Duck!

No, I'm not talking about this amazing water bird that I just saw fly by.  This is what you say to someone you care about when something is coming toward their head that promises to knock them for a loop.  Now either I don't have anybody on my side or I did not hear the warning, because my head is spinning and I have no idea which way is up right now.

Lucky for you, I am on your side and I care about what might knock you for a loop.  So,...DUCK!

Or maybe brace yourself might be a better term.  The problem is, if someone had told me to duck, I would have, and then I would not be able to partake in this divine moment.  So, I take that "duck" back (let's roast it) and give you a, "get ready and brace yourself" instead.

WHY, David?

Let me spare you the prophetic dance that led up to this and just jump right to the point.

The Old Testament ends with the book of Malachi. That book (along with the rest of the minor prophets) is all about "repentance" and "restoration".  I learned that from one of my Pastors.  The last verse in Malachi is Chapter 4:6; it reads -

     "And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to 
      their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse."

The "he" in that verse is John the Baptist who came in the spirit of Elijah the prophet who was a forerunner of Elisha's ministry.  Let me catch you up on what I just implied.  Elijah prefigured, or typed, John the Baptist and Elisha prefigured Jesus Christ.  This same scenario gets played out numerous times in the Old testament with different characters.  Here is the second layer though; John the Baptist prefigures the End-time Church and Jesus prefigures, well...Himself (His second coming or return).  We are called to walk in the spirit of Elijah just as John the Baptist did. 

HOW do we do this, David?

Well, let's take a peek at how John did his job.

     "Now in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying
     'Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'  For this is the one referred to by Isaiah 
      the prophet..."
                                         - Matthew 3:1-3a

     "...he said to them, 'You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee the wrath to come?  Therefore,      
      bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say yourselves, 
     'We have Abraham for our father', for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise 
      up children to Abraham.  And the axe is already laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore 
      that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  As for me, I baptize you with 
      water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier that I, and i am not fit to remove 
      His sandals; He will baptize you with His Holy Spirit and fire.  and His winnowing fork is in 
      His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into 
      the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
                                          - Matthew 3:7b-12

First, his message is one of "repentance".  I pose the question, "Has the Church neglected her call to preach repentance?  I propose the answer that the Western Church has surely done this and replaced the message of repentance with a more palatable message of "feel bad" about your mistakes but don't forget how much God loves you anyway.  Don't get me wrong, God does love us all and grace is highly abusable, but "feel bad"?  No, "repent" means that we stop going in the direction we are headed and turn around.  Otherwise, the land is cursed.

Second, he sang the message that God was going to raise up children who would love Him and receive His love in return.  That, I believe, is us, but it is true also of Israel at some point in the future.  Another huge responsibility that we have thrown under the bus is that we are supposed to be praying for the peace of Jerusalem; that we are the ones who are supposed to be making Israel desire God more, not feel right about their decision to reject Him as Messiah. 

Third, He was also calling the religious leaders of the day to remember their duty to train those under their covering in righteousness and instruct them in the ways of God.  They had failed to do this correctly and were more interested in serving themselves than they were those who would be considered their spiritual children.

So, I make this one final drive here.  The Church has been called, on several fronts, to do one thing and one thing only.  The Church is to turn the hearts of the fathers back toward the children and the hearts of the children back toward the fathers. 

The three fronts:

1. All lost humanity back toward God (Globally)

2. Our own hearts back toward Israel and their hearts toward us (The Family of God)

3. The hearts of flesh and blood dads back toward their own children and the hearts of children back toward their own dads. (our own families)

I am convinced that this one mission in itself will remove the curse spoken of by Malachi and set us on a course of righteousness and unprecedented blessing.

Next posting, I hope to talk more about how we go about doing this in our own families first; then in later editions, the family of God and the rest of the world.

Bless You Tri-state,

David Warren