|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

Real, Biblical, prophecy is tricky. The point of Biblical prophecy isn't to be 'right', it is to be faithful. A good example is Jonah. Jonah prophesied the destruction of Nineveh. He didn't want to. God wanted to save Nineveh. Jonah knew that, but didn't want to participate. Why? Because he didn't want to be wrong. Faithfulness wasn't Jonah's goal...not being wrong was. Jonah didn't want God's ways to ruin His reputation of hearing God!! The irony is thick, but we often fall into the same traps. When the people of Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching, God changed his mind about their destruction. That is glorious...at least it was for everyone but Jonah! Jonah 3:10Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Jonah 4:1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. 2So he prayed to the LORD, and said, “Ah, LORD, was

God wants the conversation. The only thing that will help America, the church, our families, our cities...is prayer. It isn't... "worship that calls down fire" (though it will) Or "breakthrough that overwhelms the enemies of God" (though it will) It isn't "the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh" (though that is coming) ...it is a simple and honest conversation with the healer that will heal the people and the land. There is no shortcut to love. God is in the conversation. Yes, He comes with power...but he could do that anytime. What He wants is partnership, intimacy, friendship, humility, and truth. This is throughout the Bible. The faithless whip themselves into a frenzy thinking God is attracted to big and loud and bigger, and more exciting. The faithful dial down and decide they don't want all the stuff He will do without Him close and near to the heart. 1 Kings 19:11Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And

What drives the enemy of God into the end time events isn't a sense that he is winning...just the opposite. Satan doesn't want the end time events to unfold. He chooses what he chooses out of fear. He is trying to stop the end time events from happening and inadvertently causes them to happen. He falls into the pits he digs. Don't let fear move you. The thing you fear will come upon you. Let love move you. Then love will come upon you. Proverbs 28:10 Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, He himself will fall into his own pit; But the blameless will inherit good. Job 3:25 For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. Psalm 91:14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. Satan tried to keep Jesus from the cross... Matthew 16:21From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. The falling away is not hard to understand. What the shaking of all things does is reveal whether or not you actually know Jesus. Many know someone who knows Him, but don't know Him themselves. They have read his book, or at least parts of it...even have gone to His house, maybe even for years...but they have never spoken with him in the still, listened to him in the storm, and obeyed him in the difficult. The falling away is simply the result of not knowing Him and Him not knowing you. Ask yourself: do I know His voice? Can I ask Him questions about what to do in real time and expect an answer if I am patient to wait and listen? Do I place His real-time leadership first in my life. Do I even know how to get in contact with it? If the answer is no to these questions, you simply don't know Him yet. That's ok, he's available, but you would have to come to terms with the fact that you haven't actua

Got a great question from a friend I really respect. I think this is helpful to more people, so I'll post it here: Question: Tom, I've appreciated your posts, but I guess the 1 thing that I'm struggling with is this: Why WOULDN'T leaders try to 'make peace'? I understand that ultimately Israel won't have peace until the Lord's return, but why shouldn't they try a 'peace plan' if they can? If I knew 2 non-believers who were fighting and I could help them work it out, I would do it--even if they didn't come to Christ first. I'm interested in real 'dialogue' about this. Is it just any 'peace plan' in general (as past Presidents have tried), or is it THIS one at THIS time that concerns you? My answer: It's a good question. The answer is that the Bible lays out a REALLY clear narrative of how this happens. Politicians continually try to make peace by negotiation. That is Gentile power that God will judge. The problem is

The judgment of the end-time Babylon comes because Israel is given in to her hand, and she misuses that authority. The attitude of the nations toward Jerusalem is the most important factor in their judgment. ALL of the nations will be judged because they have not understood Jerusalem and thought that they could move it any way they want. Jerusalem is Jesus'. He won't make Jerusalem come to Him or receive Him as King. Rather, He will give everyone what they want until all of their plans fail and then they will acknowledge Him. Right now, the church is starting to sound more like the nations than the Bride, having theoretical and distant discussions about something so vibrant and close to His heart. The emotions of God toward that city are in nearly every chapter of the Bible. As many evangelical leaders pontificate about "what would be fine with them" regarding the US plans for Israel and Jerusalem, God has already told of His JEALOUSY toward Israel. He will answer. Ze

Giving the land of Israel to Israel is just as Antichrist as taking it away. The Bible clearly tells us how Israel will be established in the land and become a praise in the nations. Only the Messiah coming will accomplish this. The church should be a clear witness for the things only Jesus can do. These are dangerous times. We must know what the Bible clearly says: Matthew 23:37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38“See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39“for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ ” Jeremiah 33:7‘And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. 8‘I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all

Luke 4:42Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. Jesus preached the kingdom of God. It's good for us to consider what Jesus taught. I want to talk about the same things Jesus does. I want gatherings I attend to reflect the teaching of Jesus. Jesus didn't teach much of what the modern church thinks belongs in a church meeting. He taught the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? It's the value system of the Father. It is the call to voluntarily line up with the value system of heaven before it comes so that I can actually live there. It is the wedding invitation before the marriage. It is a the "repent, for the kingdom is at hand." It is the parables as warnings to take serious