Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14, NKJV)
We as a congregation have been brought by the Lord to one of the most amazing places a congregation can go to—we have been given the opportunity to make a “narrow gate” decision! Few find it… After 27 years of Holy Spirit revival and restoration in our church community, we have come, by God’s Grace, to a divide in the road of epic proportions…
Many congregations are blindly and blissfully going the wrong way because it is simpler, wider, more popular, and easier to travel. Many haven’t a clue, and frankly don’t care, as long as people—and money--keep coming. The wide way is popular because it requires so little in the way of leadership, vision, or Holy Spirit’s input. Programs and performances take the place of the Presence of Holy God. The wide gate is just that—wide, easy, “cool” …and terribly shallow.
God has brought us to the road less traveled. He has equipped us to make the right decision—though it may seem hard at the onset. Isn’t that the point? Choosing the Narrow Way—the Way of His Fire, requires a level of faith and obedience not needed—or wanted—on the Wide.
He has led us and given us a vision of what life on the Narrow Path looks like for us. He is entrusting us to be a Center of Apostolic and Prophetic and Evangelistic Fire. Word, Worship, and Life Groups will become even more central to who we are. Being a center of healing and restoration by the Holy Spirit requires all of us to grow even closer as a Church Family and to utilize the full array of Gifts He has placed in us collectively.
The Fire on the Narrow Path will not just burn here in our local setting. This is a Fire the Lord has called us to take to the Nation around us—the Appalachian Nation. This indeed is a Narrow Path; few have desired to go this way, preferring the wide and easy path of wealthier cities and denser populations. But God has always perused the poor and the outcast, who are usually more open to receiving Him for who He is, rather than trying to make Him fit in a comfortable wide-road lifestyle…
We have come to the fork in the road. We cannot choose both ways, and we dare not choose what appears to be the easiest way. What the Lord has in store for us down the Narrow Path is exciting beyond words. Fires of healings…Fires of conversions…Fires of addictions broken…Fires of marriages healed…Fires of communities restored… ALL BECAUSE WE TOOK OUR EYES OFF OURSELVES AND CHOSE TO GO DOWN THE LORD’S PATH RATHER THAN THE EASY WAY…!
The Narrow Way requires us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. It requires us to lay aside the sin that so easily ensnares us. The Narrow Gate calls us to a life in Jesus miles beyond the wide and shallow. He has prepared us. We are ready. Let’s turn right together and go HIS way!!!