Great and Terrible

As the return of Jesus draws near, light and darkness will both increase. The Bible describes this as the “great and terrible” day of the Lord. For those in agreement with God, it will be great. For those who resist God, it will be terrible. Right now we can see the lines being drawn.


The Church will increase in glorious light. As Jesus allows pressure to purify His bride, He will gather His churches together like flowers are gathered into a bouquet. The body of Christ will be one pure and spotless bride. As we pray and worship night and day, Jesus will pour out His spirit on all of His servants. God will demonstrate His miraculous power to heal, protect, provide for, and guide His people through the most intense time in human history. As we operate in signs and wonders, we will be a witness to the world of who God is and how He loves. As the world witnesses lovesick worshippers on fire for Jesus, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, willing to be thrown into the fiery furnace rather than deny God, many will be brought into God’s family. This is great.


But darkness WILL increase…it is written. The world system will offer its own “messiah.” This man will promise to shepherd the world through a man-planned solution. He will offer a planned economy that will promise economic justice, and laws that will promise world peace and the protection of the least among us. Many will put their trust in what they can see…this man’s solution, rather than in the invisible Jesus and His written plan. Many new laws promised to curb crimes against children and end human trafficking, will actually increase these very things. As mankind turns from God, the door will open more and more for evil spirits to increase their activity in the hearts of men. Wickedness will increase exponentially, and the world’s most vulnerable will suffer the most. We can see it happening already. In areas where the people choose the “new world order,” as Jesus removes His hand of restraint and gives people over to what they really want, darkness will increase to a level we cannot imagine.


There is SO MUCH information in the Bible about the generation that will see the Lord’s return. In fact, over 150 Chapters in the Bible primarily deal with this subject. The more I study these chapters, the more I start to see that Jesus’ plan to return is mostly about a partnership between Him and His bride…the church. What the Church is called to in the last generation rests on three main pillars: the unity of the diverse Body of Jesus, the rebuilding of David’s tabernacle on a global level which means night and day worship and prayer will cover the earth, and the protection of the least powerful by the Church…the turning of the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children.


I have written a bit about church unity, and I have written a lot about night and day worship. Night and day worship IS Jesus’ vessel to partner with his people in the release of the Spirit, and in the release of the judgments. The House of Prayer for all nations will touch every aspect of Church life, empowering the Church, and the remnant in Israel to stand strong in the face of evil. But, I have written almost nothing about this third pillar: the turning of the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to the children. This is very important to God. Jesus has unique feelings about children in particular:


Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven."


Mark 9:37 "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."


Mark 10:13-14 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. (14) But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, "Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.


Mark 9:42 "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.


Jesus called children to Himself in a way no other group is called. He didn’t say bring me the poor, or the prostitutes, or the lame, or the blind. Even though Jesus cares deeply about all people, children find a unique place in front of Jesus. If we have seen Jesus’ heart, we have seen the Father’s heart. As crimes against children increase, as the world, which clams to love children, continues to persecute them through unjust laws, Jesus has a plan for the Church to rise up and gather His children unto Him. Jesus has a plan for us to literally bring kids to Him. Someday soon, the Church is going to start agreeing with Jesus about this. Right now, by and large, it does not.


In many churches in our city, and across the land, kid’s church and even worse, nursery, is seen as secondary to what the church is doing. For many people sitting in pews on Sunday, kid’s church is something you “have to do” so the adults can do “real church.” The basement ministry is pretty much for cajoled volunteers, while many want to stand in, or be near, the pulpit. It isn’t just limited to the congregants. Even in places where many churches will not allow women to hold leadership positions upstairs, the basement ministry, where the most vulnerable and impressionable students sit, is almost entirely manned by women.


The VAST majority of kids church and nursery volunteers in church buildings all across the land are women…and many of them see themselves as primarily babysitters, wasting Sunday after Sunday secretly, and not so secretly, wishing they could be upstairs. I personally believe women and men should hold leadership positions upstairs and downstairs, but that is not my point. My point is, our values are messed up! If we really got Jesus’ heart…if we really believed His words, we wouldn’t have to scrounge up volunteers to do kid’s church and nursery, we would have to interview applicants to make sure the best ones got the job! Someday, when we stand before Jesus, we are going to see that the basement ministries were the main stage!


Right now, there is a call on communities from heaven. God is moving in many cities and creating pockets of mercy, or lands of Goshen, where His people will be protected from the coming storm. Night and day worship is essential to the establishment of Cities of Refuge. But just as important is agreeing with God about what brings blessing and what brings a curse on a geographic area. Now is the time to search Jesus’ heart and His words. I want to agree with Jesus:


Malachi 4:1-6 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch. (2) But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. (3) You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts. (4) "Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. (5) Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. (6) And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.

Kids are going to be essential in leading the Body of Jesus to purity and power. They have the exact same Holy Spirit, god in full, available to them that we do. Many offer trust to God in ways adults have a hard time doing, because they were not spiritually fathered and mothered. God uses the image of a Father to communicate the relationship He desires to have with us, but the most vulnerable among us, by and large, don’t have dads. It is time for the spiritual fathers to rise up and take their places, and for the spiritual mothers to see the real value in what they have been doing all along. If we will agree with Jesus about this aspect of His plan, we will see regional blessing in our area that we can hardly imagine!