FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN • HOPE IN THE DESERT - Part I

“Make way FOR THE BURNING ONES!”

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isa. 40:3-5

“Did you know that everyone in the middle-east know that the desert is the place of hearing God’s voice!” David

“Could it be that we are on the verge of a second wave of the Nazarites?” Kent Larson

Luminarias

Yesterday I was told a simple story that made my heart soar, my tears flow and my throat cease.  It was about a miraculously long burn of a luminaria. 
“A luminary is defined as:

            1. A person of prominence or brilliant achievement,

            2. A body that gives light, especially one of the celestial bodies. 

However in Mexican and popular American cultures a luminaria is a memorial candle usually placed in a paper bag – the kind people line their sidewalks with at holidays like Halloween or Christmas and for special parties.” 

A growing phenomenon is the use of a luminaria to remember loved ones, co-workers, friends, neighbors and family members who have lost their battle to cancer or as a way to honor a cancer survivor. That is what this story is about.

A friend of our family called my wife Cathy thrilled to report to us about luminaria created by our son Joshua to remember and honor his brother Peter who died of leukemia in July of 2000. Josh with tears rolling down his cheeks created this bag of light about 8pm Saturday night and placed it with hundreds more that lined the track at Orange Coast Community College in California for the “Relay for Life” that he and his brother Jonathan were participating in. Jonathan walked 19 miles that day.

Our friend related that she was cleaning up from the event 12+ hours after the candles were lit around 9am the next morning and discovered that Peter’s candle was the only one still burning. It was doubly a miracle because all the wax of the tiny tea candle was gone and there was only the wick still burning.

The Unquenchable Flame

This story struck the heart of our family as an arrow of love from heaven reminding us of our Peter’s unquenchable love and passion for Jesus and for others. It also represents the unquenchable love Jesus has for our family and His entire family who suffer in this world. 

The experience reminds us of the unquenchable fire of love that is celebrated in Song of Songs 8:6-7 “… for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it.  …” It is this unquenchable fire that is the central message of this book.

The image of the one wick still burning as a prophetic picture of the fire in the heart of Jesus that never goes out day or night for “the reward of his suffering”, to vindicate the millions who have had their lives and destiny’s cut short by the spirit of death (through abortion, violence in the cities, on the roads and in the schools, suicide, drugs and war) and “the joy set before him” of calling out of the darkness of this night of death and out of the desert of this world a pure and spotless bride blazing with this same never-ending, unquenchable love. 

The vision that is rising of the burning ones – the luminaries who are “celestial bodies of light in the darkness at the end of the ages” – overcomers, a “people of prominence and personal achievement” – stars unnoticed by eyes of this world but shining in the eyes of heaven.

The Movement of “the Burning Ones”
Since the mid 1980s much has been said and written about the coming forth of a unique generation of young people that would rise up to face the challenges of the end of the ages and even make way for the return of Jesus Christ to restore all things. (ie The Elijah Task, The Elijah Call, Fast Forward, etc – suggested reading bibliography in the appendices) The vision for this rising army is growing in increased 10s of thousands of young and old. It has been prayed and predicted that millions will rise up into this movement. 

Out of the various streams of Christianity there are various names for this fiery, creative and unquenchable generation. Some of called it the Samuel, the Daniel, the Joshua, the Joseph, the Elijah, the Esther generation, etc.  Some have called for revivalists, reformers, world-shakers, watchmen, warriors, and marketplace leaders, prophets, evangelists, Hopet Reformers, Nazarites, Shulammites and end-time Elijahs. Some have called it the end-time worldwide revival, the second reformation, the great transformation, etc.  But one thing is clear is there is great expectation and a great cry arising for a generation of passionate and powerful leaders and world changers to finish the task and prepare the way before Christ returns.

PROPHESIES FULFILLED OF AN END TIME GENERATION
The prophecies of the Hebrew/Christian scriptures predict this end time generation such as the following:
Willing Troops — “The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops will be willing on your day of battle.  Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth.” Ps. 110:2-3

Night and Day Watchmen — “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.  You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” Isa. 62:6-7

End-time Army — “Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.  Before them fire devours, behind them a flame blazes…” Joel 2:2b-3a (there is disagreement as to whether this is God’s army of Satan’s army)

Elijah Prophets — “See I will send you the prophet Elijah, before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the Father’s to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and stride the land with a curse.” Mal. 4:5-6

The Overcomers — “They overcame by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Rev. 12:11

The Movement has begun
A movement has begun that resonates with these visions.  Throughout the 1990s and during the first 10 hears of the third millennium there have been increase of gatherings and training centers to call forth and equip these young leaders.  Gatherings in churches, conference centers and stadiums have stimulated 10s of thousands of young and old people.  The rising house of prayer, youth church and house church movements have begun to gather those “burning ones” who have responded to the call into communities for mutual encouragement and training.

In the year 2000 there was a gathering on the Mall in Washington DC of 400,000 of these and since that time there have been multiple “Call” gatherings, “onething” gatherings, “Acquire the Fire” gatherings, etc. throughout the US and increasingly in many other nations.

He lived for the Call
Our son Peter was captured when he was quite young by the vision of an arising moment out of his generation that would stand in the fire of the end times and activate a worldwide revival, reformation and harvest before Jesus returns.  He was in constant prayer about and committed his life to this vision.  He made a “Nazirite vow” when he was 15 years old and was looking forward intensely to the gathering at the mall in Washington DC to fast and pray for our nation.  It turned out that Peter died a month and a half before the Call DC in July 2000 but his prayers and passions where received in heaven and he with “the cloud of witnesses”.

1 million “Burning Ones”
In 2002 at the end of a conference session while receiving and a strong outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was held in our church in Southern California a young lady came up to me from behind and began to prophesy that God intended “to give me a Nazarite youth for every hair that had fallen from my son Peter’s head.”  I ended up in a pile of tears on the floor at the hope that the seemingly meaningless death of our son could be vindicated. Could it be that there was a plan for pay back?  Wow what a promise!  As I did some internet research about how many of the hairs that could be I discovered that because he lost his hair three times that that was 750,000 to 1 million Nazarites!  Since that time I have prayed for that promise to come to pass not knowing how I could be involved with such a release of revival.

Kent Larson

DEREK LOUX, GRIEF & DIVINE JUSTICE

PROCESSING GRIEF

T

ragedy of the sudden death of Derek Loux has great implications for us in the Body of Christ, for the Loux family, for those close to them, for the IHOP family and also for our family because of our daughter Tiffany's deep involvement with Derek and Renee, their family and their ministry to orphans.  Tiffany was home for Christmas when she received a phone call at about 3:30am on Dec.23 that a terrible accident had occurred involving Derek. She woke us to asked us to help her pray.  We prayed together for about three hours. As I was leaving for church at 6:30am, Tiffany received the devastating news that Derek had died.  The three of us are now grieving the loss of an amazing man who was like a second father to Tiffany in many ways.  Those of you who know that we lost our 18 year old first born son Peter nine and a half years ago through cancer, will understand the place grief holds in our family.  

 As we have processed this painful reality in the past few days, I have been compelled to write some thoughts.  

 I came across a profound statement by Dietrich Bonhoeffer this morning called "The Unfilled Gap" that says it well;


 “Nothing can fill the gap
 When we are away from those we love

 And it would be wrong to to try to find anything
 Since leaving the gap unfilled preserves the bond between us.

 It is nonsense to say God fills the gap.
 He does not fill it but keeps it empty,

 So that our communion with another
 may be kept alive even at the cost of pain.”


“God does not fill the gap, but keeps it empty...”

It has been said “...no life is without its empty, broken places.” (John O’Donohue)
The empty places of grief are vacuums that demand to be filled. We have been given the gift of a free will to choose what will and will not fill the empty places of our lives. When death (which is primarily defined as separation) breaks in and steals the ones we cherish and hold in honor, then we are confronted with an empty place, a gap, a vacuum that is so sacred that even God will not tread on that holy ground.  
The gap is first filled with much emotion – denial, anger, depression, anguish and tears – dark feelings that are deep expressions of the holiness in the bond between us and the one we still love. Some might come as "Job's counselors" and try to evict these poignant affections, or judge them as evil, or even us as wrong in holding on to them. But these are the deep tones of real love that must be treasured if death is not to be victor and love is to be unquenchable.

However Satan wants to fill the gap with not only separation from the loved one, but also to multiply and amplify the separation with self-pity, isolation and bitterness.  Because of our free will there is the danger that we would receive Satan’s poison and lose even love completely to the grave.

Time is essential because, “it takes a long time to learn the art of inhabiting the loss.” (John O’Donohue)  We need time, and we need both solitude and community to carry us through this deeply shaking time of adjustment.  We are created to center in joy and not sorrow, and only the joyful faces of those who cherish us can bring us back to joy again.  ("Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy." John 16:22.) I was looking at pictures of the Loux family with my daughter last night and there was a picture that Tiffany came across on her computer of Derek with a crazy expression on his face that caused both tears and joy to erupt from her eyes for a moment. The emptiness must be filled with these moments of pathos to sustain the precious memory of the bond of love.

God does not fill the gap, but God will always balance the scales. But in this issue of death God is just. God does come and make things right. When death comes suddenly, too early or without just cause, we are forced to fill the gap with questions “Why?”.

When our son Peter died in July of 2000, my wife and I discovered that we were processing the grief differently.  She was primarily focused on the loss of relationship and presence with our son.  Though missing him desperately, I primarily focused on the injustice of the loss of the fulfillment of his destiny. We both tried to fill the gap with different things but found that God would not yield to the immediacy of our demands. He left the space empty and our thirst unquenched.

DIVINE PAYBACK

A

s I drove to work immediately after hearing of Derek’s death I must admit that I was not numb and silent, but was screaming out for justice. "This is not right!  This is not fair!  This must be made right! I don’t get it! There must be something bigger going on than I can see that God is about to do!" Listen to this quote from Henri Nouwen;  "...when a teenager, a young adult, or a person at the height of his or her career dies, we feel a protest rising from our hearts; 'Why...Why so soon?...Why so young?...It is unfair!'  But far more important than quantity of years is the quality of our lives.  Jesus died young.  Saint Francis died young.  Saint Therese of Lisieux died young.  Martin Luther King, Jr. died young.  We do not know how long we will live, but not knowing this calls us to live our lives to its fullest potential."

Later on Wednesday morning I was prompted to pick a book off my bookshelf called “Books of Destiny” by Paul Keith Davis.  This has turned out to be a powerful book of insight in response to this crisis. Let me summarize five insights that are helping us and may help you as well as you wait for" the scales to be balanced."

1. God is looking for vessels to render end time acts of justice on earth in special “kairos” times. But everyone who is called is not necessarily qualified and appointed to administrate that justice.  Derek and Renee and their family were clearly called, qualified and appointed for justice for the orphans and the trafficked.
2. In Daniel and Revelation it is clear that God will render justice on this side of eternity, both before and when Christ returns.
3. Justice will be rendered in heaven and earth for whatever the enemy has stolen. God will not allow any of His impartations or heavenly endowments to be lost forever.  He will recover and amplify everything the enemy has attempted to devour and destroy. (Joel 2:25)
4. If we “fill the gap” with self-pity and bitterness we may miss the invitation to rise up   and “plunder the enemies camp”.  If we enter into his poisonous attitudes and judgments we will empower him to nullify grace and preempt God’s administration of justice. It has been revealed that Satan has a “trophy room” where he collects the anointings and destinies he has stolen. If we stay in the position of surrender, abiding, humility and waiting on God He will allow us to arise with Him and plunder the enemies camp restoring all that was stolen and multiplying the fruitfulness of those lost gifts and destinies.
5. God is not only administering the vindication due as a just payback for us on earth, but      also from heaven from the “cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1). He allows some of His precious ones, “of whom the world was not worthy”, to be “recruited” into this company of end-time spiritual warriors in the heavenly places to fulfill and release the fullness of His economy on earth as it is in heaven. The payback required is to be sevenfold, which may mean literally seven times. But" seven" fully means “completion or perfection.” Justice will be complete. Restoration will be total.

A few weeks ago a prophetic intercessor friend of our family had an encounter where she was taken to heaven while watching the web cast of the outpouring of the Spirit in a student awakening at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City on Nov. 11.  She was taken into the brilliant presence of God and He said to her, “I am about to do powerful things on the earth!” She immediately asked ”Is that why you take some of your precious ones to heaven before it seems the right time?” (she had just had a dear friend die of cancer)  The Lord responded, “yes,” and then she knew she was going to see someone in heaven. As she turned, she saw our son Peter “drumming like a wild man,” (he was a drummer on earth) and “every drum stroke was intercession sending end time, Kingdom in-breakings to the earth.” When she came back to earth out of the encounter her feet (which had been broken months before and still in pain) where instantly healed!”


I encourage you today as you face your “empty places” and the grief of losing those you love to the “great cloud of witnesses,” that you would call for the scales to be balanced and for everything stolen to be restored and perfect justice be rendered by the agreement between our surrendered lives, and those who are in heaven.

Kent W. Larson

Father, Pastor of Prayer

Vineyard Community Church

Laguna Niguel, CA