The New Book is Out!—Purified: Christ’s Bride Made Ready

Get it here! The electronic version is free on Amazon or your favorite e-book supplier, because it belongs to God, and He wants anyone to be able to get it. If you want a book you can touch or want your church to get ahold of it, you can buy a print copy through Amazon. The audiobook should be out by January's end for all you busy people!

I tell you what, when you listen to God's voice, He'll surprise you—sometimes with a book! He's the great mystery after all, the wonder from which all wonders spring, and His thoughts are as high above ours as the heavens are above the earth. I try to make it a habit to listen in quiet prayer before Him with the Bible open regularly, and this year He had a lot to say! One day while I was in between jobs and getting away with my family from a tough situation by going to the beach for a day, He arrested my attention in prayer in the hotel lobby and told me He had a book on His heart. I didn't know what all it was going to contain, but I knew it was about the Western Church, and it was aimed at revival. In the ensuing months, He gave me His Word, and I collected it and spoke it into being in my own words, but the end result is very much a product of our partnership. I hope that more of it came from the Prince (of peace) than from the pauper (me).

As you contemplate diving into Purified, you might want to know what to expect. Let’s begin with some verses from Isaiah 1, where we’ll find God’s heart in commissioning the writing of this book:

“’What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?’ says the Lord; ‘I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord: ‘though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” — Isaiah 1:12-20, ESV, emphasis mine

This passage expresses God’s thoughts for His people, Israel, as they faced impending judgment for ignoring His commands. They were doing their religious duty, having events, making sacrifices, and offering prayers, but God was not remotely pleased with them. As Jesus said using some of Isaiah’s words, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9). They were going through the motions, but their heart wasn’t in it. And God deserves more. Because they were dishonoring God, judgment was promised if they didn’t repent. As always, though, God offered hope. They could change the way they lived and change their heart towards God, and they would see their land blessed, judgment averted, and their sins forgiven.

God has been impressing on my heart for years the reality that His Church in the West (and every individual member of it) has come to a time of decision. Like ancient Israel, we must decide whether we are really committed to this covenant with God that we say we’ve made. He is committed to us who believe, but are we committed to Him? He is bound by love to correct us if we are not. He could cast us off, but instead, He disciplines us for our good. Are we bringing iniquity (ongoing, willful sin) to our solemn assemblies (church gatherings)? Are our mouths drawing near to God in praise while our hearts are far from Him in truth? Does He own us, and is that clear to the watching world? I’ll tell you this: the answer had better be a firm “yes” or “no” to each of these questions. Jesus isn’t interested in “maybe.” He speaks in Revelation 3:15-16 to a “lukewarm” church, and His words are chilling: “I know your works…because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

Do we want to hear this from Jesus? Certainly not! But we can’t expect God to keep listening to our prayers and blessing our lives when we care nothing for His kingdom. Thankfully, Jesus offers us hope a few verses later: “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:18-19). It’s time to be purified, and this book is our guide. If you will make the effort to meet with God and be changed, and if others will do the same all across the West, we will see the Church rise like the sun to give light to all in the house, and the world will see the work of our God and give Him glory on the last day.

**Please keep in mind that Purified contains God's heart for His people in our time. When you read it, read it as though God were speaking to you. I have not tried to give you opinions on interesting subjects. I have tried to my utmost to bequeath to you the warnings and promises of God found in His Word that apply to His people in the Western world at this moment in history, though my role in the process has doubtless muddled what God wished to communicate through the work.

As you begin, please don’t treat the book as something to “breeze through” or “skim.” I have written it to be accessible and easy to read (I hope) to all readers, so it should flow well enough, but the points made are weighty and worthy of deep consideration. In all reality, this is a piece of devotional literature, but it is not laid out in a daily devotional format*, because it is also a body of truth that needs to be conveyed in totality in order for the full message to be received. Go slowly, listening and asking God questions, as though He were speaking to you. Consider reading this (or rereading it) in times of quiet prayer before God with an open Bible. If you want to gain the fruit I believe God intended this work to produce, then you need to take some time with it. Think of it like courtship. You need to get to know God better, and this book can help you do that, but it takes time. Love ought not to be rushed.