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By Mario Liu
The Boy who cried wolf
image copyright Tiffany Varga
"Most people are familiar with the story of the boy who cried “wolf.” But for the benefit of those unacquainted with the story, here it is again:
A shepherd boy out in the fields was responsible to warn the villagers when he saw a wolf so that the people might come to kill the wolf and protect the sheep. Out of boredom one day, the boy decided to play a prank and cried “Wolf!” though there was no wolf. The villagers ran to him only to find him laughing and saying there was no wolf. It was a joke. So the villagers returned. The boy played the prank the second time and the people came again, only to find no wolf. Then finally, the boy really saw a wolf and cried “Wolf!” But this time no villagers came, because they did not believe him. They would not be fooled again. As a result, the wolf killed and scattered all the sheep."
Chris then went on to quote one of the contributors to his First Love web site, a person called Peter who wrote:
"I have friends in church who take [David] Wilkerson's predictions seriously. I wonder how to react to that. I mean, they said something about a bunch of cities burning (New York, Connecticut). I said that I had read a prophecy by Wilkerson in 1999 that there were supposed to be things happen in 2000 that did not happen. And I said that mainly the thing to be careful about is the spirit of how you take these sorts of warnings .... as, like, what does it do for your zeal in loving and worshipping the Lord - as opposed to does it make you fearful or concerned about planning to live in the "right" place as according to some prophet's prediction.
I was influenced in the 1970's by negative predictions of dire imminent judgment in a way that hindered my making of practical career decisions ... and I take it to have been a lot like the false prophet in Babylon who said it would be only two years before the Lord's people would return to the promised land."
Chris then continues with a story of his own:
"I look back over the last several decades and see how that if I had not been so influenced by prophecies of imminent economic collapse, I too might have made different decisions, as I’m sure my father would have also. In the early 1970’s we had some property on an undeveloped area of the South Jersey shore. We sold it in part under the weight of bleak end time economic predictions. “The times are bad. Jesus is coming soon. The One World Order is here. There’s going to be a depression. Why keep it?” Yet within 10 years the land we sold became steeply prized for prime development and could have been sold for a handsome profit some times over if we had just held onto it."
Stories like this abound. And so, what are we to say? Were we fooled? Were we stupid? Are we still? Were all the worldlings right after all saying “Where is the promise of His [judgment], for since [the apostles] fell asleep, all things continue as they have since the creation.” (2 Peter 3:3-4)
My own story
Both Robert Holmes and I have left secure, high paying professions in Sydney and moved to a country town at the directions of God. God encouraged us to move by giving us many great promises. Now 2011 is over and 11 years later, on reflection, only a hand full of God's promises about disaster coming to Australia, and his promises about our town, have become reality. And instead we have found ourselves in unexpected, severe trials, especially in the areas of finance caused by under-employment.
Both of us suffered severe financial stresses during different periods. And I have phenomenal problems with several key relationships. Between 1999 and 2003 both my wife and I have difficulty finding paid work. And in those years ministry work was eating fast into our savings that we were living on.
At the critical moment God intervened and miraculously gave me a financial officer job at the local police station, a job that I was totally unqualified for, ahead of several qualified applicants including the person who had been working in that position in an acting capacity for two years. In the beginning I have severe problems at this job, because that officer was so offended that I took his position that he immediately took two months leave and did not hand-over his work. Every day for the next few months I survived on miracles to get my financial reports done on time.
This is similar to the life Robert Holmes has been leading for the past five years. " This whole time we have been living from hand to mouth - barely surviving, like Elijah down by the brook... every week is like walking on water!"
On the positive side
I'm not saying everything has failed. During this time we have met for prayer regularly, we have received revelations from God on spiritual things and on character development issues, and most of these have come true. Both Robert and I are still staying in the country town because we know that God's presence is with us, and that we have grown spiritually.
In 1998 and 1999 God sent Robert and I to the USA on several mainly crying wolf trips. God asked several times, and we obeyed. The messages God gave us to share in the USA were very similar to David Wilkersons' prophecies, that USA has rejected God, that God was going to send severe judgement to lovingly correct USA for its own good, that there will be hurricanes, youth shooting (the Columbine Shooting incident did happen a few months afterwards you may search Youtube using Aussieprophet to see a report on this), earthquakes, Mount Rainier blowing up, financial collapse, and lastly, military invasion by China. God asked the USA to repent and to turn back to God.
A few years later God sent Robert to Mobile, Alabama, and Robert prophesied about New Orleans being flooded, which came true a few months later (also search Youtube using Aussieprophet and Katrina as keywords for a report).
Since 2009 God repeatedly asked Robert and I to re-visit USA. I objected strongly, because most of the prophecies given in the first series of trips have not yet come true, and most importantly, for us to travel to USA to speak with mainly small groups and small churches, I always ended up losing money on the expensive airfare between Australia and USA. God repeated the invitation several times and as I result I did travel with Robert to the USA, and spoke to 10 different groups of Christian friends.
God's messages for us to share in USA were: 1. Prophecies delivered by Gods servants were like seeds once sowed into the spiritual realm, God will make them grow and bear fruit in Gods time; 2. Severe judgements are coming to the USA. Our first series of trips were to deliver warnings to the USA calling for repentance to avert these judgements. The 2011 trip was not to call for repentance. It is now too late to repent. This trip is to call for God's remnant people to prepare for what is to come, and that God will be with them and they need not fear. 3. For this trip, we were instructed to emphasis on God's light shining in the darkness, my sharing must concentrate on God's love and not God's judgement. You may visit the Storm Harvest website to search for details about these messages shared during our March/April USA Trip in 2011.
One result of all these trials is that I become humbled. I constantly pray to God, "Please help, please have mercy." And God answers me, "Yes I will show you mercy. Now in a similar way that you expected mercy from me, bestow mercy to all the people around you. Forgive the unforgivable, love the unlovely, and walk with those who are so distasteful to you. Die to self and grow in love."
Footnotes
1) First Love Reader's Circle. December 17, 2011 |
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