Every few years, when conservative Christians think things are getting rough, there are 2 things, 2 themes that seem to rise up and bring a lot of attention. One of them is a Texas thing, but both are somewhat controversial, and both elicit strong emotions. I am almost 65 years old, and these two things come up around the same cycle for some reason, not exactly sure why, but I have a theory. Both of these things bring a lot of attention and make a lot of money for those who are proponents, and purveyors of the cause. They also elicit a lot of negative response towards anyone who may question them or actually verbalize their disagreement or question the beliefs behind them. Let’s explore. Thing #1 – Rapture of the church, or 2nd coming of Jesus To look at this teaching, you need to understand that many evangelical Christians believe and follow rapture theology. I was a child when I first heard the word, although, rapture theology has been rising in popularity since the mid to late 1800’s. This is a basic belief that Jesus is coming back to ‘rapture’ or take His believers to heaven. leaving the unbelievers behind. Many disagree as to exactly what point in history this will happen, but some believe it will be before the tribulation, which is supposed to be a horrible time in the earth. I understand my language above may sound like I am not a believer. I am a strong believer and have studied this extensively, but that is not the point of this blog, so I am not going to get into ‘teaching’ on the subject. You will see my point in a moment. A few years ago, a very popular charismatic pastor spoke extensively about the rapture coming during the 4 blood moons. Many others did the same thing. The blood moons came and went, and no rapture. During the 60’s & 70’s it was a thing. Most believers sat back and didn’t engage in the political arena because Jesus was going to come and take them away from what was going on at the time. There have been countless other times when this teaching rose up, and especially the last couple of years. But we are still here. Thing #2 – Texas Seceding from the Union or secessationism. This is growing in popularity among far-right wing conservatives right now. There are entire plans around it and many are promoting and even supporting this. The most recent push seemed to gain popularity last year, around the election. The people behind this say we can secede and we have everything in place to become our own country again. It sounds awesome until you really start digging into the solutions they are proposing. But it is still a very popular ‘thing’ right now. Conversations around this topic bring lots of questions, but many of the answers are the same. That we have all the things in place to do this, but no in-depth answers. And while it has been discussed in depth for many years in times of struggle, we are still part of the union. So again, while it cycles around, nothing has changed. The power brokers behind it are the same, but the situation has not changed. My theory is that both of these ‘things’ are rooted in 1 answer. Escapism. Escapism defined is "the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy." These two things pop up in Texas when don't think the government or the world is going the way we want them to, and when we are scared we will lose our freedoms and our rights. The thought of Jesus coming to take us out of here is glorious. But God didn’t leave us here to hold the fort, he left us here to have dominion. We are supposed to overcome the enemy by being Kingdom. Not escaping and leaving it to it’s demise. When we connect with Him, study and know Him, and allow His purposes and plans to flow from us, we can shift the atmosphere and our nation by our very presence and we will see His Kingdom manifest here in the earth, in America and in Texas. The reason we are all in the mess we are in today, is because too many of us were focusing on the escapism of the rapture rather than getting involved and making sure we didn’t lose ground. My parents generation were so focused on the rapture, they didn’t stand against Roe v Wade and look how many lives have been lost. Churches believed and taught we shouldn’t be involved in the political arena, so we sat back and allowed the enemy to take our country away. Secessationism is also a form of escapism, believing that by seceding we can, collectively escape the pain and hurt that is going on in America. The problem is that the same political spirit behind the evil in our government is the same political spirit behind the powerbrokers of secessationism. They are lining their pockets with solutions that sound great, but in reality would leave Texas in a mess. Take any issue or topic and follow it through to it’s logical conclusion and see where you end up. Currency, commerce, federal properties in Texas, not to mention property taxes, foreign policy with neighboring states, military presence, and border security…around the entire state. While there may be solutions that have been discussed by some pretty smart people somewhere, what kind of financial obligation is it going to take to put all of this into place, especially while we are trying to exit the union? This will cost us a lot more financially than we are having to pay now, regardless of what these leaders tell you. Then in a few years, when Texas is not the Eutopia promised, new people will be elected into office and want to rejoin the union. Then all of that time, effort, and money has been wasted and we will have to rebuild. We don’t need to escape, we need to engage. When you are focused on escaping, you are not focused on real solutions. A temporary mindset produces temporary solutions. A permanent mindset produces permanent solutions. In both of these things, we are not coming up with long-term solutions to any of the big problems, spiritual or otherwise. In the church, or the body of Christ, we need to return to the true word of God and stop the compromise. In the state of Texas, we need to raise up godly leaders with long term solutions that can change the political landscape away from the corruption we have seen and back to ‘we the people.’ We are to be a covenant people, a covenant nation. America is a covenant nation, Texas is not. As a great spiritual leader recently said, Texas is to lead, not secede. God is bringing revival to America, we don’t want to miss that here in Texas. I want to be clear on both of these points. I’ll be front and center when Jesus returns, and I’ll be in Texas when it happens. But in the meantime, I’ll be working to change both the political landscape and the spiritual purposes for God’s will and way, not mans. I don’t want to escape, I want to make a difference, and I know you do too.
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One of my favorite books and stories in the Bible is Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah were tough guys that had a heart to see God’s purposes restored.
In their stories, their beloved Jerusalem and the temple had been destroyed. Nehemiah was allowed by the king, to leave his duties and go to Jerusalem and help rebuild the walls. During the rebuilding, the book of the law had been found. When it had been discovered, the people asked that it be read to them. Ezra stood and read the book and as he did, the people began worshipping and bowing before the Lord. They all soon realized that they were in the season of Feast of Tabernacles. So, it was decided that they should celebrate immediately by building temporary dwellings as a reminder of their time in the dessert. Ezra, Nehemiah, and other scribes stood on a platform the next day and read the book of the law all day, explaining to the people what it meant. We see their absolute dedication to re-establish God’s law in Nehemiah 8:18 "Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the manner." That day, one of the feasts prescribed by God, was once again re-established as a time of celebration, repentance, remembrance and restoration of God’s word in the earth! When the light of truth gets into the darkest parts of our heart, revelation comes. This revelation, brought restoration and the people WOKE UP! We recently entered into the Hebrew year of 5782. I love seeking God’s direction for the coming seasons and, for me it starts in the fall at the beginning of the Jewish year and continues into the coming year on the Gregorian Calendar in January. As I was contemplating what God may have to say about the coming year, I looked up the number 5782 in the concordance which gives us the original language the Bible was written in. I was excited to see that in the concordance, the Hebrew #5782 is the word ‘Ur’ (oor), which means -Awake, arouse, incite, stir up excited, triumphant. Isaiah 51:9 ‘Awake (5782), awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago.’ Ezra 1:5 “then the heads of the father’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites rose up, everyone whose spirit God had ‘stirred (5782) to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 5782 according to the concordance is the Bible version of ‘woke.’ I knew immediately God was showing us that He is going to ‘WOKE’ the world this year. I truly believe that we just moved into a season where the world is about to be ‘woke’ up to God’s purposes and plans. The enemy sends the false first, but God shows us truth. We are about to be awoken to the WORD OF GOD – not just the Bible, but Jesus as the mighty warrior King, to God as the Father, and to the absolute, awesome power of the Holy Spirit Then I began to ask the Lord about what He will be doing in 2022. He reminded me of what He had given me at the end of 2019, for the year 2020. Ezekiel 20:19-22 19 - ‘I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and follow them. 20 - ‘Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’ 21 - “But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to follow My ordinances which, if a person follows them, then he will live by them; they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to use up My anger against them in the wilderness. 22 - “But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be defiled in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. He reminded me that 2020 was to be an opportunity to observe a Sabbath. The sabbath is a time set apart to rest and to commune with the Father. Last year He gave us a giant pause and we were supposed to use it to seek Him, but we all got wrapped up in our own garbage. Had we truly turned to you and consecrated our time with you, then things would have been very different. During the quarantine, several churches and people prayed and participated in 7:14, which was where they would read 2 Chronicles 7:14 at 7:14am and pm, then pray. However, when churches started opening back up, they went back to church as usually with no real change in the dedication. Back to Ezekiel, verse 21, we see something pretty interesting, as a correlation with what has happened this year. So maybe God has started pouring out His wrath this year. it's not a big stretch of the imagination with everything going on in the world. But what if verse 22 tells us what is coming in 2022? It says that He will withdraw His hand and ‘act’ (work, create, move, or perform) on our behalf ‘for His names (character, reputation) sake.’ He is going to preserve His reputation as a Loving Father, Almighty God. So that it not be polluted (pierced through or destroyed, wounded, disabled, profaned, cast down, made common, dishonored, disrespected) I truly believes this means He wants us to restore His NAME…if we honor Him, He will show us His glory. Just as Nehemiah and Ezra stood and it ‘woke’ the people up to who God is and what His will is in the earth, we are to do the same. We are to wake up, get serious about the things of God and restore HIS NAME in this earth. How do we do that? Romans 8:18-19 tells us that all of creation is WAITING for us to REVEAL that we are sons and daughters of God. Why? Because we have the answer, we have the truth, we have the power and authority of being seated with Christ in heavenly places. Jesus in us, makes us the salvation of the world! We are to be those who revere God as their Father, whose life and character resemble God, are governed by the spirit of God, and show the same trust in God as children do their parents. Those who wear and exhibit the dignity and honor they should, who truly reflect the true love and intimacy of God, and are obedient to His will in every area of their lives. His light, through us, reveals the bondage we are in and shows everyone the way out. We are in desperate need of restoration, just like the Israelites in the story of Ezra and Nehemiah. But we have to ‘wake up’ to this season and take it seriously. We have to stop getting overly wrapped up in all of the garbage going on. Don’t misunderstand, we need to do our part, and take a stand. But keep it at bay and let the restoration of God’s word and law be primary in your life. God is making us ‘woke’ to replace the false application of that word that we all just experienced. The absolute bondage to it. He is restoring HIS NAME and He needs us to re-image HIM in the earth because ALL of creation needs it. Restoration brings multiplication – we must restore Gods order in every area of our country, our lives. As we restore ourselves, we ‘reveal’ God’s image to our spere of influence, then they can ‘reveal’ it to theirs, and it multiplies. It isn’t about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ it is about who we are or should be, in every fiber of our being. Remember God’s kingdom destroys all other kingdoms. Daniel 2:44 tells us “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. I truly believe that 5782 and 2022, we are to restore and establish Gods kingdom in this earth in this way. That is the only way to destroy the enemies kingdom in the earth and in our lives. As we do, restoration by us will bring multiplication in this earth. |
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