Increased pressures and uncertainties are coming when certain models of watered-down church life and faith will not be enough to sustain people...
Generational Restoration
One clear end time promise of God is Malachi 4:5-6, that God would send Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord to restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers so that He would...
The Coming WRATH and God’s PROMISE!
I am issuing a stronger prophetic warning than I ever have. I wrote in VISIONS OF THE COMING DAYS in 2011 that the U.S. was not yet under wrath. I differentiated judgment from wrath by saying that judgment is the pressure brought to bear by a loving and patient God to separate right from wrong and good from evil. When judgment fails to produce that result – when repentance does not come – wrath falls as God’s last resort to remedy the greater destruction wickedness brings. I said in 2011 that we were perhaps three quarters of the way through the season of judgment. I am now saying that the cup of the Lord’s wrath is nearly full.
I prophesied in 2015 that we would see a level and depth of corruption exposed in the U.S. government that would rock the nation. We’re seeing it now on both sides of the political aisle and there is more to come. Many of those surrounding President Trump have come under indictment, although the Mueller report has absolved him of collusion with the Russians and finds insufficient evidence for obstruction of justice. Crimes are surfacing from the last presidential administration that have yet to be prosecuted. Sexual immorality has accelerated in both quantity and perversity culture-wide – and even in the church – until it permeates nearly every television show and movie production in reflection of the condition of the culture these are meant to entertain. It is, of course, presented as normal, natural and good.
Shaking the Tree of Leadership!
Many years ago the Lord told me that, for me, self-promotion was illegal. I’ve wrestled with the implications of that word from Him ever since. For the sake of profitability for the publishers who produce my books, I’m required to do some promotion of my own, but there are limits. I’ve pondered what the apostle Paul had to say in Philippians 3:8 when he spoke of all that he had given up. He wrote: “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ…” “Rubbish” in the original Greek is actually a rather strong profanity that illustrates the depth of what the apostle wanted to communicate about the wonder of really knowing and experiencing Jesus. For this, he would pay any price.
In light of this, and after suffering some very painful losses of my own, I’ve come to the following conclusion in the form of a question: How many of us in Christian leadership are focused on building our careers at the expense of a focus on intimacy with our Lord? How many of us raise and spend large sums of money to promote and build large ministry organizations with all the glitz and glamour, but fail to promote a very simple focus on Jesus? How accessible to the average believer have we actually made intimacy with Jesus? How many barriers have we unwittingly erected by serving the star system based on the image of the spiritual hero on the platform or the television show?
A DESPERATE and URGENT Summons!
The prophets of the Old Testament were desperate to awaken Israel from spiritual slumber in order to prepare for or avoid the troubled days about to come upon them. Their desperation flowed from a depth of love for God and for His people. If you read the prophets as they’re meant to be read, you can feel their grief coming through in their words.
Today I understand their desperation and grief more deeply than I ever have, but I have hope. When I travel I see a remnant – a growing remnant – longing for God. They don’t want hype. They’re tired of the show. They won’t respond to manipulation or deceit. They just want Jesus. There’s a purified hunger growing in them. They love worship and will linger in it for extended periods of time. They love the Word, they love to pray, and they love one another. Their passion is growing.