Last year, Nick Szkiler took over from Clifford Hill as chair of Issachar Ministries, which is closely linked to Prophecy Today. In 'A New Era', Nick, along with Issachar Ministries advisor Sarah Winbow and the IM team begin to set out their vision both for IM, and for the Church as a whole in this nation, as we face new and unchartered waters. This is the second of five articles, all taken from Crossing Over, a booklet published by IM this summer. The other parts are available here.

Persecution and Places of Refuge

Over the last twenty years, God has been busy stirring the hearts of some of His children to prepare their homes and businesses as places of refuge and resource. There is a growing underground hidden network throughout the UK from the top of Shetland right down to Lands End in Cornwall. This is not something any human being is organising; it is a Sovereign work of God. Some of those involved believe these refuges are just for Jewish refugees, others are prepared to give refuge and shelter to anyone. Indeed, some are already providing refuge to fugitives fleeing Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria. It is entirely possible that at some time in the near future we may be required to shelter one another.

As our economy is squeezed and tradeable commodities become increasingly expensive and scarce, if we are to be a blessing to others in the days ahead, then we must not put off getting ourselves practically prepared. God will never let us down. Scripture reveals that He fed the 5000, but there needed to be something available for God to multiply. We will always need to exercise our faith before we see Him work in miracles and power. So, like the wise virgins, our practical preparations need to be done now before the days of darkness become overwhelming.

Being Community

One aspect of the preparation of places of refuge and resource is the emphasis God is placing on community. We need to explore together what community really means and wrestle with the uncomfortable aspects that will necessarily be thrown up to challenge our Greek-thinking individualism and ‘what’s mine is mine’ society. We all know the old saying that ‘fish goes off after three days’, meaning that visitors can often outstay their welcome after such a short time.

We need to explore together what community really means and wrestle with the uncomfortable aspects that will necessarily be thrown up to challenge our Greek-thinking individualism and ‘what’s mine is mine’ society.

How will we cope with having to share our homes with traumatised individuals who may appear rude or ungrateful, or whole families who cannot simply go home and leave us in peace after three days? The challenge is for us to become much more like the early church we read about in Acts 2: people so in love with Jesus and so filled with the Spirit that, living under severe persecution, their hearts are open, generous and compelled to go out into the streets not only to share the good news but also to lovingly and sacrificially serve and meet each other’s practical needs.

Something we often fail to recognise is that the early church at this stage was not an organisation, it was a radical movement of God’s people who understood the times in which they lived and knew either instinctively or by the Spirit what they (wider Israel) should do. This is what God means an Issachar People to be and to model in these end-times.

A Movement of People

A movement is completely different. It carries an emotional heart, and its purpose is to incarnate the ‘mission’ of who its people are to be. It is an informal gathering, a cooperative coalition of like-minded people who are driven by a shared DNA, values, strategy and action. The early church turned its world upside down, so a movement that is driven not by people but by the Spirit of God can be a powerful catalyst for enormous societal change.
The gathering and partnership of God’s People should look like this:

• Be a living organism (not an organisation).
• Follow God’s plan (not man’s).
• Be living and dynamic (not stagnant, dead).
• Be primarily about relationship (not religion).
• Follow the Holy Spirit (not rituals, traditions).
• Be focused on heart issues in the Body (not structures, positions).
• Be fluid and changing (not rigid, static, unbending).
• Be characterised by anointed, powerful works (not dead works).
• Have a pioneering spirit (not bound by conformity).
• Be powerful, life-changing (not powerless, having a form of godliness).
• Have decentralised control (not centralised).
• Be under God’s control; doing things his way (not under man’s control; doing this his way).
• Be permeated by the Spirit of God (not by a spirit of religion).
• Focus on anointing, function (not on titles, positions).
• See maturity, character and lifestyle changed in disciples (not people trying to behave for appearance sake).
• Be characterised by transparency, honesty, mutuality, interdependence and vulnerability (not people wearing masks, hiding, dishonesty, independence and self-protection).
• Have disciples who know they are sons and daughters of the King of kings (not mere members).
• Have servant leaders, facilitators of what God is doing (not autocratic authority figures).
• Have ministry that is open to everyone (not just professional clergy or a particular team).
• Be motivated by God’s love, mercy and compassion having his heart for those outside the ‘family’ (not motivated by duty and obligation).

The early church turned its world upside down, so a movement that is driven not by people but by the Spirit of God can be a powerful catalyst for enormous societal change.

A Catalyst For Change

The Early Church movement did not belong to one group of people, rather it was something universal that spontaneously erupted from a small group of praying people in a room in Jerusalem and was carried, by those affected, to influence and powerfully impact and change the whole known world at that time. We live in a time where God is massing His army and knitting His units together right across the world. He is acting Sovereignly to draw people together so that a diversity of giftings flow together under His anointing.