Intro to the End Times #5: What Are the Signs of the Times?

On May 27, 2020June 8, 2022 By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, End Times

Intro to the End Times is a series walking through some of the key themes of the story of Jesus’ return from a historic premillennial perspective, with special focus on knowing the heart of Jesus as we partner with God through the most dramatic chapter of human history.

The question of the signs of the times is of growing interest in the world right now. Even the unbelieving world is asking questions and wondering what chapter of human history we’re in. Luckily for us, we don’t have to speculate. When the disciples asked Jesus the question, “what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Mt. 24:3) He gave them two chapters of an answer!

Distinct Seasons of the End Times

Before we can talk about the signs, let’s first get our bearings in the distinct seasons that make up what we call the “end times”. Some may point out that we have technically been in the “last days” since Pentecost (Ac. 2:17, He. 1:2), and that’s absolutely true, from a certain point of view! The chapter of history we’ve been in has been a long one, but there is a final, shorter chapter coming that brings the conclusion of this age and the transition into the kingdom age with Jesus on the earth.

The Bible uses the imagery of a woman giving birth to describe the final generation (Isa. 42:14, Mt. 24:4-8, Jn. 16:16-22, Ro. 8:22, 1Th. 5:3). When a baby is nearly ready to come, contractions usually start slowly. There may even be a few false alarms or Braxton Hicks contractions that let the woman know that the day is getting close. When labor starts, it’s slow at first, then accelerates, more and more intensely with increasing pain. Finally, the woman is in hard labor and is actively pushing– and then the baby is here!

Similarly, the events of the end times start slow and then build, up until the final events when everything is THE MOST INTENSE IT COULD POSSIBLY BE and then Jesus ushers in the next age– the baby has been born!

Birth Pains
Jesus described a collection of trends that He called the “beginning of birth pains” that would mark the season of His return. These trends are meant to alert us to the generation we’re living in. (Mt. 24, Mk. 13, Lk. 21) This season includes national disasters, wars, ethnic strife, spiritual deception, etc. It’s a time of distress like the world has never seen– but it’s only the beginning.
The First 3 1/2 Years of the Tribulation
The final seven years before Jesus comes are divided in the middle, with the first half being less intense than the second half. In the aftermath of the global chaos of the birth pains, the antichrist appears to be a brilliant rising political leader who ushers in a season of (false) peace and safety (1Th. 5:3). Meanwhile, wickedness of every sort is increasing (the “Harlot Babylon” system and culture) and the church is getting persecuted for saying that the world’s favorite good guy is actually a bad guy.
The Great Tribulation
At the midway point of the tribulation, the antichrist sets himself up in the temple in Jerusalem and declares himself to be God (the “abomination of desolation”, Da. 9:27, 11:31, 12:11; Mt. 24:15-22; 2Th. 2:3-4). This event kicks off the second three and a half years known as the “great tribulation”, which is when the judgments start in earnest (Revelation 6).

I believe that we’re currently in the early days of the birth pains. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that global crisis is escalating.

Qualifications for a Sign

Each of these three distinct seasons is marked by a series of trends and events that serve as signposts along the way. Especially in the “birth pains” season, which I believe we’re in, it’s important to have a biblical grid for what qualifies as a sign so we don’t a) confuse the issue by declaring anything any everything a “sign of the times”, or b) bypass legitimate signs.

In order for things to be legitimate signs, they must be discernible, global, accelerating, and simultaneous.

Discernible
Signs must be clearly discernible, like road signs must be clear in their information about the road we’re on. Similarly, God wants to give signs that are clear to anyone who is paying attention. He won’t hide vague, confusing signs in layers of riddles that only a select few can figure out.
Global
The end times are a global storyline. If an occurrence only affects one region and doesn’t even cause global ripples, we probably can’t accurately call it a sign of the times. Signs must have global impact, because the Body of Christ is spread across the entire world.
Accelerating
The trends during the birth pains may start slow, but they accelerate into life-altering global realities. Something that happens once and then goes away without getting worse is probably not a sign.
Simultaneous
The most notable thing about the signs is that they’re all fulfilled for the first time and at the same time–within a single generation. The signs become signs when they start happening in tandem with each other.

Trends of the Birth Pains

In the message known as the Olivet Discourse, Jesus gave certain signs describing the generation in which He would return. These signs aren’t events, specifically; they’re trends, each one representing a whole pattern of events and occurrences in society and in the earth. I believe we can see these trends beginning even now and they will continue to increase until Jesus comes back.

The Olivet Discourse appears in Matthew 24-25, Luke 21, and Mark 13. I’ll summarize a few key themes here, but I encourage you to go read the chapters to catch the flow and context. (I found this comparison chart invaluable; the full ESV text of all three chapters is laid out side by side to highlight the common sayings.)

Deception (Mt. 24:4, 11, 23-26; Mk. 13:5, 21-22; Lk. 21:8 [Lk. 17:23])
Jesus starts his message with the urgent admonition, “See that no one leads you astray.” Deception will be a primary concern. There will be false christs (not just false religions, but actual men claiming to be Jesus) and false prophets. They will have real power to do signs and wonders, and even the elect will be susceptible if we’re not careful.
Ethnic Conflict (Mt. 24:7, Mk. 13:8, Lk. 21:10)
Jesus said that “nation will rise against nation”. The Greek word for “nation” is ethnos, from which we get the word “ethnicity”. This isn’t about national borders; the implication is that different people groups will be set against each other.
Wars (Mt. 24:6-7, Mk. 13:7-8, Lk. 21:9-10)
We also see “kingdom against kingdom”. This refers to separate countries going to war against each other. Matthew and Mark both also promise “wars and rumors of wars”, and Luke says “wars and tumults”. “Rumors of wars” describes the unease of threatened or potential war.
Natural Disasters (Mt. 24:7; Mk 13:8; Lk. 21:11, 25)
Jesus said there would be famines, earthquakes, and pestilences. “Pestilence” literally means plague, especially disease. Luke 21 also describes “the roaring of the sea and the waves”, such as hurricanes.
Persecution (Mt. 24:9 [Mt. 10:17-22], Mk. 13:9-13, Lk 21:12-17)
All three chapters go into detail about believers being persecuted and even martyred for the sake of Jesus. People will even betray their own family members to the authorities for their faith. Jesus says, “You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” This will get most intense during the tribulation itself, but we can see it increasing globally even now.
Falling Away (Mt. 24:10-12, 24; Mk. 13:22)
In my opinion, this is the worst part of the entire end time narrative: the vast number of people who will fall away from the faith. “The love of many will grow cold” is a terrifying phrase. I believe some of these will be lukewarm churchgoers, but some of them will be true believers who let their hearts gradually grow hard and cold toward God. Paul also spoke of this falling away (1Ti. 4:1, 2Th. 2:3).
Lawlessness (Mt. 24:12)
Matthew 24 says that the increase of lawlessness is the reason for love growing cold. Paul warns of a whole series of sins that will be rampant in the last days (2Ti. 3:1-5). Once the tribulation is well underway, Revelation describes an even darker culture of wickedness (Re. 9:21).
Gospel Proclaimed (Mt. 24:14, Mk. 13:10)
Jesus said that the end wouldn’t come until the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed to every nation, which you’ll remember from #2 actually means people group. This has never before seemed actually attainable, but major modern missions organizations believe this could realistically happen in this generation.

Jesus also spoke of the abomination of desolation which I described above, and various signs in the heavens, up to and including the actual moment of Him appearing in the clouds (Mt. 24:29-30; Mk. 13:24-26; Lk. 21:11, 25-27). These occur during the period of the tribulation and therefore aren’t so much signs to watch for ahead of time (but if we manage to miss everything else, they will certainly be dramatic last-minute wake up calls!).

A Few Other Signs

Though not found specifically in the Olivet Discourse, these are a few of the trends and signs we can recognize in our generation that I believe are setting the stage for the events of the end times to play out. There are a number of others, too; I encourage you to search the scriptures and ask the Lord to highlight more to you!

The Establishing of Israel
Many of the prophecies of the end times, especially the abomination of desolation, presuppose an actual nation of Israel with a functioning temple. For generations this was impossible, but in the past century we have seen the rebirth of the nation of Israel (the significant dates being 1948 and 1967). We haven’t seen the rebuilding of the temple yet, but many within Judaism are preparing to launch the full ceremonial system as soon as it becomes possible.
The Prayer Movement
Throughout the story of the end times, there is a soundtrack of 24/7 prayer and worship. In the past 20 years we have seen prayer and worship skyrocket globally, especially in ministries pursuing 24/7 worship inspired by the throne room of heaven and the tabernacle of David.
Shifts in the Church
God is bringing the church into mature partnership with Him in the last generation. Admittedly we have far to go, but we are seeing these trends increase: hunger for the gifts and activity of the Holy Spirit, desire for intimacy with Jesus as His bride, and expectation for the return of Jesus, including the raising up of forerunner messengers to proclaim it.

The admonition throughout Scripture is clear: when we see these signs, take them seriously and continue to WATCH. They give us hope that our salvation is near, and they also should strike the fear of the Lord into our hearts that there is no time to waste. We need to be preparing ourselves and the world around us to be in agreement with God as the events leading to Jesus’ return continue to unfold.

For more of an in-depth study on the signs of the times, I recommend Brad Stroup’s teaching series called Signs of the Times.

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Intro to the End Times #4: How Should We NOT Think About the End Times?

On May 18, 2020June 8, 2022 By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, End Times1 Comment

(Full disclosure: I love to recommend resources to help you in your journey, and when I do I use Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through my links, I may receive a small commission. But if there’s a resource you want, I encourage you to get it wherever works best for you!)

Unfortunately, the study of the end times has been one of the areas that has been under attack in the church. The enemy is eager to create confusion about this most glorious and vital subject. In this post, I want to identify and briefly respond to some of the ideas that are currently floating around in the church. A few of these especially could be whole posts in and of themselves– leave me a comment and request which ones you’d like to see further developed!

I personally used to hold some of these ideas, and other people close to me still hold some of them. This post is not meant to shame or attack any individual who finds themselves resonating with any of these statements, but I want to be clear and honest about the truths that I see in Scripture. We’re all on a journey, and it’s maturity and wisdom to continually be open to refining.

1. Things Will Basically Continue Like Always

People have a tendency to imagine that life as they know it will continue basically undisturbed for a long time. It’s hard to wrap our minds around the proposition of everything changing overnight– but it’s happened before, and it will happen again. The best example is the flood in the days of Noah, when the people of that time thought life would continue indefinitely like normal, until they were caught off guard by judgment. Jesus made the connection clear (Matthew 24:37-39), and Peter followed suit (2 Peter 3:3-7):

“…scoffers… will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.”
(2 Peter 3:3-7)

Of course, as I highlighted in part 1 of this series (Does God Want Us to Understand the End Times?), we aren’t supposed to be caught unaware. We need to take seriously the fact that one day everything will change, and prepare ourselves to thrive as the church in that day. As I write this in May 2020, COVID-19 is already starting to shake up our “normal,” but this is only the slightest tremor compared to the cataclysmic shaking that will come.

2. Studying the End Times Is a Distraction From More Important Things

It’s true we ought to “major on the majors, and minor on the minors”. However, if we’re taking our cues from how much the Bible talks about the end times, it turns out that it’s actually a rather major point! In fact, every single New Testament writer wrote about the end times. In total there are over 150 chapters in Scripture that are primarily about that generation. Paul even made sure to teach the new church in Thessalonica about the end times during his brief three weeks there (Acts 17:1-2, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12).

Keeping our hearts set on the day of Jesus’ coming and God’s end time purposes will actually push us into focusing on all those other things with a sharper perspective. I care far more about sanctification and evangelism, just to name two things, now that I see them in context of eternity and Jesus’ return. In fact, Jesus and the apostles regularly used the end times to motivate people into holy living. Check out my previous post in this series (Why Should We Study the End Times?) for more practical benefits of focusing on the end times!

3. We Can’t Understand the End Times Anyway

I sympathize with those who feel overwhelmed, but allowing that to be a permanent obstacle isn’t wise. God put 150 chapters about the end times in Scripture, Jesus commanded us to understand, the whole Bible is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16), and the subject is the most glorious, dramatic, global transition in human history…. it really seems like God wants us to get it! He knew that it would seem overwhelming, but He gave us everything we need in His Word and He gave us His Spirit to help us know the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).

This understanding isn’t reserved for the elite or the educated; most of humanity throughout history has been fairly uneducated. You don’t need a doctorate or access to a huge theological library to understand the main and plain truths of God’s plan. All you need to do is cry out in humility and diligently seek wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-5). (For more, I suggest the first post in this series, Does God Want Us to Understand the End Times?)

4. Revelation Is the Scary Book

In addition to being confusing, Revelation is often perceived as the “scary book”. Of course it has some pretty intense and dramatic events, but the first verse sets the tone for the rest of the story– it’s the “revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1:1)! It’s not called the revelation of the antichrist or the end times. First and foremost, it’s meant to reveal Jesus.

Even in the intensity of the storyline, we see the heart of God on display. The judgments don’t start till chapter 6, and before that we see the beauty of Jesus in His glory (ch. 1), the faithfulness and kindness of Jesus toward His church (ch. 2-3), the glory of the heavenly throne room (ch. 4), and the worthiness of the Lamb (ch. 5). Even the judgment series are intercut with declarations of the goodness of God and His love for His bride, and the final chapters climax with our wedding to Jesus Himself when He comes to set up His kingdom, uniting heaven and earth forever (ch. 19-22). This is a glorious storyline that ushers us directly into the heart of Jesus!

5. It Will All Just Pan Out

Some people eschew terms like pre-trib or post-trib and call themselves “pan-trib,” as in “everything will just pan out.” This sounds clever, but it’s really an irresponsible approach. Even the saying “hope for the best, prepare for the worst” usually means “let’s hope we’ll just be raptured out of the way before the scary stuff starts” and doesn’t really embrace the glory of what God wants to do through the church during the time of the “worst”. Personally, I’ve never met a “hope for the best” person who is actually taking seriously preparing for the “worst.”

Of course God’s plans will come to pass with or without your understanding and participation, but no one on earth will be able to escape dealing with this. The question is, how will it pan out for you? Will you be found standing with God in agreement and partnership with His desires? Or will you and those who follow your example (your family, etc.) be confused, offended, and deceived?

6. Every Generation Thought It Was Them

This is a common misconception, but a brief survey of history shows it’s not quite true. While there have been localized communities of believers scattered throughout history that believed they were living in the final generation, it’s always been small groups not even representing 1% of believers on earth. There have only been two generations in which a majority of the global body of Christ has sustained a conviction (temporary surges of belief provoked by world crises notwithstanding) that they were the last generation: the first century church, and the modern church in the earth today.

Almost every time I’m in a conversation and share my belief that Jesus’ return is near, to my surprise, I gets nods and agreement! The Holy Spirit is growing this conviction in the church today, and it’s even impacting the secular world. What does it tell us that apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is an entire genre in the Christian and secular entertainment industries alike?

7. Jesus Is Coming Any Minute to Rapture Us Before the Tribulation

This is a very common belief in much of the Western church today, although it wasn’t common until the early 1900s and doesn’t appear at all until 1825. It’s a far larger topic than I can cover in detail here, so for the moment I’ll point you to a teaching session from Brad Stroup at The Prayer Room called Disproving the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory. Another excellent resource is the book Not Afraid of the Antichrist by Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. Craig Keener.

Just to give a couple of verses to start you in the right direction, check out 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 and Matthew 24:29-31. Both give clearly discernible, sequential timing indicators as to when the second coming and rapture will occur, including 1) the great falling away, 2) the revealing of the antichrist and his claiming to be God in the temple, and 3) the tribulation.

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him [rapture], we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion [great falling away] comes first, and the man of lawlessness [antichrist] is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.”
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect [rapture] from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
(Matthew 24:29-31)

If you’re interested in a more thoroughly developed post on this subject, leave me a comment!

8. Bible Prophecy Is All Symbolic Anyway

I remember reading prophetic passages in Isaiah and being so confused because I had no idea where they fit in the story of God, so I concluded they must be symbolic. That was easier because I could make them mean whatever vague, encouraging thing I wanted. However, the Bible isn’t meant to be read like that. One of the keys to Scripture interpretation is to take things for their plain-sense meaning. In other words, assume things are generally literal unless the text clearly indicates otherwise.

So many things in the history of Scripture are fantastic and hard to imagine, but really did happen! The flood, the parting of the Red Sea, the virgin birth– all literal! When Jesus came the first time, there were so many specific prophecies that would have been easy to take symbolically, but they were in fact fulfilled exactly as written. (I wrote more about this in my post What Jesus’ First Coming Says About His Second Coming.) The end times are no different. God will be faithful to fulfill His word; we don’t have to make up symbolic interpretations that leave Scripture subject to any convenient meaning.

9. The End Time Prophecies Already Happened

Many dear friends of mine, plus teachers and ministries I respect deeply, believe that the end time prophecies in Matthew 24, Revelation, and the other prophetic scriptures already happened in 70 AD at the destruction of Jerusalem, or progressively at other points in history. This leads them to conclude that there is not an end time tribulation in our future, and things will mostly just get better and better until Jesus comes back.

There are a number of problems with this theology (and much of it is tied to our theology of Israel– God still has many future promises for His people! I recommend One King by Samuel Whitefield and When A Jew Rules the World by Joel Richardson.) but this post is already too long so here I’ll just say that none of the events in history, including the destruction of Jerusalem, can account for ALL the details that are promised in the end times. Matthew 24:21-22 says “there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.” The scale of the global end time drama is off the charts, even nearly causing the extinction of the human race. That has never even come close to happening!

Why Does It Matter?

As I wrote previously, what we believe about the end times has huge impact on how we live and how we prepare. If we really are living in the end times (stay tuned for a post on how to recognize the signs), then it is urgently important for the church to have a biblical perspective of not only what will happen, but how God feels about these events and what response He’s looking for.

My passion in talking about these things isn’t to argue over details or to be right for the sake of being right. I have a burden for the church to be in allignment with the heart of Jesus for the sake of love. He deserves a bride who is in full agreement and partnership with Him as the most crucial hour in human history begins to unfold. Lord, help– renew our minds and conform our hearts to Yours!

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Intro to the End Times #3: Where is the Story Going?

On May 10, 2020February 10, 2024 By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, End Times

The end times aren’t a wild disaster of history going off the rails; they are a story playing out exactly as God intends to bring about His ultimate purposes. As any writer knows, the end of a story is for tying up loose ends and bringing things to conclusion–while also teasing a sequel yet to come!

So what are God’s purposes in the end of the story?

1. He Will Prepare a Mature Bride

When Jesus comes, the church will be fully mature, pure and spotless. Revelation 19:7-8 says “His Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.” Ephesians 4:13 says that the church must continue to grow “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” In the next chapter, Paul writes that Jesus will “present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)

You and I both know that this is not what the Body of Christ looks like right now. It’s going to take some doing and no doubt some refining through fire (including a lot of persecution), but we can be confident that when Jesus comes, all of the compromise that plagues the church will have been stripped away, and we’ll be full of the Holy Spirit, desperately lovesick for Jesus, and fully in agreement with the plan of God. Jesus is worthy of a fully mature, equally yoked bride, and the Holy Spirit is going to see that He gets one.

2. He Will Send a Great Revival

Joel 2:8-32 promises a great outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. In that same context, Joel describes “blood, fire, and columns of smoke” before the Day of the Lord. Peter borrowed from this passage to explain the Pentecost outpouring in Acts 2, but clearly, it wasn’t fully fulfilled on that day. Today, the indwelling Spirit is available to everyone, and God certainly pours out heavier anointing here and there, but it would be pretty anticlimactic to imagine that what the church is currently experiencing is the dramatic outpouring Joel prophesied.

Before Jesus comes back, the Church will experience a greater outpouring of anointing and power than we have ever experienced before, surpassing even the book of Acts, and the world will be filled with bold, zealous, anointed witnesses for Jesus. Signs and wonders at the hands of average believers will become commonplace, and we will be like “burning and shining lamps” like John the Baptist (John 5:35) proclaiming the gospel of the soon-coming Kingdom. As a result, millions worldwide will be saved in a great end-time harvest.

3. He Will Raise Up a Global Worship Movement

In many passages, the Bible promises a global prayer and worship movement that rises to full strength in the last generation, ushering in the return of Jesus. Malachi 1:11 is one of my favorites: “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.”

We’re seeing this happen RIGHT NOW under our noses! The proliferation of prayer and worship, even specifically 24/7 prayer and worship, around the globe in this generation has been nothing short of miraculous. God is raising up a mature, anointed, lovesick Bride who will “sing back the King” until His return.

4. He Will Judge Wickedness

Like the blood of Abel crying out from the ground (Genesis 4:10), the sins of humanity have been heaping up for judgment throughout the generations. In His mercy, God has mostly restrained Himself to give us time to repent, but He won’t be silent forever (Psalm 50:21, Isaiah 42:14). In the days right before Jesus returns, the brakes will have been taken off, so to speak, and human wickedness will have been allowed to reach its full potential (2 Timothy 3:2-5, Revelation 9:20-21). It will reach a breaking point where God will finally respond.

God’s judgment is always mixed with mercy, because His goal is really repentance, not destruction (Isaiah 55:6-7). God is using the least severe means to reach the greatest number at the deepest level of love without violating anyone’s free will. Everything He does is meticulously calculated with as much mercy as possible. However, justice demands that He won’t just “let it slide” forever. There will be a day of recompense.

5. He Will Rescue His People

A large part of this judgment is in direct response to the oppression of His people by the antichrist and his kingdom. In that time frame, the anger of the antichrist will be vehemently directed against both the church and the people of Israel (Revelation 12). It’s not difficult to imagine him following Hitler’s example in setting up concentration camps. We’re going to desperately need Jesus to break in and rescue us. When He returns, He will literally “proclaim liberty to the captives” as Isaiah 61 says.

In prophesying about Israel in the end times, Zechariah 2:8 says, “he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” In the same spirit, I really like Proverbs 6:34 in the NKJV: “For jealousy is a husband’s fury; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.” Like any good husband, Jesus is not going to sit back and let the antichrist get away with tormenting His people. His judgment is out of fierce, protective, jealous love for His bride. (Yes, the church is His bride, but Israel was the nation He originally chose as His bride, and He is still faithful to His promises to her and is wooing her back.)

6. He Will Marry His Bride

“For the marriage of the Lamb has come…” (Revelation 19:7) After rescuing us, Jesus is going to marry us! This is the great climax of the story. This has been the great desire of His heart from eternity past. Right now, we could say that we are betrothed to Jesus, but there will be an actual wedding day when our union will be made complete.

Our union with Jesus as His bride is the pinnacle of the story because there’s a level of intimacy and partnership in marriage that is not present in any other kind of relationship– not master/servant, teacher/disciple, friend/friend, or father/child, although those are all also true. At the end of the story, the church is primarily identified as the bride (Revelation 22:17), in full and unhindered intimacy and partnership with Jesus for eternity.

7. He Will Rule on Earth Forever

Jesus is going to rule and reign as the actual king on planet Earth forever. He is spiritually king of the universe right now, but He doesn’t currently have the kind of tangible, governmental leadership He is destined to have. Revelation 11:15 describes this transition moment: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

My favorite verses are the ones that zero in on Jerusalem and the temple, which is the literal, physical place on earth from which He will rule as King. God told Ezekiel about the temple, “this is the place of my throne and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people of Israel forever.” (Ezekiel 43:7) Jesus and the psalmist both called Jerusalem “the city of the great king” (Matthew 5:45, Psalm 48:2). Can you imagine the day when JESUS is actually king on the earth?

8. He Will Fulfill All His Promises to Israel

The story of the Bible is Israel-centric. Ever since Abraham, God has been telling a story to and about the Jewish people; we as Gentile believers in a Jewish Messiah are graciously given a role to play and are no less full children of God, but there are still unique promises to Israel that God has yet to fulfill. The Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12 promised Abraham 1) land, 2) descendants, and 3) blessing. These promises won’t come to full fruition until Jesus comes back and sets up what we call the Millennial Kingdom, which Jews anticipate as the Messianic Age.

Jeremiah 31 promises that God will never cast off His covenant with Israel (like Romans 11:29 says, “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable”), and also promises that He will bring a new covenant in which He will make them all righteous. Jesus’ first coming was the inauguration of that new covenant, but God’s promise of salvation to all Israel (Romans 11:26) has yet to be fulfilled. When Jesus comes, they will recognize Him and mourn, realizing their mistake for so long (Zechariah 12:10). On that day, God will finally begin to fulfill all of His promises to Israel and they will finally dwell in safety in the land as a righteous nation before Him.

My favorite book about this is One King by Samuel Whitefield.

9. He Will Restore All Things

At the moment, creation is broken. Romans 8:19-20 says that the earth itself is groaning for redemption. Acts 2:31 says, “that He may send Jesus Christ…whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things.” (NKJV) God loves His original plan of creation, and plans to restore earth to that original “very good” state that He spoke over the universe before the fall (Genesis 1:31)–and because the increase of His kingdom will never end (Isaiah 9:7), it will keep getting better forever!

In the restoration, we will be given resurrected bodies that will be flawless, immortal, shining like stars, and much like Jesus’ own resurrected body (1 Corinthians 15). We will live on a restored earth, in restored bodies, interacting with God in restored relationship, forever. Every injustice and loss will be restored, and very tear will be wiped away (Revelation 21:4). No matter how broken it is now, this is the destiny of creation.

My favorite book about this is All Things New by John Eldredge.

10. He Will Unite Heaven and Earth

After #6 (He will marry His bride), this is probably the most deep and mysterious reality of all. One of the things that God will restore is the full union of heaven and earth, as He has intended since the garden of Eden. Ephesians 1:9-10 says, “making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” There may be a lot of spiritual overlap in the present age, but this will fully happen when the New Jerusalem comes to earth (Revelation 21).

Then, the plan of God will finally, fully be complete. Jesus will reign with justice and righteousness over the whole earth. He will have His full inheritance in the nations and His glorious bride at His side. The Father will have His family restored and all of creation will celebrate.

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Ministry Update: Blessing in a Time of Crisis

On May 3, 2020February 18, 2022 By CaitlynIn Ministry Life

This week I’m taking a break from our Intro to the End Times series to give you a quick update on what life at The Prayer Room looks like right now. (If you haven’t read it yet, a few weeks ago I shared a post on what I believe God is calling the church to in this season. Pop over there, then come back here!)

Practical Steps We’re Taking

The coronavirus really came on our radar in the second week of March. Like everyone else, we cautiously tried to feel out what was the best way to respond without overreacting. We focused our prayers and joined Lou Engle’s three-day Esther fast for God to supernaturally end the outbreak.

Over the next week we watched the group meeting restrictions shrink tighter and tighter, and I believe we had nine separate 3-4 hour emergency leadership meetings within two weeks. (Honestly, those two weeks felt like two months and they’re all a blur.) We instituted our own protocols based on medical recommendations and governmental mandates, constantly adjusting them as needed:

Current schools cancelled
Maximum of 10 people in a room
Washing hands upon entering the building every time
Cleaning every surface every 2 hours
Disinfecting the worship leading stations every set
Not touching the prayer mic
Encounter service and staff meeting went online
No hugs or touching— “foot fives” only!

As we’re doing our best to follow the mandates and protect our community, our chief priority is the “fire on the altar” (Lev. 6:13), the live prayer and worship 20 hours a day in our prayer room. That won’t stop no matter what!

On May 1, Texas lifted our stay-at-home order, and things are taking baby steps back to normal. This Saturday we hosted Encounter service with all of our staff invited into the room, and next week we’re inviting the community at large to join us in person. We’re still maintaining strict social distancing and cleaning, and honoring those who don’t feel safe to join us.

Ridiculous Blessing

In the middle of the storm, it’s almost embarrassing how greatly God is blessing us. God prophetically highlighted Psalm 91 to us during our Revelation study several weeks before corona hit. (Our director Brad saw a bumper sticker that said “Psalm 91” and heard God say clearly that he needed to preach on it!) Therefore, we were ALREADY talking about protection, mercy, and favor in His house, specifically in a time of plague, and we have seen Him be faithful to His word!

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday… Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.”
(Psalm 91:1-10)

We’ve actually been adding staff in this season! Someone gave a generous donation to cover stipends for three months for five individuals to serve as paid part-time missionaries. We called upon five people who already love The Prayer Room and are currently out of work and invited them to increase their involvement for a season. These five “provisional staff members” have been loving the extra time! Every one one them has been so blessed by the opportunity and plan to stay involved at some sort of increased level even after the stipend ends.

Eric and Robbie, who moved here early this year to join full-time missionary staff, finally were able to start their full-time schedules! Beverly, my small groupie who did an internship last year, also started her full-time missionary schedule. All three of them are still in the partnership development process, but we wanted to get them up and running ASAP. We also have a girl in Wisconsin, Christi, who did an externship with us two years ago and has been raising partnership to move here to join full-time missionary staff in June. She will revolutionize our finance department, strengthen our prayer room, and be such a joy to our community!

In the fall, several staff roles will be shifting, and I will take over Events and Community Life and release our ministry schools into the very capable hands of Luke Fredenberg! Luke is a fellow IHOPU grad who has been a full-time missionary at The Prayer Room for almost five years.

Giving up my schools was not my favorite idea at first, but practically speaking it seems to be a good fit for me, and I know Luke will be incredible at running the schools and caring for students. Also, the Lord gave me a dream several months ago that I was “moving into Caslin’s house,” our previous event coordinator, which I now believe was about taking over her ministry at TPR. I have a lot of peace about this transition and am excited to run our conferences and community events!

We’ve also been blessed abundantly in finances! We’ve had several large gifts come in for TPR’s general budget, as well as a number of gifts for our missionaries. On top of that, I’ve been sewing and selling face masks and have sold over 200 at $10 each. That’s insane!! I’m feeling ridiculously blessed and grateful and saving up for whatever the Lord is preparing me for!

Our prophetic history is sprinkled with words from the Lord about Him being faithful to us and blessing us in the midst of national crisis. We see this season as a partial fulfillment of those words. He has been so, so gracious to strengthen and bless us in these crazy times.

Live Stream The Prayer Room on Youtube!

One of the unforeseen bonuses of Covid-19 was the push to start live streaming our prayer room! There was a season of several weeks wherein places of worship were only allowed to stay open to “live stream services”, so we were like, welp, guess we’re live streaming our 10 “services” a day! The Youtube channel has been a blessing to our community and to those watching at a distance.

At the moment, archives aren’t properly available because Youtube only saves live streams that run for less than 12 hours, but you can watch live right now! And please subscribe!

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Intro to the End Times #2: Why Should We Study the End Times?

On April 26, 2020June 27, 2022 By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, End Times

My Story With the End Times

As I have written in several places on this website, my story with the end times starts when I was a child. From my earliest days I was fascinated by the return of Jesus. I remember asking my mom questions about the antichrist and resurrected bodies. I’m not even sure where I heard these terms, but I was insatiably curious.

When I was very young, I asked Jesus one night while I lay in bed, “Why don’t You come back right now? Why are you waiting?” That was the first time in my life I remember hearing His voice clearly: “TO GIVE PEOPLE TIME.” It wasn’t till years later that I realized that He had basically given me 2 Peter 3:9 on a silver platter.

In junior high and high school I barreled through the Left Behind books, inhaling one after another. Pre-tribulation rapture theology was the only eschatology I knew, and I was disappointed that there was no chance (so I thought) of being on earth during the tribulation. That seemed like the most exciting time! God doing BIG things, finally shaking the heavens and the earth, and the church standing firm, fiercely faithful to Jesus unto death! I used to speculate about my chances of getting un-saved, missing the rapture, and then immediately getting re-saved. I concluded it wouldn’t work because I couldn’t get un-saved because of love for Jesus; God would know my heart and I would just get raptured anyway.

I remember in 2004 when the final book, Glorious Appearing, was released. This was the great climax at the end of the tribulation when Jesus finally appeared in the sky. I made my mom take me to the Christian bookstore, and I stood in the aisle holding the book in trembling hands. My heart pounded and my breath came shallow as I flipped through the chapters and stopped to read every scene with Jesus in person on the page. JESUS. My Jesus, in person, locking eyes and speaking with us face to face.

Over the years, my passion for Jesus’ return only grew. I would drive around town (a little too fast) late at night with my windows down, dancing and yelling along with Cory Asbury’s lyrics, “One day He’s gonna split the sky and/One day He’s gonna come for His bride/I know it, I know it, I know it!”

Shortly after college, I stumbled across an IHOPKC teaching in favor of a post-trib rapture. That opened the door, and I became a post-tribber. Hallelujah, not out of the story after all!

About a year later I found myself at IHOPKC for the One Thing Internship, and that was where my eschatology started to solidify and really be based on Scripture. My passion only grew as I was finally seeing the story come together, laid out plainly in the Word. I spent long hours in the prayer room, poring over the New Testament, fitting the puzzle pieces together and realizing that the story is loud and consistent cover to cover!

Most importantly, I fell so much more in love with Jesus in all the dramatic, passionate, beautiful ways He reveals Himself in the final chapter of this age.

Why Study the End Times?

Did you know that there are at least 150 chapters in Scripture that are primarily about the generation of Jesus’ return? I’m not kidding! (You can find them laid out here with a note describing each.) To put that in perspective, the four gospels total only 89 chapters!

I’ve heard it said that the entire message of the end times can be summarized as “Jesus wins!” as though that’s the end of the conversation and all we need to know. And while I say YES AND AMEN to that, I also want to suggest that if all God wanted us to know about the end times is that “Jesus wins,” He wouldn’t have put 150 chapters in the Bible about it.

Therefore, if “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work,” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) what purpose are these 15o chapters supposed to serve in our lives?

Here are seven reasons I find studying the end times to be valuable.

1. It’s the End of the Story

Imagine going to the movie theater and the projector cuts out 20 minutes from the end. Would you be confused and upset? Of course! The story doesn’t make sense without the ending. So many things in Scripture don’t make sense without the promises of God that are yet to be fulfilled. There are so many loose ends in our story right now, but there is a climax in store that will tie them all up. As we dive into understanding the final chapter, the whole story will come into sharper focus.

The book It Must Be Finished by Samuel Whitefield approaches the return of Jesus from this perspective, laying out how how the second coming makes sense of the rest of the story. Samuel Whitefield is one of my favorite teachers/authors, and I highly recommend this book!

2. It’s Burning on Jesus’ Heart

This is the one that always gets me: JESUS is passionate about His return. He has plans and desires burning in His heart. Isaiah 63:4 says that the “day of vengeance was in [His] heart.” Song of Solomon 3:11 speaks of “the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart.” This is the day He’s longing for.

The end times still seem ethereal and mysterious to us, but to Him, they are crystal clear and highly emotional. This is the time when He will destroy the works of darkness forever, and marry His Bride! I want my heart to burn for whatever His heart burns for, because I love Him and I want to be with Him where He is.

3. It Reveals Jesus

Throughout much of history, Jesus has been holding back the full expression of His passions (Isaiah 42:14). He hasn’t fully responded to injustice like He wants to. He hasn’t fully swept in to rescue His bride. He hasn’t fully poured out His Spirit in dramatic revival. BUT HE WILL. As we look at the story of what He really wants to do when all the chips are on the table and no holds are barred, we find out just who this Man really is.

Revelation 1:1 says that it’s the “revelation of Jesus Christ”. The climax of the story, when all things are revealed and every loose end from history is finally tied up, is the ultimate revealing of the heart of Jesus, finally at its fullest expression.

4. It Prepares Us Against Deception and Offense

As wickedness and deception increases in the earth, and God’s judgments along with them, the church will face two great tests: deception and offense. Jesus told us that deception would be a key defining feature of the end times (Matthew 24:1-3). There will be many false religious movements and an entire culture intent on lulling us to sleep, luring us into sin, and dulling our hearts to God.

On the other hand, offense at God will also be a real danger for the church. If our theology and relationship with God didn’t prepare us to see Him doing the things the Bible tells us He will do, we run the very real risk of being offended and pushing back from Him. We can strengthen ourselves against both of these dangers by a spiritually violent lifestyle of prayer and the Word, sharpened by fasting and wrapped in godly community, so that we deeply know the heart of God no matter what pressures may come.

5. It Prompts Us to Live With Urgency

If you knew for a fact that Jesus would be returning 20 years from now, how would you live? What life decisions would you make? What would you teach your kids? What would you study in Scripture? How would you pray? How would you do discipleship and evangelism?

A person who was living like that would be on fire, in love with Jesus, constantly in prayer, desperate to be in the center of God’s will, willing to give anything, constantly aware of the nearness of eternity. But guess what– this lifestyle should be normal Christianity anyway! Studying the end times helps us believe it’s real, and our lifestyles will come to reflect that urgency.

6. It Equips Us to Partner with God

In giving us the script ahead of time, God is inviting us to play a role in the drama. He could just do everything by Himself without our participation–but that has never been His way. In the middle of the storm, there will also be a great revival as the church shines brightly and the Holy Spirit is poured out like never before. He wants a church living with faithfulness and urgency who are ready vessels for Him to anoint with power.

Just like John the Baptist served as a forerunner for Jesus’ first coming, God is raising up forerunners who “prepare the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3) for His second coming. He’s looking for prophetic messengers who will proclaim who He is and what He’s doing. There has never been a generation more desperately in need of clear voices of truth, like light piercing through a dark fog. We must posture ourselves to be faithful witnesses, in full surrender to the Holy Spirit.

7. It Strengthens Us in Hope

Knowing the end of the story gives us confidence of victory no matter how difficult things get–especially when we spend time learning the actual details and context of that victory. Biblical details cemented in our imaginations are more powerful than general positive statements.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul describes the resurrection and rapture at Jesus’ coming and wraps up his message, “Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (verse 18) If we can continually set our hearts on the “eternal weight of glory” that we will inherit on that day, even all the difficulties of the end times will fall into perspective as only “light momentary afflictions”! (2 Corinthians 4:17)

But Will I Get Weird?

Some people are concerned that focusing on the end times will cause them to be out of balance, obsessive, and just plain weird. Honestly, anyone can get weird about anything if they’re not rooted in the Word and submitted to healthy spiritual leadership. Weird generally starts when you get your ideas from the internet instead of the Bible! Stay in the Word, stay in prayer, stay plugged into healthy community, stay submitted to godly leadership, and stay striving for love and humility in all things. You’ll be okay.

I can confidently say that over the past 8 years as I have been prayerfully immersing myself in this storyline, I have fallen so much more deeply in love with Jesus and His word. I’ve only seen good fruit in my heart, and I can’t imagine living without a burning conviction about the story of His return.

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Intro to the End Times #1: Does God Want Us to Understand the End Times?

On April 19, 2020June 8, 2022 By CaitlynIn Bible Stuff, End Times

Intro to the End Times is a series exploring some of the key themes of the story of Jesus’ return from a historic premillennial perspective, with special focus on knowing His heart as we partner with God through the most dramatic chapter of human history.

New Series – Intro to the End Times

Welcome to the first installment of my new series! I’ve been studying the end times for almost 8 years now (though not super intensely in every season), and I’ve fallen so much more in love with Jesus through understanding more of His heart for the climax of history. I’m excited to share this series with you!

I believe we’re right on the brink of a massive transition in history, really THE most massive transition ever–the return of Jesus to the planet to personally establish His kingdom forever. The Bible promises a series of earth-shaking events leading up to that moment, and right now, we’re beginning to realize that COVID-19 might be part of that escalating trend. What better time to dig into the Word and get wisdom to understand the season we’re living in?

Are We Even Supposed to Understand?

A friend of mine used to call herself an “eschatological agnostic,” saying, “Everyone was wrong about the first coming, so we’ll probably all be wrong about the second coming!” However, that perspective is flawed because 1) not everyone was wrong, and 2) those who were got rebuked for it!

Amos 3:7 says, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” How could we even imagine that God would do something as massive as the end time judgments and the second coming of Jesus and NOT want His people to understand?

God wants us to know what He’s doing. That includes the end times.

The Bible says a lot about God’s desire for us to understand these things. Let’s look at a few of the key verses (this isn’t an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start):

1. The Fig Tree

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”
(Matthew 24:32-35)

Matthew 24 and 25, together with the parallels in Mark 13 and Luke 21, are known as the “Olivet Discourse,” the time when Jesus taught on the end times from the Mount of Olives. These passages are among the clearest descriptions in Scripture of what to expect, straight from Jesus’ own mouth. If you don’t know where to start in studying the end times, make these chapters your bread and butter!

Here, Jesus uses the natural example of a fig tree; the people were very familiar with how to recognize the changing of the leaves and know that the season was changing. Jesus is saying that the signs of His coming will be THAT clear–but we are commanded to “learn” this lesson so that we pay attention and don’t miss them! Then “this generation” (the generation that sees the signs) will see all of the events unfold and Jesus Himself return.

2. Interpret the Signs

“And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, ‘When it is evening, you say, “It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.” And in the morning, “It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.” You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.’ So he left them and departed.”
(Matthew 16:1-4)

In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders were looking for a sign to test Jesus. They weren’t searching the Scriptures and genuinely trying to recognize the Messiah; they were saying in essence, “Where’s the neon sign? It’s not so obvious to us!” and Jesus was responding, “All the signs are already happening all around you! What more do you want? You know well enough how to recognize weather patterns; why are you so blind to the signs of God moving in your own generation?”

Describing the end times, Peter tells us that “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say ‘Where is the promise of his coming?…'” (1 Peter 3:3-4) The Pharisees were essentially doing the same thing, deliberately oblivious to the signs because they didn’t want to see them. God makes the signs clear to the hungry and humble, but the arrogant are guaranteed to miss them.

Jesus’ harsh rebuke to the Pharisees serves as a warning for us today: don’t be arrogant against the signs that God is already giving. God wants interpreting the signs to be as normal to us as interpreting natural weather patterns.

3. Suddenly Like a Trap

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
(Luke 21:34-36)

Here, Jesus warns that if we do NOT stay awake and watchful, the day of the Lord will come “suddenly like a trap.” For those who are busy living their own lives, unaware of the storyline, this will be their perspective– it came out of nowhere and now they’re caught in this trap of God’s judgments completely unprepared! By contrast, for those who are staying awake, the events of the end times won’t be a sudden surprise; they will be fully aware of what’s happening as the signs begin to unfold.

Jesus is giving us the prescription to avoid being surprised and caught in the trap: keep alert, and don’t be weighed down by the distractions of this life. By doing these things, our hearts will be strengthened to “escape” the trap of being caught by surprise.

4. It Won’t Come Unless

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-5)

1 and 2 Thessalonians are a gold mine of teaching on the end times. In this passage, Paul tells the church that the day of the Lord (here referring to the specific event of Jesus’ coming and the rapture, verse 1) cannot possibly sneak up on the church without us realizing what is happening (“has already come”). The events leading up to it will be very clear and recognizable. That day will not come unless several things happen first: the rebellion (the great falling away, in which many leave the faith), the revelation of the antichrist, and the moment when the antichrist sits down in the temple in Jerusalem and proclaims himself to be God (the abomination of desolation–Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31). These are clear signs that we are expected to study and recognize.

Paul even said that he taught them about these things while he was with them. This is especially fascinating because according to Acts 17, Paul was only in Thessalonica for three weeks. During that time, he taught in the synagogue, some people got saved, and they became a church plant which Paul taught as much as he could in that short time before getting kicked out of the city.

If the end times was something Paul considered essential theology to cover in his discipleship class while he was planting a new church… that should really tell us something about the importance of these subjects for the church today!

5. Keep What is Written

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”
(Revelation 1:1-3)

In the first few verses of Revelation, it says that the purpose is “to show His servants the things that must soon take place.” God wants us to see and to know! He wants to show us and to bring us into the story.

Furthermore, there is a special blessing promised for those who:

read it aloud — in John’s day, this letter would have been read aloud to the church that received it, so the reader wasn’t only reading privately but was in fact proclaiming it.
hear it — which surely means more than simply hearing the words but also humble, attentive listening.
keep it — i.e., hide it in their in hearts and live in active response to it.

Let’s be those who read, hear, and keep Jesus’ word to us!

But Didn’t Jesus Say “No One Knows”?

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only… Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
(Matthew 24:36, 42-44)

These verses are often used to tell us that since “no one knows”, we might as well check out and not focus on it. However, we must be careful that we don’t let one verse cause us to overlook all the other verses that paint a larger picture. Many passages clearly say we can and should know the season–the general timeframe if not the exact day or hour–and therefore must KEEP AWAKE. Not knowing exactly should be motivation to pay close attention and keep watch, so that we can recognize the season when it comes.

Not even the Son knows? We must remember that Jesus was speaking as a man on earth at this point. The exact nature of how Jesus’ omniscience played out during His earthly life is a larger topic, but it may be possible that He didn’t know the details at that moment, but He does now, as the glorified, ascended Son sitting at the right hand of the Father!

Thief In the Night

I remember a song that said, “Like a thief in the night/Like a runaway train…/I’m ready now/but somehow I know you’ll take me by surprise.” It was an exciting song, but this is not the testimony of Scripture! The idea of Jesus coming as a “thief in the night” is not intended to tell us that everyone will be surprised no matter what we do.

What clinched it for me was a passage in 1 Thessalonians 5 that directly addresses this exact argument.

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:2-6)

This is Paul’s commentary on the Olivet Discourse passages in question. Look at the clear distinction he is making.

“While people [the unbelieving/sleeping world] are saying, ‘There is peace and safety’ [the temporary, false peace that precedes the antichrist and the most intense judgments], then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape [the trap that Luke 21 describes].”

Is it for the church to be so caught off guard? NO! We are not in darkness for that day to surprise us like a thief!

Paul’s prescription is to stay awake. Be aware. Watch and pray. We must study, pray, fast, and give ourselves to a lifestyle that will set us up to be ready and awake when He comes.

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5 Keys for the Church in Addressing COVID-19

On April 4, 2020February 18, 2022 By CaitlynIn Just Thoughts

Spring 2020 is going down in the history books. The COVID-19 coronavirus has shaken the entire world and we’re still just trying to get our bearings!

As I’m writing this from my prayer room, our county in DFW has recently issued a mandatory “stay at home” order, joining many other cities and states. I just prayed on the mic, but I wasn’t allowed to touch it. We are cleaning the prayer room every two hours and restricting it to essential personnel only, no more than nine in the building. I haven’t hugged anyone in nearly three weeks. The first week I was in 4-hour intensive leadership meetings nearly every day (we started calling it one long meeting with breaks!). We’ve been trying to plan for every possible development, and yet things keep surprising us.

And I think we’re all sensing that this is only the beginning.

We need wisdom! I’ve been seeing a post going around Facebook that says, “Your pastor has never pastored a church through a pandemic before.” That’s so real! Most of us have never had to live through anything like this. We’re all trying to figure it out, and what we’re realizing very quickly is that natural wisdom only goes so far. We need supernatural insight and revelation into how to partner with the Lord through this. In other words, what is He doing and how can we participate? How does HE want us to respond? As our director Brad keeps saying, “All I want is a ‘well done’ on this.”

Two weeks ago, our leadership team did a panel about how we’re responding and what we sense that God wants the Church to learn in this time. Through that conversation, many more we’ve been having as a leadership team and in various groups, and my own private conversations with God, here are a few of the main things I believe are key for us to grasp as we respond to this season.

(There are so many more things to be said–the many ways that this could lead to revival, the shaking of the church’s lack of community, the whole dynamic of faith vs fear–but as I’ve been praying these are the key points I felt were given to me to highlight.)

1. Four Sources of Bad

One of the first questions believers ask when crisis hits is where it comes from. The answer is key in figuring out to respond. Are we supposed to submit to God’s judgment or rebuke the enemy’s attack?

As we’ve been studying the end time judgments for a number of years, we’ve learned to see four distinct sources of BAD in that generation. All of them are valid, and we can respond to each of them separately.

God’s Wrath – God does release judgment on the earth in His mercy and kindness, as a way to wake people up and call them to Himself (Amos 3:6, Isaiah 26:9-10). He is looking for us to respond in humility and repentance and to submit to His ways, asking for mercy.
Satan’s Rage – At the same time, Satan is like a roaring lion whose objective is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10, cf 2 Peter 5:8). God has given us authority to rebuke the enemy and bring the kingdom against him.
Man’s Sin – Some evil in the world is the direct result of men making poor decisions, either out of wickedness or just plain ignorance and weakness. In this arena, we need to repent and embrace righteousness and wisdom, and call others to do the same.
Creation’s Groan – Ever since the fall in the garden of Eden, creation has been under a curse. Some bad things that happen, whether disease or natural disasters, are related to the simple brokenness of creation that is groaning to be restored (Romans 8:19-22). Therefore, it’s appropriate to respond with natural, practical solutions.

We may see that all four of these elements are at play in the current coronavirus crisis.

Yes, God is sovereignly orchestrating this as judgment to call the world to Himself. Let’s repent and cry out for mercy (Joel 2:12-27), and partner with His purposes.
Yes, Satan is raging against the expansion of the Kingdom and wreaking havoc wherever he can. Let’s rebuke his schemes with the authority of Christ.
Yes, there were things humans did in mismanaging this virus that contributed to it becoming such a pandemic. Let’s repent to God, call for accountability, and try to do better.
Yes, creation is still broken and disease and disasters do naturally occur. Let’s wash our hands, do social distancing, and look for a vaccine.

Many people have a solid grasp of one or a few of these elements, but in order to be in full partnership with God in this season, we need to listen to each other and seek out His heart in all four areas.

2. Protection in His Presence

Seemingly the entire body of Christ, independently and all at once, has latched onto praying and believing Psalm 91. The same theme is echoed in Psalm 27:4-5.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty… For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence… Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.”
(Psalm 91:1-10)

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life… For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent…”
(Psalm 27:4-5)

There is a promise of protection for the people of God in the midst of crisis! However, it should be noted that this protection is not universally applied like a get-out-of-jail-free card to every saved person. This promise is for those who choose to dwell in the shelter of the Most High. And what is that shelter? I believe it’s most specifically the house of prayer.

Just like this Psalm was written in the literal shelter of the tabernacle of David, this verse is describing those who choose to bind themselves together with other believers in sustained prayer and worship on a regular basis.

I believe the Lord is teaching us how to dwell in His house and rely on His protection when we do. I can’t wait to hear the testimonies of supernatural pockets of mercy around houses of prayer! This is a revelation that will move from theory into daily reality as crisis after crisis shakes the earth in the days to come.

3. Love Well

I love the book title from Danny Silk: “Keep Your Love On.” No matter what kind of scenario we find ourselves in, we should still be able to carry love and kindness toward each other. That needs to happen in a number of ways right now– let’s start with not panic-buying out the grocery store and following the social distancing protocols to protect each other, and also being gracious with each other’s differences of opinion on the situation (after all, this is new to all of us!), and showing love when we’re in close quarters with family.

Along with that, I’ll emphasize: social distancing is love. It’s not a matter of fear, but of willingly surrendering our own rights and freedoms in order to serve and protect our communities, especially the most vulnerable among us. It’s a tangible opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ and to lay down our lives for each other. I know we want to hug our friends and have our usual game nights… DON’T. Staying home and finding every creative way possible to connect at a distance is a profound expression of love right now. (For more on this thought process, read this article from Relevant.)

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 7:12)

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Matthew 22:39)

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
(Philippians 2:3-4)

4. Keep Your Mandate

As a house of prayer, we’ve been feeling the tension between our mandate for night and day prayer and the virus’ mandate for shutting everything down. As government mandates tighten, we’re walking a thin line and really trying to pray through what it looks like to be faithful to our calling.

In 2005, God gave us a clear and dramatic word to “Start a daily prayer meeting tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. and don’t stop until I come back.” That word has been our guiding force ever since, even as we’ve come to see the calling of the house of prayer clearly in Scripture. We fervently believe that since God called us to never stop until the second coming, He was fully aware of every obstacle that would come against us and will give us grace and protection through it all.

Our central verse, painted prominently on our prayer room wall, is God’s command to the Levitical priesthood:

“Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.”
(Leviticus 6:13)

As God has highlighted this verse to us, we’ve settled deeply in our spirits that we will live and die by this calling. For us, this is absolutely nonnegotiable. We’re doing everything we can to stay safe, but ultimately, we won’t compromise the fire on the altar no matter what. (We have layer upon layer of contingency plans in place for if this thing goes full war zone and extreme measures must be taken!)

In the upheaval of this virus, many ministries have been having this same wrestle. It’s caused a reexamining of core values to find the nonnegotiable at the bottom. I’ll be clear: not every house of prayer is called to take such a hardline stance on the fire on the altar! I’m not here to judge what other ministries feel led to do right now. I would encourage you, though, to find the baseline of what you are fundamentally unwilling to compromise. If God told you to do something, don’t walk away until HE releases you.

5. This Is a Dress Rehearsal

In the final handful of years before Jesus returns, humanity will experience a whole slew of global disasters–world war, water turning to blood, earthquakes, giant hailstones, etc. Before that, Jesus said there would be a series of escalating disasters. This is what Matthew 24 calls the “birth pains,” like the first few contractions before the woman goes into hard labor. The birth pains are intended to be signals to wake us up to pay attention, to give us the opportunity to “practice” responding to the bigger judgments that are coming.

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.”
(Matthew 24:6-8)

God is really kind. He doesn’t want us to be caught off guard. He warned us ahead of time, and He is slowly turning up the dial to gradually give us bigger and bigger opportunities to test our readiness. COVID-19 is a devastating tragedy, absolutely, but it’s also the mercy of God to allow us a dress rehearsal for the greater crises that are coming.

If we’re not already prepared by the time we’re in the middle of crisis, it’s really difficult to play catch up–both naturally and spiritually. If we had been more proactive about being prepared for a pandemic of this scale and even springing into action the instant cases started showing up, a lot of this could have been nipped in the bud. The world is learning that we can’t procrastinate responding to crises.

COVID-19 came out of nowhere suddenly, like a “thief in the night”. Some people were more aware than others, but by and large, the world was caught by surprise. Likewise, the escalating events of the end times will hit suddenly. If we wait to prepare till it’s already underway, it’s going to be far more difficult, and we’re going to have many more casualties. The window of opportunity is now.

This season is an unprecedented opportunity for the global church to press into God like never before. God is on the move, beginning to shake everything that can be shaken–let’s be wise to partner with Him and not waste this season!

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Ministry Update: Is ALL of Kansas City Moving to Dallas?

On March 15, 2020February 18, 2022 By CaitlynIn Ministry Life

Just a few of the KC-to-Dallas ladies celebrating Galentine’s together!

We’re in a really exciting moment as a ministry where it seems that God is bringing The Prayer Room a TON of IHOPKC transplants! Currently, we have 12 people on our staff who were IHOPU students, and God brought them here one by one, or two by two, over the past few years. Prior to this season, it was a MUCH slower trickle!

Within the past year:

Nick and Brittany moved spring 2019. Nick is volunteer staff and Brittany just finished raising partnership to be a part-time missionary.
Daniel and Tyler moved fall 2019, after both externing in the spring. Both are full-time missionaries. (Sorry for listing you with the married couples, boys…)
Eric and Wendy and baby Michael moved in December 2019. Eric is currently raising partnership to be full-time, and Wendy is my volunteer admin assistant!
Robbie and McKenna and unborn baby Toby moved in January 2020. Robbie is currently raising partnership to be full-time, and McKenna is killing it as Brad’s assistant.

This semester, we are running Forerunner Worship Academy, which is a part-time school affiliated with IHOPU’s FMA program in Kansas City. The school is being run by three IHOPU externs, who are spending a semester of their ministry school education serving with us. Each extern has a crazy story:

The sunlight through the In-N-Out window is glorious for selfies! L to R: Taylor, Naomi, Katie

Naomi was supposed to come extern and teach music in spring 2019, but she needed to take a semester off from school to take care of some personal things. (That year, we got post-grad Daniel as an emergency ringer instead, and he ended up staying and even joining our senior staff!) This year, Naomi was ready to complete her graduation requirements and is here externing at last!
Katie beat cancer just a few months ago, and was ready to hit the ground running, but she fractured a vertebrae within the first week while moving. (She LIFTED A CAR that had slipped off a ramp!!) While she was in the hospital, we asked IHOPU if they had another emergency post-grad to send, and we got…
Taylor! Taylor graduated 2019 and had just arrived in Brazil to teach a similar school at a house of prayer, and was just realizing that it wasn’t working out when she got a call asking her to come to Dallas. A few hours later, she booked a ticket home to pack and arrived on our doorstep within the week.

And then because Katie is a fierce beast who bows to no diagnosis, she was back within a couple weeks as well, wearing a back brace and teaching music! So lo and behold, glory to God, we have THREE stellar externs teaching, coaching, and loving our students so excellently in their musical journeys.

Kansas City Recruiting Trip

Brad and I chatting with students (Caleb and Naomi) at IHOPU

All of this was really fun to be able to talk about when we did our twice-annual recruiting trip to IHOPU in February. In their senior year, most of these students will do an externship at another house of prayer or ministry somewhere, and many of them will also be looking for a house of prayer community to become part of after they graduate. Over the years, we’ve come to know for a fact that The Prayer Room is a vibrant, healthy, opportunity-ful place for them to land—we have 12 former IHOPU students currently on our staff, not including our three current externs!

This February, Brad, Brittany, and I drove up for IHOPU’s annual externship expo. About a dozen different ministries who are eligible as externship locations (most of them either local in KC or international; there are only four domestic externship locations this year) gave short presentations and then talked to students at booths.

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A post shared by Caitlyn Peterson {Fragrance Arise} (@fragrancearise)

Our booth strategy was “obnoxious quantity of junk food.” Mission accomplished. (Our former extern Faith stopped by!)

In addition to this, we did our usual routine of reaching out to a few dozen students individually to set up 30 minute coffee appointments, and then we literally talked to students back to back all day long. We have seen these short meetings bear so much fruit— some students will visit us for a preview weekend, some will extern at The Prayer Room, and some will eventually move to join us on staff long-term. Between coffee, the booth, and moments in between, we had quality connections with 60+ people!

Allen Hood at TPR

I spent a whole day hanging out with Allen Hood at Six Flags. What is my life. I don’t even like high-level roller coasters, and this was one of the best days ever.

A couple weeks ago, we had the incredible privilege to host Allen Hood for the weekend! He came with his son Joshua and visited our teaching staff meeting on Friday night, spent most of the day at Six Flags with the TPR senior staff, spoke at The Prayer Room Saturday night, and spoke at Forerunner Fellowship Sunday morning.

I’ve never known Allen personally (only talked to him once or twice before this) but he has been on leadership of IHOPKC and IHOPU for years and years, until he moved to Colorado just a year ago. He knows and loves Jesus with a passion, depth, and tenderness that provokes me like few people on the face of the earth, and has a well-deserved reputation for being such a DAD, in all the best ways. He’s one I would absolutely feel comfortable going to for fatherly wisdom or a big hug anytime I could.

I feel so, so spoiled that I got the opportunity to get to know Allen for real, after all these years, and to actually get used to him being around for a few days. It felt so right to have him all up in the mix of our community. God was definitely knitting our hearts together, and I’m so grateful for this blessing and excited to see how our connection will develop in the future!

Teacher Equipping group with all of TPR’s teaching staff- most of whom are IHOPU alums! Allen loved to see “his kids” out there doing what IHOPU trained us for.

These are most (missing 3) of the IHOPU alumni now serving on staff at The Prayer Room!

Bonus Testimony:

At the end of February, my car situation took a dramatic nosedive. My transmission gave out on me, immediately sparking anxiety but setting off a sequence of events that would ultimately be a HUGE blessing:

Transmission dies 2/22. Quoted $2300 for repair. Have proper meltdown. Robbie, McKenna, and other assorted people make me feel much loved.
Several people refer me to mechanics with other options, even making phone calls and doing research for me.
Joseph and Caslin loan me their cars.
Make Facebook post asking for financial help. About $1400 comes in from 16 people, mostly from the FB post. After taxes, tithe, other giving, it’s about $1000.
Call original mechanic to say I’m going with a different option for a used transmission, he drops price to $1800 for a rebuild because I’m in ministry. Yes, do it, I can pay $800 out of savings.
Get my car back 3/4 with a rebuilt transmission.
Partner gives $1000. Car is now MORE than paid for. Almost cry in the Taco Bell drive-through.
Pass on the update to someone who wants to give but hasn’t yet. They decide to partner monthly instead of contribute to car. (Earlier someone else did both!)

In the end, I kind of MADE money by breaking my transmission, got a rebuilt transmission with warranty, experienced the love and support of dozens of people… and got two new monthly partners. I felt so loved by my community and so grateful for the Father showing His steadfast care for me in so many ways!

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Tools for a Life of Prayer: Fasting

On March 1, 2020February 10, 2024 By CaitlynIn Prayer and Worship

I’m pretty sure this is the final post in our series Tools for a Life of Prayer! Don’t hold me to that, though; I reserve the right to occasionally add new posts whenever I see fit!

We’re in a moment right now of a lot of fasting within the Body of Christ:

Lent – The 40 days leading up to Easter, observed by many expressions of the Church for centuries, especially those in more liturgical traditions (although it’s so good and would be great for us all to do). Began February 26.

Jesus Fast – The 40 days leading up to this year’s The Send event, called by Lou Engle to pray for an increase of powerful evangelism to go forth. (See more info on Lou’s website.) Begins today, March 1.

Global Bridegroom Fast – The first Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday of every month, first called by IHOPKC in 2002 (see it on their website) and now observed by many houses of prayer, individuals, and ministries worldwide. Primarily focused on simply longing for Jesus and asking God to stir up fresh love for Him in our hearts. (I blogged about it a few years ago.) Begins tomorrow, March 2.

So whether you’re currently fasting, thinking about fasting, or have never really taken fasting seriously– read on, but know that this will only be the tip of the iceberg of what can be said about this subject.

Fasting is Normal Christianity

The Sermon on the Mount is Christianity 101, the basic standard of what life in the kingdom is supposed to look like. Right in the middle, Jesus says:

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18

Note that key repeated phrase, “When you fast”. This is interesting, because He assumes that believers will fast. He’s very clear that the focus isn’t to fast for people or for religious ritual, but simply for God.

In this passage, Jesus is setting the standard of what the Jewish people already knew: fasting is supposed to be a normal part of our walk with God. It’s not for special people or super Christians; God extends the invitation and promises grace for the average, ordinary, pizza-loving believer who recognizes their need for more of Him.

Fasting isn’t about earning God’s love or even His favor or blessing. It’s an act of humility and a desperate reach for Him. It’s a child crying out in need. In fasting, we position ourselves to experience more of Him by embracing voluntary weakness.

When we fast, our flesh feels pretty weak. It’s not an especially fun or easy thing. Thoughts get fuzzier, temperaments get grouchier, and physical strength wanes. And this is supposed to be normal Christianity? It seems so ridiculous. We don’t eat and we somehow get more of God? Why on earth would God make this a way to encounter Him?

Because He loves humility. He loves it when we stop relying on our own strength and really start to lean into Him. His power is made perfect in weakness, and He chooses the weak things to shame the strong (2 Co. 12:9, 1 Co. 1:27) Fasting is partnering with His grace like we actually believe He is who He says He is and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (He. 11:6).

Isn’t that what following Jesus is all about?

Longing for the Bridegroom

Jesus tied fasting directly to the subject of the second coming. When John’s disciples asked Him why His disciples didn’t fast, He said:

“And Jesus said to them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.’”
(Matthew 9:15)

In other words, fasting is about longing for the presence of God. When Jesus was literally on the earth walking alongside them, they didn’t need to long for His presence because He was right there, BUT He set the expectation that after He left, His disciples would long for Him to return, and their longing would lead them to fast.

This kind of fasting is about longing for 1) His presence by the Holy Spirit in our lives now, and 2) His ultimate return to the earth forever. It’s about recognizing our desperate need for Him. Song of Solomon describes being lovesick for His presence (SS. 2:5, 5:8). Paul describes groaning with longing for the return of Jesus and the restoration of all things (Ro. 8:22-23, 2 Co. 5:2-4). We’re not okay without His presence, and the earth is not okay without Him here forever.

Not Okay (Fasting Like a Toddler)

A few days ago, I saw a fairly dramatic demonstration of this longing for the return of a beloved! I was leading worship at The Prayer Room, playing a song based on this verse (“Things Are Not Okay” by Jon Thurlow, with a chorus from “Rend” by Misty Edwards) and our director Brad was in the room. His wife Amy rushed in and handed him their two-year-old son Ryker so she could clean some things upstairs without Ryker being in the way.

In Brad’s words: “As quickly as she came, she left me with the now emotionally distraught toddler whose only desire in life is his mother who has just abandoned him to go upstairs and clean up his messes in peace. He immediately erupts into tears and is quite inconsolable, repeating, ‘Mommy, mommy, mommy, no, no no.'”

And at that moment, the lyrics I was singing were thus:

“Things are not okay right now, and they won’t be till You come back… Just come down! Just come down! Just come down!”

Brad saw the irony before I did, and immediately started laughing almost as hard as Ryker was crying, and I had to try hard to just keep singing… I switched songs fairly quickly to maintain composure!

Afterwards, I was thinking about Ryker’s desperation for his mother’s return, how deeply he felt her absence, how discontent he was without her presence, how shattered his world was without her…

This is lovesickness.

This is mourning for the return of the bridegroom.

I’m not recommending you throw a night and day tantrum until the second coming, but I am encouraging you to channel all of the energy of a desperate toddler into your spiritual violence and longing for Jesus. We’re not okay without Him.

Crucify the Flesh

A life following Jesus is supposed to be a life of saying no to the desires of our flesh. Of course, that doesn’t mean to automatically avoid everything that makes us happy and comfortable, but it does mean to recognize when the impulses of our flesh are hindering the work of the Spirit within us.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'”
(Matthew 16:24)

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh… those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
(Galatians 5:16-17, 24)

Fasting is a very tangible way to practice crucifying our flesh. Saying no to food is great practice for saying no to sin. Every time we feel the ache of hunger and the temptation to just grab a sandwich… or a huge plate of pasta… or maybe just a granola bar… we can choose to say NO. “Shut up, flesh, you’re not the boss of me!”

In that moment of “no,” we say “yes” to God and all He wants to give us. “Shut up, flesh… Jesus, You are better. All I want is You.” In that process that’s like a refiner’s fire, our flesh is weakened and our spirit is strengthened.

Fasting With Mixed Motives

Sometimes people get worried and don’t want to fast because they’re concerned that their motives are wrong. Maybe they’re coming out of an old “earning” mentality and are concerned about carrying that mindset into their fasting experience. Maybe they don’t want to do a “bandwagon” fast just because everyone else is doing it. Maybe they’re worried about a performance mindset– ie, doing it to impress others rather than to be seen by the Father.

Here’s the secret: you will ALWAYS have mixed motives! You can of course grow and ask God to sanctify and purify your heart, but until you see Him face to face your heart will NEVER be perfectly pure.

So what should you do? Do it with mixed motives! Trust the Holy Spirit to refine you as you go. God has set up these spiritual disciplines (like praying, fasting, and giving) in such a way that if you’re doing them sincerity–truly reaching for Him, even if there’s some pride and selfish ambition involved–you really will grow and encounter Him more than if you didn’t.

Trust me, even if you start to fast in pride, the more you do it, the more your pride will die. All your weaknesses will come roaring up into your face and that pride will look so silly. Hang in there. This is part of the refining process.

Fasting as a Lifestyle

I’m sorry to tell you, you might not experience a dramatic increase of God’s presence on day one. Or day ten.

I do promise that over time, as you continually reach and position yourself before God in a lifestyle of fasting (emphasis on “lifestyle”), you will find yourself encountering Him more than you used to. A good friend of mine compares it to taking your vitamins or eating healthy. You might not notice a difference right away, but in time, your body really is cleansed and strengthened.

So what does it look like to make fasting a lifestyle? I suggest participating in the monthly Global Bridegroom Fast, and/or fasting one day a week. It doesn’t even have to be a total fast; try skipping breakfast and lunch and eating a good dinner. The key is to get fasting into your normal rhythm in a way that’s stretching and also sustainable.

Finally, remember that your goal is to aim your heart at Jesus. Not eating without praying is just starving yourself. When you fast, make sure you’re also setting aside real time to pray, worship, and read the Word. I like to fast on days I know I’m already scheduled to spend a lot of time in the prayer room. Of course, you might not have that luxury, but try not to do it on your busiest day of the week.

I encourage you to step out to partner with the grace of God by leaning into fasting. Embrace the ache of longing for His presence, and ultimately, His return. Let yourself feel the depth of your need for Him.

As you reach out in desperation, mourning for the bridegroom, He will reach out in response and meet you.

Resources

For a quick practical guide to planning a fast, check out IHOPKC’s info page on fasting.

Here’s Jon Thurlow’s song based on Matthew 6:16-18:

Finally, several of my regular podcasts that I listen to have shared episodes on fasting recently. Here are the ones I’ve been listening to:

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Letter to Myself 10 Years Ago

On February 2, 2020February 18, 2022 By CaitlynIn Just Thoughts1 Comment

Yep, this is 2010 Caitlyn in my acting headshots.

Five years ago, I wrote a letter to myself one year ago. It was so much fun to look back on all the ways I had grown in that one year. At the turn of the decade, here in the beginning of 2020, I’ve been thinking about 2010 Caitlyn and what she would think to get a letter from the future.

Dear Caitlyn…

Hello from 2020! I know that sounds like the vastly distant future, but I promise the time will pass more quickly than you expect.

So, for you it’s 2010. You’re 19 years old and a senior at Azusa Pacific University. You’re studying theater, making plans for a career in TV and film, but you’re also developing an itch you can’t quite put your finger on.

I guess this letter is going to be full of spoilers, so are you ready for a big one?

You’re not going to go into an acting career at all.

You’ll still be so glad you went to APU; it was an important time of growth, expanding your horizons, and learning to put yourself in another person’s shoes. It wasn’t a waste of time (and guess what– your student loans are all paid off!).

When you look back, you’ll mostly remember the long hours in the campus prayer chapel. All those early mornings, all four years, reading Isaiah and the gospels, worshipping with Kim Walker and Misty Edwards cds on your knockoff iPod, reading and rereading that Lou Engle book that someone left, interceding on your face for revival at APU, that one time you danced to Holy by Matt Gilman until you couldn’t breathe…

You already know that those hours are precious. God is doing something deep in you, teaching you how to be like Mary of Bethany, like He called you to be when you were 16. You’re learning what it really looks like to waste your life poured out in prayer and worship at His feet. Ultimately, it’s the Mary dream that will draw you away from acting. And that’s okay.

Would you believe me if I told you that Mary of Bethany is only the very tip of the iceberg?

Around this time you wrote in your journal (I think it was last Christmas break):

I’m just a little girl with big eyes waiting for my revolution.

There’s so much hope and yearning in that phrase. You’re feeling so young and idealistic, itching to do something crazy and counter-cultural, tear down the white picket fence, find the bigger purpose you were born for.

Guess what, little girl–not too many years from now, you’re going to find your revolution. And it’s called the end time prayer movement.

That desire to be Mary will carry you to Kansas City. I know you’ve heard of IHOPKC, but you have no idea the depth of the impact that place will have on you. When you finally follow your heart to the 24/7 prayer room, you will find not only the joy of deeper intimacy with Jesus, but an entire storyline that will captivate your imagination and burn a conviction on your soul.

Remember reading the Left Behind series in high school? Remember wishing you could get temporarily un-saved so you could miss the rapture and be here for the tribulation? (Welp, you’re actually a post-tribber now, so I guess that worked out!) Remember the day the last book came out and you stood in the aisle of the Christian bookstore flipping through the chapters, hands trembling, heart pounding, reading every scene with Jesus appearing in the sky and talking to the characters in person?

Remember being six years old and asking Jesus why He was waiting to come back? And hearing Him tell you so clearly, “To give people time”? (2 Pet. 3:9)

You’ve been prepared for this your whole life.

You’ll be skeptical at first, but keep asking Jesus what this means. Keep searching the Word and letting all those teachings and worship songs woo your heart into the story.

This is the revolution you were born for. God is raising up a global singing Bride, an entire army of Mary of Bethanys who will usher in His return with bold proclamations and lovesick cries of “Come, Lord Jesus”.

Keep saying yes, step by step. Say yes to prayer chapel. Say yes to fasting. Say yes to the One Thing Internship when Erica asks you to go with her. Say yes to the invitation to the prayer movement when it comes. Say yes to turning your life upside down to move across the country–once, and then twice. Say yes to the radical, ancient calling that makes no sense to anyone else.

You’re 29 now, still radically in love with Jesus, now a ministry leader, worship leader, Bible teacher, mentor… still Mary of Bethany, wasting your life in a prayer room with your gaze set on eternity.

Not everything turned out how you imagined, but trust me, it’s better than you dreamed. His story is always better.

Love, Caitlyn

Arlington, Texas
January 2020

For more of the story of how this transition in my life unfolded, check out My Story.

2020 Caitlyn – slightly less babyfaced, but just as much joy, plus double the purpose and triple the confidence.

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