The Unveiling of Jesus as Judge, Part 2 - By Mike McClung

[We are reposting the next few articles from a few years ago because they seem to be relevant to what the Lord is doing lately.]

We are a bride awaiting our bridegroom

Jesus is returning for a bride that is without spot or wrinkle. We know that Jesus must have a bride that bears His image. The bride, who is the church, must make herself ready (Rev. 19:7-8). If we examine the betrothal process of the Hebrew culture, we can begin to understand how to embrace the intimate relationship the Lord desires.

It was customary for a Hebrew young man to prepare a Ketubah, a marriage contract (a covenant), which he presented to his intended bride and her father. Included in this covenant was the Bride Price, an appropriate gesture in Jewish society meant to compensate the young woman’s parents for the cost of raising her. In addition, and more importantly, the payment was considered an expression of the man’s love for his intended bride. This betrothal covenant was legally binding once the bride and her family accepted the terms of his Ketubah.

The Unveiling of Jesus as Judge, Part 1 - By Mike McClung

[We are reposting the next few articles from a few years ago because they seem to be relevant to what the Lord is doing lately.]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, We had everything before us, we had nothing before us. We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens opens his classic, A Tale of Two Cities with a series of paradoxical statements that paints a vivid picture of tumultuous times in England and France. The year is 1775, and while England is soon to lose its grip on the American colonies, France is soon to face total anarchy as the peasants arise to overthrow a corrupt and decadent regime. England is rife with crime and France with poverty. While life for the nobility was exquisite, the lower class struggled to survive. The plight of the times raised serious questions about man’s ability to rule justly and the desire of man’s heart to serve selflessly.

What Are We Waiting On? By Mike McClung

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be moved. (Psalm 62:5-6)

Waiting on the Lord is one of the hardest things for the flesh to embrace. One of the biggest obstacles to moving into the new season, and moving into greater glory and harvest, is impatience. Impatience caused Moses to be set on the backside of the desert for forty years as the Lord dealt with his life and character. Impatience caused King Saul to presumptively take matters into his own hands when it seemed Samuel was delayed in his arrival to bless the troops before battle (1 Sam. 10), thus causing a hardening of his heart in pride and ultimately losing the kingdom. Impatience by the newly saved Saul of Tarsus caused unnecessary turmoil and problems for the still infant church in Jerusalem, causing the senior leaders to send him back home to Tarsus for the discipline of silence and solitude (Acts 9:27-31). Part of the Lord’s refining process to prepare us to enter into the fullness of His presence and purposes is learning to wait on the Lord.

Preparing to Enter a New Season of Fullness and Harvest By Mike McClung

Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD…For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper…who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end…. (Deut. 8:1-3, 7-9, 16)

To those in the body of Christ who are willing and prepared, we’re about to enter into a time of fullness, restoration and harvest unprecedented in the history of the world. The world, itself, is in cataclysmic chaos, rampant unrighteousness, lawlessness and confusion, at least quantitatively, in such ways as have never been. The evil Babylonian/antichrist systems of politics and religiosity have formed, and are continuing to evolve into an alliance whose purpose is to “make war with the saints and overcome them” (Rev. 13:7), with its ultimate aim to make war with the Lamb in futility, and foolishly try to prevent Him from reclaiming the earth at His second coming. In the midst of all this, the Lord is raising up a body on this earth, touched to their core with the power of the cross unto death of self, and filled with His grace and glory. This new season of restoration is to prepare the earth for His coming, reap a harvest of righteousness and souls for His glory, and execute His judgments to prove beyond a shadow of doubt His infinite mercy to a world that has truly given itself to evil and hatred of all the is just, true and holy. We can either cave in to fear, as the first generation of Israelites did that came out of Egypt, or confidently move forward through the waters of death (the Jordan) and enter into this new season or warfare and victory for His glory.

Repost - Vision of Dam in East TN - Building the Temple

(I have had several inquiries over the last week asking me to repost this open vision that was given to me in 1995. Though the "vision has tarried long", I believe it's fulfillment is imminent. Mike)

Isa 56:6-7: “Also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD, to serve Him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be His servants-- everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast My covenant--even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Matt 21:12-14: “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a “den of thieves.”’ Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.”

Ezek. 47:1-9: “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of the altar. He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on the right side. And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen this?’ Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. Then he said to me: ‘This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes.’”

Rev. 22:1: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.”

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.

Spiritual Warfare: Two Views in the Church By Mike McClung

Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Acts 10:38: “…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

I John 3:8: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Eph. 6:12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

The Lord created both the earth and man, good. Both have been seized by hostile, evil forces that are seeking to destroy both earth and man, and also God’s plan and design for time and eternity. The Cross of Christ has completely defeated Satan, all of his minions, and every work of the enemy. The church is now the means by which this defeat is to be enforced and all the powers of darkness subjugated to the will of God.