What Japan Doesn’t Need
I just finished reading an email sent out by Wolfgang and Mercy Simson describing their perspective on world events in light of the recent earthquake and tidal wave that has rocked Japan. Opinions about the situation are a dime a dozen, but I found this thought by Wolfgang extremely helpful. In describing how the church should address such a crisis he says this:
“Don’t do what the world does, but do what only Kingdom people can do, and no-one else. Kingdom people do not need to join the choir of a world without God that only sees the superficial humanitarian, economic, scientific or psychological aspects of disasters.” –Wolfgang Simson
I think this is incredibly key for the hour that we’re living in. Right now, with all of the calamity and war taking place around us, it can be easy for us to become humanitarians. And while I love helping others (and trust me, we will be called to help others) there has to be something that separates our response from the response of every other human being that doesn’t know Christ. You see Japan doesn’t need more money, they need Jesus.
The world has money, star power, volunteers, and sympathy. What they don’t have is any cure for the wrath of God that manifests itself partially in this age and fully in the age to come. What they don’t have is Christ, loving them, leading them, indwelling them, and empowering them. He alone is the cure for everything broken in this world. He is anything but impractical. When a group of people come under the Lordship of Jesus and experience His life, they will change and heal society just by their very nature.
There will be a day when all the world’s money, star power, and volunteerism will not suffice to bring healing. The weight of sin and the outpouring of God’s wrath will be too great. In those days the church will no longer be able to rely on what she has been able to do through human means, but only on what she has learned to give from Jesus. Her access to a supernatural God who changes mankind, heals the sick, restores the broken, and shifts the heavens will be crucial. The time to learn how to give this is right now.
Wolfgang goes on to describe other practical responses the church can make, and I would encourage you to check out his email that he sent and the pdf attached that gives you some insight into his revelation about Japan.
Photo Credit: Shibuya Night by Guwashi999
Fasting for the Release of the End Time Church
I believe in a victorious, end-time church. I believe that there will be a day when God raises up a bride that is without spot or wrinkle. I believe there will be a church that experiences the outpouring of the Spirit like never before. And I believe that church will finish bringing the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the Earth prior to Jesus’ return.
But so much of what I see on a daily basis does not line up with that belief. But rather than grow critical about where the church is going, I’ve been sensing from the Lord an invitation to press in with prayer and fasting and ask Him to change the DNA of the church.
So, I’ve invited my house church to join me and pray and fast for seven days for God to release the end-times church in the Earth. It’s my conviction that if we ask God, He will release grace to us that will strengthen the church all over the world to move into her divine destiny. But just like with Daniel, some breakthroughs from Jesus only come as we set our hearts before God with prayer and fasting and ask Him to intervene.
Here’s what I’m believing for: As we pray and ask God to release the end time church, I believe God will give those of us who are praying revelation about what that church will look like. It then becomes our responsibility to pray those things back to God and ask Him to do them in the church. You can pray it for your local church. You can pray it for the church in your nation. You can pray it for the entire church all over the world. And when you do, I believe God will give us little “nudges” into what the end time church will be.
We probably will not see a full-fledged end time church arise by the end of our fast. But if we can participate with God in the beginning stages of seeing grace release for such a thing, it would be amazing.
Let me include some practicals. We’re feeling very strongly this is not a time to pull back into an isolated place and stop the ministry you are already doing. We also firmly believe in fasts that are “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” That means don’t tell anyone what you’re fasting and don’t ask anyone if they’re fasting. Finally, there are some people (especially nursing or pregnant mothers or those with dietary constraints) that cannot do full food fasts. And that is okay. Do what you can, when you can. The important thing is to press into God for what He is willing to give to us in this season.
Finally, I’m inviting you. Yes, though you are not part of our church, I would love it if you would join us. I will probably post a couple of things through the week of fasting here just to keep everyone up to date. You can feel free to post something you receive from the Lord in the comment section on this post or any other related post. We will begin on Saturday, December 4th and end on Friday, December 10th. Join us on this glorious journey.
Basic Introductions: The End Times
[In an ongoing effort to provide a jumping-on point for new readers, over the next few weeks on Fridays I’m going to write a series of posts entitled “Basic Introductions.” Each post will focus on a seldom explored realm of Christianity that we will focus on regularly here at Pursuing Glory.]
One of the fundamental errors I see consistently across the body of Christ is a nervous unwillingness to talk about matters related to the return of Christ and the end of the age. The reasons people give vary, usually falling somewhere between not wanting to be divisive or thinking there are more important matters for us to focus on than events related to the End Times. These arguments come from well-meaning people but they fall horribly short of the standard God has called us to. The end times were meant to be clearly understood by God’s people in a way the produce hope and change.
Part of the problem with not teaching eschatology (theology related to the end-times) is that we’ve shied away from it so long in our churches and seminaries, that most of us don’t know what we believe about the end times or why we believe what we do believe. Instead of promoting unity by avoiding “controversial” doctrines we’ve promoted ignorance of Scripture that relates to our common salvation. (BTW, I don’t believe that unity is ever achieved by agreeing with someone totally in regards to what they think about God. Have you ever met anyone who has thought the exact same things about God as you? And even if you have, only being in unity with them is not scripturally endorsed unity.)
Here’s a reality that’s helpful to understand: we all have an end-time theology. Most of us just haven’t thought about it or researched it in the Bible. We either believe that the future will get really good and the church will succeed or we believe that the future is dark and will get really bad for the church. If you believe either of these statements, technically you have an end-time theology.
These views of the end times flow out of our understanding of Jesus. Will He really rescue humanity? Will He really judge the whole world? Will we really get glorified bodies? Do these “spiritual” truths ever manifest in physical reality? If these things really happen, and they will, what we believe about them affects our lives here and now and will continue to affect us until these events occur.
Many argue that studying the end times is too difficult to understand. But God has not left us as orphans to understand His word by ourselves. He has placed us in a family, called the church, that can help us to understand seemingly difficult concepts. He has also promised to guide us into all truth by His Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that reveals Jesus to us will give us understanding about the end of the age.
We’ll spend a number of posts describing end-time events and their relationship to the church. For now I think it would be helpful to give a few broad categories to help everyone understand the end-times from the perspective we will deal with them here. The following are brief descriptions of major events and concepts related to the end of the age:
Jesus
He is the Lord. During the last days there will be no question who is on His side and who is not. Every eye will see Him openly and plainly. He will open the seven seals that release judgment on Earth (Revelation 6:1-8). He will be revealed as the desire of all the nations when He gathers those who love Him to His side (Haggai 2:7, Matthew 24:29-31) He will wage war against the most openly satanic government and society in the history of the planet (Revelation 19:11-21). This is our great hope. Everything that has resisted the Kingdom’s coming into the Earth up until this point will cease resisting and He will wipe away every tear from every eye (Revelation 7:17, Revelation 21:4). He will be the Hero of the entire story.
The Church
Will exist. We will not be pulled up to Heaven in some cosmic escape plan. I don’t have a primary proof text to support this idea; I have a Bible. John only speaks of the church in chapters 1-3 of Revelation. But he speaks of the saints throughout the entire book of Revelation (Revelation 13:7, Revelation 14:12, Revelation 17:6). To express this mathematically, saints=church. And why not? This will be our finest hour. To take us out at the end of the age would be like a football coach that drove the team hard at practice, played all the games, and skipped the final tournament. And here’s the part where this needs to connect: If the church will be here during the end times, she must begin to prepare for that day even before it arrives. Remember, the book of Revelation was written to the Church, not to the world.
The Anti-Christ
Satan, in his desire to snuff out the plan of God and rule the Earth, will mount a massive war against Christ and His people. In order to marshal the Earth to His side, He inhabits a man of extreme political prowess. This man will not just be a political figure, he will be a false messiah on a global scale, the ultimate combination of secular and religious charisma that will draw most of unredeemed mankind to his side. He will attempt to destroy the church and wipe out all of the Jews on the planet in a final bid to stop the plan of God (Revelation 13:1-10). There will be great military and economic tribulation against God’s people and they will have to fully choose Jesus above everything else. Even those who die, however, will not loose, but be the greatest victors in that day. If this man is real, and he is, we must be prepared to respond when he arrives on the world scene.
Judgment
The reality of the end of the age is that the reason most people don’t want to talk about it (and don’t want to be here) is because it’s filled with difficult and terrifying judgments that are poured out seemingly on all humanity. To make things more difficult these judgments are sent by Jesus-the merciful Lord that we’ve come to know and love. And while I believe God intends to at least partially shield His people during this time (see Revelation 7:1-12 and Revelation 9:4) we will also have the responsibility of declaring the love of Christ while simultaneously declaring Him as the source of the judgments falling all around us. This will not be an easy task.
Harvest
All of these factors working together will result in the greatest world-wide harvest that the church has ever seen. Joel 2 describes the last days as a time when the Holy Spirit would literally be poured out on everyone and the result, even in the midst of judgments on the Sun and the Moon, would be an opportunity for many to be saved (see Joel 2:28-30). Jesus said this would be a time when the Gospel of the Kingdom would be proclaimed to every nation (Matthew 24:14). The implications of this great harvest should give us hope. It should also cause us to prepare for the harvest in a way that is different than we have before.
Summary
A day like no other is coming on the face of the planet. Jesus will be revealed in a way that will leave every human without excuse. They will either love Him or hate Him, there will be no middle ground. The church will be a fully alive people that will endure persecution and declare both the mercy and power of the Lord. The Anti-Christ will arise and lead the world in final satanic resistance against the Lord and His people. This will happen in conjunction with great judgments that will be poured out and a great increase of salvation that will take place before the last day. We will be able to say with Joel, “the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, (Joel 2:11).
Help Other Readers Out (Leave a comment about the following questions below):
- Is an understanding of the end-times important?
- How does your view of the end-times affect what you’re doing now?
- If these things are true are there things that should change with how we look at the church?
Some Helpful Books on the Topic
“The Gospel of the Kingdom” by George Eldon Ladd- This is probably the best book that connects our salvation with the idea of the end times. It’s pretty technical but if you want to understand how the end times ties into what Jesus did on the cross and the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God, this is a must read.
“A Commentary on the Revelation of John” by George Eldon Ladd- I usually don’t recommend two books by the same author, but this book is absolutely amazing. This book has probably shaped my understanding of the end times more than any other single book. It is a straight-forward, verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Revelation that will cause you to wrestle with the implications of end time events.
“The Church and The Tribulation” by Robert Gundry- This book tears apart the idea that we will escape the end of the age through the rapture. If you’ve been taught that the Church will be raptured before any difficult events occur, pick up this book with an open mind. You will be greatly helped by it.
Other Posts In the “Basic Introduction” Series:
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 