When I finally heard the real message of the Cross, losing to gain, dying to live in my weakness and inability to do anything apart from Him, I was set free indeed. That was four years ago right here on Facebook when I found Rich Novek on my list of friends. I had 19 people on that list and the only one I wasn't familiar with was Rich. Being new to Facebook, I thought it was a dangerous place out here in this great big world wide web, and nearly deleted him as a possible axe murderer. Wasn't everybody? My mother told me never talk to strangers and Rich was definitely a stranger. That delete button was a serious consideration until I began seeing articles he was writing about losing my life to gain Only Christ as my "real" and "entire" Life. Over the many years of trying and failing to live the Christian life I had pretty much given up in utter exhaustion. I had enough church experience to know that I was a complete and total failure in the eyes of an angry God. As hard as I tried to get "closer to God" by trying to spend quality time, being in the word and tithing and watching the world crumble around my feet, the only thing I could look to was the day He would "rapture" me out of this dreadful hopeless place. That's when Rich's writing began showing me my true identity. I began to see my utter failure and weakness as the very place my Heavenly Father would show up in His fulness. Once God began to raise His Hope, Faith and Life In me, it became my life's quest to see the Words God was writing through Rich available to others. That's when I asked if I could be a part of his "Rich IN Christ" ministry.
It is clear that God has placed on Rich's heart a message Who's time has come. The Church/Body of Christ must "hear" what the Spirit of God is saying and has been saying for the ages, which is the mystery hidden for generations, Christ In you, the hope of glory. I don't think it's too far fetched to recognize this message has fallen on the heart of this one (and perhaps a very few others) saint as one crying in the wilderness. Behold the Kingdom of God is at hand. Old things (sin, separation, condemnation) have passed away and all things "are" become new (Christ's Living In and Through His people) by the Faith of the Son of God. For this Truth, Way and Life, there is no room for any law to exist as something we still must adhere to. Yes, he wants one hundred percent of our hearts. He wants
EVERYTHING we have and everything we think belongs to us.
The tithe? Replaced with "Freely we have been given, freely we give." The rapture? Perhaps. But for now, we contain the Son. "I came that they may have Life (My Life) and Life Abundant".
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:18
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