07/11/2022
A couple months ago I had a very vivid dream that has stayed with me since. In the dream, my 7 year old daughter and I were together in a town that looked quite futuristic yet desolate (think Naboo but a bit run down…if you’re into Star Wars), and we were seeking shelter from an evil creature that closely resembled a Nazgûl or Ringwraith from Lord of the Rings. (Please forgive the cliché movie references.) As we were running from the dark entity, I could literally feel the presence of evil in pursuit as we ran into what appeared to be a large, dome-shaped gathering place. We sprinted past hundreds of customers and guests who were completely oblivious to the ominous presence lurking just outside and found a back room to hide with only a curtain over the door frame. We heard the Nazgûl enter the building, then silence. One person who appeared to be in a prominent role, stood up and addressed the beast, extending an invitation for it to gather in a board room with the town leaders. I couldn’t believe my ears. I ran into the board room where a handful of people were sitting at a table with a literal demon and shouted, “What are you doing? You cannot negotiate with evil. You must cut off its head!” That was the end of my dream.
For too long, we as the Church have attempted to negotiate with evil. We have tolerated sin and called it love. We have valued the narrative of man over the wisdom of God. We have allowed the profane to mix with the sacred. We have elevated platforms and celebrities above the Spirit of God and His Word. We have traded purity for popularity. We have called evil, good and good, evil. It’s not difficult for anyone to see the critical hour we are in. Yet “the eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). There is an invitation from the Father to return to our First Love, to be consecrated to Him and Him alone and pursue holiness like our lives depend on it. Now is not the time to shrink back and blend in. Now is the time to stand firm on our unshakeable foundation, fix our eyes on what is unseen and humble ourselves in repentance, for only then will we see righteousness and justice established and the Holy Spirit poured out on all flesh.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:8-11
