What God Sees As Blessing - A Closer Look at the Rechabites

If you delight in the LORD and want Him to delight in you - or if you’re simply a prudent believer who wants to position yourself (and your offspring) for blessing - you’ll want to pay attention to the Rechabites.

Jeremiah 35:18–19 (NKJV) And Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he commanded you, therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.” ’ ”

At first read, this passage raises questions:

Who are the Rechabites?

Why are they refusing wine?

And why does God drop such a sweeping blessing on them?

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Who They Were

Judges 1:16

Now the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up from the City of Palms with the children of Judah into the Wilderness of Judah… and they went and dwelt among the people.

Through Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenites attached themselves to Israel early on. Later, they gave rise to the house of Rechab.

1 Chronicles 2:55 (NKJV)

…These were the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.

And Jonadab? We meet him here:

2 Kings 10:15–17 (NKJV)

Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?”

And Jehonadab answered, “It is.”

Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. Then he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.

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Jonadab first shows up riding with Jehu.

“Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord,” Jehu says... and Jonadab climbs in. He might (just might) have been merely a bystander. But he was definitely there for the purge of Baal worship that followed. And whether he raised his hand or simply stood there, the blood still splattered the same.

Jonadab didn’t just see people die.

He participated.

He was in the chariot.

He smelled it, felt the weight of it, saw the faces.

That changes you at a level words can’t reach. And once you know (really know) how thin it all is, you can’t un-know it. Every city looks different. Every temple. Every feast. The illusions are cut through.

And he said:

"My sons will not trust in this.”

No Wine? Makes Total Sense

Everyone reads “no wine” as ascetic denial or religious peculiarity. But from a tactical survival perspective, it’s operational security.

It’s:

• Never compromised

• Never slow to respond

• Never vulnerable to ambush because you’re drunk at a feast

• Never making stupid decisions because your judgment is impaired

Living light? Same logic. When you might need to move now, you can’t be attached to possessions.

No vineyard means no reason to defend a fixed position. No house means no structure to get trapped in.

Nomadism isn’t poverty - it’s tactical mobility. It’s refusing to give enemies a fixed target. It’s maintaining readiness.

Jonadab saw a powerful kingdom fall in an afternoon. His rules weren’t religious wayang; they were a survivalist’s manual for his descendants.

“Don’t settle. Don’t get drunk. Stay mobile. Stay alert.

Because I’ve seen what happens when you don’t.”

Jonadab wasn’t paranoid or primitive. He was realistic in a way we’ve forgotten how to be. His nomadism wasn’t rejecting civilization from ignorance, it was rejecting it from knowledge. From having seen through it. This is trauma-informed wisdom: someone who knows, and teaches his children to live accordingly.

And he said again:

“My sons will not trust in this.”

For generations, their tents and their choices quietly repeated that vow:

We will not trust in this.

The Blessing: God’s Take

“Jonadab son of Rechab shall not lack a man to stand before Me forever.”

That’s dynasty language, almost identical to God’s promise to David.

Notice what goes unsaid:

• Continuity across generations: not one act of faith, but loyalty that lasts.

• Covenant resonance: they kept their father’s word; God keeps His.

• Presence over possessions: no land, wealth, or ease. The gift is access - descendants who stand before God.

From a modern lens, that barely sounds like blessing. Who cares if my great-great-grandchildren are faithful if I’m stuck living in tents with no wine? But biblically, that is the highest good:

legacy in God’s presence.

God, renew my mind to value what You esteem as blessing.

God’s Angle: “I Like Their Style”

God isn’t canonizing their lifestyle. If He wanted everyone to live like survivalists, He’d have said so. What He admires is their posture: their seriousness, their refusal to assimilate, their grit in carrying alertness for generations. And He blesses that.

Meanwhile, Judah can’t even keep the most basic covenant commitments to the God who rescued them from Egypt? The Rechabites put them to shame.

It’s as if God says:

“Look at them.
Loyal to a human forefather who taught them alertness.
Meanwhile, you sleep as if safety were your birthright.
What does that say?”

Behind that is a truth about blessing: God measures it in covenant loyalty and generational faithfulness, not in comfort or self-actualization. In every collapsing age, God keeps a remnant that still remembers what the world forgets.

The Rechabites weren’t perfect. But God looked at them and said:

“I like their style.”

And that was enough.

My Turn

We moderns live under an illusion the Rechabites would have recognized instantly: we think our comfort is permanent. Our homes, our systems, our “normal”? We treat them like bedrock.

But I’ve lived long enough, and seen the veneer peel back often enough, to know what Jonadab knew: everything can change in an afternoon.

The skills that matter aren’t just spiritual disciplines - they’re readiness, mobility, and the refusal to be lulled into false security. The Rechabites stayed alert for centuries. Can we stay alert for one generation?

God didn’t bless them for being comfortable. He blessed them for being awake.

May He find us the same.

Guitarization of Worship Piano

Picture this: it’s the caveman-internet era. You’re a young, enthusiastic mega-church musician. There’s a huge shortage of worship guitarists at the cell group level, and you come up with a system: a way to teach strumming without needing standard notation. It’s brilliant. It works. Suddenly, more groups have guitarists who can hold down the chords and keep worship going. 

Then the knock comes: “Hey, what about piano? Can you do the same for us?” 

Now, what’s the fastest way to get a pianist “ready” for worship? Simple. Treat them like a guitarist. Give them one (maybe two) shapes per chord. Show them a couple of comping patterns. Drop them into the songs. Done. Congratulations: you’ve just created the guitarization of worship piano. 

Fast forward a few years: what do you get? Pianists who can play “patterns,” but not music. They can thump out chords, but can’t adapt when singers go off-script. They can fill space, but not lead people. Worst of all? They start believing that’s all there is. 

When such people see my piano playing at church, they miss the principles and dive straight for the formula. They don’t want to learn how I build vocabulary to support the song; they just want more stock phrases to dump into their playing, to impress themselves with their own cleverness. It’s the musical equivalent of forcing kids to memorise “风和日丽,” “my jaw dropped,” and “my face turned pale” for PSLE “creative writing.” That, applied in spades to piano, is what many of those “pianists” want.

But that’s not music. That’s mimicry. Real playing breathes. It reacts. It listens. It anchors the song and opens space for others to sing and respond. The goal isn’t to copy what sounds impressive, it’s to serve; it's to make the whole team sound like one body instead of five individuals fighting for air.

The piano can be so much more.

As long as people are effective and they can serve, I won’t criticize. Plenty of pianists are happy to just strum along on 88 keys, and if their churches are blessed, that’s enough. But if you’ve done enough of that and you’re restless for more (or you’re classically trained and the cookie-cutter chord approach gives you musical acid reflux) know this: you’re not crazy. The piano really can be more.

When I sit at the piano, I don’t want it to be a large, heavy and loud guitar substitute. I want it to breathe, to carry, to shape the worship. And if you feel that tug too… well, maybe we should talk.

Where to find me? Over here

Why Foundations Matter: Part 5 - Why Your Strumming Sounds the Same

Preservice rehearsal. Small team. Worship leader on guitar, another vocalist, me on keys.

Worship leader: “We sound monotonous. How can we vary the dynamics?”

Me: “You know why we sound monotonous? Because you’re strumming non-stop.”

Him: “Okay… then some parts I play softer?”

Did I stutter?

People wonder why I’m such a grumpy old man. But frankly, I don’t blame the guitarists. I blame how they were taught.

If they came from a cookie-cutter, mass-production school, odds are they were made to memorize a few strumming patterns by rote. Instead of learning to build rhythm from the ground up, to adapt to chord changes, to accent key parts of the singing, just be glad if they can even keep time with drummers at different tempos.

Critical details, such as:

• Where to strum
• How to use the palm for percussive drive
• How to move between whisper-light accents and floor-holding power

…Forget about it.

In the rush to churn out factory-preset guitarists, basics are always the first to die. Same as with drums: stick drills reveal if the wrist motion is correct. Strumming has its own checkpoints too, but they take time, they take correction, and correction doesn’t sell.

Because too many adult learners don’t like being corrected, and too many teachers won’t risk losing students to the “fun” music school down the street. So what we get is a generation of guitarists who sound the same, no matter the song. In a small group or prayer meeting, the continual spamming and right-hand spasms might still be tolerable, but in a church band? You should see the horrified expressions from guitarists when I suggest they maybe take a break during the verse and let the pianist anchor, just for sonic variety.

So what’s the answer, JJ?

I don’t have one. God didn’t appoint me the Church Music Standards Police. I’m not issuing chord-offence citations every time someone abuses G-D-Em-C. And I’ve got no interest in starting another cookie-cutter factory school to compete with the ones already out there, cajoling adults who think learning skills are supposed to be as easy as casual hobbies. I’m too old for this.

But if you’ve ever felt stuck, if you’ve wondered why your strumming sounds the same no matter what you play, maybe it’s time to stop memorizing patterns and start learning rhythm for real.

[Click here if you’re ready to trade cookie-cutter strumming for real rhythm →]

Why Foundations Matter: Part 4 - Shortcuts Cost You Freedom

The Acoustic Advantage

I was at a small conference not long ago. Two instruments sat there waiting: a shiny digital keyboard with every patch you could imagine, and a plain Yamaha upright. I went for the upright. Why? Because when you’re leading worship in an unfamiliar place, with no idea what might collapse mid-set, you don’t want to gamble on gadgets. With the acoustic, it was all or nothing. No transpose button. No space age pad to cover weak voicings. Just ten fingers, muscle memory, and guts. That’s how I like it.

The Shortcut Whisper

I don’t mistrust the transpose button because it fails. I mistrust it because it works, all too well. It whispers: why wrestle with a tough key when one press can move the whole world? Same with capos. I carry one in the guitar bag for emergencies; if someone insists on singing in E♭, fine, strap it on and get through. But capo-as-lifestyle? Second fret so you can play G-shapes in A? That’s when you’re no longer learning the instrument. That’s planting your rear end in the baby stroller and refusing to learn how to walk.

From Crutch to Cage

And here’s the problem: shortcuts feel like freedom at first, but they turn into chains. Soon you cannot imagine life without your trusty crutch. Effectiveness pays the price. Capo up a few frets and you’ve sawed off your low end; you’re basically strumming a six-string ukulele. Keep leaning on the transpose button, and you’ll never know what to do when it’s not there. Try leading worship like that. Good luck when the leader calls for a spontaneous key change, or when the only instrument around is the upright piano in the Salvation Army Chapel.

The Hard Road That Built Freedom

When I look back, I see how God used my lack of shortcuts to train me. On piano, I practiced songs like As the Deer in all twelve keys. On guitar, I had no instrument of my own, only whatever warped-neck loaners people were willing to bring along. Try forcing barre chords out of those. Frustration? Plenty. But the payoff was huge: today I can pull off mid-neck voicings in A, or throw shimmering chords in E that sound like the wind from heaven. People see “expert.” Truth is, it’s just years without safety nets.

Why It Matters for Worship

And here’s the ministry angle: worship isn’t a studio. It’s not about playing safe with your toys. It’s not about what makes you comfortable (God, how I despise that word!). It’s about service. Sometimes you’ll be in a big church with every gadget. Sometimes you’ll be in a village with only an old upright. Sometimes you’ll be leading prayer with just an acoustic guitar and your voice. At that point, shortcuts won’t save you. Only foundations will.

Your Turn

If this hit a little too close to home, good. That means it’s time to change. That’s why I built my Worship Piano and Guitar Mentorships: to help musicians trade shortcuts for skill, safety nets for real freedom. [Click here to explore them →]

Why Foundations Matter - Part 3: The Drummers' Edition

Marching Band Beginnings

When it comes to drums, I had it good.

I began my journey in the secondary school marching band. My seniors would rather have me quit than stay with half-baked foundations, so I spent a lot of time drilling rudiments into muscle memory. I even carried a pair of sticks in my school bag, sneaking in extra reps whenever I could.

Didn’t help my dating life, but at least my paradiddles turned out okay...

A couple of years later it was my turn to teach the new recruits. Not only did I have to teach how to play all the percussion instruments, I also had to teach them how to read standard notation so they could follow scores and coordinate with the rest of the band. That’s thirty or more people. Within a year, they were up to par. I did all this between age 15 to 16. So don’t tell me teaching music notation takes too long.

The Old Guard vs. Today’s Shortcuts

Back in the 80s, Singapore had very few professional drummers, much less drum teachers. Those few could afford to pick and choose their students. Needless to say, they didn’t play games with foundations either.

They would be horrified to see how some drum teachers operate today.

Instead of starting students on stick drills, they drop noobs straight onto the kit, dazzling (and distracting) them with the bells and whistles of toms and cymbals. Instead of building secure counting, they push rote-memorized beats and fills.

And cynically speaking, I get it. That’s how you retain students in this ADHD age. You keep them entertained (but not equipped), they keep showing up, and they keep paying.

I ought to have done the same thing. Earning more by doing (and caring) less sounds nice. But alas, a conscience is an inconvenient thing…

Why Shortcuts Fail

Here’s the problem: for students who start this way, the standard advice doesn’t help. Pointers don’t fix it. Telling them to “practice more” just means they get really proficient at being wrong. At best, they sound bad and drag down the worship. At worst, they set themselves up for long-term damage. Carpal tunnel syndrome is no joke.

What Happens Without Counting

I’ve seen the fallout of skipping foundations more times than I can count. Years back, I wrote on my blog about one such incident:

I was once in the middle of playing a song (to audition someone on another instrument) when halfway through someone sat down behind the drums and tried to play along. He totally messed up because he could only play in one time-signature (don’t worry if you don’t know yet what that is) and the song I was doing was in a different one.

If he had ever learned how to count, how to discern the pulse of the music, he would have either been able to create on the spot something that can fit, or he would have known what little he knew didn’t fit and not messed up the song for other people. When it was his turn to audition, the other musicians started off at one tempo, and when he started playing the drums he couldn’t latch on to their tempo to support them. He immediately dragged the music down to the tempo he knew. Now imagine him doing that for pretty much every song the band tries to do on a Sunday morning…

This wasn’t “rusty skills.” This was no skills. He was never taught to count in the first place. Asking me to give such a “drummer” pointers like asking an interior designer about curtains when she really wants to say: tear down the house and rebuild…

Red Flags for Students

Proper drum teachers know that teaching foundations is a sacred duty. Not every teacher who talks rudiments actually teaches them. That’s why you need to be an intelligent student. 

Watch for red flags:

If you’re dropped straight onto the kit with no stick drills, walk away.

If you’re told to just memorize beats and fills without counting, walk away.

If you see those signs, move on. Find a better teacher.

Two Things You Can Do

First: If you’ve found a teacher who makes you grind through the boring basics, recognize what you’ve got. He (or she) is a treasure. Stick (XD) with them. Recommend them to others. In this ADHD age, where flash sells faster than foundations, don’t take their business survival for granted.

Second: If you want to see what real drum foundations look like - plain and simple, no gimmicks - check out my Drumming for Church: Foundations course. In just four sessions you’ll see exactly how a drummer should begin: a practice pad, a pair of sticks, and a couple of coordination drills I created to accelerate learning. You’ll know if drumming is truly for you.

Choose wisely. Your band will thank you on Sunday, and your wrists will still be thanking you years later…

Why Foundations Matter - Part 2: The Chordbook That Made Me Cringe

The Chord Book that Made Me Cringe 

 In the days before the internet (yes, I’m that old), worship guitarists had two main sources for chords. There were the official Hosanna! Integrity lead sheets (accurate but a little too intimidating for most) and then there were the coveted chord books: just lyrics with the chords on top. Simple. Accessible. Lifesaving… in theory. 

The problem? Many of those chord books were wrong. Badly wrong. 

While in university, I was serving at Faith Community Baptist Church, a well-established church with different ministries. One sincere and well-meaning leader from Touch Forces (our ministry to armed forces personnel) decided to compile a chord book for their own cell groups. He was a good man. I still remember him with his Ovation guitar (the coolest of the cool back then)… but his ear for chords wasn’t exactly stellar. 

The results were, well, obiang (Hokkien for clunky and off). 

The smooth C–G/B–Am progression? Reduced to C–Bm–Am. 

Those beautiful sus4s? Vanished. 

“I Worship You, Almighty God,” third line: that rich Gsus4 resolving to G became a blunt C–G. 

Still, I could tolerate it, because to me sincerity counts for something. What really got me was when I started visiting other campus groups like Campus Crusade for Christ, and saw their guitarists strumming from photocopies of the same book. “The chords can’t be wrong,” they’d say. “This is from Faith Community Baptist Church!” 

I didn’t have the heart to tell them. 

The Chord Sites that Made Me Facepalm 

Fast-forward to today. We’ve moved on from photocopied chord books… only to end up in the land of random chord websites, where users upload their versions of songs and hope for the best. 

Recently, I had a nasty flashback to the bad old days. One guitarist, sincere, eager, willing to serve, sent me screenshots of the chords he pulled from one of those sites for an upcoming worship session. My job quickly became emergency editor. I spent way too much time correcting the PDFs, fixing clunky progressions and totally wrong chords. 

But then the real problem surfaced: he couldn’t actually play the corrected chords. Esus4? Not happening. C#m–B–F#? Looked like a foreign language. Amaj7? Forget it. He just defaulted to a plain A. That was the best he could do, and I don’t fault him for it. He’d never been taught better. 

But here’s the hard truth: if you leave your musicianship at the mercy of random chord sites and the algorithm gods of YouTube, you’ll never rise beyond “tolerable enough.” 

If you want to be better than that: if you want to grow past the shortcuts and have real confidence in your guitar serving, if you want your foundations examined (and maybe rebuilt) so you can soar higher and grow faster, you need guidance from someone who’s been there, not just a faceless upload. That’s why I created my Worship Guitar Mentorship. It’s not about hype or hacks, but about giving you the solid ground you need to play with confidence in worship.

Back then, it was chord books that spread like wildfire, filled with mistakes that became “official” just because of who printed them. Today, it’s random chord sites and YouTube tutorials doing the same thing, leaving eager musicians stranded with bad habits and half-baked skills.

If we want worship that’s strong, sustainable, and life-giving, we have to stop leaving our musicians at the mercy of bad sources and start investing in proper foundations.

That’s why I do what I do. Come check me out. 

Why Foundations Matter - Part 1: Expo Hall Noob Mistakes

I went for a couple of worship sessions recently, hosted by one of those local worship groups who apparently think they’re ready to “equip” others. 

Well, I saw noob mistakes, live, on a mega church scale. 

1. Wrong Key, Wrong Time

First one: the worship leader tries, on the spur of the moment, to lead the people to sing Lord, I Give You My Heart. Problem? They’re in C. The song is not. So what happens? Worship leader drift. You know the move - they sing one or two lines, ease the mic to their side, away from mouth as they raise the other hand upward, looking like their favourite worship leaders on the worship album CD covers. The congregation tries their best to keep on singing and the worship leader looks really good on the video-cam. In reality, however, the leader realized too late they were in the wrong key, and if they kept going their singing would crash and burn in front of everyone. 

And look, you think a small congregation croaking their way through the wrong key is painful? Try an entire Expo hall of croaking voices. That’s next-level judgment seat stuff. 🤣 

Worship Leaders: always be aware of what key you are currently at and the workable key ranges of whatever songs you want to switch to on the spur of the moment. If you are noob to worship leading, it will take you a while to get familiar with all this. Get mentorship and training from worship pastors or worship leaders who served long enough (or know worship leading well enough) to grow past this stage sooner rather than later. 

2. When Formulas Fail

Second round, same thing: start in C (I think), then the leader started singing the chorus of Here I Bow. Same leader drift, same Expo hall croak-fest. This time the bass player (most likely the Music Director) tried to salvage the situation. After one croaked chorus, the band hits the IV/V chord of the next key and waits for the worship leader to begin singing. Nice save. Almost worked, except that for Here I Bow, all the parts of the song (verse, chorus, bridge) all start with chord IV. The IV/V the band did would have worked IF the song sections began with the chord I. But they didn’t.

Essentially, that moment was less about knowing the formula to change key (IV/V of the new key) and more about knowing the song itself so they can tell when the standard formula won’t work or needed to be modded to apply. THIS is where you see the diff between a musician with merely formula & templates vs a musician who knows music. 

3. Band Leading ≠ Worship Leading

Then there was the whole business of the worship leader repeatedly turning around to flash the “C” hand sign at the band. Great. The musicians are cued. But what about us? The congregation? We are left guessing, spiritually speaking just that half beat behind. Functionally, that’s not worship leading, that’s band leading. And let’s be blunt: if you can’t cue your congregation, you’re not a worship leader. You’re just a frontman. There’s a difference. 

So forgive me if I don’t swallow the whole equipping others in worship leading, prayer & intercession and effective communications stuff. 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Communicate? You can’t even communicate to a hall full of eager worshippers about singing the chorus again. 

4. Non-binary B minor

And don’t get me started on the guitarist. God, that non-binary B minor chord… You know the one: low E and high E strings both left open, musically nails on the chalkboard. Total clash with the vocals. The only reason no one noticed is because the guitar was buried under the rest of the band. Please, for the love of all that is holy, don’t teach that to any other guitarist who asks you for lessons. Does it really hurt that much to say “you’ve been playing guitar for a few months now, you should start learning barre chords”? 

Noob mistakes. Expo hall full of croaking. And yet these are the people “equipping” the body of Christ? Lord, forgive my cynicism. Now you know why I pretty much never go check out other worship groups in Singapore. It’s better that I stay away and have you think me a grumpy old man, than to turn up and remove all doubt. 🤣🤣 

Core takeaway - Look, we all make mistakes when we’re learning. But if you’re positioning yourself to equip others, the basics need to be solid first. 

1) Know your songs and their keys.

2) Cue your congregation, not just your band.

3) Play chords that actually fit (like a REAL B minor chord)

Because at the end of the day, if you can’t hold the floor steady, you’ve got no business building a second storey.

Still here? Then check out the training I offer at What I Do

Reverse Rapture - Part 3 - The Insider Itch

Reverse Rapture Part 1

Reverse Rapture Part 2 

I am frustrated. So deeply frustrated.

Sixteen years ago I wrote about grief when a pastor I respected turned his back on Christ for Judaism. Today? The grief has hardened into something else entirely.

A Pastor Fell

Back then, the One New Man movement hit Singapore with obviously noble intentions: teaching about Jewish roots of faith. But people got drunk on “insider” knowledge. Suddenly they weren’t learning; they were standing apart, superior to the rest of the Body who didn’t get their special understanding.

It was never about Hebrew songs or shofars. It was about the itch, that hunger for secret knowledge, for feeling closer to God than the ordinary believers around you.

That same itch fuels today’s reverse rapture nonsense. And here’s what makes me want to scream: we have zero excuse for falling for this garbage anymore.

In my university days, working a few hours at McDonald’s could buy you a copy of the Bible in your own language. Go back fifty years and you couldn’t even take that for granted. What believers could only dream of a lifetime ago, we carry in our pockets: endless translations, free of charge, on devices more powerful than supercomputers. Greek and Hebrew interlinears with full search capability. You want to know how “logos” and “rhema” are actually used in the New Testament instead of parroting some preacher’s made-up distinction? Five minutes of research. You can even argue with AI to test your theological ideas against objective logic that doesn’t care about your feelings.

Given all that, people really should not be falling for amateur-hour false prophecy. But they are. Why?

Because the itch isn’t about information. It’s about status. 

And sometimes that drive for status is powered and energized by trauma. I know a sister who got abused by her boyfriend, abandoned by her church, and instead of doing the hard work of healing, she went shopping for a cause that would make her feel important again. The vaccine wars became her altar. Refuse the jab, join the remnant, judge everyone else as compromised.

I get why medical institutions lost credibility. My father ended up in ICU after one dose, and watching the gaslighting that followed was infuriating. But turning health decisions into salvation tests isn’t discernment. It’s lazy theology disguised as spiritual warfare.

The tools are right there. The resources are free. The excuses are running out.

So what do we do? The same things we should have been doing all along, but with less patience for excuses:

1. Use the tools. Stop outsourcing your brain to YouTube prophets. You have access to better biblical resources than any generation in history. Use them. Start by reading your Bible and grow from there.

2. Test everything. Does your “special knowledge” make you more loving or just more judgmental? If it’s the latter, stop and check where you left the straight paths. 1 Corinthians 8:1 is still in the Bible, the last I checked... 

3. Stop coddling spiritual laziness. Yes, care for the wounded, but don’t enable their refusal to think. Compassion doesn’t mean accepting garbage theology.

4. Build churches that actually disciple people. If your congregation can’t tell the difference between Scripture and conspiracy theories, that’s a leadership failure. And for God’s sake, when someone reports abuse, investigate it properly. Don’t be the kind of church that forces God to work around your negligence.

5. Call out the grifters. These false prophets aren’t innocent mistakes. They’re businesses exploiting vulnerable people. Treat them accordingly. That's why i actually wade through this frustration to write all this stuff. 

The pattern I wrote about in 2009 is still here: people wanting to feel superior through “special knowledge.” The difference now is we have no excuse for not recognizing it.

The reverse rapture isn’t a prophetic event. It’s a spiritual tantrum. It’s people floating away on balloons of superiority because doing the actual work of discipleship is harder than joining a club that tells you you’re already special.

If you’re tempted by the insider itch, if you find yourself looking down on other believers because they don’t share your particular obsession, here’s my advice: Get over yourself. Read your Bible. Join a church. Learn to carry your pain without turning it into a weapon against the Body of Christ.

Because the moment you start believing you’re part of some special remnant that’s smarter than everyone else, you’ve already been raptured... right out of the humility that makes faith possible in the first place.

Reverse Rapture - Part 2: Who Falls For This Stuff?

Reverse Rapture Part 1

After writing about that whole “reverse rapture” prophecy, with all its specific, verifiable claims that we can check against reality on September 24, this one question keeps bugging me:

What makes people fall for this stuff? Over and over again?

You’d think that by now, after enough failed rapture dates and “God told me about Bitcoin” prophecies, Christians would develop better discernment. But every few months, someone with a YouTube channel releases another “word,” and just like clockwork, it spreads through church WhatsApp groups like wildfire.

I so wish it was just stupidity or lack of Bible knowledge. There’s a whole ecosystem that creates this vulnerability. Lemme give you a quick introduction to the types of people you'd meet there.

The Shortcut Seeker

I meet these Christians all the time. They want prophecy, fire tunnels, soaking sessions... anything except the slow work of sitting with Scripture. They’ll chase the latest “deep revelation” but won’t work through a basic Pauline argument in Romans.

They want spiritual six-packs without doing the reps. But there’s no shortcut to what only time and deliberate, dedicated surrender can build.

The Disillusioned Drifter

These break my heart. They’ve been burnt by church (sometimes legitimately). They saw hypocrisy, bad leadership, maybe even abuse. But instead of healing through the Word, prayer and humbly seeking out healthy fellowship, they ran from church entirely.

Now they don’t trust traditional church, but they’ll trust Telegram groups full of “anointed intel” with no accountability, no test, no grounding. In American-ese, they rejected one kind of Kool-Aid and started drinking another.

The Chronically Undiscipled

Let’s be direct: many of our churches failed these people. They can quote Philippians 4:13, but they’ve never been taught how to handle Scripture properly. If their pastors had substance, they might have wondered if they'd lose attendance from the services by feeding the people anything more substantial than sermon-ites for christian-lites. Oftentimes, fearing that they would lose their congregation to the latest fashionable church, the pastors dilute and dumb down the meat of the Scriptures. End result? A flock who are fundamentally children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of  men. (Ephesians 4:14)

So when someone says to them “God showed me Ezekiel 40 is about cryptocurrency,” they genuinely can’t tell if it’s false teaching or just revelation they’re too immature to understand yet. They’re not gullible because they’re stupid. They’re gullible because they’re starving. And sometimes they don't even know it...

The End-Times Entrepreneur

This type fascinates me. They love prophetic charts, geopolitical decoding, Nephilim timelines, AND they also believe God wants to make them rich through end-times investments. They don’t want discipleship. They want to front-run the apocalypse and call it obedience. That's fine if they keep to their own circles, among people with their kind of appetite for risk. It isn't that fine if they drag in the church janitor and the small scale English Tutor and lose their money in some fancy investment scheme that collapses just before the returns were supposed to be paid out. 

The Hungry and Overlooked

These are the ones who really get to me. They’re not trying to manipulate anyone. They’re just lonely, powerless, spiritually malnourished. Nobody ever discipled them properly or taught them how to test prophecy. When someone finally tells them they’re part of a chosen remnant about to receive wealth and purpose, they believe it. Because they desperately need to. They’re not chasing prophets. They’re chasing hope.

They are often the sort who are quiet at church, who might turn up for events a few times and realize no one notices if they were there or not, then quietly fade back into the woodwork. They don't fit into our preconceived image of the successful churchgoer, those who have the best faith, the right doctrine, the pithiest sayings of "humble" yet confident faith. God sees them as important, but do the rest of us at church show them how God sees them?

Why This Matters

False prophecy spreads in an ecosystem of shallow teaching and deep spiritual hunger. Behind every ridiculous YouTube prophet is a crowd of Christians who never got the tools to distinguish truth from garbage. We can’t just cringe, roll our eyes and move on. If we want people to stop falling for this stuff, we need to address the conditions that make them vulnerable in the first place.

So, yes - first go read your Bible. Really read it. Not for quotes or proof-texts, but to let it train you. There’s no substitute for that slow, sometimes boring work of learning to hear God’s actual voice. Then open your eyes at church and see if you recognize amongst your churchmates any of the above groups I brought up above. Or the next time God lays on your heart someone you haven't seen in church for a while, you might want to send them a text and just see if they are doing ok. 

Because sometimes the best defence against false prophecy isn't just good doctrine, it's a church community that actually sees and cares for its people. This is how we stop having to ask this question again in six months... 

Reverse Rapture: Part 3 

Reverse Rapture - Go Read Your Bible

 Around Mid-July, I got this message via Whatsapp

Just wish to drop you a message as that we are the generation that will see Christ return, and I believe you heard about the great wealth transfer that is about to happen for God’s chosen ones. 

I want to bless you with this opportunity, I am not sure if you know about cryptocurrencies investment and etc.

There are a few God anointed coin eg. XRP, XLM, Shiba Inu and of course Bitcoin. Please read about them all if you are not sure. In singapore you can download the Coinbase app for Apple App Store. From Coinbase app then you can purchase and keep those crypto. 

This great harvest time or wealth transfer is meant to fund the coming great harvest of souls (the final call) before Rapture. 

I will share a few of those YouTube channels that I followed, those prophets sharing about it all. 

Lastly, watch September as there will be a 24 hours event of the Great and Terrible Day, is also called “reverse rapture”, God is going to remove the evil ppls on this earth and few big events would happen (I believe), I meant catastrophic events.

(JJ: Needless to say, the idea of a reverse rapture caught my attention.)

The September event according to Bo Polny is around Rosh Hasnanah 22-24 September. Or more exact on the 24/9.

--

So I replied

We’re definitely in strange times. I do believe God is moving, and I also believe we need to test everything, hold on to what is good, and not be swept by every wind. I’m always cautious with anything that links prophecy to profit. i saw too many people from my church burned over the past decade or so. ☹️

i really appreciate your heart in reaching out, and I pray you continue to walk closely with the Lord. we keep in contact, ok?

(Yes, my capitalisation is erratic. These days I just type my replies on screen as I move around. Sitting at my laptop to type is a luxury)

-- Further messages I received

We are at the reset time for great wealth harvest and great soul harvest time. The 4 July 2025 marked the beginning of the 7 years of blessings (for God’s chosen ones) and the world will be into more chaos at the same time before the 7 years of tribulation (2032-2033?).

There is this one day (24 hours) event that will take place this Summer (I think around 22-24 September Rosh Hashanah), this event (worldwide 911 as if), our Creator is about to remove those evil  ones from this world, it is called “reverse rapture - not for us but the evil ones.

I kept mentioning the September event, because this will be felt by everyone on earth on that day, people will know that is God’s move. 

We will be busy and must equip ourselves to be readily answering anyone that approaches us 💪

-- 

It's the beginning of August right now, so I'm going to go on the record and say I don't believe there will be a reverse rapture. Simply put, something as big as that is not going to be omitted from the Scriptures, or hidden under ambiguity behind passages we already know to mean something else. So I take my stand now, publicly, here. 

And if it does happen on 24 Sept, it actually doesn't change my main point, which I will get to in a moment. First let me put here in this blog core details of the claims about the reverse rapture. If you like, you can skip ahead to my TLDR

--

A MESSAGE FROM GOD – JULY 25, 2025

So what’s going on?  What’s going on?  You should pay particular attention to the markets at this time.  The wealth transfer is starting, and the markets are going to move well.  Watch them and see.

Israel is going to announce a new energy source.  Wait and see.

So what time is it on the clock?  WE are seconds out from the Great and Terrible Day.  There will be signs as WE approach, but it will come suddenly as a thief in the night and there will be no stopping The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.  The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord will start with a shock and it will continue for a 24-hour period.  24 hours to the second.

Man cannot stop the Great and Terrible Day.  I AM bringing the Great and Terrible Day to cleanse MY Earth of all of the evil ones.  They are not of ME.  They will never choose ME and will shake their fist in defiance as they go to their eternal damnation.  All of you know these evil ones.  Some are famous and some not so famous and some everyday people among you.

The evil ones are not the lost that will be found.  The lost are the wayward Christians and those that have not made a choice yet about MY Precious Beautiful Son Jesus.  The lost will be found and many will come home to ME and MY Son on that fateful day.  The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.

The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord will start like any other day.  But MY Angel of Death will be moving throughout MY Whole Earth.  Millions will be gone and MY Son’s Scriptures of the wheat and the tares being separated will be fulfilled.  It will be in an instant.  Some will witness.  One will be gone – two in the bed and then one will be gone.  Two in the field and then one will be gone.  Gone.  Gone.  Vanished. 

People will search and search and they will be never to be found.  I call this MY Reverse Rapture.  MY Reverse Rapture is reversed because it is not the Rapture of the Church of MY Dear Son.  That is for later.  Not quite yet.  WE will get to that but before WE do, I must rid the world of the evil ones who have polluted MY Beautiful People with all of their evil.

So fear not the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.  For MY Saints and MY Lost Wandering Children, the Great and Terrible Day will be a great day!  A day to celebrate and remember.  As the evil is extinguished from MY Earth, MY Glory will begin to pour in.  The evil cannot stand MY Glory.  They will be running and hiding and then they will be gone.

This will be a one day 24-hour event that will be global.  All on the planet will experience MY Great and Terrible Day.  MY Saints and Lost will live through it, and many will see the evil vanquish.  It will be captured on video and the media will begin to show it as it is happening in real time across the globe.  For some, a pocketful, repentance will come from them right before they could have been snatched away.  Fear will overtake many, but you, MY Dear Children are to fear not.  Fear not this Great Day and fear not this Terrible Day.

Fear not MY Church, MY Saints, MY Believers.  The Great and Terrible Day will usher in the greatest harvest of souls into MY Dear Son’s Kingdom.  MY Son Jesus, the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords.  He paid the price with His Life for each of you to have life more abundantly, to the full and your cup overflowing.

This Great Day will bring prodigals home, set addicts free, free the lost and set many of MY Little Ones that have survived free from their demonic, evil captors.  Some will need homes, and many will make their way back to their home and family who waits and hopes for them.

This Great Day will bring the lost to flood MY Churches, MY Online Ministries and to you, MY Saints.  They will call you because they know you are MINE, and they always have known who to call if they need ME.

So be ready MY Saints as the harvest is ready and the workers are few and it is time to bring in the Great Harvest of Souls.  Be ready MY Saints to walk in love when lost loved ones call and show up scared and afraid, needing help and guidance to meet MY Son.  Forgive quickly their wrongs and hold no grudge.  Be like MY Son and have HIS Compassion in your heart.

Be ready to love and to show them the way to MY Dear Son and to HIS Cross.  There is always room at the table, and WE love OUR Lost.  We love the downcast, the homeless, the addicts, the alternative lifestyles and those in sin.

WE love one and all and WE welcome them all.  Help them and meet them where they are.  Take the calls, answer the phone, go pick them up and show them OUR Love.  Ask US to direct you and give you the Words.  MY Holy Spirit can give you and speak through you.  Just walk in love and they will want who you have – MY Jesus, MY Son – the Love of your Life!

The Great and Terrible Day will change everything in MY World.  Governments, politics, media, movies, your family, your life, and your finances.

MY World will never be the same as I AM changing everything in one single day.  I only need one day as I AM the Great I AM.  There is no one like ME and there never will be.

I only need one day.  Just take a look at MY Book.  MY Love Book.  The Greatest Book ever written.  MY Precious Holy Spirit gave it to you through men who were obedient and faithful and gave their time and wrote it down.  They are honored these Saints and you can meet them in heaven.  But that will be later as now it is time for MY Glory from heaven.

The defeat to the enemy will be a mortal blow.  It will take time for him to regroup but regroup he shall.  Fear not the evil one, the forever loser.  He will not defeat ME.  MY Glory shall come and shall fill MY Earth.

MY Glory will fill homes and churches and stores.  MY Glory will fill MY Saints like never before.  MY Glory shall change sinners into Saints.  Men will be falling on their knees and crying out to ME when they stand up, they will be all brand new.  Washed and cleaned in MY Son’s Blood.  Clean and spot-free.

So rejoice MY Saints as this is good news.  We are seconds away from the Great Fateful Day.  Rejoice you have been told as I do nothing without telling MY Anointed, the Prophets.  MY Prophets rose up as I anointed them to tell you, to warn you and for you to look up.

So rejoice and sing and remember to pray.  Thank ME each day and soon you will see MY Great Move in all of history.

The mountains will sing and the valleys will bloom.  MY Glory is coming.  MY Lost will be found.  The evil will be gone and you are MY In Crowd.

I love you always,

Adonai

--

Another message, supposed to be a letter on the 27 July 2025 

So what about the Russia Gate?  How does everything tie together?  Soon you will know, and the arrests will be on.

You thought last week was exciting.  Wait and see this week.  You better get a big bucket of popcorn and some extra butter.  Things are just cranking up and it is going to be very exciting.  So buckle up buttercup.

For those of you still carrying around your rapture rug, go put it in the closet for a bit.  Yes, MY Son Jesus is coming!  He is coming for you!  His Beautiful Bride, but ME and MY Son do not want any to be left behind, as it is not quite time yet.  Oh yes, there will be people left in the tribulation who will receive MY Son after the rapture.  They will know the truth will set them free.  MY Bible is clear that there will be martyrs and a few that make it to the end of the tribulation period.  WE will help them and them to the end.

But right now is not Rapture Time.  Many of you thought HE was already coming and made some preparations for unsaved, loved ones.  WE love your hope, your expectation and your excitement.  You will be highly blessed and rewarded for all from the big to the small for writing rapture letters, stockpiling Bibles and praying for the lost.

Many of the lost will very soon receive MY Son Jesus, My Beautiful Son Jesus, on Reverse Rapture Day.  The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. So hold tight MY Loves.  You will see the lost be found and you are going to be amazed.

You will be amazed and in awe and wonder.  Amazed at what I do, how I do it, and when and that it is a one day.  A 24-hour event.  There will be no day in history like MY Reverse Rapture.  It will happen once.  Just one day – you can count on ME.  I guarantee it.

The world will soon know that I AM the Great I AM and there is no one like ME.  MY Earth cannot tolerate the sin of evil men and women and the trouble, chaos and confusion that the Nephilim, the evil ones, have brought to MY Good Earth.  They will be gone, and I will heal and cleanse MY Earth.  When they are gone, do not remember them and do not celebrate them.  There will be no funerals for them as they will not be here for that.  No body – no funeral.  So don’t have any celebrations of Life for the evil that will be removed from MY Good Earth.  Do not!

Your mission, MY Saints, is MY Lost, who have come home to ME and MY Son Jesus.  Your mission as their wandering around in fear and trembling – needing comfort and understanding as to what has happened, the reasons for it and that it will not happen again.

You will not need to stockpile or get a solar generator for MY Great and Terrible Day.  You all have all that you need for that day.  You are to be in prayer and love on the lost.  Love on all and meet them where they are. Don’t try to explain the whole Bible to them on Day 1.  Start with John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish”.  Start right there with I love them, I gave MY Son for them and all they must do is believe.  And teach them of Our Love and Our Love especially for them.  And teach them to love.  Just start there.

The Greatest is Love.  I AM Love and Love never fails and I will never fail them or you.  So you, MY Child, be prepared to walk in love with each one that I send to you to lead and guide to MY Son.

There will be much confusion, chaos, and destruction on this Great and Terrible Day. There will be days of darkness for some in power, intel and the like.  But fear not I will take care of all of you MY Loves and any loss will be simple and easy and quickly restored.

You see, MY Children, all of this must be done to set the stage for the final harvest of souls.  The Reverse Rapture will bring many to US on that day, but for others it may take a few extra moments.  Time.  So you plant the seeds, and you will reap the harvest of souls that I have predestined for you.

MY, In Crowd, you will be great fishers of men. Do not doubt even in your life that you might not think you will make a difference in MY Son’s Kingdom.  Oh yes, I handpicked you to be where you are and I will orchestrate your steps to be a Great Builder of MY Son’s Precious Kingdom.

What I need for you is a willing heart.  It is a choice to be a harvester of souls.  A fisher of men.  Come to ME and ask ME to anoint you fresh to be a Great Harvester in MY End Time Harvest.

But child, always remember that I gave you freewill and harvesting for MY Son is a choice.  I always have backup, and no one will go to hell if you don’t step up.  That is a lie from the evil one from the pit of hell.

I AM a loving Father, and I love My Children so much that I have many plans for each person that will to receive MY Son.  So no guilt here, MY Child, as I want you to know to be a harvester is always a choice.  Choose wisely MY Child as the rewards will be great.

So back to the beginning.  I AM using man to bring justice to the wrongs committed by the evil, corrupt demonic.  And I AM going to finish the job with MY Reverse Rapture.  It is sooner than you think.  Look up, your redemption draws neigh, and you shall see it, live through it and talk about it all the days of your life.

So all of this excitement that Obama, Killary, Comey, Brennan and more will be chargds with crimes against the USA is leading up to the big day.  There are many in their gang who are not of the evil ones and those will be spared MY Wrath on the Great and Terrible Day.  Yes, this will be a demonstration of MY Wrath on the earth and when it is done, you will never see this again and for some of MY Prophets, they will have completed their mission.

Back to the evil gang that have committed treason, some will be gone on the Great and Terrible Day and some will repent.  Some will remain and still not make their choice for ME and MY Son.  But that is MY Business and yours is to shepherd and guide the Lost that I send your way.

MY Glory shall fill MY Earth and the fullness thereof.  You will love MY Glory and experience ME, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in deeper, more intimate ways.  It will be a time in your life when you see all of MY Promises fulfilled in your life.  Your job is to simply believe.  Believe, MY Child, in MY Son.  Believe MY Child that I always have the plan.  Trust and depend on MY Precious Holy Spirit and WE will direct and order your steps all the days of your life.  Just simply believe.

A word of wisdom for you as you ponder the Great Day.  Do not complicate MY Son or HIS Gospel.  I AM the Great I AM, and I created all and know all and could easily make MY Kingdom harder than any math formula.  But I did not, because I love you.  I have made all in MY Kingdome simple and easy.  So simple even little children receive MY Son, and they just believe.  So keep everything simple for the new believers.  Teach them of Jesus and OUR Love and then you go from there.

Many have lost their Kingdom Harvest by making it too hard and difficult to meet MY Dear Son.

So enough today.  This very hot sunny day.  MY Girl’s hand is getting tired, and it is almost time for her church.  Rest some and pray to ME some.  Love always and rejoice.  The new dawn is upon you, and you will rejoice.

I love you today, tomorrow and forever.

Adonai

--

TLDR - Those messages make the following specific, verifiable claims

1. The “Great and Terrible Day of the Lord” will occur in a single, global 24-hour window

• Quote: “It will come suddenly as a thief in the night… The Great and Terrible Day… will continue for a 24-hour period. 24 hours to the second.”

• Verifiable: A global event with exact timing can be checked via news, global records, and timing.

2. Millions will vanish from the Earth in that 24-hour period

• Quote: “Millions will be gone… It will be in an instant… One will be gone – two in the bed and then one will be gone.”

• Verifiable: Such mass disappearances would be immediately reported worldwide.

3. This is called a “Reverse Rapture” - different from the Church Rapture

• Quote: “I call this MY Reverse Rapture… it is not the Rapture of the Church of MY Dear Son. That is for later.”

• Verifiable Distinction: This positions it as a new prophetic claim, not traditional rapture theology.

4. The event will be captured on video and aired globally in real time

• Quote: “It will be captured on video and the media will begin to show it as it is happening in real time across the globe.”

• Verifiable: If real, this would dominate global media. It will be verifiable by footage, headlines, and broadcasts.

5. Israel will announce a new energy source

• Quote: “Israel is going to announce a new energy source. Wait and see.”

• Verifiable: Israeli government or science news channels would record such an announcement.

6. Markets will shift significantly as part of a wealth transfer

• Quote: “The wealth transfer is starting, and the markets are going to move well. Watch them and see.”

• Verifiable (but Vague): Can be tracked via financial indices, but needs clearer definition of “wealth transfer.”

7. The evil will be visibly and instantly removed

• Quote: “The evil… will be gone… in an instant.”

• Implication: The world will experience immediate and dramatic removal of specific “evil people” (some “famous, some not”).

• Verifiable: If, on that day, notable public figures or “evil ones” vanish en masse, it can be tracked and confirmed.

8. The day will trigger mass repentance and a flood into churches and ministries

• Quote: “This Great Day will bring the lost to flood MY Churches, MY Online Ministries and to you, MY Saints.”

• Verifiable: A mass spiritual revival in 24 hours would be widely documented.

I put all this out here for accountability. If we do not see all 8 of these claims come to pass, we see false prophecy. I expect fully people to start saying "maybe God meant 24 Sept 2026?" Funny how divine, unshakeable timelines always seem to come wiith an annual extension option, yah? 

Ok, enough of the kid gloves. God says exactly what he means. It's false prophets who want to keep fleecing the flock that will make specific time claims first and make excuses later after their prophecies are proven false. 

But there is more to the picture. And that is the important part to me - what makes some people more vulnerable to being taken in by false teachers, false prophets and false prophecies? A lack of serious, rigourous feeding in God's Word over the years. So, I attempted to bypass the distraction (reverse rapture) and go straight to the real issue. 

The following is the message I sent in reply, shared here unedited, because this is the type of clarity we need more often these days. 

--

these days i meet an ex church mate regularly to plan curriculum for his tuition centre. one day he told me he goes to a particular prayer meeting wednesday nights, where he stays for hours for the pastor to pray for him. he spoke of deep encounters with the presence of God, and the inner healing and release he experienced each time.

did i say “that’s great!” or ask for the time and place so i could go too?

nope. i asked, “tell me, what is your time in the Bible like these days?”

“hear me out, jj…” and he proceeded to talk about praying in tongues on bus trips, listening to sermon audios and all that. he knew very well what was missing, deficient, very badly neglected in his life, and took quite a while to admit it. all i did was ask the question and give him time to face up to the answer.

now that i know your heart for God is rising and awakening, and you see movement and transition in the spirit realm, my question to you is even weightier.

How is your time in the Word of God, the plain undiluted Scripture, without any other voices, just you and the Bible directly?

because when the clock is ticking and the heat is turning up, your thriving and growth requires that you be feeding yourself the Word of God daily. and that the voices you listen to do the same.

we think we know what it means to set our hearts and minds on things above, on the heavenlies, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. but do we?

i discovered this test to see if we delight in God’s Word and in God himself: would you ever sit down and read ezekiel 40–48 — the temple measurements, the gates, the chambers, the offerings — not because you fully understand it, or it makes you feel something, but just only because God put it there?

because he cares about it. for me, if some teacher, pastor, ‘prophet’ finds ezekiel 40–48 boring, i won’t trust what they say about the book of revelations, much less the end times transfer.

Do the people you follow and listen to obsess over God that much?

we can’t tell just from whatever they put out online or in text messages. the things of the Spirit are to be spiritually discerned, spiritually received, and spiritually weighed. we can’t do that accurately unless we ourselves obsess over God and immerse ourselves in the Bible seriously. as seriously as we deem the times coming upon us.

so i’m not saying “follow me.” i am not Christ. i don’t even dare say “follow me as i follow Christ.”

i’m saying to you what i remind myself: the unshakable kingdom we hunger for is built upon the unshakable Word of God.

only there can we build an anchor strong enough to withstand the shaking.

only there can we discern, truly discern, who in the Body is anchored deep enough in the Word to speak into our lives.

“the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

if we follow those who are secretly carnal (whether they preach fire or whisper peace) they will lead us astray.

so let’s seek the Lord in truth.

let His Word be our judge.

let it refine our souls.

⸻

so, to round up this message from my heart, i’ll ask you again the question that makes people uncomfortable with me:

How is your time in the Word of God? plain, undiluted Scripture, just you and the Bible, with no other voices in the room?

--

I know, I did an entire blog post for her. Wanna guess her reply? 

--

🤦‍♀️ Ezekiel 40 to 48 shows God’s final plan for restoration — not just of a temple, but of His entire relationship with His people, their land, worship, and leadership. 

I see that it is about to happen soon (the relationship has to restore). Before rapture all these has to happen. The book of Song of Songs is the best description of all, emphasizes on thr permanence, passion and power of true love between our Creator and His children.

-- 

1. Notice that she totally evaded my simple and direct question? That tells me the true state of her Bible time loud and clear. 

2. Notice also how Ezekiel 40-48 is reduced to a less-than-AI-generated summary that i would expect from the church elder who inspired my blog posts

https://jvworship.blogspot.com/2010/08/teachers-of-pet-topics.html

and 

https://jvworship.blogspot.com/2011/08/giving-to-poor.html 

Some people think being able to parrot a summation of the key ideas of a passage is the same as feeding on it. It isn't. That's as wise as watching a few driving tutorials on Youtube and thinking you're road-ready. 

Go read your Bible. Really read it. Not for quotes, not for prooftexts, not to circle back to whatever you think you already know. But to let the Word of God train you. People use all kinds of spiritual-looking workarounds (like prayer meetings, online sermons, chasing "prophets") just to avoid the actual work of digging into the Scriptures and proving to the Holy Spirit you WANT His truth. 

Some people think they are so clever when they can reduce or somehow divert Scripture passages or topics back to their favourite pet topics. For example, you explain to them about a passage on the nuances of God's guidance and they twist it into something vague and feel-good, like the love of God. Such twisting may be clever. It may impress those without a love or the knowledge of the Scriptures. But it is fruitless for both the speaker and those who hear. 

That bears repeating: can the Holy Spirit tell from your actions that you actually WANT the lessons of the Scriptures? Or will he find you chasing the 'prophets' and teachers and thinking that puts you on par with the remnant who still work through their way through the Bible book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse?

May the Lord grant mercy to us in these last days. Because some of us are still reading. Still repenting. Still carefully tuning our discernment. And still refusing to be seduced by spiritual shortcuts.

Junjie

Reverse Rapture Part 2

Reverse Rapture Part 3