Shepherds

According Ezekiel 34, the main task of a shepherd is to heal the sick and bind up the wounded. Yet churches everywhere are full of sick and broken people. Ezekiel says that this is because the shepherds have not cared for the sheep.

He says that the shepherds rule the sheep harshly and brutally. Preaching at people is one way this happens. (A challenging sermon, almost always leave some people feeling condemned). Healing the sheep should be a higher priority than preaching at them.

James 5 says that anyone who is sick should be able to go to the elders and be healed. The elders of a church should have the gift of healing among them.

Training

An army is not trained by gathering all the soldiers, from generals to privates for two hours a week and spending the first 30 minutes singing battle songs and the next hour listening to a general lecturing on tactics and the history of war. This would make a very ineffective army.

Soldiers need to learn discipline, obedience and weapon skills. These skills are learned by doing drills. They are not fully trained until they are battle hardened. Most soldiers are not trained by generals, but by NCOs. The generals concentrate on tactics and planning (Being Church Where We Live, p.95).

Visions

When someone writes to me about a vision they have received, I suggest there are several questions that they need to answer.

Why?
Why do they get these visions? Are they for them to strengthen their prayer times. Or are they something that they need to share.

Who?
What are they for? There are many possible answers: them, their church, someone they know, the wider church, people in the world. They need to know who the vision is for.

How?
If a vision is for sharing, how does God want them to share it? He can tell them.

Format: The communication will be different from the revelation. They are not the same.

Medium: How does God want the communication spread. Preaching a sermon is just one possible way. A message can be shared in a variety of ways, depending on who is it for.

They need to get answers to all these questions.

New Season?

Reading prophetic websites, I see many prophetic people saying that we are entering a new season. I am not sure what that means. It suggests that God is going to do something new that he was not doing before. It suggests that the Holy Spirit is working in one place and not in another. It makes it seems like God stops and starts, or moves in one place and not in another.
God is not fickle or capricious. He is not lazy. God does not speak like this.

I am not going to do much in India for the next fifty years, because they have had a good run.

I am going to move now in Russia now, because I have not done much there for the last 200 years.

I am not going to much in the United States, because I can’t be bothered.

I am going to more in New Zealand, because I have not been doing much until now.

God has released his Holy Spirit into the world. He is always at work. He does not turn the flow on and off according to his whim.

God does not engage in trial and error. He does not try things to see if they will work. He has a plan. He has been implementing that plan ever since the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was released. He has not changed his plan.

The activity of the Holy Spirit depends on the degree of cooperation that he receives from humans. Humans have authority on earth, so he needs our permission to operate on earth. He has no arms and legs, so he needs people to work through. He has no mouth, so he needs people to speak through.

If the Holy Spirit begins to move in a place, it is because he has found people willing to do what he needs them to do. If the Holy Spirit stops moving in a place, it is because people have stopped cooperating with him. The problem is never with God. The problem is always with us.

So we should be careful about saying that a new season has started, because it makes it sound like God is going to start doing something that he was not doing before. It makes it sound like God is the reason why nothing was happening. This makes him the problem, which removes responsibility from us, but is not fair to God.

If a new level of activity begins in a place, it will be because people in that place have started cooperating with the Holy Spirit in a way that they were not before. It is not because God has changed his mind, and is doing something he was not doing before.

There are seasons in human history, but they are marked by epochal events that change the relationship between earth and heaven. For example, the giving of the law to Moses began a new season, because people on earth had something they did not have before. It gave God’s people the capability to live in peace with each other and with God. It also gave the spiritual powers of evil the right to accuse them of their failure to keep the law.

The death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus was the ultimate epochal event that brought in a new season, because it totally changed the relationship between God and humans Sins have been forgiven, and the way opened for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on all who believe.

Because the Jews, rejected Jesus, we a currently in a season called the Times of the Gentiles. The epochal event that will end this season is the Calling of the Jews. I have explained this at Times and Seasons.

Until that event occurs, we must be careful about calling a new season, when nothing has changed in the spiritual realms to bring about change on earth. If there is no epochal event, there is unlikely to be a new season. The powers of evil are just as defeated as they have been since the cross. God has not defeated them further.

God always wants to do something better on earth. Calling a new season makes it sound like he is going to do something new, regardless of the response of his people. However, he can only do something different, if people on earth cooperate with him more than they did in the past. There could be a new season of cooperation, but God cannot force that to happen.

God will not be doing something new. If something different happens on earth, it will be because people have allowed him to do what he always wanted to do.

Christians looking for a new season should understand that God will not change his mind and bless what they were doing previously. Rather, they should be asking him what they need to do differently to receive his blessing.

Changing God's Mind

A person speaking on Christian radio suggested that prayer is changing the heart and mind of God. I am not sure about that.

God loves me. He knows everything that can be known. He knows what is best for me. If God wants something for me, it would be a mistake to get him to change his mind to align with what I want. I am often wrong about what I need, so if God gives in to what I want, I am probably going to get “second best”.

So, it probably better not to change God’s mind. That way I will get what is best for me.

Prayer is not changing God’s mind, or persuading him to do something that he does not want to do. It is giving him permission to do what he already wants to do.

One place where it might seem we could change God’s mind is about what he is planning to do for someone else. For example, Abraham thought that he changed God’s mind about what he was going to do about Sodom. But that is only part of the picture.

God gave authority over the earth to humans, so he can only intervene on earth, if we give him permission. Humans sinned and surrendered their authority on earth to the spiritual powers of evil. They used their stolen authority to get with wrecking and destroying everything that God had created ever since.

God needed to intervene and cut off the advance of evil in Sodom, but he could not do it without human permission. So, Abraham was not really changing God’s mind. He was giving God permission to do what he had already decided to do. God let Abraham think that he was persuading him to be merciful, so that he would give God the permission that he needed.

Prayer is not changing Gods mind. It is not persuading him to do things for us that he does not want to do. Prayer is people with authority on earth giving God permission to what he has already said that he wants to so. Therefore, a key to prayer is listening to God and discovering what he wants to do.

More at Prayer and Authority.

Role of a Prophet to a Nation

A prophet to a nation should understand that Jesus came to establish the Government of God. A nation cannot have to kings. A nation cannot have to governments. So, as the kingdom of God expands in a nation, its human government must shrink and fade away.

A prophet to a nation will understand that human governments are not part of God’s ultimate plan for his people. The people of Israel wanted to have a king to be like the surrounding nations, but was not God’s plan (1 Sam 8). God gave into them as a concession to their sinfulness, but he wanted to be their king. He wanted them to trust him for protection.

These prophets will realise that that human political power is a serious obstacle to the Kingdom of God because it undermines God’s authority and offers a false salvation. They will understand that trust in human political power will have to be swept away before the Kingdom of God can come to fullness on earth.

Prophets to the nation will provide guidance to their government when asked, but they will understand that all governments are living on borrowed time. They will be watching for the time when their government will collapse and disappear. When the time is right, their prophetic words will release the power of the Holy Spirit to destroy human government and open the way for the emergence of God’s government. When a human government collapses, the principalities and powers that have amplified their power through it will be shattered. Once the spiritual forces that have dominated the nation are fragmented and weak, the gospel will go forth in the power of the Spirit.

When human governments stop functioning, a power vacuum will exist. Those who have trusted human government will be desperate for something different and better. With their human government crushed by events that it could not control, people will be welcome the Kingdom of God.
The prophets to the nation will understand the nature of the Government of God and be prepared to teach people how to receive it in their midst. They will teach people how to form Kingdom Communities that can provide welfare, justice and protection for people who have lost hope. Political power will be chopped up, pushed down and spread around to people who trust Jesus and walk in the Spirit.

Kingdom Communities will transform their neighbourhoods. As the structures of society fall apart, they will demonstrate a way of life that appeals to a shaken world. Each Kingdom community will provide everything that human governments have failed to deliver, but without Imposed Authority. They will be united by love and service under Free Authority.

In the Government of God, justice will be provided by local judges who emerge in their community to apply God’s law. Defence will be provided Temporary Military Leaders that arise within their community. Prophets will have a key rule in teaching judges how to apply God’s law.

More at Prophet to a Nation.

Coming of the Kingdom

When did the Kingdom of God begin? Most theologians assume that Jesus inaugurated a kingdom, but that does not seem to be right. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God had come near, which implies that it already existed.

The scriptures teach that the Kingdom of God began when God rescued the children of Israel from Israel and Moses led them into the promised land. God spoke to the people through Israel.

Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, and you will be my kingdom of priests and my set-apart people (Ex 19:5-6).

God promised that if they kept his covenant and obeyed his word, they would be a kingdom of priests and people set apart for God. They would be a kingdom with God as their king. When they accepted the covenant, the Kingdom of God began.

The Kingdom of God was established in Moses time, but it quickly slipped away. The fullness of the Holy Spirit had not come, so the people struggled to live with God as their king. They quickly shifted to trusting in political and military power. This choice was cemented in place in Samuel’s time when the people demanded a king like the nations. God explained to Samuel that they had rejected his kingship (1 Sam 8).

The Kingdom came again with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. However, it has waxed and waned. It advanced quickly, but in the third century, it became emerged in political and military power.

A kingdom has laws. People who assume that the Kingdom of God began with Jesus claim that the Sermon on the Mount is the law of the Kingdom. That is a mistake because it turns a description of behaviour that flows out of life in the Spirit into a set of rules that are impossible to keep. The gospel is life in the Spirit not a tougher set of rules.

The laws of the Kingdom are the laws of Moses. Their purpose is to restrain the behaviour of people who have rejected the gospel and the Spirit and help the people of God to live together in peace. I explain how these apply in my books called Government of God and God’s Economy.

Looking Ahead

Plenty of people are warning of difficult times ahead, but anyone with their eyes open can see that the world faces many problems. The challenge is to prepare God's people to remain strong through the times of distress and to be victorious out the other side.

The Church should be explaining how Christians can remain strong while the world is crumbling and weak. It should explain how Christians would be able to reach out to the people of the world who are struggling and draw them into a place of safety. It should be telling them how to start building the new thing that God wants to establish in the middle of the world's troubles.

We do not need more prophets warning of political and economic disasters. We need prophets who can prepare Gods people how to survive through the difficult times and deliver a new thing after the times of distress run their course.

The Bible describes the "men from Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do" (1 Chron 12:32). Every society needs people who understand the times and know what God's people should do. Most of the time this gift has been lacking from the church.
When Rome fell, Christians were shocked. The Roman Empire had been around for 500 years, so they assumed that it would be around forever. Christians believed that it was part of God's plan for expanding his Kingdom. They were so used to it being there, that they could not imagine life without it.

Worse still, church structures had aligned with imperial power structures, so Christians found it hard to cope without the order of the empire. No one prepared Christians for the collapse of Rome. They had not prepared Christians to live in a world without an empire, so they struggled to cope, an enormous opportunity was lost. It took the church a 1000 years to regain the ground that was lost.

We have the same problem in the modern world. Democratic political power and the nation-state have dominated life in the West for so long that we find it hard to imagine life without them. However, they are not part of God's plan of salvation so they will not last forever.
Many Christians have identified democratic capitalism with the Kingdom of God. When the evils of democratic capitalism are exposed, they will be totally shocked. Just like the Christians shocked by the collapse of Rome.

When the western political system collapses, will Christians be ready to take advantage of the opportunity, or will we be stunned and confused like the Christians in the Roman Empire. Unless the quality of our prophetic ministry improves, we will be stuck in the headlights of disaster, just like them.

We do not need more warnings of political and economic disasters. We need prophets who can prepare Gods people how to survive through the difficult times and deliver a new thing after the times of distress run their course.

Church Dysfunction

The main reason that the prophetic ministry is not functioning correctly in the modern church is that the leadership is not functioning correctly. Most churches are led by a pastor-leader, so many prophets have become pastors to find a place of ministry. This is not a solution, because the church operates best when elders are functioning in their true ministry and not trying to be something they are not.

Without a prophet, a Church will be prone to sin. One reason that we have so many immature and weak churches is that prophets are missing from the leadership of the church.

A strong Church needs the righteousness that only comes when prophets are present. The modern church has millions of pastors, but only a few prophets. This serious imbalance has severely weakened the church.

Salvation in Hebrews

The letter to the Hebrews speaks about what happened on the cross.

Jesus did all that had to be done.

He carried our sins (anaphero).

Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many (Heb 9:28).

He saves us (sozo).

He is able to save completely those who come to God through him (Heb 7:25).

Eternal salvation for us (soteria).

After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him (Heb 5:9).

Guarantor (bondsman) of a better covenant on our behalf (egguos).

Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant (Heb 7:22).

Dealt with powers of evil – both their accusations and their ransom demands

Propitiation of the spiritual powers of evil (hilaskomai)

He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Heb 2:17).

Jesus put away sin for us (cancelled) (athetesis).

He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb 9:26).

He has redeemed from capitivity to the spiritual powers of evil ( apolutrosis).

He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Heb 9:15).

Jesus dealt with our guilt and shame.

Cleansed our conciences (kartharizo).

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God (Heb 9:16)?

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:22).

We can draw near to God (eggizo)

A better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. (Heb 7:19).

Purification of sins for us (karthimosis).

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven (Heb 1:3).

We have been made holy (hagiazo).

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb 10:10).

Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood (Heb 13:12).

We have been made perfect/complete (teleioo).

By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Heb 10:14).

God forgave our sin and forgot them.

Sins were forgotten by God (mnaomai).

Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more (Heb 10:16-17).

Sins were forgiven by God (put away) (aphesis).

And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary (Heb 10:16-17).

Preparing for the Next Season

Three of my books have a common purpose. They are Being Church Where We Live, Government of God and God's Economy. Some readers think that these books are unrealistic and impractical. In a way that is true. Although these books contain a great deal of wisdom that is relevant now, they are not for this time. I have written them to help people prepare for the new season that will emerge soon (I explain the changing seasons in Kingdom Authority).

When a culture collapses, there is no time to think about options to replace it. It is too late to think about what to do next, when next is already here. That needs to be done in advance, especially if the transition is a time of distress.

The church always struggles to be ready the next season it faces. When the gospel conquered the Roman Empire, the church had not thought clearly about the implication, so it embraced political power with no understanding of the dangers.

When the Rome Empire collapsed, the church was totally unprepared. Christians saw Rome as an instrument of Gods plan to bring in his kingdom. When Rome expanded, the Kingdom of God expanded. The Kingdom was so bound up with the Roman Empire that they could not see how church life could go on without it. When the empire collapsed, they were shattered and confused, and many fell away. It took more than 500 years for the church to recover from the Dark Age that followed the collapse of Rome.

I believe that we are close to the end of another season. Democratic government and industrial capitalism have provided unprecedented peace and prosperity for the Western World. Unfortunately, this great social and cultural development is running out of steam. The main source of democratic and economic power has been the United States, but it has lost its way. Despite many recent moves by the Holy Spirit, the strength of the gospel that has been the source of its strength has lost its way.

Without the life of God to sustain it, the strength of the United States will fail. The nation could go two ways. It could fragment and break into numerous tribal groupings as happened it many other nations. Or it could become a totalitarian empire in an effort to hold back the tide of decay. Either way, it will be nasty for the US and for the rest of the world that gets caught in the crossfire.

Like the Roman Christians, God’s people in our time have confused democracy and industrial capitalism with the Kingdom of God. When they collapse, they will believe that the Kingdom of God has failed too. God’s people will need a vision that can sustain them through the darkness and inspire them to build something new.

I have written these three books so that when our culture collapses, at least some of God’s people will be prepared with a new way of living. If enough people are prepared for the change of season, God will use them to build something better and establish his government in the world.

So, if you have bought any of these books, and don’t like them, don’t throw them away, but give them to one of your children and tell them to get them out and study them when the season is changing.

And if you are a forerunner and want to be prepared for the next season, you should get these books and read them carefully.