The Quest for Spirituality.

The platform in churches and conference centers, the window of the TV are launching pads for attention seekers to perform extraordinary phenomenon of seemingly supernatural events and outstanding feats that holds spellbound the audience who seem to get a spiritual high from the tricksters seemingly supernatural feats.

Let me be clear, I do believe that God can and does supernatural things, but most of what we see within the programmed events and the high profile manipulators is of another spirit other than the spirit of God.

Tricksters take the stage and perform their seemingly impossible magical feats because of the tickets sold and the accolades of the audience. As pathetic as it may be, the religious world also has its tricksters who seemingly pull supernatural events from the heavenly realm with supposedly accurate results and self-proclaimed outstanding accomplishments. This proclaimed Holy Spirit spiritual aura has hypnotized the attention and minds of “Christians” to seek after experiences that excites the soulish nature but drains the spiritual life from them.

People are gullible enough to believe these preacher-tricksters because their senses are heightened to accept the sensational because we have accepted these preacher-tricksters claims they are of God and God speaks to them as to the audiences needs.

There is an whole segment of Christendom that is geared toward nurturing and sensitizing the senses of man for the sensational. This is of the flesh fleshly and does nothing to nurture man’s spiritual senses to tune in to the genuine acts of God, some of which, by the way, are not in the thunder, lightening or the fire of the sensational, but rather in His still small voice and the assurance that He is working things out for His good thus, our good.

Just because churches cater to and are successful in this endeavor to sensitize the senses of man towards the thunder and lightening fireworks of the spectacular does not give it the seal of authenticity as being of God. The aspiration for recognition and outward success of these showmen and women, if not of the devil devilish, is of man fleshly and is not pleasing to God.

Man looks on the outward performances of these preacher-tricksters and attribute his lying wonders as a seal of God’s approval to the degree that the “spiritual giants” reap a bountiful harvest of praise, attention, recognition and line their pockets with the spoils of the people whom they have duped or have been pre-duped by their own delusional preachers.

All this attention given to the supernatural, prosperity and success oriented philosophy of the celebrity preachers has led “christians”away from their one and most central issue, relationship with Christ. People are so preoccupied with programs, hype, productions and promotions instead of focusing on the person of Christ and being in relationship with Him and sharing His love with the people we meet.

Many within Christendom are to grossly preoccupied with the sensational externals, thunder, earth shaking events, lightening and fires to hear the Lord’s still small voice. People want and crave instant spiritual gratification and what they deem positive answers to their prayers. God is expected to be the adult Santa Clause in the sky catering to their every whim.

Please listen...genuine spirituality is always opposite of the flashy, fleshly, sensational show-man-ship programs and performances by preacher-tricksters. Don’t look for genuine spiritually in the thundering and lightening flashes of fire of the “spiritual elite”. Yes, on times genuine spirituality is behind the thundering and fires of the supernatural, if it is in such it always points to and exalts Christ, never man! It is being brought forth from a closer walk with Christ and fuller understanding of the person of Christ.

Jesus is the grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died, and as a result of His death, fruitfulness is produced (Jn:12:24). In the same way, our true spiritual development can only come from surrendering to the slow dealings of the cross to facilitate the laying down of our self life. It is through the dealings of the cross that we lose our lust for the "thunder, lightening and fire”" that we learn to hear His still small voice.

However, the dying to the self life, and becoming lowly and hidden are not messages Christians want to hear nowadays. To put things in perspective, today’s churches almost have to operate under the hypes of the spectacular to some degree. Take the spectacular performances and the prosperity message away, most churches will suffer immediate membership decline! It is a classical case of new wine vs. old wineskin syndrome.

The way to genuine spirituality is not through the spectacular, however gratifying to the flesh that may be, it is through the cross, the gateway to spiritual fullness and maturity is in having an intimate relationship with God through Jesus our Lord.

Today, many within the Body that gather outside of the institutional environment claim a return to simplicity and authenticity, which is a hallmark of the early church, but simplicity is not merely the doing away with clergy-laity system, glamorous church buildings or event-driven-programs. It is first and foremost a work of the Holy Spirit through the cross to diminish the self life and increase the Christ life character and likeness of the Lamb within. Being Christ-like in character is what confirms the claim of authenticity, all other claims pale in comparison.