My eldest son turned thirty nine. To me he is still young though he is in every sense an adult and admirable father, husband, and provider. He would hardly call himself young. I'm so proud of all my children.
I've been thinking much about those who love Jesus and are just emerging into life as young adults or just beginning to raise families, or embarking on careers. My oldest grandchild is sixteen and already feeling the pressure of certain misplaced societal expectations. Parents have invested in expensive education that in too many cases have not prepared their children for jobs in the global market place. Attesting to this are the provisions in H-IB which allow foreign persons to come to this country and compete with our young people entering the work force. Brett Braaten wrote about this most clearly in his book: Homeland Insecurity. This is an excellent read which I highly recommend. You can hear Brett being interviewed on the Unseen World Internet radio show.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/christianfreedom/2013/02/24/the-unseen-world
Brett Braaten writes that while there is no real labor shortage "21 percent of H-IB visas granted originate from fraudulent applications or applications with technical violations" which goes unopposed since, bottom line, American companies want certain skilled jobs to go to better prepared young people from other countries. This speaks to a broken educational system infected by social and political constraints under a stranglehold of political correctness. I'm hoping a ground swell of these kids with an expensive education, but working in unskilled jobs or working in areas to which they had not set their course because they can't compete will decide to agitate for change. Not only are they unjustly burdened by a mountain of debt that will impact their quality of life and that of their families, but they have been sold a bill of goods regarding higher education.
Not until I read Brett's book, Homeland insecurity, did I realize how little I knew of immigration issues and how they fester unresolved as the foundational impetus of many other core challenges facing our country.
The Christian experience in view of technology during this developing period of current history, at the end of the church age, is far more impacted by extremes of never before seen milestones which frame the human experience. The current and coming generation of young people merging into adulthood will be different than previous generations. Why is this? That they learn so differently is only part of the answer.
The apostle John exhorted the younger generation to... I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you, for His name sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one (1st John 2: 12, 13).
John closes this passage... I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one (1st John 2: 14b).
John writes about the authority of the indwelling Christ working through young men and women as being victorious in overcoming the schemes of the devil at whatever strata one is called to address. Paul, speaking to Timothy... Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe (1st Timothy 4: 12). Most all of the prophets called to impact culture in the opposition of satan and the broken dysfunctional systems of their day; systems which allowed evil to flourish and pagan occult practices to infect health and well being were young when they first stepped into those conflicts which defined their times. Gideon, Esther, David... just to name three.
Where are young people with the religious church? Some are taking us back to the Acts model as young pastors with an apostle calling. True to prophecy the institutional church will head deeper into rejecting core truths of the Bible. They will reject Biblical authority as too harsh or too divisive. Oh, yes! Churches will continue to attract numbers via slick entertainment and emotionally manipulative messages, but too many, are even now, loosing the covering of holiness. Young people are wired to recognize hypocrisy. Thus it has always been that the young have fermented significant and lasting change, good or bad. They have derailed idealism in the pursuit of dreams and have presented a force to be reckoned with. My question is... when will they wake? Really and truly wake to the dynamic imperatives of a living faith; ushering in the kind of change that postpones a major Biblical correction. Many times God averted judgment when believers, young and old, prayed.
Some time ago I visited a large church. A big part of their focus was getting ready for the tribulation. As a writer I was very interested to visit the bookstore. Immediately I noticed that every book, with few exceptions, was written by the senior pastor or another staff member. Everything from key chains to dishtowels bore the church logo. At a prayer meeting I felt moved to pray. As I went forward to do so, following the example of others, I was stopped by a man who wanted to know what I planed to pray about. It seemed I hadn't been vetted. As an unknown quantity I might not fit the carefully orchestrated agenda, which on the surface appeared spontaneous. Discernment was telling me... in order to attract many young individuals and families. Later I had coffee in the Starbucks like coffee shop with more stuff to purchase with the church logo. Then I understood that most of the people who worked there, if they wanted to work there, presumably to be safe from coming tribulation... well, all had to raise their own financial support as if serving coffee to other Christians was actually a ministry on the level of traveling to a foreign country or living in the urban inner city to reach addicts and runaways. Cult-like. Yes! A look at the church financials would be interesting indeed.
Now I've never been in favor of those called to full time Christian service wasting time and energy raising their own support. I feel the body of Christ should do this. I didn't start out being offended. I wanted to feel the same enthusiasm for this church as the friend who had invited me to visit. But, being connected to the operations and financial side of ministries I grew, first uneasy, and then offended. So I asked. Who oversees the finances? Is there open governance? How much do they give to missions? Do they give to missions outside what originates under their roof? No one knew. But I knew... at the root of all sin is three underlying motives. GREED, POWER, LUST. Want the truth? Follow the money. An old, but true adage.
Jesus had a very strong reaction to worship being merged with this level of commerce. Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. And He began to teach them and say to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have made it a Robbers Den'" (Mark 11: 15-17).
We don't want to make charges without proof. One way to judge if there is appropriate accountability is to ask questions. What internal measures are in place? Is there transparency and honesty? Would leadership be offended if a tithing church member wanted a view of the books? Young people today might ask these questions with unabashed authority as Holy Spirit carriers and not intimidated because they are young, but wise in the pursuit of Godly knowledge. Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge (Proverbs 23: 12). In other words, know God's word and enter your sphere of influence, agitating for a lost level of integrity at all strata's of life. And please take a hard look at the mounting debt and our dependence on foreign oil as matters of national defense and sovereignty. Then... really study immigration. There are many forces tearing apart our country in preparation for the coming global stage needed by the anti-christ of Revelation.
People invested in sin as patterns of practice over-react to any valid inquiry. The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching (Mark 11: 18).
In the later days... meaning the time before the events in revelation, some of these larger denominations will merge in concert with the breaking down of resistance to negating nationalism and moving toward one world government. Some groups will break off and become no more than fear-based, legalistic, life constricting cults. This will increase in the last days and even now is seen in growing and disturbing numbers. These groups will claim to be Christ-centered, but they will give the godless more and more ammunition to discriminate and marginalize true believers.
Young people have a special antenna for hypocrisy. The young are less and less attracted by the powerless, institutional church. Step out and speak up...
But realize that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God... (2nd Timothy 3: 1-4
As young people trust Christ and the Holy Spirit's life altering power takes root a new and vibrant faith requires...demands a manifestation of righteousness; walking out that power of Christ as Holy Spirit carriers, fermenting for radical change against evil constructs. Young people will want to see their peers freed from the slavish techno dynamics which have stunted emotional growth. Many fighting to be clean and sober will take a hard look at what led them to a path of addiction. Mind control... sadly it's here. In evangelical fervor some will courageously reach out to their peers. Their calling will be activated, not from the institutional church, but via a genuine faith which has brought a profound healing. Many will have been rescued from the occult constructs that ultimately stole health and happiness. Healed and restored they will rise up as a powerful Evangelical force. We'll see more home churches spring up that shun the apostasy and apathy of what masquerades as real. They'll recognize and powerfully reject what isn't real. The verses from 2nd Timothy quoted above continue and describe the institutional church of the last days. ...rather than lovers of God, holding onto a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and the stipulation to... avoid such men as these (2nd Timothy 3: 4b, 5).
In many churches battles wage over money and what some call apportionments; paying a percentage of funds back to the centralized denominational government which increasingly sees church members as irrelevant. They give to social causes that run counter to the moral and faith based principals of church goers. The same is true of missions. When missions are taken out of the local church a church dies and becomes no more than a corporate arm to fund the religious conglomerate.
I'm excited. Faithful young people will understand that a corrupted institutional shadow cannot replace the power of the New Testament / Acts model. They'll want supernatural power in the construct of balance and accountability.
Older, faithful Christians can support this and work within their churches to make sure they don't go the way of the last church described in Revelation; the Church of Laodicea (Revelation 3: 14-21). Young people who are truly Christians will accelerate their exodus from the dying institutional church.
One of the reasons for the film we hope to make is that the church is not teaching or preaching on the supernatural, nor warning against the curtain of paganism which we know to expect during these last days. This curtain of paganism, which blots out the Light of goodness is the core, underlying motivation for every Godly correction seen throughout history, from the flood to the final events in the book of Revelation. Film is a way to reach young people.
If you are interested in investing in the film; Woods End the pre-production trailer can be viewed at: www.woodsendthemovie.com. You can partner in making this film possible.
Order the book, Wood's End by, Alexandra Clair
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Non-fiction...
Discerning Spirits: Visionary Gifts in Practice
by, Alexandra Clair
