End times

I'm realizing lately that I have not sufficiently wrestled with Jesus' words in Matthew 24:21-22:

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
(Matthew 24:21-22 NKJV)

Jesus made such an alarming statement - there has never been a more difficult time in history and there will never be a time more intense and dramatic than what is coming. He's saying it's greater than the global effects of all of the world wars, and will include pestilence, fearful sighs from heaven, demonic powers raging at levels never seen before, and the earth being shaken like it never has before. It's so easy to "romanticize" and just gloss over these things, either thinking that we will be removed from the situation or completely protected in the midst of it.

In the days of Noah we can find similarities to the coming hour, but it is not sufficient to describe them completely. In Noah’s day, it had never rained before and there were never any boats. There was nothing to compare the flood to. But Noah acted in godly fear, saying “I don’t know what a boat or rain is, but I do know your voice.” Noah obeyed God for 120 years despite the accusation and revilement of his neighbors and even some of his own family. What Noah did made no sense before it started to rain. He went from being the most foolish man to the wisest man on the planet when the rain began.

A friend the other day asked me an interesting question – “Do you think you have the right eschatology to be saved?” It’s a genuine and very real question to ask because of Jesus’ own words about deception coming at the end of the age. But I responded:

“My eschatology is definitely wrong in areas, but the way to be saved is not by having the perfect understanding of all of the end-time events.”

In pondering and searching out my answer a bit more, I came across Luke 13:22-30 where Jesus answers a pretty loaded question from someone He meets in His journeys through the cities and villages on His way to Jerusalem. The follower asks boldly “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

I’m certain every one of the people following Jesus on that day had many assumptions about Jesus’ answer, but the way Jesus responds totally blindsides them all. The Jews in Jesus’ day held to the vast collection of Old Testament prophecies that Messiah would come, restore all things, destroy Israel’s enemies, and bring her back to a place of prominence among the nations once again. They believed their ticket or entrance into Messiah’s kingdom was based on their ethnicity as children of Abraham and their adherence to Moses’ law.

The last day of the onething conference this year, Mike Bickle gave a "sacred charge" to any who distinctly felt the calling to be a forerunner like John the Baptist was, preparing the way for the Lord's return. Above and beyond the simple disciplines of Christianity, about 4-5,000 young people made this 10-year minimum commitment to "eating the scroll" and devouring the Word of God related to the end-times. (Rev. 10)

Here are the seven things these young people committed to walk out:

The Sacred Charge: 7 Commitments of a Forerunner

Friends of the Bridegroom preparing the way of Jesus’ Second Coming

1. Pray daily: spending 2 hours in prayer and Word (Book of Revelation once a week for 3 years)
2. Fast weekly: setting your heart to fast 2 days a week as a lifestyle
3. Speak boldly: standing as a faithful witness in allegiance to Jesus’ heart for the Church, Israel and the nations
4. Do Justly: doing works of justice focusing on the fatherless and oppressed
5. Give extravagantly: giving to the prayer movement (beyond our tithe)
6. Live holy: walking out the Sermon on the Mount and keeping the Purity Covenant
7. Lead diligently: leading weekly prayer meetings and Bible studies (focused on training forerunners)

The young people didn't make these seven commitments out of a sense of duty thinking that God would not accept them if they did not take up the charge, but out of a sense of love and desire to walk in the fullness of what God has called them to. It was such a powerful thing to see, and we feel that it was a defining moment in the history of our little corner of the end-time prayer movement here in Kansas City.

I want my website to be a resource for those of you who have made this commitment. Over the next several months, I'll be specifically expounding upon each of these points on my blog, uploading encouraging audio for your journey, and linking to other helpful resources.

If you were at onething or you were watching the webstream and you made this commitment, leave a comment here and be sure to sign up for an account on my website to be able to access the resources I'll have available!

UPDATE: For those of you who have made the commitment, the email address you should email is "sacredcharge@ihop.org". Bless you!

In continuing my series on the seven churches of Revelation, I want to spend this post examining a bit of the motivation of Jesus. What was in His heart in actually giving these messages to the churches? As I said in my first post, each letter was carefully thought out and crafted by the Son of God Himself, and then given to both a literal church alive during the first century as well as to anyone in any age reading the text who would have an ear to what the Spirit is saying, with a particular focus on the generation that would see the book of Revelation unfold in their lifetime. So while I will come from the angle of examining the letters to these seven real churches, in subsequent posts I will focus more on the application of each letter to the saints alive today as those who I believe may very well see the Lord’s return in the span of their lifetime.

The seven letters were much more than just “quick little post-it notes” given to the churches. Through them, Jesus was looking to stir each church (and ultimately, us) to a greater place of abandonment, obedience, and heart-level agreement with who He is. He stirs the churches through several unique strategies: