Babylon vs. Zion By Mike McClung

Acts 3:19-21: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”

Rev. 18:1-5: “After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, ‘Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.’ And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’”

Rev. 19:1-8: “After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.’ Again they said, ‘Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!’ And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, ‘Amen! Alleluia!’ Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’ And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.”

The scripture is clear that it is God’s intent and design for the bride of Christ to be made ready for His return. This will also be preceded by a world-wide harvest of the nations coming into His kingdom. We are in the first throes of this restoration of the church to New Testament purity and power and the nations harvested for the glory of God.

With What Love Do We Love the Truth? By David Townsend

My heart breaks for my generation and culture right now. The way we respond to the truth especially concerns me. If the truth was a person (and It is), it seems like we might consider Truth to be a good friend from high school. Nostalgia is great, and we love catching up, but “hey man, the kids are calling. I’ve got to go,” we would say. In other words, it’s nice to know Truth, and we had some great times, but He’s got His life and, well, I’ve got mine. Truth is relegated to a “really good idea,” but not something that I center my life around. And let me be clear, I’m not talking about the lost here. They are doing exactly what they know to do right now. When I say “my generation and culture,” I mean Christians, specifically those under age 35 or so.

The mentality I’m referring to is the same one the disciples had before the cross. It’s the result of confidence in the strength of human love, as if it were the supernatural love of God because we’ve confused the two. Before the Cross, every one of the eleven disciples was absolutely convinced that they would die before they would abandon the Lord (Matt. 26:35). But before the night was over, all of them did, and only one came to the Cross. In the previous three and a half years, they had heard the Lord’s words; followed Him; watched Him heal, deliver and do miracles; they had even done signs and wonders in His name—yet the love that they had for Him did not keep them from abandoning Him. I would submit that many, many of us in the Church are right here. And we’re headed for trouble.

The Warrior-King By Mike McClung

To be able to move into and operate in the new season of restoration set before us, we are going to have to change our mindsets about the Lord and His ways and purposes.

In 2007, the Lord gave me Joshua 3 and Joshua 5 as a sort of “template” to outline what would be coming in the next five to seven years. All of what the Lord has been doing in the body of Christ over the last five years has been to ready us to enter into this final season of restoration and harvest, in order to prepare for His bodily return to rule this earth. This has meant intense training for the sons and daughters of God so as to forge His image and likeness in us. This is so that He can release His authority and power through us, which, in turn, will bring the justice and restoration all the prophets have prophesied (Acts 3:19-21). He’s preparing a wilderness offspring-generation for battle to destroy the works of darkness, induce a harvest of the earth as His inheritance, and prepare the earth and the nations for His return and rule. Wilderness mindsets (which are a mixture between that of the kingdom of God and the ways and means of the world system) cannot get us into this new place, nor can they operate with any effectiveness in this new realm. Before His glory and His judgments are released that will “balance the books” and remove everything that hinders His love and plans, He must deal with unscriptural mindsets and methods that are hindrances, at best, and heresies, at worst.

2012: Revive, Repair, Rebuild and Flourish

At the beginning of each year, I take time to seek the Lord for direction and a scripture that will describe and launch us into the next year and season. I began seeking the Lord in October around Yom Kippur about the new season that He is unfolding before the body of Christ. The scripture that He gave me as a strategic and intercessory template is Ezra 9:8-9.

Ezra 9:8-9: And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.