Jesus said, mind your own business!

Have you noticed these days that you know WAY too much about people you haven't even really met.  You know what they had for lunch or dinner, where the went out to eat at, what great deal they got at Hobby Lobby, what they wore to work today, where they are going on vacation, what they are doing over the weekend?  Do we really need to know all that?  This is all thanks to social media.  I guess some see it as a nice thing, but truthfully, I have found that we are too wrapped up in everyone's business and I wonder what God thinks about that.

I'm reminded of a scripture passage where Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep.  Three times he told Peter what his job was, and that was to feed His sheep.  Peter looked up at Jesus and said, okay, but what is John going to do?  Jesus said, you need to mind your own business.  It's not for you to worry about what John is going to do with his life.  Of course this is paraphrasing but you get the jest.

I do not have a Twitter account or a Snapchat account, but I do have a Facebook account and in the short year I have been on Facebook I have discovered that it is a place that I feel Jesus may not want me to be.  I have discovered that Facebook is the workshop of Satan himself.  It's the devils business to keep everyone wrapped up in everything except for what's important in life, and that's to feed His sheep.  After all isn't that what every Christian was called to do?

I supposed when the internet came about and it was called the world wide web it was a prophetic utterance because that is exactly what the internet is and social media especially...a web, and oh what a tangled web we weave!

Now most of my friends on Facebook are other Apostolics and of course family members.  I love seeing pictures and little life details of my brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews and others who live out of driving range from me.  People who I don't get to see in person nearly enough.  I love seeing posts with scriptures, inspiration and spiritual nuggets that God has shared with other saints.  I also love that I have a business page for my brand, Apostolique Woman.

However, there are all the political and racial posts thrown in from places and people I never solicited, which have hindered me mentally, emotionally and spiritually at times.  The bad thing is, there really is no way to keep all those posts from showing up on my wall or to filter out any of them, and once the eye sees them and once the mind absorbs them, they are never removed.  I have ingested the negativity and the hatred of those who posted.

I have fond that people do not mind speaking their mind when and how they choose, without stopping to think what damage their statement or opinion or belief might cause another, or without knowing the true facts about the issue before judging the situation.  Jesus calls us to use and exercise righteous judgment and to think before we speak.  All this type of behavior is appalling and is most definitely the work of the devil.

The amount of flesh being seen daily on Facebook by all, even though it wasn't solicited is horrible.  I don't want my husband seeing those things.  I don't want to see those things, yet how can I keep his or my eyes from it.  As soon as we pick up our phone and log into Facebook, boom there it is...all of it...for the whole entire world to see.  It's bad enough we see more than we should when we go out in public, but must we see it all over Facebook too?  Hello, another work of the devil!

There are WAY too many hateful and judgmental, condemning discussions, debates and arguments among people...even those of the Apostolic faith.  It's truly disheartening.  I joined a couple Apostolic only groups simply to fellowship and to reap knowledge and wisdom from those of like precious faith only to discover that just because you claim to be Apostolic in faith does not mean that you live Apostolic in behavior.  This is not meant to be mean or judgmental in either way.  It is just a perception based on what I have personally seen and experienced.  I will point out that while there are those who choose not to live like an Apostolic posting things on those sites, there are plenty who are true to the Apostolic faith on there as well.  Nevertheless, a few weeks ago I made the decision to unfollow all of those sites because the heated arguments and debates over who is right about this and wrong about that, and does the bible really say that, was more than my spirit could withstand.  Most days they hindered me mentally and spiritually instead of encouraging as I had hoped so I found it best to be free of them.  So sad for things to be that way.

Then as mentioned above, there is the problem where everyone knows everyone else's everything.  We are too wrapped up in peoples business.  God meant for us to have privacy in our lives.  My home, my marriage, my children, my finances and what I eat are not everyone else's business; and your home, your marriage, your children, your finances and what you eat are not my business.  Yet we all feel the need to share it all. After all sharing is good, right? Not!  It is another trick of the devil to keep people so intertwined that they feel they have the right to an opinion and say into what your life consists of.   Satan knows that the bible tells us to mind our own business but he's working doubly hard to keep our focus on what everyone else is doing and off of what God is doing.

Perhaps none of this is your perception of Facebook and I am not suggesting that you are participating in anything wrong.  I am merely suggesting that Facebook is a very dangerous place, a web. Be careful in there.  Unfollow people or groups if need be.  If anyone or anything is discouraging you or hindering you in your mind or spirit, do not be afraid get rid of them.

In recent months I unfollowed several on my friends list for one thing or another. They were either argumentative, had a pity me all the time type attitude, or the only thing they posted was pictures of themselves to their status, ever on the ego trip.  Those types of attitudes are works of the devil and are disruptive and distractive to our spiritual man.

The devil is on Facebook working constantly to keep people in heated arguments, to keep people wrapped up in other peoples lives and business, places people do not need to be.  He is using Facebook to feed our minds and our lives with hatred, racism, vulgarity, self-righteousness, filth and nosiness at all times, but...

Jesus said for us to feed His sheep and mind our own business!

Be safe out there guys!

Sorry for the site problems...

Sorry for the site problems.  Some of my pictures are not showing up because Photobucket has decided to charge people to use their own photos.  I used to edit my photos on the Photobucket site and then embed the edited photos onto my site here.  Now Photobucket wants to charge me to use my own pictures.  It's not a small fee either.  They want over $100 a year.  I cannot and will not pay that so though I will endeavor to fix some of the picture problems on this site.  It will be impossible to replace them all.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

REACHING BEYOND OUR FOUR APOSTOLIC WALLS...

I posed a question to the Lord today...It was...

LORD, WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU?
What can I say, Lord?
Who should I talk to?
Who should I invite out to the house for dinner?
Who should I feed?
Who should I clothe?
To whom should I give a drink?
What, O what dear Lord can I do for you today?

He gave me this word, not just for me, but for all who call themselves Apostolic...

There are so many people in this world with "ministries".  Everyone is doing something to promote their beliefs, their gospel, their church. So many denominations doing the "work of Christ" in their neighborhoods, towns and cities....well, except for the Apostolics.  Now don't get me wrong I know there are plenty of Apostolics with ministries and Apostolic churches doing lots of things to further the kingdom of God but is it enough, or is it the right things?  Is it really making a difference?  Is it really spreading the gospel and delivering God's word to the hurting or is all of it done within our 4 little Apostolic walls?

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,

Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,

prepared for the devil and his angels: 

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat:

I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

I was a stranger, and ye took me not in:

naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord,

when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger,

or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying,

Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to

one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment:

but the righteous into life eternal.

Matthew 25:41-46

If you ask around, the consensus is, most people believe Apostolics are unfriendly, unhelpful, unsociable and lack true Christian character.  Why? Because in truth, most Apostolic churches and people shy away from getting involved in community events.  They never volunteer at or donate to food and housing shelters, soup kitchens and the like. They rarely get involved at charitable events or awareness events.  They are not involved in anything at the local schools and usually do not even take out ads in the local newspapers extending an invitation to their church services.

I was once a member of an Apostolic church where the pastor refused to become a member of the towns ministerial alliance simply because none of the other pastors in town believed our One God message.  He would have nothing to do with the other ministers even so much as to shake their hands and smile.  Now granted they do not preach truth; but, they are; however, getting their chance to preach false doctrine to LOTS of people, simply because they ventured out from beyond their 4 baptist walls, or Catholic walls, or Seven Day Adventist walls to reach sinners.

I wonder what kind of message are we sending to people when we are "too good" or "too holy" or "too something" to get involved with them, especially when we won't extend our hand to establish a relationship when them.

Have you ever wondered why your church has not really grown much in the 5, 10, 20 years you have been there?  Could it be that you have not been casting your net out far enough, or on the right side of the boat?

Winning souls is pretty hard when the only things we do is reach within our 4 walls for them...inside our 4 walls for the unsuspecting soul that just so happened to come to the occasional church dinner he was invited to, or maybe the passion play or Christmas pageant his bus kid is starring in.

Is your black light choir, sign choir or puppet ministries doing enough to reach outsiders or is it just entertainment?  Is your worship ministry true worship or is it just entertainment? Are the passion plays and Christmas pageants really drawing in the crowds of sinners needing to hear the gospel?  Chances are they are not.  I'm not saying we should stop doing those things, but I am saying maybe we need to step up our game a little...or a lot! Someone's, everyone's eternity depends on us.  We need to take this thing to the streets.  It's not enough to just throw a little shindig at the church or on the church grounds from time to time.  Having the occasional block party is not going to do it.  We need to GO OUT into the highways and hedges and COMPEL them to come in.

And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in,

that my house may be filled.

Luke 14:23

There are dying souls out there that need to hear the gospel...the true gospel...and we need exposure to them because we are the ones who have the true gospel to share with them!!  We must reach beyond our four Apostolic walls!!!!  Every soul counts and if we are not going to where the souls are, how can we reach them?

How can we reach our towns people if we won't help down at our local soup kitchen, if we won't volunteer at the food pantry or the battered woman's shelter, if we won't have a booth offering free water or snacks at the local Relay for Life run or town festival.  Some of us....and I am guilty...never stop by the hospital to offer up prayers for the sick.  Some of us never head over the local nursing center to see if anyone needs anything.  We don't stop to think about the prisoners or beggars in our town and figure out something we can do to take the gospel to them or to just lend a helping hand.  We have become thoughtless, careless or too good, or perhaps too lazy to carry this gospel to the masses.

There are hungry souls out there.  There are thirsty souls, hurting souls, beggarly souls and imprisoned souls out there that need us and we must do anything and everything we can to help them.  That's what we were called to do.  We weren't called to start a black light choir, or sign choir though those things are fun and nice.  We were called to feed the hungry, visit the prisoner, clothe the poor, give drink to the thirsty.

You want to do something for the Lord today?  Try reaching beyond the four walls of your church to harvest the lost souls in your community.  Their souls depend on YOU...Your soul depends on you! Now...Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.  Mark 16:15