The War Within The Body Of Christ

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***The disciples of Jesus were concerned over a man casting out a demon in the name of Jesus, and told him to stop since he was not part of their group. Modern translation: he didn't go to their church... they didn't agree with his doctrine... he didn't give to their ministry... any or all of the above. But what did Jesus say? He said, "DO NOT TRY TO STOP HIM." He also said, "anyone who isn't against us is on our side." Let me repeat what JESUS SAID, "ANYONE WHO ISN'T AGAINST US IS ON OUR SIDE."

DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY MAY 13, 2003
(Mark 9:38-40, John 17:21)

One of his disciples, John, told him one day, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to cast out demons; but we told him not to, for he isn't one of our group."

"Don't forbid him!" Jesus said. "For no one doing miracles in my name will quickly turn against me. Anyone who isn't against us is for us."

"My prayer for all of them is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father--that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me."

The war within the Body of Christ. I will open a can of worms today that is LONG OVERDUE and needs to be said. One of the things that grieves the heart of God more than anything else is the war within the Body of Christ. It is a prayer of our Lord, just hours before going to the cross that we find in John 17:21, that has yet to be answered.

An unsaved friend of mine once shared with me that over the years, he has been approached by many of the cults in addition to Christians. He said that if 10 members of the same cult talked to him, they always said the same thing. However, if 10 Christians talked to him, they were each more interested in "selling" their particular church and had reasons why the other churches weren't as good as theirs.

Having personally preached in over 500 churches of every denomination over the years, I can attest that far too much time is spent condemning other churches and denominations. Liveprayer reaches over 1.7 million people worldwide daily, over 1/3 of those are not saved or in any church, and the other 2/3 represent every type of church and nationality that you can name. Sadly, too much of the email that I receive each day is in regard to the internal divisions within the Body of Christ.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

The wars, the way we have found to divide ourselves as the people of God are endless. Music. I personally love the old hymns, however, some people think that Contemporary Christian Music and Christian rock and rap are of the devil. The Bible. Some people say that you should only read the King James Version, others say that you should only use the Old Testament, while yet others say you should only use the New Testament. Race and ethnic origin. Too many churches are still segregated by race and ethnic origin. Denomination. Hundreds of denominations, and now the ever popular non-denomination. Ministries. Para church ministries that specialize in every kind of need imaginable that people have.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

As for music, let me say that everyone has different tastes. God reaches some people thru the old hymns, that would never listen to Contemporary Christian Music. God reaches others thru Contemporary Christian Music that simply don't enjoy the beauty of the old hymns. Still others God reaches thru Christian rock and rap that would never be reached any other way. Arguing about versions of the Bible is foolish since to compare English TRANSLATIONS makes no sense, because they are all derived from the original Hebrew and Greek text. THAT is what they need to be compared to for accuracy, NOT each other.

I realize that many churches are NOT purposely segregated, that it is due to the surrounding community. But it should be a goal of ALL churches to reach out to people of different races. The denominations are interesting, since if you really study their doctrinal positions, they ALL hold the basic tenets of the Christian faith which is what makes them Christian in the first place. Specialized ministries are necessary since they are meeting the needs of specific groups of people. It is these specialized ministries that are used by God to help lead many people to Christ that the church is simply not equipped or able to reach.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

What I am trying to say is simply this. It is ONLY your faith in Jesus Christ coupled with God's grace that will get you to Heaven, NOTHING ELSE. The name on the church building that you go to can not save you, only faith in Jesus can. There are people sitting in the pews of any Baptist church that are lost, just like there are people sitting in the pews of any Catholic and Assembly of God church that are lost. Their church membership can't save them, ONLY faith in Jesus can.

You see my friend, when you die, there will only be two lines, one for the lost and one for the saved. There will be no line for Protestants and another for Catholics. There will be no line for Methodists, and another for Presbyterians. There will be no line for blacks and another for whites. There will be no Asian line and no Anglo line. When you die, the ONLY thing that will matter is whether you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

One of my dearest friends in this world is Pastor Richard Dortch. Pastor Dortch was a long time Assembly of God missionary, pastor, and District Superintendent that was being groomed to possibly become the General Superintendent of the Assembly of God church. At a critical time in his life, he instead chose to become the president of Jim Bakker's PTL organization. As we know, God chose to wipe out PTL. In less than 60 days, it went from a ministry that employed over 3,000 people, taking in $80 million annually, to NO EMPLOYEES, NO INCOME, totally shut down. God has used Pastor Dortch's life in a great way since his personal failure in the late 80's, and I have had the opportunity to minister with him on the road numerous times during the 90's.

Every place that we went, dozens of people would come up to him and share how they got saved thru PTL, or how God worked a miracle in their life thru that ministry. While PTL became a national joke, I can tell you this for certain. Hundreds of thousands of souls will be in eternity due to how God used that ministry to reach people for Christ. Millions of people worldwide were touched by God thru PTL. Jim and Tammy, Pastor Dortch, all the rest who were in leadership will have to stand before God one day in regard to their personal actions, but for a season it was an incredibly powerful instrument that God used to minister to millions worldwide.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CANNOT STAND!!!

I say that to tell you that God uses MANY unique and marvelous ways to bring a person into that everlasting relationship with Himself. I can assure you that there are people He uses me to reach, that possibly would not be reached otherwise. By the same token, He uses others to reach people that would NEVER be reached thru a ministry like Liveprayer. EVERY PERSON HAS THEIR OWN SPIRITUAL HOT BUTTON.

It is a very dangerous thing to try and stand in judgment of another ministry. For anyone that wants to take a shot at PTL, let me ask you a question. Have you personally started and led a global television ministry to millions, been responsible for 3,000 employees, taken in $80 million annually, and remained pure before God? If you have, you have every right to criticize Jim Bakker. If you have not, you have no idea what decisions that you would have made along that journey.

I can tell you by the email I get daily, that there are some people who think Liveprayer is from the pits of hell. They think the Internet is evil and nobody can really be touched by God through websites and email. Over my decade plus in the ministry, I have come to the point where I simply will not criticize what someone else in the body of Christ is doing as long as they are preaching Christ, and Him crucified. They will one day have to answer to God for their work just like I will.

ONE OF THE GREATEST WEAPONS SATAN USES IS THE WEAPON OF DIVISION!!! JESUS SAID HIMSELF THAT A HOUSE DIVIDED CAN NOT STAND!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I say often that man really has not changed since the Garden of Eden. What a great example of this in today's verses. The disciples of Jesus were concerned over a man casting out a demon in the name of Jesus, and told him to stop since he was not part of their group. Modern translation: he didn't go to their church... they didn't agree with his doctrine... he didn't give to their ministry... any or all of the above. But what did Jesus say? He said, "DO NOT TRY TO STOP HIM." He also said, "anyone who isn't against us is on our side." Let me repeat what JESUS SAID, "ANYONE WHO ISN'T AGAINST US IS ON OUR SIDE."

I will pray for you today to really examine your heart in regard to this issue of division within the Body of Christ. I realize that by exposing this sin of division, I have opened my self wide open to be attacked. That is OK. It is a LONG OVERDUE word that needed to be brought. WE ARE ALL GUILTY OF BEING PART OF THIS DEVICE OF SATAN IN SOME WAY.

There is a world out there that is lost, hurting, and a large percentage of them are currently standing in the line marked "lost". If we took all of the time, energy, and effort that we use to divide ourselves, and really came together as one unified BODY, we could make a global impact almost overnight that would be mind boggling. May the prayer Christ prayed in the Garden finally be answered, that we may be ONE!!!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com.

***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is now available via audio each day. Simply go to http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html. Click on "Search by Category", then locate DAILY DEVOTIONAL. I want to thank Ed Morando for making this service available for FREE to Liveprayer.com.

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