THE CHURCH HAS LOST ITS HEAD by Mary Lloyd.

Someone said to me once, “If I knew who you really were, I would
probably not like you”.

My heart was searching for the Lord. I was in my room and feeling the
sweep of the sorrow of unworthiness and despair. To my surprise He drew
close, and I sensed the heavy weight of His peace begin to spread
through me against my rising anxieties, against my logic and in spite of
my condition. The peace of God that passes all understanding, for sure.

That peace I need and you need and in the days to come no other peace
will do. That peace is a promise. I need you to know if He is continuing
to give it to me, He certainly will do the same for you. He is comfort
when there is no other. He lives in the Truth and sees us as we are, and
in spite of this, His love and His promises never fail.

While I was in that place I felt Him before I began to see Him. I felt a
compassion like a great warm sea. A tenderness without a limit. A
knowing love and acceptance and great gathering beautiful
heartbreakingly kindly and merciful presence right there with me where
no words could speak.

I felt an encouragement within me to yield to Him.

And then I began to see Him.

But I saw Him standing and a white robe was on Him, and there was blood
dripping down on the lower part of Him, where I saw His hand. The hand
held His head, by the hair, low down, way too low down from where it
should be, bleeding at the neck.

I realised He was showing me the Body of Christ, the Church.

The body of Christ has removed His head and holds it way down with her
own hand. There is bloodshed. What does that mean?

It means she is killing herself. It means she is taking authority into
her own hands and removing the Kingship of Christ. It means she is
claiming to have the authority of Christ while denying Him, while
executing Him, while esteeming Him low and beneath her.

She has raised up a haughty neck of pride above Him, an idol of
self-praise where she has seated the authority that should be His.

His authority is in all lowliness and meekness and gentleness and
humility. His authority is the love of man, tireless and self
sacrificial. His authority is in the compassion that knows no bounds.
His authority is what can melt a heart of stone.

The church makes religious statements and calls it authority. She quotes
Bible verses and calls it authority. She institutes leaderships and
calls it authority. She plans programmes and fills her days with
activities not to be tampered with and calls it authority. She sends out
prophecies and calls it authority. She writes great masterpieces of
theology and calls it authority.

The world and I need to know the authority that is Jesus Christ. When
the church begins to feel His Kingship, and to desire to place Him above
all her haughty designs, she will have His authority once more. But she
will not have it through pride. It must come through sorrow and through
brokenness.

The church and I need brokenness and sorrow, and when we will truly feel
the love of Christ in our needy place, we will know Who He Is, and fall
at His feet.

When we know Who He Is like this the world will know that we have been
with Him.

And we will love the people that come to us: we will no longer shed
their blood. We will not turn them away because Jesus could not do that
to us. And because we know that He does not despise us, however we look,
whatever we have done, however bad we smell, whatever the secret
perversions of our human thoughts, and whatever shape our human failure
takes.

When the church in all humility will love with the love of Christ, He
will be once again her Head. Once again it will be His authority, and
not ours, so stiff-necked and haughty. The church will once again be “in
her right mind”: the mind of Christ.

And the power of His love

Will pierce the darkness of pain and sorrow

And melt the hearts of stone.

Love from Mary