The Emerging Church

Vision of the Clock

The Clock, The Seed, The Harvest and The World

God took me to a place in His Spirit and from there showed me the likeness of a wooden clock, cut in the shape of the United States and Canada, such as one might see for sale at a truck stop our in a tourist shop along any Interstate Highway.

As I watched, the hour hand moved to the “two o’clock” position, which is Northeast on the map/clock.

I heard the Lord ask, “What is here?” Immediately I thought of Toronto, Canada; The Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and Pastor John Arnott and what has been called “The Toronto Blessing,” but is really “The Father’s Blessing.”

The hour hand then moved downward to the “five o’clock” position, or Southeast. Again the Lord asked, “What is here?” And I answered, “Brownsville; the Brownsville Revival.”

The hour hand then swung forward to the “eight o’clock” position over Southern California on the map/clock. Again I heard, “What is here?” and I thought of Pastor Che Anh and Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena.

Finally, the hour hand climbed upward to the “ten o’clock” position; the Pacific Northwest. Again the voice asked, “What is here?” and I could think of nothing as significant as Toronto, Brownsville or Pasadena.

Now the hour hand returned to the Northeast and I heard a Voice say, “1636, 1701, 1746, 1769.” I realized that these were dates, but didn’t understand the meaning or significance of them. I soon discovered that these were the dates of the founding of four schools: Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Dartmouth.

The Seed Planted Determines the Harvest Gathered

Then God said, “Let me teach you a truth: The seed planted determines the harvest gathered.” I thought I understood that simple truth, but suddenly I saw its effect in a new light when the Lord asked, “For what purpose were these schools established?” I knew this and said, “To train ministers for the gospel!” In fact, the first charter for Harvard University reads,

“To advance Learning and perpetuate it to Posterity; dreading to leave an illiterate Ministry to the Churches."

Fruit Grows After Its Kind

There is an irrefutable law of nature that God created: Whatever seed is planted in a given soil will determine precisely the kind of harvest that is produced. Don’t miss this truth! It does not matter what structure is built on a given soil or at a given location; it doesn’t matter who owns the soil or what storms rage over the soil or what other things happen to that soil – if a seed is planted there, a harvest of “like-kind” will eventually be produced. Fruit grows after its kind. We can change the title deed of a piece of land but we cannot change the kind of harvest the planted seed will produce. This principle is vital to understand in light of current political attempts to remove any mention of God from our social lives, and the continued assault on God by an extremist political left in America. The seed that was planted will produce a harvest of the nature and kind and variety as the original seed. The same principle is true in the land of Israel. Man may call that geographical location “Palestine” or any other name he chooses. Governmental bodies may grant ownership to people groups or to political entities, but the seed planted in the soil of Israel will eventually produce a harvest after its kind.

If Christian truth and Christian virtue are the seeds that were planted, the eventual harvest will be Christian truth and virtue no matter what storms may howl across the soil in the interim between planting and harvest.

And it is God Who dictates the seasons and the times.

Now return with me to the map/clock vision. With the understanding of the law of the seed and harvest, I watched the hour hand move from the Northeast to the Southeast part of America. The Lord then spoke to me about Billy Graham and what is known as the “Sawdust Trail” and the great evangelists of the Southeast.

As the hour hand returned to Southern California the Lord spoke to me about Hollywood and the creative, avante garde’ spirit there. Immediately I understood that Che Anh’s development and introduction of the five-fold ministry in the local church was something new, unheard of, creative, spiritual avante garde’. The seed planted in Southern California had brought a harvest in a church called “Harvest Rock” no less!

Then the hour hand swept upwards to the Pacific Northwest. I heard the voice of the Lord as He reminded me that “the seed planted will determine the harvest gathered.” He then recited names to me: “Charles Price, John G. Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson, Smith Wigglesworth, Kathryn Kuhlman.” All of these Generals of God enjoyed great ministry in the Pacific Northwest. And the common denominator among each of these was divine healing.

I knew that Spokane, Washington was named “Healthiest City in America” by the U.S. government because of the healing ministry of John G. Lake. I knew that Dr. Charles Price had literally emptied an entire hospital wing in Central Washington by going bed to bed praying for the sick.

What God revealed to me in that moment was that the seed of divine healing, planted in the spiritual soil of the Pacific Northwest would eventually bring a harvest of an explosion of divine healing that would begin in the Northwest and then would sweep across America and around the world.

At this point I thought the vision would end, but God showed me one other important truth: He showed me the hour hand that had pointed to the Northeast, the Southeast, the Southwest and the Northwest. I had not paid any attention to the actual hour hand until now. As I followed the Lord in the Spirit, I saw that the hour hand was “pinned” or connected to the clock over the Midwest. As I watched the hand move from the Northwest, it came to the midnight position. I knew instantly that God was referring to the “end times.” We don’t have a great deal of time before the end of all things, and that a healing revival will immediately precede the end. I believe that this healing revival will stir hearts and cause many to turn to Jesus and be saved.

Further, there is a significance to the Midwest of America: This is the “anchor point” of God’s hour hand for America. It is in the Midwest where God will find “fixity” and secure attachment – in other words, when the winds of change begin to blow that would cause many to be uprooted in their faith and to be blown “off course”, it will be the saints in the Midwest who will rightly perceive, correctly interpret and help keep the church “on course.”

These days are quickly approaching. Among other things, God is conducting a process that I call “positioning” among His people. A purification and a humbling have come to many who will lead in these final hours. Great pain has been experienced by many who have been counted as “refuse” and as unqualified by the church world, but it will be this people who will rise up in the final hour to lead a people, filled with God’s Spirit, consumed by the fire of His presence and inundated with His mercy and grace who will lead not only America, but the world to the foot of the cross.

Greg Austin