a changin'?

The times they are a changin' according to Bob Dylan. Or is it that they are unfolding? History is about ready to deliver, but what is getting ready to be birthed? In Acts 1 the church was birthed when the Holy Spirit came in power. Other spirits are active with power today as well. There are forces trying to move things along toward a preconceived agenda that started back in the day- previous, previous, previous as Van Morrison would say.

It strikes me that there are four strands to this cord of events and intents. The first is God and his purposes for ultimate redemption and consummation of the ages. He has already told us directly and figuratively how that will play out. We may not know the time frame or the exact specifics, but He is very specifically about his business. The second and opposing strand is that of the rebellious deceiver, Satan. He purposed to ascend to the northern most point- the seat of authority- to displace God and vie for ultimate control. His Luciferian plan uses the third strand, the world and its systems. Humans align with him knowingly or unknowingly when they reject God's purposed One and God's prescribed Way. The fourth strand is the church, true followers of Jesus Christ who have the Spirit of Christ within. They are human agents willfully submitting to the first strand, God.

What a set-up for conflict! Through the ages the unseen forces are manifest through the seen world. Good against evil in major cataclysmic proportions and in microcosm. We experience it every day. We don't acknowledge it every day. In fact it can be so subtle we don't recognize it. Stealth and deception are at work to undermine foundations spiritually, psychologically, politically, and morally. Constant assault from ungodly media and spin doctors in religious and secular circles comes against truth to eat away at our mental alertness and spiritual beliefs. When even the church succumbs to the numbing history hastens on. When the church doesn't adequately and clearly reflect the true Jesus and his purposes to bring life-changing redemption both to the individual and systems in society, history hastens on.

What is the best way to sound the alarm, to stir the pot, to clear the fog, and arouse the church to live, pray, and speak boldly according to the word of God? Not in scary, spooky, over-spiritualized ways nor in secular world-imitating styles, but in solid authentic Jesus ways.

This blog is for that. Join me in siona- a warning.