Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Eschatological Core Values

By Kris Vallotton,
  1. I will not embrace an end-time worldview that re-empowers a disempowered devil.
  2. I will not accept an eschatology that takes away my children’s future, and creates mindsets that undermine the mentality of leaving a legacy.
  3. I will not tolerate any theology that sabotages the clear command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations, and the Lord’s Prayer that earth would be like heaven.
  4. I will not allow any interpretation of the scriptures that destroys hope for the nations and undermines our command to restore ruined cities.
  5. I will not embrace an eschatology that changes the nature of a good God.
  6. I refuse to embrace any mindset that celebrates bad news as a sign of the times and a necessary requirement for the return of Jesus.
  7. I am opposed to any doctrinal position that pushes the promises of God into a time zone that can’t be obtained in my generation and therefore takes away any responsibility I have to believe God for them in my lifetime.
  8. I don’t believe that the last days are a time of judgment, nor do I believe God gave the church the right to call for wrath for sinful cities. There is a day of judgment in which GOD will judge man, not us.
Kris Vallotton, from Bethel Church in Redding, CA, is a prophet, and is part of an apostolic team with Bill Johnson and others. He posted these core values on his blog.

Here's his brief bio for those who don't know him. I found it encouraging:

I wasn't born to be a passive pundit, tossed like a tiny ship on the stormy seas of evil schemes. Nor was I conceived to be a weatherman, predicting the next deadly assault on the shores of humanity.

NO! I was purposely born behind enemy lines as a force to be reckoned with. I was commissioned with a mandate to destroy the works of the devil. I was given power and authority to set captives free, release prisoners, rebuild ruined cities, and make disciples of all nations.

I have been assaulted, slandered and hated. I have known depression so deep that I've despaired of life itself, and anxiety so horrific that I could scarcely function.

I spent 20 years building businesses, sweating payrolls, scraping and clawing my way through life to compete with ruthless competitors who would stop at nothing to destroy their opponents. I was celebrated as one of the top entrepreneurs in my field. Yet when the dust cleared and the moving vans were gone, I was left sitting in the rubble of a once thriving enterprise with a $1.6 million debt as a memorial to my hard work…my house and most of my possessions gone.

My soul has known the pain of heartbreak and betrayal. I have staggered my way through years of abandonment and abuse. I've experienced the humiliation of poverty, and the intense pain of being the only kid on the field with no one cheering for him. I have pleaded for attention, only to be locked outside all by myself. I have hid for hours while my stepfather was on another drunken violent rampage with my mother, locked in a room as he beat her. I grew up in a culture of intense fear.

I understand what it's like to be unable to read in high school, and to be called stupid by my leaders. I have felt the pain of being the untalented little boy who no one wants to play on their team…standing on the sidelines, raising my hand, hoping to somehow be chosen. Many times I have stood by silently as my peers argued over who had to put me on their team.

Yet I refuse to be crushed by the circumstances of life, or be deterred by the opinions of the "experts". I won't wallow in self-pity, or waste my days hating the people who abused me. I reject the spirit of regret, and I will not drive my life by being fixated on the rearview mirror of the past. I have decided that feeling sorry for myself is taking up valuable time that could be used to rescue cities. My past pain will not dictate my future victories. I was born to win, equipped to shape history, empowered to extend the borders of the Kingdom, and redeemed to display the unreasonable love of my King to a desperate and lost world.

This mandate has become my mission, and with the help of God, I intend to accomplish it!!!!!

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