Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
When Christians who have never settled the issue of God’s love for themselves present the gospel, people will still be saved because of the truth. However, this is not the gospel of the kingdom that will be preached over the whole earth as a testimony right before the end will come (see Matt. 24:14).
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth — to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. Revelation 14:6
The everlasting gospel this angel is carrying is the gospel of the kingdom that will usher in the end of this age. Back in 2004 when we changed our church’s name to RiverLife, the Lord revealed to me His desire for our church to become more evangelistic focused. The Holy Spirit has been releasing the love of the Father into the heart of our church for almost four years now in preparation for us to become messengers of the gospel of the kingdom. When I visited the persecuted church I was very impacted and encouraged by their focus on the preaching of the gospel. They already have a measure of the gospel of the kingdom working on them and I believe I received some impartation of this during my time with them.
Another thing the Lord revealed to me when we became RiverLife was that we were to become more creative in our worship expression and in the preaching of the gospel. I am very encouraged that much of the new ministry that has sprung up at our church is missions and community focused. The supernatural manifestations of the Spirit such as healing, words of knowledge, visions, counsel, deliverance, etc., are no longer confined to the four walls of our church, but are being expressed to the community in creative packages that bring the loving and powerful presence of Christ into people’s lives. The Holy Spirit River is flowing out now. That is exciting and encouraging and we get to go with it.
Recently, I had a dream that illustrates how creative God is when we open our hearts to Him. In the dream I was in Europe doing ministry. I was scheduled to speak at a town gathering in a Jewish community. This was a civic event, not a religious gathering that God had opened a door for me to speak at. I had my ”speech” prepared however all the preliminary activities went on and on. Finally I was asked to come forward and speak. As I was stepping forward I knew the audience did not have much energy left. I prayed for direction and God gave me a strategy. He told me to tell them about two older men I actually worked with back in the early 1980’s in my engineering days. One was a Polish Jew who had survived the Auschwitz concentration camp and the other had been a tank commander in the Third Reich army during World War II. (What a treasure it has been to know someone who experienced the holocaust firsthand). Those two guys respected the professional environment we were in and respected each other professionally, but there was always an under-current of hostility simmering from the concentration camp survivor. In fact, as much as I respected this man, he was one of the most bitter and hard-hearted individuals I have known.
What I told the people in the dream was although my friend survived Auschwitz he was a victim of unforgiveness and bitterness and it basically destroyed his life. I then told them that Richard Wurmbrand, one of their own, forgave the communist who relentlessly tortured him in prison for 14 years and as a consequence was able to live a fruitful and peaceful life. I closed by telling them how Jesus Christ forgives us for all our sins and wrongdoings if we will just let Him. The entire community was so impacted that they received Christ. That dream was about the power of the everlasting gospel.
I believe that is God’s dream for us.
Many Blessings, BW