It’s Later Than You Think

Matthew chapter 24 outlines the signs of His coming. It says nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. You may brush this off because it has ‘always been that way’. But be assured that we are closer than you think!

This week in the news, North Korea says it is getting ready to use a nuclear bomb. They warned us that we better watch out! Other news this week talked about military action which is likely against Iran from Israel in a preemptive strike. There are war rattlings all over the world!

In Revelation chapter 6, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse was given power to take away peace and prosperity.

Kingdom against kingdom is bad enough, but our country is at war with itself – we are divided and polarized in this country. A nation divided will not stand.

When, not if, the economy collapses and entitlements are gone, there will be war (rioting) in our streets in this country. People will not just accept the fact that their income is suddenly dried up.

Even now, there are people killing each other every day, there are wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, plagues and disease, earthquakes around the globe, and weather that is extreme – we are breaking high and low records almost on a daily basis.

There are so many things pointing to His soon return!

Let’s not be desensitized to the signs of His coming!

Matt. 24:6-8 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

God loves you! He really does!

Bitterness and Unforgiveness

Matthew 24:10 (NKJ)
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Many things have been written about bitterness and unforgiveness which are good and true. But this writing focuses on the times we live in and the need for complete humility of heart, unconditional surrender to the purifying fires of God, and uncompromised obedience to the Lord who taught forgiveness in the most profound way possible – as he was dying upon the Cross.

In Matthew 24: 3-13, Jesus is speaking of the signs to look for just before his return. Right in among the warnings of wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes, we have this picture in verse 10 (above) of how people will conduct themselves who are not surrendered in obedience to the leading and an example of our Lord.

People who were very close to Jesus betrayed, abandoned, denied and cursed Him; and those were his friends and disciples. Others accused, slandered, vilified and finally killed Him. Yet, his prayer was “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” God desires that we should follow his Son’s example.

Though we cannot compare ourselves to our Lord in what he suffered and sacrificed, He is our exemplar model of how we are to live and die.

“Yet he opened not his mouth” to defend himself…. (Isaiah 53:7)

We must die to our need for earthly justification in the eyes of men. When we wait for our Defender to vindicate us, we will see His justice in due time. Persecution will come, we are assured of it and it is for our perfection. We may be slandered, betrayed and abandoned by those whom we love and who profess love for us, but deny it with their words and actions. They do not have God’s heart for us, and their actions and words often challenge our very identity in him. Don’t let your offenses cause you to enter into the same camp as your offenders. If we surrender to the fiery processes of God which are clearly outlined in his Word, we will be resurrected in due time and we will live with him forever and ever in the beauty of his holiness.

In our own humanity, we struggle when we are hurt (offended). Our first reaction is to defend ourselves. Many times the path we take because of the offense is one of ultimate destruction and condemnation for us. It is said that unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die. If we are honest about it, when we defend ourselves against false accusation, we often turn that accusation against the offender and develop a hatred that wants to murder the other person with our tongues (words).

The very nature of a defense coming from an offended heart is injurious to ourselves and others. If we do not cleanse ourselves of this poison, we will ultimately destroy our own spiritual connectedness with our Lord and hinder our ability to commune with him. He taught us by supreme example, and He will recognize us by our likeness to Him.

We wonder if those who accuse us are of God….

Judge not for with whatsoever measure you use, so will it be meted unto you. We should treat those who have slandered, accused and betrayed us with all the grace that we ourselves desire when we meet our Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. For we will all be judged according to His Righteous Judgment – not our own sense of justice that is tainted by our offenses while we lived in this world.

When King Saul attacked David unjustly, David would not sin but instead cried out to the Lord:

     1 Samuel 24:12 
     Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.

In my own personal life, some offenses were too heavy for me to bear in my own strength. I failed miserably to deal with that offense in the way that God would lead. My failures led to my estrangement from Him in a way that brought leanness to my soul and I ultimately fell on my face in repentance and cried out to him for mercy – and here is a key – I cried out for mercy for the offender as well. There is no offense that is worth even a cursory estrangement from our Lord.

Even when your offender is dead wrong, never allow your own sense of entitlement to justice to cause you to sin against God by retaliating.

The Ultimate Test

The ultimate test is one of pride and humility. Pride led to satan being cast out of heaven. Pride leads to unforgiveness and ultimately, alienation from Him. And pride always leads to a fall and destruction (Proverbs 16:18). We are more than conquerors because He, in His grace will enable us. While our offenses may be great and indeed sometimes horrific, and while those who have caused them are worthy of judgment, we are not charged with administering that judgment. We are charged with obedience to the teachings of Christ Who taught us to forgive, leave the judgment to Him, and walk in humility and submission.

The Lord said in that day (of judgment), many will say unto Him: 
Matthew 7:21-25 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.”

Knew in the scripture above means to have an intimate relationship with.

That’s why we are warned by the Lord himself that wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through that gate. But small is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Enduring until the end….

In the same passage in Matthew 24 which warns us of offense and the other things which will occur right before his coming, we also see a verse that describes the overcomer:

Matthew 24:13
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Endure is defined in the Greek below:

G5278 hoop-om-en'-o - To stay under (behind), that is, remain; figuratively to undergo, that is, bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere: - abide, endure, (take) patient (-ly), suffer, tarry behind.

Jesus humbled himself even unto death on the Cross. He endured the ultimate humiliation and injustice of man. He is our supreme example and our light by which we are able to find our way.

In the days we live in which are the last of the last, we must understand that He is coming for a bride without spot or wrinkle whose lamps are full of oil (Matthew 25); one who has prepared herself for His return. His bride will shine brightly and the oil in her lamps will illuminate the way to Him. He will know (have an intimate relationship with) her, and she will know Him. Just as oil is extracted from the olive by crushing, I believe that precious oil which lights our lamps and lead us to Him comes from the crushing processes of life which, when we submit to them in obedience to God, show us the way to life everlasting.

Those things which He taught us by His supreme example are the things He will recognize within us at His coming. He will know us (have an intimate relationship with us) and we will know Him.

God loves you, He really does!

Silence of Spiritual Leaders 

Unfortunately, many people – even many sincere Christians – have been lulled into apathy concerning “end-time” events.  Dr. Larry Bates, one of our frequent guests says “the only thing holding this country together is the reassuring babble coming out of Washington, the mainstream media, and our pulpits.”  

Few politicians other than Winston Churchill ever campaigned successfully on platforms of preparing for the worst.  We shouldn’t expect much in the way of warning from our government officials.    

What is baffling, however, is the silence of so many spiritual leaders on this issue.  “Oh, yes, I’ve noticed those passages in the Bible before,” one esteemed pastor told me, “but I can’t see any sense in getting our congregation all worried about it.”  

Another ministry leader commented caustically, “So Jesus is coming soon, and bad things are going to happen before He does.  What am I supposed to do about it?”  

Do about it?  How about informing the Christian community that we may very well be the generation that sees Jesus Christ return?  How about preparing our people for some rocky years ahead?  

I have been appalled at the complacency of so many people in our churches.  Sadly, many people do now want to hear the truth.  It is too horrible to ponder, so they’d rather escape into denial or some more comfortable doctrine that tickles the ears, soothes the mind…and embalms the spirit!  Most people would much prefer to listen to messages promising that we will escape the troubles ahead, rather than even consider the possibility that we will have to go through them.  Such blatant spiritual denial is nothing new.  

When people are looking for deliverance from their troubles, they will believe just about anything, and anybody…even an antichrist.  I’m convinced that we are nearing that state of gullibility in our culture, that when the Antichrist appears on the scene, offering solutions to some of the worldwide chaos and suffering, even normally discerning, intelligent people will be duped into following him.  

God is giving us a chance to prepare for the difficult days ahead.  Let’s be encouraged that He has not left us without the roadmap to arrive at our destination safely.  We have His Word, and we must listen with spiritual ears to what He is saying through it.  

God love you, He really does.

Catastrophic calamities will soon strike the earth; economic systems are going to crumble; life as normal will be severely disrupted; and the world will be plunged into a time of tribulation such as we have never before experienced.  It is not a question of if these things are going to happen; the Bible clearly predicts their occurring.  The only questions are when will these things occur?  And will we be ready for them?  How do you plan to make it through the difficult days the Bible says are definitely coming?   

Jesus said that in the last days there will be false christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes (Matt. 24:5-7).  We can also track the increase in unusually devastating natural disasters in the daily news.  Beyond that, Jesus said, “nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Matt. 24:7).  Interestingly, the word He used for “nation” was ethnos, from which we get our word ethnic.  In other words, Jesus predicted “ethnic cleansing” long before it became a descriptive term on our newscasts.   

Jesus also informed us that there will be a flagrant increase in lawlessness, people will betray one another, and many people’s love will grow cold (Matt. 24:10-12).  Love for the Lord will wane, as well as love for each other.  

 Skeptics scoff, saying, “We’ve always had these natural disasters, and men and women have been at each other’s throats since the beginning of time.  What’s new?”   

Plenty.  Jesus stated plainly that “when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door” (Matt. 24:33).  Jesus implied that the awful things that are to come upon the earth will intensify, that they will converge at one point in human history, and they will be so bad that our very survival will be in question.  He said, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.  And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short” (Matt. 24:21-22).   

Yes Revelation times are here and more are to come.  Read Acts 2:19-21 and you will see there is hope in the midst of our storms.  Verse 19 says “And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath;  blood and fire and vapor of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord comes”.  And the next verse is the good news!  Verse 21:   “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  That means you and me, whosoever!

Love,  

Are You a Friend of God?  

 

This week Lori and I just happened to be in the same town where Bebe and Cece Winans were singing for a corporate meeting (the largest corporation in the world).  We ran into a local pastor whose family worked for that corporation and they told us Bebe and Cece were going to be in town the next day.  We were able to meet them and what a wonderful visit we had!  We recounted the days when they, as teenagers, began their music ministry on our television show. What a joy to be with old friends!

One of the number one things you will need more than anything else in the days to come, the days the Bible calls the “Last Days”, is a good friend, or I should say many good friends.  The Church that Jesus said He would build will withstand the gates of Hell! The Church is going to take care of those within its gates.  There is a big difference between Church members and the true Body of Christ - those who are truly born again! 

Jesus calls us friends and when we are born again into the family of God, we become family.  We are not just an earthly family but a family that does not walk away in bad times, but one that never gives up on each other!  Here is what the Bible says in Proverbs 17:17  “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  That’s the kind of family I want to be a part of, one that does not walk away in bad times.  Some earthly families fight all the time.  I want to be in that family of God that loves each other at all times! 

I always say Lori is my best friend and yet she is my wife and Mother of our children.  How can this be family and friend?  Jesus calls us friends in John Chapter 15.  Read with me verses 12-17:  “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you.  Henceforth, I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth:  but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.  Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.”

When I was in prison, Franklin Graham came to visit me often and told me one day he wanted to be my sponsor to help me meet the requirements to get out of prison.  I told him he did not need to do that, it might hurt him and the Graham name to be associated with me, a former inmate! He told me “Jim, you were my friend before prison and you are my friend now, and if anyone does not like it I am looking for a fight!”  

God is the one who never gives up on you and He will fight your battles for and with you!  Hebrews 13:5 says: “God says I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  That is real friendship!  Abraham was called the “Friend of God” in James 2:23, and you are God’s friend if you have been born again into the family of God!  If you have not been born again, ask Him into your heart today and you will become a Friend of God!    

The King is Coming - Rejoice!  

Albert Einstein once said that “ There are two ways to live:  you can live as if nothing is a miracle or you can live as if everything is a miracle.”  Either God is there or He is not there!  I have always said that it takes more faith to believe that all the universe and you and I are an accident than to believe God created all things including you and me!  If there is a God, then His Word must be truth! 

If you watch our program on a regular basis, you know that I often say, “The good new is that the bad news tells us that Jesus is coming back and the Bible is true!  All the prophetic words in the Bible concerning the return of Jesus must come to pass if the Bible is truth and praise God they are all coming true in this hour we are living!  Redemption is coming - do not fear!   

Look at Luke 21:25-29:  “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.  And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh”.  So when all these things we have been sharing from the Word daily come to pass, it should not discourage us, but cause us to rejoice!  

The King is coming so rejoice!  Jesus tells us to rejoice even when people hate us.  Look at Luke 6:22-23:  “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”  

Have a blest day and rejoice! The best is yet to come!  

Revelations Today - Solar Storms

Rev 16:8-9 The Message
The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun: Fire blazed from the sun and scorched men and women. Burned and blistered, they cursed God’s Name, the God behind these disasters. They refused to repent, refused to honor God.

I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. Not too far from there, the city of Grand Rapids and a close neighboring city, Holland, Michigan experienced horrific fires on the same night, October 8, 1871. Across Lake Michigan from those two cities, another city literally burned to the ground in one of the greatest fire disasters ever recorded in history. It took place in Peshtigo, Wisconsin on October 8, 1871 and claimed more than 1,200 lives. Does that date ring a bell? It should. It’s the night of the fire that received the most news coverage simply because it occurred in a large metropolitan area, the famous Chicago fire – the one they blamed on Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.

Solar storms are certainly not new and have occurred throughout the history of the world. In fact, I believe that’s what happened on October 8, 1871. We are learning more what the Bible says about them and we are also increasing in natural knowledge about these storms.

The scriptures are very clear; we are going to have solar storms as the time of His coming draws near.

Luke 21:25-28 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On earth, nations will be afraid and confused because of the roar and fury of the sea. People will be so afraid they will faint, wondering what is happening to the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken. THEN people will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!”

NASA warned recently: “Earth and space are about to come into contact in a way that’s new to human history”. They went on to say “The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. Power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity”.

Fox News makes these statements: “Modern power grids are so interconnected that a big space storm – the type expected to occur about once a century – could cause a cascade of failures that would sweep across the United States, cutting power to 130 million people or more in this country alone. Impacts would be felt on interdependent infrastructures with, for example, potable water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning; sewage disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on. Outages could take months to fix, the researchers say. Banks might close, and trade with other countries might halt. Emergency services would be strained, and command and control might be lost. Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastation to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems.”

As the time of His coming draws nearer, we should not be afraid of the things which may occur because He has us firmly in His care. But we certainly should be prepared in our hearts, and in the natural as much as possible for any catastrophic event.

God loves you. He really does!

Be Ready to Live and Be Ready to Die

Morningside Vision

Morningside represents New Testament Christianity applied to twenty-first century living.

Morningside is Expanding! 

We are busy getting Morningside ready for more people! As most of you know, I’m all about preparation. Many years ago, God called me as a watchman through the prophetic word. Today, more than ever before, I am about my Father’s business preparing a people and a place… with a passion! Morningside represents a new day dawning for the Church and new hope.

A form of the Greek word for "quickly" (tachos) is used eight times in Revelation (1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:6, 7, 12, 20). As I have been teaching in my Thursday night series “Revelation”, things are happening very quickly in the world we live in and things are happening quickly here at Morningside! In fact, Jesus says He will do a quick work in the last days. Whether it is helping to put a Master’s Commission student through a year of college, helping Bill Ballenger, our International Youth Director, reach teens in his crusades or distributing food to the local community here in the Blue Eye/Branson area, we are about our Father’s business.

This year at Morningside, cabins are being built, new apartments and condos are now available, Mr. Crawford is busy making plans for the RV park, the waterfall is being built near the entrance to Morningside, and many other exciting things are happening including a new hair salon on Grace Street and a soon-coming fitness center! We have recently fully equipped our game room, we are building a shuffleboard court, the kids are loving the volleyball court down by the tabernacle, and the picnic pavilion is ready to host the summer’s activities. The Grace Street theatre is also being readied to show Christian films every evening.

The Morningside community is expanding and Morningside Church is growing!