Elaine Mattocks, Sept. 16, 2022
Last night I had the strangest dream that I knew was from the Lord…I saw a banner with the words “Church burning in Antwerp” followed by what I perceived as a possible date, either 1605 or 1609. I can’t remember exactly.
I asked the Lord what He meant, and, while I prayed and meditated upon this, I also did some research. I discovered that indeed there had been a church burning of a large catholic cathedral in the late 1500s. This arson was done by protestant reformers who destroyed and torched idols and altars. The cathedral was rebuilt. Today it contains many priceless pieces of art. There is one painting by Reubens, entitled “The Elevation of Christ”, which depicts Christ being crucified for our sins.
As I continued my sorting out of this dream with the Holy Spirit, I began to sense that this dream has absolutely nothing to do with Catholics or Protestants. However, it has much to do with God’s people today. There are Christians who are passionate obedient disciples of Jesus and there are those who are either apathetic self-satisfied pew-sitters or those who are merely following religious culture and think it is the correct way. They know there must be more, but they have not been taught true Biblical discipleship.
The dream has to do with a call to holiness and purity of heart (which is in fact a joy-filled adventurous life). It is a call to a burning of personal idols (both material and spiritual). I sense that God is about to WRECK the western church as we know it—in ways we can’t even imagine. He will rebuild, with the remnant remaining, a unified supernatural Ekklesia whose cry will be Zechariah 4:6…”NOT BY MIGHT (man’s), NOT BY POWER( again, man’s power), BUT BY MY SPIRIT SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS”.
Today, Sept 16th, marks the date when the Mayflower sailed from England with people on board desiring to live their lives in religious freedom. I did not know this information until I woke up. Some of those Pilgrims were from the Netherlands (Antwerp is in Belgium). Although they did find freedom of religion in America, they, without realizing it, eventually found that religion was enslaving them once more because of man-made traditions (just like how the Pharisees religiously enslaved the Jewish people).
This is the state of western Christianity today. We have freedom to worship God as we desire. However, even these freedoms are being eroded by wicked laws and many wicked government leaders who enact them. But, pause to give this a thought or two. Could this erosion actually be a good thing in disguise, because, as it increases, it causes us to pause and to take stock of what we are REALLY doing and calling “church”. Perhaps it’s time for us, as individuals and collectively, to ask God to “burn the bridges” with the past way the church has done things, and be open to His cleansing fire of all our idols (individually as well as collectively). He wants those that follow Him to give the Holy Spirit the freedom to REIGN and to build what He has always wanted and desired—an intimate relationship with His people that will be fueled by the Spirit in everything they do. That His Light will dispel any darkness around them. The Name of JESUS will truly be lifted up and ELEVATED (as opposed to using His precious name to elevate ourselves and our ministries)
It’s TIME for a modern day church burning of a different sort…a fire that starts to burn within our hearts as we ask Father to help us become true disciples of Jesus in all our ways 24/7—signs, wonders, and miracles will be a daily reality and not something that occurs once in a while in our lives, or something that we just talk about and wish for and pray for
We must ask ourselves “are we true disciples of Christ?” And, if we answer yes, can we name those we are currently discipling? Jesus told us to Go and MAKE DISCIPLES. This was a commandment for everyone, not just church leaders or those trained in some way to do it. Every disciple of Jesus must do this. Did you just say “owww” like I did?. It’s not too late for me and it’s not too late for you.
Father, may You fan the flames in our hearts (or start a fire in those who don’t know You but want to) that will ignite a deep passion and adoration for You so that absolutely nothing will prevent us from being just like those radical disciples that followed You (in the book of Acts). May the western church burn the ideas, idols, and practices that are man-made and have no lasting results, and may Your beloved Bride be disciples who multiply disciples who also multiply disciples in Your Kingdom. May You be glorified in all the earth, every nation, every tribe for Your fame Jesus and for Your honor!! May we become a true BURNING CHURCH and may the fire on the altars of our hearts NEVER go out!! (Leviticus 6:13) Yeehaw!!