Take back whats stolen; restore whats been ruined

A friend asked me some questions about future events and what I thought was going to happen.  As I later re-read my answer to him I realized it reflected some of my core beliefs: 

1) we are to do the work of the Kingdom until he returns… and that’s all that really matters about ‘dates & times” and 

2) we are called to ‘take back’ what the enemy has stolen and restore what he’s ruined.
 Here is part of that conversation:

(his questions are italicized)

Do you believe something big is coming soon? 

Define ‘something big’ and ‘soon’ J… see below.  Without a doubt, we live in the ‘end times’ as both Paul and John said.  I do think there will be larger and larger events that happen… which I believe are opportunities for the church to demonstrate Christ-likeness.

Has God shown you anything along those lines? 

In 1983 I had a vision where Jesus actually appeared to me. It was a life changing event. “I’m coming soon” was His literal words.  In the vision I saw many ‘end-time’ things, some very disturbing.  As you can imagine I felt ‘soon’ meant in the next month or two.  Now I understand that ‘soon’ in light of eternity may be different than my understanding BUT [this is key for you] he’s making it feel urgent to you for a reason!  What that reason is, is what you need to figure out.

If so, do you believe that the Church can turn it around, or is it inevitable? 

I believe the church is to do the work of the Kingdom (ie preach the Gospel, heal the sick, release the captives, etc) until He returns. Period.  Good times, bad times, doesn’t matter.  So we must be about our business whether the economy we live in is in a depression or a bull market, or if we’re at war or peace.  The church is called to ‘take back’ what the enemy has stolen and restore what he’s ruined.  It gets back to the core theology of the Kingdom.  At least as I understand it. Geo. E Ladd’s theo textbook is the classic on this and the way I understand and view the coming of the Kingdom.  That shapes my view of everything from healing and deliverance to eschatology.  We’ll discuss this more sometime…