#CHURCH

I am no End Times buff, and while I do not usually open the book of Revelation for a spot of light reading and relaxation, I can admit to you that my most favourite life theme is found in those chapters.  

The heart of God revealed in those closing pages contains what I consider to be the most powerful, pointed and readily-applicable aspect of the whole End Times mystery.

After the earthquakes, plagues, judgment and battles are waged and have ended, when the world finally stops groaning and Jesus is victorious and sitting on the throne, Revelation describes heaven, Jerusalem and the Church in all their perfect and restored splendour.

Here in the final book of the bible we see what the Church is supposed to be.  And she speaks! She makes only one statement that defines her role, purpose and posture in the Earth.

Verse 17 of chapter 22 says this:

Revelation 22:17 (AMP)
The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.

The Church has a heart of INVITATION!
The Church has a heart of GENEROSITY & PROVISION!

So here is my contribution to the End Times discussion:

Church is God’s plan for End Times.

I wrestled while writing this – how not to come across as the Pastor pumping Church.  But you know what, I AM THE PASTOR PUMPING CHURCH!  

Jesus believed in church – and declared that no war, disaster or even hell itself would prevail against it!  Church was Jesus' idea.  He prophesied us into existence! (Matt 16: 13-18). 

He knew that a movement of people gathered in His name and for His cause could and would, and indeed is changing the world!

In a day when humanity is hurting so deeply, when the Earth is groaning, I am fully persuaded that the Church is in her best day, to respond and bring change.  She is stronger today than she was yesterday and she will be even stronger tomorrow.

While we discuss whether or not we are in End Times, while we debate when Jesus will return, I have come to realize that a personal Armageddon can greet any one of us at any moment.  

In those moments when a life is wrenched out from beneath a person’s feet, it is the Church who God instituted to be the answer.  Here are just two reasons as to WHY I am convinced that the Church is God’s plan for End Times.

1. IN CHURCH WE REPROGRAM

Let me start this way: Each person is the manifestation of his or her experiences. We are products of our environments. We are programed in our families and by our experiences.

All those things become so deeply ingrained in us that they in-fact govern our lives without us giving any of it a conscious thought.

Because we live in a fallen planet, the hands of hurt, disappointment, dysfunction and survival have wired our individual programming.  

When we come into Church, we come with defaults, habits, mindsets, patterns, values and core beliefs.  We begin to hear about God’s plan for our lives to be victorious, blessed, free, strong, advancing, healed, whole, joyful, content and all the rest.  We think to ourselves how vastly different our lives are in reality from the Word of God.

BUT!!! Isaiah says, that in the end days people will flock into Churches and say, “Come, let’s climb God’s Mountain, go to the House of the God of Jacob.  He’ll show us the way He works so we can live the way we’re made.” (Isaiah 2:5)

This is my personal testimony of Church life:

• I watched mature Christians and began to model my life off theirs
• I was supported and encouraged to think in new ways that developed me 
• In small group settings I was able to ask questions and learn alternatives to my habits and mindsets
• Overtime the repetition of God’s Word being taught started to replace my old ways of thinking and being

2. IN CHURCH WE ENCOUNTER

I’ve found that as different as we all are, every person can relate to a desire for something more than we are right now; a yearning for an experience that makes sense of life.

No matter how many temporary trappings of this world we try, they just don’t suffice.  The awesome news is there is a place where that longing is fulfilled!  

The only place where anything makes sense is in God’s presence.  How lovely the place.  How desperately luring that place is.  The Holy of Holies.  This is it!  What every human soul craves for.  Longs for.

We the Spirit and the Bride say, “Come and drink – finally the living water that your soul has been thirsting for.” 

We do drink!  We drink in His word and His presence; and we are quenched. (Is 55:1-2, Rev 22: 17)

Isaiah had a massive shock when God was revealed to him in the temple and he wrote some of the most beautiful words in response to witnessing the Lord in the Holy of Holies.

“Woe is me for I am undone!  I have unclean lips and live among a generation of people with unclean lips.” (Is 6: 5)

We read on, an angel takes a piece of hot coal from the altar of the Lord and touches Isaiah’s lips with it.  He is cleansed by the coal’s refining property and the angel tells Isaiah that his iniquity and sin has been taken away.

Then we read the famous words in verse 8:
"I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”"

In his presence we hear the call on our lives.  We may feel inadequate, unclean, but I want to remind us today:

GOD’S PERMANENT OPINION ABOUT YOU IS “READY, SET GO!”
NO MATTER WHAT YOU’VE DONE IN THE PAST.

He has the power to cleanse you in an instant if your heart is humbled before Him.  He’ll cleanse you and let you loose.

Why is Church God’s plan in tumultuous times? In Church we find out how to live the way we were made – free, victorious and a compelling reflection of His glorious Self.  

Church was on Jesus’ schedule - He went every week "as was His custom" (Luke 4:16) - and so it is on mine.  I encourage you to do the same.

[Inspired by Andy Stanley, "Deep and Wide" | Gordon MacDonald, "Ordering Your Private World" | Bill Hybels, "Simplify"]