History is not cyclical, it is linear.  I know that many times we may have a problem with the fact that God steps into our time/space world and affects the outcome.  With this in mind, God is moving, and if He is moving I want to go with Him.  Where is He going to?  To the ends of the earth.

When we step back and look at significant events in history, the past that really matters to the purposes of God, we can see that God takes some fairly large steps of time.  These “moments” when God stepped into our time in a deliberate way, were events that changed the way believers viewed the Kingdom of God:

The Last Supper:
When Christ told the apostles to eat of His body and drink of His blood nothing was ever the same from that point on for believers.  No body knew it, but nothing would be the same.  This was the summation of the Passover Feast.  It became personal. The early church perfromed the will of God aside from Judaism. We were transferred from an impersonal association with God, to a very intimate relationship with our Father. 

Constantine:
Believers in Christ were never the same after this Roman General made Christianity the creed of Rome.  When Constantine declared that Christianity would be the State religion, nothing was ever the same again.  It became an imperialistic religion where Christianity would rule the masses. 

Roman Catholic/Greek Orthodox Churches:
When the Roman and Orthodox churches split, difficulties arose. The Greek Orthodox Church is as numerous as the Roman Catholic, but it is inert, it has no voice.  So, the Roman Church ruled the government and much of the earth for 500 years. Along came Martin Luther in 1517, tacked 95 things for discussion to a door of a church.  How many of you know this discussion got a little out of hand?  In 1517, this is what we know as the beginning of the Modern Church…church as we know it has not changed much in 500 years.  But, the Lord moved on, and we can see how He is taking these 500 year steps.

Azusa Street:
In 1901 here in the United States, more accurately Kansas, there was a small town preacher named Parham.  In a small Bible College there was revealed to this man and others the Kingdom of God by the Holy Spirit.  In 1906 a man named Seymour was involved in the Azusa Street movement in Los Angeles in which he came to this area and the Holy Spirit moved all who came to hear the message.  The movement was so radical in that Seymour was a simple black man.  Racial boundaries played no part, especially when the Lord wanted His Kingdom preached.  This was not a denominational movement.  It was the beginning of the revelation of the Kingdom in serious and earnest unfolding.  The “Charismatic outpouring” came 400 years into the Modern church.  There are still people today who are suspect of whether or not this is of God and all the while the Father keeps taking steps. 

 
The past events have some sort of pattern…500 years.  500 years from when Luther nailed that paper to the door is 2017.  I am not prophesying here, I just want to make something clear that there are changes coming.  Is the Lord coming back?  I wish!  I hope He does and He does not need my consent to do so.  But what I see happening then, and what is already beginning, is that we are entering a post-denominational era where denominations don’t mean anything anymore.  “I go to that church on the corner because their music is better, or they serve Starbucks.”  Doctrine has been set aside for “better baby-sitting.”  Denominations are increasingly absent from the outside of churches because it has become irrelevant.  I’m telling you that for the next 11 years there will be some pretty exciting times because I think the Lord is moving in an incredible way!  I will also say that we need a clear view of the Kingdom and where we stand in it.


The extraction of the Kingdom from Judaism was very painful.  The extraction of the Kingdom from Imperialism was very complicated.  The extraction of the Kingdom from Feudalism or the Papacy was unbelievably bitter.  The extraction of the Kingdom from the modern concepts of church is going to be difficult because we have not known anything else for 500 years.  The Kingdom should be understood as entering a post-denominational and a post-doctrinal era.  This means that we as believers don’t kill each other over doctrine anymore.  I have seen too many examples of this, been a supplier of this, and been a product of it.  A good question to ask a group of believers is, “How many of you have had your doctrine change in the past 5 years?”  There is a transition happening and we need to be forewarned, because when it happens it could get complicated.


“That the world might believe…”
How can a world believe when there are over 8,000 denominations?  How confusing this must look to a person in need of Christ.  God is taking 500 year steps and He is about to place His foot into the earth again.  Who knows where, but I want to see it when it happens.  Since 1906 there has not been any new, effective denomination.  Everything has happened Para church style and outside of denominational circles in organizations such as, Young Life, YWAM, and Alpha, because they are carrying something to a dying world.  What would the Church look like if we could re-center on the Kingdom and replicate the Father’s love as He taught us in Matthew 5?  It would look like the Kingdom of God!  This upcoming event will precipitate the re-throning of the Father’s Love.  Meaning that there is a reemphasis of God’s love for a hurting world, a new importance for the poor and needy, and a new antithesis on the government of God.

500 Year Steps:
How many of you know that these steps by God are inexorable and He is going on with or without our permission?  When He goes there we must be prepared to understand and be willing to be used.  Something deep is changing in our midst, but the good news is that the Father loves us and wants us to understand that His steps are meant for His glory, love, and Kingdom to be revealed.