Friday, January 7, 2011

VISION OF THE TITANIC

Years ago I dismissed dream interpretation as a pastime of religious fanatics, relegating it to the marginally credible realm of Bible codes and numerology. But at some point I awakened from my prejudice, realizing that dreams were the most common vehicle of God's voice in the Bible, mentioned over one hundred times. Dreams, prophecies and visions are anything but marginal; to the contrary they are evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams (Acts 2:17)

Our dreams may come either from God, demons or the subliminal thoughts of our hearts,(Dan 2:30) but when downloaded from God, dreams have a distinctive quality that sets them apart, yet only the Holy Spirit can ultimately decipher and interpret them. (1 Cor 2:12-16) I don't base doctrine on dreams, visions or prophecies. The Bible is the plumb line for understanding all spiritual experiences. Nevertheless, revelatory events should be common to all Christians, (1 Cor 12:7) (1 Cor 14:26) and fearing them is to elevate deception above God's faithfulness.

The dream that I am about to share is an ominous warning, but it arises from God's love, to fortify and enlighten us. The New Testament prophet Agabus prophesied a famine, to warn not to condemn. Jesus prophesied of Peter's crucifixion, not to scare him but to prepare him. (Jn 21:13-18) Virtually all the prophesies and visions of the book of Revelation are catastrophic, yet their purpose is to edify, not to intimidated us.

THE DREAM
I was on a wharf overlooking the ocean in what seemed like San Francisco. It was nighttime and cold. As I looked out, directly in front of me was the Titanic standing straight up ready to plunge into the depths. Only a few yards away, lifeboats filled with survivors were neatly lined up facing the Titanic. The survivors sat very orderly, quietly focused on the Titanic as it was about to go down.

Suddenly I found myself hovering just above and next to the life boats, as I urgently cried out, “Get back!! or you will be destroyed by the backwash!” Immediately I was transported back to the wharf, as the Titanic slid below the surface. A great turbulence resulted, destroying the life boats and raining down cold ocean water all around me, yet I remained untouched. As the water pelted the wharf, flames of hell fire came up from below. End of dream.

INTERPRETATION
I believe the interpretation is this: The Titanic represents America, and the lifeboats represent the church. The United States is tragically “going down,” and the church is too close to it.

The Titanic embodies the opulent American life style of the glory of man, the presumption of safety and the repression of the poor. Didn't the captain audaciously declare, “Even God can't sink this ship!” as the despised poor were banished to the lower decks?

Because of the churches' preoccupation with tradition, entertainment, self-esteem, prosperity and the glorification of man, hell fire will manifest. Much of the church has ignored it's mandate to be a house of prayer for all nations, and the default position for being too close to the world is hell fire. Your denominational lifeboat will fail you if you ignore the requirements of prayer, love and separation from this world. “Do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (Jas 4:4)

God's final warning to the “secular” church is, “Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.” (Rev 18:4)

APPLICATION
How is the church too close to the world? Are we suppose to be culturally reclusive, hiding behind a legalistic charade, blabbing our Christian buzzwords? No, it's a heart issue. We can look relevant, passionately preach, minister to the needy and yet be a fraud. We all have a pharisee inside who cleans the outside of the cup, but inside is full of greed and self-indulgence. (Mat 23:25)

But thankfully, there is a clear biblical definition of true religion. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”(Jas 1:27) Practical loving and being uncontaminated by this perverted world captures the simplicity of Christianity.

Love is the goal, a pure heart is its conduit. “If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 Jn 2:15) The pollution of our culture and the Father's love are mutually exclusive.

The epitaph of Sodom and Gomorrah is God's prototype warning for all generations. “Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” (Ez 16:49)  Isn't it interesting that the sin most associated with Sodom isn't even mentioned?

This indictment of Sodom is also the legacy of the American dream, and the diagnosis of the ailing western church. Arrogance, gluttony, wasting time and misuse of money, have sabotaged and disarmed the church. When we marginalize God, the “inalienable right of the pursuit of happiness” becomes a license for unbridled selfishness . . .and the church parties on.

PRIDE
Sodom's descent into hell began with pride. (Ez 16:49) Pride is so ingrained into our psyche that sadly, our culture considers it a virtue, but it is the most malignant of all sins, more primitive even than the love of money. Pride is the very basis of Lucifer's fall and it's been spliced into our DNA, whispering “You shall be as Gods.” This lure of personal autonomy and sovereignty is the lie of the ages.

We have a ravenous hunger to recover our lost glory, and pride is its cheap and toxic imitation. “Notice me! Notice me!” Self esteem is one of our most powerful, yet delusional drives, and it's sustained by pride. “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Lk 16:15)

“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (Jas 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5) “Resists” in the original Greek is a hostile military term meaning “to array in battle against.” God militantly and aggressively opposes pride, because it is the most destructive force in the universe. Pride is the only thing that God's grace cannot penetrate!

“Only by pride comes contention.” (Prov 13:10) Pride is the source of all strife, from the home to the nations, as it complains, takes offense and self-justifies. If I were the only person in the universe I would have no pride because pride requires comparison. “When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. (2 Cor 10:12) Like Lucifer, if I disregard God I will inevitably bestow divinity upon myself. Whether I exalt or debase myself it's pride, because I'm letting the world determine my value.

Only by humility can we access God and His love. Most of our personal trials are ordained to humiliate, so we can be divested of all that's not love. (Ps 34:19) Humiliation managed by God crushes pride, driving us into the secret place. (Ps 31:20) “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” (1 Pet 5:6) Exaltation is our ultimate destiny, but we are powerless to orchestrate it.

Genuine humility flows from a broken and contrite heart desperately aware of its need for mercy. A pious outward show of humility is false humility, which is merely concealed pride. (Col 2:23) “Do not let anyone disqualify you by making you humiliate yourself.” (Col 2:18 NCV) Rest assured, “It is God who produces in you the desires and actions that please him.” (Phil 2:23 GW) Nevertheless, when God gives us a scorching glimpse of our spiritual bankruptcy, pride still haunts us daily. Therefore, like Paul we must “die daily” (1 Cor 15:31) and humble ourselves as a little child. (Mat 18:4)

FULLNESS OF FOOD
Sodom's second iniquity surprisingly was “fullness of food.” In another dream the Lord showed me a creature that is ravaging America and debilitating the church. Its name is Behemoth and it's reputedly the ruling spirit over the domain of gluttony. In the dream it lunged at my feet to bite them, just as I awoke. Failure to deal with gluttony or excessive self-indulgence will cripple our walk.

Paul takes it further, “I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many (believers) live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their future is eternal destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth.” (Phil 3:18-19 NIV) If that wasn't severe enough, he adds this alarming confession “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.(1 Cor 9:27)

Those verses are far more serious than we dare think. If our appetite is an idol, our salvation is in jeopardy. It sounds outrageous. But we've been so immersed in excessive self gratification and indulgence that we have a distorted view of moderation, and a religious prejudice against a fasted lifestyle. What is normal?

Never in history have the masses had carte blanche access to the decadent diet that once was reserved only for royalty. Now we all eat like kings. But the Bible warns that such excess is dangerously abnormal. “When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.” (Prov 23:1-3)

The king's food is deceptive because it's totally focused on sensation without regard to health or moderation. It's not sin to enjoy eating, “God, gives us richly all things to enjoy.” (1 Tim 6:17) Nevertheless, if we over indulge our flesh, it will demand more and more, until we are its slave.

This is not simply about obesity or toxic food. Gluttony robs us spiritually. We are designed to be totally integrated beings, and fullness of food reinforces the other lusts of the flesh. If you're battling anger, pride, lust or addictions, stop overeating and feed your spirit instead. Fasting allows one's spirit to ascend while the flesh is denied power. Drawing near to God implies drawing away from all that's anti-God, including our carnal cravings. (Jas 4:8)

ABUNDANCE OF IDLENESS
Sodom was obsessed with “idleness” which is defined as “activity that is frivolous, vain, futile, useless; to move lazily about without purpose.” Does this not embody the American theme park mindset, with its advertised illusion of heaven on earth? Wasting time is the vacant pleasure of the god of materialism. We can be frantically busy while squandering irreplaceable time.

It's certainly good and necessary to chill, relax and recreate; that's the purpose of the sabbath, made for our human need to rest. (Mk 2:27) But there's not even a remote comparison between a sabbath rest and the incessant idle distractions of our culture.

Time is relative, temporary and indelibly woven into the fabric of our existence, and therefore, incomprehensible. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pet 3:8) Time is not ultimate reality, it's a parentheses in eternity, and the crucible of salvation. (Ecc 1:13) “Consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation.” (2 Pet 3:15) Time is literally salvation. Our time on earth is not an end in its self, it's preparation for eternity.

Time is infinitely more precious than money. Money is not the currency of God's kingdom, love is, and anything we do that's not motivated by love is idle and desolate. Imagine being on your death bed wishing that you had watched more TV, played more games, read more novels, or spent more time enslaved by electronic gadgets. The only thing that will matter is how much time was spent loving. (Mat 22:37-40)

“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:15-16) Fools waste time. Our culture's addictive distraction with music, images, games, fantasy and an endless stream of data, is totally without precedent. No other generation in history has experienced this baptism of insatiable stimulation, which to the young seems totally normal. Technology is growing exponentially and it's greatest influence is it's ability to seduce and deceive, and its primary fruit is vanity and a haunting emptiness. (Ecc 1:14)

The Bible offers an ultimatum that seems preposterous and virtually unthinkable in our society: “Be imitators of God . . . And walk in love, as Christ . . . But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you . . .neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, but rather giving of thanks . . .No fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes . . . Therefore do not be partakers with them. . . Walk as children of light . . .And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness . . .For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.” (Eph 5:1-16)

Even Old Testament saints were tuned into this truth. “I will set nothing wicked (shameful, vile, base, worthless) before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.” (Ps 101:3) However, much of the church appears to be reprobate, as they daily binge on scenes of sex, violence and emotional trauma. We are attracted to such degeneracy because our flesh is corrupt and craves darkness, but there will be no excuse. If at the judgment, we must give account for every idle word, (Mat 12:36) how shall we escape accountability for idle time?

The Bible warns that destruction awaits those “Whose glory is their shame.” (Phil 3:19) America has become proud of what it should be ashamed of, producing a generation with no sense of shame. Billy Graham once remarked, “When was the last time you blushed at something on TV?” Thankfully repentance and forgiveness offers us a clean slate.

CONCLUSION
If all this “negativity' has placed a disheartening burden on you, don't despair. In the context of extreme religious tradition and legalism the Bible offers liberation: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” (1 Cor 6:12; 10:23) There are obvious sins enumerated in scripture, but many things are morally neutral. How they affect our heart and communion with God is the issue, and that's personal and can't be legislated.

However, many of you have been so traumatized and alienated by the American gospel, that you are in danger of the same duplicity you so despise in the church. To assume that you can navigate the pandemic deceptions of this world better than others is blind pride, and its most vile form is religious pride.

"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (Jn 8:31-32) The truth that sets you free from deception is not found in objective reasoning or even true doctrine. The truth is not a concept, it's a person, who said “I am the truth,” and only abiding in Him keeps us from deception. (Jn 14:6) (Jn 1:1) 

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” (Jn 15:4) Deliberate  abiding in Christ, (walking in the Spirit) is the only path to our destiny, and Narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it.” (Mat 7:14) That is the brutal reality of life.  If we fear that the narrow way will lead us to legalism and traditionalism, we will compromise and discredit the way of the cross. 

I am simply sharing Bible verses here. You can reject my remarks, but please don't reject the Spirit of Truth who yearns to reveal the Bible to you. There's no private interpretation, only various levels of truth . . .or deception. (2 Pet 1:20)

I know that warnings like this are foreboding and unpleasant, but they're an expression of God's mercy. Judgment on the church is not condemnation, it's to motivate us to flee to the Father, not evade Him.

Paul's farewell address to the church revealed his consuming burden to warn of deception: “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (Acts 20:31) That's a remarkable statement! Paul didn't just preach positive messages. For three and a half years he “ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” That's a glimpse of God's heart for the church.

I believe the Titanic is now poised to plunge into the depths . Don't wait for it to slip below the surface before you divest yourself of this world's ways.


P.S. Sodom's failure to minister to the poor and needy was the fourth reason for their fall. It's a provocative topic because it's about money. That's a subject for a future post.

Copyright by Hayden Humphrey 2011