Second Reformation

You heard me talk about the 2nd Reformation, how the remnants of the four winds will be gathered up in the sight of the Lord before the Second Coming. So how does this all work? I don't know, exactly, but here is my take on it.

In the end times, the remnants of the true Christian Church (big C not little c) will be gathered. Those people who the Church has scattered from their midst. These are people for whom the church has cast out as not holding to man's religious beliefs. Christian Nudists are one such group.

These people are the people the Church itself has wounded. Many of these people are lying around in the world just waiting for Christians to come and care for them spiritually. The are wounded. Many were wounded in the line of duty for Christ.

Our remnant Christians are the ones charged with going out into the world and looking for those wounded Christian Soldiers and when finding them, nursing them back to health. We are the hospitals the wounded need.

So, in a sense, we are the ones that need to be the true workers for Christ, the ones that help usher in the New Heaven and the New Earth. because if we do not begin the work of gathering the scattered to the fold, Jesus can not return.

In our churches, we need to begin to build trust with our remnant communities. For those in the nudist world, we need to find those back-slidden Christians and usher them back to our fellowship. For nudists, we need to find those that have been removed from the Church roles as sinners and bring to our fellowship. For bikers, they need to bring those bikers shunned by the Church and hold them fast in their ministry. For the pipe-smokers, the same thing.

I liken this to raking leaves. I never rake all the leaves into one pile. I take the center of the yard and gather the leaves to a central spot. The leaves the wind has scattered to the fence line, I gather into one pile. The ones caught the area between the garage and the house into one pile. When I have this done, I can now gather together all the leaves into bags and toss them into the dump.

The parable continues as you look at the leaves. The central pile, the largest, can't say that the garage pile they are not leaves, because certainly they are leaves. The fence pile can not say that the central pile is not leaves, for they certainly came from the same trees.

As Christians, we can not say our brothers and sisters are not Christians simply because we do not fit into a certain pile. We are all from the same tree. If we claim Jesus as our personal Savior and profess He is Lord, the Son of out Father, then we are all Christians, regardless of how we dress or what we do for a hobby.

Now, isn't this clear as mud?

Christianity on the Fringe

What do these groups have in common with us?

Bikers For Christ

Messianic Christians

Christian Hunters

Christian Pipe Smokers

Well, first they are Christians. Second, you won't see them invited to the the Normal Christians' Executive Ball. Neither will we. All of us are quietly walking along in the ditch on the Christian Road to Heaven. We are not the well known groups polite society associates with Christian behavior. We simply have a different outlook on one subject that distinguishes us from the rest.

I sometimes feel I have more in common with these groups than with mainstream Christian churches. They accept me for who I am.

As we approach the second coming of our Lord, you will see more of these groups appearing where we never thought there were Christians. Before I found Cheef, I thought my wife and I were the only Christian nudists in the world. Luckily, we have found many Christian friends scattered all over the world and I find this to be significant.

First, when we look back at the parable of the feast.

Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

The King sent out his servant to find the people who were not invited. The servant found the people in the market, in the fields, and on the road, walking along the ditch. He found us.

As a nudist, I am often asked how I can be a Christian. I tell them God invited me. I was the one in the ditch. Most people don't understand. But you will.

As we continue this next time, I want to talk about the Second Reformation and the gathering of the remnants left in all the small places.

till then...