Vulture Culture.

“I am the Lord, your Holy One, the one who created Israel, your king.” (Isaiah 43:15)

“You say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town…” (Matthew 23:30,34)

The Lord knows our hearts. Jesus openly condemned the Pharisees and scribes of His day for their heritage of killing the prophets of God. They were on a merry-go-round of sorts:

The Lord would send His unalterable word to a prophet.
The prophet would convey the word of the Lord to the people.
The leaders of the people would plot to threaten, jail, or kill the prophet.
The Lord would send His unalterable word to another prophet.
That prophet would convey the word of the Lord to the people.
The leaders of the people would plot to threaten, jail, or kill the prophet.
And so on.

Enter Bronx Bethany.

We, like the apostle Paul, are sometimes surrounded with those who are opposed to the work of God moving forward:

Demons. Unseen spiritual forces of evil which seek to undermine the word of God and make it of no effect. This is attempted through distraction, or through competing interests that take one’s focus away from doing the thing that God has said.

Vultures. Reverend Ronald gave us a powerful analogy of vultures as those who are not direct participants in the failure of a project, but who remain in the church and eagerly await its demise so that they can rejoice in its failure.

Isaiah 43:15 reminds us that it is the Lord who sets the agenda for His people. It is He who defeated the armies of ancient Egypt. It is He who promised fruitfulness for the barren; streams for the desert; roadways in the wilderness. It is the Lord who has instructed us to forget the good things of the past, so that we will have the capacity to receive the better things He has planned for our future.

The demon will say that other things hold more interest and deserve more attention than God’s agenda.
The vulture will say that not even God can supersede the past glory of our church.
The prophet will say, Increase your borders. Let down your nets for a great catch. Prepare for harvest.

What will you say?