Keiths Endtimes Update Nr. 3

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Keith’s Endtimes Update Nr.3

June 17, 2010

Dear Friends,

Last time I said that in this update I would talk about signs of the end-times within the Church, but before I do, the news is beginning to catch up with us, so I want to first share a little about wars and rumours of wars.
A short while ago a South Korean warship was sunk in he Sea of Japan, with the loss of all on board. Evidence has since come forward that shows this aggression was carried out by the totalitarian regime in North Korea. This belligerent country which apparently has nuclear weapons, and has often shown aggression to its Southern neighbour, while their own citizens go hungry. Now countries are queuing to condemn this act of war. However the new moves on... Two weeks ago (31/5/2010), we had news from the Eastern Mediterranean, which some found a little disturbing, but I would call another end-time sign. A sovereign nation, seeking to defend itself from a terrorist organization which operates from within its borders. To do this it has made barriers to maritime trade, in order to prevent the terrorists importing armaments. The terrorists using the well meaning actions of humanitarian groups around the world, have tried to break the barrier, in the name of humanitarian aid. When the Israeli military stopped this illegal shipment, they were attacked by these “peaceful” humanitarian aid workers, who also had arms on board. The question exists , why do these “aid workers” need arms (of any sort)? Are they being used by the terrorists as pawns in their political games? However, can one wonder that soldiers who are attacked by armed people (civilians or not), will not defend themselves, even fatally against such attacks from criminals, determined on breaking the law. I have just heard (thanks to CNN) the tape that the Israeli Navy played to the ships, inviting them to peacefully come to the Port of Ashdod, where the ships would be unloaded and the goods transported to Gaza, at the expense of Israeli government, along with the more than 100 trucks of aid that are transported every day. These videos, among others confirms these facts.

What can I say in the light of these war like actions. I would point you to the instability of the Middle East. Look at Lebanon for example. A country that is apparently at peace, yet a key aspect of its government is the terrorist group Hezbollah. Which is dedicated to the total destruction of its Southern neighbour, Israel. All I can do is point you to Scripture, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem”.
Anyway that is not my subject of today. What are the end-times signs within the Church? The biggest sign within the Church according to Scripture, is the so called apostate Laodicean age. "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." Rev. 3:15-18.
Throughout the Church the emphasis on money has become too great. The so called “Health, Wealth and Prosperity Teaching” has taken over from the pure Gospel. As Churches have become bigger, the need to provide a polished “show”, in order to entertain the people who will in turn provide the income necessary to put on the show. Some Christian leaders, rather than following the simple lifestyle of the Lord, choose to exploit the Church in order to live millionaire lifestyles, rather than using the money that they raise to serve the Church, preach the Gospel and feed the poor. I have always loved Don Francisco's challenging song:

I don't care how many buses you own
Or the size of your sanctuary
It doesn't matter how steep your steeple is
If it's sittin' on a cemetery
I don't care if you pave your parking lot
Or put pads upon your pews
What good is picture perfect stage
If you're missin' all the cues?

I don't care if your pastor's super-powered
And your program's always new
What you need is love and truth
And men are going to come to you
It doesn't matter that you know the Bible
If it's all just in your head
The thing I need to ask you is
Have you done the things I said?

Do you love your wife?
For her and for your children
Are you layin' down your life?
What about the others?
Are you livin' as a servant to
Your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

I don't care if you pray for miracles
I don't care if you speak with tongues
I don't care if you said you love Me
In every song you've sung
It doesn't matter that your sacrifice of praise
Is loud enough to raise the dead
The thing I need to ask you is
Have you done the things I said?

Repeat Chorus

Lord, when were You a prisoner
That we did not come to You?
When was it that we saw You sick
That we didn't follow through
Every time you turned your head
And pretended not to see
When you did it not to the least of these
You did it not to Me

Do you love your wife?
With all you've got inside you
Are you layin' down your life?
What about the others?
Are you living as a servant
To your sisters and your brothers?
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?
Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?

In this song we see an emphasis on a practical outworking of our Christian faith. In the New Testament we see the good news that we are set free from our sins, into a new life with Christ, alongside a practical outworking of that faith in service to others. Whilst many are doing a great job serving their neighbour, many more have reduced the gospel to a simple belief system that has little effect on the world around it. It is as though fear of our works being misunderstood as us trying to work our way to heaven, has stopped us doing anything useful in the world. Many parts of the Church, spend fortunes on being “seeker sensitive” or on having the best program or conference, yet do little to reach out to the poor, lonely or prisoners in their area. I remember my time in North Florida where you could not go two city blocks without passing a church. And yet apart from the prison Chaplains, only myself and one other Christian visited the local prison. Yet each Monday, we met with a group of 20+ long-term prisoners, who having come to the end of themselves, were crying out to God. I was such a blessing not only to minister to their spiritual needs, but also help minister to the social needs of the group. It was so humbling to me, that when I left the area, they showered me with little hand crafted gifts, as signs of their love and appreciation.

Another area of concern in the Church that I would point to is what I would call false spirituality. As a new Christian in the early '70's, I readily identified with the rapidly growing Charismatic Movement, experiencing the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, together with various gifts of the Spirit. At that time I became aware of books and articles criticising the movement, most of which said that this move was not of God. I dismissed most of these out of hand, as I felt that they came close to blasphemy against the Lord. Yet one or two, that obviously spoke from a personal experience of the Holy Spirit, yet had problems with some of the excesses that appeared within the movement. As time went by, the movement became more mainstream and largely accepted by the Church. But at the same time we became aware of a certain amount of “hype” around certain aspects of the movement.

For a short while in the late '70's I became known as a Healing Evangelist. Whenever I spoke, we would invite people to come forward for prayer for healing. In the meetings, a large proportion of those coming forward testified to having received healing, yet when we returned a year or so later, we found that many of those who had claimed healing, were once again suffering. Some have given various excuses for this, yet the truth remains that there were less healings than claimed. As a result of this I made a decision that I would always ask people to provide medical proof when they claimed healing. The reason for this is clear, When there are testimonies that are proved false, this most certainly does not give glory to God. Yet today, I have seen time and again, how false claims have been made by those promoting revivals.

Now having said that, our friend Jim Rutz has done much to collect reliable stories of confirmed healings and resurrections. And we ourselves have seen both thousands of healings and people raised from the dead. We do not have to promote false claims as there are enough true cases...... unless of course we are selling a product. If you are selling a product (called Christianity in this case), your product must be seen to work. Unfortunately this has led to some inflating their claims, and others seeking to obtain “results” in other ways. I have seen many Christians moving to use “New Age” methods to get results in order to back-up their claims. Others are holding experiential meetings where you become “drunk in the Holy Spirit”, or “get “”it”, or what ever else. When folk are truly touched by the Spirit, there are often strange manifestations, but Scripture never encourages us to seek these things, rather we are encouraged to seek first the Kingdom of God, later we are encouraged to seek to Prophecy. We are never encouraged to “shake, wobble and roll”. Some emerging Churches have so many questions, and so few answers, that the Spirit has departed. The newly resurrected “Missional movement “ seems to have found a home on the fringe of the emerging churches. However , this revived missional movement has little of the solidity of its founders including Bishop Leslie Newbegin, who mentored me as a young Christian.

Another aspect of the church that speaks to me of Apostasy, is the way that the Catholic Church (and some others if the truth be told), have done so little to protect children from abuse. Jesus spoke about it being better for these abusers to have a millstone tied around their necks, and be cast into the sea. Personally having worked in the field of Child protection for some years, and having examined the situation here in Germany over the past year, I can only say that supply of millstones must now be getting short. God will judge the Church over this, we can only repent for our failings in protecting Children and vulnerable amongst us, and seek His mercy.

These are all symptoms of false spirituality that weaken the church. We must all come back to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. When ever we add to or take something from the simple gospel, we weaken it, and damage the Church all of these are signs of the end-times.

Keith

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P.S. Two new bits of news on the end times theme: (1) Earthpakes in Indonesia, and (2) New threats of war in the Middle East from President Asha al Asad of Syria, who are providing arms for Hezbulah in Lebanon.

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