Stop Waiting — Start Occupying

If you've been listening for a while, you may

know this podcast has had a few names. It started

with Metanoia Ministries, a call to rethink everything.

Then it became Echoes of Eden, rediscovering

the original design of humanity. But over time,

something became clear. The heartbeat behind

all of this is family, the family of God. The

restoration of sons and daughters. And that's

why everything is now moving under one banner.

Kingdom. Family. Ministries. Alright guys, we

are back again starting a new series this week.

This will be a fun one for me. It may not be

for you, but it will be for me. We've actually

started this on Wednesday nights in our Kingdom

Family Ministries Bible study. It's rethinking

end times. Yes, rethinking the end times. And

this was an interesting, interesting series,

I guess you could say. Of course, with everything

going on, if you're watching the news and social

media, people are constantly it's almost the

end. It's almost the end because of what's going

on overseas and just different things and I remember

having a conversation with the Holy Spirit and

I'm like you know what I wish I could teach on

the end times and I just felt an invitation saying

well let's do it. So this is fun for me because

I have to study some of this a little bit deeper

because I'm not as skilled and listen this is

not about making everybody agree with me on my

viewpoint of the end times. But it is to help

people do exactly what the series says. Rethink

the end times. It's good. It's to challenge the

mindsets that we have, especially here in the

West. So that's what where this is kind of going.

So we're just going to start this off slow. I

went through my notes and I've got at least 14

weeks worth of notes just on this topic. Rethinking

the end times going through different different.

scenarios and all that kind of stuff and I've

learned this already um I think we're on week

three or four for our Bible study and I've learned

this already I think you could probably I think

someone could probably teach an entire year on

this and still not hit it all there's a lot of

information there's a lot of stuff in the scriptures

um so we're just going to dive in we're just

going to roll with it and for week one we're

going to talk about the problem with fear based

prophecy. So I want you to think about when you

hear the word or the term in times, what emotions

come to your mind. Now I did this in a room full

of teenagers and adults. We probably had, I would

say anywhere between 10 to 15 people the night

that I asked this question. And some of the stuff

I heard was what I expected. Anxiety, fear. afraid

different things along that nature along that

that subject and I believe most people would

say things such as fear anxiety chaos some would

think of the Antichrist tribulation period world

collapse if you know the if you grew up as idea

with the left behind stuff you think of planes

falling from the sky and cars just not having

drivers anymore and just It's wild, it's crazy.

And I want to say this to kick this thing off,

because this is a conversation we had as a group.

If anything, not just the things concerning in

times, but if there's anything that brings you

fear and anxiety in your life, I believe we have

a responsibility to ask, is that actually from

God? I think that's really important because

perfect love comes to cast out all fear and scripture

even tells us that i've not given you a spirit

of fear but a spirit of power but a power of

love lord jesus i can't even think about the

scripture it says i've not given you a spirit

of fear you know what let's just look it up because

i am drawing a complete blank right now I've

got my laptop here. Second Timothy 1 -7 and then

I'll come back to the scripture for tonight or

for this episode whatever. Second Timothy 1 -7

says, For God will never give you the spirit

of fear but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty

power, love, and self -control. Now why that

was so hard to think about? So for God will never

give you a spirit of fear. But the Holy Spirit

who gives you mighty power love and self -control

So I want you to think about that anything that

again I'm not just pertaining this to end times

when I say that But anything that causes you

to have fear and anxiety in your heart and your

spirit Question that take that before Holy Spirit

and find out why? And just let Holy Spirit minister

to you on that so we're gonna dive in Now that

I've given you time to think about what emotions

come to your mind and be honest about where you're

at, I want you to think about that Jesus never

told his followers to live in prophetic panic.

Think about that. We're going to read a story

today at Luke chapter 19 verses 11 through 13.

Luke 19:11–13

Again, I'm using the passion translation for

mine. And it says at this time Jesus was getting

close to entering Jerusalem. The crowds that

followed him were convinced that God's kingdom

would fully manifest when Jesus established it

in Jerusalem. So he told them this story to change

their perspective. Once a wealthy prince left

his province to travel to a distant land where

he would be crowned king and then return. Before

he departed he summoned his ten servants together

and charged them I am entrusting each of you

with fifty thousand dollars to invest while I

am away Trade with it and put the money to work

until I come at least the King James would say

Occupy till I come so I want you to think about

me like what does that have to do within times?

Well, we're going to get there. I'm going to

help you with that one I want you to think about

the word occupy in the Greek and again I'm not

a scholar but it's pragmatiumai and I'll spell

it for you P -R -A -G -M -A -T -E -U -O -M -A

-I if you can pronounce that better I wish you

all the best so the root word is pragma and this

is where we get our English word pragmatic meaning

to engage in business to trade to conduct affairs

to steward resources to actively work with what

has been given This word was commonly used for

commerce and investment So Jesus is using economic

language in this story in Luke 19. He's describing

active kingdom participation He says I'm giving

you something $50 ,000 what it would translate

today's in today's terms. I'm giving you this

to trade on my behalf. Go invest it. Go grow

what I am giving you. And so what is this? It's

kingdom participation. Often I think about the

story. And I picked this up from Damon Thompson.

If you think about the first miracle we have

recorded in scripture when Jesus turned water

into wine. If you can turn the water into wine,

you can certainly fill the pots up by yourself.

Just let's be honest with this. If you can turn

the water into wine, you don't need anybody to

fill up the pots with water. Because if you can

do the one then certainly you can do the other

but what is this a picture of its participation?

He's it's an invitation for you and I to participate

and what the father is wanting to do So this

is kingdom participation you and I are invited

to invest what has been entrusted to us The kingdom

is all about participation. I love it Years ago

when I was a teenager, so I was probably been

20 years Mark, I can't think of his last name,

was lead singer of Cast and Crowns, and I was

watching a, I think I had a DVD, and he was talking

about the song, The Voice of Truth, and about

how it came to be, about him sitting at a piano,

and he began to have a conversation with God.

And he said, God told him, he said, Mark, he

said, I don't need you. I want you. Now let that

sit. I don't need you. I want you. I want your

participation. I want your time spent with me.

That's powerful if we think about it. You see,

many believers have been taught the world's gonna

get worse and worse, and to me that equals no

hope. The church is gonna disappear, evil will

dominate history, which means again, no hope,

and I would say that also at the root of that

would have to be saying that Jesus failed if

evil is going to dominate history um and here's

listen you know probably have said this plenty

of times for people but light overcomes darkness

100 percent of the time if it is dark in the

world around you it's because the light within

you needs to be turned on so that you can light

up the darkness around you we've been taught

we just need to hold on just keep waiting for

me what are we holding on to what are we waiting

for We keep we keep it's it's almost like we

have this notion that Christ did not fit and

we just celebrated Easter It's almost like we

had this notion that Christ did not finish What

he said he finished when he was on the cross?

That there was something he left undone that

still needs to be completed and my friend that's

simply not true. He finished it all So what are

we waiting for? If it's dark, that problem lies

with us as sons and daughters and with us as

the body of Christ. We are the ones who carry

light, but too many times I think we are the

ones who take our light and hide it under a basket.

Just think about this stuff. This mindset often

creates disengagement and pessimism, which is

a tendency to see the worst of something. It's

a lack of hope. Fear so you look at things happening

Overseas and especially in Iran and stuff like

that and you're like well this has to happen

and if you believe this has to happen then how

can you properly ever pray for peace in a region

such as that and Here's the thing is he the prince

of peace of the god of war because he can't be

both Well, I know some people say well look at

what he did in the Old Testament. Okay, but was

that God? Don't go into the Old Testament trying

to find God without putting on your lens of Christ.

Because we have Jesus talking to Thomas in the

New Testament, and Thomas is asking, let me see

the Father. And Jesus says, Thomas, how long

have I been with you? And you still don't get

it. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father.

And it's Bill Johnson, I believe, who says it

like this. He says, be careful of anything that

you believe about God that you cannot find in

the person and the nature of Jesus Christ. Jesus

came to fix the perspective we held of his father.

Go all the way back to the beginning with Adam

and Eve. When Adam and Eve fell, what happened?

They lost the perception of Jesus. They lost

the perception of God. They forgot how good he

was. That's why I believe it's in Romans it says,

and I'd have to go look it up to be sure but

I believe it's Romans that says it's the goodness

of God that causes you and I to repent it's the

goodness of God that causes man to metanoia to

come back to their original senses their original

design to make a complete 180 and leave that

destructive thought life and come back to where

it's supposed where they belong where they originated

from just like the prodigal son the prodigal

son he could The prodigal son could come home

because he had a reference for where home was

when he was in the pig pen in the pigsty and

doing all this nonsense. There was something

up here that said, hold up, I remember where

I came from. And if we could ever ourselves remember

where we came from, when we have John chapter

three, when Nicodemus is having a conversation

with Jesus in the middle of the night. Jesus

tells Nicodemus, you gotta be born again. He

says, Nicodemus says, well, Jesus, how do I do

this? I can't, I'm a grown man. I can't crawl

back into my mother's womb. And Jesus says, Nicodemus,

you're a great teacher, but yet you don't understand

this. And what that word is about the whole being

born again, it's the word geneo, which means

to be born from above. So you and I have to understand

where we actually came from, what we have been

put on earth to do. Romans 8 tells us that all

of creation is groaning and travailing for the

manifestation of the sons and daughters of Yahweh.

And then it takes us to shine our light into

the darkness so that all those around us, just

like I taught about the revelation of Christ

in all, It takes our light lighting them up and

calling out the Christ within them to step into

who they are in Christ. Man, I hope this is such

good stuff if you actually get into it. So let's

look at this for a minute. Think about the word

church. Church is the word iglesia. It's not

the buildings that we gather in. Church is iglesia.

In ancient Greek cities like Athens, the iglesia

was the assembly where citizens gathered to govern.

So the church is the body that gathers together.

That's one of the things we're actually discussing.

What we have discussed with our Bible study group

and our kingdom family is, you know, we don't

belong to a building. We don't actually go to

a church. Unfortunately, in my area, most churches

are not going to let me Believe what I believe

I've learned that through life lessons and different

things and I don't hold anything against anybody

It took a journey for me to get to where I'm

at. It took a journey for me to come into some

of these beliefs But it's like I've had a conversation

with my wife. I can't I can't unsee what I've

seen I've seen too much of his goodness and understood

too much grace to be able to turn back and go

and teach how I used to teach. I'm like Paul

says, and I'd have to really go look up the scripture,

but I love it how he says it. If I go and rebuild

what I have torn down, I would be a breaker of

the law. I would be a law breaker. I can't do

that. I can't turn around and go back to what

I used to teach. In my honest opinion, it didn't

bring the change. It didn't bring the transformation

in my life. It didn't bring the transformation

in other people's lives. But this gospel that

I'm carrying now has had the power to change

me first, change my marriage, change my family.

And then I've seen it work in changing the lives

of young people and teenagers. is what it is.

So we've had this conversation about we don't

go to a church building for church, but because

we're gathering together to go after the heart

of the Father, we are the church. That is church.

That is the gathering together. We're not forsaking

the assembly. We are gathering together. We do

Wednesday nights and then we do the first and

third Saturday. And man, we have seen this thing

grow. We have seen, I love it. And I'll tell

this story over and over because it just it spoke

so much volume to me. Two services ago, we had

a young 18 year old girl come and she did not

want to be around anybody. She came with one

of the girls that was there. She came with her

because she was a friend, but she did not want

to be in the crowd at all. And when we got to

the end of the service, the love of Papa just

encountered this young girl and by the end, she

was in the group dancing with four of the other

girls and then tells us that hey i'm coming back

on wednesday nights and she was back the wednesday

night after that didn't get to make it this past

week due to um conflicts or whatever but that

amazes me and then i was told that she wants

to also bring a friend to one of our youth gatherings

so this is like it's growing organically and

we're seeing Papa encountered these young people

and what is that? That is the church. That is

the iglesia and if we could ever understand that

we are called here put here to govern on earth

as it is in heaven. Iglesia is never a building.

It's always a people that is gathered together.

The iglesia functions as heaven's governing assembly

on earth. It's releasing the reality of the kingdom.

It was a civic assembly that made decisions for

the city. Citizens gather to deliberate, to decide

policy, to release decrees. Jesus used this word

that implies authority and participation in governance,

not just worship meetings. We are called and

sit here to legislate on earth as it is in heaven.

We are ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven.

I've got a shirt now that I will give credit

to Dub Alexander for. My shirt, I found a shirt

on Amazon, says Ambatacidor. And I'll probably

butcher the story, but I'll tell it anyhow, because

I think it's fun. Dubb was actually in some governmental

roles, and there was an ambassador who was talking,

I forget who they were talking to, I want to

say a governor or something of that nature. And

they were having some issues, and the ambassador

said, if you keep playing with this, I'm going

to call Interpol. And Dubbs said when he heard

that he said, oh you're in, he said, you're at

Ambat, Badassador. Because that was kind of badass

to do. So we're ambassadors of the kingdom of

heaven. That's who we are as sons and daughters.

Think about the concept that we humans was created

to represent God, to re -present God, to steward

creation. and to exercise dominion so this is

one of my things here is if you remove the church

that's supposed to be the governing authority

on earth then what that just don't make any logical

sense none of that makes any sense whatsoever

so as daemon says stop checking your brain at

the door and start thinking critically about

some of this Alright, so let's look at we're

gonna look at Yeah, let's look at Romans 8 Oh

Give me just a minute because I believe actually

have all of this somewhere on my laptop Maybe

just bear with me for just a minute Okay, yes.

So let's read some of this. This is Romans. We're

going to start in Romans 8 -14. And it says,

the mature children of God are those who are

moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And

you did not receive the spirit of religious duty,

leading you back into the fear of never being

good enough. but you have received the Spirit

of full acceptance, enfolding you into the family

of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for

as he rises up within us, our spirits join him

in saying the words of tender affection, beloved

Father. For the Holy Spirit makes God's fatherhood

real to us as he whispers into our innermost

being, you are God's beloved child. And since

we are his true children, We qualify to share

all of His treasures, for indeed we are heirs

of God Himself. And since we are joined to Christ,

we also inherit all that He is and all that He

has. We will experience being co -glorified with

Him, provided that we accept His suffering as

His own. I am convinced that any suffering we

endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude

of glory that is about to be unveiled within

us. This is what that verse I was telling you

about a while ago. The entire universe is standing

on tiptoe yearning to see the unveiling of God's

glorious sons and daughters. So the universe

is not sitting on tiptoe waiting for the rapture.

The universe is not standing on tiptoe waiting

for Christ to return the universe is standing

on tiptoe Yearning to see the unveiling of God's

glorious sons and daughters Think about this

stuff because this is just fascinating when you

really get into it And then we have Psalm, yeah,

Psalms chapter eight. I'm gonna start in verse

three. It says, look at the splendor of your

skies, your creative genius glowing in the heavens.

When I gaze at your moon and your stars mounted

like jewels in their setting, I know you are

the fascinating artist who fashioned it all.

But I have to ask this question. Now, I disagree

with how Dr. Simmons put this. He says, why would

you bother with puny mortal man or care about

human beings? I disagree with this because I

don't believe this has anything to do with being

puny. I don't think God is saying this in a way

to say, what is a man? I think David is writing

this and saying, what is a man? How astonishing

and magnificent is this creation that you have

created? What is a man that you would care about

us this deeply? yet yet what honor you have given

to me and created only a little lower than elohim

you crowned with glory and magnificence another

reason i don't think it's about what is puny

mortal man because he made him just a little

lower than himself crowned him with glory and

magnificence if this was about being puny mortal

man you would not be crowned with glory and magnificence

You have delegated to them rulership over all

you have made with everything under their authority,

placing earth itself under the feet of your image

bearers. The Amplified says it this way, yet

you have made him a little lower than God. You

have crowned him with the glory and honor. You

have made him to have dominion over the works

of your hands. You have put all things under

his feet. So again, we need to think critically

about this because if all things are under our

feet, if something is wrong, then whose fault

is it? That's something we really need to ask.

Whose fault is it? I'm trying to get back to

where my notes are. Think about this. If we are

the image bearers, and we've been put over here

to have dominion, if the world is in chaos, if

Earth is in chaos, it's not an indication that

it's time to get out of here. It's an indication

and... I can't think of what I want to use. It's

an indication that we as sons and daughters are

not doing our job. As sons and daughters, we

are not... inhabiting the earth. We're not occupying

until He comes. Now do I believe Christ is coming

back? Absolutely 100 percent. Do I believe in

a rapture where we get to get out of here while

the earth just falls apart and burns to everything?

No. Not, not, not, not one part of me says that

there is a rapture coming because the world is

so dark and we get to get out of here as an escape

route so that Jesus can somehow come back and

fix everything that's wrong. He's already fixed

it. He's already finished it and completed it

It's up to you and I to make earth look like

heaven so that he can come back to the earth

Man, this stuff is good We're designed dysfunction

as king priests first Peter 2 9 tells us that

one. Let's see if I can pull that one up really

quickly first Peter Chapter 2 verse 9 and it

1 Peter 2:9

says this It says but you are God's chosen treasure

a priest who are kings a spiritual nation set

apart as God's devoted ones He called you out

of darkness to experience his marvelous light

and now he claims you as his very own And he

did this so that you would broadcast his glorious

wonders throughout the world We are called to

broadcast his glory to all those around us to

the world around us This is good news. This is

the gospel. This gives us hope that if the world

looks chaotic, there's an invitation sent to

us to, hey, let's partner with heaven. Let's

partner with the kingdom and let's release the

goodness of God. Let's release the kingdom on

earth as it is in heaven. So the Iglesia is the

community through which that kingdom becomes

visible through love. through justice, through

reconciliation, through healing, through truth.

We are the people who carry heaven's authority

on earth. We are the assembly through which the

kingdom is released into the earth. We'll start

trying to wrap this one up. This may break down

to a two -week part. So Jesus uses actually two

main metaphors when he is speaking about the

kingdom and I want to address those. The first

one's gonna be in Matthew chapter 13, verses

Matthew 13:31

31 and 32. It says this, oh, moved too much.

Then Jesus taught them another parable. Heaven's

kingdom can be compared to the tiny mustard seed

that a man takes and plants in his field. Although

the smallest of all the seeds, it eventually

grows into the greatest of garden plants, becoming

a tree for birds to come and build their nest

in its branches. Small beginning, I want you

to go, you can pause this, do something, or if

you're driving, I just want you to do something

for me when you get time. Go Google the image

of a mustard seed and understand that Christ

compared the kingdom of God to a mustard seed.

So small beginnings, massive growth. This was

the smallest thing that they commonly used as

a proverb. So Jesus, again, he's using a common

expression to help express and explain what the

kingdom is like. He's basically saying the kingdom

begins almost invisibly small. By Jesus explaining

this, he's contrasting what the Jews would have

expected. Understand that in this time frame,

in this period, the Jews would have expected

Jesus to bring a political kingdom. They wanted

Jesus to overthrow Rome with military force.

They wanted a visible revolution. I find it fascinating

and I wouldn't have thought about this until

Damon Thompson mentioned this. It's probably

been a couple months ago. If you look at John,

when John baptizes Jesus, John makes a statement

says behold the Lamb of God who takes away the

sin of the world and if you fast forward a little

bit There's a situation where John says disciples

to ask Jesus. Are you the one or should we look

for another? Now John you're the one who said

behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin

of the world And now all of a sudden you're questioning

are you him or should we go look for somebody

else? Why because John? because Jesus is not

operating like John thinks Jesus should operate.

He's taken his time. He's not dealing with Rome.

In fact, Jesus never deals with Rome, not in

the way they're thinking. Again, they're expecting

this big military force to overthrow Rome, the

visible revolution, so they can take over their

enemies and all this, and that's not what Jesus

came to do. He says the keynote is like a mustard

seed. So the mustard plant in Israel was likely

black mustard the seed size would be point zero

three inches understand how small that is But

it would grow six to ten feet tall and it was

fast growing and would become bushy and tree

-like so the ancient listeners To them this point

would be shocking Because it's the tiniest seed

becomes one of the largest garden plants. So

the message is the kingdom of god starts tiny

but grows beyond expectation think about the

reality within 300 years christianity feels the

roman empire so the mustard seed metaphor proved

historically true also i want you to think about

mustard was basically a weed this is where the

parable gets a little bit more subversive the

actions, the idea, or people that secretly try

to weaken, destroy, or overthrow established

systems, governments, or institutions. Understand

that when Jesus is talking about a mustard seed,

farmers did not plant mustard seeds like a normal

crop. Why? Because it was considered an invasive

crop. Once mustard would grow, it spread everywhere,

would take over fields, and it was hard to remove.

This reminds me where we're at. It reminds me

of monkey grass. you plant monkey grass it's

going to spread everywhere and it's hard to get

up. So when Jesus says a man planted mustard

in the field listeners would have heard this

thought and heard this statement and be like

why would you plant that because this stuff takes

over everything. Just a little bit more here

and then we'll close this one down for this episode.

The stuff takes over everything, but that's the

point. The kingdom of God spreads uncontrollably.

That's what we're seeing right now in our kingdom

family ministries. You cannot contain it with

religious systems, with temple boundaries, with

ethnic identity, with political borders. Why?

Because the kingdom of God, though it may start

small, spreads everywhere. And again, people

expected Jesus they expected the messiah to bring

a revolution to bring military power to to bring

a visible dominance they wanted to overthrow

this government but like the seed the kingdom

advances through things like transformation influence

multiplication and life but never through force

i think we'll stop right there i want you to

think about some of that today The kingdom of

God number one the Trinity is looking for you

and I to participate with them to release the

kingdom Through us onto the earth to make own

to make the earth as it is in heaven And that

starts small. This is not about doing big things.

It's being If I could say it this way, it's being

consistent in the little things being consistent

in the small things Because like us like a mustard

seed is to consist of small consistencies, the

small groups, the one -on -one connections that

begins to release the kingdom through transformation,

through life, through influence, through multiplication.

It starts like a mustard seed. It starts so small,

you can almost barely see it. But yet once it

starts growing, it's unstoppable. Think about

that. What is a man? Think about your life. Do

you understand what some of the stuff I read?

Go back and listen to it again. Go look at Romans

8, Psalms 8, 1 Peter 2, 9. Understand how important

and how valuable you are to the kingdom. That

just like you told Mark from Casting Crowns,

he doesn't need you and I. He's God. He can do

whatever he wants to. He doesn't need us but

he wants us and he invites us to participate

with him in the kingdom. He lets us fill up the

water pot so he can transform the water into

wine. You know the other fascinating part is

the people got to participate in pouring it and

it didn't change until they poured it. Man this

stuff is good. This is all about rethinking the

end times to give you a brighter future And I

like I'll steal them Damon Thompson's words again

on this one if If I'm wrong, that's fine. I get

to go on the Rapture trip to if I'm wrong about

it Because I know that I'm saved like I know

I Meet the prerequisites of that one But if I'm

wrong we just get out of here If you're wrong,

you better be prepared to stay and make earth

look like heaven. If you're wrong about the rapture

and the rapture never takes place, are your kids

and your grandkids and your great grandkids set

up for success? Are you thinking about the future

generations? That's something to think about.

Wrestle with that one this week. Understand the

kingdom's like a seed. It's like the grain of

a mustard seed. But trust and believe the kingdom

is starting to spread. I bless you with that.

In Jesus' name. Thanks for spending some time

with me today on the Kingdom Family Podcast.

If this episode spoke to you, take a moment to

share it and help someone else rediscover their

identity as a son or daughter of Yahweh. And

don't forget, follow the podcast so you can stay

connected with everything happening through Kingdom

Family Ministries. Until next time, live love,

live free, and live from the life of the Kingdom.