Written by Mark Driskill:
Monday, March 21, 2011

Believe Again

“Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door…” (Revelation 3:20)

Have you ever been sitting around the house glued to the television with the sound blaring oblivious to evrything around you? Then suddenly you are jolted by someone shouting above the noise, “Someobody get the door!” Were you embarrassed to find that someone you had been hoping to see had been banging on the door waiting to be let in? This was not too different from the scene in Revelation. John was calling to this lukewarm church, “Somebody get the door !” Church today we are in a simlar situation. Amidst all our distractions God is calling out to his church, “Somebody get the door!”

Jesus spoke these words to a church that had lost its fire. It had become lukewarm, what we call today, a nice church. They were doing okay, having nice services and doing nice things. But they had lost their spiritual edge. Like our churches today they were content to go through the motions of church activity week by week without really ever encountering God. Jesus stood outside the door of this lukewarm church and knocked.

It’s really sad when a church becomes so self satisfied that even Jesus is on the outside knocking on the door. But here we find him, as in that ancient church, knocking on the doors of our churches asking to be let back in. We have shut the Lord out of our churches and replaced him with cold dead doctrines of men and self serving programs that are of no real benefit to anyone outside the church. We have rejected the power of the Holy Spirit and chosen to settle for merely an outward appearance of godliness. We have turned away those who need Jesus the most so we can pursue those we want the most. We have handpicked a few select Bible verses to build our churches upon while we ignore the ones that would call us beyond ourselves to a life of faith and power. The funny thing is with all our church politics and man-made schemes, with all our prayerlessness and self imposed ignorance of God’s word, we just can’t understand why nobody wants to come to our churches.

So we continue to go week by week playing church while the Lord Jesus stands outside and knocks, just waiting for someone to let him back in. We’re like a family sitting around the living room glued to a blaring television. We’re so distracted by it that we can’t hear someone knocking frantically on the door. This goes on until someone shouts above the noise, “Somebody get the door!” This is the word of the Lord for our churches, “Somebody get the door!” Somebody please turn from your religious distractions and open the door. Jesus said, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in….” And when Jesus comes in everything changes.

Oh church when will we hear his voice and open the door? When will become as sick of Lukewarm religion as Jesus is and desire the real God in our midst again. When will we put away our pet doctrines and self serving traditions and pick up the cross and follow Jesus? When will we once again be more than religious businesses and become the life giving body of Christ we were called to be? When will we see the power of Christ overcoming the darkness rather than our hiding from it?

We will see these things happen when we turn down the volume on our distractions and listen for his voice, then open the door. The He says, “I will come into him, and eat with him and he with me.” Do you desire more than good old boy religion? Then listen for his voice and open the door and let Jesus back in. Get out of the driver’s seat and let Jesus have control. Somebody get the door. There is someone standing outside who wants to change your life forever.

Mark Driskill and his wife Mary are homeschooling community ministers in Breathitt County Kentucky.  They have four children. They co pastor Emmanuel fellowship Church, serve as Camp Pastors at Bethel Mennonite Camp, and Mark Teaches at Oakdale Christian Academy.
Mark is web minister for Begotten by theWord , a ministry of Helping Hands Christian Resources.
Once a month he preaches on the local radio station through the “Lion of Judah” program. Mark also preaches in youth rallies and revivals upon request at no charge. Their vision is to see true spiritual awakening come to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky and to the nation.
Contact information:
Email: driskill@hilbillymail.com
Facebook: Mark Driskill
Address: PO Box 1159 Jackson KY.