Jesus, The Church, and The Coming Kingdom

I’ve been reading lately from this great book called “The Fire Within.” The author uses the lives of Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross as road maps to growing in deep prayer and intimacy with God. One of the ideas that has struck me about the book is the way in which the author connects what I have come to describe as “hundred-fold obedience” with those that are growing in their knowledge of God and prayer. The question that immediately jumped into my heart as I kept reading and re-reading that phrase was “Do I know what ‘hundred-fold obedience’ looks like in my life?”

So I began a journey back through the scriptures. I reread Matthew 13 to find out what stalls believers in their pursuit of one hundred fold obedience. I came upon a couple of interesting conclusions. First of all, 95% of what we learn from this parable is how to not let the word be choked out of our lives. This is good; we shouldn’t want the word to get choked out in our lives. But after the word takes root in our hearts and begins to grow, there is this whole other phase of producing fruit that we must consider. Some of us produce a 30 fold harvest. Some of us produce 60. Others of us (and I suspect very few) produce 100-fold harvest of what the Lord has sown into our lives. So I began to ask the Lord, “How do I get beyond simply trying to aviod choking the seed in my life to a place where I produce a hundred fold harvest?”

The following is a list of partial answers. I post them, not because they are complete or profound, but because I hope they are a roadmap for others out there. I hope these qualities of heart ignite other questions about our lives lived in this agnostic culture. My hope is it will spur us to ask how we can best cultivate that seed which the Lord has sowed in our lives. I also hope it spurs conversation about changes that need to be made in my life personally and the lives of those who are reading with an open heart.

• “Intimacy with the Godhead” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:37, Philippians 3:8-14, Ephesians 3:19, Ephesians 4:1) One hundred fold obedience is primarily found in loving God with everything. Society will tell me that there is one reality—self—and that one reality must be loved over every other thing. But God calls us out of our blindness and declares to us there is a great reality called God that deserves to be loved above anything else. Intimacy with God is both the primary means and the end of one hundred fold obedience. It will be the measure by which all else is judged. Paul, the greatest missionary apostle, was consumed by this desire above all other things. Every other goal must become secondary to this goal. This quest will result in full possession and attaining the true fullness of God.
• “Zeal Corresponding To Knowledge” (Romans 10:2, Psalm 69:9, John 2:17, Luke 16:16) Those who pursue anything with zeal, especially things which are unseen, are shunned by society. But God loves the zeal that burns with fire from His altar. Zeal for God’s house (His dominion and authority over His people and the earth) must remain a constant priority over every other desire. Zeal, however, has the unfortunate side affect of producing zealots who seek religion or another kingdom but miss Jesus. I must contend for zeal that is born in the heart of God. I desire to know and be zealous for those things He is zealous for.
• “A Great Commission Commitment” (Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 10:7-8, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:29, Acts 1:8, John 20:21-22, John 14:12-15, Isaiah 6) The great commission must be a priority. While society in general shuns true evangelism and the church seems to create a culture that makes new believers less effective in sharing their faith, I must grow in my ability to bring Jesus with power and authority to the world. I must grow in my ability to articulate, proclaim, and herald the coming Kingdom with kindness, authority, and power. Those I come into contact with must be gripped with the reality of sin, the majesty of God, and the sacrifice of Christ through the spoken word, the demonstrations of power, and kindness that transcends agnostic understanding.
• “The Sacrificial Life” (Matthew 16:24, John 6:9-11, 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, Acts 9:16) Because society promotes the good of the individual over the good of the people and the good of God, I desire to live a sacrificial lifestyle given over to service. I must learn to both take up my cross daily and walk the narrow way. The source of strength God gives to the believer to walk this road comes from discovering something of what eye has not seen nor ear heard, what God has prepared for those who love Him.
• “The Increase of Virtue” (Galatians 5:16, 22-24, 2 Peter 1:5-10, Matthew 5:2-10) Growth in kingdom-virtues is undervalued in our culture. We enjoy facades of character while decaying from within. A greater yielding to God and His purposes will produce spontaneous reactions of the heart that resemble His. The goal is not to practice these virtues, but in abiding with God, see these virtues mature and grow.
• “The Battle Against Greed” (Matthew 13:22, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 6:22-24, 1 Timothy 3:3) There will be a constant drive because of the culture we live in (including our Christian subculture) to always want more money, more stuff, and to be entertained more. When the desire for more comes to my soul, I must resist the need for prestige, security, and entertainment by capturing thoughts of “need” and redirecting them toward seeking first the Kingdom.
• “Revelation and Understanding” (Matthew 13:19, Ephesians 1:17-19, Colossians 1:9-12, Mark 4:24-25) Failure to understand the word that is given will allow the enemy to come and snatch the word from our hearts. Our society frequently writes off that which it does not understand or comprehend. I must contend for a true understanding of the written word of God, of His spoken word, of any and all encounters and visitation, and His heart towards me. Understanding that what is given leads to increased understanding in time.
• “Endurance Through Hardship” (Matthew 13:20-21, Matthew 10:22, Matthew 11:6, 1 Peter 4) Suffering for the cause of the Gospel is a necessary and important part of the Christian walk. Our culture glorifies suffering from the enemy (sickness, shame) and despises suffering that comes to purify believers (persecution). My pursuit of obedience must include girding myself to suffer in such a way that I endure and bring glory to God. I must endure hardship and find my heart free from offense at God.
• “Consecrated and Committed Relationships” (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:23-25, Acts 2:44-47, 1 Samuel 23:16) We live in a world that defines men as strong when they are able to live alone and aloof from others. True purity, however, only comes as we allow our lives to be seen for what they really are by those closest to us. My pursuit of God must include a band of men (and their wives) who are committed to Jesus, who will spur me forward in the things of God. They must be those who will confront me on issues of sin and walk me through the restoration process.

I’ve been reading lately from this great book called “The Fire Within.” The author uses the lives of Theresa of Avila and John of the Cross as road maps to growing in deep prayer and intimacy with God. One of the ideas that has struck me about the book is the way in which the author connects what I have come to describe as “hundred-fold obedience” with those that are growing in their knowledge of God and prayer. The question that immediately jumped into my heart as I kept reading and re-reading that phrase was “Do I know what ‘hundred-fold obedience’ looks like in my life?”

So I began a journey back through the scriptures. I reread Matthew 13 to find out what stalls believers in their pursuit of one hundred fold obedience. I came upon a couple of interesting conclusions. First of all, 95% of what we learn from this parable is how to not let the word be choked out of our lives. This is good; we shouldn’t want the word to get choked out in our lives. But after the word takes root in our hearts and begins to grow, there is this whole other phase of producing fruit that we must consider. Some of us produce a 30 fold harvest. Some of us produce 60. Others of us (and I suspect very few) produce 100-fold harvest of what the Lord has sown into our lives. So I began to ask the Lord, “How do I get beyond simply trying to aviod choking the seed in my life to a place where I produce a hundred fold harvest?”

The following is a list of partial answers. I post them, not because they are complete or profound, but because I hope they are a roadmap for others out there. I hope these qualities of heart ignite other questions about our lives lived in this agnostic culture. My hope is it will spur us to ask how we can best cultivate that seed which the Lord has sowed in our lives. I also hope it spurs conversation about changes that need to be made in my life personally and the lives of those who are reading with an open heart.

• “Intimacy with the Godhead” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Matthew 22:37, Philippians 3:8-14, Ephesians 3:19, Ephesians 4:1) One hundred fold obedience is primarily found in loving God with everything. Society will tell me that there is one reality—self—and that one reality must be loved over every other thing. But God calls us out of our blindness and declares to us there is a great reality called God that deserves to be loved above anything else. Intimacy with God is both the primary means and the end of one hundred fold obedience. It will be the measure by which all else is judged. Paul, the greatest missionary apostle, was consumed by this desire above all other things. Every other goal must become secondary to this goal. This quest will result in full possession and attaining the true fullness of God.
• “Zeal Corresponding To Knowledge” (Romans 10:2, Psalm 69:9, John 2:17, Luke 16:16) Those who pursue anything with zeal, especially things which are unseen, are shunned by society. But God loves the zeal that burns with fire from His altar. Zeal for God’s house (His dominion and authority over His people and the earth) must remain a constant priority over every other desire. Zeal, however, has the unfortunate side affect of producing zealots who seek religion or another kingdom but miss Jesus. I must contend for zeal that is born in the heart of God. I desire to know and be zealous for those things He is zealous for.
• “A Great Commission Commitment” (Matthew 28:18-20, Matthew 10:7-8, Mark 16:15-18, Luke 24:29, Acts 1:8, John 20:21-22, John 14:12-15, Isaiah 6) The great commission must be a priority. While society in general shuns true evangelism and the church seems to create a culture that makes new believers less effective in sharing their faith, I must grow in my ability to bring Jesus with power and authority to the world. I must grow in my ability to articulate, proclaim, and herald the coming Kingdom with kindness, authority, and power. Those I come into contact with must be gripped with the reality of sin, the majesty of God, and the sacrifice of Christ through the spoken word, the demonstrations of power, and kindness that transcends agnostic understanding.
• “The Sacrificial Life” (Matthew 16:24, John 6:9-11, 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, Acts 9:16) Because society promotes the good of the individual over the good of the people and the good of God, I desire to live a sacrificial lifestyle given over to service. I must learn to both take up my cross daily and walk the narrow way. The source of strength God gives to the believer to walk this road comes from discovering something of what eye has not seen nor ear heard, what God has prepared for those who love Him.
• “The Increase of Virtue” (Galatians 5:16, 22-24, 2 Peter 1:5-10, Matthew 5:2-10) Growth in kingdom-virtues is undervalued in our culture. We enjoy facades of character while decaying from within. A greater yielding to God and His purposes will produce spontaneous reactions of the heart that resemble His. The goal is not to practice these virtues, but in abiding with God, see these virtues mature and grow.
• “The Battle Against Greed” (Matthew 13:22, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 6:22-24, 1 Timothy 3:3) There will be a constant drive because of the culture we live in (including our Christian subculture) to always want more money, more stuff, and to be entertained more. When the desire for more comes to my soul, I must resist the need for prestige, security, and entertainment by capturing thoughts of “need” and redirecting them toward seeking first the Kingdom.
• “Revelation and Understanding” (Matthew 13:19, Ephesians 1:17-19, Colossians 1:9-12, Mark 4:24-25) Failure to understand the word that is given will allow the enemy to come and snatch the word from our hearts. Our society frequently writes off that which it does not understand or comprehend. I must contend for a true understanding of the written word of God, of His spoken word, of any and all encounters and visitation, and His heart towards me. Understanding that what is given leads to increased understanding in time.
• “Endurance Through Hardship” (Matthew 13:20-21, Matthew 10:22, Matthew 11:6, 1 Peter 4) Suffering for the cause of the Gospel is a necessary and important part of the Christian walk. Our culture glorifies suffering from the enemy (sickness, shame) and despises suffering that comes to purify believers (persecution). My pursuit of obedience must include girding myself to suffer in such a way that I endure and bring glory to God. I must endure hardship and find my heart free from offense at God.
• “Consecrated and Committed Relationships” (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:23-25, Acts 2:44-47, 1 Samuel 23:16) We live in a world that defines men as strong when they are able to live alone and aloof from others. True purity, however, only comes as we allow our lives to be seen for what they really are by those closest to us. My pursuit of God must include a band of men (and their wives) who are committed to Jesus, who will spur me forward in the things of God. They must be those who will confront me on issues of sin and walk me through the restoration process.

A couple of weeks ago I started posting about some changes the Church is going to need to make in order to prepare herself for the end of the age.  The dramatic shift of world events that are about to take place in a short time are so incredible that if we don’t begin to change now will be unprepared. There are many things the Lord will do to ready us ahead of time. One of the areas that we need preparation in is the area of our relationships. These won’t be the typical plastic-smile, Sunday morning relationships that have become too common in our day.  They will, of necessity, be deep partnerships that value real honesty and are centered in God. We must begin to form true relationships that will last in the day of trouble. The tribulation and judgment that is coming on the earth will test every human relationship known to man, but I believe that in the midst of it God will use true fellowship to bring stability and life in the midst of turmoil.

The best way I can describe the place true fellowship has in the midst of end-time disasters is to describe a vision that a friend of mine had.  The church I was part of at the time was about to go through a nasty church split.  My friend stood up and delivered a vision to the entire body.  In his vision, he saw people from the congregation each floating on their own life preserver.  There was a rope that was long enough for each person in a life preserver to hold.  Some held onto the rope tightly, others paid no attention to it.  Those that held on to the rope were the ones who weren’t tossed to and fro when the storm came and those who paid no attention to it were scattered.  When the vision was delivered it was powerful.  But as you might imagine, some realized the wisdom of it and others did not.

Fast forward to September of 2005.  Hurricane Katrina had just hit the Gulf Coast.  The power of the storm wiped out much of New Orleans and other parts of a couple of states.  Some friends of mine from a house church movement travel down to Louisiana to share the love of Jesus with those most deeply affected by the hurricane.  The one letter I received from them during their time there held shocking implications.  There were people everywhere, scattered and hurting.  Many of them were Christians who belonged to good, normal churches.  However, because they weren’t intimately connected with each other when the storm came they were totally alone.  They had no one to stand with them, no one to help them get out of town, and once the storm passed, they had no one to help them rebuild their lives.  They weren’t part of an intimate fellowship.  

I believe the Bible has some very clear thoughts on true fellowship.  Jesus established close, committed relationships as the vehicle for the early church.  Committed groups acting as spiritual families were the wineskin for both the presence of God and discipline within the Church (Matthew 18:15-20).  The glory poured out in the book of Acts was given to a body that was serious about their devotion to the Lord and to one another (Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-37).  

But the most important fact to understand is that fellowship was intended as a vehicle to prepare us to face the calamity ahead.  Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near,” (Emphasis mine).  Notice that we’re supposed to “assemble together.”  This is more than just everyone gathering together in a big building.  Assembling has to do with two or more parts being united strategically for a greater purpose.  We need others precisely because the temptation to fall away will be so great. While this is good for us all the time, it takes on new significance “as the day approaches.”  

Beloved, what is around the corner will make Hurricane Katrina pale in comparison.  And yet I fear that when the “storm” comes many of us won’t be holding on to the rope.  The Scripture is very clear that in the last days there will be a terrible apostasy among believers (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and I am convinced that one of the only safe places for believers in the days ahead is in and among true relationships built on love for Jesus and commitment to one another. Many of us will have “dropped our rope” out of fear or bitterness.  Community can be too hard or unrealistic for us, and so in the end we will drop the very lifeline the Lord gave us.  We don’t have a choice in whether we desire fellowship or not.  It is necessary to survive in the days that are coming.  

So, as always, I leave us not so much with a tidy end to a post, but a commission to begin.  Some of us find ourselves in the midst of relationships that need repair.  Some of us are isolated and need to get back to the basic discipleship principle of meeting together with other believers.  Others of us must become real in the relationships we possess. Wherever we are, we must go further.  There is a path to life that is narrow and few are they that find it.  Make no mistake, fellowship is a path to life that few find and is narrow, but it will yield great fruit in the days that are coming.  

I just finished studying Matthew 11:7-11 and I was stunned. I began to read simply expecting another chance to dig a little deeper into what the Word says.  But God is so good that while I was reading He gave me insight into His heart, and I just had to share it with you all.  The five verses in this passage are talking about John the Baptist and his position in the coming Kingdom that Jesus was launching in the Earth. If we read them closely, however, we come to understand that God views man with different eyes than we do ourselves.  He sees us through a different lens and we must see through that lens if we want to come alive with the purposes of God.

To set up the story a little bit, John had been thrown in prison (11:2) and had sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He really was the One that John predicted He was, or if John had actually missed it in his prophecy (11:3).  Jesus gave the disciples of John a demonstration of His ministry to boost their faith (11:4-5), and then turned and gave them one more word of exhortation for their teacher: “You’re blessed if You’re not offended by who I am,” (11:6).  All of this paints a pretty bad picture for John the Baptist.  I mean here is this guy who’s ministry exploded overnight.  He called thousands to repentance and then had the fortitude to prophesy that his distant relative was the coming Messiah.  But now overnight he gets thrown into jail, his ministry ends, and he’s stuck sending his students to ask questions about the Messiah that are based in doubt.

But the story doesn’t end there.  And that, in and of itself, is the great part.  See most of us now would sit and judge John because we judge ourselves in these sorts of situations.  We do well for a minute and then something hits us from left field and we’re left in doubt and unbelief about what God actually said.  And what we think about ourselves, or anyone else we see in that position, is that they’ve missed God.  But listen to what Jesus said about this man in the darkest hour of his life.  First, he asked the crowd around him what they went out to see when they went to see John in the wilderness.  They certainly didn’t go out to see someone who was unstable and didn’t stick to his ground on issues; like a reed blowing in the wind (11:7).  They didn’t go out to see someone of earthly importance who dressed the part (11:8).  Then listen to the sound of joy in His voice when He described John, “You went out to see a prophet, but he was even more than a prophet!” (11:9).   The word Jesus used for “more than” means “abundantly more than.”  He was way more than a prophet. Jesus went on to describe John as His forerunner.  Without going into great detail, this position is what made him more than a prophet.

Jesus went on to begin His next statement with “Truly I tell you…” (11:11) which shows that this was a solemn statement that He expected His hearers to pay attention to.  Concerning John, the one who was doubting, He openly declared, “No one born to a woman has arisen who is greater than John the Baptist.” This is the part I love most about Jesus.  He looked at this man, discouraged in faith and doubting the very prophesies that had come from his mouth because the road had been weary,  and Jesus declared, “He is the greatest man ever born!”  Don’t You love that about Jesus?  He  was totally unconcerned that the Pharisees never liked John.  He could care less that everyone else in the crowd was judging John for looking like a doubter.  He knew that John was great even though the rest of the world didn’t see as He saw.

But Jesus didn’t stop there.  He went on to describe our greatness.  This One who sees John differently than we see him now says He sees us differently than how we see ourselves.  According to Jesus, anyone who is part of the Kingdom of God is greater than the greatest man born up until that point!  Understand this!  The smallest, most insignificant believer in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist! God judges greatness very differently than we do.  Man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7).  Not because of anything you’ve done, but because you’ve trusted in Jesus, you are greater than any man born in the first 4000+ years of human history and every non-believer since Jesus’ day.  Beloved, you are great because you have called on the name of Jesus.  You are part of a unique race, beyond normal humanity, loved by the Lord, designed for God’s enjoyment, and His alone.  

Now to be fair, some of us live what look like normal, everyday lives.  But don’t settle for the lie.  You become something different when you believe you are unique.  You are great.  There is greatness in you that the world may not see, but the ultimate Judge of the entire world is already enjoying it in you.  You may even be like John the Baptist, whose glory days have past, and you feel like you’ve doubted God.  But God sees and knows, even what we do not.  You are great in God’s sight.  Believe it.

Part of God’s plan for the earth during this season of tribulation that is coming (see the previous post “An Introduction To End Time Events and Their Meaning For The Church in this Hour”) is to raise up a prophetic witness in the Earth that proclaims the reality of Jesus. He wants fiery messengers that not only declare who Jesus is, but what He is after in the hour of testing. Again, its important to know that Paul declares “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day…” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). Joel 2:28-32 declares God’s intention to speak to His people in unprecedented ways at the end of the age. The prophetic spirit will operate like never before. The messengers God is raising up will not only have dreams and visions, but they will declare things that will be backed up by supernatural signs in the heavens. The highest display of this will be the two witnesses that God will raise up to challenge the Anti-Christ (Revelation 11:3-6). But Daniel declares that in those days, “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits,” (Daniel 11:32, NKJV).

It’s important to understand that the messengers operating in this prophetic anointing won’t just appear on the scene out of nowhere. They are currently being raised up in our church nurseries, our high schools, and the secular business world. They are us. Those of us who are alive on the earth have the responsibility of cultivating revelation of what’s coming. The prophetic anointing doesn’t just fall on an individual in one day. It comes as believers day after day submit to the Lordship of Jesus when no one is looking. This listening to Jesus and submitting to Him start now. We must cultivate a prophetic spirit in our fellowships and our own individual lives so that we can receive as much as God will give in the day of trial.

Prayer and Fasting

One of the best ways to begin to break off apathy our lives and develop prophetically is to begin a journey of prayer and fasting. Most of us pray, but very few of us pray to actually hear from God. Beloved, our God is always speaking. He is always declaring and creating by His word. Part of the purpose of prayer is to hear God about relevant issues of our lives. The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21) and the book of Revelation are stunning declarations that God desires to tell us about the end times. I believe God wants to shine new light on old scripture so that our hearts are awakened to the hour we’re living in. As we posture our hearts in prayer to understand what the scripture says, God will give dreams, visions, and insights into the word that will produce biblical urgency for the hour we live in and give us strategy to prepare for the events that are coming (cf. Eph 1:17-19). This is what we desperately need in this hour.

Fasting is another crucial element that must be added to our spiritual journey if we desire to understand the hour we’re living in. Fasting, for those outside of the lingo, is a discipline in which believers voluntarily give up eating for a period of time in order to humble themselves before God. Fasting positions our hearts before God so He can expand our hearts and give us more revelation. This discipline will have incredible significance when God is pouring out judgment on the Earth (Joel 2:1, 2:12-17). Because fasting helps our heart receive from God faster and opens us up to supernatural direction (Acts 13:2) it is a needed tool in gaining insight for the hour ahead.

The biblical model for this pursuit is Daniel. Daniel saw in scripture a prophetic promise for Israel that would affect his generation. When he became aware of the promise in scripture, he set his heart to receive revelation from the Lord about the details of what the Lord desired to do in his generation (Daniel 9:2-3). As he is prayed, the angel Gabriel visited him, and not only gave him information about his generation but also gave him a description of the future history of Israel. We look to Daniel for much of our end-time revelation because he persisted in prayer and fasting and God answered him with true revelation. This is the need of the hour—Daniels who will fast and pray to understand the times and seasons we’re living in. Only a gripped heart will prepare for them appropriately.

The Harvest

Again, we must remember, we are not just preparing for ourselves. Daniel declares in Daniel 11:33, “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many…” We prepare because we believe God not only wants to direct us by His voice, but He is going to entrust us with direction that will save many in those days. While the nations are raging against Jesus, those with prophetic insight will be declaring the way to safety in the midst of trial. Unbelievers and believers will be delivered from destruction because we took time now to hear God’s voice. Signs in the heavens will back up our words and the end result will be the salvation of many. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said even among the survivors whom the Lord calls,” (Joel 2:32). Beloved, cultivating a prophetic spirit isn’t an option or a hobby, it’s a necessity that will affect the salvation of many. Let’s begin a lifestyle of prayer and fasting to cultivate a prophetic spirit for the days ahead.

This is just a quick note for those who are new to blogging. At the end of each post there is a place for replying to the post. I’d love to see the blog spark some serious discussion about what’s ahead for the body of Christ. If you have a comment you’d like to add, click on the comment link at the bottom of each post and enter your thoughts. Thanks!

An unprecedented thing is happening in the body of Christ worldwide. Not since the first century church has so much of the body of Christ believed that we are living at the end of the age. And yet this profound thought—that we are the last days body of Christ—has had little affect on the lives of every day believers. I say little because it has had a measured affect. People have come to know the Lord through the Left Behind books, older Christians have moved forward because this belief has stirred them, and even a small remnant of people have begun to live their lives at odds with the spirit of this age.

But to be fair, I think the vast majority of us, including myself, think about the end of the age much like a bill that needs to be paid: It nags the back of our minds, we know that it’s coming up, but to control the reality of it we keep it almost subconscious. It’s an easier thought to control from the back of our minds. But if we desire to live the way the early church lived we must believe what they believed. Peter, Paul, John and others were continuously living their lives in light of the appearing of Jesus at the end of the age, and we must do the same.

We need to dust off the scriptures and proclaim their relevance to our generation. There’s a whole generation that’s been convinced that end time events are too difficult to understand or that they have no relevance to today. But Paul says to the church, “ Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness. . .” We are of the light, and the day of the Lord should not overtake us like a thief. We must be sober and alert for the hour that is coming.

The Deception

Part of the apathy that the body of Christ has suffered is the result of many blindly accepting the pre-tribulation rapture without diligent study of the scriptures. A diligent study of Scripture will show that Jesus is promised to only come again one more time, not twice as many believe. The idea that Jesus will come once secretly and then again in open view is found nowhere in the Bible. To the contrary, speaking of the coming of Jesus, John writes to the churches in Revelation, “Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him,” (Revelation 1:7, cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8). Yet good, honest believers have taught this theory for years. The result has been a belief that the events of Revelation 7-17 have no bearing on the life of the church, when in fact those chapters were written to prepare us for that hour.

For those taught this doctrine, my previous statements will almost no doubt ring heretical in your ears. But when dealing with end time scriptures we have to be very careful to say what the Bible is saying instead of making the Bible say what we say. For example, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, “ Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter…Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Notice that Paul places the second coming of Jesus after the great apostasy and the rise to power of the Anti-Christ. This has massive implications for the church that require preparation.

We cannot continue to put off preparing for the days that are ahead. Trite answers will not save us in that day. Only reality birthed in the hearts of believers by the Spirit of God will stand the onslaught of wickedness and persecution that is coming. Not having our minds made up on this topic will only cause us to vacillate spiritually. We’ll have an idea that we need to prepare but not the surety that causes us to prepare with the diligence required. We must be sure about the reality that is coming. Scripture promises there will be a great falling away. This will affect people in every geographic region. There will be persecution that comes from a satanically inspired world leader. This man, whom the Bible describes as a beast, will affect people you know. We must prepare.

Preparing

In the weeks ahead I’ll discuss a little more of what I believe preparation will look like. But we must have a vision of the days we’re preparing to live in. Scripture describes the day of the Lord as “the great and very terrible day” (Joel 2:11). There are going to be positive aspects of the day of the Lord that we must prepare. There will also be “very terrible” things that will require us to change in ways that will be difficult to imagine. God promises in Haggai 2:6-7, “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. This will include the church. We must prepare both for the glory that is coming and the judgments because they will both shake us.

Most of us, including myself, have very little clue about how to prepare for revival. America has been without true awakening in the land for so long that we’ll have no idea how to respond with thousands of new converts in each city. Remember the book of Acts experienced 3,000 conversions in one day and more were added to their number every day. At the same time, if a believer lied to the leadership of the church, they died (Acts 5:1-11). This is the glory that rested upon the early church. And God’s desire is to pour out more glory in the last days than He did in the first. The glory is going to break our current church structures in a way few of us realize.

But while revival is breaking everywhere God’s judgment upon on the Earth will reach catastrophic levels. There will be a massive turning away from Christ in the Christian community. If it is possible the Anti-Christ will attempt to deceive even the elect. Few of us have positioned our hearts to follow Christ even if no one around us is. This isn’t only problematic; it will devastate us in the days to come. Though we haven’t seen it in America, persecution against the church has been rising steadily in almost every corner of the globe. When the world comes under the dominion of the Anti-Christ it will only increase. Finally, God will pour out judgments on the earth as part of His end-time strategy to fully possess it. The whole testimony of Revelation is clear about this. All of these conditions on their own are dreadful, but they will all happen simultaneously, rocking the Earth to its core.

Beloved, the time has come to prepare soberly for what is ahead. I believe that the days ahead are going to be the best we’ve ever imagined, but the loss sustained from not preparing is staggering. In coming weeks, we’ll discuss how to react to these times, but for now let’s get a vision for the season we are living in. Only a proper vision will prepare us for what’s ahead.

Ever since Christy and I came back from our ministry trip to Kansas City, we’ve felt like we’ve been in a new season where the Lord has been speaking to us on a different level than what we’ve experienced before. That weekend was the fulfillment of a number of things the Lord has spoken to us and the birthing of new things for the future. Since we’ve come back to Cedar Rapids the Lord has continued to speak to us in new ways. It’s really been exciting. But in all the excitement I’ve felt the Lord calling us aside, wanting to speak something important that will give us direction for the future. Though the ministry trip was amazing, I am positive Jesus is looking for something more. The truth was He was looking for my heart.

Something that keeps coming back to me in this whole process is the story of Jesus training and sending out the seventy disciples in Luke 10. They come back excited about the amazing things God has done through their hands. “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name,” is their declaration. Jesus, like any good coach joins in their excitement. He rejoices with them that the power of God is flowing in their lives. But after rejoicing with them He pulls them together and says, “Guys, I love your excitement, but there is something even higher than what you’ve experienced.” What He really says is, “”Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven,” (Luke 10:20).

Last night the Lord spoke to me as I was hashing this out with Him. He said, “Travis, I want you to be more excited about being a son than about being a slave.” And all of the sudden my heart melted. I realized again that God’s design on me isn’t just to be someone who does powerful things for Him, but someone who thoroughly enjoys a relationship with Him. My service will come from that. I was excited that God did what He said. But the Creator, the One who formed me, the only One who is Holy—He is jealous for my attention.

The reality of this nailed me the other day on one of my breaks. I happened to have a random set from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City loaded onto my wife’s mp3 player at work. On it Misty Edwards was singing about wanting to know how to love. She began to sing out of a vision Bob Jones had where he went to heaven and was standing in line to be admitted into heaven. The question the Lord asked everyone before they were admitted into Heaven was “Did you learn to love?” And as she was singing I felt the weight of those words touch my soul. Misty continued singing as if to respond, “But Lord I prophesied, and I taught this class and did this thing and that thing…” and then would sing back as if the Lord was responding, “Did you learn to love?” And this is the great quest of our lives. Are we learning to love? Are we learning how to lay our lives down? Are we consumed?

This will be the measure of our ministry—was it filled with love? It will have nothing to do with the numbers of people who attended our meetings or how great the miracles were. The question of that hour…the one we need to be living for…is did we take what was most costly to us and lay it at His feet out of love. We even have to distance ourselves from asking how we can have the most impact in the Earth. Impact will come as we love Him well. If that hasn’t been your focus, join me in coming back to the only thing that really matters any way.

Fear Based Structure and Missionary Strategy

I’ve been in and out of town the last few weeks receiving and doing some ministry in Kansas City, Missouri. As I’ve been out and about experiencing different parts of the body of Christ and contemplating scripture I’ve discovered in my own life a lack of true boldness. It’s an interesting thing, but most of us (most specifically me) in the body of Christ strategizes missions, church structure, and even theology with an underlying foundation of fear. When we really question why we do things, the guiding questions aren’t “How will Jesus receive the rewards of His suffering?” but “How can we keep bad things from happening to His witnesses?” The latter thought process keeps us locked into man-centered outreach, “safe” church structures that don’t call us to action, and theology that makes no provision for encounter with God. Until we make a dramatic shift in our thinking, being more concerned about the Glory of God than our own appearances, I believe the church will continue in a stagnant state.

What pushed me down this road was listening to Allen Hood at the Onething Conference. I’m pretty confident that Allen Hood will be responsible for more people permanently messed up in the Kingdom of God than many other men and women in our generation. While he was discussing the Forerunner School, he said that the number one question he’s asked by potential students is “Is the school accredited?” And then he had the audacity to tell the truth. He said what people really want to know is “Will I be able to be paid after I attend your school?” And then with even more boldness he said, “Beloved, I am not interested in creating another safe system.” He went on to say it was never safe to be a circuit rider for Wesley but they turned a nation back to God.

So that got me thinking about how we like to make everything in the church safe. Here’s a good example. For weeks I’ve been talking about how I’m going to Kansas City to preach at a church there. After I finished, though the Lord met us, I began to realize that my weak, feeble preaching is nothing like that of the apostles in the book of Acts. Not only were my words not as powerful, but almost all of the recorded messages in Acts were amongst the unconverted. Beloved, the preaching of the apostles happened in city squares, markets, synagogues, and courtrooms. Some of the audience were cut to the heart and believed and others mocked, threw stones, and chased the apostles out of town. This was apostolic preaching and it required great boldness on the part of the Peter, Paul, and others of their day.

This was the style of missionary activity Jesus envisioned. When He describes their preaching strategy to the first apostles, He doesn’t give a politically correct strategy or method that works without risking their reputation or their name. He calls them to be “sheep in the midst of wolves,” “hated by all because of My name,” and even tells them they shouldn’t be expected to be treated better than Himself (Matthew 10:16, 22, 25). I’m not trying to be overly negative, I just desire us to soberly evaluate what Jesus had in mind when He calls forth preachers of the gospel. Jesus realized that this world is completely opposed to the Gospel of the Kingdom and our only hope for confronting evil is to do it boldly. He desired that His disciples would challenge the world’s system and bring down strongholds of darkness. Eventually it was said of these men that they “turned…the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). This mentality caused Phillip to hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit and run up alongside a moving chariot (Acts and we have to possess this same willingness.

One thing I know about this subject is that I possess very little of the virtue I am describing. But God is so kind that He has left us a pattern in scripture. Acts describes a situation where Peter and John had just been thrown in prison for healing a man. The Sanhedrin’s reaction is recorded in scripture: “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus,” (Acts 4:13). Then following the encounter, Peter and John regroup with the rest of the church and ask God to give them great confidence and signs and wonders to accompany the preaching of the word (Acts 4:29-30). These are the two things we need-an abiding presence of Jesus in our lives and continual intercession for God to strengthen us with boldness and perform signs and wonders as we preach His word. Let’s not only ask, but let’s begin to plan evangelism not making provision for what we’ll loose, but how much glory we can bring to the Lamb.

In my continuing amazement with this little book “The Way of the Heart,” I thought I would take some time this week and journal on the place of prayer in the place of interior devoition. Prayer is the key to a deeper relationship with the Lord, but often it’s left for only a select few to “do.” But in this hour God is raising up wise virgins in the body of Christ who are storing up oil for their Bridegroom’s return (Matthew 25:1-13). Prayer is one of the means that we use to cultivate our intimacy with the coming Bridegroom.

Nouwen spends the third section of his book, after discussing the necessity of solitude and silence, turning to prayer. One of the major distinctions that Nouwen makes is that there are two types of prayer. One type of prayer is the prayer of the mind. The prayer of the mind is where we pray with our intellect. Praying from our intellect has a negative outcome in our lives. We begin to think of prayer as an intellectual chore that we must do daily. And because it becomes an intellectual chore we cherish it as much as we do figuring out our checkbook or reading a college text book. We walk away from having done it without an exchange occuring between us and Heaven. Because the prayer of the mind is a function of the intellect, we often walk away bored with God. We remain unfascinated by God and the result is a thousand other things capture our attention.

But for Nouwen (and for me) the answer to regaining a prayer life begins when we discover the prayer of the heart. The desert fathers (who are the subject of “The Way of the Heart,” you really gotta read this book!) believed that there was a place in prayer where you connected with the Spirit of God in a way that gave you rest.

Most of us believe that this pursuit of more of the Spirit of God is an external journey. What I mean is that to gain more in the Lord we must receive the Spirit of God coming out of Heaven and resting on us. But the Bible speaks frequently about “Christ within” which is our hope of Glory (Colossians 1:27, 1 Peter 1:11). The pursuit for more of Jesus is an internal journey to lay hold of Christ within. This was the conviction of the Apostle Paul (cf. Ephesians 3:14-20), the desert Fathers, and virtually every devotional master in the centuries since.

It is the search for Christ within that the prayer of the heart is concerned with. Nouwen writes, “By its very nature such prayer transforms our whole being into Christ precisely because it opens the eyes of our soul to the truth of ourselves as well as to the truth of God. In our heart we come to see ourselves as sinners embraced by the mercy of God…It unmasks the many illusions about ourselves and about God and leads us into the true relationship of the sinner to the merciful God. This truth is what gives us the rest of [the prayer of the heart].”

The practice of this prayer of the heart is simple and requires little mental gymnastics. The Desert Fathers discourage us from using too many words. John Climacus says, “Wordiness in prayer often subjects the mind to fantasy and dissipation; single words of their very nature tend to concentrate the mind. When you find satisfaction or compunction in a certain word of your prayer, stop at that point.” As Nouwen says, “The quiet repitition of a single word can help us descend with the mind into the heart…this way of simple prayer, when we are faithful to practice it at regular times, slowly leads us to an experience of rest and opens us to God’s active presence.”

I discovered the way into this method of prayer by accident. I wasn’t trying to look for a way of prayer, I was just trying to seek God with a group spending time in corporate interecession. While the worship was going, I began to pray in tongues and ask Jesus to visit us with short, one or two word prayers. And as I continued doing this, I begin to sense the presence of God rise in my soul. He was visiting me. What excited me was that this works anywhere! I can pray like this at work or while I’m shopping, and as I do the Spirit of God comes and meets me.

While this method of prayer is simple, it does require time. Twenty or thirty minutes will work. Spend time praying in the Spirit first, focusing on Jesus. Most find it helpful to pray actual words, and I would suggest using words in Scripture. “The Lord is my Shepherd,” from Psalm 23 is a great start, but whatever scripture is relevant to your spiritual condition will work. As you do, pay attention to what the Spirit is doing inside of you. Eventually you’ll notice the Lord leading you in various ways. Visions, dreams, and the prophetic will become more common place in your life. Fascination with God will increase and the pleasures and toys of this world gain less and less of a hold on you.

The thing I’m most excited about as I’ve been learning this discipline of prayer is that I’m becoming a lover of the presence of God. Instead of having to spend time in prayer, I’m finding myself spontaneously entering into the presence of God throughout the rest of the day. My hunger and thirst for the presence of God is returning, and my soul really is beginning to enter into the rest.

But this journey isn’t just for me, its for everyone. We’re all called to live fascinated and alive in God. Make it your goal, even this week, to steal away and spend time with the Father, just as Jesus did. Don’t let the business of the season steal your heart away from the purposes of eternity. And believe this is for you. As you sit before Him, your heart will be changed.