Crossing the Jordan

You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; (Psalms 88:8—NASB)
The Lord’s Prisons. One of the first sermons I preached when beginning to serve as a pastor of Mount Zion Fellowship had to do with following Christ patiently. I felt in my spirit that the Charismatic movement would be divided over the issue of waiting on the Lord; of choosing patient suffering rather than being used mightily or otherwise exalted.
The majority of the movement would seek the power of Christ, attempting to do “great things.” The minority would cease from their own works and wait in the Lord’s prison, patiently bearing their cross after Christ until Jesus saw fit to act. What I have seen over the last thirty years has confirmed my impression.
It may be true that the fundamental principle of the Kingdom of God is that life comes from death, not from life. We think of Christ’s resurrection, of Aaron’s rod that budded, of the Apostle Paul’s seemingly endless suffering.
Isn’t it true that Samson killed more in his death than he did in his life?
But life coming only from death is repugnant to the adamic nature. We see through Christian history that believers have sought to bear witness of Christ by building ornate cathedrals or developing their own plans to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth. But this is not God’s way.