04/19/2021 Washington D.C. (International Christian Concern) – Quiet your mind and heart and think for a moment of all the mythical stories and movies you have read or watched. A good world is ruined by a villain. A hero restores it to the rightful order. Does that story sound familiar? It’s also the plotline of God’s story for humanity and life on earth.
We just celebrated Easter and you may be feeling the tension between the victory on the cross and the victory to come. We live between the cross and our future glory but remember, we aren’t at the end of the story just yet.
In the meantime, roll up your sleeves and join the transforming ministry of caring for the wounded. Join me and build His kingdom on the front lines. Let’s break the chains of oppression, and set spiritual prisoners free.
“Lay down your life and find the treasure that can’t be stolen, that neither moth nor rust can destroy.” Matthew 6:19
Let’s see this to the end!
Transcript:
You remember that passage in Revelation Six? It’s that scene where all the martyrs are surrounding God’s throne and they’re crying out. It says that they’re shouting. They’re really crying out. They’re saying, “God, how long before you bring justice?” They’re saying, “How long before you avenge our murders, you bring justice for our murders?”
It’s a really poignant scene, but honestly, I used to pass over it. I always thought that was Christians that were going to die in the great tribulation. Until I started this job and then I said, “Now, wait a minute. These are Christians from our past. These are Christians from our present. It’s happening all around us. I know the names of several of these martyrs that are crying out.”
The interesting thing though is that none of this persecution, none of what’s happened to these people is a surprise to the Lord. What did he tell us? He said that, “Persecution was always going to be with us. If they hated me, they’re going to hate you.” You have to think about that. If you analyze that a little bit, there’s a whole secret story behind that. It’s just the package story of the Bible.
What is it is? It is that there was a world that was created good and right. It was captured, it was stolen by an evil king from the true leaders, from the true king servants. That evil king is evil to the core. His nature is all twisted wrong. So then the creation was cut off from God’s goodness and blessing. It now reflects the current owner of that world.
That’s why you see everything around you is twisted, and decayed, and rotten. It’s like nothing seems to work well. We’re not even at home in ourselves. We just feel out of place in this world and you just know something is wrong. Does that story sound familiar to you? I would think it would. First of all, it’s the biblical story.
But I want you to think about this. That plot line I just gave you is the story of 1,000 different movies. It’s Lord of the Rings. It’s Narnia. It’s Matrix. It’s Harry Potter. It’s Star Wars. It’s like it’s everywhere. Then here’s the interesting element in this story. It’s always this. You know who the protagonist is? The protagonist is the common man who’s caught up in this great adventure in this great war that he knew nothing about.
So Lord of the rings, they were living happily in the shire, unaware of the great war that was surrounding them and it was going to take them over. Then what happens? They’re caught up into a great battle and they’re aided by an unseen force. They go on this great journey that’s way beyond what they could ever do themselves.
They are a very reluctant hero because they feel it. They feel like the job is too much for themselves. Yet there’s this hidden force. We know what it is. It’s God always aiding them. In the end, that journey, that fight they’re on is to restore the world to what it was and to bring back goodness and right.
Something inside of you is waiting to be awakened. It is that reluctant hero. The reason that’s in so many movies is because we feel this instinctively. There’s something inside that says, “My life is made for something greater.” You look around, all the whole waste of life, and just the wasted lives of people, and the foolishness of their lives, what they’re chasing. In the end, it doesn’t satisfy them.
So I call out to people and I tell them, I say, “Man, raise your hand and say, ‘Lord, I want to work for you.'” I did this in my life. I got radically saved. This is just me. I said, “Lord, I’m going to waste my life, just knowing me, if I’m on my own. I give it to you 100% and I want you to do with it whatever you want.”
That’s where he called me into ministry. Then he specifically called me here. I look back and I just couldn’t be more satisfied. It doesn’t mean the journey hasn’t been hard. Because I so relate to this character. I’m ill-equipped. It’s too much and yet the fight is so real.
The kingdom is the answer to the world. That’s where I say to you, “Raise your hand and say, ‘Father, I need to be used. I need my life to be worthwhile. I need to be used and I want you to use it.'” So give it to him wholeheartedly. Then in the end, I’m telling you what you’re going to look back on is to say, “I made the right choice.” You won’t be part of the so many people who have just put their lives in the wrong things, poured their lives in the wrong things.
So anyways, I just feel this strongly. I just have a call to people. I have an evangelist heart to tell people to follow the Lord, give their lives, give their working lives to God. Because in the end, you’re going to say, “I did all I could, and I was on the right side, and I worked for the father is so satisfying.” We work with him and we restore one life at a time while we wait for him to restore the world and make it all right.
