The Earth is Groaning

The great thing about having an MP3 player is that I can download messages and lectures and listen to them when I go for a walk. The best talk I have listened to this year is a message by Kris Vallotton called The Earth is Groaning.

When Bill Johnson his fellow pastor at Bethel Church wrote a book about Heaven Invading Earth, my main response was, if heaven really has come to earth, it is inevitable that this truth will lead to a reconstruction of eschatology. Bill has not really pushed it, so I am pleased to hear that Kris is now on the case.

His initial point is that earthquakes are not a warning of judgment, but a sign that the Holy Spirit is breaking out on earth. He ends the talk some of the key principles that shape his approach to eschatology. There are several really important principles.

• We must not allow eschatology to re-empower a disempowered devil.

• He will not accept a view that sabotages Jesus command to make disciples of all nations. The great commission is too often turned into making some disciples in all nations.

• We must avoid an eschatology that pushes all the good stuff in the scriptures into the millennium and bringing the nasty stuff into the present.

• He will not accept ideas that change the nature of a good God.

• He will not accept a mindset that celebrates bad news.

I am really encouraged by the testimonies coming out of Bethel Church in Redding CA. The way I take it is that if the Holy Spirit can heal cancer in this age, then everything is back on the table. If cancer can be defeated, then the devil can be defeated in every place where he is currently working. If the Holy Spirit can heal the sick, then he can do all the other things that Jesus promised that he would do, like convicting the world of sin and drawing all people to Jesus. If the healing promises are confirmed as true, then all the biblical promises that Christians have sort of written off are brought back into play.

The healing signs we are now seeing are a deposit guaranteeing that all the other stuff can happen too. That gives a completely different outlook on the future. It is a source of enormous hope.