Newsletter 4/17/2025

His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:17)

Change is in the air. Everywhere you look, you can see the desire and the demand for things to change. The secular world is calling for it. The religious world is praying for it. The political world is clamoring for it. You can feel the zeal. The whole planet seems to be in flux. The souls of men are itching, their fickle hearts are uneasy. From one day to the next there are massive shifts taking place. And there are more to come. 

Not all change is good change. But change is not necessarily bad either. Reformations are always disruptive to some status quo. They always challenge some system or institutional establishment that is beloved and protected by traditions, and usually by those who wield power. Some movements are grassroots, others are top down. Whatever the change, there is always hope that it will create something better. Sometimes that is the case, sometimes not. Rarely does any great reshaping of the church, the government, or of a business produce lasting change. Whatever the new reality is, there is a tendency for reformations to slowly become protected establishments themselves. Then a new restructuring is called for.

When the words in John 2:17 were written, it was in context of Jesus’ own attempted reformation of the Jewish temple. The status quo had taken a strong hold. The powerful protected a system of abuse and greed. The common people would have cried out for change openly, but they feared to do so. So things just continued was normal. Until Christ showed up one day and caused a scene. Interestingly, a few years later Jesus came back and had to do the exact same thing. And then almost 40 years later the whole temple was demolished. Paradoxically, the sad thing about the Jewish temple is that God wanted a reformation and a renewal movement so badly that he cleansed out the sanctuary twice. But men wanted things to stay the same so badly that they undid God’s change in favor of their own way. Then it was destroyed altogether. 

I don’t believe God is done with reformations. A renewal and revival of primitive (original, ancient) godliness is coming. Before the final moments of earth’s history are over, God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit will finally have His way in His church. While the powerful of our planet struggle and war and seek to make massive changes that will one day usher in the installment of the most draconian and suppressive system the world has ever known, God will be cleansing and preparing His church for its brightest moment.  I think God is up to something. I have been sensing it. God wants things to change in our churches, in our conference, in our global organization, and among our leaders. Change is in the air. And may that change begin not just with me, but in me.

Pastor Dean