Updated and Abridged Assessment of the Prophecies and Predictions

I wanted to write an updated and abridged assessment of the earthquake prophecies and predictions.

There are two reasons for doing this:

• Someone said to me that  what I had written was too long and could I write an abridged version
•  More importantly, behind the scenes there has been an incredible amount of communication between Christian leaders, with people raising different points, so that there has been a development of thought on these words towards consensus and conviction (Acts 15 model)

I.                The updated, abridged view:

THE PROPHECIES ARE WRONG

(is that abridged enough Paul?)

There is no reason to believe that a bad event is any more likely on Wednesday than any other day. Given the scientific evidence that aftershocks will continue we should be as prepared on Wednesday as we are any other day – or now even for space junk! Let's all just take a big breath.

II.             Why this assessment?

 

1.               Look at the effect of these words.

 

Jesus told us how to assess prophecy – twice Jesus said look at the fruit.  (Thanks Ken Shelley for this)

Matthew 7: ¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

He uses the picture of people who look like sheep but the effect of the message they bring has the nature of ferocious wolves among sheep.

I have never seen a wolf attack sheep but I have seen a dog attack sheep – they are ferocious and the sheep are in terror. That is precisely the spirit unleashed by these prophecies: fear and terror. That is not the Holy Spirit. And a whole disturbing Christian fringe subculture has emerged that lives out of this stuff and they are riding this wave of fear.

Just to make clear - the apostle Paul said in the churches we weigh prophesies not the person so I am talking about the spirit created by the message not the person (1 Cor 14:29; 1 Thess 5:20-22). The person needs pastoral care; the prophecy needs to be tested by its effects.

2.               No pastor or leadership team (that I know of) has a conviction that these words are right.

Jesus appointed shepherds - pastors and elders - to care for his flock (John 21: 15-17; 1 Peter 5:1-4).  One of their functions is to guard the flock precisely from the spirit of such ferocious wolves coming among them (Acts 20:28-29; John 10:11-13).  It is their God given call to make a judgement on this kind of thing – and they have. 

3.               The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.,

As the New Testament people of God our mandate and empowering by the Holy Spirit is NOT to declare judgement and wrath on cities and nations but to win the lost, make disciples, grow churches and be salt and light in our world - to be the channel for the river of God’s redeeming life, love and blessing that flows from his throne into our world (Eze 47). Intercessory and prophetic ministry need to come in behind this main agenda for the people of God. 

4.               Prophecies don’t do dates. Jesus didn’t do dates.

This is not prophecy this is fortune telling and divination and as such this is deception (Thanks Warren Lyons).

5.               The city of Christchurch is tired, anxious, fearful and stressed – what we desperately need is precisely the opposite of the spirit generated by these words – we need refreshing, peace, laughter, joy, happiness, thanksgiving, celebration and love.

Let’s be part of God’s good news in the city. Let's get back focused on being part of the recovery God is bringing in our city. The churches have done a great job being Christ's hands and feet and smile to our city in this time of trauma - let's get back to our role.

III.           Conclusion

The most favourable reading of this whole thing is that someone did actually have several  revelatory insights from God but unfortunately pushed beyond them and entered a different realm, as well as integrating these ideas into an unbalanced understanding of the character and ways of God. This then tapped into a Christian subculture of people who see themselves as intercessory and prophetic, but who are not connected with missional church leadership and who have a disturbing emphasis on wrath and judgement. This has unleashed a psychological, sociological and spiritual dynamic of fear and terror.

IV.           So what now?

The task now is to break free of this fear and terror. We used to be missionaries in a very oppressive context and one of the things we learned is the importance of living in the opposite spirit to the negative spiritual atmosphere. The challenge is how will you get your head and heart out of the space of confusion, fear and terror and into a different space of peace, laughter and joy – where you can even laugh at how worried you got about this stuff, perhaps if you left the city, to laugh and say oh well I get to have a holiday and we are going to be living on tins of spaghetti for a long time! I wonder what action you could do to live out of that opposite spirit? I can tell you that when you get out of this head space and into another space, you will find that is where the presence of the Holy Spirit is and you will suddenly realise how much you got caught up in something not of God. It can be difficult psychologically and spiritually to stay in that head space and not flip back into fear (2 Cor 10:4-5) - if you are struggling, get some prayer at church tomorrow -  But as we stay in that space, I believe that God’s Holy Spirit will be poured out and God’s angels will be dispatched from heaven to unleash the joy, life, release and purposes of God in our city.