personally cleansing us daily - and encouraging us to cleanse one another, not point out each other's dirt. We must all become like that little child that submits to his mom's loving, cleansing hands, in order to enter Heaven. We must let Him touch us, for His touch is gentle  - we must let Him cleanse us, deep inside,  clean up the mess, the filth that accumulates there - tarnishing the glorious creation each soul is - turning us into someone He never meant for us to be. We must become the people He desires - embracing the simple and tender love He shows us - and then we must invite others - all those homeless, spiritual street urchins wandering the streets of Babylon without a father or a mother to care for them, filthy beyond recognition. We must take them in, showering them with the Father's love, as Jesus did, for in His presence alone can they be made healthy and whole, clean and faultless,  blameless and acceptable to their Father who is in Heaven, hallowed be His name.