|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

God has a plan that He is currently executing to make all things new: Revelation 21:5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." The reason God is making all things new, is because sin entered the world and corrupted what He made in Genesis 1. When God made the earth, and placed mankind in it, it was to be with them. A royal family is what God desired in His relationship with mankind. God is love, and love expands. God wanted to extend His love to us. That is why He made man....for love. Love requires free will. Love can never happen by force. Because God chose love, He chose free will....God will never violate the free will of the objects of His love. That is why we have to choose God. That is why God leaves the start of the conversation to us. We love because He first loved us, but we can still refuse that offering of love. Love is why God put the Tree of the Knowledge of...

The intensity of world events is clearly increasing. Our knowledge of what is happening worldwide can be overwhelming. Because we have 24-hour news coverage, the internet, and a much "flatter" world in the last 20 years, we know in near-real time what is happening in the furthest corners of the earth. While this is amazing, it can also feel very negative. The state of the world, as reported to us, is increasingly negative. Darkness is increasing, but so is light. Jesus promised that the "wheat" (light/righteousness) and the tares (darkness/sin) would mature together until the end: Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in yo...

There is so much information in the Bible about the last transitional generation. According to the Bible, there are three "transitional" generations...generations that see a fundamental change in how man abides with God. The first was Moses' generation, the second was the generation of the Book of Acts, the third is the generation that will see the events described in the Book of Revelation. For thousands of years, God has been kneading the dough of the earth, preparing creation for the most intense time in human history. The prophets were all given insight into this last generation before Jesus returns to establish His earthly kingdom. This last generation isn't going to get zapped away to heaven, we will see heaven descend to earth! God's plan to drive evil off the planet is very specific and knowable. Over 150 chapters in the Bible are primarily about this plan which mostly takes place over the course of 7 years. I want to get my mind around that! There are 1,...

"No one knows the day or hour." Most people quote these words to rationalize not figuring out when Jesus will return, but the context in which Jesus spoke these words was to prepare His followers to "watch and pray"...to be made ready for His return and the great and terrible events leading up to it. This third transitional generation of human history will live in the most intense time of human history. Very great and very terrible things will be occurring at the same time. The wheat and the tares, sin and righteousness, WILL mature together. Because the end of the age is so intense, Jesus gave His followers very specific information concerning His return and how long the extreme events surrounding it will last. This is not general information, Jesus gave exact numbers of days several times, first to Daniel, then to John in the book of Revelation. Understanding the basic timeline of these events should be Christianity 101, but most Bible believing followers of Jesus...

I want to be a faithful witness. I want to be a burning and shining lamp: John 5:33-35 You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. John was the burning and shining lamp that was sent to bring light to the path Jesus would blaze in glory. John was the forerunner to Jesus...light in the darkness. Have you ever been in complete darkness, and then had a bright light suddenly switched on? The pain of that transition is blinding and disorienting. What happens when that light touches your eyes from prolonged darkness? You cover your eyes. Even though you want the light, the brightness of the transition is too much...it offends our eyes! Jesus described His coming in the same way. When the Son of Man appears the 2nd time in great glory, it will offend. As the intensity of the world heats up, the ea...

It is prophesied in Amos 9:11 that in the last generation David's night and day worship center, the tabernacle, would be raised up in all of its glory. David started a worship center in the tabernacle (the house of God) where thousands of musicians took shifts to keep a continuous offering of night and day "prayer set to music" going. When He did this, the worship order in heaven, as described in Revelation 4, constant adoration and revelation of God, was agreed with on earth, and glory and power were released by God. The geography of Israel was blessed. People prospered and agreement with God increased goodness in the land. Amos, and many other Biblical writers, said this would happen again on a global level. In fact, a study of the book of Revelation shows why this is Jesus' end time plan for the whole Church. The end-time Church will be a night and day (in shifts...everyone helping to keep "the fire on the altar") praying and worshiping Church. The Prayin...

There is something amazing happening in my area. Southwest Michigan is going to be a model of John 17:23: John 17:23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. I believe this is a prophetic word for my city. Prophecy is NOT Christian fortune-telling. Prophecy is an invitation by God. Because God is so committed to love, He is committed to free will. Free will requires a choice. Prophecy presents a choice: enter in or ignore! If John 17:23 is going to be a reality in my life, then I have to be willing to join with the whole Body of people committed to a John 17:23 reality. If I am going to join with other parts of the Body, I am going to need grace in great measure, and I am going to need to give grave in great measure. 1 Corinthians 13 is like a warehouse of grace: I Corinthians 13:1-2 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become so...

Who is like God? His ways are so different than I might expect. When I look forward at my circumstance and where it seems He is taking me, I have a hard time seeing what He is working out, but when I look back, I see the brilliance and wisdom of His ways. This is what David testified to: Psalms 71:19-21 Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side. David was testifying that God's ways were not what He expected. No one else operates like God, because no one else knows what God knows! Psalm 33 says that God "individually fashioned" each heart. The heart of those who know Him, and those who don't, were all dreamed up and formed by God for a plan and a purpose. God wrapped your body around your heart, and sent you into the world to ...

Israel is God's greatest sign and wonder. Because she has stood for so long, it is easy to forget that the simple existence of Israel is a massive miracle, in, and of, itself. Because of God's commitment to mankind to redeem us from our own rebellion, He chose an ark, a family of refuge, to bring forth a Savior. God chose Abram, and gave Him a new name, to demonstrate the uniqueness of this family to all the world: Genesis 17:5-8 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will ...

There is security in obedience. This is what I hear the Lord saying this morning. God desires to "set me before His face" and "uphold me in my integrity." But having integrity with respect to God is up to me. God won't force me into integrity: Psalms 41:11-12 By this I know that You are well pleased with me, Because my enemy does not triumph over me. As for me, You uphold me in my integrity, And set me before Your face forever. Integrity is defined as a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. David, one of the most victorious people ever, said that victory was directly related to integrity in his trust of God's ways over man's ways. He starts his statement by talking about money: Psalms 41:1-3 Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the wil...

As the news of the day unfolds, many theories abound. Conspiracy theories, economic theories, political theories. The asteroid that struck Russia last week has now resulted in millions being allocated by NASA, the UN, and other governing bodies to watch the sky for more asteroids. Revelation 6:13 says that someday soon, asteroids like the one that exploded in Russia, will "fall like figs that drop from a tree when it is shaken by a mighty wind." We don't need to spend millions watching for something God promises is going to happen! We need to find out what He says will protect us! This is man's wisdom. What God allows to wake us up, to turn our hearts to Him, man demands a man-made solution for. This was our same response to 911, the economic crisis, Katrina, Sandy, Sandy Hook... As Jesus slowly lifts His hand of restraint, allowing small tastes of what is to come...what is written to come....rather than respond in the way guaranteed to bring blessing, looking to God,...

This morning I spent a little time searching for the word "tribulation" in the New Testament. While tribulation doesn't seem pleasant, it was something the first Christians expected, and actually celebrated, as part of their new life as followers of Jesus: Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; II Corinthians 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. I Thessalonians 3:4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. The western church is divided in it's ideas about the coming Great Tribulation in the Book of Revelation. Some believe we will be raptured, or caught up in the sky with Jesus, before the tribulation of those days, and some believe it will happen after the tribulation. A small percentage believe we are already in it, ...

This morning, i was spending some time thinking about all that God is doing in my family, my friends, my church, and my city. God is so big, often when He moves I can only see a part of the "wake" of His motion. It is only when I go through my day and hear how He is moving in many places, from many people, that I can start to piece together an idea of where this is all going. I picture it like the day after a large storm, you know something big is happening near you, but it isn't until the reports come in the next morning that you have a sense of the widespread effect of what happened. God is moving in power right now, if you have eyes to see it and ears to hear it, it is obvious. If you don't, you could actually miss it! Seeing God move in power has to do with the position of our heart: Isaiah 29:13 And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made ru...