Christchurch - Centreless City

The February 2011 earthquake caused severe damage to the central city. Over the last year, the Earthquake Recovery Authority has worked vigorously to demolish the damaged buildings. Eighty percent of the buildings in the central city have not been demolished. In a few months, all high-rise buildings will be gone.

The city fathers have embarked on an ambitious plan to rebuild the central city. Blinded by big insurance payouts and election promises from the central government, the city council is creating a grandiose plan for a bigger brighter city. My expectation is that just as this project gets under way, the cold winds of economic change will sweep across New Zealand and the money will dry up. The city leaders will discover that all the money that is left will be used up repairing the sewage, water and roading system.

The city council will push on regardless, but will eventually fall into the hole it has created, with liabilities that far exceed the values of its assets. The government in Wellington will not have the resources to come to its aid.

The rebuild of Christchurch will grind to a halt, leaving an empty hole in the centre of the city. A centreless city fits with God’s plan for Christchurch. He will build his kingdom from the outside in. He has been building small groups of kingdom seekers throughout the city. They are an Invisible Spiritual Army that will take back the city for him.

The centre of the city is the place where political power and the powers of evil meet together to leverage their control. With the central city destroyed, their base of power will be gone, opening the way for God to build his kingdom from the edges.