"Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid. And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves. Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant."-(Mark 9:2-10)
The translation for the word "transfiguration" is revelation in and of itself. The Greek word is "metamorpho" meaning to transform either literally or figuratively; to change. It is an active verb which by definition is to "translate into another form", hence the term "metamorphosis" is used for the status change from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. Furthermore, if you break the word into its two establishing members, "meta" meaning change and "morphe" meaning form, it also operates under the more specific definition "the change of the outward appearance so as to match the inward reality". Jesus' physical appearance is one of mystery and presumption, imagination and idealization. In truth, we can only imagine or surmise what He looked like. In most Christian Art, He is portrayed as Anglo, rarely determining a Palestinian or Middle-Eastern skin-type or heritage. It would appear, for all intents and purposes that the artists responsible for His likenesses in most cases idealized Him as one of their own contemporaries. Perhaps that is due to the closeness of heart that we feel as His followers. We are drawn to His person out of our depth of intimacy with Him, and hence, assimilate that feeling of familiarity into a visage or voice that is also familiar to us. Or, it may well be that the reason He is represented with Anglo pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes in the majority of Christian paintings, stained glass or colored frescoes is due to the preference of the patron of the craftsman creating the piece. No matter, for it is known to all who have been changed by Jesus, He is BEAUTIFUL to every soul who adores Him, attractive to every heart that has known the Master's touch. But the Word of God does not show us that he was physically attractive. "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering."-(Isaiah 53:2-3) Which leads me to the prior point: Jesus' transfiguration at Mount Tabor was the change of His outward appearance so as to match the inward reality of His divinity. In that unbelievably precious moment of transformation, the three chosen to stand as witness to this divine event witnessed the outward manifestation of Christ's glory. Jesus was turned "inside-out".
Studying this dynamic moment at the pinnacle of His public ministry leads one to many questions. Why were Moses and Elijah there talking to Him? Why did Jesus choose Peter, John and James to witness this event? Why did the three witnesses receive admonition from the Lord? When we examine the Word of God, and find mystery, there are moments when the answer cannot be revealed by study and dissertation alone, but rather by divine impartation. The Word clearly states through the unfolding of this massively important event that Jesus was there speaking with Moses and Elijah, but it is not directly addressed as to what they were discussing; although many scholars surmise that the topic was the upcoming torture, death and resurrection that Jesus was to experience. These same scholars believe also that the two witnesses in the book of Revelation 11:3-12 are Moses and Elijah. The hypothesis of a "supernatural mission briefing" would, if correct, answer the query of the presence of Peter, John and James at the moment of transfiguration as well. This incredible occurrence would most definitely have strengthened the faith of the three men who would remain closest to the Lord as He endured the coming struggle to which they would be held witness of in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal and arrest. Other perspectives on the possibilities weave into the divine event the purpose of showing the fisherman and the sons of thunder, that the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah) were perfected with the Son's fulfillment of both. When Peter volunteered to build them shelters, the glory cloud came and the voice of God instructed- "This is my beloved Son! Hear Him!"-(Mark 9:7) Which speaks to the preeminence of Christ above the Law and the Prophets. We are to listen FIRST to Christ who has perfected the Law and the Prophets. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."-(Matthew 5:17) It is also impressive that there were three earthly witnesses (Peter, John and James) and three heavenly witnesses (Moses, Elijah and God the Father-represented by His voice) present at the moment when Jesus' divine person literally "outshined" His natural person.
But it is the "outshining" itself, which for us bares greater attention in accordance with the unction of the Holy Spirit. While every detail, the seen and the unseen of this milestone deserve deep investigation and study, contemplation and meditation, the meat is in the metamorphosis itself. As stated earlier, the definition which shakes the spiritual and the relevant is "the change of outward appearance so as to match the inward reality". Jesus became the heavenly counterpart of Himself that moment; Jesus became His "AUTHENTIC SELF". The word "transfiguration" is the same in another entirely important scripture that holds paramount significance to the life of a disciple of Christ: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."-(Romans 12:1-2) The word "transformed" is in the original translation, literally the same "transfigured" that is used in Mark 9:2, Matthew 17:2 and Luke 9:28. Moreover, that insight itself lends additional weight to Romans 12:1-2. When we present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God, we are presenting our willing un-transfigured bodies as seed to God in the order for us to become our "transfigured" selves. Being transformed by the renewal of our mind means definitively that we do not operate out of the guidelines and precepts of the world, but rather the supernatural necessity that is defined by the Kingdom of God. "Thy Will be done on Earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN." May we become on Earth who we are in Heaven. We are, like our Lord, to be made in His Holy image, through His blood, fully transformed and then transfigured. We are to be made new and then turned "inside-out", just as Jesus was that glorious day. Perhaps to fulfill a two-fold purpose: To be presented unto God as Holy, and to be presented and stationed to the world as shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten. "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house."-(Matthew 5:13-15) To become our "authentic selves" is not merely to be the best we can in the flesh or the mind. No- it is through Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"-(2 Corinthians 5:17)
When I received my salvation, I distinctly remember hearing from the Pastor, prophetically "Jesus wants to clean you. He wants to make you absolutely new, from the inside-out". And so, in communicating with you regarding this phenomenal moment emblazoned into our picture of the Savior, we wish to inquire of you this question: Is your inward reality or TRUTH one with Christ? If you cannot answer that simply, do not fear. This is a journey for everyone, even believers. But if the reason you could not grant a positive confirmation is a lack of relationship with the Son of God, we encourage you- do not waste one more moment. Ask Him in. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne."-(Revelation 3:20-21) He alone has the power to make you who you were designed to be. He alone is the architect of your transfiguration, and your eternity. If you make Him your center, your source and your Lord, He will make you a new creation, and turn you INSIDE-OUT.
Pastors Brian and Jeni Stivale travel the globe spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ministering with signs and wonders following through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Their ministry of preaching, teaching, prophetic, and worship reaches millions throughout the world via Churches, Conferences, Internet and Television. www.StivaleMinistries.org
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
SPIRITUALLY BLIND
"And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, 'The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor'. And Gideon said unto him, 'Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites'. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, 'Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?' And he said unto him, 'Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house'. And the LORD said unto him, 'Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man'."-(Judges 6:11-16)
I had the privilege very recently to minister once again with a great man of God, and a mighty man of valor, who, through partnership with his spouse, ministers worldwide in a truly anointed capacity. I speak of Harry Salem and his precious wife, Cheryl. Harry and Cheryl are dear to Jeni and I, and have served for many years now as a God-given and God-appointed example of the type of union in life and ministry that we ourselves share.
While I was ministering in worship before he was to speak, a precious anointing fell and the environment of faith enveloped the body of the church. I began to prophesy (albeit fairly restrained as I did not feel fully released to unleash that which God was revealing to me) and had two very remarkable experiences. First, as the anointing filled the very air itself, I began to see in the Spirit, and scanning the congregation, was drawn to a corner in the back of the sanctuary. I heard in my spirit "brilliance". Then, shielding my eyes from the spotlights, I saw a dear friend, who I had been told was out of state on sabbatical. The anointing had shone so potently on him, that he could not be anonymous in the presence of the Lord. I did not, however, announce his presence but upon the prompting of the Holy Spirit, allowed him his privacy. What directly followed that was the Lord showing me a spirit in the midst of the people who was blind, without sight. I saw in a vision a spirit-man literally blindfolded, and then as the blindfold fell off, I witnessed badly scarred, scaled eyes. I then, through the move of the Spirit, gave a word for the person who "had become SPIRITUALLY BLIND". The Holy Spirit continued to speak through me revealing the divine timing of this person's presence at the service; that they were not accidentally present, and the man of God's sermon was going to be the breakthrough Word which they needed in order to regain their spiritual sight once more. I remember this so distinctly, because as soon as the man of God took the pulpit, he called it to attention again and was pressed by the anointing to confirm it. As the Word came forth, it occurred, even to him, that the message's center of focus was speaking directly to those who were "spiritually blind".
The text from Judges shows us that even in the midst of the Angel of the Lord, or as theophany suggests, Jesus Himself, who declares while Gideon hides threshing wheat in the WINEPRESS (see the archived blog "The Winepress Giant") that he is a "mighty man of valor". He greets Gideon as a mighty warrior. But Gideon has, in spite of the knowlege of the miracles that God had done for Israel, become "spiritually blind". Instead of allowing the release and becoming the depth of the prophetic proclamation, he goes directly to the negative and in that perspective asks "WHY?". Have you ever greeted someone with an empowering word and immediately received a negative response? I most certainly have, There are people throughout my walk, who upon even the slightest positive greeting- "How are you?", will respond with- "I can't complain". While to them this may seem to be a good, and honest answer, it begs the retort "Would you be happier if you COULD complain?". You would be amazed at the amount of truly brilliant, strong and beautiful people in my life who use that response EVERY DAY. It is staggering. I do not cite this out of lambasting criticism, but rather out of recognition of the bounty of blessing that they miss on a daily basis, as a result of their choice to ignore the positive. I was a the grocery store and was greeted by a checker who I somehow seem to be divinely appointed to, and he asked how I was. I answered genuinely "Blessed. How are you?". He responded "I am choosing to have a positive day." I laughed and went on to expound on the merits and virtue of that answer and core belief. I did so until I realized that a long line of "Can't complainers" was developing behind me and starting to do what they longed to do secretly in their souls... complain.
With Gideon in this text, he behaves similarly to those who sink back into the negative in the midst of a possible positive conversion. He postures the behavior of a doubter, and his doubt literally removes the mantle of "mighty man of valor" from his cognizance. Instead of embracing the gift of fortification, the man who had been hiding threshing wheat in a winepress questions the Angel of the Lord with "WHY?" and "WHERE?". Many times in our walk with the Lord, when God looks to rename us, or empower us with a fresh anointing or purpose, we are susceptible to the way of the doubter. Instead of engaging the fresh mantle, anointing or assignment, we look behind us at let-downs or perhaps more often at our current surroundings, environments or circumstances and ask "WHY did this happen to me?" or "WHERE were YOU?". I can personally attest to the hopelessness of allowing my surroundings and current plight to define my outcome. But God does not consider the environment as a hindering factor. He is sovereign, and His sovereignty can make something out of nothing. God can make it snow upside-down on a blazing summer day where there has never been rain let alone snow. In the midst of one of the most trying and difficult times of our ministry's growth, I felt as though God had forgotten the promises He had made to me. I saw only the negative experiences in my life and held onto them as if they were, for better and mostly worse, what defined me. My mistakes, my poor choices and ignorance were what made me who I was. I was depressed and lost. Through the veil of a manufactured smile, I defined myself as a "fish in a forest" who could no longer find the path back to the waters. It was grim. But the God of the Breakthrough saw every second of my doubt and self-inflicted suffering. At a conference we were ministering at, a Pastor I did not know, who did not know me, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me:
"The Spirit of the Living God wants you to know that you are not the events that have happened in your life. You are not to define yourself through your mistakes any more. He is commanding you to see yourself not as the flesh would have you, but as the Spirit would. You are NOT what has happened. You are His. You are CHOSEN." It was amazing. I had received, once more, a direct and valuable Word from the Lord right on time. I immediately moved out of the hills of doubt and onto the mountaintop of sonship once more. I have been tempted from time to time to regress and crawl back into the fleshly comfort of vain self-deprication, but the Holy Spirit has kept me safe and sanctified. Prior to that moment, I too had become "spiritually blind".
It is a commonly used weapon of the adversary to blind the spiritual eyes of believers from the promises and deliverance of God. Satan is far more effective when God's earthly armies are distracted or disoriented. When we are pulled into our circumstances or what visibly seems impossible, there is the potential for a loss of VISION. One of the most disarming qualities of becoming "spiritually blind" is losing one's VISION. "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."-(Proverbs 29:18) In the "God's Word" translation it reads: "Without prophetic vision people run wild, but blessed are those who follow [God's] teachings." No vision means that the enemy can sneak in and destroy and kill dreams, ideals, beliefs, and the gifts of the spirit. A dear friend of ours, Dr. Myles Munroe teaches that "SIGHT is a function of the eyes, but VISION is a function of the heart." If the enemy can crush or "blind" us from our vision, than he can, in that action, break our hearts. It is not uncommon for people to perish or die from a broken heart. You may be breathing, you may be technically and physically alive, but if you are heart-broken, you are by no means truly living. But please do not misunderstand what I am attempting to communicate here. Satan, or his minions are not necessarily the responsible party for the death of dreams and vision in many people who become spiritually blind. Quite the contrary, I believe he uses the opportunities allotted by those who have by their own decision laid down their vision to infiltrate and hold their thoughts captive in that state. The enemy gets quite a bit of undeserved credit for what usually amounts to not "following God's teachings".
Without spiritual sight, there is no peace in our hearts. When we become "blinded" it is nearly impossible to see the King. If we become focused on the Midianites and the invaders or challenges of life, our minds and hearts are not on God. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."-(Isaiah 26:3) With our minds stayed upon the Lord, we can see when the Angel of the Lord comes to call upon us in our hiding places and addresses us as Mighty Man or Woman of Valor that there is no need for proofs or signs. The confirmation will be in the appearance of the Angel Himself. What is so wonderfully impressive about Gideon's situation is the revelation that although he was reclusively eluding the invaders in a winepress, God spoke into him the greatness that he would be need to defeat the Midianites in spite of his declaration of being "poor and the least of his father's house". You see, all it takes to regain our spiritual sight is a word or a touch from the Master. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, 'What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?' The blind man said unto him, 'Lord, that I might receive my sight'. And Jesus said unto him, 'Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.."-(Mark 10:51-52) It takes a word from the Lord and FAITH. God WAS with Gideon, and he did smite the Midianites as one man. He truly became a mighty man of valor.
Perhaps you are fighting this same battle, unwittingly. Is it possible that you linger in the negative, or have set up camp where either your surroundings or those within your camp have placed "blinders" on you? Or far worse, is it possible that the environment you have unpacked in, and those you have joined party with are the very instruments of your loss of sight? Sometimes, we are completely unaware of our loss of spiritual receptivity or sensitivity because of a slow, steady decline into darkness. If you have fallen away from the glory or grace of God's presence and rather slid into the mirky clay and swamp of circumstance, we encourage you to rise up, you mighty man of valor! God is on your side! The scales of spiritual blindness MUST obey the KING OF KINGS command to be gone! We speak LIFE and a RESURRECTION of your dead or dying DREAMS and VISION!! There is a Dylan Thomas poem which reads "Do not go gentle into that good night- Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" When there is a shadow, do not lay down your vision, do not relinquish your sight. Rather, press on. Press on without ceasing. When the circumstances appear all but hopeful, press on. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."-(Psalm 23:4) Walk THROUGH, knowing that God and his Word are our comfort. Do not stay hidden in the winepress, eking out a living, existing in fear and loathsome remembrance of what could have been. Instead, heed the prophetic call to arms, listen to the Word of the Lord as He calls you to reclaim your purpose, regain your mantle, and take back your SIGHT.
I had the privilege very recently to minister once again with a great man of God, and a mighty man of valor, who, through partnership with his spouse, ministers worldwide in a truly anointed capacity. I speak of Harry Salem and his precious wife, Cheryl. Harry and Cheryl are dear to Jeni and I, and have served for many years now as a God-given and God-appointed example of the type of union in life and ministry that we ourselves share.
While I was ministering in worship before he was to speak, a precious anointing fell and the environment of faith enveloped the body of the church. I began to prophesy (albeit fairly restrained as I did not feel fully released to unleash that which God was revealing to me) and had two very remarkable experiences. First, as the anointing filled the very air itself, I began to see in the Spirit, and scanning the congregation, was drawn to a corner in the back of the sanctuary. I heard in my spirit "brilliance". Then, shielding my eyes from the spotlights, I saw a dear friend, who I had been told was out of state on sabbatical. The anointing had shone so potently on him, that he could not be anonymous in the presence of the Lord. I did not, however, announce his presence but upon the prompting of the Holy Spirit, allowed him his privacy. What directly followed that was the Lord showing me a spirit in the midst of the people who was blind, without sight. I saw in a vision a spirit-man literally blindfolded, and then as the blindfold fell off, I witnessed badly scarred, scaled eyes. I then, through the move of the Spirit, gave a word for the person who "had become SPIRITUALLY BLIND". The Holy Spirit continued to speak through me revealing the divine timing of this person's presence at the service; that they were not accidentally present, and the man of God's sermon was going to be the breakthrough Word which they needed in order to regain their spiritual sight once more. I remember this so distinctly, because as soon as the man of God took the pulpit, he called it to attention again and was pressed by the anointing to confirm it. As the Word came forth, it occurred, even to him, that the message's center of focus was speaking directly to those who were "spiritually blind".
The text from Judges shows us that even in the midst of the Angel of the Lord, or as theophany suggests, Jesus Himself, who declares while Gideon hides threshing wheat in the WINEPRESS (see the archived blog "The Winepress Giant") that he is a "mighty man of valor". He greets Gideon as a mighty warrior. But Gideon has, in spite of the knowlege of the miracles that God had done for Israel, become "spiritually blind". Instead of allowing the release and becoming the depth of the prophetic proclamation, he goes directly to the negative and in that perspective asks "WHY?". Have you ever greeted someone with an empowering word and immediately received a negative response? I most certainly have, There are people throughout my walk, who upon even the slightest positive greeting- "How are you?", will respond with- "I can't complain". While to them this may seem to be a good, and honest answer, it begs the retort "Would you be happier if you COULD complain?". You would be amazed at the amount of truly brilliant, strong and beautiful people in my life who use that response EVERY DAY. It is staggering. I do not cite this out of lambasting criticism, but rather out of recognition of the bounty of blessing that they miss on a daily basis, as a result of their choice to ignore the positive. I was a the grocery store and was greeted by a checker who I somehow seem to be divinely appointed to, and he asked how I was. I answered genuinely "Blessed. How are you?". He responded "I am choosing to have a positive day." I laughed and went on to expound on the merits and virtue of that answer and core belief. I did so until I realized that a long line of "Can't complainers" was developing behind me and starting to do what they longed to do secretly in their souls... complain.
With Gideon in this text, he behaves similarly to those who sink back into the negative in the midst of a possible positive conversion. He postures the behavior of a doubter, and his doubt literally removes the mantle of "mighty man of valor" from his cognizance. Instead of embracing the gift of fortification, the man who had been hiding threshing wheat in a winepress questions the Angel of the Lord with "WHY?" and "WHERE?". Many times in our walk with the Lord, when God looks to rename us, or empower us with a fresh anointing or purpose, we are susceptible to the way of the doubter. Instead of engaging the fresh mantle, anointing or assignment, we look behind us at let-downs or perhaps more often at our current surroundings, environments or circumstances and ask "WHY did this happen to me?" or "WHERE were YOU?". I can personally attest to the hopelessness of allowing my surroundings and current plight to define my outcome. But God does not consider the environment as a hindering factor. He is sovereign, and His sovereignty can make something out of nothing. God can make it snow upside-down on a blazing summer day where there has never been rain let alone snow. In the midst of one of the most trying and difficult times of our ministry's growth, I felt as though God had forgotten the promises He had made to me. I saw only the negative experiences in my life and held onto them as if they were, for better and mostly worse, what defined me. My mistakes, my poor choices and ignorance were what made me who I was. I was depressed and lost. Through the veil of a manufactured smile, I defined myself as a "fish in a forest" who could no longer find the path back to the waters. It was grim. But the God of the Breakthrough saw every second of my doubt and self-inflicted suffering. At a conference we were ministering at, a Pastor I did not know, who did not know me, through the prompting of the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me:
"The Spirit of the Living God wants you to know that you are not the events that have happened in your life. You are not to define yourself through your mistakes any more. He is commanding you to see yourself not as the flesh would have you, but as the Spirit would. You are NOT what has happened. You are His. You are CHOSEN." It was amazing. I had received, once more, a direct and valuable Word from the Lord right on time. I immediately moved out of the hills of doubt and onto the mountaintop of sonship once more. I have been tempted from time to time to regress and crawl back into the fleshly comfort of vain self-deprication, but the Holy Spirit has kept me safe and sanctified. Prior to that moment, I too had become "spiritually blind".
It is a commonly used weapon of the adversary to blind the spiritual eyes of believers from the promises and deliverance of God. Satan is far more effective when God's earthly armies are distracted or disoriented. When we are pulled into our circumstances or what visibly seems impossible, there is the potential for a loss of VISION. One of the most disarming qualities of becoming "spiritually blind" is losing one's VISION. "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."-(Proverbs 29:18) In the "God's Word" translation it reads: "Without prophetic vision people run wild, but blessed are those who follow [God's] teachings." No vision means that the enemy can sneak in and destroy and kill dreams, ideals, beliefs, and the gifts of the spirit. A dear friend of ours, Dr. Myles Munroe teaches that "SIGHT is a function of the eyes, but VISION is a function of the heart." If the enemy can crush or "blind" us from our vision, than he can, in that action, break our hearts. It is not uncommon for people to perish or die from a broken heart. You may be breathing, you may be technically and physically alive, but if you are heart-broken, you are by no means truly living. But please do not misunderstand what I am attempting to communicate here. Satan, or his minions are not necessarily the responsible party for the death of dreams and vision in many people who become spiritually blind. Quite the contrary, I believe he uses the opportunities allotted by those who have by their own decision laid down their vision to infiltrate and hold their thoughts captive in that state. The enemy gets quite a bit of undeserved credit for what usually amounts to not "following God's teachings".
Without spiritual sight, there is no peace in our hearts. When we become "blinded" it is nearly impossible to see the King. If we become focused on the Midianites and the invaders or challenges of life, our minds and hearts are not on God. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."-(Isaiah 26:3) With our minds stayed upon the Lord, we can see when the Angel of the Lord comes to call upon us in our hiding places and addresses us as Mighty Man or Woman of Valor that there is no need for proofs or signs. The confirmation will be in the appearance of the Angel Himself. What is so wonderfully impressive about Gideon's situation is the revelation that although he was reclusively eluding the invaders in a winepress, God spoke into him the greatness that he would be need to defeat the Midianites in spite of his declaration of being "poor and the least of his father's house". You see, all it takes to regain our spiritual sight is a word or a touch from the Master. "And Jesus answered and said unto him, 'What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?' The blind man said unto him, 'Lord, that I might receive my sight'. And Jesus said unto him, 'Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.."-(Mark 10:51-52) It takes a word from the Lord and FAITH. God WAS with Gideon, and he did smite the Midianites as one man. He truly became a mighty man of valor.
Perhaps you are fighting this same battle, unwittingly. Is it possible that you linger in the negative, or have set up camp where either your surroundings or those within your camp have placed "blinders" on you? Or far worse, is it possible that the environment you have unpacked in, and those you have joined party with are the very instruments of your loss of sight? Sometimes, we are completely unaware of our loss of spiritual receptivity or sensitivity because of a slow, steady decline into darkness. If you have fallen away from the glory or grace of God's presence and rather slid into the mirky clay and swamp of circumstance, we encourage you to rise up, you mighty man of valor! God is on your side! The scales of spiritual blindness MUST obey the KING OF KINGS command to be gone! We speak LIFE and a RESURRECTION of your dead or dying DREAMS and VISION!! There is a Dylan Thomas poem which reads "Do not go gentle into that good night- Rage, rage against the dying of the light!" When there is a shadow, do not lay down your vision, do not relinquish your sight. Rather, press on. Press on without ceasing. When the circumstances appear all but hopeful, press on. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."-(Psalm 23:4) Walk THROUGH, knowing that God and his Word are our comfort. Do not stay hidden in the winepress, eking out a living, existing in fear and loathsome remembrance of what could have been. Instead, heed the prophetic call to arms, listen to the Word of the Lord as He calls you to reclaim your purpose, regain your mantle, and take back your SIGHT.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
OF HAROLD CAMPING, VAN GOGH & MALCHUS
“Simon Peter therefore having a sword drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. Now the servant’s name was Malchus. Jesus therefore said unto Peter, ‘Put up the sword into the sheath: the cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?’”-(John 18:10-11)
Well… We are still here. The prognostications of another false prophet have fallen flat on their face and into a crevasse chock full of other impotent, incorrect, man-ordained prophecy. The Rapture that was purported to manifest on May 21st, 2011 at 6:00pm in every individual time-zone across the Earth, with coinciding earthquakes sounding the re- entry of our Lord, starting in New Zealand, did not occur. The reason? “No man knows the day or the hour when these things will take place; Not the Angels, nor the Son know, but only the Father in Heaven.”-(Matthew 24:36) The agenda set by a MAN, in Harold Camping, was yet another in a long string of man-made confusions and predictions dealing with an element of eschatology that the Lord Himself warns us to be leery of. Jesus tells us in the same chapter in Matthew that in the last days, there would be those who came in His name who would “deceive even the elect”. That is precisely what has recently been experienced, sadly, by a large group of believers. They put their faith in a man’s interpretation of Biblical codes and self-designed prophecy and are now suffering the ramifications of another misguided attempt to know the mind and timelines of our sovereign Lord. Many have sold all of their possessions and spent the increase by either giving it all to the institution that amplified this folly, or pouring out their “bucket lists” while there was still time. Relationships were severed. Hearts were broken. Judgments were made by both the deceived and those on the opposite side of belief. Meanwhile, Satan kicked back and once again allowed mankind to shiver in anxious anticipation of the end of all things… even laughing no doubt, from his knowledge of the truth. But, we are still here.
A month and a half ago, I was on the phone with my Father informing him of the dates we would be visiting while ministering in the Northeastern United States this summer, when he sarcastically interjected “We won’t be here then. Don’t you know that the Rapture is May 21st?”. We had a laugh about the absurdity of the prediction and I immediately uttered Matthew 24:36 to him as a scriptural reassurance. “If Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of the Living God does not know, there is no way that a delusional preacher from California will have foreknowledge”. Weeks passed and the occasional jest arose here and there to remind us of the oncoming dud that was imminent. My bride and I would tease others with the idea that we needn’t pay any more bills nor fulfill our obligations passed the date of aerial exodus. But in the midst of prayer and meditation on this issue, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit and heard Him say “It is false. It is not truth. But consider… WHAT IF IT WAS TRUE? Are you ready? Have you poured yourself out?” It pierced me. Penetrating my thoughts and contemplations about the BILLIONS who do not know Him, I began to joke less and care more. What if it were true? I knew that it was not, but that familiar, rhetorical “what if?” would echo for the duration of the days to the proverbial false start.
On May 20th, the eve of the proposed Raptos, we took our two boys to the Movies to see the long-awaited return of Disney’s Pirate Legend, Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean –On Stranger Tides”. Earlier that day I had shared with my Twitter followers a rhetorical question: “I do not believe that the Rapture is upon us, but let’s just say it was… ARE YOU READY?” It was a simple enough exercise in provoking a healthy spiritual self-examination. While we sat watching the previews for the rest of the summer’s exciting and flabbergastingly idiotic features, I received multiple contacts via email, voicemail and Twitter messaging from a News Reporter with a desire to have my input on this issue. I stepped out of the theater and called him. My initial question was about his motives. I have learned from dealing with the Secular Press in both Ministry and the Entertainment Industry that stories are not always geared toward presenting the truth, but rather riling the attention of the viewer, reader, audience etc. He responded with an honest reply that dealt with what our take on the prediction was, and asked if we had been flooded with questions about the proposal. He then asked me before sending a mobile crew to meet me in front of the Movie Theater, whether I believed the date to be accurate. I responded with “Sir, I am at the Movies with my kids to see ‘Pirates 4’. That either means that I’m a HUGE Disney fan, or I don’t believe that we are going to be swept up by the four winds tomorrow… Or both.” He laughed, and set off to meet me with a camera crew. I was pulled out of the movie about half-way through to go into the interview. We discussed earlier the time limit being five minutes maximum, as I had committed to being with my boys.
When the interview began, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit there to give me utterance. I shared the scriptural evidence and warning found in Matthew 24, the sensitivity of the issue for both believers and non-believers and the relevance of the coming end of days. But I found myself, in the midst of the conversation gravitating away from the “stone the false prophet” perspective that was expected of a Bible-Thumping Religious Figure, and delving into the positive that is coming out of this confusion. “People are talking about it. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Agnostics… They are all discussing the WHAT IF factor. That is incredible. The Second-Coming of our Lord and Savior is the focus of literally Hundreds of Millions of conversations and debates right now. That is wonderful”. How incredible! How poignant, that in the midst of a false declaration and a visceral warning to repent for the end is nigh, Jesus was in the spotlight. There it was… The glimmer of light in an otherwise grotesquely negative scenario. Those whose figures might never darken the parking lot, let alone the door of a church, were talking about my God. They were having intense discussions and genuine discourse on the possibilities and the repercussions of Yeshua’s Triumphal Revelation and return. I was truly blessed to share that with them.
Two days after the interview aired on both the 10 and 11 o’clock Network News Programs, I received another barrage of contacts seeking me out to be the subject witness to the fallout and the aftermath of the “Ruptured Rapture” on News Radio. I agreed. I stated very clearly before engaging the interview that I was in no way, shape or form a “Rapturologist” or self-appointed authority on the Rapture. I made it pristine to them that I was very simply a believer who loves and studies the Word of God. They presented a far more jaded, negative, secular stand on the issue and tried to maneuver things into that perspective, but again, the Holy Ghost was with me. I believe that I spoke boldly, but lovingly about the absurdity of the prognostication. I also focused more on the actuality of Jesus the Messiah’s return more than the failure of said return that past Saturday. The host seemed agitated with my intent to stay focused on the joy of the Lord, rather than to hop onto the convoy of stone-throwers, but I was happily stalwart in declaring the love of God and the forgiveness for those who were now the victims of their own commitment to a deception. “We cannot kick these believers while they are down. They made a mistake. Everyone does. We need to help restore their faith”. He asked me why no other Pastors or Evangelists were willing to give him an interview pre or post May 21st. I very plainly and respectfully enlightened him to the fact that the Secular News Media generally paints Christians, particularly Protestant Believers, Pastors and Evangelists in a very negative light. “Most of the time, the media portrays us as Nuts that fell off of a broken tree”. This was another opportunity to share openly and clearly the Gospel and Love of Jesus Christ to a community that otherwise mocks our lifestyle.
But perhaps the greatest opportunity was in their LISTENING itself. Because people were curious before, they were LISTENING. Because their hearts and minds were stirred after, THEY WERE STILL LISTENING. You need attentive ears to have the Gospel received. Whether you preach the greatest sermon ever breathed or the simplest of words and simply share “Jesus Loves You”, without an open ear, the message never reaches a hurting heart. “Does not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth food?”-(Job 12:11) In some instances, because of the hardships and pains of life, some do what famed impressionist artist and madman, Vincent Van Gogh did and cut off our own ear. It is much easier to avoid pain if we do not hear what surrounds us. But, HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR: We must not expect our ministry to penetrate the souls of men if their ears are neither attentive nor receptive. The irony in this is that we, the stalwart believers who declare His Good News, act just as Peter did in Gethsemane during the arrest of Jesus.
He tried to defend the Lord and struck the High Priest’s servant, Malchus, cutting off his ear. Jesus never called for or ordered this act. How often do we, as followers of Christ do this same act, out of well-meaning hearts? Have you never defended the Lord to the unbeliever to the point of metaphorically chopping their ears off? When we take the aggressive negative attack approach, it will NEVER lead to the purity of the hope found in the Spiritually uplifting deliverance singularly granted in Yeshua. God the Father is our Source, The Holy Spirit is our guide, Jesus our Advocate, and the WORD our only SWORD. I always loved the fact the WORD is our S-WORD, our sword. “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.”-(Hebrews 4:12) We are not to use that sword to wound those we were called by Christ to offer His reconciliation to.
While the fallout of casualties surrounds us of those who did not respect the Word’s powerful warnings found in Matthew 24:36, we must neither cut the ear off of those who have, as a result suffered nor those who would doubt the truth and sovereignty of Jesus’ Lordship and inevitable return. You see, precious ones, the enemy uses the deception of even the elect to soften mankind’s perception of the truth and surroundings. He uses false-alarms and the like to desensitize the masses into not hearing the alarms that DO matter. Do not be deceived by the distraction of the billboards and media quips, THE END IS NEAR. Jesus tells the disciples regarding the end of days not the TIME, but the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. “…You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled: for these things must need come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail.”-(Matthew 24:6-8) If you read the Headlines or watch even a glimpse of the News, by now you must see the genuine Signs are looming prophetically over us. The beginning of travail is upon us. But the “days of Noah” are upon us, and people carry on without regard for the validity of those signs. My bride wisely cited on TBN’s “Praise The Lord” Program recently with regards to this quandary: “There is an alert ‘beep’ that has been going off in the dressing room at this studio every time I have done the program here over the past 4 years. It is the fragrance refill alarm. I notice it every time we are here, but after a few minutes I don’t hear it anymore. It’s as if I become desensitized to its existence even in the midst of knowing and sensing that it is actively sounding”.
That valid and poignant example is the personification of our numbness as a species to the resounding cry from all creation itself that we are at the precipice of tribulation and the employment of God’s final judgment. We cannot take the urgency of the day lightly. But, I restate, we also MUST NOT predict DATES and TIMES. In truth, I believe that when any date is prophesied, proposed or proclaimed by a man or group as a specific conceivable and specific moment for the end of days or the return of Messiah, that act in itself, NEGATES that prognostication. Furthermore, when any group, sect or denomination, be they religious or secular “CRY WOLF” they add to the cacophony of confusion and distraction that sets mankind into a deeper state of stupor and removal. We suffer the regular assault of the negative within and without the Media and Entertainment Industry, growing more and more detached every single day. When your ears are plugged from being drowned, it is very difficult to hear anything, including the truth.
How then do we make lemonade out of this dung? We don’t. That is another disturbing challenge we face when dealing with situations like this and maintaining the Gospel Truth while the Media is teaching our leaders to “SPIN” things into a positive light. Listen- YOU CAN’T MAKE LEMONADE WITH DUNG. So, We don’t. We make fertilizer for the planting of the true Gospel through the opportunities we have to tell those with questions about what just happened. We use the Word of God, the faithful two-edged sword to cut away not the ear of the hearer, but the distraction and confusion of the day. When anyone asks you “Is it true?” about any dates or hours for the end of time or the return of Christ- Simply answer: “THE BIBLE SAYS…” and then TELL THEM WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS. Not what any man, be they scholar, theologian, prophet, Astrophysicist, French Psychic Medium from the Renaissance, Mayan Calendar planner or Daytime Television Host says, but what GOD SAYS. In fact, check everything you just read and all I have shared and will continue to share with you in the future, against the WORD OF GOD. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”-(1 John 4:1) In that, you will know for yourself, through the proof and testing of the Word of God and by His Holy Spirit who is a conduit through whom the Lord will speak and who is not. And once again my beautiful brothers and sisters of the Father of all lights, I encourage you, do not cut the ears of the hearers off, no matter how deceived, aggressive or challenging they may become. LOVE THEM.
Last of all of this exhortation, I encourage you to allow Jesus to heal the ears of those who have been attacked and wounded in their hearing . Allow HIM to do the work that He is called and appointed to do, and He will speak for you. Pray for those who have lost all they own, jobs relationships , trust and worst of all, FAITH. Pray the healing power of God to renew them now. And LET HE WHO HAS EARS- HEAR…
Well… We are still here. The prognostications of another false prophet have fallen flat on their face and into a crevasse chock full of other impotent, incorrect, man-ordained prophecy. The Rapture that was purported to manifest on May 21st, 2011 at 6:00pm in every individual time-zone across the Earth, with coinciding earthquakes sounding the re- entry of our Lord, starting in New Zealand, did not occur. The reason? “No man knows the day or the hour when these things will take place; Not the Angels, nor the Son know, but only the Father in Heaven.”-(Matthew 24:36) The agenda set by a MAN, in Harold Camping, was yet another in a long string of man-made confusions and predictions dealing with an element of eschatology that the Lord Himself warns us to be leery of. Jesus tells us in the same chapter in Matthew that in the last days, there would be those who came in His name who would “deceive even the elect”. That is precisely what has recently been experienced, sadly, by a large group of believers. They put their faith in a man’s interpretation of Biblical codes and self-designed prophecy and are now suffering the ramifications of another misguided attempt to know the mind and timelines of our sovereign Lord. Many have sold all of their possessions and spent the increase by either giving it all to the institution that amplified this folly, or pouring out their “bucket lists” while there was still time. Relationships were severed. Hearts were broken. Judgments were made by both the deceived and those on the opposite side of belief. Meanwhile, Satan kicked back and once again allowed mankind to shiver in anxious anticipation of the end of all things… even laughing no doubt, from his knowledge of the truth. But, we are still here.
A month and a half ago, I was on the phone with my Father informing him of the dates we would be visiting while ministering in the Northeastern United States this summer, when he sarcastically interjected “We won’t be here then. Don’t you know that the Rapture is May 21st?”. We had a laugh about the absurdity of the prediction and I immediately uttered Matthew 24:36 to him as a scriptural reassurance. “If Jesus Christ Himself, the Son of the Living God does not know, there is no way that a delusional preacher from California will have foreknowledge”. Weeks passed and the occasional jest arose here and there to remind us of the oncoming dud that was imminent. My bride and I would tease others with the idea that we needn’t pay any more bills nor fulfill our obligations passed the date of aerial exodus. But in the midst of prayer and meditation on this issue, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit and heard Him say “It is false. It is not truth. But consider… WHAT IF IT WAS TRUE? Are you ready? Have you poured yourself out?” It pierced me. Penetrating my thoughts and contemplations about the BILLIONS who do not know Him, I began to joke less and care more. What if it were true? I knew that it was not, but that familiar, rhetorical “what if?” would echo for the duration of the days to the proverbial false start.
On May 20th, the eve of the proposed Raptos, we took our two boys to the Movies to see the long-awaited return of Disney’s Pirate Legend, Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean –On Stranger Tides”. Earlier that day I had shared with my Twitter followers a rhetorical question: “I do not believe that the Rapture is upon us, but let’s just say it was… ARE YOU READY?” It was a simple enough exercise in provoking a healthy spiritual self-examination. While we sat watching the previews for the rest of the summer’s exciting and flabbergastingly idiotic features, I received multiple contacts via email, voicemail and Twitter messaging from a News Reporter with a desire to have my input on this issue. I stepped out of the theater and called him. My initial question was about his motives. I have learned from dealing with the Secular Press in both Ministry and the Entertainment Industry that stories are not always geared toward presenting the truth, but rather riling the attention of the viewer, reader, audience etc. He responded with an honest reply that dealt with what our take on the prediction was, and asked if we had been flooded with questions about the proposal. He then asked me before sending a mobile crew to meet me in front of the Movie Theater, whether I believed the date to be accurate. I responded with “Sir, I am at the Movies with my kids to see ‘Pirates 4’. That either means that I’m a HUGE Disney fan, or I don’t believe that we are going to be swept up by the four winds tomorrow… Or both.” He laughed, and set off to meet me with a camera crew. I was pulled out of the movie about half-way through to go into the interview. We discussed earlier the time limit being five minutes maximum, as I had committed to being with my boys.
When the interview began, I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit there to give me utterance. I shared the scriptural evidence and warning found in Matthew 24, the sensitivity of the issue for both believers and non-believers and the relevance of the coming end of days. But I found myself, in the midst of the conversation gravitating away from the “stone the false prophet” perspective that was expected of a Bible-Thumping Religious Figure, and delving into the positive that is coming out of this confusion. “People are talking about it. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, Agnostics… They are all discussing the WHAT IF factor. That is incredible. The Second-Coming of our Lord and Savior is the focus of literally Hundreds of Millions of conversations and debates right now. That is wonderful”. How incredible! How poignant, that in the midst of a false declaration and a visceral warning to repent for the end is nigh, Jesus was in the spotlight. There it was… The glimmer of light in an otherwise grotesquely negative scenario. Those whose figures might never darken the parking lot, let alone the door of a church, were talking about my God. They were having intense discussions and genuine discourse on the possibilities and the repercussions of Yeshua’s Triumphal Revelation and return. I was truly blessed to share that with them.
Two days after the interview aired on both the 10 and 11 o’clock Network News Programs, I received another barrage of contacts seeking me out to be the subject witness to the fallout and the aftermath of the “Ruptured Rapture” on News Radio. I agreed. I stated very clearly before engaging the interview that I was in no way, shape or form a “Rapturologist” or self-appointed authority on the Rapture. I made it pristine to them that I was very simply a believer who loves and studies the Word of God. They presented a far more jaded, negative, secular stand on the issue and tried to maneuver things into that perspective, but again, the Holy Ghost was with me. I believe that I spoke boldly, but lovingly about the absurdity of the prognostication. I also focused more on the actuality of Jesus the Messiah’s return more than the failure of said return that past Saturday. The host seemed agitated with my intent to stay focused on the joy of the Lord, rather than to hop onto the convoy of stone-throwers, but I was happily stalwart in declaring the love of God and the forgiveness for those who were now the victims of their own commitment to a deception. “We cannot kick these believers while they are down. They made a mistake. Everyone does. We need to help restore their faith”. He asked me why no other Pastors or Evangelists were willing to give him an interview pre or post May 21st. I very plainly and respectfully enlightened him to the fact that the Secular News Media generally paints Christians, particularly Protestant Believers, Pastors and Evangelists in a very negative light. “Most of the time, the media portrays us as Nuts that fell off of a broken tree”. This was another opportunity to share openly and clearly the Gospel and Love of Jesus Christ to a community that otherwise mocks our lifestyle.
But perhaps the greatest opportunity was in their LISTENING itself. Because people were curious before, they were LISTENING. Because their hearts and minds were stirred after, THEY WERE STILL LISTENING. You need attentive ears to have the Gospel received. Whether you preach the greatest sermon ever breathed or the simplest of words and simply share “Jesus Loves You”, without an open ear, the message never reaches a hurting heart. “Does not the ear try words, Even as the palate tasteth food?”-(Job 12:11) In some instances, because of the hardships and pains of life, some do what famed impressionist artist and madman, Vincent Van Gogh did and cut off our own ear. It is much easier to avoid pain if we do not hear what surrounds us. But, HE WHO HAS EARS, LET HIM HEAR: We must not expect our ministry to penetrate the souls of men if their ears are neither attentive nor receptive. The irony in this is that we, the stalwart believers who declare His Good News, act just as Peter did in Gethsemane during the arrest of Jesus.
He tried to defend the Lord and struck the High Priest’s servant, Malchus, cutting off his ear. Jesus never called for or ordered this act. How often do we, as followers of Christ do this same act, out of well-meaning hearts? Have you never defended the Lord to the unbeliever to the point of metaphorically chopping their ears off? When we take the aggressive negative attack approach, it will NEVER lead to the purity of the hope found in the Spiritually uplifting deliverance singularly granted in Yeshua. God the Father is our Source, The Holy Spirit is our guide, Jesus our Advocate, and the WORD our only SWORD. I always loved the fact the WORD is our S-WORD, our sword. “For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.”-(Hebrews 4:12) We are not to use that sword to wound those we were called by Christ to offer His reconciliation to.
While the fallout of casualties surrounds us of those who did not respect the Word’s powerful warnings found in Matthew 24:36, we must neither cut the ear off of those who have, as a result suffered nor those who would doubt the truth and sovereignty of Jesus’ Lordship and inevitable return. You see, precious ones, the enemy uses the deception of even the elect to soften mankind’s perception of the truth and surroundings. He uses false-alarms and the like to desensitize the masses into not hearing the alarms that DO matter. Do not be deceived by the distraction of the billboards and media quips, THE END IS NEAR. Jesus tells the disciples regarding the end of days not the TIME, but the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. “…You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled: for these things must need come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail.”-(Matthew 24:6-8) If you read the Headlines or watch even a glimpse of the News, by now you must see the genuine Signs are looming prophetically over us. The beginning of travail is upon us. But the “days of Noah” are upon us, and people carry on without regard for the validity of those signs. My bride wisely cited on TBN’s “Praise The Lord” Program recently with regards to this quandary: “There is an alert ‘beep’ that has been going off in the dressing room at this studio every time I have done the program here over the past 4 years. It is the fragrance refill alarm. I notice it every time we are here, but after a few minutes I don’t hear it anymore. It’s as if I become desensitized to its existence even in the midst of knowing and sensing that it is actively sounding”.
That valid and poignant example is the personification of our numbness as a species to the resounding cry from all creation itself that we are at the precipice of tribulation and the employment of God’s final judgment. We cannot take the urgency of the day lightly. But, I restate, we also MUST NOT predict DATES and TIMES. In truth, I believe that when any date is prophesied, proposed or proclaimed by a man or group as a specific conceivable and specific moment for the end of days or the return of Messiah, that act in itself, NEGATES that prognostication. Furthermore, when any group, sect or denomination, be they religious or secular “CRY WOLF” they add to the cacophony of confusion and distraction that sets mankind into a deeper state of stupor and removal. We suffer the regular assault of the negative within and without the Media and Entertainment Industry, growing more and more detached every single day. When your ears are plugged from being drowned, it is very difficult to hear anything, including the truth.
How then do we make lemonade out of this dung? We don’t. That is another disturbing challenge we face when dealing with situations like this and maintaining the Gospel Truth while the Media is teaching our leaders to “SPIN” things into a positive light. Listen- YOU CAN’T MAKE LEMONADE WITH DUNG. So, We don’t. We make fertilizer for the planting of the true Gospel through the opportunities we have to tell those with questions about what just happened. We use the Word of God, the faithful two-edged sword to cut away not the ear of the hearer, but the distraction and confusion of the day. When anyone asks you “Is it true?” about any dates or hours for the end of time or the return of Christ- Simply answer: “THE BIBLE SAYS…” and then TELL THEM WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS. Not what any man, be they scholar, theologian, prophet, Astrophysicist, French Psychic Medium from the Renaissance, Mayan Calendar planner or Daytime Television Host says, but what GOD SAYS. In fact, check everything you just read and all I have shared and will continue to share with you in the future, against the WORD OF GOD. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”-(1 John 4:1) In that, you will know for yourself, through the proof and testing of the Word of God and by His Holy Spirit who is a conduit through whom the Lord will speak and who is not. And once again my beautiful brothers and sisters of the Father of all lights, I encourage you, do not cut the ears of the hearers off, no matter how deceived, aggressive or challenging they may become. LOVE THEM.
Last of all of this exhortation, I encourage you to allow Jesus to heal the ears of those who have been attacked and wounded in their hearing . Allow HIM to do the work that He is called and appointed to do, and He will speak for you. Pray for those who have lost all they own, jobs relationships , trust and worst of all, FAITH. Pray the healing power of God to renew them now. And LET HE WHO HAS EARS- HEAR…
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
THE MEANING OF LIFE
"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."-(1 John 4:8)
This is not a test. What you are experiencing is the genuine event. This is neither an elaborate rehearsal for a future experience, nor is it a cruel joke. This is life. This is REAL. You are not in some alternate level of meditation, imagining that this is all unfolding before your imaginary eyes... You are not skimming some surrogate plane of actuality. YOU ARE INDEED HERE. Your spirit-man is inhabiting the molecular manifestation of what is, at its basest level, a divinely-designed spacesuit. The suit, when properly operated, maintained and stewarded over will produce excellent movement and effective results. However, when the protective shell and its fine elements are either abused or is used to project negative output, the gesticulation will be rated as destructive and the fruit will represent manifested impairment. The latter is a direct contradiction to the value and purpose established by the Manufacturer. For further explicit instruction and details, please consult the manufacturer or the instruction manual. I repeat- THIS IS NOT A TEST. Note- The mission objective of this operation is very simple: LOVE.
Why are we here? The Buddhist would say "Because". The Atheist would say "Accidental". The canine would say "squirrel". But the living God who is responsible for every neutron in existence tells us why very clearly in the only valid operational manual. The "Manufacturer" Himself, who created the earth and all that dwell therein (including Buddhists, Atheists and dogs) told us nearly two millennia ago: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”-(Matthew 22:36-40) LOVE. God IS Love. To love, therefore, is to be in God's perfect will. In actuality, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth fashioned us with the specific purpose of communion with Him, in love. He made us in His own image, the mirror of Love itself. We are, in essence therefore, built to yield the produce of God or love. Wow. In its absolute simplicity, that is unfathomably deep. That should end this article. The acknowledgement that "Love is everything" should be the finale of this exhortation of the obvious... Sadly, it is not.
With the fall of man came the viral infection of evil, fear, disease, doubt and the curse of sin and sting of death. With the first and most devastating act of disobedience, and thereby lack of love, came pain and heartbreak. The tears shed on that day were monumental. The entirety of mankind was placed onto a dark path to self-destruction. But we are still here. A planet-wide flood, several acts of extermination and devastation later... We are still here. How is that possible? The Architect of all life, loved us so much that He could not simply wipe the slate clean and start again. He made us from His own substance. Borne of the very heart of God Himself, He could not bear to part with us. It is not a matter of need. It is quite literally, a matter of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” If our heart is the wellspring of life, and we are made in the image of God, then He crafted us and granted us life, from His heart. He created us out of LOVE. When love is truly at the center of a matter, giving up is no longer an option. He did not discard us, He restored us back to Himself, out of His love.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."-(John 3:16) It was love that created us, and love that reconciled us back to the source of life. Without love, we are incomplete and thereby, unredeemed. As followers of the Way, the Truth and the Life, we are commanded to love one another. Jesus did not come to do away with the law or the prophets, but rather FULFILL them. He came to complete them, to restore that which was missing. His Love completed the process of redemption. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."-(John 15;13) Before laying down His life to free us from the curse of the fall, He added to the commandments. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”-(John 13:34-35) So we must love one another. Why bother sharing such a basic principle? What is the necessity in repeating an age-old tenet of our faith to the multitudes? Because, even now, after 2000 years of truth-revealed and gospel-preached admonitions we still lack love. We still harbor resentment and hatred.
We proclaim the goodness and mercy of the God who freely offers His grace, and yet we despise one another. Not you? Consider your heart. Do you hate the sin or the sinner? Be honest. I know that it is painful, but the truth must surface for progress to be established. The honesty of our walk will determine what we refine and glean from this incredible journey. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."-(John 8:32) The antithesis of that scriptural revelation is "You shall live in the lie and the fiction will imprison you". When interacting with other "spacesuits" do you love unconditionally the spirit within? What about the homosexual? What about the heterosexual with promiscuity issues? Or perhaps the drug-addicted miscreant? What about the Muslim misguided by the deception of a subverted culture? What about the Gossip, the Glutton, the Unbeliever or the invariably hate-filled evil-doers of the world? Do you look at them through the eyes of the one whose love set us apart? Or do you equate the depth of the sin with the sinner bearing it? Do not be deceived here. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."-(Matthew 7:1-2) IT IS NOT IN OUR AUTHORITY OR MISSION PLAN TO JUDGE ANYONE. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"-(Romans 3:23) That means you and me. Still, we repeat the pattern of abhorrence within the walls of the church. We replicate the culture of enmity amongst the living stones of the Kingdom itself. Followers judge other followers. Believers curse other believers. "Christians" hate other "Christians". That is not love. That is conditional love, which is in truth JUDGEMENT.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"-(Matthew 7:21-23) We can call ourselves by the name of the Creator all day long, but if we do not do the most basic, most important of all He commands us, we are not in undisputed relationship with Him. Jesus tells us that it is entirely possible to prophesy, exercise the demonic and even perform the miraculous in His name and yet be unknown to Him. It is our LOVE that gains us true entry. It is our LOVE that creates consanguinity with the Master, not merely our declaration. To proclaim your faith with your tongue and remain untransformed in your heart is double-minded. "For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."-(James 1:7-8) Let me tender this example- Let's suppose that you are a book. You may be a lovely, leather-bound edition with gold-leaf lettering that states without a doubt that you are "The Holy Bible" on the cover and the spine. Are you truly the word of God within? Or perhaps inside that gorgeous, classic outer sheathing you are filled with a conglomerate of literary stews... Your exterior states that you are the Word of God, but inside one would find "Mein Kaumpf", "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", a few issues of "The Enquirer" and "Hustler"? When getting checked back into the Divine Library, the Chief Librarian would discard you as false. I know, I am a strange bird and that metaphor rides the edge of absurdity... But think about it; How often do we profess that we are His children, but act like we are total strangers?
"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."-(1 Corinthians 13:2) We are incomplete without the Love of God at the center of all of our activity and purpose. That is the veritable meaning of life itself. To Love, to be LOVE, because we are loved. We are to imitate our Heavenly Father and do what He does, just as Jesus the Messiah did in His ministry here on Earth, in His spacesuit. "We love because he first loved us."-(1 John 4:19)
Do you truly love? I am not speaking of liking what everyone is fond of, or approving the stylistic or cultural natures of others. I am certainly not professing that tolerating sin is equivalent to loving the sinner. I am simply asking you to examine your heart. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."-(Matthew 6:21) If you are in genuine relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Advocate Messiah and His Holy Spirit, then you will find your treasure trove in His courts. If you are in true relationship with the God who so loved the world that He gave, you will give. You will trust Him with your life, your love and your heart and you will GIVE it to Him. That is where to store up your treasure and your LOVE. When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, He can become one with us. When we enter into the most powerful relationship, the greatest love, we give our total trust to Him. We cannot say that we honestly trust Him if we cannot let go and love as he loved. Remember, even as the precious Lamb of God was being nailed to a tree with 9 inch spikes piercing His hands and feet, He cried out "Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing."-(Luke 23:34) He proclaimed at that moment the nature of our love. To forgive, to minister to in spite of our outward circumstances; to never judge another's motives... To give our very lives to make this adventure and world a better place to learn and care for each other. The greatest love of all creation is to share that treasure with others. Remember the old adage that "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". Tell others that the love you have for them comes from the source of love itself. Show them the love that sets the world free and offer them what He offers to all of His children- HIS HEART. That is the meaning of life... TO LOVE.
This is not a test. What you are experiencing is the genuine event. This is neither an elaborate rehearsal for a future experience, nor is it a cruel joke. This is life. This is REAL. You are not in some alternate level of meditation, imagining that this is all unfolding before your imaginary eyes... You are not skimming some surrogate plane of actuality. YOU ARE INDEED HERE. Your spirit-man is inhabiting the molecular manifestation of what is, at its basest level, a divinely-designed spacesuit. The suit, when properly operated, maintained and stewarded over will produce excellent movement and effective results. However, when the protective shell and its fine elements are either abused or is used to project negative output, the gesticulation will be rated as destructive and the fruit will represent manifested impairment. The latter is a direct contradiction to the value and purpose established by the Manufacturer. For further explicit instruction and details, please consult the manufacturer or the instruction manual. I repeat- THIS IS NOT A TEST. Note- The mission objective of this operation is very simple: LOVE.
Why are we here? The Buddhist would say "Because". The Atheist would say "Accidental". The canine would say "squirrel". But the living God who is responsible for every neutron in existence tells us why very clearly in the only valid operational manual. The "Manufacturer" Himself, who created the earth and all that dwell therein (including Buddhists, Atheists and dogs) told us nearly two millennia ago: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”-(Matthew 22:36-40) LOVE. God IS Love. To love, therefore, is to be in God's perfect will. In actuality, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth fashioned us with the specific purpose of communion with Him, in love. He made us in His own image, the mirror of Love itself. We are, in essence therefore, built to yield the produce of God or love. Wow. In its absolute simplicity, that is unfathomably deep. That should end this article. The acknowledgement that "Love is everything" should be the finale of this exhortation of the obvious... Sadly, it is not.
With the fall of man came the viral infection of evil, fear, disease, doubt and the curse of sin and sting of death. With the first and most devastating act of disobedience, and thereby lack of love, came pain and heartbreak. The tears shed on that day were monumental. The entirety of mankind was placed onto a dark path to self-destruction. But we are still here. A planet-wide flood, several acts of extermination and devastation later... We are still here. How is that possible? The Architect of all life, loved us so much that He could not simply wipe the slate clean and start again. He made us from His own substance. Borne of the very heart of God Himself, He could not bear to part with us. It is not a matter of need. It is quite literally, a matter of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” If our heart is the wellspring of life, and we are made in the image of God, then He crafted us and granted us life, from His heart. He created us out of LOVE. When love is truly at the center of a matter, giving up is no longer an option. He did not discard us, He restored us back to Himself, out of His love.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."-(John 3:16) It was love that created us, and love that reconciled us back to the source of life. Without love, we are incomplete and thereby, unredeemed. As followers of the Way, the Truth and the Life, we are commanded to love one another. Jesus did not come to do away with the law or the prophets, but rather FULFILL them. He came to complete them, to restore that which was missing. His Love completed the process of redemption. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."-(John 15;13) Before laying down His life to free us from the curse of the fall, He added to the commandments. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”-(John 13:34-35) So we must love one another. Why bother sharing such a basic principle? What is the necessity in repeating an age-old tenet of our faith to the multitudes? Because, even now, after 2000 years of truth-revealed and gospel-preached admonitions we still lack love. We still harbor resentment and hatred.
We proclaim the goodness and mercy of the God who freely offers His grace, and yet we despise one another. Not you? Consider your heart. Do you hate the sin or the sinner? Be honest. I know that it is painful, but the truth must surface for progress to be established. The honesty of our walk will determine what we refine and glean from this incredible journey. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."-(John 8:32) The antithesis of that scriptural revelation is "You shall live in the lie and the fiction will imprison you". When interacting with other "spacesuits" do you love unconditionally the spirit within? What about the homosexual? What about the heterosexual with promiscuity issues? Or perhaps the drug-addicted miscreant? What about the Muslim misguided by the deception of a subverted culture? What about the Gossip, the Glutton, the Unbeliever or the invariably hate-filled evil-doers of the world? Do you look at them through the eyes of the one whose love set us apart? Or do you equate the depth of the sin with the sinner bearing it? Do not be deceived here. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."-(Matthew 7:1-2) IT IS NOT IN OUR AUTHORITY OR MISSION PLAN TO JUDGE ANYONE. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"-(Romans 3:23) That means you and me. Still, we repeat the pattern of abhorrence within the walls of the church. We replicate the culture of enmity amongst the living stones of the Kingdom itself. Followers judge other followers. Believers curse other believers. "Christians" hate other "Christians". That is not love. That is conditional love, which is in truth JUDGEMENT.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"-(Matthew 7:21-23) We can call ourselves by the name of the Creator all day long, but if we do not do the most basic, most important of all He commands us, we are not in undisputed relationship with Him. Jesus tells us that it is entirely possible to prophesy, exercise the demonic and even perform the miraculous in His name and yet be unknown to Him. It is our LOVE that gains us true entry. It is our LOVE that creates consanguinity with the Master, not merely our declaration. To proclaim your faith with your tongue and remain untransformed in your heart is double-minded. "For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."-(James 1:7-8) Let me tender this example- Let's suppose that you are a book. You may be a lovely, leather-bound edition with gold-leaf lettering that states without a doubt that you are "The Holy Bible" on the cover and the spine. Are you truly the word of God within? Or perhaps inside that gorgeous, classic outer sheathing you are filled with a conglomerate of literary stews... Your exterior states that you are the Word of God, but inside one would find "Mein Kaumpf", "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", a few issues of "The Enquirer" and "Hustler"? When getting checked back into the Divine Library, the Chief Librarian would discard you as false. I know, I am a strange bird and that metaphor rides the edge of absurdity... But think about it; How often do we profess that we are His children, but act like we are total strangers?
"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."-(1 Corinthians 13:2) We are incomplete without the Love of God at the center of all of our activity and purpose. That is the veritable meaning of life itself. To Love, to be LOVE, because we are loved. We are to imitate our Heavenly Father and do what He does, just as Jesus the Messiah did in His ministry here on Earth, in His spacesuit. "We love because he first loved us."-(1 John 4:19)
Do you truly love? I am not speaking of liking what everyone is fond of, or approving the stylistic or cultural natures of others. I am certainly not professing that tolerating sin is equivalent to loving the sinner. I am simply asking you to examine your heart. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."-(Matthew 6:21) If you are in genuine relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Advocate Messiah and His Holy Spirit, then you will find your treasure trove in His courts. If you are in true relationship with the God who so loved the world that He gave, you will give. You will trust Him with your life, your love and your heart and you will GIVE it to Him. That is where to store up your treasure and your LOVE. When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, He can become one with us. When we enter into the most powerful relationship, the greatest love, we give our total trust to Him. We cannot say that we honestly trust Him if we cannot let go and love as he loved. Remember, even as the precious Lamb of God was being nailed to a tree with 9 inch spikes piercing His hands and feet, He cried out "Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing."-(Luke 23:34) He proclaimed at that moment the nature of our love. To forgive, to minister to in spite of our outward circumstances; to never judge another's motives... To give our very lives to make this adventure and world a better place to learn and care for each other. The greatest love of all creation is to share that treasure with others. Remember the old adage that "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". Tell others that the love you have for them comes from the source of love itself. Show them the love that sets the world free and offer them what He offers to all of His children- HIS HEART. That is the meaning of life... TO LOVE.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
THE APOCALYPTIC LULLABY
"Do this, knowing the time, that now is high time for you to awaken out of sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed."-(Romans 13:11)
Why do we arbitrarily call out to Him when it is either convenient or when we are wounded? Why do we seek Him only to find His hands, rather than His Face? In a fallen world that is crying out every day as one who is dying and losing their hold on life, clutching at straws to survive, we see, hear, and experience for ourselves the signs of the times. They are imminent warnings of what will inevitably, prophetically, and scripturally come to pass. Disease, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornados, Hurricanes, natural signs and devastations wiping out entire villages, cities and civilizations... Wars, conflicts, abuses, cruelty, murder, slavery, human trafficking, genocide and man's gross inhumanity toward man rack our conscience and hearts with the clanging alarm of a species destined and somehow determined to undermine and destroy itself. The news media blares the authenticity of the havoc and magnifies these significant omens to the point of cacophony, as if the enemy would have us desensitized to the imminence of our calamity. Numbing us with the inundation of tragedy, we crawl back into our safe, quiet, insulated bed-chambers and try to block it out.
But while Satan attempts to lull us back to impotent slumber with the lullaby of lust, self-importance, dissension, greed, complacency, comfort and worst of all, doubt and fear, he sets the stage for the deceived to operate on his behalf. He uses extremists who bear the banner and the Black Flag of the spirit of Anti-Christ to march toward the fulfillment of his designs. We sit idly by, asleep in the midst of chaos and catastrophe as the evil one mounts his assaults. I do not speak of the slumber that Jesus rebukes the disciples for waking Him out of due to a lack of faith in Mark 4:35-40. I cite the type of spirit of stupor that Paul mentions in Romans 11:18 that keeps our eyes from truly seeing and our ears from hearing what is TRUTH. If you are awake right now, you will have had revelation that the adversary has used individuals enclosed inside the body of Christ to cause division from within since the inception of the church. Denominationalism, sectarianism, doctrinal disputes and hatred from one arm to the other in the Corpus Christi here on Earth have been his means to decay the infrastructure of our Kingdom. Division is the cancer destroying the anatomy of Christendom in its interior. We are called to occupy in dominion until Messiah returns, but while we hold fast, we have been, for centuries, more trouble to one another through our self-righteousness and schisms than his minions ever needed be. For millennia, the fallen worship leader of heaven has allowed the church in her own vanity to subversively engage in civil war. But the plot is thickening...
Right now, as you read this in the security of your own personal sanctuary, I would kindly ask you to consider two things. First, ARE YOU AWAKE? "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."-(Psalm 121:4) And second, ARE YOU AWARE? "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."-(Romans 12:2) As my bride and I traverse the globe to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and dedicate our lives to discipling the Saints, we do not take lightly the clarion call to quicken the Bride of Christ. We know without the shadow of any doubt that the Holy Spirit has shown us that we are commissioned and equipped, for such a time as this, to AWAKEN and make AWARE. If you are awake, we encourage you to rouse others. If you are aware of the urgency of the times, we would rally you to share the critical nature of the precipice we all stand upon. The end is relatively... well, NIGH.
I remember as a child observing the obscure corner-dwelling, billboard-wearing presumably insane people on the streets of New York City. They were pensive, intensely urgent and purposefully selfless in their efforts to sound the alarm to any and everyone who would harken the almost maniacal cry "THE END IS NIGH!!!", or "Repent! for the End is at hand". When asking one of my teachers on a school field trip to the Museum of Natural History what precisely these seemingly insane people were prognosticating, I received a very secular "Crazies" as an answer. But more than 25 years later, and wiser, I am quite sure that a good percentage of these "Crazies" were more prophetic than deranged. When looking at the grand scheme and juncture in relation to our minuscule lifetimes, and compounding the prophetic timelines it is perfectly feasible to discern that, YES, the end is upon us. Like them or not, in lieu of their unorthodox approach, the placard-wearing "crazies" on the corners are not too far off base. (That is with the exception, of course, of anyone spewing hatred and judgement toward others while using the medium of picketing and rallying to actually aid the forces of evil.)
A dear friend recently contended with me "Well, the news media is magnifying all of the madness and disaster. They thought the world was ending 2000 years ago, and they had no T.V.; there was as much devastation and war then as there is right now". Yes, people have been declaring the end of days for centuries. Each civilization, culture and cluster of mankind has proposed a potential cataclysmic date or season. Christian, Pagan, Atheist, Scientist and Philosopher alike have all identified a looming apocalypse within their own lifetimes. Dating back to the dawn of the Church, we know that there was significant presumption about the end of all things even as the first disciples were being martyred. Each generation has its own potential end waiting in the proverbial wings. However, when denying the reality or truth of the progression and escalation of the inevitable end of all things, it is imperative that we swallow the jagged pill of perspective, particularly when dealing with relative timelines. Considering the age and scale of time that we have been traveling on as a race from the creation until now, it is more than feasible to imagine that we are nearing the inevitable and ultimate renewal of creation. The frequency of destruction is increasing on a level that is historic. The atrocities of human hatred and self-decay have reached a fever pitch the likes of which the world has NEVER seen. "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains."-(Mark 13:8) Anyone who is awake and truly sees their surroundings can acknowledge that there is more devastation, more evil and darkness filling the earth to date than ever before. Without mutating this article into a thesis, or following the rabbit down the hole to side-tracked confusion, I reflect back to the real purpose of writing this. We must not treat our lives as fodder. We must not ingest the lie that we should live as though we will never die, but rather live as though we might die ANY MINUTE... Because WE MIGHT. We must be committed to declare the Gospel and whole-heartedly tell the truth about Jesus the Messiah to the entire world. Without fear of rejection, retribution, loss or martyrdom, we are commissioned to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."-(Mark 16:15) We cannot let the sedative of doubt fill us with paralyzing inactivity. This IS really happening. And there are others, who work for the opposing forces who believe that it is, whether you do or not.
I proclaimed earlier how we preach to the Body of Christ to awaken. Recently, while watching a broadcast of the recent revolution in Egypt, we witnessed something disturbing. As one of the leaders of The Muslim Brotherhood began to speak over the noise of elated "free" Egyptians, he uttered "This is the beginning of the great Muslim Awakening! Muslims around the world will rise up to claim what is theirs!". My jaw dropped. We were immediately aware that this was a direct counterfeit of the same directive that the Holy Spirit has given to us and many others in the Body as a charge to prepare for the coming season of turbulence.
When listening to another man of God recently as he revealed the prophetic and actual timelines that are being fulfilled, he interviewed a former bodyguard who defected from within the hierarchy of Iranian rule who unveiled the consistent and constant dialogue from within the counsels of Iranian and Muslim Extremist Leadership. They believe that the Thirteenth Imam, the Imam Mahdi or "Guided One" has already arrived. If you are unfamiliar with the Mohammedan Prophecy of this "being of light", I suggest that you invest some time into the research. I will tell you that according to Muslim Prophecy and in comparison with Christian Eschatology the comparisons are unsettlingly congruent. They believe that the Mahdi's reign and appearance will be coupled by the return of Hadhrat Isa, better known to you and me as Jesus. Although He is denied by Mohammed as being the Son of God, in spite of being esteemed as one of the highest "prophets" in the Koran. Which leads me to a sidebar of substantial significance: CAN A TRUE PROPHET LIE? If the answer is "NO", then the Koran is false. Ironically, they identify Jesus as "the only one who will have the power to kill the Anti-Christ". I should also mention that the length of the reign of the Mahdi is SEVEN YEARS. He will also purportedly LEAD WORSHIP from Mecca. The counterfeit here is transparent. However, due to its importance and the depth of detail, I will spend more time disclosing my dissertation on this subject at a later date. Regardless of the Mahdi's arrival, the behavior and lifestyles of the majority of everyday people who worship as Muslims and the conduct of the general (rapidly growing) world population of Muslims, there are many in positions of authority at the ready. They hold high the sword of Jihad, Holy War. They are poised for the great cleansing of the infidels. Who, pray tell are the "infidels"? According to Islamic Extremists- anyone who does not believe in and worship Allah and his Prophet Mohammed. Specifically Christians and Jews. With the confirmed death of long-hunted terrorist and Al Qaeda Leader, Osama Bin Laden, comes the imminent rumble of retaliatory plans and a successor who I believe prophetically will fit the bill for the aforementioned "Guided One".
But we stand under the covering of the one true living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. We worship the God who sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins on a cross at Calvary. We believe on Him. He is called I AM. Is He God or is He not? If He is, then everyone reading this should and must repent of their fleshly ways, receive the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, be baptized in His name, discipled through His precepts and examples, and made full with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. "John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."-(Luke 3:16) If He is God and His Word is TRUE, then every soul reading this who calls themselves "Christian", "Believer" or "His", should be a liberal soul who sows bountifully out of the increase of their first-fruits by way of tithing to their storehouses (the local church) and offering unto the Kingdom of God above their tithe. "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?"-(Romans 2:21) If He is the Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega and Father of all Lights to you, then you must love your enemies and pray for all who spitefully use you, curse you and mean to harm you. "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."-(Luke 6:27-28) If God the Father is TRULY the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and Jesus, His Son, the Messiah who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and His precious Holy Spirit the paraclete who guides our every step, the we MUST be committed to His cause. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."-(Luke 9:23) We must be totally, unwaveringly engaged in His call upon us. We must be utterly dutiful, diligent and fervently passionate about His Great Commission. If He IS God. And, dear precious ones, I know indubitably, HE IS GOD.
It is most certainly not a time to celebrate, revel in short-termed, human victory or woefully become complacent in our faith. It is high time that we arise and lift the veil off of our eyes and spirits and stand unwinking and staid in the coming hour. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."-(1Peter 5:8) It is also not a moment to become so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly-good. Neither is it a season to hide away in a cavern or bomb shelter far into reclusive solitude in an attempt to avoid the oncoming storm. No. We must work with more vigor, more passion and more critical persistence than ever before. "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."-(John 9:4) We must stand fast. We must stand firm. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:28-31) We are called to be AWAKE. We are commissioned by the Master Himself, Jesus Christ to be AWARE, and moreover, galvanize others into this same awareness. Join in true unity with other believers in spite of your doctrinal disputes or human differences. Overcome your fears, doubts and opinionated selfishness and pick up your cross. It is coming... HE IS COMING BACK. We implore you right now- WAKE UP AND GET READY.
Why do we arbitrarily call out to Him when it is either convenient or when we are wounded? Why do we seek Him only to find His hands, rather than His Face? In a fallen world that is crying out every day as one who is dying and losing their hold on life, clutching at straws to survive, we see, hear, and experience for ourselves the signs of the times. They are imminent warnings of what will inevitably, prophetically, and scripturally come to pass. Disease, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornados, Hurricanes, natural signs and devastations wiping out entire villages, cities and civilizations... Wars, conflicts, abuses, cruelty, murder, slavery, human trafficking, genocide and man's gross inhumanity toward man rack our conscience and hearts with the clanging alarm of a species destined and somehow determined to undermine and destroy itself. The news media blares the authenticity of the havoc and magnifies these significant omens to the point of cacophony, as if the enemy would have us desensitized to the imminence of our calamity. Numbing us with the inundation of tragedy, we crawl back into our safe, quiet, insulated bed-chambers and try to block it out.
But while Satan attempts to lull us back to impotent slumber with the lullaby of lust, self-importance, dissension, greed, complacency, comfort and worst of all, doubt and fear, he sets the stage for the deceived to operate on his behalf. He uses extremists who bear the banner and the Black Flag of the spirit of Anti-Christ to march toward the fulfillment of his designs. We sit idly by, asleep in the midst of chaos and catastrophe as the evil one mounts his assaults. I do not speak of the slumber that Jesus rebukes the disciples for waking Him out of due to a lack of faith in Mark 4:35-40. I cite the type of spirit of stupor that Paul mentions in Romans 11:18 that keeps our eyes from truly seeing and our ears from hearing what is TRUTH. If you are awake right now, you will have had revelation that the adversary has used individuals enclosed inside the body of Christ to cause division from within since the inception of the church. Denominationalism, sectarianism, doctrinal disputes and hatred from one arm to the other in the Corpus Christi here on Earth have been his means to decay the infrastructure of our Kingdom. Division is the cancer destroying the anatomy of Christendom in its interior. We are called to occupy in dominion until Messiah returns, but while we hold fast, we have been, for centuries, more trouble to one another through our self-righteousness and schisms than his minions ever needed be. For millennia, the fallen worship leader of heaven has allowed the church in her own vanity to subversively engage in civil war. But the plot is thickening...
Right now, as you read this in the security of your own personal sanctuary, I would kindly ask you to consider two things. First, ARE YOU AWAKE? "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."-(Psalm 121:4) And second, ARE YOU AWARE? "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."-(Romans 12:2) As my bride and I traverse the globe to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and dedicate our lives to discipling the Saints, we do not take lightly the clarion call to quicken the Bride of Christ. We know without the shadow of any doubt that the Holy Spirit has shown us that we are commissioned and equipped, for such a time as this, to AWAKEN and make AWARE. If you are awake, we encourage you to rouse others. If you are aware of the urgency of the times, we would rally you to share the critical nature of the precipice we all stand upon. The end is relatively... well, NIGH.
I remember as a child observing the obscure corner-dwelling, billboard-wearing presumably insane people on the streets of New York City. They were pensive, intensely urgent and purposefully selfless in their efforts to sound the alarm to any and everyone who would harken the almost maniacal cry "THE END IS NIGH!!!", or "Repent! for the End is at hand". When asking one of my teachers on a school field trip to the Museum of Natural History what precisely these seemingly insane people were prognosticating, I received a very secular "Crazies" as an answer. But more than 25 years later, and wiser, I am quite sure that a good percentage of these "Crazies" were more prophetic than deranged. When looking at the grand scheme and juncture in relation to our minuscule lifetimes, and compounding the prophetic timelines it is perfectly feasible to discern that, YES, the end is upon us. Like them or not, in lieu of their unorthodox approach, the placard-wearing "crazies" on the corners are not too far off base. (That is with the exception, of course, of anyone spewing hatred and judgement toward others while using the medium of picketing and rallying to actually aid the forces of evil.)
A dear friend recently contended with me "Well, the news media is magnifying all of the madness and disaster. They thought the world was ending 2000 years ago, and they had no T.V.; there was as much devastation and war then as there is right now". Yes, people have been declaring the end of days for centuries. Each civilization, culture and cluster of mankind has proposed a potential cataclysmic date or season. Christian, Pagan, Atheist, Scientist and Philosopher alike have all identified a looming apocalypse within their own lifetimes. Dating back to the dawn of the Church, we know that there was significant presumption about the end of all things even as the first disciples were being martyred. Each generation has its own potential end waiting in the proverbial wings. However, when denying the reality or truth of the progression and escalation of the inevitable end of all things, it is imperative that we swallow the jagged pill of perspective, particularly when dealing with relative timelines. Considering the age and scale of time that we have been traveling on as a race from the creation until now, it is more than feasible to imagine that we are nearing the inevitable and ultimate renewal of creation. The frequency of destruction is increasing on a level that is historic. The atrocities of human hatred and self-decay have reached a fever pitch the likes of which the world has NEVER seen. "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains."-(Mark 13:8) Anyone who is awake and truly sees their surroundings can acknowledge that there is more devastation, more evil and darkness filling the earth to date than ever before. Without mutating this article into a thesis, or following the rabbit down the hole to side-tracked confusion, I reflect back to the real purpose of writing this. We must not treat our lives as fodder. We must not ingest the lie that we should live as though we will never die, but rather live as though we might die ANY MINUTE... Because WE MIGHT. We must be committed to declare the Gospel and whole-heartedly tell the truth about Jesus the Messiah to the entire world. Without fear of rejection, retribution, loss or martyrdom, we are commissioned to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."-(Mark 16:15) We cannot let the sedative of doubt fill us with paralyzing inactivity. This IS really happening. And there are others, who work for the opposing forces who believe that it is, whether you do or not.
I proclaimed earlier how we preach to the Body of Christ to awaken. Recently, while watching a broadcast of the recent revolution in Egypt, we witnessed something disturbing. As one of the leaders of The Muslim Brotherhood began to speak over the noise of elated "free" Egyptians, he uttered "This is the beginning of the great Muslim Awakening! Muslims around the world will rise up to claim what is theirs!". My jaw dropped. We were immediately aware that this was a direct counterfeit of the same directive that the Holy Spirit has given to us and many others in the Body as a charge to prepare for the coming season of turbulence.
When listening to another man of God recently as he revealed the prophetic and actual timelines that are being fulfilled, he interviewed a former bodyguard who defected from within the hierarchy of Iranian rule who unveiled the consistent and constant dialogue from within the counsels of Iranian and Muslim Extremist Leadership. They believe that the Thirteenth Imam, the Imam Mahdi or "Guided One" has already arrived. If you are unfamiliar with the Mohammedan Prophecy of this "being of light", I suggest that you invest some time into the research. I will tell you that according to Muslim Prophecy and in comparison with Christian Eschatology the comparisons are unsettlingly congruent. They believe that the Mahdi's reign and appearance will be coupled by the return of Hadhrat Isa, better known to you and me as Jesus. Although He is denied by Mohammed as being the Son of God, in spite of being esteemed as one of the highest "prophets" in the Koran. Which leads me to a sidebar of substantial significance: CAN A TRUE PROPHET LIE? If the answer is "NO", then the Koran is false. Ironically, they identify Jesus as "the only one who will have the power to kill the Anti-Christ". I should also mention that the length of the reign of the Mahdi is SEVEN YEARS. He will also purportedly LEAD WORSHIP from Mecca. The counterfeit here is transparent. However, due to its importance and the depth of detail, I will spend more time disclosing my dissertation on this subject at a later date. Regardless of the Mahdi's arrival, the behavior and lifestyles of the majority of everyday people who worship as Muslims and the conduct of the general (rapidly growing) world population of Muslims, there are many in positions of authority at the ready. They hold high the sword of Jihad, Holy War. They are poised for the great cleansing of the infidels. Who, pray tell are the "infidels"? According to Islamic Extremists- anyone who does not believe in and worship Allah and his Prophet Mohammed. Specifically Christians and Jews. With the confirmed death of long-hunted terrorist and Al Qaeda Leader, Osama Bin Laden, comes the imminent rumble of retaliatory plans and a successor who I believe prophetically will fit the bill for the aforementioned "Guided One".
But we stand under the covering of the one true living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. We worship the God who sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins on a cross at Calvary. We believe on Him. He is called I AM. Is He God or is He not? If He is, then everyone reading this should and must repent of their fleshly ways, receive the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, be baptized in His name, discipled through His precepts and examples, and made full with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. "John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."-(Luke 3:16) If He is God and His Word is TRUE, then every soul reading this who calls themselves "Christian", "Believer" or "His", should be a liberal soul who sows bountifully out of the increase of their first-fruits by way of tithing to their storehouses (the local church) and offering unto the Kingdom of God above their tithe. "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?"-(Romans 2:21) If He is the Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega and Father of all Lights to you, then you must love your enemies and pray for all who spitefully use you, curse you and mean to harm you. "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."-(Luke 6:27-28) If God the Father is TRULY the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and Jesus, His Son, the Messiah who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and His precious Holy Spirit the paraclete who guides our every step, the we MUST be committed to His cause. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."-(Luke 9:23) We must be totally, unwaveringly engaged in His call upon us. We must be utterly dutiful, diligent and fervently passionate about His Great Commission. If He IS God. And, dear precious ones, I know indubitably, HE IS GOD.
It is most certainly not a time to celebrate, revel in short-termed, human victory or woefully become complacent in our faith. It is high time that we arise and lift the veil off of our eyes and spirits and stand unwinking and staid in the coming hour. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."-(1Peter 5:8) It is also not a moment to become so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly-good. Neither is it a season to hide away in a cavern or bomb shelter far into reclusive solitude in an attempt to avoid the oncoming storm. No. We must work with more vigor, more passion and more critical persistence than ever before. "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."-(John 9:4) We must stand fast. We must stand firm. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:28-31) We are called to be AWAKE. We are commissioned by the Master Himself, Jesus Christ to be AWARE, and moreover, galvanize others into this same awareness. Join in true unity with other believers in spite of your doctrinal disputes or human differences. Overcome your fears, doubts and opinionated selfishness and pick up your cross. It is coming... HE IS COMING BACK. We implore you right now- WAKE UP AND GET READY.
Friday, April 22, 2011
EAT THE WHOLE THING
"Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God."-(Acts 20:26-27)
Movements are dangerous. They are not inherently good or evil, but volatile nonetheless. And perhaps that is their innate potential to be used as a positive power; to be explosive enough to be noticeable and implant permanent or lasting change. But in the negative potential of any "movement" lies their finite nature. The DNA of a movement allows that, without commitment and absolute, implanted change, all it will do is make a noisy appearance and inevitably, fade away, leaving in its wake collateral damage and a potentially scarring effect on those who witness its failure to root or create a better life. There are obvious examples in history that will stir some with litigious bents to revel in proving me wrong. However, I would cite that "movements" such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Rights and many others only mark their inception with a movement. These platforms are basic human rights that needed a powder-keg to open the door to become revealed truth and necessary societal and cultural changes. We need a kick in the pants (if you will) sometimes as a species in order to develop into better stewards of one another. But in contrast, there have been other "movements" in the history of mankind that have not created necessary, or for that matter, positive change. Take for instance the German "National Socialist" Movement, or Marxism. There is no doubt, (if you have the freedom to read this) that the Nazis and the purveyors of Communism had their own devastating effects on mankind. The only lasting change there was hurt and pain, and a cathartic reminder of what NOT to become or repeat.
But those examples, both positive and negative are only to initiate your involvement in the relative conundrum at hand. Are mere "movements" good for the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God? I say NO. Why? Because we need more than a brief encounter with change. We need TOTAL change. Movements without permanence are impotent. Or I should say "movements" for their own sake are impotent. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, it is not a temporary means to an end. It is a complete repentant redemption and thereby "re-creation" of our lives. It is not a moment of mercy, but a new beginning for a lifetime of mercy and grace. "Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."-(Lamentations 3:22-23)
When we were recently ministering in Jerusalem to the beautiful body of Messianic Believers there, a very wise Pastor and dear friend of mine asked me quite candidly "What do you think of the prosperity movement?". I paused to reflect on his intentions, and recognized immediately in the Spirit what he was digging toward. I answered rather tersely "I do not put my faith in 'movements'. I believe that we must receive and preach the whole counsel of God. The only movements that we should seek in the body of Christ are found in the currency and flow of the Holy Spirit." I continued on to cite that Jesus believed very strongly in prosperity as one-quarter of the parables alone speak about money and stewardship, let alone our joy, spirits and lives PROSPERING. I found myself involuntarily impassioned by this query due to the devastating impact that some "movements" have had on the faith of many individuals and countless bodies of believers when they are taken out of balance. Prosperity, Word of Faith and other movements are not meant to be consumed, practiced, developed or taught as singular, free-standing entities. They are all of them incredibly important to the furthering of the Gospel and the building of the Kingdom, but none should be exalted into uniqueness. They are all organs that must work in synchronicity with one another in order to be effective.
When we take a single verse, or a concept from the Word of God and focus entirely on it for the sake of teaching or imparting a life-changing maturation into the lives of our fellow believers, it is imperative that we build with balance. When we teach or preach a specific area without focusing on building the Kingdom of God and glorifying Jesus in the Earth, and instead glorify a concept or "movement" above the King, we have missed the point. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"-(2 Corinthians 10:5) In fact, when a concept becomes a denominational identity that ALWAYS leads to unbalanced incompletion.
Before you find offense here, allow me to demonstrate this issue with an imaginary control for our hypothetical edification. Allow me to use something that is NOT a tenet of our faith to exhibit BALANCE. Say that culinary excellence (cooking and dining) is demonstrated throughout the Word of God as a benefit or active necessity to the abundant life of a follower of Jesus the Messiah. Imagine that without understanding the details of fine cuisine, the preparation of all manner of food and the accoutrements that complete a gastronomic experience with excellence, we would be incomplete as believers. Now entertain the idea that due to its complexity, the study of this facet of our faith demands precise attention. Picture if you can a cadre of scriptural and oration experts preaching, teaching and developing believers into becoming expert chefs themselves. But instead of the importance of that glimmer of the entire picture being directed back to the throne, the blood, the kingdom and righteousness of God, it becomes a separate ideal. People spend more and more time, perhaps ALL of their energy concentrating on this area of concern and it consumes them. The food is incredible, the experience is incomparable, and the intense point of convergence in what was intended to supplement becomes a doctrine-based denomination. People are now exalting the experts of this ideal into a position of Apostolic hierarchy and then creating entire branches and umbrella classifications of faith that in truth are partial glimpses at the King and His true Kingdom. Now, through this fairly absurd example (once again I repeat it is NOT SCRIPTURAL) it is poignant to cite "It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”-(Matthew 4:4) For after all, the Word in its entirety is our fullness and FOOD.
The metaphor of food here was not a random choice. One of the most widespread and constant thoughts in many of your minds right now is your DIET. Thanks to a multi-BILLION dollar industry, the word "diet" has been manipulated into an action or verb rather than a noun. Most people define the word as "a torturous time of starvation and deprivation of food to reach a desired weight or physical appearance". It was never intended to be so. Your "diet" should simply mean "what you eat". But that is not the contemporary definition. People are literally consumed with diet fads each with their own claim to victory. But as one of my greatest mentors, the late Brian Klemmer wrote about diets in his book "If How-To's Were Enough We'd All Be Skinny, Rich and Happy", they DON'T WORK. That is right. Diets do not work. They are a temporary means to an end. LIFESTYLE CHANGES WORK. You cannot simply diet for several weeks or months and after losing a determined amount of weight return to your old eating habits and expect to keep the weight off. You must change your mindset entirely. You must change your lifestyle ENTIRELY. Believe me, I know this from personal, fat-losing, self-loathing dieting experience.
Movements without implanted change are diets. Salvation is NOT a temporary way out. It is eternal. The reason true salvation is accompanied with the old man dying and our becoming a new creation is our need to put away the old. The new life that we gain through the blood of Jesus Christ is not a momentary excursion. It is a total lifestyle change. The intentional purpose of our being "born again" in our reception of His lordship is to clear out the old. The old mindset, the old belief system, the old sin, the old lack, the old doubt, the old wineskin. "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."-(Mark 2:22) If we do not experience a paradigm shift through our experience with Jesus Christ and His saving blood, we will simply remain the same. That is why we need TOTAL salvation, TOTAL change.
Jesus the Messiah did not suffer the passion and die on the cross at calvary taking upon Himself our debts so that we would live the "partial life". No. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets so that we would live the "Abundant Life". And that life is one without lack. The perfection we gain in Him is our completion. We cannot live full, complete lives in Him if we do not receive the fullness of the whole counsel of God. That is what we are to consume, become and live out. The entirety, not just a "movement". I want to be effective in building His Kingdom here on Earth with full authority to do so. I do not believe that we can operate in the fullness of His strength, power and Spirit if we only focus on or teach the Word in partiality. We must preach the total Gospel. There are many anointed men and women of God currently teaching Grace without teaching Holiness. There is a new imbalance shifting in the Body of Christ. It is imperative that we share the Grace by which we are all saved, but it is equally imperative to impart the necessity to live transformed lives that are Holy as HE is Holy. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."-(Hebrews 13:8) He was holy yesterday, He is holy today and forever. He was a healer yesterday, He is our healer today and forever. He was the fullness of God's Love yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow of turning with Him. The movement of the Holy Spirit is not partial. It is with His entire being, the perfect wholeness and manifold witness that He moves. God is multifaceted. The Word describes Him as variegated, many-colored. There is in Him the complexity of ALL creation and existence. The wholeness of His being MUST be exalted.
This may seem to be overwhelming. How do we embrace His fullness? How is it possible to ingest and understand the infinite depth of the most high God? How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. The difference here is that when taking small bites, we never lose sight of the whole picture. God is bigger than the portions that we are currently focusing on. We must never allow a part to be the entire focus. We encourage you to learn, study, investigate and master the endless levels of complexity in the Word of God. But whatever you do, never allow yourself to exalt an idea or "movement" into a denominational pillar. Seek out the whole counsel. Live the the lifestyle not the diet, and embrace the whole thing, or rather EAT the whole thing.
Movements are dangerous. They are not inherently good or evil, but volatile nonetheless. And perhaps that is their innate potential to be used as a positive power; to be explosive enough to be noticeable and implant permanent or lasting change. But in the negative potential of any "movement" lies their finite nature. The DNA of a movement allows that, without commitment and absolute, implanted change, all it will do is make a noisy appearance and inevitably, fade away, leaving in its wake collateral damage and a potentially scarring effect on those who witness its failure to root or create a better life. There are obvious examples in history that will stir some with litigious bents to revel in proving me wrong. However, I would cite that "movements" such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Rights and many others only mark their inception with a movement. These platforms are basic human rights that needed a powder-keg to open the door to become revealed truth and necessary societal and cultural changes. We need a kick in the pants (if you will) sometimes as a species in order to develop into better stewards of one another. But in contrast, there have been other "movements" in the history of mankind that have not created necessary, or for that matter, positive change. Take for instance the German "National Socialist" Movement, or Marxism. There is no doubt, (if you have the freedom to read this) that the Nazis and the purveyors of Communism had their own devastating effects on mankind. The only lasting change there was hurt and pain, and a cathartic reminder of what NOT to become or repeat.
But those examples, both positive and negative are only to initiate your involvement in the relative conundrum at hand. Are mere "movements" good for the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God? I say NO. Why? Because we need more than a brief encounter with change. We need TOTAL change. Movements without permanence are impotent. Or I should say "movements" for their own sake are impotent. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, it is not a temporary means to an end. It is a complete repentant redemption and thereby "re-creation" of our lives. It is not a moment of mercy, but a new beginning for a lifetime of mercy and grace. "Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."-(Lamentations 3:22-23)
When we were recently ministering in Jerusalem to the beautiful body of Messianic Believers there, a very wise Pastor and dear friend of mine asked me quite candidly "What do you think of the prosperity movement?". I paused to reflect on his intentions, and recognized immediately in the Spirit what he was digging toward. I answered rather tersely "I do not put my faith in 'movements'. I believe that we must receive and preach the whole counsel of God. The only movements that we should seek in the body of Christ are found in the currency and flow of the Holy Spirit." I continued on to cite that Jesus believed very strongly in prosperity as one-quarter of the parables alone speak about money and stewardship, let alone our joy, spirits and lives PROSPERING. I found myself involuntarily impassioned by this query due to the devastating impact that some "movements" have had on the faith of many individuals and countless bodies of believers when they are taken out of balance. Prosperity, Word of Faith and other movements are not meant to be consumed, practiced, developed or taught as singular, free-standing entities. They are all of them incredibly important to the furthering of the Gospel and the building of the Kingdom, but none should be exalted into uniqueness. They are all organs that must work in synchronicity with one another in order to be effective.
When we take a single verse, or a concept from the Word of God and focus entirely on it for the sake of teaching or imparting a life-changing maturation into the lives of our fellow believers, it is imperative that we build with balance. When we teach or preach a specific area without focusing on building the Kingdom of God and glorifying Jesus in the Earth, and instead glorify a concept or "movement" above the King, we have missed the point. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"-(2 Corinthians 10:5) In fact, when a concept becomes a denominational identity that ALWAYS leads to unbalanced incompletion.
Before you find offense here, allow me to demonstrate this issue with an imaginary control for our hypothetical edification. Allow me to use something that is NOT a tenet of our faith to exhibit BALANCE. Say that culinary excellence (cooking and dining) is demonstrated throughout the Word of God as a benefit or active necessity to the abundant life of a follower of Jesus the Messiah. Imagine that without understanding the details of fine cuisine, the preparation of all manner of food and the accoutrements that complete a gastronomic experience with excellence, we would be incomplete as believers. Now entertain the idea that due to its complexity, the study of this facet of our faith demands precise attention. Picture if you can a cadre of scriptural and oration experts preaching, teaching and developing believers into becoming expert chefs themselves. But instead of the importance of that glimmer of the entire picture being directed back to the throne, the blood, the kingdom and righteousness of God, it becomes a separate ideal. People spend more and more time, perhaps ALL of their energy concentrating on this area of concern and it consumes them. The food is incredible, the experience is incomparable, and the intense point of convergence in what was intended to supplement becomes a doctrine-based denomination. People are now exalting the experts of this ideal into a position of Apostolic hierarchy and then creating entire branches and umbrella classifications of faith that in truth are partial glimpses at the King and His true Kingdom. Now, through this fairly absurd example (once again I repeat it is NOT SCRIPTURAL) it is poignant to cite "It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”-(Matthew 4:4) For after all, the Word in its entirety is our fullness and FOOD.
The metaphor of food here was not a random choice. One of the most widespread and constant thoughts in many of your minds right now is your DIET. Thanks to a multi-BILLION dollar industry, the word "diet" has been manipulated into an action or verb rather than a noun. Most people define the word as "a torturous time of starvation and deprivation of food to reach a desired weight or physical appearance". It was never intended to be so. Your "diet" should simply mean "what you eat". But that is not the contemporary definition. People are literally consumed with diet fads each with their own claim to victory. But as one of my greatest mentors, the late Brian Klemmer wrote about diets in his book "If How-To's Were Enough We'd All Be Skinny, Rich and Happy", they DON'T WORK. That is right. Diets do not work. They are a temporary means to an end. LIFESTYLE CHANGES WORK. You cannot simply diet for several weeks or months and after losing a determined amount of weight return to your old eating habits and expect to keep the weight off. You must change your mindset entirely. You must change your lifestyle ENTIRELY. Believe me, I know this from personal, fat-losing, self-loathing dieting experience.
Movements without implanted change are diets. Salvation is NOT a temporary way out. It is eternal. The reason true salvation is accompanied with the old man dying and our becoming a new creation is our need to put away the old. The new life that we gain through the blood of Jesus Christ is not a momentary excursion. It is a total lifestyle change. The intentional purpose of our being "born again" in our reception of His lordship is to clear out the old. The old mindset, the old belief system, the old sin, the old lack, the old doubt, the old wineskin. "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."-(Mark 2:22) If we do not experience a paradigm shift through our experience with Jesus Christ and His saving blood, we will simply remain the same. That is why we need TOTAL salvation, TOTAL change.
Jesus the Messiah did not suffer the passion and die on the cross at calvary taking upon Himself our debts so that we would live the "partial life". No. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets so that we would live the "Abundant Life". And that life is one without lack. The perfection we gain in Him is our completion. We cannot live full, complete lives in Him if we do not receive the fullness of the whole counsel of God. That is what we are to consume, become and live out. The entirety, not just a "movement". I want to be effective in building His Kingdom here on Earth with full authority to do so. I do not believe that we can operate in the fullness of His strength, power and Spirit if we only focus on or teach the Word in partiality. We must preach the total Gospel. There are many anointed men and women of God currently teaching Grace without teaching Holiness. There is a new imbalance shifting in the Body of Christ. It is imperative that we share the Grace by which we are all saved, but it is equally imperative to impart the necessity to live transformed lives that are Holy as HE is Holy. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."-(Hebrews 13:8) He was holy yesterday, He is holy today and forever. He was a healer yesterday, He is our healer today and forever. He was the fullness of God's Love yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow of turning with Him. The movement of the Holy Spirit is not partial. It is with His entire being, the perfect wholeness and manifold witness that He moves. God is multifaceted. The Word describes Him as variegated, many-colored. There is in Him the complexity of ALL creation and existence. The wholeness of His being MUST be exalted.
This may seem to be overwhelming. How do we embrace His fullness? How is it possible to ingest and understand the infinite depth of the most high God? How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. The difference here is that when taking small bites, we never lose sight of the whole picture. God is bigger than the portions that we are currently focusing on. We must never allow a part to be the entire focus. We encourage you to learn, study, investigate and master the endless levels of complexity in the Word of God. But whatever you do, never allow yourself to exalt an idea or "movement" into a denominational pillar. Seek out the whole counsel. Live the the lifestyle not the diet, and embrace the whole thing, or rather EAT the whole thing.
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