Stephen L. Bening: 'THE BELIEVER MUST FUNCTION'

The LORD JESUS' CHURCH (NOT men's) was never meant to be a place where His people come to simply sit and listen. Instead, Paul describes it as a body wherein each member's participation and engagement is crucial to bring about the the overall function the body was designed and purposed for. The body needs each member to be healthy and also to fulfil its OWN purpose (i.e what a hand/foot can do as opposed to what an ear and eye can do) and its purpose related to what the BODY's sum of its overall parts was intended to produce (i.e if a foot and hand work in conjunction/cooperation with each other, they can perform tasks not possible with what each can do on its own). The article below by Stephen L. Bening (he wrote it for his own prophetic fellowship group) describes this biblical truth with amazing clarity and context. It's not a long read. I highly recommend it! I don't believe that the church in its current form is necessarily entirely unbiblical--there are elements which are definitely biblical and definitely fruitful. However, overall, the current forms of church seem to be working much more against the entire engagement of the people of God than for it, and this is a very big problem that needs tackling. It's my opinion that we can do a lot to help this, especially by making sure we as individuals are fruitful for the Lord Jesus in our own lives, ministries, and services for Him. However, it's also my suspicion that it will take (like Stephen describes below) the Lord dismantling/taking down what now exists in order to remake/reform it (i.e Ecclesiastes 'a time to build up and a time to destroy' in order to remake):

…2A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
-Eccl 3:3

The article below is one of, if not the best thing I've ever read to summarise what the most biblical form of church looks like. Well worth the read! 

Article:
'I touched upon the concept of the function of the believer in my last article, and it is a very simple image and thought process to engage in: that God created each of His believers to have a river of living water flowing through them. Now think about it: every river must have an outflow! You simply cannot have a continual supply of fresh water running into a place and it has nowhere to go. It must find a way out, or the water will stop flowing into it, the river will turn into a reservoir. The reservoir will turn into a dank swamp if no water ever goes over the dam. 

We have considered in years past that before Jesus left this Earth, His own disciples were jockeying among themselves: arguing which of them was the greatest. Jesus put them in their proper place at that time. Then, some few years after Jesus' ascension, James was seated upon the throne of the church of Jerusalem. We know this to be true because his burial box was found, several years back, inscribed with that notation. Jesus had made it quite clear that His disciples were not to rule over or Lord over any one, but that did not slow the apostles down from doing just that with the half brother of Jesus, right there in Jerusalem. Then, several years later, John makes note in his third epistle of one Diotrephes, who desired the preeminence and would not even receive visiting ministers, even controlling others to the extent of casting people out of the church on his own single authority in violation of every precept Paul ever laid down regarding excommunication. And that merely covers the first century. 

The predominant theme of the 19 centuries that followed the first century is one of a single man, put on a pedestal. He is expected to be God's man, part of a "priesthood" for Christians that Jesus never authorized. This single man does, on the apparent average, about 90% of the preaching. The other 10% is usually filled by ministers who are also single senior pastors who are traveling a repetitive circuit. With some variation depending upon place and denomination, down through time, this has described "pastoral function". There have been some brief moments where the charismatic gifts flourished, but even these are usually found to be functioning among the family of the senior pastor or among his approved inner circle of supporters. In short, everything you have been taught as a church member is that you are not EXPECTED to do anything in church unless someone in the pastor's office asks you to do something. Then, you may volunteer to teach Sunday school, or take part in the landscaping committee, or perhaps be on a church trustee council that pays the bills of the church and perhaps may be charged with hiring another priest if the present occupant of the pulpit is found to have gone AWOL. I have found it to be true, especially in the sixty short years of my lifetime, that most especially and more so every year, you are expected to part with your money. Laws have even been developed that require Christians to give specified amounts that Jesus never burdened His church with and Paul never mentioned as having anything to due with the practice of Church. In short, nothing you have participated in has really encouraged you to function or has trained you in how to function. Everything about your on the job training has discouraged you from finding any outflow for your very own, personal river of living water. Nothing has led you to believe that God requires you to do anything more than sit with mouth shut, listen and tithe. That is how you have understood "Church". However, God requires "Assembly" and "Assembly" requires so much more than "Church". Assembly requires you to do many things: you are required to function. In fact, the true Godly "Assembly" cannot survive without the function of every member of the body of Christ. Can your hand survive without your fingers? How will your mouth do without your brain? You have learned church in a "doomed to fail" system. Jesus Christ will destroy it himself. You had best depart from it and learn how to function as soon as possible. We at Watchmen Prophets Assembly are dedicated to promoting the maximum and efficient function of every member of the body of Christ. 

This is not the case simply because I say so. Paul did not found or establish even one single church that was invested with only one solitary pastor or elder, yet that is what we find today. Paul always appointed a plurality of elders: more than one. Furthermore, there are specific signs that Jesus said would follow a Godly Assembly. These are the same signs that follow THOSE WHO BELIEVE, for they follow even more powerfully in a Godly Assembly. They are found in the sixteenth chapter of Mark. The signs are not said by Jesus to follow THE PASTOR. They are said to follow THOSE WHO BELIEVE. Are those signs following you? Those signs are important. John Baptist questioned the Godly identity of Jesus; was He the one they were to expect? Jesus answered the question by referring to the signs and the miracles that He had done. SIGNS ARE IMPORTANT! Are these signs following you? They are supposed to. They follow me. They follow my wife. They are supposed to follow this assembly. People are supposed to be healed when this assembly prays. Demons are supposed to flee. You are supposed to have more prayer authority when you are part of a Godly assembly, but when that Godly assembly fails to function, you are on your own, with only the authority in God that you possess. That is what it means to be a partaker and you are a partaker of a Godly Assembly, to the good, or a church, to the bad. One can chase a thousand. Two can chase ten thousand. Which are you, the ONE or the TWO? Hopefully, you are at least doing some chasing. And if two in agreement and function be powerful, then what might ten obtain? Yet if every individual grows silent and sleeps, the assembly ceases to function and all multiplication of power and authority is forfeited. How long will God allow this fruitless situation to persist? Have mercy Lord Jesus. 

Stephen L. Bening'


PART 2:

Today I posted about what the best and truest appearance of the Church of God should look like. When we talk about Church, we talk as much about us as individuals, as we do about us being members of the whole, because we are all temples of the Spirit who are being made into ONE temple in the Spirit (as we are the body of Christ in Him). This is an encouraging subject because it makes us realise just how integral we all are to the Kingdom, and HOW to be integral. Recently, the Lord has laid it on my heart that the nature of HIS Kingdom is a fluid thing. This is because Jesus describes His Spirit as a WIND, and His power, purpose, life and presence as a STREAM that flows through and out of a believer:

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]
-John 3:5-8

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
-John 7:38

This fluidity means that while church is a gathering of believings to encourage each other in Christ, the purposes of the church are daily, multifaceted and very diverse. This is because Jesus Himself ministered to men in MANY ways and in many manners, whether He was teaching at the temples or not, and whether He was with many or few. This also shows us that the purposes of church are also the purposes of individual Christians who see what the Father is doing, then they do that thing (whatever that specifically is for that individual according to the will of the Spirit). Like Jesus, they also listen to what the Father says, then they speak that thing. Christians, therefore, should not only follow Jesus, but copy Him. This won't bring schism to the body, but unity and power because the Lord does not design the gifts of the Spirit to contradict or compete, but to complement and to accomplish the greater good. The role of elders and pastors, therefore, is not to take over ministry for the whole body of Christ, but to minister so that each member can become as much a part of ministry as they are and have been called to be. Elders and Pastors are not 'above' the body of Christ, but overseers to lead and encourage each member to be equipped and active in their own lives for Christ. The Lord does not limit His work to one meeting, place, and time, but desires that the body of Christ be encouraged in such times to continue to operate each day in their service for Him. The Church of God is not to be boxed, but it is supposed to be living, active, and sharper than any two edged sword, just as the Word of God is (for the Word of God dwells in and works in and through us to work His purposes). The Church itself is an active, flowing thing (just as a river is active and flowing), designed to reach into and influence every crevice of society for the good. Every member of the body is therefore as effective for Christ in a Sunday Church service, as they are in their work place, in socialising, with family, in giving, in speaking encouragement or the Word of God, and whether singing to others, being hospitable, or in any other ministry that the Word speaks about and provides precedent or foundation for. 

If we think about it carefully, in the New Testament Jesus actually did nearly all of His work, ministry and teaching OUTSIDE of formal church/teaching/building settings. This allowed Him to work with the many as well as the few, with the rich as well as with the poor, and the healthy and unhealthy alike. It allowed Him to reach the 'sinners' with the good news of the Gospel, heal the sick, testify to and witness against the Pharisees, and teach and grow His disciples all at the same time. It also allowed Him to work IN THE SAME WAY and AS EFFECTIVELY in the temples and more formal church gatherings. Jesus did this to give us the perfect and most effective pattern of what Church IS and how it BEST and most biblically operates. 

In the same vein, I've also posted below another article of Stephen Bening's. The article was directed specifically to the prophetic group itself, but it holds true and reveals what the NATURE of every part of the Church should be:

'Let us begin with "Assembly". That is what the God of the New Testament requires believers to gather to. The word "church" really does not properly express what the ancient meaning really is. "Church" has all types of ungodly connotations that have stuck to the word over the years. Let us set it aside discussion of that for now (discussed elsewhere). God intended an assembly where everyone could and should participate and where no one man or group would Lord it over others. The more participation, the better. Members who do not function or participate may be viewed by the Lord as not bearing fruit. A tree that bears no fruit is a biblical image that Jesus dealt with. Trust me: we all should want to bear fruit.

What is prophecy for the purposes of Watchmen Prophets Assembly? Any member who hears, receives or has the Holy Spirit quicken anything to him or her is in receipt of a word from God. That is a prophetic word. It may be just for that believer, but many times, it should be shared. It does not have to be predictive about some future disaster or event. Believers need to ask for boldness from God so that they freely share what they have been freely given. It is quite easy to fall into harlot church patterns where members only listen, sit silently and take part in assembly life, but this has never been God's intention.

Watchmen and Prophets have been members here and a few still are. Other members are expected to be believers in Jesus Christ. We should all be being filled with the Holy Spirit. You should be growing in the Kingdom of God Daily and going deeper into God as individuals. This can only be done through prayer, fasting and time spent in God's word. As you grow, you should share.

God intended every single one of His born again believers to be a river of living water. Every river has a source. The source of this river is God. This river is supposed to RUN THROUGH you, but where will it run to? Where will its' outflow be? 

Watchmen Prophets Assembly is one place where your river can flow out to, for there must be an outflow. Where there is no outflow, there is no river, but a lake, sitting behind a dam. Water sitting long enough, without a flow, begins to grow dank. Unclean things grow there. We have better hopes and prayers for better things for each of you.'

-Stephen Bening'

BRACE YOURSELF - PART II

A main reason the Lord sometimes reveals particularly severe future trials is so that we'll spiritually brace ourselves for them. This involves taking a particular battle ready stance that expects a massive spiritual and practical hit in order to not be bowled over by it. This guards against the power of emotion to try and wrench us from Christ, even as the disciples allowed such a thing to part them from Him for a while when they fled from the cross. The battle ready stance also involves refusing to let perplexity and pain undermine faith and trust. It is a resolving to walk by faith and not by sight, no matter what the cost, and no matter how random and naturally unexplainable our experiences may be. It dethrones 'reason' to throw itself on the character, all-sufficiency and all-knowingness of Christ. 

Bracing for what's coming involves EXPECTING trouble, and spiritually leaning into it. This means continuing to be open to the prophetic, the Lord's voice in His Word, and the 'watching' of the signs of the times. Such things are the Lord's way of preparing us emotionally and mentally as well as spiritually. Job was ready in this way for the tragedies that befell him, but his wife was not, and it showed. Job's wife let the emotion of the trial and its torturous pain cut her to the core and take away all her faith in God, to the point where she encouraged Job to give up, die, and curse God. Job, however, expected what came: ' He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" - Job 2:10.

Bracing for the coming storm means praying about it in order to prepare our way spiritually in order to walk through it. This is what the Lord constantly did throughout His life, and particularly so in the garden of Gethsemane. Praying about what's coming also allows the Lord to change our hearts to be able to face it resolutely and head on. This is why the Lord eventually prayed, "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done". The Lord showed us throughout His life that we always need to pray, not only for present grace, but also FUTURE grace. Without prayer, we cannot spiritually brace ourselves fully, or in the way God intends.

Bracing for what's coming also means taking the time to decide how much we're willing to give up to continue on with Christ. This is a process that often takes time and considerable thought (honest thought which challenges our own hearts/expectations/desires etc.), which we won't necessarily have much or any of when all the future trials of the storm hit. The Lord reveals the future so that we'll be able to measure just how costly our crosses are, and what it will take to continue to carry them when things get harder and more costly:

Luke 14:
27And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

Bracing is also a mental process that accepts that life will not always be rosy and will not necessarily follow our expectations or hopes. Bracing refuses to except that this present life is all there is, and that there are purposes far greater than our own which only God knows and is working in our lives and throughout the earth. Bracing even surrenders our own spiritual views if necessary, and owns that we only see and know in part. Bracing also humbles itself to submit to the will of the Lord, though we may not understand or agree with it in the natural, and owns that there is an end to all things, and that we cannot take one thing with us when we die (and thus that even loss itself is a temporary thing). Bracing is needed for all storms in life, and it will be particularly needed for the great storm which is ahead.

COMING STORM PREP DOCTRINES PRT5: BRACE YOURSELF

There’s a difference between experiencing the peripheral effects of a storm, and actually experiencing its effects in earnest and the actual heart of it. The outer storm of trial and God’s judgment has arrived, but what the world is experiencing at the moment is just that; the first touches of what is to be an absolute monster of a storm that will rock the entire world. This is a storm the Lord has repeatedly shown me in dreams and visions throughout the years. About a month or so ago I felt that by the Spirit this ‘monster storm’ had arrived, and I posted about it on my blog and online. We have already begun to experience the peripheral effects of it. This has been seen in various ways, though few in Christendom want to acknowledge it. Its arrival has been obvious during the last year by the worldwide avalanche of immorality and its institionalisation, terrorism (especially through historic mass immigration into most of Europe), economic and governmental instabilities and upheavals, natural disasters, a resurgent Russia and China, and increasingly strong North Korea. But knowing it’s coming isn’t enough; we need to be prepared for it. This being the case, I’ll be continuing the Coming Storm Prep articles I started writing about a year ago now. The one below is Part 5: Brace Yourself.

In one sense writing like this, at least to myself, seems a little redundant now. The arrival of the storm has already made itself obvious, yet we're still on the outskirts of it--the big stuff is still to come. Just over a week or so ago, the song 'It's the end of the world as we know it' started playing through my head. The Lord often speaks to me through prophetic songs, and this one has taken on a whole new meaning recently, especially living in America for the last few months. Many now believe we've entered a new time of prosperity and peace, and perhaps, for the short term at least, we have. Regardless, the long term future hasn't changed, and my personal feeling is that recent events have actually sped up and solidified the reality of what's coming. In the last few months the Lord has shown me the Red Horse of Revelation once again, and continued to reiterate the need for His people to enter the Ark of His protection--to remain abiding in Him. This article below, including its title, has stayed with me for a few months now. It hasn't left me. Precious Bride of Christ, the Word of the Lord to us for what's about to happen is summed up in these two words: BRACE YOURSELF

There’s a massive difference between a Christian who braces themselves for approaching tribulation, and one who doesn’t. We see this in the starkly different ways Job and his wife reacted to the suffering God allowed to come upon them:

Job 2:9

His wife said to him, "Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!"

Job 2:10

But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

These scriptures reveal an obvious truth: Job was ready for tribulation, but his wife was not. People like to be exasperated and condemnatory towards Job’s wife, and even joke or completely write her off when they read her response. Yes, her words were awful and wrong, and we can’t excuse them, but we also need to consider something, which is this: if the tribulation that ended up rocking them had been tough, but ‘do-able’ so to speak, and nothing as horrific as it actually had been, it’s unlikely Job’s wife would’ve ever said such a thing, or anything close to it. But that’s the thing, the trial wasn’t just ‘bad’, it wasn’t just ‘hard’, ‘uncomfortable’, ‘irritating’, or even just pretty painful or fairly distressing. It wasn’t even ‘really rough’, it was completely and overwhelmingly agonising and heart-wrenching. It was life-altering tragedy after life-altering tragedy, and even that is putting it somewhat mildly. What came upon Job and his wife was so horrific it overcame and tortured every inch of their inner man in a vortex of life-crushing pain, and not just in a single moment or event. Their suffering lasted months (if his wife even stayed with Job. Pause for a minute. Really think about that and digest it. We condemn Job’s wife, mock, and write her off, but consider this: how would we have faired? How would we have responded to those around us or the Lord Himself if we had experienced Job’s sufferings? We probably already know, because we always know how we’ve faired under trials much, much easier then he faced.

On one level at least, nothing can prepare us for the great trials that lay ahead. In one sense they will be unprecedented, just like they were for Job. How does anyone prepare for trial after trial? And devastating/world altering trials at that? We’re all human, and what’s coming will all hit us all like a ton of bricks. But it’s clear that Job expected to see tragedy from the Lord, and that helped him guide his brokenness and overwhelming emotion in the right way:

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship

-Job 1:20

This is one major reason the Lord reveals difficult prophetic events of the future because He wants us to be ready for them:

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

-Ephesians 6:13

Being ready for what’s coming will mean we’ll arm ourselves with a soldier’s mentality, rather than a victim’s one, knowing that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord (Rom 8:28). This is how Paul encouraged Timothy:

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

-2 Timothy 2v3

Knowing what is coming will help us to envision how to continue through the suffering and endure it. This we’ll be able to do by looking at the example of those in the Bible who endured great suffering. The Lord will also give us the hope of its end and the result He intends to bring about at its conclusion:

10Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

-James 5:10-11

If we don’t expect the great severity of the coming storm, like with Job’s wife, our perplexity, pain, emotion, and natural ‘unanswered questions’ will lead to faithlessness and a rejection of the Lord and His ways. We must also remember this: none of us deserve anything; not one single thing. All we have is by the grace, mercy, and undeserved favour of God. Even the very air we breathe is a gift of God, and if the Lord deems it best to take, not only a few things, but EVERYTHING from us, including OUR VERY LIVES (and/or the lives of those we love) for our eternal state and His own purposes, then we must accept it, just as Job did:

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

-1 Timothy 6:7

This will be a continual battle of faith (a ‘fighting the good fight of faith’) and a daily sacrifice and death, but it will all be worth it in the end, whether we witness this in the present life or the one to come:

17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

-Romans 8v17-18

VISION: THE RED HORSE OF REVELATION IS COMING

A few months ago the Lord gave me a dream concerning the Red Horse of the Book of Revelation. It was nighttime in the dream, and as I looked into the sky I saw the silhouette of a massive red rider on a red horse. The rider and its horse galloped in the sky, then turned and started galloping straight towards the earth. I received that dream after specifically asking the Lord to show me what He knows His people need to know is coming in the future. To refresh everyone's memory, the book of Revelation reveals what the Red Horse symbolises:

Revelation 6v4:
And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

Fast-forward to this morning (27/9/16), and, in a vision, I received a second revelation of the Red Horse. The vision includes more details about what is coming. I saw the following vision while awake, with my eyes open; I saw it clearly:

Vision: I saw a red horse riding in the air. The horse then turned to ride/gallop straight towards the earth. Then it turned again and the horse I saw became a unicorn.

I'll be honest, at first I wasn't sure whether this vision was from the Lord, after all, I thought to myself: 'Why on earth would the Lord show me a unicorn?' The red horse made sense (in light of the book of Revelation), but not the unicorn part. To double check whether the vision could've been from the Lord, and though I felt ridiculous doing it, I did a Biblical word search using the word 'unicorn'. I was shocked to find that there are actually a number of scriptures which mention the word. In light of the  obvious context of the dream (i.e the spiritual significance of the red horse), two scriptures stood out to me in particular (pay particularly close attention to the end of the second scripture):

Numbers 24:8:

God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

Isaiah 34v6-8:

6 The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.

7 And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness.

8 For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.

The combined obvious meaning of the Red Horse with the scriptures above show us clearly what is coming and why: the Lord has a controversy with the nations and a set time to bring that to fulfilment, and that time is very close--the Red Horse of death and destruction is coming. Even the high, lofty, powerful, and proud (the unicorns - see Matthew Henry commentary) will be brought down in what the Lord is about to do. Furthermore, the Red Horse and its rider are not merely nations and their wrath, but the hand of the Lord which allows them to go forth in order to accomplish His purposes. Very soon now the Lord is going to send forth His vengeance upon the ungodly and wicked, and in doing so He's going to bring about a foreshadowing and portent of the coming eternal justice and wrath upon the earth in fulfilment of the scriptures. The Lord is revealing this to prepare the loins of our mind (so we can begin guarding them up now), strengthen weak spiritual hands and knees, make straight paths for our feet, and so we can make sure that we are making Him our refuge and hope by faith. This is the kind of encouragement, strengthening and admonishment (Col 3:16) the Lord is wanting to provide through this prophecy. The Lord is also giving us a heads up to prepare our hearts and so, like Job, we can brace ourselves like men for what is coming (Job 38:3). God spoke to Job and it terrified him, but that didn't mean it wasn't good for him--Job himself knew and owned just how good it was! The coming storm and tribulation will not drown out the voice of God, or His sovereignty over His people. Extraordinary times are coming, but these are also the days prophesied of old! All of scripture shows us one thing: our God is greater than any storm and trial--and will be so for His people in the days ahead.

START PLANNING RIGHT NOW

Shocking pre-prophetic fulfilment

Not long ago I had a dream about a nuclear detonation out to sea off of the Australian East Coast. I have to admit that even I was puzzled about this. After all, why would Russia bother to detonate a nuclear bomb far out to sea? What impact could that have? Conventional warfare would be to drop a nuclear bomb on top of a city, not near or hundreds of miles from it. Then, a few days ago, I came across some shocking news. Russia has created an underwater nuclear drone which is designed to be detonated off of a coastline! According to a Washington Post news report (see link below), the nuclear bomb would create a massive tidal wave and nuclear radiation fallout which would completely cripple a coastline, making it uninhabitable for years to come. This would also cripple a nation’s economy and social and industrial structure (think: mass/chaotic migration, the need to rebuild and relocate the little resources that would remain, and the mass of people who would die or become sick and disabled due to radiation sickness etc.). As evil as this is, it’s also genius warfare strategy by Russia. Missile air defence systems and conventional defence systems and military tactics would be rendered useless.

This news is a CLEAR SIGN and WARNING that the dream I had of the nuclear detonation and massive tsunami is true. The threat is real. The Lord is graciously revealing clear signs to back up the prophetic so we’ll be ready. We now need to think ahead and plan what we’ll do avoid those two prophetic events.

See news of the nuclear drone at the following Washington Post online link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russias-ship-of-terror/2015/12/27/b2085ee0-a9bb-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html

Tricky prophetic interpretation vs. clear

The subject and substance of prophecy is often a complex thing which requires great discernment. This often means it’s hard to get clear and direct messages from them regarding exactly what the Lord would have us do in response. Also, we prophesy in part and know in part, so it’s often a redundant business to use prophetic revelation to give people direct instructions about their lives. Only Jesus Christ can give direct and absolute directions to people, the most we can do is pass on what we BELIEVE He’s saying through what He’s revealed. The only thing we can do is PASS ON what we believe His instruction is. Even this isn’t a perfect process because of our clay-ee humanity; we are weak sinners with imperfect knowledge, so we’re prone to mishearing (the Lord), misinterpretation or misunderstanding.

There are dreams and visions I’ve received in the past where the interpretation to them has been tricky, and I’ll own that on a handful of occasions I misinterpreted what I saw or didn’t get it quite right. Many dreams I’ve received have spoken about spiritual matters and some dreams of the future have included heavy symbolism. As such, some of those revelations were difficult to interpret because more than one interpretation was possible.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst

But not all revelations I’ve received have been like this. The meaning and message of most dreams or visions have been clear, and some ABSOLUTELY clear—beyond reasonable doubt. The message of the following dreams have been absolutely clear:

1.     1000ft Gold Coast/East Coast Australian tsunami

2.     Nuclear detonation off of the East Coast/Gold Coast of Australia

With absolute 100% certainty I would say those revelations were from the Lord, and so would vouch for them with my very life.

The Lord has shown me that each of those revelations CAN BE AVERTED through prayer and through some of His peoples’ spiritual return to Him (any of those who are lukewarm/living in sin). My prayer and hope is that they will be averted, BUT MY EXPECTATION IS THAT THEY WON’T BE. “Why,” you ask? The short answer is this: the current wicked state of the world and the rebellious state of many of His people. Wickedness and lukewarmness is a potent mix, and always invites the judgment and discipline of God. When these things reach fever pitch and begin to pollute everything, God must judge and act lest men destroy each other and each others’ souls through their wickedness—Sodom and Gomorrah are a telling Biblical example of this (i.e even Lot’s wife was judged along with the city because Sodom and Gomorrah had taken a hold of her heart).

Near certainty: 10-30 years away

This last year has further confirmed to me what should be obvious to all by now: it’s highly likely that the nuclear bomb and tsunami event WILL HAPPEN. At the very least, it’s highly likely that a slightly watered down version of those two events will happen—but that is to hope a lot. This world is choosing great wickedness and even institutionalising it—so great judgments won’t be far away now. Prayer may bring some mercy and grace, but God will never avert justice which is necessary, otherwise what good will mercy and grace do if we live in Sodom and Gomorrah? Even the very best of men will become spiritually corrupted by living in a society completely overrun with evil. Sadly, that’s where we’re quickly headed. So let’s estimate: five years? Ten years? Twenty years? I would be extremely surprised if this world has another twenty years before great judgments fall on it. I would be even more surprised if the nuclear bomb events and tsunami judgments didn’t come within the next 20-30 years. In a dream, God has shown me that I will be living in America when Russia attacks it—so don’t fool yourself to think these events will be lifetimes away.

Start planning now

If you live on the Coast or anywhere on the East Coast of Australia, you need to start planning for the future, and doing so RIGHT NOW. Do not put it off; you need to start thinking about it this year. You need to seriously grapple with the reality that very soon you may need to leave the Coast, and you need to be the one who makes the decision. Don’t say to yourself, “God will tell us to go if He wants us to go”. Why do you think He’s revealed what He already has? That IS God speaking to you! Don’t tempt the Lord your God; don’t tempt His Spirit. The Lord expects us to listen when He speaks, and He doesn’t always repeat what He says. You’ve been given the ‘VERILY VERILY’ and in fact you’ve been given much more than that—the Lord has been speaking continuously. If we’ve had ‘ears to hear’, then we should already have been considering moving from the East Coast (or even Australia itself) in the future. Begin considering the practicalities of moving and what that’ll entail. Moving is a long process, especially if we’re moving far away, so we need to account for that.

Even if you think the actual move will be years away, it never hurts to envision what that will look like, and what’ll be needed in order to do it. This may include researching other places to live, other jobs/careers, schools, and other cultures. Money will obviously be a factor, as will knowledge of where you are going and what it will be like to live there. Moving is often a daunting prospect, especially if it’s interstate or to another country, but if it’s dealt with little by little over time, it is possible, and possible to do in a way which is effective and not rushed. By the time the nuclear danger is near, it may become very difficult if not impossible to move. If the danger becomes obvious to everyone, especially non-Christians (i.e. knowledge of the Russian threat), everyone may want to move but not be able to do so because resources may become stretched very thin or the government may not allow people to move. My personal opinion is that by the time the nuclear and tsunami threat becomes obvious and imminent, the world will be a starkly different place to the one we live in now. We will probably be living in a world rocked by multiple asteroid impacts, economic collapse, the further breakdown of governments, a transformed Europe, global terrorism and UFO deception, so who knows how well humanity will be able to move about the Earth? Plane travel may become difficult, banned or impossible (terrorists could make this a reality very easily).

Don’t’ wait till the threat is obvious

It’ll be no use trying to move when the nuclear detonation takes place off of the Coast. They’ll be no time to get away from it in time (think: chaotic mass traffic migration), and it’ll be nearly impossible to escape the effects of radiation from nuclear fallout (unless you know beforehand how to protect yourself from radiation and fortunate enough to be inside or underground when it takes place). It’ll be nearly as useless trying to outrun the tsunami. Although there will be a small pre-tsunami wave, if you don’t see this when it happens, they’ll be no way to get away from the Coast in time to survive its approximately 1000 ft height. The only hope would be if you heard a tsunami warning from the Australian Government (and heard the warning in time), but even if you get this, imagine how impossible it will be to flee the Coast when EVERYONE on the Coast is trying to flee.

There may in fact be no ‘silver bullet’ place (free from danger) which will be completely safe to move to, but one thing is clear, if prayer and change don’t stop it, the East Coast of Australia will face a destruction that no man will survive or will want to survive if we consider what it’ll be like to experience the effects of radiation poisoning from nuclear fallout. That leaves many places around the globe which will be more attractive to be a resident of than Australia.

The Spirit MAY move you on anyway (or have done so already)

Some of you may not even realise it, but God has graciously moved you away from the Coast already. There have been other reasons for your moving, but that has been one of them—your practical safety. There are others who are currently not happy where they’re at: this is God-allowed too, and God will soon move you away from the Coast. Can I encourage you: go with it! Don’t fight against it—your moving is of the Lord! If you fight against it, you’ll probably make it a lot harder than it has to be. Others are fine at the moment, but God will uproot you at the right time also. Most won’t recognise it as moving in order to be physically safe, but this will be one of the main reasons God moves you on. God will use various ways to move you on if you don’t recognise the need to move yourself.

Sometimes the Spirit is gracious with our unbelief and so will find other ways and means to move us on. A few have experienced this already, but if you haven’t, get ready for it! And if you refuse to move, even in the face of the Holy Spirit’s leading and prompting, then unfortunately the result will be on your own head; you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.

Don’t count on it

You can’t count on the Lord moving you. Because He’s spoken very clearly about what’s coming already (the tsunami and nuclear detonation), He may leave it at that. After all, if He’s spoken about it once, why should He need to speak about it again? He may also leave the ball in your court in order to test you, your faith, and whether you have ‘ears to hear’ what the Spirit says. This is how Noah was tested, and He passed with flying colours—he was told to build a boat and he did so. It took years to make, but he did it. Similarly, moving will take time too, so we need to factor that in. Sometimes the Lord tests, grows and proves our faith IN THE LEAD UP to fulfilments of prophecy (because the prophetic has to do with HIS VOICE and being OBEDIENT to it and Him). If we wait on prophecy to be fulfilled, we miss the purpose of why prophetic warning is given—not just to keep us safe physical, but to grow us spiritually.

Trust God

No matter where you go, be sure of this: God will be with you, just like He was with Abraham. Abraham moved so many times I bet he himself lost count of where he’d been after a while, but God was with him through all of it. God is present in the entire world, and will be present with us no matter what part of it we’re in:

Psalm 139v7:

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

V9: If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

Even there Your hand shall lead me,

And your right hand shall hold me.

Has God provided your needs in the past? Then He’ll do so again because He never changes and His faithfulness remains the same:

Philippians 4v19:

And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Heed the warning

We must heed God’s prophetic warning otherwise the grace He has stored up for us in that manner will be in vain:

Hebrews 4v2:

2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

Our faith in what He says is even accounted of as much worth as the righteousness which has been imputed to us.

Romans 4v3:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.”

In light of that, to not believe what He says is to sometimes not enjoy the reward of the righteousness given to us:

Hebrews 3v19:

So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

Most of Israel died in the wilderness because they refused to listen the Lord’s voice to move from there to another place (from the wilderness to Canaan). Don’t be like disobedient Israel!

News updates for month of August:

*Russia’s underwater nuclear drone:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russias-ship-of-terror/2015/12/27/b2085ee0-a9bb-11e5-bff5-905b92f5f94b_story.html

*Russia is now building up its military in Crimea along the Northern border with Ukraine (probably planning to invade in the near future):

http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-russia-crimea-military-buildup/27909236.html

*China further militarising its man-made islands in the South China Sea (threat to the world’s major shipping lanes):

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/china/south-china-sea-dispute-csis-says-satellite-images-show-china-n626091

*North Korea shoots missile very close to Japan:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korean-missile-lands-periously-close-to-japan/2016/08/03/a999d897-6130-4300-a514-582f123c96f0_story.html

*Continuing fulfilment of dreams to do with global terrorism with the multiple terrorist attacks in France and Germany in the last few weeks

THE STORM IS HERE!

So the storm is here! The present and BEGINNING onset of the storm is now obvious: demonic forces are being unleashed upon the earth in violence and chaos, and leaders are falling and nations being shaken. China and Russia are becoming restless and beginning to show their teeth and power, with both branching out and China threatening one of the world's major shipping lanes. The world economy is a turbulent mess and slowing down rapidly, North Korea is enraged and advancing its military technologically at an alarming rate, and ISIS's reach has gone global and it's attacks becoming more frequent. This year has seen the worst decline in world morality I've ever witnessed in my lifetime; in the media, fashion, social and political spheres. Laws are being rewritten to embrace rebellion against God, with gay marriage being instituted in countries around the world and countless laws being introduced to accommodate a litany of sexualities and sexual preferences. This also comes in the midst of unprecedented divisions and instabilities amongst world leaders and global powers, and the reshaping of European nations and borders as refugees by the millions pour from Syria and other Eastern countries into richer, but increasingly more troubled European nations. All this is the beginning of the ONSET of the storm: it is here - TIME'S UP.

For a long time I've spoken of the certainty of this day, what the Lord showed me in dreams to be A COMING STORM. But the storm is no longer coming, it's now HERE, it's ARRIVED. Take a moment to let that sink in.. Trouble is no longer a topic to do with the horizon of the future, it is now something in plain sight; even right before us. After years of warning, and feeling that my time of warning has come to a close in Australia, the Lord spoke to Mena Lee Grebin in a dream and told her that, "THE STORM IS HERE". I would encourage everyone to read it, because in the vision itself the Lord Himself declares that the storm has begun - see July 12 posting at 'watchmanonthewall33.blogspot.come.au'. Mena was given this revelation literally THE DAY AFTER I posted an article about how I felt that it was now time, at least publicly, to pull back. I now realise this was definitely of the Holy Spirit, because the main part of what the Lord called me to do (at least up until now) has been accomplished in Australia - I've warned as I was told to warn - and I've done this as a light on hill, not hiding under a bushel. I've written my prophetic blog from 2012 till now, and even before 2012 I used Facebook to pass on what the Lord revealed to me about the stormy future, and what people needed to do to prepare. I also went into great detail about why the storm was coming, specifically because of the lukewarmness in the Church and the wickedness in the world. Though I am nothing, and am not even worthy to be placed in the same stratosphere as Elijah, nevertheless, like Elijah once did, I feel that I've spoken the word of the Lord of what is coming, and now that the judgment is arriving, I'm going away from this nation to a different brook, and to minister to the very few who will listen - even if that's just one. This'll include posting to my blog, because it's likely very few will read it from now on. For those few that are continuing to read, TAKE HEART because now is the time when God will begin to move with a might and awe that will make even the most Godly of men's mouths drop wide open in astonishment! Now is the time of the people of His power and the works of His might - He is COMING.. We too, like Elijah, will see fire fall from Heaven, and we too, will see that fire be BOTH a cleansing thing and a thing of great REVIVAL, reformation and restoration. Yes, the storm will mean that this mighty Holy Spirit outpouring will come in the midst of trial, hardship and spiritual battle, but it will be more than worth it! This is an incredibly hard time to be alive, but it will perhaps be one of the GREATEST times in all Christian Church history, and that is saying something! We are moments away from it now!


*The world is also confirming the arrival of the storm - see CNN article at - http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/26/opinions/viral-terror-the-conversation/index.html