Are we presuming to accomplish the Great Commission so readily? Are we busying ourselves with sentiment’s ever shifting course? Are we instructing the nations to assimilate into their ordained function as Gentiles? Are we falling short of the glory of our calling because of ignorance or detachment? God is going to change the expression and understanding of Christianity is one generation. It is my urgent conviction that we are hastily approaching our uttermost salvation and greatest hour.

In an earth of pang and travail, God is birthing a globally unified prayer movement unlike anything creation has ever witnessed. The great harvest of souls (or the greatest revival ever) will only come in context to perpetual day and night adoration. It will never come by man’s ability to strategically reach the unreached in the far corners of the world, albeit mercy deeds are a needed ministry. This prayer movement also presents itself as a mission’s movement, where thousands upon thousands of ministers are being drawn into the death of waiting, consecration, and perhaps an eventual sending. How can the name of Jesus become cherished whenever our own name and our own ideologies of problem solving are quickly asserted without first encountering Authority Himself and then hearing His voice? Where can God be found in the works of our flesh? The witness to Jesus’ unrelenting glory necessitates more than a sermon, more than a conversion, and more than a self-sacrificed commissioning. The “great commission” of Jesus’ delegation to disciple the nations should not be reduced in its costly expense, as if it’s systematically possible upon a few courageous or pumped-up souls. We must restore the impossibility to Jesus’ commandment, lest we further grow in tackling agendas in the name of His gospel and His kingdom.

Beloved, the greatest hindrance to the Church’s proclamation in modern missions is humanism for the poor, namely to Africa. Thousands of believers and non-believers alike are pouring millions into a non-apostolic “hope and future,” purchasing in themselves an easy conscience while plundering the grave of the death Christ died for us. This popularized, temporal relief is not the ministry of the gospel because it does not testify with any clarity to the powers of the age to come. All the more, this infectious “end” to modern missions struggles to relieve a situation the Church herself is utterly incapable and unworthy to resolve. The outcome is hence a catastrophic generational perpetuation, gratifying the flesh of both the giver and the receiver of the gift. Do not those who dwell in the earth fight earthly battles? Do not the carnal minded retaliate their opposition with carnality? There is a grave error in our present thinking that is being brought to light today, for fear that we will be overtaken by darkness when the Son of Man lifts Himself up in Judgment. As the great and terrible Day of the Lord steadfastly approaches, God is going to dramatically shift the emphasis of our inward compulsions from Africa to Israel.

The Scriptures have openly declared our divine function before God and men as Gentiles – all of our obtaining salvation yesterday, today, and tomorrow hinges around the prophetic centerpiece of God’s conflict with the nation of Israel. We therefore must soberly respond and engage with the burdensome resolve within Jesus’ heart before jumping at our every whim to “serve” the needy. How long will our expendable offerings keep us from our finest provocation and witness unto the manifold wisdom of God? I prophesy to the Church that the crisis of food shortage will be seen as nothing in contrast to the revelation of the catastrophic rejection of Israel to her Messiah. Yes, in a just a little while, some of us will even desire to be cut off that our Israeli brothers might enter into their inheritance in the promise of the gospel. For such men and women of God will sell their lands and houses and leave their families, being carried on a cross where they do not want to go. These precious saints will sing joyful shouts to the coming, resurrected Messiah, eagerly anticipating His established throne from the land of Israel.

Mark 14:3-9

The Children’s Equipping Camp was incredible. For our first HOP-Hb conference ever, things went incredibly smooth and everyone on staff gave 200 percent without complaining.

Kids, ages 6-12, came in with locked hearts and a “do something to make me excited” attitude. However, by the end of the camp, they were mourning in love for Jesus, praying for the sick, and stirring each other up with zeal for the things of God. No kidding, they were literally crying out in tears and praising God with leaps of joy. The reality is, they can have God right now at their age, not settling for anything less, and they did. God met them.

Of course, we had great meals, personal devotionals, and the daily, ever-rewarding “swim time” for baths, but towards the end of the conference, even little 6 year old Josiah David said with a big smile, “Jesus is better than candy.” And trust me, Josiah had a Wal-Mart bag filled with fun dip and bubble gum.

My heart burned for deeper communion with God as I ran beside these children for just 4 days. After being pulled apart in exhaustion by hugs and high fives, I wish it wasn’t over. I am going to miss these young radicals.

“But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

“And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

God created the heavens and the earth to work in such a way that He and I could live, eat, and walk together in unbroken agreement. Such a statement’s entirety is not relied upon the truth that He chose me to do awesome things for Him. At the heart of it all, I am fashioned for God’s personal, unending, and deepest delight.

Through the unsearchable wisdom of the cross, God displayed Jesus, His only begotten Son, as the bedrock of provision for that very intimate purpose. In loving gaze and profound whisper, the Father’s statement to bring everlasting glory unto Self was through resolute selflessness, as demonstrated in His crucified Witness. Of all the ways our Excellent Creator could reveal Himself, none was found better than His own life. While in my transgressions, He loved me and gave Himself for me. Every painful movement of His marred figure against that stained beam was for even this one bewildered and proud sinner.

It is inaccurate to define the glory of God from beholding the glory of humanity as we see and know. God’s majestic, unapproachable glory is His humility. The One, whom upholds all things and is without beginning of days, exalts Himself in human capacity upon a cross as a curse, displaying the exacting measure of His eternal glory in a mere three hours. For God has captured our unfading adoration in but a fading moment before all of the timeless years that were, are, and are yet to come.  Jesus’ splendor exhibited at the cross is certain. Every created human will bow forever before the worthiness of this Man.

The cross is truly the lowliest humiliation and loftiest exaltation of created order, proclaiming to all spiritual principalities and humanistic rule the unstoppable surge of the promised rule of the Messiah over all things by His Father’s arm. Perhaps I’ll never quite understand the fascinating mystery of God’s incarnation unto flesh or the fabrications of His guarantee of the resurrection unto me by His Spirit. But in deep solace, I await and accept His plan in marvel, possessing mysteries yet only discovering one – Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

In noble victory sits your King upon His throne – a wooden seat to keep Him until His heart overflows.

“If God rules His universe by His sovereign decrees, how is it possible for man to exercise free choice?  And if he can not exercise freedom of choice, how can he be held responsible for his conduct? … Man’s will is free because God is sovereign.  A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.”

Many times in the Old Testament, God’s elect would prayerfully cast lots, and on whichever the lot fell, a decision was made without any personal choice (ex: Jonah 1:7). The last time casting lots was practiced in the Bible was during the election of the twelfth apostle.

After believers received the Spirit at Pentecost, casting lots seemed to fade into the background, as men and women of God began to discern His voice. But there still remains an exception rule, and thankfully, I’ve stumbled upon the best of both worlds:

Paper. Rock. Scissors.

Through the utility of this game, we not only have the powers of predetermined choice at hand, but we are still capable to maintain our freedom of choice in the valley of decision. Therefore, if you are ever without wisdom in crisis, I exhort you to pray with a witness, and on the count of three – “paper. rock. scissors.”

Disclaimer: This article was not written solemnly to answer anything concerning God’s rule and man’s activity under that rule. Sir Bradley is not responsible for any contemptible, silly, or inappropriate choices one may religiously perform.