baylight church community

The back story to what God is telling so many people all over the world about the San Francisco Bay Area

This past Sunday we talked openly about a word that God has revealed to many at BayLight, in the Bay Area and around the world. If I can summarize:

- What?  A coming disaster or series of disasters (tsunami and/or earthquake?) hitting the Bay Area on the level of 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina.

- When?  We don’t know but some have heard as soon as this Fall.

- Where?  California, but the San Francisco Bay Area especially.

- Who?  The Lord has revealed this to the prophetically gifted individuals in our church community, to many churches and leaders throughout the Bay area across denominations and also to people all over the world in the house church planting movement around the world and those involved with the International House of Prayer Movement based out of Kansas City [There were IHOP intercessors in 214 countries praying on 08/08/08 for us along with over 600 of us in the city that day].    At the front edge of it all is Sean Malone of Crisis Response International who heard from God about 9/11 six months beforehand and was there on the ground when it happened, who heard from God about Hurricane Katrina and was there on the ground five days before it hit.  Now Malone and company have heard of a third disaster that would hit the Bay Area on the same magnitude as the previous two.   Malone and friends gathered together here in May of 2008 to plan and pray.

- Why?  Because the Lord wants to wake up the church (in a way that didn’t happen after the previous two disasters) to be ready to bring in the great harvest of people who will come to Him when it happens.   As we see consistently in the O.T., God is bringing a “severe mercy” upon the land and asking His people to seek Him for the sins of their land that we did nothing about.

 
Because we are a community that is open to the Spirit and wants to follow Jesus wherever He is going, we have brought this topic out in the open.  It will shape a lot of what we do and train for this year — providing us the kind of urgency that all Jesus-followers need to possess in the “last days” as we seek to obey the three overarching commandments Jesus gave us: to love God, to love our neighbors and to make disciples of all nations.   

Many of you in your Life Transformation Groups have already begun to process this word together; wonderful.  You will need the encouragement and support of your community as equally as they will need yours.  And the greater church body will need some of the gifting and passion that you will collectively bring to this discussion.

Many are asking the “What now?” questions.   There are a myriad of ways we can and will go on this. But for now, we wanted to encourage everyone to pray.  The call of the hour is intercession — pray for yourselves: that God would help you get ready to be His Kingdom witnesses.   And pray for our cities: that God would delay until His people on the ground are ready.      This is a time to pray like we’ve never before prayed.

I close with the apostle Paul’s words to the Thessalonian church:

5: 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil.

 23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.