This week I have spent much time pondering the church. I have been listening to a sermon called Revival Hymn. It is a sermon that is a splicing together of different preachers and different sermons. It has affirmed the direction I feel God has been taking the Rock. From the beginning we have stressed this church is about God and nothing else.  As I listened to these speakers preaching about the church in North America you realize that if you are turning away from the status quo and returning to the word of God you are definitely heading in the right direction. This will not always occur without any resistance the evil one. If you find you are closer to the 10% and are turning away from the 90% that is good. This is called the remnant.  The remnant is calling out to God for revival, the rest are trying to build big churches in their own power, mostly done in the absence of the Holy Spirit. In an effort to build the church the number one selling point is likeness but who are we trying to be like. The 90% will entice people by becoming like the people they are trying to reach, the remnant will entice God by becoming like Him. There is a massive difference and will require a massive shift to get back on track. The 90% will appeal to their similarities. They will use methods and tools to entice them, which are familiar and in the end all is comfortable. This will involve Fortune 500 marketing tools, appealing to the senses in church through architecture, performance oriented worship and appealing to the needs of the people and in the end you have people who are comfortably entertained going in the wrong direction. The remnant is trying to entice God to move in the power of His spirit and do things that are immeasurable and can only be attributed to God. This word entice (it is closer to appeal than tempt) is similar to the Old Testament where the burnt offering was offered, a pleasing aroma. We are a living sacrifice to God and our total submission, the giving of our lives is very enticing to God, so much so He has given us so many promises we would be crazy not to listen. 2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.” In our day waiting on God is a foreign subject and many will not do this, even though they say they do. In the end we need to stand firm and hold on and not be swayed or enticed to turn away from God as so many have. Hebrews 3:12-14 “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.”