Showing posts with label Michael J. Webb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael J. Webb. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

THE COST OF LIVING IN AN UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD: Christian Blogger Lorilyn Roberts




To My Readers,

 

My good friend, Michael Jack Webb, sent me the following email a couple of days after I posted my blog post of 5/24/2021, “Is It Time to Leave Your Church? Why I left Mine,” and his insights were so good, I received permission from him to post his words here in a follow-up post. 

First, let me say my former church did not like what I wrote. I received this text, “Your blog post was very hurtful to quite a few people who read it,” and in the same text message, I was told, “Please do not come to the One Another Group dinner tonight,” which was the last prayer group meeting until this fall.

These are my final comments (this blog post) on leaving Creekside Community Church. I posted the May 24th blog post not to make my church angry, but because many people had asked why I left. I had been at Creekside for decades, and I didn’t want to have to speak about it anymore. Just rehashing the events that led to my departure was painful. 

As the days before the Lord’s return draw near, I believe God will bring new people into our lives, and He will remove some friends that we always thought would be life-long friends. 

I would urge readers to commit all their relationships to God. The time we have left might be so short that we should surround ourselves with friends passionate about sharing their faith with the unsaved. Associate with those who are unyielding in their commitment to Jesus Christ. Be prepared to lose friendships. It’s part of the upside-down world now in which we live.

As Michael Webb says below, leaving my former church was painful. Lymphedema from my cancer surgery three years earlier flared up. I was sick in bed for two days running a fever, so I went to the emergency room. They discovered I had a UTI and put me on antibiotics.

In the midst of what I can only describe as a crisis, I cried out to God, “Where should I go to church, Lord?” We were in the middle of the pandemic, and most churches were closed. It’s not an easy thing to leave a church you’ve attended for over thirty years and start new relationships at 65 years old in an unfamiliar church. I felt broken and alone. 

As I’m crying out to God with these thoughts racking my brain, God immediately answered, “Kol Simcha.”

God’s swift answer shocked me:  I hadn’t thought about Kol Simcha in decades. However, I knew the rabbi and his wife who founded it. 

We had met at the Jewish Center at The University of Florida in the early 1990s. I remembered the first time they came. I had been dancing with the Jewish students for about a year when they showed up looking for the Jewish dance classes. They had brought their two young children with them. I had stepped outside momentarily, right as they approached. 

It was a divine appointment as we made quick introductions. How often do you run into Christians at a Jewish worship center on a university campus?

Now, thirty years later, we renewed our friendship. As I started attending, I discovered other friends I’d lost touch with that are members at Kol Simcha. Some were people I knew not just superficially but deeply.  

Some have asked me questions about what worship is like in a Messianic congregation, including my mother. She asked, “Do they believe Jesus is the Messiah?”

I think as we near the Lord’s return, we will see the convergence of Jews and Christians in worship. True, undefiled worship is going to become increasingly complex, especially for large churches. Now I’ve found a passion for Yeshua in the Messianic congregation unparalleled in the traditional Christian church.

Yes, Messianic congregations do believe Jesus is the Messiah. For the curious, I will write a follow-up blog post that will focus on the similarities and the differences between Messianic congregations and Christian churches. I’m still learning. I will say here, my understanding of the Old Testament has magnified as I’ve discovered more of the Old Testament in the New Testament. I am growing in my faith and my love for Yeshua Hamashiach, and I’m thankful to be surrounded by others who share my passion and love for the Messiah.

Please read my friend’s email below. I believe God meant these powerful words not only for me but for other Christians who find themselves in a similar situation. Take heart. God has overcome the world and will not leave you or forsake you.


Morning Lorilyn—

 

Very powerful!

I know it must have cost you a great deal to leave and to post your article.

I’m praying for you. (Phil. 6-9)

      

We are in the season of the Great Falling Away. (2Thess. 2:3)

          You can’t “fall away” from something you were never part of.

          So, even though many disagree, large numbers of “Believers” are indeed falling away from Christianity and embracing “another gospel.” (2 Cor. 11:3-4, Gal. 1:5-7).

          It’s both a troublesome and exciting time, for it is Scripture unfolding before our eyes. (Ezek. 39:21)

          God is truly winnowing His “church” identifying and separating the sheep from the goats. (Ps. 77:13-14, 78:65-72).

          He is identifying His Remnant. (Heb. 5:5-11).

          In days to come there will be much weeping, gnashing of teeth, and tearing of garments as Holy Spirit moves in power across the Earth.

          We are at the beginning of the birth pangs of Christ’s return (Matt. 24:7-9).

          God is giving the Faithful an opportunity to draw night to Him in intimacy in preparation for what is racing upon us like a speeding freight train (Heb. 11:6).

          There will be persecution for those who remain steadfast (Phil. 3:9-11).

          Our comfort is that those who persecute us today, we who do not bow to other gods, are of the same spirit as those who persecute(d) Jesus.

          Stay strong, my friend (Eph. 6:10).

          God has given you a powerful voice - His Voice - and a platform.

          Continue to use it wisely as Holy Spirit guides you in all things.

         

Blessings, and shalom,

In Him,

Jn. 14:21    

 

Michael Jack Webb

Bestselling and Award-winning Author

http://www.michaeljackwebb.com

Stories that ignite imaginations & stir souls . . .

michaeljwebbbooks@gmail.com

Monday, October 14, 2013

GUEST POST BY MICHAEL W. WEBB: What Inspired Me to Write “Infernal Gates”?


    
Ethan Freeman, ex-Special Forces Ranger, wakes up to discover he is the sole survivor of a fiery commercial airline crash that killed his entire family.  His nightmare is only beginning when he becomes the FBI’s prime suspect.  Only Ethan knows he’s not a cold-hearted murderer, but he has no idea what happened to him--and why he alone survived.


He finds an unlikely ally in Sam Weaver, the NTSB Chief Investigator.  An ex-military pilot, Sam senses Ethan is innocent.  She tries to remain dispassionate in her investigation of the crash even as she finds herself attracted to the man who may be Americas worst homegrown mass-murderer.


Neither Ethan nor Sam realize that shadowy spiritual forces are at work which will alter their lives forever.

A monstrous evil, imprisoned since the time of the Pharaohs, has been released by The Nine, a sinister group of powerful men and women who believe they are the direct descendants of the Anunnaki, ancient Sumerian gods. The demon they have unleashed intends to free The Destroyer from The Abyss, the angelic prison referred to in the Book of Revelation, and unleash a worldwide reign of terror and annihilation.

Facing impossible odds, time is running out for Ethan and all of humanity as he is drawn into an ever-deeper  conspiracy--millennia in the making--and learns that he is the key to stopping The Nine.

  
 *~*~*~*~*~*

It was a dark and stormy night . .
Ooops.  Not really!
J  Sorry Snoopy.

I regularly drive long distances and have a great deal of time to think.  One morning, as I was headed to an appointment, the opening lines from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities scrolled through my mind unexpectedly:  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”
         

As I meditated on those powerful words in terms of the present condition of our fallen world, a fascinating thought popped into my head.  What would happen if my wife and I were on a commercial airliner that crashed within a few minutes of takeoff killing everyone on board—except us!  We awaken exactly 24 hours later, at home, in our bed, dressed in the same clothes we’d worn to the airport.  How would we explain what happened to us?

This is how all of my novels are born. A vivid opening scene, generally an action-filled, pulse-pounding sequence of events, but sometimes several lines of riveting dialog from a character I have yet to meet.  In the case of Infernal Gates, the opening line was “Less than ten minutes before we’re all dead, thought Ethan Freeman, and there is nothing I can do about it!


I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer.  I’ve never done an outline.  All of my stories begin as movies in my head.  I have a general idea about plot, but it morphs into something bigger than my imagination over time.  My characters are born, grow, and mature as I write.   At some point, they take control.  Then, all I do is transcribe as fast as I can whatever I see and hear.

Unbelievable fun—and I get paid to do this!


But I digress.  Back to the “inspiration” theme.


Most of us, sadly, see the world three-dimensionally.  But, as Rod Serling, the creator of The Twilight Zone was fond of saying: There is another dimension--a fourth dimension. A dimension not of sight or sound, or taste or touch, or hearing, but one that overlays the one we accept as the “real” world. A parallel universe layered over the terrestrial realm like a gossamer veil. In order to “see” into this realm and interact with it we must use gifts given to us by God that transcend our fleshly bodies—and our souls.


The realm of Spirit.


I’m inspired by God to write about this realm and explore the consequences of ignoring, denigrating, or misrepresenting its power to impact our lives for all eternity.


I hope you’ll take a chance on an “unknown writer” and join me in my world.


             Michael J. Webb graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida and obtained his J. D. from the same university.  Over the past forty years he has travelled the world in search of adventure.

            He is a history buff, both ancient and modern, and is fascinated by the intersection of the scientific, supernatural, and Biblical world views, and has studied and taught from the Bible extensively for more than twenty-five years. He is also intrigued by recent discoveries in quantum physics that are now providing extraordinary insights into the reality of the spirit realm, especially as it relates to the study of Light.  He incorporates all of the above into his supernatural thrillers.

            Michael and his wife make their home in North Carolina.  
Books by Michael:  The Master’s Quilt, The Nephilim Parchments, The Song of the Seraphim (Giants in the Earth trilogy), The Oldest Enemy, Infernal Gates.  He is currently working on Devil’s Cauldron, the sequel to Infernal Gates.  He also authored a non-fiction work entitled In the Cleft of the Rock: Insights into the Blood of Jesus, Resurrection Power, and Saving the Soul.