Your End-Time Lense - by John L. Moore

"O that Christ crucified were the universal burden of men of God. Your guess at the number of the beast...your conjectures concerning a personal Antichrist -- forgive me, I count them but mere bones for dogs; while men are dying and hell is filling, it seems to me the veriest drivel to be muttering about an Armageddon...I would sooner pluck one single brand from the burning than explain all mysteries."

Charles Spurgeon as quoted by J. Lee Grady in Charisma

As most of you know, Montana has been in the news a lot lately because of the private prison in Hardin. When news about the arrival of the prison's private security force first hit the internet rumors of the wildest source abounded. Suddenly Hardin, Montana was an occupied city with roadblocks on the town entrances and stormtroopers in black uniforms going from house to house confiscating weapons and herding residents into the prison for forced Swine Flu inoculations. I received a number of emails and phone calls from people, some bordering on hysteria, asking: "What's going on in Montana?"

It turns out there was no government conspiracy. The situation in Hardin was caused by poor small-town governance and the gullibility of local residents.

Which leads me to this, which end-times worldview is the lens through which you are looking? Are you staring through "darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples" or through "Arise, shine, for your light has come?"

The lens on spiritual eye determines our perception of reality. Fear, doubt, and despair is the product of a dark lens. The lens of His glory produces brightness and a clear eye.

We are in a winnowing time. We are passing through a narrow gate as we move, as a Body, from the Feast of Pentecost into the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost represents the harvest of barley and wheat. Both barley and wheat must be thrashed to separate the kernels that can be ground into flour.

The Feast of Tabernacles, the seventh of seven Biblical feast, is the final harvest, the harvest of fruit. Fruit is simply plucked from the tree.

Pentecost is the only feast of the three main feasts (Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles) that allows for leavened bread. Hence, in Pentecostal experiences, there is always a mixture.

Tabernacles is a feast of unleavened bread and a time when God's people dwell in a "sukkoth" with Him. We are to tabernacle with the Father in our little organic hut under an open heaven. (In Jewish tradition the three-sided hut was lightly thatched so the roof would provide some shade but one could still look up and see the stars.)

At the end of the book of Ezekiel, where "Ezekiel's temple" is described, it is interesting to note that the feast of Pentecost is not mentioned. Passover (salvation through the lamb of God) is celebrated. Tabernacles (being a living temple of God) is celebrated. But the feast that allowed for leavened bread is not mentioned. Pentecost is a feast of temporary gifts, trial-and-error practice, and the placing of a down payment on a permanent habitation. Tabernacles is the promised possession.

As we transition from Pentecost to Tabernacles many will try to cling to the old for the old always represents security. Let go. There are things to be realized which have not been seen before but only hinted at through the deep mysteries of the Word and the vaporous desires of our longing hearts.

Many of us have been through years of testing to prove ourselves as true prophets. We have been tested as well to be proven as true priests. We are now in a season of kingly refinement. Which king is enthroned in our hearts? The King of Kings or the king of self?

The King of Kings says all things will be put under His feet. The king of self fears the passing of our own pitiful little kingdom.

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