Matthew chapter 24 outlines the signs of His coming. It says nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. You may brush this off because it has ‘always been that way’. But be assured that we are closer than you think!

This week in the news, North Korea says it is getting ready to use a nuclear bomb. They warned us that we better watch out! Other news this week talked about military action which is likely against Iran from Israel in a preemptive strike. There are war rattlings all over the world!

In Revelation chapter 6, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse was given power to take away peace and prosperity.

Kingdom against kingdom is bad enough, but our country is at war with itself – we are divided and polarized in this country. A nation divided will not stand.

When, not if, the economy collapses and entitlements are gone, there will be war (rioting) in our streets in this country. People will not just accept the fact that their income is suddenly dried up.

Even now, there are people killing each other every day, there are wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, plagues and disease, earthquakes around the globe, and weather that is extreme – we are breaking high and low records almost on a daily basis.

There are so many things pointing to His soon return!

Let’s not be desensitized to the signs of His coming!

Matt. 24:6-8 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

God loves you! He really does!

Rev 16:8-9 The Message
The fourth angel poured his bowl on the sun: Fire blazed from the sun and scorched men and women. Burned and blistered, they cursed God’s Name, the God behind these disasters. They refused to repent, refused to honor God.

I grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. Not too far from there, the city of Grand Rapids and a close neighboring city, Holland, Michigan experienced horrific fires on the same night, October 8, 1871. Across Lake Michigan from those two cities, another city literally burned to the ground in one of the greatest fire disasters ever recorded in history. It took place in Peshtigo, Wisconsin on October 8, 1871 and claimed more than 1,200 lives. Does that date ring a bell? It should. It’s the night of the fire that received the most news coverage simply because it occurred in a large metropolitan area, the famous Chicago fire – the one they blamed on Mrs. O’Leary’s cow.

Solar storms are certainly not new and have occurred throughout the history of the world. In fact, I believe that’s what happened on October 8, 1871. We are learning more what the Bible says about them and we are also increasing in natural knowledge about these storms.

The scriptures are very clear; we are going to have solar storms as the time of His coming draws near.

Luke 21:25-28 “There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On earth, nations will be afraid and confused because of the roar and fury of the sea. People will be so afraid they will faint, wondering what is happening to the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken. THEN people will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, look up and hold your heads high, because the time when God will free you is near!”

NASA warned recently: “Earth and space are about to come into contact in a way that’s new to human history”. They went on to say “The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. Power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity”.

Fox News makes these statements: “Modern power grids are so interconnected that a big space storm – the type expected to occur about once a century – could cause a cascade of failures that would sweep across the United States, cutting power to 130 million people or more in this country alone. Impacts would be felt on interdependent infrastructures with, for example, potable water distribution affected within several hours; perishable foods and medications lost in 12-24 hours; immediate or eventual loss of heating/air conditioning; sewage disposal, phone service, transportation, fuel resupply and so on. Outages could take months to fix, the researchers say. Banks might close, and trade with other countries might halt. Emergency services would be strained, and command and control might be lost. Whether it is terrestrial catastrophes or extreme space weather incidents, the results can be devastation to modern societies that depend in a myriad of ways on advanced technological systems.”

As the time of His coming draws nearer, we should not be afraid of the things which may occur because He has us firmly in His care. But we certainly should be prepared in our hearts, and in the natural as much as possible for any catastrophic event.

This title may sound like an apocalyptic message and it may well be – in more ways than one. For today, we will focus on the message dying to self. It’s time for the Church to understand that being the Church is not always about prosperity, your gifts and callings, or even your church and its ‘vision’ except that they edify or build up the entire Body of Christ. It’s time for the Church to understand what being the Church means.

Years ago, when I came out of prison, I began to warn people of the dangers of falling in love with money. And today I’m finding there is even more that needs to die within religion and the religious hearts of those within the church. I’m not calling for anybody to do anything that I’m not willing to do myself, so this message has come to me first and now I use whatever means I have been given to share it with you.

It’s time for the foolishness of building kingdoms unto men or climbing the church’s social ladder to cease. It’s time for lifting up Jesus and Him alone. It’s time to put away the minor things, and take up the major things. It’s time to eat the meat and be weaned of milk. It’s time to understand the seriousness of the hour. It’s time to grow up in Jesus.

A full-grown, mature Church is one that unites herself in one accord in the ministry of the saints and in the ministry unto the Lord. Self is not just laid aside, it is put away, it doesn’t exist and can’t. Self melts away into the greater good of the Body. It is without individual identity except that we know one another by our love. The spiritual recognize each other by their love for the greater good of the Body, not the manifestation of the personhood of an individual.

Have you ever experienced the kind of love that is irresistible? Irresistible love is a term many have thrown around without a lot of depth. But the kind of love the Lord has for His Bride, manifests itself differently than anything we can produce in our ‘self’. The Lord’s love is irresistible. The Lord’s love covers, heals and restores and melts away our ‘self’. When you encounter the Lord’s love, you will die to ‘self’ quickly and without resistance because it is absolutely irresistible. You are a part of His Body and you will recognize others by their love!

John 13: 34-35″A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

More to come…….

We are busy getting Morningside ready for more people! As most of you know, I’m all about preparation. Many years ago, God called me as a watchman through the prophetic word. Today, more than ever before, I am about my Father’s business preparing a people and a place… with a passion! Morningside represents a new day dawning for the Church and new hope.

A form of the Greek word for “quickly” (tachos) is used eight times in Revelation (1:1; 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:6, 7, 12, 20). As I have been teaching in my Thursday night series “Revelation”, things are happening very quickly in the world we live in and things are happening quickly here at Morningside! In fact, Jesus says He will do a quick work in the last days. Whether it is helping to put a Master’s Commission student through a year of college, helping Bill Ballenger, our International Youth Director, reach teens in his crusades or distributing food to the local community here in the Blue Eye/Branson area, we are about our Father’s business.

This year at Morningside, cabins are being built, new apartments and condos are now available, Mr. Crawford is busy making plans for the RV park, the waterfall is being built near the entrance to Morningside, and many other exciting things are happening including a new hair salon on Grace Street and a soon-coming fitness center! We have recently fully equipped our game room, we are building a shuffleboard court, the kids are loving the volleyball court down by the tabernacle, and the picnic pavilion is ready to host the summer’s activities. The Grace Street theatre is also being readied to show Christian films every evening.

The Morningside community is expanding and Morningside Church is growing!