Time to Re-Build in 2016

December 2015

Dear Friend,

In December 2014, I blogged about how I saw 2015 being a year of re-positioning and re-direction for some people. The year has come and gone and we stand again at the threshold of 2016. Looking back at the year, I can say that I found myself being re-directed and re-positioned into certain places that I really did not see myself doing; all good things though! And over the course of the year, I've had friends who were re-directed into a place where God wanted them to be and they're producing good fruit after years of barrenness. 

I see 2016 as a year of rebuilding that which we thought was ruined beyond all restoration. This will not only apply to our individual lives but also to the Church. I base my statement from reading Isaiah 61:1-4.

Isaiah 61:1-2 is what we term as a Messianic prophecy referring to the ministry of Jesus. 

Isaiah 61:1-2 (NKJV)

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.

When He began His ministry, Jesus read Isaiah's prophecy to the Jews in Nazareth (Luke 4:18-19) and He declared to them that "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing" And as we know, He died on the cross for us all, was raised from the dead and is now seated at the right hand of God interceding for us.

If we continue reading from Isaiah 61:3, it speaks of the Messiah and what He would do further:

Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV)

To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD that He may be glorified.

As we read the Bible, we find that not only is it referring to a physical location people, there is also a spiritual aspect that should be applied. When Isaiah prophesied about the ministry of Jesus, he spoke of how He would come to console Israel and to restore them to the place where God wanted them to be. In the New Testament, Zion is a picture of the Church (Hebrews 12:22-24), Blood-Bought by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In Him, we have our comfort, joy, praise. We are the Righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). In Him we've been restored to our relationship with God as His children.

Note what Isaiah spoke in Isaiah 61:4,

Isaiah 61:4 (NKJV)

And they (being Zion) shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.

If we read the Old Testament, we can find that Israel was made desolate time and again because of their unfaithfulness towards God. Almost all of Israel was in ruins because of their idolatry and disobedience towards obeying the will and plan of God for their lives. But Isaiah prophesied that in the period of the Messiah, they would rebuild the old ruins, repair the ruined cities: The results of the sin of many generations before them.

In 2009 I came across the ministry of Rev. J.R and Carmen Goodwin, two old-time Pentecostal preachers who were unapologetic in their preaching of the Word (they passed on in the early '80s to '90s). They moved freely in the Gifts of the Spirit and it was my exposure to their ministry that stirred up a hunger in me to know God the same way they did. It was shortly after that my dad and I found ourselves beginning to move the same way they did. Not only that but the more we sat under their ministry, the more we found our approach towards the Word change. It was not just a book to read but we found it alive, a living book that speaks to us every day.

In recent months I found that the recorded sermons of preachers in previous generations were being uploaded to the Internet; those who knew the Word of God intimately and moved freely with the Spirit of God. Preachers who stood for what the Word said and refused to back down. Preachers who stood in various offices of the Five-Fold ministry who preached a Gospel of repentence, obedience to God and faith in the work at Calvary.

I am reminded of a prophecy I read two years ago that was given to another Pentecostal minister's grand-daughter about her grandfather's recordings:

The ministers of your grandfather's day lit a Pentecostal fire that swept the world in their generation, but that fire has now died down to where only ashes and embers are left. But I am going to use your grandfather's recordings to breathe on these embers with the wind of My Spirit, and that fire will rekindle and sweep the world again in a new Pentecostal revival.

- regarding F.F Bosworth (1877-1958) and his recordings.

I am excited about the year to come, I really am. I see a coming re-building of those old ruins that we left desolate. I see a restoration of the Word, where we can boldly declare as Paul said, "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:27 ESV) I see a restoration of the move of the Spirit where we'll see signs and wonders, healings and miracles. I see times of revival, refreshing and repentence that comes from the Presence of God. And where the Spirit is, there is freedom.

As we turn towards God and choose to follow Him in His ways, we will also begin to rebuild those old ruins. Paul wrote that there is no other foundation on which we should build other than Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:11). He is the Cornerstone of the Church and it is on the revelation of who He is in our lives that we will re-build those ruins in our life.

I call you blessed,

Ken