Building the Church of Philadelphia
A call to brotherly love, fasting, repentance, and spiritual abundance in the end times. Join us in a collective fast on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.
Building the Church of Philadelphia
Behind the scenes, Witness 1 and I have been building an end times church - both online and in real life. I am not saying this church has multitudes of people or even much support, but many are coming to be part of it. I believe this is “The Church of Philadelphia” but it may not be in a building like traditional churches. In many ways, it may be in spirit, especially as Christians grow more persecuted. Just to note, besides referencing a city in Asia minor, Philadelphia means “brotherly love” or, perhaps, agape love, something that should be our ultimate pursuit.
Let’s look to the Bible for more about this end times church:
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
As we are building this church, I am reminded of the Bible and the building of the new church in the book of Acts. In these end times, I believe we are building the final church, and for many of the scoffers, this act may seem hopeless and useless. However, for the true members of Philadelphia, we understand why this is happening and its purpose. Surely, there were many struggles for the first churches, and undoubtedly, there may be even bigger struggles for the last true church.
Now, I’d like to get into a dream I had the other night, my interpretation, and then I’d like to call for a collective fast regarding the building up and encouragement of the members of this last church of the end times, which includes many of you reading this.
The Dream
God has been sending me blurry dreams about this new church, but this dream stood out. So, I entered a building that reminded me of a scene from the Bee Movie, where there were many workers and everyone was happy and smiling.
Now, that seems good on the surface, but I had an “off-putting” feeling about being there. People were well-dressed, happy, and they were working, but something felt off.
The pastor approached me, who was an old white man who was charismatic enough - still, I felt that uneasy feeling that is difficult to describe because everyone seemed nice outwardly. He told me it was time to get baptized, and though I felt uneasy, I walked to the pool area, as everyone encouraged me and cheered me on.
Many modern churches have pools for baptism, but for whatever reason, there was a diving board for this baptism. Now, as I reflect, this wasn't like a traditional baptism (And yes, I’ve been baptized in real life, and this may be your call to do so!) and something was a little “off.”
So, in real life, I love swimming, but I hate diving, so I was extremely uncomfortable. I looked around as everyone cheered me on, and I ran out of the room. Though people looked shocked, they did nothing really to stop me.
The message from God: DO NOT DIVE INTO THE WORLDLY CHURCH.
Deeper Interpretation
When I prayed and reflected, I think God was sending me a message that He doesn’t want me to partake in what the worldly churches have been doing and focusing on, ultimately leading to their destruction. As Witness 1 and I try to build this new church, we should be cautious about “diving in” and truly think about what we are doing and ways we can lead people that are different from the mainstream, failed churches of the world.
He wanted me to reflect on where many churches went wrong, and while many of you reading may already understand this, He wanted us to focus on some of these tenets in building our new, spiritual church - if you’d like to be part of this movement.
For one, he wants us to remain humble, as that is the essence of what the modern church has lost. So let’s start there:
1. Humility: If one steps into many modern churches, you will see very well-dressed people, overdone music performances, and a focus on organization and scheduling. At the last church I went to, it looked great, but there were many problems, including pouring money into outward appearances, like buildings, rather than efforts toward helping the needy or spiritually deprived. These churches lacked humility, not just in their preaching style, but in their appearance. Everything was big and haughty - nothing represented humility in Christ, as the Bible speaks so much about.
In my dream, everyone seemed so “put together”, and this seems to be true in real life. Many go to church, dressed in their best, and while there is nothing wrong with looking nice to represent God, should that be our main focus? In the same way, there is much to be said about some of the gaudy showcases one sees at churches these days, like this event for Easter and many others. Click and skim on that link to just get an idea of what I am talking about!
God opposes the proud, and the modern church is just that - proud, which leads to my next point.
2. Authenticity: Why is everyone at church so happy all of the time? Before you become annoyed with me, I am not saying we should not be rejoicing in the Lord, and we have much to look forward to! Still, a church should be a place, sometimes, of sorrow, mourning, and repentance - yet I never see that. Do you?
Why have I rarely seen tears fall in church, let alone weeping? Why aren’t our churches weeping and mourning for the world in these end times? Why are there no open confessions of sin and repentance, as one might expect in a church? Rather, we get gossiping, judgment, and ‘holier than thou’ attitudes.
Yes! Rejoice! But we must be there for each other through our weaknesses and sorrow too, and I don’t believe churches are places for that anymore. Instead, we see a showcase of double mindedness, with people smiling on the outside but often full of sin and miserable on the inside.
God never says we cannot be sad or mourn. In fact, he often commends people for mourning and fasting, which leads to my next point:
3. Why aren’t churches fasting? I have already talked about fasting much, so I won’t overdo it here, but God is calling us to fast in these end times. And I’m going to call you to fast, too, at the end of this post!
4. Spiritual Abundance: Our churches today may be rich on the outside, even full of people who tithe, but they are poor spiritually. One walks into a church expecting the same routine every single time. There is almost no time for authentic prayer, and people sit still, smile, shake hands, and leave. I cannot imagine the early church was so spiritually weak!
Right now, I believe most churches and people are in a state of spiritual poverty, and they don't even know it.
Last night, I was listening to a lecture on Derek Prince regarding being led by the holy spirit, and he made an important point. Many churches are NOT led by the holy spirit in any way. To learn more about the holy spirit, click here.
5. Milk or Meat?: While there is nothing wrong with organization, and anyone who knows me would tell you that I am an organized person, the routines, procedures, and rules have taken away from the love that churches should provide - just as Jesus called out the Pharisees many times.
Witness 1 has complained much about the fact that we go to church and hear the same 20-something recycled lectures and concepts. While we should never stray away from basic and simple teachings of the Bible, there is a time when we need more.
Who is ready for the meat? As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:
The Church and Its Leaders
3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
6. Encouragement: So many here may claim they are part of the church of Philadelphia, but my question is this: Do you get into petty quarrels with others constantly?
There is time for quarreling or debating, but for the most part we should keep the peace on major topics and try not to divide over little things. There is no way we will always be in agreement about everything, but as long as we are in agreement on the core tenets of Christianity then we shouldn’t be fighting about the crazy things I see many “online ministries” constantly fighting about.
There is a time and place for healthy debate in a church, but pick and choose your quarrels in a loving way.
7. Charity: Where does your church's money go? Do you even know? If you don’t go to church, do you help others with your money or tithe to organizations that are trying to do just that? Where does your church's time go? The new church should spend time helping others - not just with money, but with time, biblical advice, and agape love. If we look to the early church, helping the poor and needy was an important focus. The last church I went to was always spending money on making bigger and better buildings - not the poor.
If you are interested in helping our ministry help the poor, click here. Currently, we are helping to bring bibles and build up churches in different parts of the world. Every cent given to us is given to someone in need.
Call to Fast on Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Time is running out. It is time to take refuge in God now, and therefore, to start really putting His word into practice. Wherever you are in the world, we'd love for you to join us in a collective fast! The last one we did was very powerful, and we hope many more join this time.
I am calling you all to join a collective fast on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. This fast will focus on building up the true remnant of Christ, or what I call “The Church of Philadelphia.”
If you are new to fasting, see this post (link), and if you are interested in joining us, please email us at the [email protected] to let us know!
These collective fasts are powerful and pleasing God. Please do not be a lukewarm Christian, but rather, show God you love Him through your actions. If you are new to fasting, start small - even skipping a meal that day would contribute to what we are doing.
May God bless anyone reading in Jesus’s name
- Witness 2