Kingdom Come
All things change.
Small note: for all the Substack and other blog writers. Have you ever started writing a post with a firm idea and then, after a while, watched your own writing shift and become a different subject? And… you're ok with it because it seems to be the Lord moving your attention elsewhere? Well… that would be today’s post.
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
For a long time, I never really thought of this scripture in any other context other than what I was taught. I kind of always have put this in a box that saw this in terms of evangelism and the general progression of coming to him. But all of a sudden, while writing this post, this scripture popped into my head, and I saw it in a new way. I saw it prophetically, and it forced me to rewrite the post.
I know many within the body have a very simple or almost non-existent understanding of our last two thousand years of Christian history. But this scripture has now allowed me to break Christian history down into three different phases of time. What was, what is, and what is coming.
The Way.
The term "The Way" in Christian Scripture refers to the early Christian followers of Jesus and the path of Christian life that Jesus and his followers modeled for us to follow. It was a term used by early followers to identify themselves, as found in several verses: Acts 9:2, 19:9, 22:4, and 24:14.
A little later in Acts, the term Christian started to rise in Antioch, Acts 11:26. But all the while, in the first few hundred years, believers followed The Way as demonstrated by Jesus and the Apostles.
The Truth.
After the rise of Catholic persecution, the infiltration and infection of Catholic concepts into mainstream believers. The Followers of the Way had to learn to stand on various scriptural truths. This gave birth to the early days of Denominations and the different truths they championed. The Truth of Scripture rose up, becoming the age of truth.
In doing so, denominations became like “nannies” that helped to guide the wayward flock. Yes, some did good and bad things that happened during those centuries. But without them, the Truth would have been lost.
The Life
As hard as it is for some people to understand, the age of denominations must fade away. Jesus is coming for the Spotless Bride. This term refers to the believers in Jesus the Messiah, who are being purified and made ready for the Messiah's return. Scripture emphasizes that Jesus loves his people and gave himself up to sanctify and cleanse them, presenting them as glorious, without spot or blemish.
There is no point in scripture that implies Jesus is coming back for a denomination, creed, or special movement. The nanny who was used in the years of the wilderness is no longer needed because we are being brought by His Spirit into maturity. Life is what is coming next, and life, like in the days of old, will be contagious and explosive.
From this, I see we have three ages or periods of time. The Way, The Truth, and The Life. This feeling is backed up by another scripture that he showed me years ago was also prophetic in Revelation 1:8, 4:8. Let's look at 1:8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
What I was shown with these scriptures is that God expressed himself in a certain way in the Old Testament, “…who was,” And then in the New Testament, he became the God “…who is.” And then, as we near the time of the end, we and he will transition. He will become the God, “…Who is to come,” and we will become the bride.
There are some other concepts I could throw into this, but I am still learning what he has shown me. But to suffice it to say, there is a wild side of Jesus we have only seen hints at in scripture, coming. So get prepared.
Overview
As the age of denominations shifts to a close over the next ten to fifteen years. The current concept of the “Church” will become increasingly unpopular as the Holy Spirit grows the greater concept of “The Family of God” John 15:15, Matthew 12:48-50 in the hearts of his people. No longer will people identify by denomination, but by spiritual communities and regions.
The modern history of the image of the Church system will be remembered as the place of hurt, control, and manipulation. While the image of Community will be seen as a place of the heart and Godly Presence. This is what we will need to survive the decades that follow.
Preprogrammed and “canned” sermons and teachings will increasingly be shuffled to the side as being unpopular, as the Body of the Messiah will become better at detecting when the Anointing is present and when it is human. 2 Corinthians 5:16, 1 John 2:27. These messages will not be “glossed over” and forgotten. But it shall be carefully pondered by the elders who have been trained by the “school of hard knocks” and the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3:17
It has been understood and taught by a few leaders in the last 50 years that the church is not the Kingdom, but it is the byproduct of the Kingdom. To our troubles, we have culturally accepted the byproduct as the final authority of God on Earth. Not realizing the full impact that there is a High King above the earthly steward who directs the affairs of his family.
In this, earthly stewards have usurped and overstepped their authority, damaging the Holy relationship between the flock and the true shepherd who loves them. In this, Ezekiel 34 and Matthew 18:6 speak directly to the actions and attitudes of the Earthly stewards. Because of this, wayward stewards have driven the Lost, Hurt, and Lonely away from the presence and protection of the one who loves them. This is something the Lord will no longer tolerate.
The foundation for this coming shift is currently being laid. Luke 17:21 It is being developed in the hearts of every person who sees God bring justice against the pretenders and predators. It is being laid in the soul of the timid who has experienced a touch of bravery. From this single drop of spiritual freedom, it can become a Tsunami against the walls of the system. John 8:32-36
An accountability among the brothers of Faith, Hope, and Love will grow, 1 Corinthians 13:13, displacing Christian social duties, local cultural rules, and misplaced servitude to the church structures.
As people detach, and then regather under the wings of the Lord. Life will grow in waves with periods of stillness between them. This stillness is for our growth and preparation for the next wave. As it does, old forms will continue to break and then fall.
In this scripture, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 I now see that in the last two thousand years, we have had to learn of him in different ways.
0-330 AD, we had to learn the Way he was and worked.
From 330 AD to the present, we have had to learn the truth about Him.
Now, as the age of denominations is starting to turn to a close. We must learn The Life so that we can give life away.
Evangelism.
Programmed methods like Saturation Evangelism, Confrontation Evangelism, Billy Graham style Crusade Evangelism, and others. They will all fall as they rely on rational attempts to reach the minds of people that rarely affect the soul.
People will learn to pursue the more Biblical form of Power Evangelism as demonstrated throughout the New Testament. This Way, as demonstrated by our forefathers, transcends the rational mind and cuts directly past our fears and rational arguments to ignite the soul.
Rational arguments at the core are Human and can be dismissed. Power encounters of Healing, Words of Knowledge, Signs, and Wonders are trans-rational and bring a “quickening” to the soul that forces an action. In this way, the communities of God will grow and become dangerous to local demonic activity. This is how we will impart real life. Not religious life.
Leadership
The Old Testament idea of “The Man of God.” It will give way to the greater concept of the “People of God.” Community = Co-unity will reduce and dismantle the personality-driven ministries and give rise to Elder-driven congregations. This will allow a diversification of gifting to truly flourish and return to the community as young Prophets and Apostles can finally rise up without trying to pattern themselves according to the precast mold established in the last 40 years. 1 Corinthians 11:1
Ministry
The very concepts of what is ministry and what is not ministry will be called “on to the carpet.” And evaluated closely by God's people, as we all realize that many of our models we have followed in the past are self-serving. A slow burn is taking place right now in the Kingdom in the hearts of his people against the things that are self-serving. It will become increasingly appalling to tolerate ministries that harbor this attitude.
As the things of the world that were once held in such high honor in our congregations are reduced to ash. This will lay the seedbed for a new attitude of self-giving to take place. Concepts of self-sacrifice for not only “official” ministries but also for your neighbors will grow.
This mentality of self-giving and self-sacrifice in time will blend with the gifts of Hospitality, Compassion, and Love to bless those around you.
Pastor
During the period of time that I earlier called “the Truth.” The importance of Shepherds grew, becoming what we now know today as Pastors. This is because the family of God was experiencing extreme levels of persecution under the Catholic armies and had to go into hiding.
The five-fold ministries that were common in elder groups were almost impossible to maintain during persecution, as all those duties got pushed and heaped onto the pastoral gifting. In these later years, the model of the “single head” leadership became “normal” and then morphed into a personality-driven model that I believe is totally counter to Kingdom culture.
God will turn things back, and the importance of the Elder-led congregations will slowly rise as the Spirit reteaches Pastors about their true roles in the body.
Five Fold
“So Christ himself gave the Apostles, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Pastors and Teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Eph 4:11-13.
One of the big, and mostly unspoken of problems we have had for a few generations now is improper modeling for new, up-and-coming leaders to follow. New leaders often model their ministry style after what they have known and seen. From this pattern, old problems have been replicated so many times that it is assumed this is how godly leaders act.
The reality is, if you look closely at the scripture, it makes it clear that we are all to become mature after the five-fold ministry is in place and doing their jobs, not before. This will require a profound reset of understanding that the Spirit will need to lead us through.
The VAST majority of us in the body have no idea what a mature body looks and acts like. We see hints of it in the New Testament, but we do not know of it experientially, only theoretically.
MorningStar Update
The following information comes from three different sources.
As I explained in previous posts, I don't expect this ministry to survive very long into 2026. And it would seem Rick is going to try and keep it afloat as long as possible. Repair issues in that old building are starting to mount up. As a result, they are now closing hotel rooms due to a lack of money for repairs. This is no surprise to some people who worked on the restoration when the ministry first bought it. I heard from many people who worked on it at that time that Rick and Dave would not allow them to spend serious money to properly fix the plumbing and electrical, or allow them to properly destroy the mold. It was this kind of attitude that led to many people living and working in the building to have health issues related to mold, as leaks in the walls only grew more mold.
It has now been reported…
Staff hours have been reduced by 50%.
Staff layoffs are currently happening. (40% of staff are now gone)
The remaining staff are not allowed to use PTO (paid time off) to make up any financial losses.
Rick has tried to sell the main warehouse, but the buyer’s bank backed out this last time.
Issues continue at the Moravian Falls location as the second church’s pastor and Rick are in disagreement over issues.
Rick is telling people he will hire everyone back as soon as the warehouse sells. So far, it has fallen through two times that I have heard of. He has also told others that he is using the money from the sale to rebuild the tower. So, which is it, going to hire everyone back, or are you going to rebuild the tower, or is it none of the above and it’s going in your pocket? Smells fishy to me.
Rick is also letting key people go, including his new Associate Pastor, Jeff Oliver, and Jerry, the pastor of what’s left at Moravian Falls. Considering his unwillingness to take his fingers off Moravian Falls and let it and My Father’s House merge into a new congregation. We can expect an empty building at the Falls in the near future.
It would seem that Rick’s sell-centeredness and the board’s unwillingness to make the necessary changes may result in a totally unfixable crash of the ministry. We may be seeing the last breaths of this ministry in the next couple of months if Rick remains unwilling to step away and let the board retool this ministry. I have often felt the Lord wanted to save this ministry in some form, if this is true. He will need to pry Rick’s fingers off it. There are some prophetic words from people to support this; however, all we can really do is wait and see.
Here is a simple tower fact. I have seen pictures of a large hole in the roof of the tower that has been letting the rain in for a LONG TIME. This water is falling on a very large amount of bird droppings. And from what I am told, the bird droppings are measured in feet, not inches. The water and the manure create uric acid. So every time it rains, uric acid leaches out onto the steel superstructure of the tower.
Although there is no known history of uric acid taking down a building. It will pit the steel, increase corrosion, and weaken the structure, making it less sturdy and resilient to hurricanes and earthquakes. So, I ask you, should anyone invest in the project when every year the price tag for repair grows higher, and the owners have integrity issues?
Special note: For those people who are seeking to go into ministry, a close examination of Morningstar’s actions would serve as a great example of what not to do when you're in charge.