We know that demonic influence is dangerous. It causes people to throw themselves in the fire, to contort, to levitate, to vomit, to cause people to get away from you.
This is seen when people under demonic influence begin to create artificial distances from others. In families I have known people to reject their family name, to change their birth name out of rebellion, to reject those who protected them and brought them up.
Demons will cause people to hide in caves, connect with like minded destructive behaviors. There were TWO demoniacs in Gaderra. Matthew 8:28. When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two
demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent
that no one could pass that way.
We know that addicts will often band together.
Demonic activity is often when people identify themselves as OTHER than all others. This is seen with teenagers sometimes. Goth and other things was like this. Sometimes they surround music groups. Sometimes they are part of an identity group like white supremacists or Black Lives Matter. If they continue on this path without deliverance they become "A Man Without a Country". Alone. Lost. Abandoned. It's all a lie designed to destroy the saints.
The rejection of things without intent to harm will cause the demon oppressed to build walls between themselves and everyone else and then complain that there are walls between them and everyone else. It's how demons do it. They want you all by yourself, cut off, feeling rejected.
This takes is a strong prophetic voice. One which can cast out this demon that is born of a spirit of rejection. We see this in our culture all the time. Symbolism becomes more important than solutions. The capacity for frustration when the symbolism fails to manifest change creates more distance. So they withdraw by the power of the demon and live in a graveyard of empty promises.
This has been true in every nation, every culture. There are malcontents who decide to push against the goads until they are injured. The demons use people who think they are doing good, when in fact the Devil sees them as useful to his cause. Division and distance is the desire of the demonic. Jim Jones kept people separate. And killed hundreds.
We have such a thing going on in the national conversation, to a person who has discernment the fingerprints of satan are all over these things. People find themselves marginalized, divided, discouraged and eventually lost. They become like some of those strange freaks you see who overdo piercings and tattoos all over their faces until they have successfully separated themselves unto only others who are as equally destroyed.
Is there hope? Yes, like Jesus at Gaderra, we must call out the names of those who are causing these divisions and cast them out. Not only spiritually but identifying them aloud. Help those most susceptible to know when this spirit is on the march.
Paul the Apostle knowing such men and women existed were causing problems, gave this admonition to the Romans:
Romans 16:
17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep your eyes on those who cause dissensions and create obstacles or
introduce temptations [for others] to commit sin, [acting in ways]
contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. Turn away from them. 18 For
such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites and
base desires. By smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of
the unsuspecting [the innocent and the naive].
Be ready to identify and call out those who are intent on destroying unity and creating division. They are of the DEVIL and sometimes they win. Look around you, we have such now in our culture.
A weak and foolish one God uses to confound the worldly wise. Purpose commissioned from the Throne: To speak encouragement to leaders, to speak clarity to those in influence, to speak of things to come, to speak clearly against those who would others and to reveal the Heart of a Matter when it causes confusion. Sometimes interpreted by some to be a "Troubler of Israel". I only say what God says, that which I hear from the Throne
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Discovering the Fountain of Youth
The story of a magical potion, fountain or scheme to have eternal youth is as old as humanity itself. Ponce de Leon thought he had discovered it in St Augustine Florida.
Stories like Oscar Wilde's story the Picture of Dorian Gray are part of this myth.
The quest for the Holy Grail was a key in the mythology. The movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was a Holy Grail story.
So when someone says there IS a Fountain of Youth.. there better be a good reason to say so. There is.
Read on.
First let me explain the rules. You can have access to the fountain of youth IF you believe. Not me. Believe what Father God says about it. I am not denying that you won't die...eventually. It is appointed unto man. I'm not even saying you won't age. We all do. I am saying we don't have to accept what the world says to us. That every drug advertisement telling us that the key to solving this or that issue in our body or brain is chemical. There are things we can do that help, but none so efficacious as grasping what the word of the creator of you body says.
Here's a familiar passage Isaiah 40
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. 29 He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound]. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; 31 But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
Waiting? That means you look to HIM. You focus your hope in HIM. You exchange your hope in your own ability and methods and change to hoping in Him. Now here is the challenge, is this true? Do you know that is Father's plant and purpose for you? I am not denying age and difficulty, I am denying they are the purpose and plan of God for YOU. His will is that you outlive Thee Score and Ten and live to an age like MOSES did. 120 years and according to the word of God he was strong as ever. How about his lieutenant Caleb who at 80 years was ready to go to war to take his mountain? We are not talking ancient Methuselah history here, we are talking modern man. You have the same genes and life blood that Moses did. You can be who he was. You can live and die like Moses:
Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.
We don't understand the Fountain of Youth Benefit package in Psalm 103: 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits—5 Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!
Your age and situation is not irrelevant, it just doesn't have to be accepted without question. You can still be verdant and strong spiritually and physically in old age.
Psalm 92
14 [Growing
in grace] they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be
full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of trust,
love, and contentment].
15 [They are living memorials] to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to His promises; He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.I don't know about you but I want to be a LIVING MEMORIAL to grace and vitality in God.
Our access to these promises of Youth Renewal must be Mixed with Faith.
Hebrews 4:1-3
Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [[a]to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it. 2 For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe). 3 For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest, in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, "As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world."
That's pretty rough. Yet, the word says if we want to enter into the peace and prosperity of health, long life and a good end, we must mix our desire with faith. The word is for YOU today. You can have a Fountain of Youth... and when you finally step from time into eternity, it will be a seamless transition. I promise you will never be more youthful than you will in that day.
Finally, to access this you must access the Grace of God. HOW? By having Faith in God, not faith in keeping rules and regulations, Not methods, not by some earthly discipline. It's good to eat healthy, to live right, to deal with situations even if it requires a doctor, but if you ponder the first four verses of Romans 4, you start to see a pattern. You don't access all these promises listed above by doing, you access them by being a person who trusts God's grace. Grace is Free but our Faith is a response.
From the message. Romans 4:4 The fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backward. He is our faith father.
The message of all this is clear.. be like Spock, Live Long and Prosper. That was a promise from a Vulcan who eventually died.. according to a movie at least. The real promise of Live Long and Prosper is given to you by the creator of the complete universe and the one intimately acquainted with every cell in your body.
Take a deep breath and give thanks.. for HE IS GOOD AND HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Father's View of the Presidential Candidates and he says "prepare for disappointment"
Reading this today was like the Lord saying, "This is how I see these two people running for office". I won't editorialize.. but if you read this, think about them, and the kinds of people who are going to vote for them... there is great caution here. THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD
Proverbs 13 New Living Translation (NLT) Abridged by Gene
2 Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence. 3 Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything. 4 Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper. 5 The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace. 6 Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin. 7 Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor. 9 The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. 11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. 13 People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed. 14 The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death. 15 A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction. 16 Wise people think before they act; fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness. 17 An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing. 18 If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored. 19 It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them. 20 Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. 21 Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous. 23 A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away. 24 Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.
25 The godly eat to their hearts’ content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.
This much I can promise you, about half of all Americans who vote in November's election are going to be tragically disappointed. They have set themselves up for it. Everything they know and feel says this will be a great victory. They parse every news feed and program. They are living in a bubble. They have their bias confirmed. SEE they say. SEE.. my candidate is going to win.
Here's the truth... half of you will face a hard time after the election is over. You need to hear the word of the Lord for yourself. It's time to prepare for disappointment. Read what the word of the Lord says:
God has a plan, he is using these things to accomplish his purpose.
Proverbs 13 New Living Translation (NLT) Abridged by Gene
2 Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence. 3 Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything. 4 Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper. 5 The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace. 6 Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin. 7 Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor. 9 The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out. 11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time. 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. 13 People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed. 14 The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death. 15 A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction. 16 Wise people think before they act; fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness. 17 An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing. 18 If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored. 19 It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them. 20 Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. 21 Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous. 23 A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away. 24 Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.
25 The godly eat to their hearts’ content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.
This much I can promise you, about half of all Americans who vote in November's election are going to be tragically disappointed. They have set themselves up for it. Everything they know and feel says this will be a great victory. They parse every news feed and program. They are living in a bubble. They have their bias confirmed. SEE they say. SEE.. my candidate is going to win.
Here's the truth... half of you will face a hard time after the election is over. You need to hear the word of the Lord for yourself. It's time to prepare for disappointment. Read what the word of the Lord says:
God has a plan, he is using these things to accomplish his purpose.
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts
higher than your thoughts.” –Isaiah 55:8-9
Even as you feel abandoned and upset.. .God is NEAR to you.
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed
in spirit. -Psalm 34:18
Learn to grieve then learn to cope. It's hard but there is an end to the pain...
Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the
morning. -Psalm 30:5
You may have a burden you weren't meant to carry. Trusting in a person is a curse. You won't fall.
Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. -Psalm 55:22
There is a peace that passes your ability to understand. Find it and harness it. It will guard your heart
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience
God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard
your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. -Philippians 4:6-7
As you grieve, do so in privately. It's good to allow the pain to be laid on HIM. Others can't help.
But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind
you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything,
will reward you. -Matthew 6:6
Waiting takes courage. Yet it means your patience is rewarded.
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes,
wait patiently for the Lord. -Psalms 27:14
Even this day can be rejoiced in.. even as disappointing as it is.
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be
glad in it. -Psalm 118:24
Thank God for EVERYTHING.. that's hard... but try.
Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always
giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Ephesians 5:19b-20
Don't be worn out by grief and pain. Trust God for better.
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is
the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or
weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to
the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will
find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and
not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. -Isaiah 40:28-31
Even if hope is deferred, even if your candidate loses or wins.. it must not cause you to grieve without God. Rest in HIM alone.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing
fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12
I still won't tell you how it will all come out. Consider, for some it will be horrid news and for others a confirmation that will produce triumphalism unhealthy. Rest in this.. Father knows and he is revealing to his prophets. Some are not prophets... some are promoters. Just rest..
Thursday, August 25, 2016
God's Wrecking Ball
I know this man, he's a good one. I respect his opinion and his prophetic bent.
I may not see perfectly eye to eye.. but THIS is worth the read. God's Wrecking Ball
A mutual friend made this comment:
"Many Christians are having a hard time getting behind Trump. That’s perfectly understandable. Most of us want a President who is like our pastor. That preference assumes that God wants to accomplish the kind of work a pastor is equipped to do.
But what if He intends to do a different type of work? It seems better, perhaps to look at the kind of instrument God chooses and let the instrument inform us of us what He intends to do.
If God chooses a hammer, the work He intends to do may require driving nails. If He chooses a broom, it may involve sweeping up a mess. And if a man seems to be a wrecking ball, the work he needs to do may require some demolition."
I may not see perfectly eye to eye.. but THIS is worth the read. God's Wrecking Ball
A mutual friend made this comment:
"Many Christians are having a hard time getting behind Trump. That’s perfectly understandable. Most of us want a President who is like our pastor. That preference assumes that God wants to accomplish the kind of work a pastor is equipped to do.
But what if He intends to do a different type of work? It seems better, perhaps to look at the kind of instrument God chooses and let the instrument inform us of us what He intends to do.
If God chooses a hammer, the work He intends to do may require driving nails. If He chooses a broom, it may involve sweeping up a mess. And if a man seems to be a wrecking ball, the work he needs to do may require some demolition."
Word from the Lord about the President to come..
I am not going to name the name. I am hearing correctly. I keep being asked what I am hearing. I won't be one of those prophets who seems to be getting on board with someone. In the flesh I have a bias. That's no secret. In the Spirit it's something else. What I must do is prepare you for what is to come AFTER the election.
For that reason I am not going to tell you what I know to be true.
I will tell you this:
I can tell you this that this person who will be elected will not change the cultural circumstance that has brought us to this point in history.
The next crisis is already underway.. and it will be worse than we think. Be prepared as much as you can be. Love your children. Make friends with your neighbors. Look at failed nations around the world and ask yourself, can this happen here? It already has begun. We do not yet have failed states but we have failed cities. That manner of corrupt leadership will expand until there is no reversal.
God has a plan for this nation. It's not what people are promising. It's not what we hope. It is a plan with an outcome.. in the future. People love to point to Jeremiah 29 "For I know the plans I have for you..." We love that passage. Yet you must read the whole prophetic letter to understand what the Lord was saying to them. Link Here.
The plans that the Lord had for them included this news:
Then he tells them to ignore the prophets who are telling them all kinds of "We're gonna get out of here soon". He tells them they are false prophets who need to be ignored. In fact He even tells them that He will have them turned over to King Nebuchadnezzar for execution because they are false prophets and they were committing adultery. He also has a series of really bad news for them. They Zedekiah and Ahab were burned alive in execution. The worst is that not only the Prophets suffered for their presumption, but their families as well. There were other false prophets as well and as cursed.
He tells them that after 70 years he will restore to them everything they lost and bring them home. There is a promise of restoration we need to hear.
This is the word of the Lord to the USA today as well. Get used to the situation. It's gonna be a long bumpy ride to get back to the land we once loved.
For that reason I am not going to tell you what I know to be true.
I will tell you this:
- Much will be revealed before this national decision is made.
- Those who candidates thought they could depend upon will abandon them. Disloyalty will reign.
- The lack integrity from the media, government and even the candidates themselves will create a vacuum that only God can fill.
- God is doing something in this election. Hope in a person is becoming a curse.
- The future of our whole system of governance is in a state of flux. When the next president takes the oath of Office in January... half of the nation will groan, half will celebrate.
- The divisions in our nation will intensify. Unity will not be able to be restored without spiritual rebirth.
- Corrupted minds will be revealed.
I can tell you this that this person who will be elected will not change the cultural circumstance that has brought us to this point in history.
The next crisis is already underway.. and it will be worse than we think. Be prepared as much as you can be. Love your children. Make friends with your neighbors. Look at failed nations around the world and ask yourself, can this happen here? It already has begun. We do not yet have failed states but we have failed cities. That manner of corrupt leadership will expand until there is no reversal.
God has a plan for this nation. It's not what people are promising. It's not what we hope. It is a plan with an outcome.. in the future. People love to point to Jeremiah 29 "For I know the plans I have for you..." We love that passage. Yet you must read the whole prophetic letter to understand what the Lord was saying to them. Link Here.
The plans that the Lord had for them included this news:
- They weren't coming home any time soon. Not for 70 years.
- He told them to settle down. Build a house, Unpack your suitcase. You are stuck.
- Plant a garden, produce your own food. Get ready for a long siege.
- Have lots of children and have your children get married and have children. Increase, don't waste away. Grow where you are planted.
- Work hard to see to it the captors over you do well. Support them. Their prosperity will be your prosperity.
- AND HERE'S THE KICKER. GOD HIMSELF sent them into exile.
Then he tells them to ignore the prophets who are telling them all kinds of "We're gonna get out of here soon". He tells them they are false prophets who need to be ignored. In fact He even tells them that He will have them turned over to King Nebuchadnezzar for execution because they are false prophets and they were committing adultery. He also has a series of really bad news for them. They Zedekiah and Ahab were burned alive in execution. The worst is that not only the Prophets suffered for their presumption, but their families as well. There were other false prophets as well and as cursed.
He tells them that after 70 years he will restore to them everything they lost and bring them home. There is a promise of restoration we need to hear.
This is the word of the Lord to the USA today as well. Get used to the situation. It's gonna be a long bumpy ride to get back to the land we once loved.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
A Place of Peace
There is a great deal of concern (which I share) regarding what our future as a church, a nation, a people will look like after the upcoming election. I find solace in this passage... I hope you will too.
Romans 8:35-39 Amplified Bible (AMP)
35 Who shall ever separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written and forever remains written,
“For Your sake we are put to death all day long;
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39 Amplified Bible (AMP)
35 Who shall ever separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written and forever remains written,
“For Your sake we are put to death all day long;
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved us [so much that He died for us]. 38 For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Friday, August 19, 2016
Prophecy: God Sent Donald Trump to Wage War Against Destructive Spirits — Charisma News
I didn't write this. I'm not sure of the prophetic veracity of it. But it is an interesting read... and I do look for the spirit of God in the writing.
By Lance Wallnau
is a catalytic thought leader. An internationally recognized speaker
and business consultant, he is one of the premiere speakers on the
subject of cultural transformation and the seven mountains. He delivers
his message of transformation with relevance, wit and intensity. Find him on lancewallnau.com.
Prophecy: God Sent Donald Trump to Wage War Against Destructive Spirits — Charisma News
By Lance Wallnau
The man sitting across from me at lunch represents the gold
standard of evangelical believers in Texas. We were discussing his
future. He is retiring from a huge corporation where he oversees a $3
billion budget. As our conversation turned to politics, he surprised me.
His voice lowered as he leaned toward me, sharing how much he wrestled
over the moral conflict of voting for either candidate, Hillary or
Trump. "I wanted to tell you," he confided, "I was not sure what I would
do till I heard you speak about Cyrus and Trump. As I heard what you
said, I had peace." Read this and let it minister to you.
standard of evangelical believers in Texas. We were discussing his
future. He is retiring from a huge corporation where he oversees a $3
billion budget. As our conversation turned to politics, he surprised me.
His voice lowered as he leaned toward me, sharing how much he wrestled
over the moral conflict of voting for either candidate, Hillary or
Trump. "I wanted to tell you," he confided, "I was not sure what I would
do till I heard you speak about Cyrus and Trump. As I heard what you
said, I had peace." Read this and let it minister to you.
The
media assault on Trump is unprecedented. Political analyst Pat Caddell
says, "This is the crisis of democracy—the mainstream media, which is in
the tank in the most violent way against Donald Trump, and for Hillary
Clinton, that I have ever seen in the 45 years that I have been at the
top of presidential politics."
media assault on Trump is unprecedented. Political analyst Pat Caddell
says, "This is the crisis of democracy—the mainstream media, which is in
the tank in the most violent way against Donald Trump, and for Hillary
Clinton, that I have ever seen in the 45 years that I have been at the
top of presidential politics."
Caddell added, "And it is
terrifying ... Not just that they're for Hillary, and telling us that
Trump is evil, and my God, no human being could possibly vote for him;
it is what they are omitting, the facts that they will not tell the
American people."
terrifying ... Not just that they're for Hillary, and telling us that
Trump is evil, and my God, no human being could possibly vote for him;
it is what they are omitting, the facts that they will not tell the
American people."
Let my account provide an alternative
viewpoint. I am thankful to Steve Strang for the courage to publish this
potentially controversial piece. First, I am not after the role of
Trump apologist. He is not a perfect man or a flawless candidate. I
don't know how he can compensate for so deeply alienating the Cruzes and
Kasichs and Bushes, whose help and infrastructure he needs. Which leads
to my second point: Without a grass roots mobilization of believers to
get out those who never voted before, it's hard to see how he can
overcome the Clinton machine and hit the numbers he needs.
viewpoint. I am thankful to Steve Strang for the courage to publish this
potentially controversial piece. First, I am not after the role of
Trump apologist. He is not a perfect man or a flawless candidate. I
don't know how he can compensate for so deeply alienating the Cruzes and
Kasichs and Bushes, whose help and infrastructure he needs. Which leads
to my second point: Without a grass roots mobilization of believers to
get out those who never voted before, it's hard to see how he can
overcome the Clinton machine and hit the numbers he needs.
In spite of all that, I believe I've heard God.
You
have to wonder: What is it about this man, Trump, that unhinges
liberals, media, academia and the establishment class in politics? This
is more than an issue of personal style. There is a spiritual storm
surrounding this election. Those who see Donald as a hateful, unstable,
shallow, blusterous billionaire need to consider whether they are
responding to the man and what he actually says or reacting to a
caricature of the man. Barak Obama deliberately ran as a blank canvas
that voters could paint on to make him become what they wanted him to
be. Trump is the opposite. He is in some strange way a mirror that
reflects back whatever you are. Some people "get" him and others don't,
and those who don't never will. But if he is a mirror, what does it tell
us about the American left when they burn our flag, smash police
vehicles and unleash violence and invective against peaceful gatherers
at Trump events?
have to wonder: What is it about this man, Trump, that unhinges
liberals, media, academia and the establishment class in politics? This
is more than an issue of personal style. There is a spiritual storm
surrounding this election. Those who see Donald as a hateful, unstable,
shallow, blusterous billionaire need to consider whether they are
responding to the man and what he actually says or reacting to a
caricature of the man. Barak Obama deliberately ran as a blank canvas
that voters could paint on to make him become what they wanted him to
be. Trump is the opposite. He is in some strange way a mirror that
reflects back whatever you are. Some people "get" him and others don't,
and those who don't never will. But if he is a mirror, what does it tell
us about the American left when they burn our flag, smash police
vehicles and unleash violence and invective against peaceful gatherers
at Trump events?
There is a spirit assigned to destroy
America. The strategy is laid bare if you read the 51-page democratic
platform. It's the manifesto Hillary is expected to enforce when she is
president. They call this revolution a "reset!" Read it for yourself.
Under Hillary, America will undergo the final phase of Obama's radical
socialist cultural transformation with astonishing speed. Just one man
stands in its path.
America. The strategy is laid bare if you read the 51-page democratic
platform. It's the manifesto Hillary is expected to enforce when she is
president. They call this revolution a "reset!" Read it for yourself.
Under Hillary, America will undergo the final phase of Obama's radical
socialist cultural transformation with astonishing speed. Just one man
stands in its path.
When I first heard Donald Trump
speak, he was returning from a trip to Iowa where he met "evangelicals."
Asked what he thought about them he replied, "Well, they're
interesting." He sounded like he had encountered a rare bird species
never seen in Manhattan.
With 15 candidates running, and many of
them strong Christians, it didn't seem likely that Mr. Trump, the
business man outsider, would go very far. But I heard the Lord say
something: "Donald Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of political
correctness." That was the first word I heard about him. Immediately I
began to wonder what God was doing. How far will Trump go? Could this
odd man out be the unpredictable instrument of God for a nation entering
what authors of The Fourth Turning call "the crucible," a cycle of American history where we are put to the ultimate test?
speak, he was returning from a trip to Iowa where he met "evangelicals."
Asked what he thought about them he replied, "Well, they're
interesting." He sounded like he had encountered a rare bird species
never seen in Manhattan.
With 15 candidates running, and many of
them strong Christians, it didn't seem likely that Mr. Trump, the
business man outsider, would go very far. But I heard the Lord say
something: "Donald Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of political
correctness." That was the first word I heard about him. Immediately I
began to wonder what God was doing. How far will Trump go? Could this
odd man out be the unpredictable instrument of God for a nation entering
what authors of The Fourth Turning call "the crucible," a cycle of American history where we are put to the ultimate test?
Donald's "P.C." Gift to America
When
I heard the words, "Donald Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of
political correctness," I sensed that this man was about to break up the
narrative driving the nation. Few people remember where we all were
when he showed up. The media was highlighting gender change with Kaitlin
Jenner, burning cities in Ferguson, and safe places on campuses. The
terms homophobia and islamophobia were being attached like a scarlet
letter on anyone who had concerns or convictions out of sync with
popular opinion. No politicians were talking about borders.
I heard the words, "Donald Trump is a wrecking ball to the spirit of
political correctness," I sensed that this man was about to break up the
narrative driving the nation. Few people remember where we all were
when he showed up. The media was highlighting gender change with Kaitlin
Jenner, burning cities in Ferguson, and safe places on campuses. The
terms homophobia and islamophobia were being attached like a scarlet
letter on anyone who had concerns or convictions out of sync with
popular opinion. No politicians were talking about borders.
While evangelicals were walking on eggshells, Trump took
over the conversation and dominated it ever since. Unlike any candidate
in electoral history, Trump has shaken up the establishment in media and
politics. Until Trump arrived, a handful of insiders held the
undisputed power to prop one contender up or take an unruly voice down.
As media found out, they can only break you if they make you. They
didn't make Donald.
over the conversation and dominated it ever since. Unlike any candidate
in electoral history, Trump has shaken up the establishment in media and
politics. Until Trump arrived, a handful of insiders held the
undisputed power to prop one contender up or take an unruly voice down.
As media found out, they can only break you if they make you. They
didn't make Donald.
Wrestling With God on the Way to New York
As I traveled to Trump Towers I wondered, how far will this wrecking ball go?
Why would God choose Trump when so many true conservatives and
Christians were already running? Is he an interruption to God's plan or
is the battle for America changing in a way we haven't caught up with?
Why would God choose Trump when so many true conservatives and
Christians were already running? Is he an interruption to God's plan or
is the battle for America changing in a way we haven't caught up with?
We've
been losing the culture war decisively for the last decade, largely
because we never knew how it was fought in the first place. Christians
(30-50 million) represent a sufficient number in America to impact the
nation. Why do we fail?
been losing the culture war decisively for the last decade, largely
because we never knew how it was fought in the first place. Christians
(30-50 million) represent a sufficient number in America to impact the
nation. Why do we fail?
I've researched this topic for
20 years and keep coming back to a conclusion my colleagues and I don't
like: Culture isn't shaped the way we thought. We assumed that culture
is a reflection of the values of the majority of the people. If you can
turn the majority, you can tip the culture. Or so we thought. The truth
is that culture is shaped by relatively few people, a remnant of elites
in proximity to power. This is why you can't evangelize a nation into
transformation. Christians already outnumber other groups but keep
losing influence. To put it in Christian terms, culture is shaped by a
remnant of gatekeepers who sit at the culture-shaping gates of
influence. This powerful elite is made up of dense overlapping networks
located and largely concentrated in the coastal cities (think the
Northeast and California) and distributed among the peak institutions of
government, law, academia, journalism, banking and
entertainment—institutions that touch us all. It's a revolutionary
distinction. Revival ignites from the bottom up, but cultural
reformation solidifies from the top down. You must occupy the gates!
20 years and keep coming back to a conclusion my colleagues and I don't
like: Culture isn't shaped the way we thought. We assumed that culture
is a reflection of the values of the majority of the people. If you can
turn the majority, you can tip the culture. Or so we thought. The truth
is that culture is shaped by relatively few people, a remnant of elites
in proximity to power. This is why you can't evangelize a nation into
transformation. Christians already outnumber other groups but keep
losing influence. To put it in Christian terms, culture is shaped by a
remnant of gatekeepers who sit at the culture-shaping gates of
influence. This powerful elite is made up of dense overlapping networks
located and largely concentrated in the coastal cities (think the
Northeast and California) and distributed among the peak institutions of
government, law, academia, journalism, banking and
entertainment—institutions that touch us all. It's a revolutionary
distinction. Revival ignites from the bottom up, but cultural
reformation solidifies from the top down. You must occupy the gates!
Christians
by and large are not concentrated in these heights. This explains why a
remnant in the progressive left has succeeded so radically since
President Obama came to power. Just as Jesus said, the people of this
world are shrewder in dealing with their own kind than are the people of
the light (Luke 16:8). Put simply, evangelicals and charismatics are a
large but disjointed group. We don't work together and we don't occupy
key "gates" in the high places of opinion shaping.
by and large are not concentrated in these heights. This explains why a
remnant in the progressive left has succeeded so radically since
President Obama came to power. Just as Jesus said, the people of this
world are shrewder in dealing with their own kind than are the people of
the light (Luke 16:8). Put simply, evangelicals and charismatics are a
large but disjointed group. We don't work together and we don't occupy
key "gates" in the high places of opinion shaping.
In spite of this, Trump sees this group as critically important.
So
why is he a threat? By putting America first and building a people
movement, Donald Trump becomes a wild card that messes up the elite
globalists' insider game. Whatever you bow to on the way up the mountain
controls you at the top. Hillary Clinton comes to the top of the
political mountain with 1,000 strings (attached to 30,000 missing
emails). Donald Trump comes with none. This is why the lawless Left and
establishment Republicans don't trust him. He's not tied into the
system.
Dr. Lance Wallnauwhy is he a threat? By putting America first and building a people
movement, Donald Trump becomes a wild card that messes up the elite
globalists' insider game. Whatever you bow to on the way up the mountain
controls you at the top. Hillary Clinton comes to the top of the
political mountain with 1,000 strings (attached to 30,000 missing
emails). Donald Trump comes with none. This is why the lawless Left and
establishment Republicans don't trust him. He's not tied into the
system.
is a catalytic thought leader. An internationally recognized speaker
and business consultant, he is one of the premiere speakers on the
subject of cultural transformation and the seven mountains. He delivers
his message of transformation with relevance, wit and intensity. Find him on lancewallnau.com.
Prophecy: God Sent Donald Trump to Wage War Against Destructive Spirits — Charisma News
The Highest Identity
There are a lot of things I can be identified as:
They all carry some weight with me. But they are simply things that help frame who I am. They are ways someone who knows me might use to describe me. That would offer some understanding that might try to pigeonhole me or perhaps make assumptions about me that may be right or wrong.
I don't identify by race. Human is as close as I come. Yet many people are pigeonholed by race identity. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Indian or some other. Of all things that are ways to understand ourselves and others, racial assumptions are the weakest. Yet it is the one the enemy uses most of all to capture us in ways that God never intended.
There is ONE identity that supersedes all others. It trumps anything anyone can say about me.. and if others try to identify you incorrectly, it supersedes that. This is the Highest Identity I have.
I am a Child of God. I am a Son of God. I am seated in Heavenly places. I am loved by God. I am His Friend. I am made Clean by the Blood of Jesus. I am never alone. I am blessed of God. I am a citizen of the Nation of God. I became one when I turned from my lost life and was Born Again.
Those things define my true Identity. All other things you might describe me as PALE in comparison.
And so for you.
- German
- Bison Fan
- Conservative
- Nurseryman
- American
- Businessman
- Christian
- Prophet
They all carry some weight with me. But they are simply things that help frame who I am. They are ways someone who knows me might use to describe me. That would offer some understanding that might try to pigeonhole me or perhaps make assumptions about me that may be right or wrong.
I don't identify by race. Human is as close as I come. Yet many people are pigeonholed by race identity. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Indian or some other. Of all things that are ways to understand ourselves and others, racial assumptions are the weakest. Yet it is the one the enemy uses most of all to capture us in ways that God never intended.
There is ONE identity that supersedes all others. It trumps anything anyone can say about me.. and if others try to identify you incorrectly, it supersedes that. This is the Highest Identity I have.
I am a Child of God. I am a Son of God. I am seated in Heavenly places. I am loved by God. I am His Friend. I am made Clean by the Blood of Jesus. I am never alone. I am blessed of God. I am a citizen of the Nation of God. I became one when I turned from my lost life and was Born Again.
Those things define my true Identity. All other things you might describe me as PALE in comparison.
And so for you.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Sanctioning Evil
The past few years and even the recent past in Milwaukee demonstrates something tragic. We are watching a cultural breakdown of society. We have sanctioned evil. People are looking for a solution but in all the wrong places. There are wrong efforts at a solution.
For some this mean we need law and order. Heavy policing. Police state tactics. High incarceration. Many who are voting for Donald Trump want to see this kind of police presence on the streets. Oh it will work for a little while but it becomes oppressive in a short while.
For others this means we have to "Understand" that we must be complicit in the outrage with money and policies in order to try to buy peace. The Ford foundation just gave millions of dollars to those who claim to represent a movement. It's hush money. It never works. It only creates a vicious cycle of more and more until there is no more. Nothing changes.
Government can't solve this. Liberal foundations can't do more than fuel the fires.
What makes it so difficult is those who are members of the communities going up in flames in Baltimore, Ferguson, St Louis, Milwaukee and Baton Rouge want what anyone wants, to live in peace and safety, to work, raise their kids, live life and not find themselves threatened by violence.
This is NOT the case in most of our cities in the USA. We are a violet society, but it is urban. People in small towns and distant suburbs don't live like this. Why?
Law and order must come from within. It can't be imposed and it can't be bought off. If you were to ask what outcome the movements like Black Lives Matter who has received a hundred million dollars hopes to accomplish, there is no answer. But they sure got enough money. It's all nebulous. Unmeasurable. Without form or function.
No there is only one hope and it's found on street corners of America in Churches, In schoolhouses and in homes. It will take a change of heart. A radical change of heart. A heart change that means most of what a 22 year old kid rioting in Milwaukee will have to be unlearned. Is it possible? Yes, with Jesus anything is possible, but it won't be easy. It can't be incremental. I must not be partial. It must be transformative.
The idea that society needs to change to become like misleaders in many movements keep saying is required is just like bowling without a scoreboard, wearing earplugs and with a curtain drawn across the lane. You throw the ball and expect others to tell you when you scored or what you need to do better. There is no measurable way to know when there is there when people say we have to get there.
This does not deny there are issues, it does deny that the ways we are trying to fix them are wrong.
The first place that needs to start to make a society of order that respects laws and each other is with the leadership. Pastors and spiritual leaders need to set aside their agendas. They need to care for and about the people they are ministering to.
Teachers and administrators need to focus on building a tranformative inculcation of right and wrong with the need to put the shopping cart back in the rack, to pick up the garbage you see lying around, to stay home after 11 at night, to fill their heads with things that will help them in the future. Schools are turning out people trained to lose in life.
Political leaders need to stop making excuses for violent acts. When something is out of line, it must be spoken about. Our current crop of politicians in Washington pour gasoline on the fire by words and actions.
The home is the key. Intense focus on raising good Godly seed starts by a family that IS. We don't have that. This goes back to spiritual leadership. Whatever we sanction and accept we replicate. We need to stop sanctioning aberrant behavior.
I know this seems impossible, but with the right leadership, it must happen or when society does collapses as it has in Venezuela we will reap a horrible whirlwind.
For some this mean we need law and order. Heavy policing. Police state tactics. High incarceration. Many who are voting for Donald Trump want to see this kind of police presence on the streets. Oh it will work for a little while but it becomes oppressive in a short while.
For others this means we have to "Understand" that we must be complicit in the outrage with money and policies in order to try to buy peace. The Ford foundation just gave millions of dollars to those who claim to represent a movement. It's hush money. It never works. It only creates a vicious cycle of more and more until there is no more. Nothing changes.
Government can't solve this. Liberal foundations can't do more than fuel the fires.
What makes it so difficult is those who are members of the communities going up in flames in Baltimore, Ferguson, St Louis, Milwaukee and Baton Rouge want what anyone wants, to live in peace and safety, to work, raise their kids, live life and not find themselves threatened by violence.
This is NOT the case in most of our cities in the USA. We are a violet society, but it is urban. People in small towns and distant suburbs don't live like this. Why?
Law and order must come from within. It can't be imposed and it can't be bought off. If you were to ask what outcome the movements like Black Lives Matter who has received a hundred million dollars hopes to accomplish, there is no answer. But they sure got enough money. It's all nebulous. Unmeasurable. Without form or function.
No there is only one hope and it's found on street corners of America in Churches, In schoolhouses and in homes. It will take a change of heart. A radical change of heart. A heart change that means most of what a 22 year old kid rioting in Milwaukee will have to be unlearned. Is it possible? Yes, with Jesus anything is possible, but it won't be easy. It can't be incremental. I must not be partial. It must be transformative.
The idea that society needs to change to become like misleaders in many movements keep saying is required is just like bowling without a scoreboard, wearing earplugs and with a curtain drawn across the lane. You throw the ball and expect others to tell you when you scored or what you need to do better. There is no measurable way to know when there is there when people say we have to get there.
This does not deny there are issues, it does deny that the ways we are trying to fix them are wrong.
The first place that needs to start to make a society of order that respects laws and each other is with the leadership. Pastors and spiritual leaders need to set aside their agendas. They need to care for and about the people they are ministering to.
Teachers and administrators need to focus on building a tranformative inculcation of right and wrong with the need to put the shopping cart back in the rack, to pick up the garbage you see lying around, to stay home after 11 at night, to fill their heads with things that will help them in the future. Schools are turning out people trained to lose in life.
Political leaders need to stop making excuses for violent acts. When something is out of line, it must be spoken about. Our current crop of politicians in Washington pour gasoline on the fire by words and actions.
The home is the key. Intense focus on raising good Godly seed starts by a family that IS. We don't have that. This goes back to spiritual leadership. Whatever we sanction and accept we replicate. We need to stop sanctioning aberrant behavior.
I know this seems impossible, but with the right leadership, it must happen or when society does collapses as it has in Venezuela we will reap a horrible whirlwind.
The Lord speaks of this: "Come let us reason together, my ways are higher than your ways, but your ways are meant to come up higher. Your sins are scarlet, but I can clean you completely. There is a way of the righteous, find it and walk in it. I will remove the lawless heart of stone from you replace it with a heart of flesh. I will fill you with MY Spirit, wash you with clean water and you will find new LIFE in me."We must start to call evil what it is, and call what is good.. GOOD.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Facing the END (Redux)
This was published January 1, 2014
I have been hearing from the Lord so I can now tell you what is happening prophetically. The fact that it comes at at this point in history is not accidental.
NONE of what I am about to reveal has anything to do at all with end times. That is another issue. In the end notes of this book are some things written where I explain what I know about the end times.
Don’t let certain end time positions veer you off the path of hearing what the spirit of the Lord is saying to his people right now.
We must face the end of this time and the beginning of the next with faith not fear. That is the will of God concerning you.
Read what HE is saying right now… to you.
Facing the end of what we have been living – our life
Prophetic History is never linear. It is circular. Where we are on the great wheel of history helps us understand the past present and future. The Jewish mind in the time of the ancient writings saw history as a cycle.
Our western linear thinking makes us think that things must be future based, they are, but they are simply repeats of what has been. That's why scripture is so helpful to understand the times and seasons. There are events that foretell where things are on the great cycle. One thing is certain; Israel, spiritual and natural (Chosen People) is a key in understanding the benchmarks prophetically. It is a conundrum.
God's plan shoots like an arrow thru history, yet the cycle is how we grasp eternal truths. It's a convergence of eternal truth and humanities propensity to fall. Pagan peoples always embraced the cycle. Too many Christians have ignored the cycle and only embraced the arrow which points to an end time, a final conflict, a rapture, an event culminating in the coming of the Lord. It's a difficult thing to reconcile the human mind's incapacity to grasp eternity... yet to see the future history you must.
Here's what the Lord has shown prophetically in light of these things:
We are going to go descend further in our global culture. Life will become less and less valuable to the culture at large. Killing people for "reason" (sick, in the womb, mentally challenged, old, impaired, insanity or racially different) will become acceptable.
The attack on the family will grow driven by a demon that embraces homosexuality, destruction of all marriage, sexual insanity and the resultant children of those "families" will become pagan change agents for the worse. This will be promoted by the False Prophet (the cultural spirit embodied by media and entertainment)
Wars not yet imagined will break out as things change. Some will become severe. They will be racial, cultural (yes the cold civil war will become hot) and international as countries attempt to stop what they see as danger by imposing war against a source of the danger as they see it. It will happen as certain countries begin to see the USA (or any other nation) as a danger along the lines of how we saw Iraq after 2001. We went to war because we thought there were WMD's in an unstable nation. That license to conduct a preemptive war is now about to be exercised by other countries and if the USA becomes more unstable than it is today, we will see those nations attack the USA preemptively.
The imagined alliances in the world will dissolve under these attacks. Any illusion that France, Germany or England will come to our aid under such an attack is fantasy.
There are no global military to stand down a China or Russia who sees the USA as a global danger by taking direct action against her.
As things deteriorate, there will be attempts again and again to take control of other dangerous nations as a precursor. Mexico is one such by its continued lawlessness and corruption (there are small signs there may be progress in this area) stands vulnerable to invasion. IF a nation with a huge military were to move against Mexico (see Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela) supported by a Russian or Chinese Army and all it's might in a 3 pronged attack, do you imagine our government in its weakened condition trying to defend such action? Mexico would fall. I see this coming to a head.
This is not to be feared, it is the wars and rumors that are always with us and will be again. They are threatenings. God may in his mercy judge those but the real judgment is the heeding to the false prophet of the Beast that has brought us to this point. The apex that was the USA a generation ago that knew God now has become a nadir to a generation that has forgotten who God is. That cycle has been part of humanity since Joseph in Egypt. It is again.
God hasn't forgotten us, he wants us to be aware of what our decline and degradation has cost us. How the decisions we made over the last 50 years have brought us to this point. Even mentioning the reasoning of God as he says to us, "Let us reason together" is an offense to the false prophet.
We can only pray and act to have a real impact on a culture and society that no longer knows God. Joseph arise! God have Mercy
Facing the End with Optimism
The time of this trouble in our world will be global. The high will be brought low. This will appear to be a good thing for those who are low and feel like the high and mighty deserve this. The problem is the low will be brought lower and many will not survive this time.
This is not the great tribulation, it is A great tribulation. It comes as a curse on those nations who have substantially abandoned God and turned to their own ways. Judgment was always declared on nations, but people in nations suffered. "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; Matthew 25:32
There is going be a complete economic reset in the nations, particularly harsh among those nations who have tried to game the global economic system to sustain unstainables mostly in western countries. This will mean the collapse of currencies. This will mean warfare intranationally (civil war) as services collapse. It will start slowly; Detroit was considered a black swan. That destiny waits for many cities, states and nations. Prophets have declared in the past that Detroit would be a pattern for the nation. Many spiritual leaders didn't think it would be like this. Other cities will collapse, then states and eventually the whole nation.
Once one large western nation collapses, other economic dominoes will follow; one at a time.
That will create the chaos that neutralizes the supposed power of a one world currency.
People will form these smaller subcultures. Skill will once again become the currency of exchange. I will do for you as you do for me. Exchange will be conducted with hand written IOUs in small community groups. Those who have nothing to offer (skill), those who cannot contribute in these small sustaining subcultures will die. Man's fallen nature will not support one another in a godless society. Give to get. Dog eat dog. Raw survival.
Add to this the constancy of violent global weather conditions, not unusual, just constant. This will result in unmet needs in nations. When earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, epidemics, volcanic eruptions, blizzards, tornadoes, floods, landslides and a hundred other killer events occur after a global economic collapse (I promise one is coming) there will be no response. There will be no one able to respond. People will perish. There will be much death and destruction from this. There is hope however and it bears the signs of rebirth. Read on. All this seems like doom and gloom and the end of all things. It's not, its birth pangs as the Kingdom of God is advancing.
Those who look to these events as the end of the world aren't looking at the optimistic future I see. BUT, you can say, "Doesn’t seem very optimistic to me". NO, if we depend on our leadership, our government or the corrupt world economic system, we have good reasons for pessimism.
There is no cause for optimism as long as two altars are erected in every home, city, church, state and nation. One allegedly to the God of our Fathers and one to the Beast supported by the false prophet. We have that situation now. There are two altars in many churches, Baal and God. One is an altar of prosperity and fertility (Baal) and one is to Father God (giving lip service to trusting HIM for provision and protection). It's time for one of them to be torn down.
The result of Baal worship is that those who support it become dog food. Jezebel and Ahab were a type of this religious system of government with it false prophets who supported this evil government and economic bondage system (as is being formed right now in the USA). The worship of Baal was for the purpose of assuring prosperity. That's the antichrist system we have in effect today. You don't have to look for the antichrist spirit; he is in the news every day. You don't have to wonder what religious governmental combine is supported by this. It's global.
It's a strange combination, the false prophet is encouraging tolerance by imposing intolerance. Islam is one such, but as John the Apostle said, the antichrist is already in the world and there are many antichrists.
When you see a false worship based on peace and prosperity wrapped up in government and supported by media with a degraded culture (as seen on TV and it's not Sham Wow) you see the beginning of the day when it must all be thrown down by the Eunuchs and consumed by the dogs. THROW HER DOWN.
There will be places of refuge, but they won't be predictable. They will happen as the Holy Spirit manifests Christ among us. Many places will remain in deep darkness, but the Holy Spirit will brood above the deep darkness and bring light at His Word.
This will result in the greatest awakening the world has ever known, even in Israel spiritual birth will come as a sign and a wonder. Jesus will be manifested even greater than we have ever known. Nearly all churches, as we have known them will dissolve. Our focus on some supposed future event will be discarded for the realization that here and now is the fullness of the Presence of Christ. In the natural tragedies of flood and famine there will be supernatural events that point to the true and living God. Manna, Healing, Wholeness, Provision. It is that happening at the hands of Holy Ghost empowered witnesses (not witnessing, being witnesses) demonstrating deliverance to the nations.
This will require sacrificing all the priests of Baal in our lives. No more can we be of two opinions. Now only one. Our God is THE one.... and HE IS ABLE
Facing the end WITHOUT FEAR
In the beginning of this I said there are deep long cycles. Even with a destiny for all of us we are operating in patterns easily recognized from the Word of God. One thing is certain; God will take judgment on the evil of rebellion - Its witchcraft to him. He will strip away everything that violates the first and second commandments (Thou shalt have no other gods & No graven images or likenesses) until the only thing left is HIM. He has always done this. He allows rebellion to run its course until he pulls back hard. Just reading the book of Ezekiel chapter 7 and you can see clearly the pattern. Gold thrown in the street. Money fails. Rebellion results in desolation. It happened before and if our continued rebellion continues will happen again and again:
The result of all this will be a wholesale return to the God of our Fathers. False religions will fade away. There will no hope except a return to the Lord. "Come let us return to the Lord" will be the cry.
There will be no escape. You won't be able to buy your way out of this. The only thing that can save you are your relationships horizontally and vertically.
God will be in our midst. Jesus will manifest. The Holy Spirit filled saint will walk in authority. In the middle of all this will be a recognition of the hopeless worthless materialist things that costs many everything, even their lives.
How can a christian face pain and difficulty?
The key to overcoming is grasping an ancient yet now forgotten way of Dealing with the end of things. Just as in death and dying with the solid trust we can have in an everlasting Father we can face anything. Our modern culture no longer faces death with the power of the Holy Ghost and life lived for God. We see our life and one thing and our purpose in God as another. Yet, I can make this promise to you; You will not see death until your eternal purpose in the Father is complete. If you have lost a child or a loved one prematurely, you might question that. But it's true.. You are immortal in the flesh until....destiny is met in you.
The fear of death has created a culture that grasps at life above its value. How did the martyrs of old face death? Bravely, welcoming, fearlessly, with joy and hope. How did the ancients as they lay dying pronounce blessing to others and then were laid up with their fathers?
How do those who fight in wars are often killed for the cause they fight for and die with courage? How did the Apostle Paul or Peter face the executioners? They knew death was coming but with little fear. They had a revelation of what happens at death.
Facing the End .. Overcoming the FEAR of DEATH
Satan has caused many saints of God to allow the sting of death to return. He has deceived many into clinging to our mortal meat shells without Godly reason. Yes, we want to live, we can't do much for the Kingdom when we are dead, but we will all die. There is no escape. It is, was and always will be appointed unto man ONCE to die. There is a second death. It is the death of the lost. To the pagan, those lost for eternity, death does and should hold fear. I will not address those things that they fear. There is a way to enter into eternal life. It's visible at nearly every football game. John 3:16. I am more concerned with Christians who fear death needlessly. We need to know with confidence how that last breath happens and what it means.
What happens when we die? There is great confusion; it's the second time we go thru such radical change. Change is confusing. All change is perceived as loss. Birth was confusing. Darkness to light, Warmth to something new and colder. We cried out.
We were confused in this transition. Uncertain. Death has the same effect. As we lie on our deathbed, sometimes we face this with fear, sometimes amazement, a metaphysical roller coaster ride.
I understand that as Steve Jobs lay dying, just before he took his last breath, his eyes opened and he said, WOW!. I don't know what that means but I am sure WOW fits. Some withdraw further and further. Sleeping more and more. Recognizing the end and accepting it without struggle. Some struggle right up till the end in fear. It's understandable.
Yet there is a way to understand death and overcome the fear, the sting, until we can say, “Oh Death where is your sting?”
Is there pain in death? Yes, momentarily. Particularly in a gruesome death. A gunshot, stabbing, bad car accident, execution, torture, a painful death by drowning, suffocation, heart attack or hanging.
Most people imagine they are going to die lying on a bed with friends and family surrounding them. That is not always the case. What of these more difficult unexpected situations of dying in pain. To deny pain is to deny the reality of death. There is good news, pain is the last ditch effort our flesh fights with eternity to keep us here in time.
Those who have gone thru this and come back say the pain was momentary, brief, intense and then erased from all memory. Like having a really bad tooth pulled. Pain for a moment and then no more pain. Mortality is not sloughed off easily. This flesh doesn't want to become an empty shell to be buried, burned or abandoned. It wants to hold on as long as it can. But like a teenager who becomes such a pain in the neck that a parent is glad when they leave, so too our flesh causes us more and more discomfort as we age until staying in it is no longer acceptable. It's very much the same syndrome if we must learn to accept it as normal.
Not that there isn't regret and pain in separation from those we love. That's part of it too. Yet to the Christian, it is those loved ones left behind that suffer. Once death happens for the Believer all pain is gone, all memories that would cause grief dissipates. The sentiment is “I'll see you soon”. An eternal perspective offers that.
If we could grasp the temporary nature in dying we might not enter into it as full of trepidation as we do. Much of the heroics we commit ourselves to in the false hope that we might live forever in our bodies (or longer anyway) are vain attempts to postpone that which will take us all. It's not a sin. Doing battle with disease is part of life. Jesus (the great physician) healed the sick and raised the dead. Yet all died. It's that eventual reality that must be recognized as we step from time into eternity.
We come into a new reality as a believer who dies in Christ. No pain. No grief. No fear. In the next chapter I will tell you what happens right AFTER you die. And what it's really like on the other side of the veil that stands between time and eternity. Most people don't understand this. If we can.. it will change us forever and we will live in victory --fearless and purposed.
It IS Fathers intent for you to know this as he has downloaded this to many prophets who are speaking the same thing right now. This is why I am so confident in sharing this at this time.
Facing the End - Entering Eternity Fearlessly
Imagine that you are one and then the other of the two thieves on the cross on either side of Jesus as they died. One mocked him. Bravado. Anger. Pain. The other appealed to Jesus. “Remember me” he said. Jesus assures him thru his anguish, pain of scourging and beatings, pain of torture on a cross designed to make the dying as long and painful as possible. All three were suffering.
The mocking thief faced his final moments in terror. Not knowing what would be next. His last breath was a desperate attempt to forestall the moment of life's termination.
On the other side was the thief that heard the word of the Lord; “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE”. His last breath was welcomed. He knew that Jesus, the Creator of the universe opened heaven's welcome center for him. Fear was gone. He may have been in pain.. But he entered into eternity with hope. That is Gods best for his children. Fear of the sting of death is gone...as we will lay dying He says once more ... “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME”.
So what happens to us right after we die? It's the moment after. Time has now ceased. We enter eternity. All pain is gone. Our carcass is empty.
Body and soul are no longer one. What do we see or experience? What is that moment like?
What we will experience in Heaven
There are scriptural evidences and testimonies of a some who have witnessed these things to help us grasp what happens. We can construct what it will be like using clues with Biblical support.
The song “I can only imagine”, as wonderful as it is, comes short of the mark. We can imagine and if we can grasp the vision, fear will dissolve.
The moment that thief Jesus promised died and all people who die in Christ, the moment you die here's what happens:
There is a shock into well being. We suddenly feel indescribable peace. Beyond all understanding. It's overwhelms us. We can hardly take it in. There is the unimaginable beauty. It is a manifestation of the fullness of Jesus beauty. Every color comes so alive that we can taste it. In fact we will taste colors. Music is everywhere. All at once.
This is eternity where everything is now. So our experience in non linear. It's all now. Hard for those of us trapped in time to grasp, but to get a small glimpse of what that might be like, think back to a wonderful childhood memory. A good one. Think of it. All the color, music, joy, fun, and love you felt. Now let that emotion come over you. You see it not in linear fashion but as one good memory, all at once. The parts you really enjoyed come back again and again. That's a bad imitation of what eternity is like. All at once, but able to be parceled out.
People ask what kind of music will I hear? It will be your fullness of joy to experience... whatever fits your moment will be heard. For some hymns, for some chants, for some choruses, for some classical, for some a gospel song, or even a joyful rap. It's your eternity and Father will speak to you in the context you understand. You will grasp that it's all one. Yet differentiable, yet we will not know of the differences others have.
You will have unspeakable joy. No remembrances from earth that have contain any regret or pain... the pain you had in life will fit into your understanding and there will be no questions. The Idea that you are going to ask questions of Jesus when you get there will be needless. You will have full understanding of all. You will know who you really are. There will be no more self doubt.
How you fit into the whole while on earth will make perfect sense in a supernatural way. That is why there is no recognized hierarchy in heaven. One saint is as another. Fullness and fitly joined together.
This sudden recognition of your important place in the universe will take your breath away.
Your capacity for experience will multiply a thousand times or more. You will experience heaven as if you had 5000 senses instead of 5. Every color, every sound, every taste, everything you hear, everything you feel, and the fragrance... it will be amazing. You will understand what a vapid colorless place life on earth was. You won't regret it...but wish everyone could experience what you are experience.
You will live without confusion. No questions. Your desire will be to worship. It will all be so clear. Bowing in worship, raising hands. Singing. The Sea of Glass is a desire hidden in the hearts of men. We want to be there. Whatever we do will make all the sense...in heaven. It will be automatic. You will want to enter into who HE is so completely as to be lost in Him. You were created for this. The beauty of Jesus will be revealed again and again. It will be all one but eternal. It will never be boring. Love will be overwhelming.
You will have a form. A spirit form. Yet you will look to others as you were remembered best. Known as you were known. Recognized... yet it is your spirit that they see.. the rest is construct. In fact you have only a spirit.
It's hard to explain, but you won't have arms, legs or a head as you know yourself, but to those who see you, you will look as you did to them.
I know that's hard to understand but think of a child who dies young. Her daddy is 25 years old. She will see him thus. His brother who dies at 50 will remember him as about his age and his wife who follows him in death will see that man thru the eyes of love. His mother who bore him and died in childbirth will see him as a young boy. They will all know him, but all in context and construct. Its how people who die see grandparents and such waiting for them... as they knew them.
It will not seem an unfamiliar place to be explored. You will already know all about it. It will seem normal, someplace you already knew. In a strange way, heaven was always in your heart.
You have had glimpses of it. This is why the idea of reincarnation keeps coming up in false religions. There is a sense of going back, so people try to explain the origin of all life (JESUS saying let there be) as a reincarnation. It's not. But it is a type of returning... Remember, once there, all here is now.
To grasp this scripturally, you are already seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus...yet you are here. In that way you return to heaven.
It is impossible to describe so those who have had a glimpse of Heaven are lost for words.
One thing is certain, once you have been there and come back the fear of death, even the fear of the pain of death is gone.
People don't GO to heaven. They enter heaven. Heaven is infinite in proximity. Right here. Right there. Just there. It is easier to think of it a long long away somehow out there, but it's here. Not on earth, well kind of. More on that in the last post.
When people die they step from the cloak of time into the uncloaking of eternity. We are locked in a box called time and enter into an unlimited vista called NOW.. Eternity.
Facing the End.. Left Behind
The hardest part for those still here after someone steps from time into eternity is the sense of being left behind (there is still pain in loss). Once our loved ones step from time into eternity they are unaware of us. They don't forget us, they know who we are, but they are not aware of us once they are in eternity. They are not part of any cloud of witnesses. They are oblivious to us after the point of death. Think about what it would be like for them to be aware of our actions, reactions and rebellions. They do not become angels.
Mary the Mother of Jesus, she is there, but she is not an angel. I don't want to upset my Catholic friends but the apparitions of Mary are supernatural communications but not Mary.
People saw her because it was a form of communication. Sometimes perhaps even demonic. Measurement of that must be made in the light of Scripture. An Angel taking a form acceptable to us can be a way Father uses His messengers to communicate something he can't get done another way. Look at all the times angel messengers were used and documented to communicate something. It's still happening. There are angels of light, but not all good.
Those people now in heaven don't see or sense us. They are in glory. BUT we can sense them. They can't come to us, there are no ghosts. We will only go to them. They can't come to us. David proclaimed that when his infant son died. It's a truth we must grasp.
When someone who has lost a loved one says, "It feels like they are still here or I can feel or sense their presence" it's true. They are just there.. just on the other side of the veil. A very thin veil.
You can feel it. You sense them. Yet this is not so for them. They wait for you. They remember you in the completed tapestry that was their life in time. But you are now frozen in their memory. After they die, they don’t see you again. You can talk, pray and cry out to them, but they are deaf to your cries. Praying to saints is fruitless. YET... of your loved ones gone - you can sense the love they had for you and bask in it... as they wait for you to come. The veil between you and them is very thin and sometimes is breached for a moment.. you to them but not them to you. They are in Glory and you are still here in the battle. They are right there... just there, you can almost reach out and touch them on the other side of the veil. Think of what the transfiguration was like for Moses? Did he see to our side?
Jesus and all the angels have no problem moving from time into eternity and back again. There is no confusion for them. That's why Jesus ascending into heaven and returning seemed to break thru a veil, a cloud. I wonder how high it appeared Jesus was when he seemed to disappear? Fifty feet, a hundred, a thousand? It seemed as if he entered a cloud and then was gone.
In the same way he came back again.... in a cloud. Not that it is a cloud.. it is the separation between time and eternity.
Cloud is the only way someone seeing it can describe it. It's a portal that opens and as angels step thru it looks like stepping into or out of a cloud.
Jesus appears often on earth. Has to many. He sees us. He is God. Your uncle Art is not like that. He is now like Jesus in bodily form in heaven, but not God.
Angels are assigned messengers and with messages come from and return to heaven. Your uncle Art will never be an angel. Your uncle Art will be one who came into heaven a little higher than the angels yet never assigned to return to earth. That's for other created beings.
This is also how supernatural provision comes. Remember the storeroom of heaven is just over there. Just the other side of the veil. Very close in proximity. So when we look to heaven's provision we are able to receive as the veil is breached and those things stored up for us are delivered into our hands. Sometimes it's manna. Sometimes it's rain when you need it. Sometimes it's deliverance. Sometimes its protection. Sometimes it's money in a fish. Those things happen as heaven touches earth for a moment in answer to prayer.
One thing that becomes clear in heaven when the revelation comes of HIS greatness and majesty. The earth, the sun, the moon, the solar system, the galaxies, all the galaxies, all of creation will suddenly fade into proper perspective in our sight of the Creator. Will earth exist...? Yes but in proper perspective.
All of creation will roll up like a scroll in proper relationship to her creator. You won't be in awe of them any more, you will only have awe for the Maker. There will be very little to cause you to want to be other than in HIS presence... except that HE is everywhere. If you decide you want to visit Jupiter or Mars (like the old song says) you can think it and be there. You won't need air or a spaceship. You won't --- not moving, you'll just be.
All the things you read and memorized from scripture will make sense. There will be things you were taught or believed here on earth that will seem like nonsense. But that was then. In eternity the silly things you thought will fall away as the TRUTH takes center stage.. I AM the TRUTH HE said.
Not everyone will make it to heaven. Will you know if your loved ones are missing and grieve? No. There are no tears in heaven. No grief. No pain.
So from the moment you die till your loved ones appear at heaven's portal you will be unknowing. It's not a sanitized experience; it's one that provides only for your fit into the whole.
These things are hard to explain. The centrality of Jesus is what makes it all hold together (according to Scripture).
He will so overwhelm you with His glory you will not notice so many things that distract on earth. You can live like this. You can grasp your eternal nature now. You already have eternal life.
There is much more to say, but like Paul the Apostle said,
I won't tell you how I know all these things, you must measure them all by scripture. They will prove to be true as they are.
About the End we Will Face
Almost all of what has been written and preached the last hundred or so years about the end times is wrong. I could give you all kinds of Biblical evidence and historical back up, but for those who are questioning it all, here are a few truths:
There is no rapture. Never was. The "Join Him in the AIR” is true.. but not as a rapture.
Jesus is here. Always has been as he promised. He manifests but only for a brief time. He is as good as His word.... NEVER leaving or forsaking. He's here. We do not know how to recognize him. We are like the men on the road to Emmaus or Mary Magdalene in the Garden.
The world is not about to end, it is however going to go thru times of great trouble, but that has been going on in history since time began. These tribulations are part of a great cycle. There is no Great Tribulation yet there will be tribulations.
False religions connected with political power will be shown up to be the beast and the beast will manifest himself as the persecutor of the faithful.
Jesus is hated by the devil and when he inspires demonized people to take control of a religious system it becomes demonic government. The current beast is Islam. No longer a religion it has now become a tool of satan's continuing failing attempt to destroy the Kingdom of God.
Of course in the face of great persecution comes great revival. When the devil comes in, LIKE A FLOOD God raises up a standard against him.
Don't fear persecution, don't embrace it either. Recognize it as part of the cycle. When Islam is destroyed and discredited, there will be another. The devil has no new strategies, that's why the writers of the Bible could talk with such certitude about such things. It did happen, people lost their heads for their profession of faith, they are losing them today around the world and will even more in the future.
Victorious Eschatology
There are “Biblical” ideas that have been presented that are not accurate. It's not just the eschatology, it is an understanding of the victory over sin and death that was fought and WON at the cross witnessed by an empty tomb over 2000 years ago.
Someday the world will indeed cease to exist as we knew it physically...yet it will never end. When Jesus is revealed (either upon our stepping from time into eternity or when the earth dissolves... as must happen eventually) we will see HIM as HE really is. The scroll will be rolled back and then the SON will shine brighter than the SUN. That is the revelation of HIM that we will all see together. It's not going to happen soon. Stop looking for it. There is no great showdown ending with the world ceasing to exist.
The Kingdom of God is not going to stop advancing until the end of the WORLD... so enjoy the journey without fear.
How about the mark of the beast, the one world money system, the "no man can buy or sell except"? All happened and will happen again and then will not. In fact eventually all attempts to create a single currency fails (see Bitcoin). At one time all of the Roman Empire used a single currency. How about now?
Attempts and failures over the centuries to control commerce by creating fiat currency has always ended in defeat. Its not to say the devil doesn't try it again and again, it's just destined to fail. In fact soon God's judgment will once again manifest to crush this vain attempt. This worldwide system will collapse.
What about the bowls of wrath, the vials, the hailstones, the four corners, the winds, the beast from the sea, the "hide me", the terrors of Revelation? They all happened right on schedule in AD 72. The religious system of the Beast Judaism and Government were crushed and destroyed. Since all things in the earth have been deep long term cycles and birth pangs, they happen again and again and again as the Kingdom advances.
Those who doubt God's capacity to bring judgment on evil don't own a newspaper, radio, TV or have access to Internet news. YET all these things are past, present and future... as the Kingdom increases. Don't read the news with an eye towards the end, or Jesus coming thru the clouds; He did, in the sight of the High Priest.
And he will again, in a show of his GLORY as this beast system is once again put to dust, to shame.
Think of all the beast systems that are now properly filed in the dustbin of history. Baal, Greek, Roman and Norse god Worship (remember Zeus and Odin?), Egyptian gods of government now only exist in hieroglyphics, who knows what Stonehenge was all about, or the Mayan and Aztec gods who were sacrificed to of human flesh and in more modern times Japan, China, Nazi and certain African nations who considered their leaders gods or demi gods. Now all gone. Only Jesus remains. And at some point when Islam is exposed it too will die the death all false religion dies. As will Hindu and all other. Only Christ, the true and living God will survive the millennia. All others are judged and pass away.
Jesus spoke of certain times in Matthew 24. They all came to pass exactly as he predicted in 72AD. Yet we must also be aware of the cycles.... deep and long. Catastrophe has come and will come again so the warnings Jesus makes are still efficacious to heed. We ignore them as history at our own risk. They are History, but they ring true as the great cycles of humanity turn. We lurch from obscurity, to abundance, to bondage and then into catastrophe. It has been ever thus and the Books of Kings and Chronicles are there as a shadow of what we expect.
The lawless acts warned about to Timothy by Paul are true. Men do wax worse and worse....then the cycle turns, revival comes, repentance and GLORY shines. It will happen again. We are not far from a much greater revival (accompanied by greater persecution) than you can imagine.
I write all this not to convince you to change your thinking. That is a journey you must take for yourself. There are many great books and teachings to help you find the way. If however you persist in believing that somehow you will be spared by some escape in the future (rapture), you will become discouraged. You won't escape but you can be hidden, you can be in Goshen, you can live in the provision and protection of the Lord, but you will not escape unscathed. If you look at the long cycles of history, you will see it.
What About Israel?
There is something about the people Israel. There is much we don't grasp; who they are and what they represent to God in his illogical asymmetrical covenant commitment to a rebellious people. Those of us who are grafted in later (that would be you and me) are just as rebellious. If I were God I would have chosen a much more worthy race of folks, Germans perhaps. (that's a joke) In any case, ignoring what is happening with the covenanted people even in rebellion is intentional spiritual blindness.
The very fact that they now speak the language Moses spoke and was spoken to at the burning bush and occupy the same land is not without prophetic meaning. This is a sign to those of us who are grafted in to have confidence in our God. It is not about the real estate, they may lose the land, but the covenant will still be in place. He is not an Indian-giver God.
God's great advancing Kingdom is becoming greater. Have hope in God.
His covenant is eternal to YOU!
Many preachers are pointing to the times and seasons as harbingers of the end times. Others are warning of the collapse of our society. Some are advising people to store up in barns money, gold, sliver and goods for a season of great difficulty. Some advise becoming well armed to defend one's self against the imminent time of the end. I don’t argue with being prepared. I do argue the reasons behind these things.
The dispensationalist are looking for an easy out. The rapture that will save all true believers. Those nasty pagans will just have to endure the tribulation and the oppression of the antichrist. If ONLY they had listened to "us" (much wiser and more alert then they) they would have been vacuumed up to heaven and not left here to writhe in pain from the sting of scorpions or some such. (YES - I saw all the Holy Horror movies back in the 80s).
Now we have a new one coming out. Starring Nicolas Cage as the hero, Hollywood is promoting the rapture. Isn't it interesting that godless Hollywood is now desperately preaching the exact same deception that has paralyzed the body of Christ.
Only truth sets people free. But truth can only be conveyed by a living witness. People can't be saved unless there are examples of the fruit of being saved in crisis situations.
Witness is a NOUN not a VERB!
You don't witness by sharing so called spiritual laws, you witness by being Jesus in flesh here and now in plain view of the world. IF however you are gone, raptured, dead, inert hiding out, you aren't much value to the kingdom of God on earth.
It is this illusion, this great deception (the grand delusion) that must be confronted by the True Prophets of God. Father needs every saint on the planet to be there to help the lost and desperate souls find truth, Jesus. It's not going to happen in churches. When the collapse comes (one IS coming) churches will cease to function. Informal small fellowships of those who need peace will be all there is. These organic cellular pods will become the only body of Christ manifesting on the earth and it will be more powerful by a magnitude of ten then all the Churches and so called Christian TV on the planet today have been able to effect in their efforts. There will be larger gatherings. These small pods will assemble from time to time, sometimes they might even USE an empty church.
I am as a prophet to warn and encourage Christians to prepare themselves for this day.
Become spiritually grounded. Allow the Five Fold to equip YOU for the work of the Ministry. Learn to build community. Connect with your neighbors. When it all goes dark they will be all you have and you must be light for them. Forget about escape. It's a myth. Begin now to prepare for the end with courage and looking for a new beginning.
IF you die, you die in Christ, but your true destiny is to be a voice and a witness that draws people into the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God expands on earth as it is made up of living souls redeemed from sin and destruction. You can't do that if you are dead. Or raptured.
Prepare to face the end and usher in the new beginning of what will in fact be the greatest expansion of the Kingdom of God ever seen on planet earth.
What about the Resurrection of the Dead in Christ?
I am often asked what about the resurrection in light of this theology. We need to read our Bibles clearly. I will assume you know the scriptures if you are reading this. What was
Jesus like after He rose from the dead? That's what we will be like when we rise from the dead. He was the first fruit.
Here's a way to help think this through. What if the Romans had decided to burn Jesus body to be certain he would not rise from the dead? It would have saved placing Guards at the tomb. WOULD THE POWER OF GOD been enough to raise him from the ashes? OR would Father have said, “RATS, It was a good plan but I needed a body to raise someone from the dead. Guess I'll try again later”.
I'm not being sacrilege here; the question about bodily Resurrection gets all messed up in flawed theology.
JESUS was raised from the dead into a Glorified Body. Just like you will have when you die; Raised bodily but Glorified.
Yes, we will all be raised from the dead, we will rise in the air into an eternal heaven... God doesn't need any earthly (corruptible) molecules to resurrect you bodily to life everlasting with a glorified body just like Jesus has.
The Resurrection is not to your former corrupt state. You rise again to become JUST LIKE JESUS in a Glorified Body. There is nothing good about your old body. Resurrection happens, but it won't be like you thought or were taught... unless you know the scripture. Then you think right.
Ends that are not
I have been reading about the end of the world for 40 years. In 1970 Hal Lindsey published the book "The Late Great Planet Earth". I read it a couple years after it came out. It scared the hell out of me... I mean that literally. Pretty certain that things were going to collapse, come to an end, tribulation, wars, antichrist, beast, mark, rapture.... really a horror show.
It affected me. It's not why I got saved, I got saved because I was lost in this life.
If you were alive then and remember the book ..it affected you too. But it's likely NOT why you came to Jesus. In fact most of the people scared by end times things make short term shallow converts and then later solid atheists.
A spirit was released at that time that has had a profound negative impact on the nation, the church, the christian community in our nation and has manifested in the rise of skeptic rooted atheism we see today.
Much of the foolish parsing of news events twisted into fitting some scriptural paradigm of prophetic meaning based on Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24 and Revelation has been going on in churches and books for almost 200 years.
I have read accounts of how events in Israel, Russia, Europe and the Conflicts in Arab countries are a clear indicator of the end of the world and the soon coming of the Lord. The one that jolted me into reality regarding these things was one such account .... published in 1895. It took world events around that time and structured them into a tapestry that predicted the soon coming of the Lord with great confidence.
You can find those books in Christian bookstores... written about events going on right now. I have some on my bookshelves. The left behind series is one. Websites are up and running, and very well intentioned that take current events and use them to warn people to expect the skies to part.
If anyone should question these things they are buffeted with all kinds of Bible Bullets that define questioning people as scoffers who doubt IF such things sense. If your expectation of Jesus revelation to you is dependent on what you see on TV or hear on the radio surrounding events in the middle east, you are being duped. It's very infectious, but like a bad virus, it only weakens the body.
What is worse, you are being poisoned against living your life in the Presence of Jesus. You can't see Him active and present in your life because in your theology He is coming soon.
Unbelievers around you think you are crazy. They read these books too and the devil has used them as an inoculation against the TRUTH of the Gospel. It's actually a clever scheme. End times fantasy has crippled evangelism in our world. When people who should be invited into a Life WITH Christ here and now, they are told of some time in the future when if they measure up somehow (don't miss the rapture) they will be able to spend real quality time with him. Kind of a spiritual Harry Chapin song, "Cat's in the Cradle". We'll have a good time then...
On the day after Christmas is an example, a time when we are aware of how permanent anticipation can be a trap. How hoping for a future event kills the joy in the moment. How on this day there is a let down. That's what finding all this out is for many, a jolt into reality they didn't know they wanted until they got there. They loved that day before Christmas feeling that futuristic prophetic interpretation gives them. There is also a one-upmanship about it all. Kind of like the contest level yard displays I see in some neighborhoods in the season. We decorate out theology with more and brighter outlandish claims of this or that fresh revelation of the coming of the Lord. I will offend some, but the Harbinger was one such. So were the blood moon things.
Jesus on the sermon on the mount taught His followers to understand that living here and now WITH HIM was the chief goal of man. Not some future event.
Somehow that got all mixed up into causing people to think we should wait for that future event. It only results in disappointment. Like the day after Christmas.
The divisiveness that has been manifested by all this vain speculation (at least that's what the Bible calls such foolishness) divides the body of Christ into pre trib, mid trib, post trib, no trib, millennial, amillennial and a dozen other such iterations. Anything that focuses on some future event is excuse enough for not living what we should here and now in the presence of the True and Living God, the Creator of all the Universe, King of Kings, True God here and now among us.
Darby and Scolfield were wrong... and they know it now. They made heaven, but really know the truth now. If they could come back (they can't) they would say STOP... we were wrong.
Godless sects have risen up from this kind of teaching.
Jehovah's Witness is one such. They have been predicting the end in Watchtower as a publication. They are wrong every single time. They are the champs at setting dates.
They came out of William Miller's preaching about the end times in the middle of the 1800s. Now they have devolved into a cult of lost people who no longer believe Jesus is God. That's where this error filled teaching will lead you... to apostasy.
I enjoy having a Jehovah's Witness team come to my door. I seldom argue the dispute about “is Jesus God”... I start to talk to them about the Presence of the God here and now, His love for them, His action right here and now in their lives, how they can SEE HIM, experience Him, Know Him. Then I gently tell them of the Power of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Jesus (There's the rebuttal to True God for them) and how wonderful it can be to know Him in that way.
More than once a Jehovah's Witness novice has left my house in tears shaken by the reality of the Presence of Jesus. They came to witness (a verb) I was simply a Witness (a noun). That is the difference and we can't be that if we are living in fear or anticipation of an event that will never come to pass.
The problem with all flawed and error filled theology, Jehovah's witnesses and the whole end times ministry machine (Much of it money driven) is they will proclaim "It's not Biblical" to NOT believe as we do.
So they fire the Bible bullets and hope you are hit. What they think are Bible Bullets are in fact fiery darts. Satan in charge.
When I see Jack Van Impe on TV it saddens me. He has been doing his dance for decades and is more confused today than he was in the 80s. He knows the Bible cold and yet can stretch and twist world events to fit scripture and one way or another week after week after week. He's always wrong.
The final thing that impacted me and turned the light on was the historicity of the Bible. I tried to prove that many of the things mentioned in Ezekiel, Matthew and Revelation haven't happened yet so they must be unfulfilled prophecy. I failed in my quest. They all proved to have been rooted in historical events. I will ask the reader to do their own work. It will tear you up for a while as you discover how far afield you have gone under the influence of false teaching. The Bible is true. It all happened. There are however occasions when history does repeat... knowing which is which is all the trick... just don't be deceived by the devil's scheme.
IF the light comes on for you.... freedom will be the result. Joy, Peace, Patience. In fact, I don't believe it is possible to live in the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit without proper understanding in these areas. I hope you find it.. I'll see you in Heaven in any case. This isn't about eternity, it's about Kingdom living here and now.
Jesus doesn't have to come again, He is always with you, HE said so
Jesus is here, among us, already present. He will be revealed to us on our last day, but until then we can see Him as He is. He said He will never leave or forsake us. But we are blinded by religion and bad teaching from seeing Him Present in our Lives... all the time... every day. We are like the men on the road to Emmaus.
This is not over-spiritualization. This is a declaration of the Presence of the True and Living God: Here... Now.
So how IS He present among us today?
Here are a few ways:
In Community - where ever Two or Three are gathered together in MY NAME there I am
In Worship - “Inhabits the praise of His people (Psalms 22: 3)
In Judgment - When you read the Lord shall Judge, it's the same word as the Lord shall come. When you see Him bring things to pass... it's parosia
In Covenant and Covenant Renewal - When we see him promise, we promise him and promise to one another (why Christian Weddings are so Powerful)
In Prophecy 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”
In The Gifts of the Spirit - Jesus manifests Himself when we flow with Him, by Him and Him thru us. This is a Grace and a Great Mystery...but it's JESUS manifest.
In Proclamation of the Word (not Preaching) Jesus is the WORD become Flesh and dwelling among us. When his word is proclaimed it is Jesus present.
In The reality of the Eucharistic experience - we do not understand the fullness of the TRUE PRESENCE of Jesus in the sacrament. Most people miss Him.
In Holy Ghost Prayer: It was the prayer of Jesus on the night of his betrayal that we become one in Him and in the Father as noted in John 17:22, “And the glory which you given to them that they may be one in us, that the world may know that you have sent Me. True spiritual life and fulfillment comes by becoming one in the Spirit with the Lord “But He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
In Marvel of Creation - All creation declares the Glory of God and when we see it... we know HE is with us
In Acts of Mercy shown - Inasmuch as you have done it to the LEAST of these MY BROTHERS, you did it to ME.
In Answered Prayer - When something we expect and pray for manifests... it's Jesus.
In our entering in to HIM by Baptism to Sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6), buried with Him and "You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3)
Jesus sometimes actually manifests to some believers bodily. Happens and has happened all thru history. Yet if you need a physical manifestation to comprehend his presence among you, you are of little faith.
If you would please God, you must first believe that He is, and the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Still true. Stop looking to some future date when He will appear and begin to see Him all around you here and now. Your Joy will INCREASE. It will be sad to get to heaven and hear, I was always there with you... think the footprints in the sand poem... there is more truth there than you know.
One Post Script. I know what the Creeds say. I know what the Bible says about I am coming soon. Many believe He did. I am not sure we can use creeds alone as our foundation for grasping the reality of Jesus among us here and now.
It’s sounds great when preachers talk about the return of Christ … someday. Concentration on that future event robs people of present truth. Jesus said, “I am the Truth”
Care is needed
I have been concerned about some of the radical views held by those captured by certain end times teachings. I was there once. Held them dear. Then when discovering the truth.. and coming to a grasp of what it all really means... I began to see how much damage bad teaching in this area does and even did to me. It was an emotional wrenching into reality.
It's not that people that teach these things bad people, they are sincere. They think they are warning the flock. What they are really doing is blinding them. There is a wide panoply of end times views. They can't all be right.
I am most concerned with those who use the Rapture Ready theologies. They are simply in gross error and the negative view they offer is very damaging. Here is an article I lifted. I didn't write it, but I agree with it:
The fruit of these theologies have taken Christians who SHOULD be building the Kingdom of God on Earth into a bunker mentality that serves neither God nor man. Our mandate to be salt and light is lost by this diversion.
We need to be careful
Who will end up in HELL?
First the good news.
Every Christian, follower of Christ, one who is obedient will at some point find life in time ending. For some it happens in old age at the end of a struggle with disease. For some a sudden end of life as the result of accident, war or violence.
For every person alive today, there will come a day when your last breath is taken, your spirit leaves your body. Your body becomes an empty shell.
For the Christian when that moment comes, there is a glorious transformation. Time ends and suddenly the believer finds him or herself alive and awake in the presence of the Lord. What happens is in reality a leaving of the dimension known as time and entering a new dimension we call eternity.
Eternity has always been with us hidden in our hearts. Jesus lives there. He's always with us. He never leaves nor forsakes us. He doesn't because he lives right here. As close as the air that surrounds us. When an angel appears, as happens often, they leave eternity to enter time to intervene as part of the angel armies. Elisha’s servant saw them.
Jesus can appear... as He enters time occasionally to manifest himself as He did often in the old Testament, after his resurrection and even in our day. He steps from eternity into time.
When the believer enters eternity (Heaven), he cannot see back into time nor can he come back from eternity into time. We are aware of only those in heaven. We will know each other as we are known, but we won't know of those who "Didn't make it". That would cause grief. All tears are washed away in heaven therefore knowledge of one who isn't there isn't possible.
Once we are in eternity, in the presence of the Lord, our joy is made full. Unspeakable. Full of glory. Without anything but living in the fullness of the presence of the throne. The Sea of Glass.
Heaven is instantaneous and wonderful. Paul the Apostle talked of it. I won't address time at all... because the idea of soul sleep is involved in time. Understanding eternity is hard for people who live in time. Just be certain that it is.... and you will enter it... and as a Christian it will be GLORIOUS.
Now what of the unbeliever? What of that place we call hell? What is damnation? What happens when an unbeliever dies?
When that day comes... they go to the grave. They are living the result of their choice. They are without God.. dead. Gone. Perished. Separated forever from the Glory of God in his presence.
What of the Rich Man in Jesus story and a poor man named Lazarus. There’s a clue there, torment is real. In eternity there is no time... but in the grave time is in force. There comes a day... to a person who died a thousand years ago or yesterday when they are brought from the grave (in the spirit) to stand before a Holy and Just God in Judgment. God does not want ANYONE to perish. Jesus stands as defense attorney. He will come to the Father and if there is accusation He will say, "I shed blood for that one and he entered into it". Salvation is confirmed.
It will be many fewer than you think. Those who willfully rejected the wooing of the Holy Spirit (the unpardonable sin), will be condemned to the second death. No eternal life.
This then becomes a difficult thing to define critically. Lots of scriptural "Interpretation" as to what it is. The lake of FIRE is reserved for the antichrist and the beast. It seems to be a particularly horrid place.
It’s at this point where things are cloudy. We only know that without His saving blood we are eternally separated from the Father. He IS the only way.
Here is an important issue. Jesus spoke of levels of punishment.
I can't prove it, but here's what I know: Those who never come to Christ, many will simply die... absent of eternal life. In the grave. Those who were intentionally rebellious.... will suffer a greater torment. Reading the passage above seems to indicate such.
Hell is real. It is reserved for the devil, his demons and those who are part of HIS kingdom. For those who are simply ignorant of Jesus and his redemption. Will die. Alone. In the grave. Bereft of eternal life.
At this point I would expect to heart the knee-jerk reaction but what about the poor lost soul in boogal boogla Africa, on an unexplored island or those who are raised and die in Hindu or Islamic homes. Or what about those who died in Canaan at the hands of those coming into the promised land?
Here’s what I know for sure. Holy Spirit woos. He appeals. He provides opportunity. IF they never hear that appeal… they die lost to eternity and spend eternity in the grave.
They Perish
I hold to much of orthodox Christian Teaching.. and I believe:
I believe in the fullness of the Manifestation of God’s presence among us as revealed in 1 Corinthian’s 12, That all the Charismata of Holy Spirit are for today.
That includes Prophecy, Tongues, Healing, Faith, Words of Wisdom and Knowledge. I believe that we do not yet understand all the reasons and power involved in the fullness of the Spirit.
I believe in the restoration of the five fold ministry of the Holy Spirit: the Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelist, Teaching and the Pastoral.
I believe in the church is larger than we understand and it is God’s purpose to unify her higher than we are today. I believe the Devil has used denominations and splintered fellowships to keep people from fulfilling their destiny in God.
I believe the best days are ahead… I am an optimist by the Spirit of God.
I have been hearing from the Lord so I can now tell you what is happening prophetically. The fact that it comes at at this point in history is not accidental.
NONE of what I am about to reveal has anything to do at all with end times. That is another issue. In the end notes of this book are some things written where I explain what I know about the end times.
Don’t let certain end time positions veer you off the path of hearing what the spirit of the Lord is saying to his people right now.
We must face the end of this time and the beginning of the next with faith not fear. That is the will of God concerning you.
Read what HE is saying right now… to you.
Facing the end of what we have been living – our life
Prophetic History is never linear. It is circular. Where we are on the great wheel of history helps us understand the past present and future. The Jewish mind in the time of the ancient writings saw history as a cycle.
Our western linear thinking makes us think that things must be future based, they are, but they are simply repeats of what has been. That's why scripture is so helpful to understand the times and seasons. There are events that foretell where things are on the great cycle. One thing is certain; Israel, spiritual and natural (Chosen People) is a key in understanding the benchmarks prophetically. It is a conundrum.
God's plan shoots like an arrow thru history, yet the cycle is how we grasp eternal truths. It's a convergence of eternal truth and humanities propensity to fall. Pagan peoples always embraced the cycle. Too many Christians have ignored the cycle and only embraced the arrow which points to an end time, a final conflict, a rapture, an event culminating in the coming of the Lord. It's a difficult thing to reconcile the human mind's incapacity to grasp eternity... yet to see the future history you must.
Here's what the Lord has shown prophetically in light of these things:
We are going to go descend further in our global culture. Life will become less and less valuable to the culture at large. Killing people for "reason" (sick, in the womb, mentally challenged, old, impaired, insanity or racially different) will become acceptable.
The attack on the family will grow driven by a demon that embraces homosexuality, destruction of all marriage, sexual insanity and the resultant children of those "families" will become pagan change agents for the worse. This will be promoted by the False Prophet (the cultural spirit embodied by media and entertainment)
Wars not yet imagined will break out as things change. Some will become severe. They will be racial, cultural (yes the cold civil war will become hot) and international as countries attempt to stop what they see as danger by imposing war against a source of the danger as they see it. It will happen as certain countries begin to see the USA (or any other nation) as a danger along the lines of how we saw Iraq after 2001. We went to war because we thought there were WMD's in an unstable nation. That license to conduct a preemptive war is now about to be exercised by other countries and if the USA becomes more unstable than it is today, we will see those nations attack the USA preemptively.
The imagined alliances in the world will dissolve under these attacks. Any illusion that France, Germany or England will come to our aid under such an attack is fantasy.
There are no global military to stand down a China or Russia who sees the USA as a global danger by taking direct action against her.
As things deteriorate, there will be attempts again and again to take control of other dangerous nations as a precursor. Mexico is one such by its continued lawlessness and corruption (there are small signs there may be progress in this area) stands vulnerable to invasion. IF a nation with a huge military were to move against Mexico (see Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela) supported by a Russian or Chinese Army and all it's might in a 3 pronged attack, do you imagine our government in its weakened condition trying to defend such action? Mexico would fall. I see this coming to a head.
This is not to be feared, it is the wars and rumors that are always with us and will be again. They are threatenings. God may in his mercy judge those but the real judgment is the heeding to the false prophet of the Beast that has brought us to this point. The apex that was the USA a generation ago that knew God now has become a nadir to a generation that has forgotten who God is. That cycle has been part of humanity since Joseph in Egypt. It is again.
God hasn't forgotten us, he wants us to be aware of what our decline and degradation has cost us. How the decisions we made over the last 50 years have brought us to this point. Even mentioning the reasoning of God as he says to us, "Let us reason together" is an offense to the false prophet.
We can only pray and act to have a real impact on a culture and society that no longer knows God. Joseph arise! God have Mercy
Facing the End with Optimism
The time of this trouble in our world will be global. The high will be brought low. This will appear to be a good thing for those who are low and feel like the high and mighty deserve this. The problem is the low will be brought lower and many will not survive this time.
This is not the great tribulation, it is A great tribulation. It comes as a curse on those nations who have substantially abandoned God and turned to their own ways. Judgment was always declared on nations, but people in nations suffered. "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; Matthew 25:32
There is going be a complete economic reset in the nations, particularly harsh among those nations who have tried to game the global economic system to sustain unstainables mostly in western countries. This will mean the collapse of currencies. This will mean warfare intranationally (civil war) as services collapse. It will start slowly; Detroit was considered a black swan. That destiny waits for many cities, states and nations. Prophets have declared in the past that Detroit would be a pattern for the nation. Many spiritual leaders didn't think it would be like this. Other cities will collapse, then states and eventually the whole nation.
Once one large western nation collapses, other economic dominoes will follow; one at a time.
That will create the chaos that neutralizes the supposed power of a one world currency.
People will form these smaller subcultures. Skill will once again become the currency of exchange. I will do for you as you do for me. Exchange will be conducted with hand written IOUs in small community groups. Those who have nothing to offer (skill), those who cannot contribute in these small sustaining subcultures will die. Man's fallen nature will not support one another in a godless society. Give to get. Dog eat dog. Raw survival.
Add to this the constancy of violent global weather conditions, not unusual, just constant. This will result in unmet needs in nations. When earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, tsunamis, epidemics, volcanic eruptions, blizzards, tornadoes, floods, landslides and a hundred other killer events occur after a global economic collapse (I promise one is coming) there will be no response. There will be no one able to respond. People will perish. There will be much death and destruction from this. There is hope however and it bears the signs of rebirth. Read on. All this seems like doom and gloom and the end of all things. It's not, its birth pangs as the Kingdom of God is advancing.
Those who look to these events as the end of the world aren't looking at the optimistic future I see. BUT, you can say, "Doesn’t seem very optimistic to me". NO, if we depend on our leadership, our government or the corrupt world economic system, we have good reasons for pessimism.
There is no cause for optimism as long as two altars are erected in every home, city, church, state and nation. One allegedly to the God of our Fathers and one to the Beast supported by the false prophet. We have that situation now. There are two altars in many churches, Baal and God. One is an altar of prosperity and fertility (Baal) and one is to Father God (giving lip service to trusting HIM for provision and protection). It's time for one of them to be torn down.
The result of Baal worship is that those who support it become dog food. Jezebel and Ahab were a type of this religious system of government with it false prophets who supported this evil government and economic bondage system (as is being formed right now in the USA). The worship of Baal was for the purpose of assuring prosperity. That's the antichrist system we have in effect today. You don't have to look for the antichrist spirit; he is in the news every day. You don't have to wonder what religious governmental combine is supported by this. It's global.
It's a strange combination, the false prophet is encouraging tolerance by imposing intolerance. Islam is one such, but as John the Apostle said, the antichrist is already in the world and there are many antichrists.
When you see a false worship based on peace and prosperity wrapped up in government and supported by media with a degraded culture (as seen on TV and it's not Sham Wow) you see the beginning of the day when it must all be thrown down by the Eunuchs and consumed by the dogs. THROW HER DOWN.
There will be places of refuge, but they won't be predictable. They will happen as the Holy Spirit manifests Christ among us. Many places will remain in deep darkness, but the Holy Spirit will brood above the deep darkness and bring light at His Word.
This will result in the greatest awakening the world has ever known, even in Israel spiritual birth will come as a sign and a wonder. Jesus will be manifested even greater than we have ever known. Nearly all churches, as we have known them will dissolve. Our focus on some supposed future event will be discarded for the realization that here and now is the fullness of the Presence of Christ. In the natural tragedies of flood and famine there will be supernatural events that point to the true and living God. Manna, Healing, Wholeness, Provision. It is that happening at the hands of Holy Ghost empowered witnesses (not witnessing, being witnesses) demonstrating deliverance to the nations.
This will require sacrificing all the priests of Baal in our lives. No more can we be of two opinions. Now only one. Our God is THE one.... and HE IS ABLE
Facing the end WITHOUT FEAR
In the beginning of this I said there are deep long cycles. Even with a destiny for all of us we are operating in patterns easily recognized from the Word of God. One thing is certain; God will take judgment on the evil of rebellion - Its witchcraft to him. He will strip away everything that violates the first and second commandments (Thou shalt have no other gods & No graven images or likenesses) until the only thing left is HIM. He has always done this. He allows rebellion to run its course until he pulls back hard. Just reading the book of Ezekiel chapter 7 and you can see clearly the pattern. Gold thrown in the street. Money fails. Rebellion results in desolation. It happened before and if our continued rebellion continues will happen again and again:
Ezekiel 7:10b-22 The rod has budded
Arrogance has blossomed! Violence has arisen a rod to punish the wicked. None of the people will be left, none of that crowd— none of their wealth, nothing of value. The time has come! The day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. The seller will not recover the property that was sold— as long as both buyer and seller live. For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve their life. “?‘They have blown the trumpet, they have made all things ready, but no one will go into battle, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. Outside is the sword; inside are plague and famine. Those in the country will die by the sword; those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. The fugitives who escape will flee to the mountains. Like doves of the valleys, they will all moan, each for their own sins. Every hand will go limp; every leg will be wet with urine. They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Every face will be covered with shame, and every head will be shaved. “?‘They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. It will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs, for it has caused them to stumble into sin. They took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols. They made it into vile images; therefore I will make it a thing unclean for them. I will give their wealth as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, who will defile it. I will turn my face away from the people, and robbers will desecrate the place I treasure. They will enter it and will defile it.
The result of all this will be a wholesale return to the God of our Fathers. False religions will fade away. There will no hope except a return to the Lord. "Come let us return to the Lord" will be the cry.
There will be no escape. You won't be able to buy your way out of this. The only thing that can save you are your relationships horizontally and vertically.
God will be in our midst. Jesus will manifest. The Holy Spirit filled saint will walk in authority. In the middle of all this will be a recognition of the hopeless worthless materialist things that costs many everything, even their lives.
How can a christian face pain and difficulty?
The key to overcoming is grasping an ancient yet now forgotten way of Dealing with the end of things. Just as in death and dying with the solid trust we can have in an everlasting Father we can face anything. Our modern culture no longer faces death with the power of the Holy Ghost and life lived for God. We see our life and one thing and our purpose in God as another. Yet, I can make this promise to you; You will not see death until your eternal purpose in the Father is complete. If you have lost a child or a loved one prematurely, you might question that. But it's true.. You are immortal in the flesh until....destiny is met in you.
The fear of death has created a culture that grasps at life above its value. How did the martyrs of old face death? Bravely, welcoming, fearlessly, with joy and hope. How did the ancients as they lay dying pronounce blessing to others and then were laid up with their fathers?
How do those who fight in wars are often killed for the cause they fight for and die with courage? How did the Apostle Paul or Peter face the executioners? They knew death was coming but with little fear. They had a revelation of what happens at death.
Facing the End .. Overcoming the FEAR of DEATH
Satan has caused many saints of God to allow the sting of death to return. He has deceived many into clinging to our mortal meat shells without Godly reason. Yes, we want to live, we can't do much for the Kingdom when we are dead, but we will all die. There is no escape. It is, was and always will be appointed unto man ONCE to die. There is a second death. It is the death of the lost. To the pagan, those lost for eternity, death does and should hold fear. I will not address those things that they fear. There is a way to enter into eternal life. It's visible at nearly every football game. John 3:16. I am more concerned with Christians who fear death needlessly. We need to know with confidence how that last breath happens and what it means.
What happens when we die? There is great confusion; it's the second time we go thru such radical change. Change is confusing. All change is perceived as loss. Birth was confusing. Darkness to light, Warmth to something new and colder. We cried out.
We were confused in this transition. Uncertain. Death has the same effect. As we lie on our deathbed, sometimes we face this with fear, sometimes amazement, a metaphysical roller coaster ride.
I understand that as Steve Jobs lay dying, just before he took his last breath, his eyes opened and he said, WOW!. I don't know what that means but I am sure WOW fits. Some withdraw further and further. Sleeping more and more. Recognizing the end and accepting it without struggle. Some struggle right up till the end in fear. It's understandable.
Yet there is a way to understand death and overcome the fear, the sting, until we can say, “Oh Death where is your sting?”
Is there pain in death? Yes, momentarily. Particularly in a gruesome death. A gunshot, stabbing, bad car accident, execution, torture, a painful death by drowning, suffocation, heart attack or hanging.
Most people imagine they are going to die lying on a bed with friends and family surrounding them. That is not always the case. What of these more difficult unexpected situations of dying in pain. To deny pain is to deny the reality of death. There is good news, pain is the last ditch effort our flesh fights with eternity to keep us here in time.
Those who have gone thru this and come back say the pain was momentary, brief, intense and then erased from all memory. Like having a really bad tooth pulled. Pain for a moment and then no more pain. Mortality is not sloughed off easily. This flesh doesn't want to become an empty shell to be buried, burned or abandoned. It wants to hold on as long as it can. But like a teenager who becomes such a pain in the neck that a parent is glad when they leave, so too our flesh causes us more and more discomfort as we age until staying in it is no longer acceptable. It's very much the same syndrome if we must learn to accept it as normal.
Not that there isn't regret and pain in separation from those we love. That's part of it too. Yet to the Christian, it is those loved ones left behind that suffer. Once death happens for the Believer all pain is gone, all memories that would cause grief dissipates. The sentiment is “I'll see you soon”. An eternal perspective offers that.
If we could grasp the temporary nature in dying we might not enter into it as full of trepidation as we do. Much of the heroics we commit ourselves to in the false hope that we might live forever in our bodies (or longer anyway) are vain attempts to postpone that which will take us all. It's not a sin. Doing battle with disease is part of life. Jesus (the great physician) healed the sick and raised the dead. Yet all died. It's that eventual reality that must be recognized as we step from time into eternity.
We come into a new reality as a believer who dies in Christ. No pain. No grief. No fear. In the next chapter I will tell you what happens right AFTER you die. And what it's really like on the other side of the veil that stands between time and eternity. Most people don't understand this. If we can.. it will change us forever and we will live in victory --fearless and purposed.
It IS Fathers intent for you to know this as he has downloaded this to many prophets who are speaking the same thing right now. This is why I am so confident in sharing this at this time.
Facing the End - Entering Eternity Fearlessly
Imagine that you are one and then the other of the two thieves on the cross on either side of Jesus as they died. One mocked him. Bravado. Anger. Pain. The other appealed to Jesus. “Remember me” he said. Jesus assures him thru his anguish, pain of scourging and beatings, pain of torture on a cross designed to make the dying as long and painful as possible. All three were suffering.
The mocking thief faced his final moments in terror. Not knowing what would be next. His last breath was a desperate attempt to forestall the moment of life's termination.
On the other side was the thief that heard the word of the Lord; “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE”. His last breath was welcomed. He knew that Jesus, the Creator of the universe opened heaven's welcome center for him. Fear was gone. He may have been in pain.. But he entered into eternity with hope. That is Gods best for his children. Fear of the sting of death is gone...as we will lay dying He says once more ... “TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME”.
So what happens to us right after we die? It's the moment after. Time has now ceased. We enter eternity. All pain is gone. Our carcass is empty.
Body and soul are no longer one. What do we see or experience? What is that moment like?
What we will experience in Heaven
There are scriptural evidences and testimonies of a some who have witnessed these things to help us grasp what happens. We can construct what it will be like using clues with Biblical support.
The song “I can only imagine”, as wonderful as it is, comes short of the mark. We can imagine and if we can grasp the vision, fear will dissolve.
The moment that thief Jesus promised died and all people who die in Christ, the moment you die here's what happens:
There is a shock into well being. We suddenly feel indescribable peace. Beyond all understanding. It's overwhelms us. We can hardly take it in. There is the unimaginable beauty. It is a manifestation of the fullness of Jesus beauty. Every color comes so alive that we can taste it. In fact we will taste colors. Music is everywhere. All at once.
This is eternity where everything is now. So our experience in non linear. It's all now. Hard for those of us trapped in time to grasp, but to get a small glimpse of what that might be like, think back to a wonderful childhood memory. A good one. Think of it. All the color, music, joy, fun, and love you felt. Now let that emotion come over you. You see it not in linear fashion but as one good memory, all at once. The parts you really enjoyed come back again and again. That's a bad imitation of what eternity is like. All at once, but able to be parceled out.
People ask what kind of music will I hear? It will be your fullness of joy to experience... whatever fits your moment will be heard. For some hymns, for some chants, for some choruses, for some classical, for some a gospel song, or even a joyful rap. It's your eternity and Father will speak to you in the context you understand. You will grasp that it's all one. Yet differentiable, yet we will not know of the differences others have.
You will have unspeakable joy. No remembrances from earth that have contain any regret or pain... the pain you had in life will fit into your understanding and there will be no questions. The Idea that you are going to ask questions of Jesus when you get there will be needless. You will have full understanding of all. You will know who you really are. There will be no more self doubt.
How you fit into the whole while on earth will make perfect sense in a supernatural way. That is why there is no recognized hierarchy in heaven. One saint is as another. Fullness and fitly joined together.
This sudden recognition of your important place in the universe will take your breath away.
Your capacity for experience will multiply a thousand times or more. You will experience heaven as if you had 5000 senses instead of 5. Every color, every sound, every taste, everything you hear, everything you feel, and the fragrance... it will be amazing. You will understand what a vapid colorless place life on earth was. You won't regret it...but wish everyone could experience what you are experience.
You will live without confusion. No questions. Your desire will be to worship. It will all be so clear. Bowing in worship, raising hands. Singing. The Sea of Glass is a desire hidden in the hearts of men. We want to be there. Whatever we do will make all the sense...in heaven. It will be automatic. You will want to enter into who HE is so completely as to be lost in Him. You were created for this. The beauty of Jesus will be revealed again and again. It will be all one but eternal. It will never be boring. Love will be overwhelming.
You will have a form. A spirit form. Yet you will look to others as you were remembered best. Known as you were known. Recognized... yet it is your spirit that they see.. the rest is construct. In fact you have only a spirit.
It's hard to explain, but you won't have arms, legs or a head as you know yourself, but to those who see you, you will look as you did to them.
I know that's hard to understand but think of a child who dies young. Her daddy is 25 years old. She will see him thus. His brother who dies at 50 will remember him as about his age and his wife who follows him in death will see that man thru the eyes of love. His mother who bore him and died in childbirth will see him as a young boy. They will all know him, but all in context and construct. Its how people who die see grandparents and such waiting for them... as they knew them.
It will not seem an unfamiliar place to be explored. You will already know all about it. It will seem normal, someplace you already knew. In a strange way, heaven was always in your heart.
You have had glimpses of it. This is why the idea of reincarnation keeps coming up in false religions. There is a sense of going back, so people try to explain the origin of all life (JESUS saying let there be) as a reincarnation. It's not. But it is a type of returning... Remember, once there, all here is now.
To grasp this scripturally, you are already seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus...yet you are here. In that way you return to heaven.
It is impossible to describe so those who have had a glimpse of Heaven are lost for words.
One thing is certain, once you have been there and come back the fear of death, even the fear of the pain of death is gone.
People don't GO to heaven. They enter heaven. Heaven is infinite in proximity. Right here. Right there. Just there. It is easier to think of it a long long away somehow out there, but it's here. Not on earth, well kind of. More on that in the last post.
When people die they step from the cloak of time into the uncloaking of eternity. We are locked in a box called time and enter into an unlimited vista called NOW.. Eternity.
Facing the End.. Left Behind
The hardest part for those still here after someone steps from time into eternity is the sense of being left behind (there is still pain in loss). Once our loved ones step from time into eternity they are unaware of us. They don't forget us, they know who we are, but they are not aware of us once they are in eternity. They are not part of any cloud of witnesses. They are oblivious to us after the point of death. Think about what it would be like for them to be aware of our actions, reactions and rebellions. They do not become angels.
Mary the Mother of Jesus, she is there, but she is not an angel. I don't want to upset my Catholic friends but the apparitions of Mary are supernatural communications but not Mary.
People saw her because it was a form of communication. Sometimes perhaps even demonic. Measurement of that must be made in the light of Scripture. An Angel taking a form acceptable to us can be a way Father uses His messengers to communicate something he can't get done another way. Look at all the times angel messengers were used and documented to communicate something. It's still happening. There are angels of light, but not all good.
Those people now in heaven don't see or sense us. They are in glory. BUT we can sense them. They can't come to us, there are no ghosts. We will only go to them. They can't come to us. David proclaimed that when his infant son died. It's a truth we must grasp.
When someone who has lost a loved one says, "It feels like they are still here or I can feel or sense their presence" it's true. They are just there.. just on the other side of the veil. A very thin veil.
You can feel it. You sense them. Yet this is not so for them. They wait for you. They remember you in the completed tapestry that was their life in time. But you are now frozen in their memory. After they die, they don’t see you again. You can talk, pray and cry out to them, but they are deaf to your cries. Praying to saints is fruitless. YET... of your loved ones gone - you can sense the love they had for you and bask in it... as they wait for you to come. The veil between you and them is very thin and sometimes is breached for a moment.. you to them but not them to you. They are in Glory and you are still here in the battle. They are right there... just there, you can almost reach out and touch them on the other side of the veil. Think of what the transfiguration was like for Moses? Did he see to our side?
Jesus and all the angels have no problem moving from time into eternity and back again. There is no confusion for them. That's why Jesus ascending into heaven and returning seemed to break thru a veil, a cloud. I wonder how high it appeared Jesus was when he seemed to disappear? Fifty feet, a hundred, a thousand? It seemed as if he entered a cloud and then was gone.
In the same way he came back again.... in a cloud. Not that it is a cloud.. it is the separation between time and eternity.
Cloud is the only way someone seeing it can describe it. It's a portal that opens and as angels step thru it looks like stepping into or out of a cloud.
Jesus appears often on earth. Has to many. He sees us. He is God. Your uncle Art is not like that. He is now like Jesus in bodily form in heaven, but not God.
Angels are assigned messengers and with messages come from and return to heaven. Your uncle Art will never be an angel. Your uncle Art will be one who came into heaven a little higher than the angels yet never assigned to return to earth. That's for other created beings.
This is also how supernatural provision comes. Remember the storeroom of heaven is just over there. Just the other side of the veil. Very close in proximity. So when we look to heaven's provision we are able to receive as the veil is breached and those things stored up for us are delivered into our hands. Sometimes it's manna. Sometimes it's rain when you need it. Sometimes it's deliverance. Sometimes its protection. Sometimes it's money in a fish. Those things happen as heaven touches earth for a moment in answer to prayer.
One thing that becomes clear in heaven when the revelation comes of HIS greatness and majesty. The earth, the sun, the moon, the solar system, the galaxies, all the galaxies, all of creation will suddenly fade into proper perspective in our sight of the Creator. Will earth exist...? Yes but in proper perspective.
All of creation will roll up like a scroll in proper relationship to her creator. You won't be in awe of them any more, you will only have awe for the Maker. There will be very little to cause you to want to be other than in HIS presence... except that HE is everywhere. If you decide you want to visit Jupiter or Mars (like the old song says) you can think it and be there. You won't need air or a spaceship. You won't --- not moving, you'll just be.
All the things you read and memorized from scripture will make sense. There will be things you were taught or believed here on earth that will seem like nonsense. But that was then. In eternity the silly things you thought will fall away as the TRUTH takes center stage.. I AM the TRUTH HE said.
Not everyone will make it to heaven. Will you know if your loved ones are missing and grieve? No. There are no tears in heaven. No grief. No pain.
So from the moment you die till your loved ones appear at heaven's portal you will be unknowing. It's not a sanitized experience; it's one that provides only for your fit into the whole.
These things are hard to explain. The centrality of Jesus is what makes it all hold together (according to Scripture).
He will so overwhelm you with His glory you will not notice so many things that distract on earth. You can live like this. You can grasp your eternal nature now. You already have eternal life.
There is much more to say, but like Paul the Apostle said,
“It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me” (2 Corinthians 12:1–6)
I won't tell you how I know all these things, you must measure them all by scripture. They will prove to be true as they are.
About the End we Will Face
Almost all of what has been written and preached the last hundred or so years about the end times is wrong. I could give you all kinds of Biblical evidence and historical back up, but for those who are questioning it all, here are a few truths:
There is no rapture. Never was. The "Join Him in the AIR” is true.. but not as a rapture.
Jesus is here. Always has been as he promised. He manifests but only for a brief time. He is as good as His word.... NEVER leaving or forsaking. He's here. We do not know how to recognize him. We are like the men on the road to Emmaus or Mary Magdalene in the Garden.
The world is not about to end, it is however going to go thru times of great trouble, but that has been going on in history since time began. These tribulations are part of a great cycle. There is no Great Tribulation yet there will be tribulations.
False religions connected with political power will be shown up to be the beast and the beast will manifest himself as the persecutor of the faithful.
Jesus is hated by the devil and when he inspires demonized people to take control of a religious system it becomes demonic government. The current beast is Islam. No longer a religion it has now become a tool of satan's continuing failing attempt to destroy the Kingdom of God.
Of course in the face of great persecution comes great revival. When the devil comes in, LIKE A FLOOD God raises up a standard against him.
Don't fear persecution, don't embrace it either. Recognize it as part of the cycle. When Islam is destroyed and discredited, there will be another. The devil has no new strategies, that's why the writers of the Bible could talk with such certitude about such things. It did happen, people lost their heads for their profession of faith, they are losing them today around the world and will even more in the future.
Victorious Eschatology
There are “Biblical” ideas that have been presented that are not accurate. It's not just the eschatology, it is an understanding of the victory over sin and death that was fought and WON at the cross witnessed by an empty tomb over 2000 years ago.
Someday the world will indeed cease to exist as we knew it physically...yet it will never end. When Jesus is revealed (either upon our stepping from time into eternity or when the earth dissolves... as must happen eventually) we will see HIM as HE really is. The scroll will be rolled back and then the SON will shine brighter than the SUN. That is the revelation of HIM that we will all see together. It's not going to happen soon. Stop looking for it. There is no great showdown ending with the world ceasing to exist.
The Kingdom of God is not going to stop advancing until the end of the WORLD... so enjoy the journey without fear.
How about the mark of the beast, the one world money system, the "no man can buy or sell except"? All happened and will happen again and then will not. In fact eventually all attempts to create a single currency fails (see Bitcoin). At one time all of the Roman Empire used a single currency. How about now?
Attempts and failures over the centuries to control commerce by creating fiat currency has always ended in defeat. Its not to say the devil doesn't try it again and again, it's just destined to fail. In fact soon God's judgment will once again manifest to crush this vain attempt. This worldwide system will collapse.
What about the bowls of wrath, the vials, the hailstones, the four corners, the winds, the beast from the sea, the "hide me", the terrors of Revelation? They all happened right on schedule in AD 72. The religious system of the Beast Judaism and Government were crushed and destroyed. Since all things in the earth have been deep long term cycles and birth pangs, they happen again and again and again as the Kingdom advances.
Those who doubt God's capacity to bring judgment on evil don't own a newspaper, radio, TV or have access to Internet news. YET all these things are past, present and future... as the Kingdom increases. Don't read the news with an eye towards the end, or Jesus coming thru the clouds; He did, in the sight of the High Priest.
And he will again, in a show of his GLORY as this beast system is once again put to dust, to shame.
Think of all the beast systems that are now properly filed in the dustbin of history. Baal, Greek, Roman and Norse god Worship (remember Zeus and Odin?), Egyptian gods of government now only exist in hieroglyphics, who knows what Stonehenge was all about, or the Mayan and Aztec gods who were sacrificed to of human flesh and in more modern times Japan, China, Nazi and certain African nations who considered their leaders gods or demi gods. Now all gone. Only Jesus remains. And at some point when Islam is exposed it too will die the death all false religion dies. As will Hindu and all other. Only Christ, the true and living God will survive the millennia. All others are judged and pass away.
Jesus spoke of certain times in Matthew 24. They all came to pass exactly as he predicted in 72AD. Yet we must also be aware of the cycles.... deep and long. Catastrophe has come and will come again so the warnings Jesus makes are still efficacious to heed. We ignore them as history at our own risk. They are History, but they ring true as the great cycles of humanity turn. We lurch from obscurity, to abundance, to bondage and then into catastrophe. It has been ever thus and the Books of Kings and Chronicles are there as a shadow of what we expect.
The lawless acts warned about to Timothy by Paul are true. Men do wax worse and worse....then the cycle turns, revival comes, repentance and GLORY shines. It will happen again. We are not far from a much greater revival (accompanied by greater persecution) than you can imagine.
I write all this not to convince you to change your thinking. That is a journey you must take for yourself. There are many great books and teachings to help you find the way. If however you persist in believing that somehow you will be spared by some escape in the future (rapture), you will become discouraged. You won't escape but you can be hidden, you can be in Goshen, you can live in the provision and protection of the Lord, but you will not escape unscathed. If you look at the long cycles of history, you will see it.
What About Israel?
There is something about the people Israel. There is much we don't grasp; who they are and what they represent to God in his illogical asymmetrical covenant commitment to a rebellious people. Those of us who are grafted in later (that would be you and me) are just as rebellious. If I were God I would have chosen a much more worthy race of folks, Germans perhaps. (that's a joke) In any case, ignoring what is happening with the covenanted people even in rebellion is intentional spiritual blindness.
The very fact that they now speak the language Moses spoke and was spoken to at the burning bush and occupy the same land is not without prophetic meaning. This is a sign to those of us who are grafted in to have confidence in our God. It is not about the real estate, they may lose the land, but the covenant will still be in place. He is not an Indian-giver God.
God's great advancing Kingdom is becoming greater. Have hope in God.
His covenant is eternal to YOU!
Many preachers are pointing to the times and seasons as harbingers of the end times. Others are warning of the collapse of our society. Some are advising people to store up in barns money, gold, sliver and goods for a season of great difficulty. Some advise becoming well armed to defend one's self against the imminent time of the end. I don’t argue with being prepared. I do argue the reasons behind these things.
The dispensationalist are looking for an easy out. The rapture that will save all true believers. Those nasty pagans will just have to endure the tribulation and the oppression of the antichrist. If ONLY they had listened to "us" (much wiser and more alert then they) they would have been vacuumed up to heaven and not left here to writhe in pain from the sting of scorpions or some such. (YES - I saw all the Holy Horror movies back in the 80s).
Now we have a new one coming out. Starring Nicolas Cage as the hero, Hollywood is promoting the rapture. Isn't it interesting that godless Hollywood is now desperately preaching the exact same deception that has paralyzed the body of Christ.
Only truth sets people free. But truth can only be conveyed by a living witness. People can't be saved unless there are examples of the fruit of being saved in crisis situations.
Witness is a NOUN not a VERB!
You don't witness by sharing so called spiritual laws, you witness by being Jesus in flesh here and now in plain view of the world. IF however you are gone, raptured, dead, inert hiding out, you aren't much value to the kingdom of God on earth.
It is this illusion, this great deception (the grand delusion) that must be confronted by the True Prophets of God. Father needs every saint on the planet to be there to help the lost and desperate souls find truth, Jesus. It's not going to happen in churches. When the collapse comes (one IS coming) churches will cease to function. Informal small fellowships of those who need peace will be all there is. These organic cellular pods will become the only body of Christ manifesting on the earth and it will be more powerful by a magnitude of ten then all the Churches and so called Christian TV on the planet today have been able to effect in their efforts. There will be larger gatherings. These small pods will assemble from time to time, sometimes they might even USE an empty church.
I am as a prophet to warn and encourage Christians to prepare themselves for this day.
Become spiritually grounded. Allow the Five Fold to equip YOU for the work of the Ministry. Learn to build community. Connect with your neighbors. When it all goes dark they will be all you have and you must be light for them. Forget about escape. It's a myth. Begin now to prepare for the end with courage and looking for a new beginning.
IF you die, you die in Christ, but your true destiny is to be a voice and a witness that draws people into the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God expands on earth as it is made up of living souls redeemed from sin and destruction. You can't do that if you are dead. Or raptured.
Prepare to face the end and usher in the new beginning of what will in fact be the greatest expansion of the Kingdom of God ever seen on planet earth.
What about the Resurrection of the Dead in Christ?
I am often asked what about the resurrection in light of this theology. We need to read our Bibles clearly. I will assume you know the scriptures if you are reading this. What was
Jesus like after He rose from the dead? That's what we will be like when we rise from the dead. He was the first fruit.
Here's a way to help think this through. What if the Romans had decided to burn Jesus body to be certain he would not rise from the dead? It would have saved placing Guards at the tomb. WOULD THE POWER OF GOD been enough to raise him from the ashes? OR would Father have said, “RATS, It was a good plan but I needed a body to raise someone from the dead. Guess I'll try again later”.
I'm not being sacrilege here; the question about bodily Resurrection gets all messed up in flawed theology.
JESUS was raised from the dead into a Glorified Body. Just like you will have when you die; Raised bodily but Glorified.
Yes, we will all be raised from the dead, we will rise in the air into an eternal heaven... God doesn't need any earthly (corruptible) molecules to resurrect you bodily to life everlasting with a glorified body just like Jesus has.
The Resurrection is not to your former corrupt state. You rise again to become JUST LIKE JESUS in a Glorified Body. There is nothing good about your old body. Resurrection happens, but it won't be like you thought or were taught... unless you know the scripture. Then you think right.
Ends that are not
I have been reading about the end of the world for 40 years. In 1970 Hal Lindsey published the book "The Late Great Planet Earth". I read it a couple years after it came out. It scared the hell out of me... I mean that literally. Pretty certain that things were going to collapse, come to an end, tribulation, wars, antichrist, beast, mark, rapture.... really a horror show.
It affected me. It's not why I got saved, I got saved because I was lost in this life.
If you were alive then and remember the book ..it affected you too. But it's likely NOT why you came to Jesus. In fact most of the people scared by end times things make short term shallow converts and then later solid atheists.
A spirit was released at that time that has had a profound negative impact on the nation, the church, the christian community in our nation and has manifested in the rise of skeptic rooted atheism we see today.
Much of the foolish parsing of news events twisted into fitting some scriptural paradigm of prophetic meaning based on Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24 and Revelation has been going on in churches and books for almost 200 years.
I have read accounts of how events in Israel, Russia, Europe and the Conflicts in Arab countries are a clear indicator of the end of the world and the soon coming of the Lord. The one that jolted me into reality regarding these things was one such account .... published in 1895. It took world events around that time and structured them into a tapestry that predicted the soon coming of the Lord with great confidence.
You can find those books in Christian bookstores... written about events going on right now. I have some on my bookshelves. The left behind series is one. Websites are up and running, and very well intentioned that take current events and use them to warn people to expect the skies to part.
If anyone should question these things they are buffeted with all kinds of Bible Bullets that define questioning people as scoffers who doubt IF such things sense. If your expectation of Jesus revelation to you is dependent on what you see on TV or hear on the radio surrounding events in the middle east, you are being duped. It's very infectious, but like a bad virus, it only weakens the body.
What is worse, you are being poisoned against living your life in the Presence of Jesus. You can't see Him active and present in your life because in your theology He is coming soon.
Unbelievers around you think you are crazy. They read these books too and the devil has used them as an inoculation against the TRUTH of the Gospel. It's actually a clever scheme. End times fantasy has crippled evangelism in our world. When people who should be invited into a Life WITH Christ here and now, they are told of some time in the future when if they measure up somehow (don't miss the rapture) they will be able to spend real quality time with him. Kind of a spiritual Harry Chapin song, "Cat's in the Cradle". We'll have a good time then...
On the day after Christmas is an example, a time when we are aware of how permanent anticipation can be a trap. How hoping for a future event kills the joy in the moment. How on this day there is a let down. That's what finding all this out is for many, a jolt into reality they didn't know they wanted until they got there. They loved that day before Christmas feeling that futuristic prophetic interpretation gives them. There is also a one-upmanship about it all. Kind of like the contest level yard displays I see in some neighborhoods in the season. We decorate out theology with more and brighter outlandish claims of this or that fresh revelation of the coming of the Lord. I will offend some, but the Harbinger was one such. So were the blood moon things.
Jesus on the sermon on the mount taught His followers to understand that living here and now WITH HIM was the chief goal of man. Not some future event.
Somehow that got all mixed up into causing people to think we should wait for that future event. It only results in disappointment. Like the day after Christmas.
The divisiveness that has been manifested by all this vain speculation (at least that's what the Bible calls such foolishness) divides the body of Christ into pre trib, mid trib, post trib, no trib, millennial, amillennial and a dozen other such iterations. Anything that focuses on some future event is excuse enough for not living what we should here and now in the presence of the True and Living God, the Creator of all the Universe, King of Kings, True God here and now among us.
Darby and Scolfield were wrong... and they know it now. They made heaven, but really know the truth now. If they could come back (they can't) they would say STOP... we were wrong.
Godless sects have risen up from this kind of teaching.
Jehovah's Witness is one such. They have been predicting the end in Watchtower as a publication. They are wrong every single time. They are the champs at setting dates.
They came out of William Miller's preaching about the end times in the middle of the 1800s. Now they have devolved into a cult of lost people who no longer believe Jesus is God. That's where this error filled teaching will lead you... to apostasy.
I enjoy having a Jehovah's Witness team come to my door. I seldom argue the dispute about “is Jesus God”... I start to talk to them about the Presence of the God here and now, His love for them, His action right here and now in their lives, how they can SEE HIM, experience Him, Know Him. Then I gently tell them of the Power of the Holy Spirit and the Presence of Jesus (There's the rebuttal to True God for them) and how wonderful it can be to know Him in that way.
More than once a Jehovah's Witness novice has left my house in tears shaken by the reality of the Presence of Jesus. They came to witness (a verb) I was simply a Witness (a noun). That is the difference and we can't be that if we are living in fear or anticipation of an event that will never come to pass.
The problem with all flawed and error filled theology, Jehovah's witnesses and the whole end times ministry machine (Much of it money driven) is they will proclaim "It's not Biblical" to NOT believe as we do.
So they fire the Bible bullets and hope you are hit. What they think are Bible Bullets are in fact fiery darts. Satan in charge.
When I see Jack Van Impe on TV it saddens me. He has been doing his dance for decades and is more confused today than he was in the 80s. He knows the Bible cold and yet can stretch and twist world events to fit scripture and one way or another week after week after week. He's always wrong.
The final thing that impacted me and turned the light on was the historicity of the Bible. I tried to prove that many of the things mentioned in Ezekiel, Matthew and Revelation haven't happened yet so they must be unfulfilled prophecy. I failed in my quest. They all proved to have been rooted in historical events. I will ask the reader to do their own work. It will tear you up for a while as you discover how far afield you have gone under the influence of false teaching. The Bible is true. It all happened. There are however occasions when history does repeat... knowing which is which is all the trick... just don't be deceived by the devil's scheme.
IF the light comes on for you.... freedom will be the result. Joy, Peace, Patience. In fact, I don't believe it is possible to live in the fullness of the fruit of the Spirit without proper understanding in these areas. I hope you find it.. I'll see you in Heaven in any case. This isn't about eternity, it's about Kingdom living here and now.
Jesus doesn't have to come again, He is always with you, HE said so
Jesus is here, among us, already present. He will be revealed to us on our last day, but until then we can see Him as He is. He said He will never leave or forsake us. But we are blinded by religion and bad teaching from seeing Him Present in our Lives... all the time... every day. We are like the men on the road to Emmaus.
This is not over-spiritualization. This is a declaration of the Presence of the True and Living God: Here... Now.
So how IS He present among us today?
Here are a few ways:
In Community - where ever Two or Three are gathered together in MY NAME there I am
In Worship - “Inhabits the praise of His people (Psalms 22: 3)
In Judgment - When you read the Lord shall Judge, it's the same word as the Lord shall come. When you see Him bring things to pass... it's parosia
In Covenant and Covenant Renewal - When we see him promise, we promise him and promise to one another (why Christian Weddings are so Powerful)
In Prophecy 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”
In The Gifts of the Spirit - Jesus manifests Himself when we flow with Him, by Him and Him thru us. This is a Grace and a Great Mystery...but it's JESUS manifest.
In Proclamation of the Word (not Preaching) Jesus is the WORD become Flesh and dwelling among us. When his word is proclaimed it is Jesus present.
In The reality of the Eucharistic experience - we do not understand the fullness of the TRUE PRESENCE of Jesus in the sacrament. Most people miss Him.
In Holy Ghost Prayer: It was the prayer of Jesus on the night of his betrayal that we become one in Him and in the Father as noted in John 17:22, “And the glory which you given to them that they may be one in us, that the world may know that you have sent Me. True spiritual life and fulfillment comes by becoming one in the Spirit with the Lord “But He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).
In Marvel of Creation - All creation declares the Glory of God and when we see it... we know HE is with us
In Acts of Mercy shown - Inasmuch as you have done it to the LEAST of these MY BROTHERS, you did it to ME.
In Answered Prayer - When something we expect and pray for manifests... it's Jesus.
In our entering in to HIM by Baptism to Sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6), buried with Him and "You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3)
Jesus sometimes actually manifests to some believers bodily. Happens and has happened all thru history. Yet if you need a physical manifestation to comprehend his presence among you, you are of little faith.
If you would please God, you must first believe that He is, and the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Still true. Stop looking to some future date when He will appear and begin to see Him all around you here and now. Your Joy will INCREASE. It will be sad to get to heaven and hear, I was always there with you... think the footprints in the sand poem... there is more truth there than you know.
One Post Script. I know what the Creeds say. I know what the Bible says about I am coming soon. Many believe He did. I am not sure we can use creeds alone as our foundation for grasping the reality of Jesus among us here and now.
It’s sounds great when preachers talk about the return of Christ … someday. Concentration on that future event robs people of present truth. Jesus said, “I am the Truth”
Care is needed
I have been concerned about some of the radical views held by those captured by certain end times teachings. I was there once. Held them dear. Then when discovering the truth.. and coming to a grasp of what it all really means... I began to see how much damage bad teaching in this area does and even did to me. It was an emotional wrenching into reality.
It's not that people that teach these things bad people, they are sincere. They think they are warning the flock. What they are really doing is blinding them. There is a wide panoply of end times views. They can't all be right.
I am most concerned with those who use the Rapture Ready theologies. They are simply in gross error and the negative view they offer is very damaging. Here is an article I lifted. I didn't write it, but I agree with it:
“The Bad Fruit of Bad Eschatology”
Love usually takes the back seat while fear is emphasized. Sometimes the fear is covered over by a rapture escape or Divine protection from coming wrath.
All long-term thinking becomes limited. It becomes impossible to even prophesy beyond a few decades because of the supposed any minute return of Christ.
It creates a fear of technology because that new GPS, computer, smartphone, laptop, etc; might be used as the “mark of the beast.”
It harbors a fear of politics because the antichrist could be right around the corner.
It breeds an anti-Culture view to the point of irrelevancy. Yet, even the Apostle Paul was able to quote from the popular culture of his own day. (Acts 17:28)
It demotivates from pushing forward in health, medicine, the environment, or technology because why would one work for the good of a world that is going to burn?
It has created a bizarre form of Christian racism. Many have become Pro Israel to the point that no political thought is exercised. For example if Israel were to mistreat her surrounding nations many modern Christians would give them a free-pass because they are God’s chosen people. Christians have literally accepted a new form of Pro-Israel/anti-Arab racism.
Also there is a suspicion toward other countries that has become anti-Russian and anti-Chinese. This Christian racism is rooted in a wrong understanding of the end-times.
Hope is narrowed down to a rapture escape.
The negative end-time view is the seedbed of most cults and militias.
Many have turned to massive hours of fasting, prayer, quick evangelism and looking for a rapture rather than studying and training for a lifetime of advancing the kingdom.
The negative view doesn’t take the time texts of scripture seriously or literally.
Many silly conspiracies come from believing the negative view. This view fits perfectly with those who believe in the Illuminati, the NWO, and other secret society theories.
The fruit of these theologies have taken Christians who SHOULD be building the Kingdom of God on Earth into a bunker mentality that serves neither God nor man. Our mandate to be salt and light is lost by this diversion.
We need to be careful
Who will end up in HELL?
First the good news.
Every Christian, follower of Christ, one who is obedient will at some point find life in time ending. For some it happens in old age at the end of a struggle with disease. For some a sudden end of life as the result of accident, war or violence.
For every person alive today, there will come a day when your last breath is taken, your spirit leaves your body. Your body becomes an empty shell.
For the Christian when that moment comes, there is a glorious transformation. Time ends and suddenly the believer finds him or herself alive and awake in the presence of the Lord. What happens is in reality a leaving of the dimension known as time and entering a new dimension we call eternity.
Eternity has always been with us hidden in our hearts. Jesus lives there. He's always with us. He never leaves nor forsakes us. He doesn't because he lives right here. As close as the air that surrounds us. When an angel appears, as happens often, they leave eternity to enter time to intervene as part of the angel armies. Elisha’s servant saw them.
Jesus can appear... as He enters time occasionally to manifest himself as He did often in the old Testament, after his resurrection and even in our day. He steps from eternity into time.
When the believer enters eternity (Heaven), he cannot see back into time nor can he come back from eternity into time. We are aware of only those in heaven. We will know each other as we are known, but we won't know of those who "Didn't make it". That would cause grief. All tears are washed away in heaven therefore knowledge of one who isn't there isn't possible.
Once we are in eternity, in the presence of the Lord, our joy is made full. Unspeakable. Full of glory. Without anything but living in the fullness of the presence of the throne. The Sea of Glass.
Heaven is instantaneous and wonderful. Paul the Apostle talked of it. I won't address time at all... because the idea of soul sleep is involved in time. Understanding eternity is hard for people who live in time. Just be certain that it is.... and you will enter it... and as a Christian it will be GLORIOUS.
Now what of the unbeliever? What of that place we call hell? What is damnation? What happens when an unbeliever dies?
When that day comes... they go to the grave. They are living the result of their choice. They are without God.. dead. Gone. Perished. Separated forever from the Glory of God in his presence.
What of the Rich Man in Jesus story and a poor man named Lazarus. There’s a clue there, torment is real. In eternity there is no time... but in the grave time is in force. There comes a day... to a person who died a thousand years ago or yesterday when they are brought from the grave (in the spirit) to stand before a Holy and Just God in Judgment. God does not want ANYONE to perish. Jesus stands as defense attorney. He will come to the Father and if there is accusation He will say, "I shed blood for that one and he entered into it". Salvation is confirmed.
It will be many fewer than you think. Those who willfully rejected the wooing of the Holy Spirit (the unpardonable sin), will be condemned to the second death. No eternal life.
This then becomes a difficult thing to define critically. Lots of scriptural "Interpretation" as to what it is. The lake of FIRE is reserved for the antichrist and the beast. It seems to be a particularly horrid place.
It’s at this point where things are cloudy. We only know that without His saving blood we are eternally separated from the Father. He IS the only way.
Here is an important issue. Jesus spoke of levels of punishment.
Luke 12:
42The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
I can't prove it, but here's what I know: Those who never come to Christ, many will simply die... absent of eternal life. In the grave. Those who were intentionally rebellious.... will suffer a greater torment. Reading the passage above seems to indicate such.
Hell is real. It is reserved for the devil, his demons and those who are part of HIS kingdom. For those who are simply ignorant of Jesus and his redemption. Will die. Alone. In the grave. Bereft of eternal life.
At this point I would expect to heart the knee-jerk reaction but what about the poor lost soul in boogal boogla Africa, on an unexplored island or those who are raised and die in Hindu or Islamic homes. Or what about those who died in Canaan at the hands of those coming into the promised land?
Here’s what I know for sure. Holy Spirit woos. He appeals. He provides opportunity. IF they never hear that appeal… they die lost to eternity and spend eternity in the grave.
They Perish
I hold to much of orthodox Christian Teaching.. and I believe:
I believe in the fullness of the Manifestation of God’s presence among us as revealed in 1 Corinthian’s 12, That all the Charismata of Holy Spirit are for today.
That includes Prophecy, Tongues, Healing, Faith, Words of Wisdom and Knowledge. I believe that we do not yet understand all the reasons and power involved in the fullness of the Spirit.
I believe in the restoration of the five fold ministry of the Holy Spirit: the Apostolic, Prophetic, Evangelist, Teaching and the Pastoral.
I believe in the church is larger than we understand and it is God’s purpose to unify her higher than we are today. I believe the Devil has used denominations and splintered fellowships to keep people from fulfilling their destiny in God.
I believe the best days are ahead… I am an optimist by the Spirit of God.
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