Electric Soaking Center

More on Stigmata & Blood Sign Miracles

2008-07-16T01:58:00.000-08:00

Last week, we began discussing the supernatural manifestation of blood signs, namely the “stigmata,” which are marks appearing on the hands, feet and sometimes other body parts, corresponding to the wounds experienced by Christ on the cross.

We began writing about this topic, due to some powerful happenings which occurred at our Manifestations of Glory event in the Atlanta area, earlier this spring. There was a radical release of mystical signs and wonders at the event, and it was likely the best conference we have hosted to date.

Not only did we document the blood sign on video, as it appeared on the hands of Lucy Rael during one of the meetings – we also got video footage of supernatural oil flowing from her hands, as well as an enormous amount of gold that began forming on her palms.

I would encourage you to read last week’s post, as I began an in-depth discussion on the stigmata. I would also encourage readers to pick up the DVD series of our Manifestations of Glory event from our online store. Not only does it build our faith to witness these miracles, but there is a tangible impartation for accessing the supernatural as we see God do crazy things before our very eyes.

This week, we pick up the discussion on stigmata by addressing the demonic counterfeit.

Diabolical Stigmata

As with every valid miracle of God, there simultaneously exist demonic counterfeits. Mediums can affect demonic healings. Spiritualists engage unholy trances. Yogis and eastern religions mimic miracles of ascension (floating off the ground). Psychics offer counterfeit prophecies. In the same way, there do exist cases of diabolical stigmata.

There seems to be much warfare, controversy and counterfeit activity over this particular miracle more than any other. For this reason, many true Christian prophets today get spooked out over it, and some even claim stiggy to be produced by seducing spirits. The truth is that some of them are. Levitation, bilocation, gifts of healing – these are all extravagant miracles. But because the visual imagery is so dramatically Christ-centered with stigmata, invoking the emotions with such a direct picture of His passion – the enemy will attempt to confuse it as much as possible.

History shows that stigmatists are intensely prophetic persons by nature. They are almost always seers. In demonic cases, the same is true (the person has a misplaced call to the seer realm) but instead of listening to God, the source of revelation is mixed up. The diabolical stigmatist is open to dark prophetic forces, often channeling demonic spirits in poltergeist-type manifestations.

In cases of godly, divine stigmata, the person nearly always gets revelation from God. Unfortunately, the church has had poor teaching on the prophetic office for the past 2,000 years, so even a valid stigmatist’s revelation has often been delivered in a strange or confusing way. Sometimes the person would speak on behalf of God or angels in a first person type of way, but without good protocol or delivery style. This has led to much confusion. Needless to say, there has been a stigma on stiggy!

Ecstasies, fits and all manner of hysterics tend to accompany the lives of stigmatists. The accounts of many resemble wild, Holy Ghost manifestations. “All true stigmatics have received the wounds of rapture in ecstasy,” writes theologian Montague Summers. Others, quite honestly, resemble cases of multiple personality disorder and demonic agitations. Mystical theologian Herbert Thurston writes, “Many of them were intensely devout … but in others piety was combined with eccentricities and with apparent dissociations of personality which were strange and not exactly edifying.”

These eccentricities are not true for all stigmatists. Capuchin friar Padre Pio, for example, was always “exceptionally calm and composed. There is no bad family history. He himself, with a candid simplicity which evidently made a profound impression upon the rationalist Professor, declared that he had never suffered from any nervous malady. He has never been subject to fainting fits or convulsions or tremors. He sleeps well and is not troubled with dreams.”

Demons can scrawl letters, words and other dermatography on people’s flesh, like something you would see in a horror movie. This sign does not always come as a mark of piety, by any means. Religious devils are so prone to glorify personal suffering; one must discern clearly whether a person’s experience is a valid miracle or a “crucifixion complex” of sorts.

Some critics have claimed that stigmata are produced by the imagination, intense mental concentration or some other naturalistic, physiological phenomenon. There is no need to waste time refuting such an unscientific argument, which is devoid of common sense. The imagination cannot cause the body to perforate itself. Angels and devils can. The body cannot cause such wounds to smell fragrant or glow with light, as many have. This is no routine biological process like digestion, circulation or ordinary tissue mechanics. Unless the stigmata is fraudulently self-inflicted (and a number have been, for attention, money or spiritual pride), then the question remains whether the stigmata is divine or diabolical in origin.

“That the divine stigmata could be produced through the force of the emotions acting upon a lively subject is altogether impossible,” notes Summers. Hemophilia, a tendency to bleed spontaneously or from injury, has no connection whatsoever here. There are only two types of stigmatization: the holy and the profane. You will know the tree by its fruit.

Transverberation of the Heart

Lots of manifestations are grouped under the blanket term “stigmata,” but stigmata generally include the five main wounds of Christ: piercing of the two hands, the feet and side. A number of stigmatists also receive wounds corresponding to the crown of thorns, the lashes on the back and abrasions to the shoulder, where Christ carried the cross (Lucy generally receives all of these around Easter each year). I am including separately the manifestation called the ferita, also known as the heart wound or the transverberation of the heart. In this case, the heart itself is supernaturally pierced, even as the heart of Jesus was pierced on the cross. Teresa of Avila is by far the most famous recipient of this. In her writings, she tells us that an angel approached her and did this with a fiery tipped, golden lance.

“The angel appeared to me to be thrusting the spear of fire into my heart and piercing my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and left me all on fire with a great love of God.”

Some days after her death, Teresa’s body was opened and her heart removed. There on its side was a large puncture wound, with which she had evidently lived for years. The heart was put on display after her death in 1582 and has remained miraculously incorrupt without rotting ever since.

Transverberation is a piercing “under which condition normally the subject would die, since the wound (humanly speaking) ought to be mortal.”

Veronica Giuliani, in the 18th century, somehow believed that her physical heart had hardened into the likeness of certain shapes: a cross, a crown of thorns, a chalice, three nails, a pillar, seven swords and certain letters that represented a number of Christian virtues. These were emblems she had long meditated on. She had such a clear vision of this, that she would draw small pictures of them for her spiritual directors. Years later, upon her death, her heart was extracted; the images of these objects were actually found on the heart, exactly in the manner she described them in her latest drawings. There is little scientific explanation for this. But wait … there are far more fantastic miracles than this.

This may sound unbelievable, but in comparison with Biblical miracles, such wonders are a mere trifle. A more extraordinary case of stigmatization and ferita were faithfully recorded in the 13th century life of Lady Helen of Veszprim by her fellow nuns and contemporaries. From her stigmatized hand, a golden budded thread began to appear, which grew into a stalk. Fragrant lilies began to blossom from the end of this golden stem. And from the ferita on her side, another of these gold filaments appeared with white petaled lily blossoms. Greatly embarrassed and not knowing what to do with these lilies growing from her stiggy, Helen pulled them out, as if by their roots. They remained in tact for years after her death. Furthermore, Helen’s wounds turned to golden circles, and on certain holy days, her stigmata “shone with a soft radiant glow.”

Hope you enjoyed these brief teachings on the stigmata: something you don’t see highlighted in too many Protestant ministries! Here at Sons of Thunder, we are not Catholic, but we are not Protestant either! We are not protesting anything, we are pursuing Someone. Blessings to you on your journeys this week, as you plore the inexhaustible riches of His heart, and the mystical wonders of His Kingdom!

Stigmata Appears at Manifestations of Glory Event

2008-07-09T01:53:00.000-08:00

Although we have been quite slow in posting an email bulletin, we would like to share with you some powerful happenings which occurred at our Manifestations of Glory event in the Atlanta area, earlier this spring. There was such a weighty Glory and an open Heaven for the release of mystical signs and wonders. It would be difficult to compare this with any other conference we have hosted to date.

We invited guest speaker Lucy Rael, a woman of utmost integrity who has for decades manifested the “blood sign,” or stigmata, on her physical body. Lucy has long worked under the helm of the renowned healing revivalist T.L. Osborne. Not only did the blood sign appear before the gathered crowd in south Atlanta. Also, there were dramatic manifestations of thick, supernatural gold flakes and copious amounts of supernatural oil that flowed from Lucy’s hands as she ministered. Georgian Banov released a powerful message on evil-free existence, with a weighty impartation of joy and power. We also had some Glory-packed ministry from Joshua Mills and Kaye Beyer. I ministered on the physical phenomena of mysticism and discussed some of the unusual manifestations we are now experiencing and will continue to see as we press into new ground in the Spirit.

Also at the event, we saw quite a number of healings, weight loss miracles and accurate words of knowledge. I would encourage folks to pick up the DVD series from our online store, as there is really a powerful impartation on this media resource –we captured nearly all of the most dramatic miracles on film, including the stigmata. I have found that watching such dramatic, unusual miracles is a catalyst for increasing my own faith. This series has a great series of teachings, but there are also the visible, tangible signs and wonders (beyond mere healings) that will build your faith and get you extremely whacked in the love of God!

I would like to spend a little time here over the next two weeks discussing the manifestation of stigmata, as this is a peculiar miracle that causes much curiosity as well as much misunderstanding.

The Stigmata

Stigmata is a supernatural phenomenon that accompanies states of divine ecstasy, but garners significant controversy in Protestant circles. Stigmata is something we at Sons of Thunder tenderly refer to as “stiggy!” There have been more stigmatists over the past century than any other on record. Theologian R.P. Poulan estimates that as of 1907, there had been conservatively 321 known stigmatists. Now, a century later, that number has grown to 500. Despite common misperceptions, these occur as much among Protestant believers as Catholic.

Francis of Assisi in the 13th century was the first believer known to carry the stigmata, and there are a number around today, including Lucy, a charismatic Protestant minister . Fr. Elias is a young Catholic stigmatist in Italy today, and even the great revivalist A.A. Allen would highlight the miracle in his own tent revivals in the 1960s. In addition to the stigmata appearing on some in Allen’s miracle services, many people would receive a supernatural mark in the shape of a cross on their foreheads.

Although not a stigmatist, our friend, Joshua Mills, was recently in a meeting in New Zealand when warm blood dropped into his hand out of thin air. After a while, it turned into deep crimson “Glory dust.” Many people were physically healed and converted to Christianity at the meeting. Joshua said he received more persecution from critics for this one sign than perhaps any other to date!

There are many “blood miracles” throughout church history. The great miracle worker Francis of Paola once refused to take a chest of gold coins from a wicked king who had exploited the poor for the money. To show that this was literally blood money, Francis picked up a gold coin and was able to snap it in half between his fingers. Blood dripped out of the coin miraculously, and the king was instantly repentant.

Without a doubt, blood miracles are simply taboo in Western Protestantism. A lot of misinformation is fed to us by Hollywood – there is even a movie titled Stigmata, which incessantly portrays the experience to be demonic and cultish. There should not be pointless division over such a trivial issue. However, I do believe that as we honor the miracles God releases, He is prone to bring more blessing. Why must we always drop the gavel and make a judgment call on things we don’t understand? Don’t slap a demonic label on everything inexplicable. The bottom line is that miracles are from God when He is glorified, and thousands of people have come to faith through the manifestation of stiggy.

The reason stigmata is controversial is simple: there is always warfare over the blood.

In the case of stigmatists, history shows that all of them were ecstatics, meaning they all experienced trances, deep sensations of divine pleasure and the general bliss of Heaven. Most of them had visions of Christ, revealing Himself to them in His blood-stained garments. There are some stigmatists who did not even receive pain from their wounds (such as Lucy). Often, a stigmatist’s wounds will open and then close again miraculously. Gemma Galgani, who died in 1903, is an example of a modern recipient of these marks of Christ whose wounds would open and close again each week after her ecstasy was over on Friday.

In the case of the 1873 stigmata of Louise Lateau, documented by medical doctors (as are nearly all modern examples), there were no actual wounds per se. The blood would flow from unbroken skin. Other stigmatists’ hands and feet have been completely perforated all the way through the flesh. This is what occurred with 18th century stigmatist Maria Francesca delle Cinque Piaghe. Her confessor, Don Paschal Nitti gives this testimony:

“I have seen them, I have touched them, and to say the truth I, as the apostle St. Thomas did, have put in my finger into the wounds through her hands and I have seen that the hole extended right through, for in inserting my finger into the wound it met the thumb which I held underneath on the other side of the hand”

Some have received an invisible stiggy. That is, their hands felt the pain of the stigmata, but they never received the actual blood sign. As in the case of Catherine of Siena, some had visible bleeding stigmata, but after requesting the Lord to make the sign invisible, He did so.

I have never encountered an instance of valid stiggy in my studies where there was no choice made by the recipient to willingly endure this mark. That is, it has always been a grace gift that could be received or rejected without condemnation. In those cases where stigmatists asked the Lord to remove it, time and again He has obliged.

On a deeper level, stigmata is an outward manifestation of ecstasy that comes from a spiritual condition called the wounds of love, or the anguish of love. Jesus sweat blood in Gethsemane. Jacob wrestled with an angel until his leg was injured. Just because a manifestation hurts does not mean it is not from God. And on the same token, not everyone is called to carry stiggy. It is not a superior mark of piety.

In the anguish of love, states of pleasure and suffering come in near equal strength. It is possible to experience bliss and suffering both simultaneously, and with great intensity. Most stigmatists have meditated long hours on Christ’s passion, and they have been graced with a condition of deep heart-sickness:

“Something of the same kind is experienced in human love when it is violent. A great sweetness is felt, the lover does not wish to quit the thought of the beloved; he enjoys it. But at the same time he feels his heart torn because of his absence from her, or because of the difficulty of conversing with her freely. There is thus a mingling of joy and of sorrow. So, too, it is possible to have delicious experiences of God and of His love, and to feel at the same time a secret anguish which is nothing else than the thirst for God, kindled by Himself,” writes Poulan.

Common questions need to be answered to arrive at proper discernment in such cases. Does the subject feel drawn closer to God in these experiences? Does the person want the manifestation to continue, despite the obvious pain, or is it solely an oppressive experience? Remember that any ecstasy can be intense, but generally it is very welcome because it is an intensity of bliss. Perhaps the guiding factor is this: is there an essence of God’s presence and peace in the midst of perceived suffering?

“The ecstatic suffers, and he not only accepts his pain, but he dominates it, he triumphs over it, he accepts it with enthusiasm. These joyful sentiments are not of the Earth,” writes mystical Christian theologian Fr. Hamon in 1906. “He interests himself, as though he were in complete health, in the joys and sorrows of others.”

Overall, I believe we can accept stigmata as a valid miracle of Jesus, without having to embrace a depressed theology of suffering. The best stigmatist is a happy one!

Of those contemplatives who suffer in some supernatural way, Teresa of Avila says:

“They have need that His Majesty should afford them some refreshment, and this not of water, but wine; that so, inebriated with this celestial wine, they may not consider that they suffer, and may be able to endure it.”

I have determined in my heart that, if there is a heavier hit of Glory on something, I want it – no matter how much it hurts!

Next week, we will continue our discussion, touching on the subject of demonic counterfeit and discernment with bizarre miracles of this nature …

Toking the Ghost: Why Christians Must Redeem Drug Culture, Part II

2008-07-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

The past few decades, with moves such as Toronto and others, people are truly beginning to grasp that the New Wine of God’s Spirit is not just to be discussed or analyzed, but to be drunk. The Lord has always sought, throughout the scriptures, to relay the concept that we are to be entranced on Him. God has always used wine as a typology of His celebratory nature. He says in Ephesians 5:18:

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit …” (NKJV).

Obviously, most believers know we are not to be drunk with natural wine. But nevertheless, the Lord correlates a spiritual experience to the buzz derived from alcohol. Why would God make such a comparison? Alcoholic drunkenness is off limits – yet God uses it as an analogy, to point us to the real drunkenness He desires. His goal is to turn us away from the false, in order to turn us toward the true. Just as God correlates the real to the illegal counterfeit in the passage above, so do we correlate drug use (also off limits) in a similar analogy. Realize that the issue has nothing to do with drugs, alcohol or pink elephants. It has to do with spiritual intoxication. The package is irrelevant here, so we may as well get over it. God is going to be ripping up a lot of religious packages in these days, in order to express Himself to a generation.

Don’t let religion feed you water, when God offers to turn it into wine. We have found that using street drug language has a great shock effect, because people will instantly make the correlation to how extreme and radical God wants us to experience Him, to be reliant on Him (abandoned addiction to Him), and to be pulled into exotic spiritual experiences with Him daily. Maybe you have never had daily encounter with God. Maybe you’ve been a Christian for decades, but never believed He was so close as to intersect your daily life on a regular basis. Don’t let your past experience dictate the standard God has for you. Take a puff. He died so that you can encounter Heaven continually in unbroken communion. How do we access this? By simply believing – by faith. How do we drink of Him? How do we toke Him up? By faith. Need more faith? Take a puff.

Addicts Set Free from Drugs and Prostitution!

I am always excited to see the fruit of “Toking the Ghost” in the lives of ordinary people, who get freed up by encountering Jesus this way. We get simple testimonies like this one emailed to us all the time:

“It was awesome you came to me and asked me if I wanted to get high and then you blew on me and I passed out. I have not been the same since thank you.” – Ricky S., Cave City, Kentucky.

If that testimony sounds tame, consider this one: after an outreach we did in Canada, multiple prostitutes gave their lives to Jesus. What impacted their decision? Oddly enough, it was largely influenced by getting high on the Most High:

“Two young female prostitutes/addicts are safely in a Christian detox center in another city and after 28 days will be in Montreal at Safe Haven for 2-3 years. A third female is being looked after. A male escort is now at Harvest House and a pimp is on the verge of salvation. One of the persons was native. … Confidentiality must be strictly observed. All of our lives at risk and there are many (illicit sex) clients who go to church. Church is not always a safe place for testimonies. One (prostitute) had 12 clients at one of the largest spirit-filled churches in the Maritimes. A deaf ear popped open and a woman who had internal damage during childbirth, bone problems and great pain was instantly healed (at the meetings). (One of the) things that brought tears to all the prostitutes and touched them the most were … when John Crowder took some arms on front row and pretended he was shooting them up but it was with the Holy Ghost not a substance – they all went wild when they saw how much fun Christianity could be!” – Anonymous, Nova Scotia, Canada

We also hear regularly of people whose drug addictions were broken – not by going into a program, but by finding a better substance! They encountered the substance of Heaven:

“One year ago I was asked to leave the only church I ever felt like I fit because I confessed that I was struggling to stay free from pot smoking. … Then I attended a conference in Harrisburg where John Crowder whacked me on my head and later (Yes, I went back for more) injected me in the arm with the Holy Ghost. I have been wasted since. I realized ...Oh Lord! There is no way I can ever go back to smoking now. This is so much better and free! Thank you for your peculiar example. (I have) been enlightened. … Suddenly joy is oozing out of my pores! The wonderful thing is Holy Spirit said I caught it – I am infected with a move beyond any move. There is a wide spread epidemic of joy being released. People are going to catch a joy buzz everywhere I go … and lately I seem to be walking around just on the brink of laughter. … The epidemic is spreading! People are filled with joy every where you go there are smiling faces. It becomes common to be standing in the check-out line and hear spontaneous laughter. Wow! Life is good! The whole region is now being transformed. We are having street parties shouting “Jesus is Lord and oh so good!” … Put down your needle! Intoxication is free! And better than any concoction ever put together by man. Whoooohooo! People are getting saved all over the country because these courageous, infected-beyond-repair victims are completely caught up in love with Jesus. Suddenly everyone wants Him!” – Sharon C., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Drunkenness Sets School in Chaos

One of my favorite testimonies we have received was from a young, 17-year-old Dutch girl who reports that her drunken behavior set her entire school in a glorious uproar. Persecuted by teachers, counselors and peers, she stayed faithful to the whack of God, and thus set everyone talking and being exposed to the workings of God:

“I’m a 17-year old girl from the Netherlands and me and my friends are experiencing 'strange' things at our school. That Friday that John had a conference in Holland, I was at school and suddenly I felt the Holy Spirit come upon me. … I went out of the classroom and sat down somewhere in the hall. … My whole body shook and I fell to the floor, God was really doing something. After a while (my friend) Samantha would go and tell the teacher what was happening, because we were away for a long time already. So the class didn't know what to think and when Samantha went back to us again, another Christian began to explain to the people what was going on. At the moment she began to speak a wind was going trough the classroom, when she stopped the wind was gone. When she began again the wind was there again. A girl who doesn't believe in God felt the wind at first and she said that that wasn't just normal. I was still on the ground shaking when the class was over and then the teacher and two other Christians came to have a look. He asked if we would like to explain it all to the class in one of his lessons.

“After he was gone another teacher came (I don't know how you call it in English but they both teach in religion and stuff). He wanted us to come into his office. So they had to pick me up from the floor and help me get into his office. But when we were there he began saying that I should 'get out of it' and that I had to do this in my own time, because we were at school. … I was still shaking at the front of the school, where all the people were because it was lunch break.

“After that I went home and that night I was in the conference where John was speaking and it was just so cool, because he was acting as weird as I had done that day! And again God was doing something in me. That whole weekend God was there and I was really drunk all the time, it was so funny! I have learned much from John, and I can't even count the number of how many times I fell on the floor because God was doing something so powerful. But the Monday after that weekend God hadn't stopped his work, so I was drunk all the time even in classes! As a result of that teachers now worry about me; my mentor phoned home and my parents have to come to school and talk with her. … Students and people who aren't even at this school talk about it. … So there really is chaos and we're at a point where we don't know what to do next.” – Chayah V., Netherlands

All it takes are a few drunken warriors with a boldness to let God break out in their midst, even when it is unexplainable. A few people like this in His hands can awaken entire regions.

Maybe you have gone to church for years, but have never been floored by the immediate, tangible presence of the Holy Spirit. I would like to encourage you that God can swoop right into your circumstance and bring you a radical, addictive overhaul in one moment of your life. He did it for me, and He does it for many others. I will share one more testimony of someone who was altered by a heavy-duty Jesus fix:

“I just want you to know that I have acquired a brand new Holy Spirit addiction. I got all the prayer at the conference and then stayed for Sunday service. … I was a Holy Spirit seeker and now am a Holy Spirit addict. … They scraped me off the floor and I was so drunk in the Spirit. That has never happened to me before. I had a 3-hour drive ahead of me and they put me in the car and I laughed and prayed (yelled/warred) in tongues for more than an hour of it. Thank God I made it because I was so completely fried. I even acquired new tongues, either a new language or more of the one I already had. I went straight from Kenosha to a meeting at my own church and since it is pretty much a seeker friendly church, I was not sure how my condition was going to go over, but I didn't really care that much. I got a lot of favor and one man told me today that when he saw me on Sunday, I was glowing. … It's great! You were so right. In that condition, I don't care about anything. I can do so much more this way because I don't care what people think of me. It's awesome! All I want is God and more God! Nothing else matters. Hey I even came home feeling love for my son-in-law who has been quite a thorn in my side. Today I took a prayer drive around the perimeter of my town and heard God directing my prayer for this town really clearly. Thank you for sharing! This is amazing!” – Paulette M., Kenosha, Wisconsin

Prepare to be stretched, because God is releasing His kingdom in some radical new expressions in this hour. Let us trust Him and enjoy the flow of this new move!

Toking the Ghost: Why Christians Must Redeem Drug Culture, Part I

2008-06-25T01:42:00.000-08:00

Ever since I first became a believer, I have had a constant addiction to the Presence of God. I do not know of any other way to live the Christian life, apart from a loving compulsion to continuously be near this God of Gladness. One of the primary things the Lord showed us years ago was that intoxication on Him is the very essence of “first love.” God is not interested in your dispassionate praise or disinterested service. He is going for the depths of your heart strings. The thing that intoxicates you to the core is the very thing you worship. There is a deep, inner craving that draws us outside ourselves and into the realms of divine ecstasy. This is our inheritance as children and lovers of God. The only kind of love that will lay down its life is a love that has transcended life itself.

Supernatural pleasure, inner raptures, ecstasies, trances and visionary encounters are our Biblical inheritance as believers. Sadly, the church culture of today has become far removed from true, joyful experiential Christianity. Instead, it has morphed into a mere classroom on ethics, while losing the true core of spirituality and encounter that are freely available to all believers who choose to access the open Heavens of the cross. The great revivalist John G. Lake explained it this way, when discussing trances:

“Now what is a trance? A trance is the Spirit taking predominance over the mind and body, and for the time being the control of the individual is by the Spirit; but our ignorance of the operations of God is such that even ministers of religion have been known to say it is the devil.”[i]

We are tired of seeing the church forfeit over inner trance experiences to drug culture, new age and the occult, which can only offer counterfeits at best and demonic counterparts at worst. As believers, we should be the most intoxicated people on the planet – blissed out on the God of ecstasy who has rivers of pleasure flowing at His right hand! We were never created for a dry, boring, sober religious existence. True spiritual “sobriety,” of which the apostle Paul speaks, is coming into a vivid awareness of the unseen realm of Heaven. In Acts 2 and elsewhere in the scriptures, this “spiritual sobriety” looked like complete drunkenness to the natural eye. The new wine of God’s Spirit is the daily fare of the believer. The church started in the heavy drunken Glory on Pentecost, and we are moving from Glory to Glory. God would never give us a lesser experience for a greater one. What the apostles tasted in part, we will overdose on in full!

Drink Your Fill

There is a supernatural bliss the world longs to see demonstrated in the people of God. To live by the rules and regulations of naturalistic religion, without encountering the Spirit of God Himself, is to already be drunk on the ways of the world.

The scriptures have long commended us to be inebriated without limit on God, as we are told to “… drink your fill, O lovers.” (Song Sol. 5:1). How thirsty are you? Theodoret of Cyrus, in the fifth century, comments on this single verse saying:

“He commands these persons not merely to drink, but to be drunken; for there is a drunkenness that works temperance and not delirium – one that does not enfeeble the limbs but lends them strength.” [ii]

We want to be those who partner with Heaven to see a redemption and restoration of true supernatural, mystical experience by finding our intoxication in the Holy Ghost! God will never put a limit on your joy levels. It will take all of eternity to explore the depths of God’s gladness.

Taking it to the Street

When I go out for evangelism these days, I rarely ever start with the “four spiritual laws” or try to convince people they are sinners. I say this not to criticize anyone else’s evangelism method. If it bears fruit for you, go for it. But most people already know they are sinners. Very often, I just ask them if they want to get high! And more often than not, they do. Use bait for fish, not repellant.

Presence evangelism is the most effective mode of making true converts, because people are not simply making intellectual decisions based on points of doctrine. Instead, they are truly encountering the Lord of Glory through a tangible experience, and the explanation follows. Yes – of course we must give a rational exposition of the gospel. But without tangible demonstration, the gospel will be all talk and no show. Everybody is looking for interior fulfillment at a heart level, and we are carriers of that to a broken world. We pray, and people get rocked. They feel. They taste. They see.

It is amazing how drug culture and all manner of sedation are so prevalent in our society today. At best, everyone is addicted to television, food and materialism. But more common than you realize, even in the church today, people are addicted to worse mind-altering substances from Prozac, Xanex and alcohol to marijuana or hard street and party drugs. I cannot begin to count how many people we have seen set free when the liberating pleasures of the Holy Spirit are released. The anointing breaks the yoke (Isa. 10:27). How many thousands have we seen get rocked, who once suffered from depression that also led to physical ailments such as chronic fatigue, chronic pain and fibromyalgia? All because the joy of Jesus broke a spirit of heaviness from their lives!

Man is designed to live in an alternate state of reality. You were made to walk in the Spirit. If someone is not plugged into the ecstasies of Jesus, they are naturally going to look for their fix in a perverted form. Although the source of our intoxication is two worlds apart, secular people at least understand the principle of intoxication. There is an issue of relevance and reality here. Although religious spirits hate it, I have no problem drawing parallels between the ecstasies of God and a drug induced state of consciousness. The latter is only a counterfeit of the former. My goal is to bring the spiritual principles to street level language, where people need the revelation. Most non-believers think God wants to take away their fun. I encourage them to “Toke the Ghost” or take a trip with psychedelic Jesus. Not by using drugs of course, but by imbibing on the Spirit of God.

A Personal Testimony

Drug-induced trances are only shallow, deadly substitutes for Holy Spirit trances. We can convince people that they don’t need drugs by getting them high on the Most High. Then, and only then, freedom and deliverance are simple, if not instant. The best way to convince them is to give them a taste of what they are missing out on! This is the “one-step program” for deliverance.

I am living proof of this principle. I received an instant deliverance from drugs as a teenager, and I was the worst substance abuser of all my friends. The thing that finally broke my addiction was getting whacked by the thrilling pleasure of the infilling of the Holy Spirit! How could I ever choose a lesser substance after tasting Divine Bliss? Most of the strongest drug addicts consequently have the strongest call to raptures and the seer realm. Consider how every class of drug specifically imitates something produced in rapture. Sedatives only counterfeit the deep, supernatural peace of God. Stimulants, or uppers, only imitate the power and stamina of the breaker anointing when the Spirit of Might comes upon you. Hallucinogens only simulate the visionary realm. It is completely normal that people would want to experience peace, power and see things! These are God-given desires, but we should fulfill those desires in Him, rather than substances. Bono, from the rock band U2, makes a great point when he sings: there’s nothing better than the real thing!

We have taken it as a sort of personal mandate to influence the church toward the ecstasies and living a lifestyle of spiritual drinking. This is because the new wine all has to do with intimacy, and love is the highest way. God wants junkies, and I have resolved to be a Holy Ghost pusher. Pharisees often get offended when I talk about smoking “Jehovah-wanna,” popping a “taste and see pill” or drinking “Godka.” Of course we never have nor ever would encourage the partaking of drugs. But we strongly encourage the partaking of God! Hearing these sorts of analogies is like sweet water to the thirsty soul who was born to live an intoxicated lifestyle. I don’t give a rip about dancing a jig for a self-satisfied amen corner. Life is too short to try to force-feed a fat, religious cow. There are too many hungry, desperate people out there who are ready and willing to embrace a God who is tangible, loving, joyful and full of mystical surprises and intoxicating delight. This revelation of first-love intoxication drives young people through the roof. They know that this is what they were made for: to live more whacked than their friends who are on drugs.

The truth is that we are not really comparing God to drug use. The world has already done that! The very existence of a drug culture shows that the comparison has already been made. You do not need to inhale marijuana when you can inhale the ruah – the very life-breath of God’s Spirit! We are simply reversing idea that substances (or anything the world offers) can fill a void of pleasure and experience reserved for God alone.

Shock language

Imbibing on the pleasures of God is the most critical, key component for the preservation of society. Finding God as our holy “addiction” goes much further than a tactic for ministering to drug users. We must all learn to love God at the deepest, most compulsive levels of our existence. All of mankind is called to find its identity as lovers of God.

The essence of true love goes far beyond our works or service. True love must find pleasure in the object of its affection. While Christianity is full of cliché terminology to describe love, joy, worship, adoration and the like, it is sometimes more effective to use shock language and wild demonstration to convey how extreme is the joyful possession He offers us!

We have many pastors ask us to “tone down” the vernacular when paralleling God encounters with drugs. But by the grace of God I will not tone down an ounce of what He is doing until the day I die. Jesus never toned it down, and he never held anything back. One of the very reasons we use this type of language is to dismantle the very religious strongholds that keep people from “going too far” in the Spirit. Heaven is all about a great party. Even the great evangelist Billy Graham has made the analogy between conversion to Jesus and drug use. Taking the stage at the request of rock concert promoters in the late 1960s, he encouraged young people coming to hear the Grateful Dead and Santana to “get high without hang-ups and hangovers” … on Jesus.[iii] Graham used to quote the testimony of pop star Cliff Richards in interviews saying, “When I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior … this was 10,000 times more of a turned-on experience than any trip I took on LSD.”[iv]

It is also important to remember that God is not offended by our play! It is not blasphemous to enjoy God or crave Him for a fix. He is waiting for a people who are willing to come closer and play with Him more dangerously. Enjoying God in this way is the furthest thing from irreverence. It is time to show some irreverence toward those religious devils that prevent the people from drinking the Living Bliss of Christ. It is actually the “criticism” of such holy enjoyment that borders closest to blasphemy.

Next week we will share some radical testimonies from folks who learned to Toke the Ghost!
[i] John G. Lake: His Life, His Sermons, His Boldness of Faith (Fort Worth: Kenneth Copeland Publications, 1994), p. 505.

[ii] Robert Wilken and Richard Norris, ed., The Church’s Bible: The Song of Songs Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003), p. 190.

[iii] Chris Armstrong, “Christian History Corner: ‘Tell Billy Graham the Jesus People love him.’” Christianity Today (Vol. 46, Dec. 2002).

[iv] The Woody Allen Show (Interview of Rev. Billy Graham by Woody Allen, Sept. 21, 1969).

Blinding the Eyes of the Enemy Part II

2008-02-22T01:34:00.000-09:00

Last week, we discussed how dwelling in the secret place is the key to staying hidden from the eye of the adversary in your life. Intimacy with God is the very thing that blinds your spiritual opponents. The life lived in the cocoon of God’s presence frustrates the enemy and thwarts his assaults against our families, churches and communities, as well as our health and finances.

Dwelling in the Glory realm is not an option for the believer. The secret place is a place of vulnerability both for you and for God. In this place of intimacy, you open your heart to God, and He opens His to you. It is the place where inmost secrets are revealed. Did you know that God wants to make Himself vulnerable to you? He is looking for a friend He can trust.

He said of Abraham: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? (Gen. 18:17). The mysteries of God become unhidden in the place of intimacy and friendship. As we draw near to Him, He pours out secret counsel and withholds nothing from us.

The opposite is true in the case of sin. Where there is hardness of heart or rebellion, God reveals nothing, but instead hides His face:

“Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

“And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods” (Deut. 31:17-18).

One of the most prevalent “other gods” being worshipped today is the spirit of religion. Religion blinds us to the true things of God. He must hide His face from us when we pursue this false form of godliness. This was the same problem present in the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Jesus called them the blind leading the blind.

“And Jesus said, ‘For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.’ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ‘Are we blind also?’ Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, “We see.” Therefore your sin remains’” (John 9:39-41).

Jesus frustrates and blinds religion. Religion, which boasts its haughty claim to “see”, is rendered sightless by the Son of God. Those who confess their weakness and utter dependence upon Him, they are the ones who receive sight for their blindness. The Pharisees, however, trusted in their own self-righteousness. They were so lacking in true intimacy that they could not recognize the God they claimed to worship, even when He visited them in the flesh. As the apostle Paul told the Corinthians:

“But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ” (2 Cor. 3:14).

Paul learned of his own blindness in a dramatic encounter with the Lord. In Acts 9, when he was still a Pharisee, Saul was breathing murderous threats toward the church on his way to Damascus, when suddenly the Lord appeared to him in a bright light, striking him blind for three days. When his eyes were miraculously opened and the scales fell off of them, he was a changed man.

Our vision stays sharp, and God is clearly revealed to us, not through religious exercises or activities, but through faith expressed through love. Jesus is walking through the circumstances of your life right now, but can you recognize Him?

To blind the enemy from your affairs is as simple as having the Lord revealed in those same affairs. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ that really matters, not the defeat of your adversary. You cannot have one without the other.

Have you felt blinded to the things of God? Have you experienced a season in which it seems God is hiding His face from you? This understandably leads to feelings of frustration or discouragement. This is how David must have felt when he said the following:

“Lord, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?” (Ps. 88:14).

“Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my trouble; incline Your ear to me; in the day that I call, answer me speedily” (Ps. 102:2).

“Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; you have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation” (Ps. 27:9).

Consider also the lament of Job:

“Why do You hide Your face, and regard me as Your enemy?” (Job 13:20).

Many charismatic Christians would never confess their feelings of abandonment or hiddenness from God. While they prefer to maintain the talk of faith, they are unable to confess their heart’s true sense of discouragement. There are seasons in the course of every person’s life, where we feel that God has hidden Himself from us. This should not startle us nor cause us to panic. In these times when we cannot seem to feel or sense God, He is actually growing our faith and inviting us to a deeper walk of love.

If God seems more hidden from you than the enemy’s assaults, do not give up hope! Use this opportunity to grow stronger in your faith and in His everlasting love for you. The prophet Isaiah gives us keys in the hour when we feel God’s face is hidden from us. He says:

“And I will wait on the Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him. Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are for signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion” (Isa. 8:17-18).

In the season of hiddenness, you are not simply waiting for God to move on your behalf. This is the season where God is forging you to be a mover and a shaker. He is growing your faith so that you are no longer asking for miracles, but you become a sign and a wonder. When God was hidden from the patriarch Jacob, he wrestled and contended for the blessing. He did not give up. Sometimes your act of “wrestling” with God is as simple as resting in your faith. In the stillness before God, allow Him to draw you away to His secret pavilion:

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock” (Ps. 27:5)

“You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Ps. 31:20).

Again, we are brought back to the secret place. Whenever your enemy cannot see you, the victory has been won. Intimacy is the Holy Spirit’s “cloaking device” that enables you to become invincible to your adversary. Once the deviant schemes of satan are exposed, he is powerless. His only refuge is the lie. Truth exposes the enemy’s weak underbelly. Let us commune with Truth. In the inner chambers of God’s heart, the brightness of His shining begins to surround you until your adversary is blinded.

Let us look at one more verse that is coming into fulfillment for the people of God, spoken through the prophet Zechariah:

“‘And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. In that day,’ says the Lord, ‘I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness’” (Zech. 12:3-4).

We are surely coming into a day when the nations will be gathered against God’s people. But this is not a time to despair or revert to paranoia. God will move on our behalf. Perhaps there are areas of your life where you have been blinded by sin – perhaps you have given entry to the adversary on some point of error. The fact is, God loves you, even in your immaturity! As a Christian, you have been grafted into His holy city. Your sin no longer keeps you in enmity with God, but has been washed away as far as the east is from the west.

God opens His eye on Judah. Judah means praise. A people of intimate adoration draw the eye of God, and the eye of God dispels His adversaries. When He gazes at you, suddenly, your enemies become God’s enemies. The horses in this passage represent the strength and abilities of your enemies, which are struck blind. The thoughts and schemes of the adversary are likewise struck with madness.

In the bridal paradigm of this end-time church, it is God Himself who will blind the wicked one and confuse our foes. Our battle ceases to be a striving effort as we bask in His pavilions, for it is the God of peace who will soon crush satan underneath our feet.

Blinding the Eyes of the Enemy Part I

2008-02-15T01:27:00.000-09:00

Have you ever felt that the adversary was watching your every step? Sometimes, it seems that all our best efforts get foiled, because the eye of the enemy seems to bear down on our jobs, families, ministries, relationships or finances. Opposition from the devil can often be a sign that you are moving in the right direction. But there’s no need to let that opposition turn into oppression or continual defeat!

In this teaching, I will explain some principles that will enable you not only to stay hidden from the gaze of the evil one, but to overcome those powers of darkness in one fell swoop. We will discuss the concept of blinding the enemy.

The prophet Elisha, in 2 Kings 6, had been going into spiritual transport, receiving supernatural revelation about Israel’s enemy Syria and then warning the king of Israel about it. Elisha was so effective in seeing the enemy’s plans, that the king of Syria was growing paranoid:

“Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?” (2 Kings 6:11, emphasis mine).

The enemy has no creative power of his own, but he can only counterfeit the tactics of war that God gives us. Many of us have, at one point in our Christian walk, seen the enemy try to sow division into our homes, families, churches and friendships. The enemy knows that a kingdom divided against itself will fall. But here, in this passage of scripture, we see that the prophet Elisha is fighting fire with fire. Elijah is sowing division into the enemy’s camp. The first lesson we should note here is that prophetic insight enables us to divide and conquer. Spiritual vision supersedes and cuts off any carnal attack.

“And one of (the Syrian king’s) servants said, ‘None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.’ So he said, ‘Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him.’ And it was told him, saying, ‘Surely he is in Dothan.’” (2 Kings 6:12-13, emphasis mine)

As the king set out in pursuit of Elisha, the prophet was staying in Dothan. Dothan literally means “the place of two wells.” Dothan is the place where, years earlier, Joseph had been thrown into a well by his jealous brothers. Because Joseph had favor and gifting on his life, he was persecuted by those who did not. In the same way, Elisha’s gift made a way for him, but it also brought on the heat of his foes! If you want favor, breakthrough and success from God, there will also be turbulence that comes with it. People will try to shoot you down, even those close to you.

Dothan is not the place of one well, but two wells. There are many layers of symbolism in this. Although Joseph saw this well as a path to prison, the well was actually a path to the palace. We must always keep in mind that the trials, persecutions and temporary afflictions we face can be blessings in disguise. Your well can be the back door to promotion. You may see one well, but God sees another. What satan means for evil, God intends for good. When you feel the enemy plunging you into a pit, ask God to give you prophetic vision to see the situation through His eyes.

Little did they know, as the Syrians came to capture Elisha, that they were actually being delivered into his hands for utter defeat.

“Therefore (the Syrian king) sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’

“So he answered, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, and said, ‘Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.’ And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.

“Now Elisha said to them, 'This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.' But he led them to Samaria. So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, 'Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.' And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!” (2 Kings 6:14-20, emphasis mine)

The Lord handed the entire Syrian army to Elisha on a silver platter. Elisha had faith to see that the Lord’s heavenly hosts were far mightier than those arrayed against him. As he prayed, Elisha also had authority to impart prophetic vision to his servant. And beyond that, he even had the ability to blind the entire enemy army, and then later restore their sight.

All believers are given a mandate to open the eyes of the spiritually blind. We are called to “open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house” (Isa. 42:7). But prophets also carry authority to close eyes.

Isaiah 6:10 reads:

“Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed.”

This is a harsh assignment for the Lord to give his prophet! This curse of spiritual blindness still lingers over the eyes of many today. But Jesus said of those who believe: but blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it (Matt. 13:16-17).

Our assignment is not to blind people, but to blind principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (see Eph. 6:12). Even Elisha re-opened the eyes of the Syrians, after he had surrendered them to the king of Israel. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but our spiritual enemies should definitely be blinded. As we saw in the case of Elisha, God will often send angels to administer this blindness. Consider a similar example in the case of two angels who visited Lot in Sodom. The depraved men of that city sought to have homosexual relations with them: so they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. But the men (angels) reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door (Gen. 19:9-11).

The principle of blinding your enemies is no more than being hidden by God. The key to staying hidden by God is to stay in the place of intimacy with Him – to remain in the secret place.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.’

“Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

“You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.

“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Ps. 91:1-11).

We love to consider these blessings of Psalm 91. Many people quote them and stand on these promises consistently. But it is one thing to quote the scriptures. It is another thing to do the scriptures! There is a major prerequisite to all this blessing, protection and favor promised here. Don’t waste your breath quoting the benefits of Psalm 91 if you are not doing your part: dwelling in the secret place of the Most High! God does not hide you from harm because you know these verses, but because you have made the Lord, who is you refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place.

The practice of the presence of God is the most imperative thing we could ever do. Not just popping our heads in the door of the secret place occasionally when it benefits us. We must make Him our dwelling.

California Wildfires: “This is a Sign That God is Blazing Through”

2007-10-24T14:26:00.001-08:00

As many of you are aware, more than half a million people have so far evacuated their homes from Mexico to north of Los Angeles, due to the wildfires that are now burning in the state of California. Damage is estimated so far at more than $1 billion with 645 square miles scorched at the time of this writing. Hollywood has also taken a blow. A number of celebrities have been forced to flee the area and many production sets have stopped and been abandoned, according to news reports.

About six weeks ago on Sept. 8, while ministering in Stockton, California, I prophesied publicly about the coming of these fires, which we feel are a prophetic sign of revival that is coming to burn in the state. This will be a wildfire revival that is not tamed, controlled or orchestrated by anyone other than God Himself.

Along with this wildfire prophecy, the Lord showed me revival fires such as those that have burned in Latin America will be spreading through California. I saw a clear connection with the Hispanic community, and revival spreading between Baja, Mexico, the border region and California, where the natural fire is now located. Here is an excerpt from the prophecy:

“Wildfire state of California, burn, burn burn! … Get ready wildfire state. I want you to hear me clearly: I’m not saying this as a ‘judgment prophet’ – I’m not saying this in that regard, OK? But you watch and see the wildfires coming. It’s going to be a sign of something in the Spirit. We pray protection over properties. We pray the protection of God. But watch and see. This is a sign that God is blazing through, and He’s clearing and leveling ground for the coming of His Kingdom in California. We say fire of Heaven burn. Fire of Heaven come. We need the flame of God. We need the consuming wildfire of Heaven. Come in Jesus name!”

To here the entire clip, you can click here.

Not a Containable Fire

Earlier in the week, ABC News headlines read “Malibu Wildfire 'Zero Percent' Contained.” Acting Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich told reporters, “This fire is zero percent contained which means we're at the mercy of the wind." Eventually, firefighters acknowledged that only the weather – not their own efforts – would determine the course of this blaze. The Lord is releasing a fire that will be zero percent contained by the mind and strength of man in this hour. It will not be bound by convention, tradition or religion. It will burn wherever it so pleases. This is the fire of full possession by the Holy Spirit that will hit the streets in a blazing inferno.

Often, people question the sovereign hand of God in the midst of natural disasters. But we must ever return to the simple knowledge that God is God. In the same way that the Lord causes the sun and rain to fall both on the righteous and the wicked, we must always put a simple trust in Him in situations such as these. Moreover, we should know His heart for redemption and restoration.

Amazingly, only three people have died out of the nearly one million evacuees. This is tremendous grace. Although there has been much property destruction, there are also stories of the miraculous. Over a month ago, when the Lord showed us these fires coming, we also prayed that properties would be protected.

In an interesting story posted on CNN, two residents of Rancho Bernardo, Pepe and Carolina Galmes, found that their house was left perfectly standing, although every other home in their neighborhood burned to the ground around them as sparks rained down from the sky. The dancing hand of God will move as He so chooses.

“Our house was the only one standing on the block,” said Pepe. “It’s a miracle.”

“We couldn’t believe our eyes. It’s a miracle, because our neighbors are gone – and all the row of the houses on the block (burned) and also the forest behind,” said Carolina.

“It’s a miracle. (The houses on our) left and right are down to the ground,” added Pepe.

An Upturn in Real Estate

While in Stockton, the Lord also had me prophesy about an upturn in the California real estate market. The market has been on a downturn for the past year or more, but the Lord showed us that it has reached its lowest point. This needed to happen, because of inflation. But from here, there will be a turn around. Despite the destruction of more than 1,600 homes and buildings, the fires may actually prove beneficial to the real estate market, which is a huge determining factor in the overall economy.

"In the odd nature of economic accounting, this will probably be a stimulus," Alan Gin, a University of San Diego economist, told the Los Angeles Times. "There will be a huge amount of rebuilding in the next couple of years, financed by insurance payments."

Although our heart is never to see destruction, we do feel that there are unavoidable acts of God that He will reveal through prophetic word. What is important is that our eye remains full of light in the midst of these circumstances. We should see that the Lord’s aim is not devastation, but to bring revival. This is a fire of love, but it will also consume everything that stands in the way of love. This is going to be a wild and “out of control” move of Heaven – a holy fire that determines wherever it wants to burn! For more understanding on this unpredictable move of Heaven, see our Part I and Part II articles on “Prepare for the Wildfire.”

Fire From Heaven

This is not the first time we have seen God back His word with literal fire. In 2005, while preaching a week of meetings in Alaska, several small, independent wildfires broke loose every day that I spoke (Click Here for the report). At the end of the week, I spoke on the Spirit of Burning and a huge, 5,000-acre wildfire erupted that day.

In the summer of 2006, we preached at Redlands, California as a wildfire likewise broke loose there. We have also seen regional power outages while ministering, along with bizarre weather patterns (such as snow falling in the springtime in Georgia). We have even seen the Lord cause it to rain inside buildings during some meetings! This type of activity will not be limited to one or two people, but to all those who cultivate a lifestyle in the Glory. God is releasing manifest sons in this hour whose words will be backed with signs in the heavens above and the earth below. The earth is crying out for these sons to be revealed to administer its freedom from the frustration of the curse!

The Lord is releasing a generation that moves in the Spirit of Elijah, whose tongues are literally flamethrowers. Elijah called down fire from heaven, and the mantle of the two witnesses that will be on this last days church will also walk in this same authority.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire (Rev. 11:4-6, NKJV).

This is not some haphazard thing the Lord is releasing in this hour. Nor will He entrust such words to those who lack compassion. Even the Lord’s judgments are for the sake of removing every obstacle to intimacy. Our enemies are not people or families affected by this disaster, but rather, we wrestle against “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12, NKJV).

The amazing thing about these wildfires in California is the tremendous grace and protection of God in the midst of them. If the Lord is behind this, we know He will use it for the greater good of all the communities involved. Let us continue to pray for the families affected by these fires and continue to press in for wholesale revival in California.

Bilocation & Unexpected Miracles

2007-10-01T07:24:00.000-08:00

This week, I would like to share with you an unusual miracle that happened earlier this summer. I believe that those who have been pressing in for a new level of Glory and supernatural abilities are being graced with these unexpectedly in this hour. These are not just healing abilities, prophecy or any of the standard spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12. What God is releasing is are unusual miracles as the scriptures say were worked by Paul in Acts 19:11, as well as signs and wonders like those done among the people in Acts 2 and 5.

Throughout history, a common experience among miracle workers and ecstatics is bilocation – when the believer’s body appears in two places at one time.

I had a bilocation experience of my own that occurred on my 31st birthday. Scheduled to visit Ireland for a conference over the summer, I felt that the Lord would have me pull back from the originally planned European itinerary. While I cancelled my own itinerary, our associate ministers Dave Vaughan and Justin Abraham continued to conduct the meetings. While I was at home, part of me longed to be in Ireland, as if I was supposed to go – although the Lord had clearly told me not to do so.

While David was speaking at the meeting in Ireland on my birthday, he and Justin had felt like I was with them the entire day. They were even joking, saying, “The spirit of Crowder is with us!”

That day in the meeting, Dave looked up, surprised to see me standing there, against the wall in the church. He assumed I had just come as originally planned to surprise them, as I was still scheduled to meet up with them a week later. But then, just as soon as he saw me with his open eyes, I vanished into thin air. He had so clearly seen me that he said something about it to the people there. Then, only moments later, he looked again, and there I was standing against the wall in the very same place he had seen me earlier. At this point, he knew this experience was from the Lord.

Meanwhile, due to the time difference, I was still sleeping at home in America. That morning, when it occurred, my wife dreamed that we were planting two seeds. How would you like God to enable you to plant two separate seeds at once? Watch out for more than just bilocation in these days. Miracles of trilocation (three places at once) and even multilocation (showing up numerous places at once) will be more and more common as the Glory of God invades the earth.

Interestingly, we had specifically prayed for some time that the Lord would allow us to experience the miracle of bilocation. But when it happened, it came unexpectedly, without notice.

Bilocation has also happened to Jeff Jansen, a minister friend who showed up at a Christian conference while he was elsewhere eating with some friends. During the meeting with these friends, Jeff was eating some supernatural manna that had fallen earlier in a revival meeting. But at the same exact time, he was signing into the conference and greeting about 30 separate people that witnessed him. Jeff simply said, “Bless you” to each of them.

Jeff only remembers eating with the couple, however, he says he was intoxicated on the Glory at the time and that he felt like he was two places at once. Likewise, I have no recollection of being in Ireland.

One of the strangest stories of this century is that of Padre Pio, the mystic and stigmatist whose life was full of bizarre occurrences. During the world war when a squadron of planes was flying over an Italian town to bomb it, they reported seeing a monk, floating in mid-air over the city, as well as a type of force field that prevented them from firing their munitions. The confused commander called them back in, and sent another group of planes to finish the job. However, the second group reported the same scenario: flying monk with force field.

After the war, the commander visited this small Italian town, and realized it to be the home of famed Padre Pio, whom he recognized perfectly from the pilots’ descriptions. Not only had Padre Pio been flying over the town, but he was also bilocating at the same time (his body showing up two separate places at once!). During this entire time, Pio had been interceding heavily for his city that it would be protected. In awe of what had happened, the army commander came to faith.

We should understand that miracles can overlap simultaneously in the Glory realm. Just as Padre Pio levitated and bilocated at the same time, so have many believers glowed with visible light surrounding their bodies whilst being lifted from the ground. Sometimes, this Heavenly aura is so bright and dazzling that it lights up an entire room.

This level of unusual wonders is almost always affected by the Lord through the ministry of angels. We would encourage you to expect the unexpected in this season. This is a season of surprises. Many of you will feel yourselves getting into the Christmas spirit early this year, because God is going to drop some unusual gifts in your lap.

We would encourage you to join both Jeff Jansen and John Crowder for The New Mystics Great Lakes Regional Glory Conference held in Kenosha, Wisconsin (halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee). We are expecting a dynamic release of unusual signs and Glory to accompany this event, held Nov. 1-3. The event is free, but please register online at www.thenewmystics.org to ensure seating.

Kingdom Doors Opening for Austria: Revival Fires to Burn in Catholic Nation

2007-09-20T07:18:00.000-08:00

While visiting The Father’s House church in Stockton, California, just over a week ago, we experienced an intense outpouring of prophetic revelation at a conference with Chad Taylor and local pastor Farris Baker. The church there ahs been in extended revival meetings. The unique nature of what God is doing (in a seemingly small area in a localized church setting) has been a heightened ability to prophesy about “about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings” (Rev. 10:11). The things being prophesied on Friday nights are appearing in the newspapers on Monday mornings. In a few nights, the Lord gave us a number of strategic words ranging from the California real estate market to governmental elections in the United States. We also received strategic insight into moves of God in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America and beyond.

I would like to share with you just a portion of what the Lord gave us concerning eastern Europe and the Catholic church, which was confirmed immediately afterward through a sign in a secular news source.

On Friday night (Sept. 7), I saw the Austrian Parliament opening doors to the gospel. I also saw a brooding in the Spirit over the nation of Italy, where there was warfare in the heavens.

The next night, the Lord led us spontaneously to pray for Pope Benedict and we prophesied about a signs and wonders revival that is about to burn through the Catholic church. We repented on behalf of protestant believers for our disunity with Catholic brothers. Though we can acknowledge doctrinal differences, we asked forgiveness for the protestant tendency to criticize Rome – even going so far as to characterize them as the “whore church” of Babylon in the Book of Revelation. This age old bitterness has truly pierced the Lord’s heart. As His church body is torn, it is no different to Jesus than having the nails tear into his flesh on the cross all over again.

On the following Sunday (Sept. 9), I saw an article published by Agence Press France online only four hours earlier. Completely unbeknownst to us, the Agence reported that the Pope was just in Austria, strongly condemning abortion to members of government and the diplomatic corps at the Hofburg, the seat of the Austrian presidency in Vienna.

"The fundamental human right, the presupposition of every other right, is the right to life itself," he told the Austrian officials, reported the paper. The Pope also spoke against euthanasia and exhorted Europe to uphold its Christian roots. This apparently caused a stir, provoking Austrian Defence Minister Norbert Darabos to make a statement that he would not call for changes to abortion law.

I believe the Lord showed us this because Austria is positioned to see abortion overthrown, which could send shockwaves throughout Europe. This was directly connected with the brooding I saw over Italy, as well as a word delivered both by Chad and myself concerning the Vatican and a new reform movement that is about to sweep through the Catholic church. Austria is 67 percent Catholic.

We saw the fires of revival and reformation sweeping through the Vatican, and I also saw ancient books coming unsealed. The Lord showed me books hidden for centuries in the Vatican libraries that are about to go public, revolutionizing our expectancies for what God has stored up for these end times. We are about to read stories from church history that have been reserved for our generation, things God has done throughout the ages that have been hidden in reserve. I saw seals coming unlocked from these books and old dusty library rooms coming open.

As I reflected back on the day we prophesied over Austria, I remembered another prophetic picture we saw. Someone in our group had a vision of a hammer and a sickle – the hammer breaking open regions and the sickle swinging through the harvest fields for revival. Little did I know that the symbols on Austrian coat of arms are a black eagle holding a hammer and a sickle!

There is also a “revival connection” between Austria and other eastern European nations, particularly former Soviet bloc countries. Although on one hand there is a mounting wall of opposition to things of the Kingdom there, remember that there is a crack in that wall like a break in the dam. Let the waters of breakthrough come crashing through the levy!
Please keep Europe and the U.K. in prayer during this critical hour. I believe that in today’s climate of global communication, the destiny of America hinges interdependently on Europe more than ever before, and vice versa. Let’s keep pressing in until we hear the angel proclaim, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (Rev. 11:15).

Angels of Promise, Angels of Judgment Part II

2007-09-11T07:14:00.000-08:00

It is one thing to put our trust in God, but it is another to enjoy the camaraderie of others in our quest for more of Him. Knowing that we are not alone in this fight infuses us with a sense of community and releases a commanded blessing that comes through dwelling in unity with others (Psalm 133). In the same way, the angels and saints make up the Cloud of Witnesses who are always surrounding us (often unbeknown), which should infuse us with greater endurance. They release tangible impartations and minister breakthrough, but it’s also just good to know that angels are watching your back!

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb. 12:1).

Right now, angels seem to be invading the affairs of men more than ever before. There are a great variety of tasks and assignments they perform. There are angels that function in each flow of God’s sevenfold nature (Isa. 11:1), including angels of revelation, angels of might, angels of wisdom, angels of knowledge, angels of counsel, angels of the fear of the Lord, and the Angel of the Lord. There are healing angels that show up on the occasional basis, as well as those assigned to permanently work with healing ministries (we operate with a number of these). There are little bartender angels, playful fat “Friar Tuck” sorts that minister the wine and joy of Heaven (we also operate with a number of these). In fact, there are far too many types of angelic hosts to list in one brief article: finance angels, Glory angels, angels of sovereignty, etc. There are angels that minister certain virtues and angels assigned to certain geographical regions.
Interestingly, there are angels assigned to specific types of miracles that require an override of the laws of physics. Angels are specifically assigned to enable supernatural abilities such as walking through walls, floating, glowing with luminescence, and other extraordinary acts as recorded in the lives of the saints both past and present. Angels have been showing up in a number of forums today, such as those in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho that have been dropping priceless, 50-carat gemstones in recent months. Angels can often materialize or create material objects. Many of us have seen angel feathers left behind in meetings, or as they swirl down from the ceiling at times of visitation. But angels can also bring food and other objects. In the life of Roland Buck (see his book Angels on Assignment), angels brought him food and drink at times that effected supernatural outcomes. For instance, after one of these angelic meals, Roland once lost five pounds a day until he dropped to a normal weight size. Our friends Gary and Sarah Morgan recently shared an encounter wherein angels came in and ate communion bread that was left out!

Stories of angels are without number in the history of God’s church. We should understand that He essentially does nothing without using his angelic delegates.

Bless the LORD, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word (Psalm 103:20).

We are in a time of great transition across the body of Christ, and this is why stories of angelic activity are becoming so commonplace. Angels are sent at times of major transition, just as they were when Jesus was born. Not only was the high-ranking angel Gabriel dispatched to announce the birth of Christ (Luke 1:26-33), but an entire heavenly host appeared as well (Luke 2:13). This is not to mention the angel that appeared to Zechariah, the three angelic encounters of Joseph and all the other supernatural activity at that time.

As angels press into earth in such a materialized nature, from spirit to substance, we can be sure that we are on the brink of serious times. In Genesis 19 when the angels came to Lot, they appeared in materialized form. “He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate” (Gen. 19:3). When angels enter this realm to such a degree – so materialized that they can even eat with you – judgment is at the door. Heaven has pressed into earth to such a degree that great shaking is at hand. In this particular story, Sodom and Gomorrah were burned to the ground.

I know other high level prophets today who have shared physical food with angels, just in recent months. Their stories are too complex to discuss here. But like the book of Acts, the church is stepping back into a realm where angelic interaction is not spooky or bizarre, but rather commonplace and ordinary.

Everywhere we travel these days, angels are coming into the meetings, pulling on people’s arms and legs, physically spinning them around and ultimately, launching them into destiny. Angels are likewise being assigned to those who are contending for the fullness of Kingdom power, in order to affect specific miracles such as bilocation, levitation and the like, to enable harvest Glory to spread throughout the earth. Although we are only seeing the first fruits of such interaction, we can be sure that the angels at hand are bringing us into the promised inheritance of the saints. When the angels appear, salvation, healing and deliverance is soon to follow.

I believe it is imperative that we begin to pay more attention to the realm of the angelic. Our ignorance of the angels has been one of the most devastating faults of the church.
How self-sufficient are our assumptions to think we do not need angelic assistance. Whenever someone speaks of them from a pulpit, someone inevitably trims the discussion, saying “All we need is Jesus. Don’t focus on angels.” Of course we focus on Jesus, but maybe he’s trying to inform us about something! We talk about people all the time in church. Most pastors have probably told more stories about their dogs from the pulpit than about personal angelic encounters. If the fear is idolatry, then I think we are more prone to worship people and dogs before we would worship angels, which we scarcely believe exist!

Likewise, we would never go as far as to reject assistance from fellow humans. But our rejection of angelic assistance is more a sin of omission than commission. Although few believers would reject an outright materialized angelic visitation, the truth is that all of us reject angelic assistance everyday by not volitionally choosing to step into the reality of their realm. Instead of waiting for angels to come into our world, we need to step up into theirs. When we walk in the Spirit, with our spirit eyes open in the seer realm, we are aware of angelic activity whether in the grocery store, a gas station, our workplace or wherever we may be. And when we are aware of angelic activity and we can see what Heaven is doing, we can then begin to partner with them.

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some [you] have unwittingly entertained angels" (Hebrews 13:2)

We often overlook direct interaction with angels without knowing it. We never really know how they're going to look. And we always have to be ready, because angelic encounters bring a test! Angels are good at surprising us. Jacob did not expect what was coming when the heavens opened and angels began ascending and descending in Bethel (Gen. 28:10-15). But Jacob put a landmark there, promising God that he would give Him a tenth of his wealth. Twenty years later, the Lord reminded Jacob of this promise, calling him back to the place of his visitation, telling him to return to Bethel and fulfill his vows. There was a cost to this visit. To enter the promises, we often need strongholds leveled within our own hearts!

Returning to the place of divine intimacy is the first step toward positioning yourself for encounter. God is after our heart, and hungry hearts will constantly search for Him. When we fail to find God in the busyness of life, we must often make a pilgrimage back to the place where we last saw Him.

God is calling us back to the place of visitation, back to the place of promise and back to the Secret Place where we last encountered Him. Don’t wait for a lightning bolt. You can learn to position yourself for angelic encounter, and even a visit from the Lord Himself, by returning to the landmark where He moved in your life before. As we learn to go back to the place of visitation, we can learn to have prolonged habitation with the Lord.

Angels of Promise, Angels of Judgment Part I

2007-09-04T01:21:00.000-08:00

We are living in a strategic hour, when God is visiting His people and releasing supernatural inheritance on behalf of the saints. This is an era when revelation is becoming widespread among the church, but this is due to more than the fact that it is 2007. The strategic nature of the hour rests not on the natural calendar of time and history. Rather, our breakthrough stems from a positional, spiritual timeframe – that is, it’s a dimension called right now!

For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6)

Right now, the heavens are opened over your life, because you have entered the realm of eternity in Christ and all things are made new. There is a place in the Spirit where even time and space bend, to allow access to the blood-bought children of God. Many are experiencing the fulfillment and manifestation of prophetic words and promises today, that have seemed locked away for ages. Angels of promise have been commissioned in this day, to pull timeless, positional authority from eternity into the present.

This is a time, both on the natural calendar, and in the now accessible realm of the Spirit, where words spoken over you, your family, your church and your region are coming to pass. You may have asked God, “When are we going to see those things which were promised by the prophets? When will this destiny word you gave me come to pass?” It is important to remember and ponder those prophetic words, promises and dreams the Lord has given you, which seem to have been blocked. The time is now, for breakthrough and change. One of the things being released to bring it all to pass is the supernatural intervention of angels!

Angels of Judgment Releasing Destiny

There are angels that release judgment to move you into your destiny, just as there is an appointed time in the Spirit where God says, “Enough is enough!” Remember that the judgments of the Lord are good! They benefit the saints and strike down the enemies of the church. These are warrior angels, angels of promise, which deliver the goods and clear a path for the fulfillment of God’s plans for your life.

Sometimes we grow weary in holding onto promises, because we do not understand the dynamics of angelic fulfillment. Remember that whenever God does a thing, he usually sends angels to do His bidding. And there are principles of breakthrough involved, which sometimes require us to wait for a season in the natural. It took the archangel Michael a time to break through, even though God had responded immediately to Daniel’s prayer. God heard Daniel’s prayer the first day he prayed. The answer was released in Heaven, but it took 21 days to get it to earth (Daniel 10:11-14).

Daniel had his answer in God’s eternal timeframe, but he still had to wait for a season for it to manifest. In the meantime, his prayer served as a midwife to pull Michael through the battle.

Whether or not a waiting season is involved, we should understand how angels are engaged in the delivery of answered prayers and prophetic decrees. Remember how the angel freed Peter from jail after the prayers of the saints? (Acts 12:5-13) Angels minister the breakthrough of God. As we partner with God with our prayers, this enables them to penetrate the second heavens more effectively.

Pressing in to Activate the Angelic

In Heaven, there are angels positioned to add the incense of our prayers with fire from the altar in the golden censer, which is then hurled to the earth, blowing open holes in the heavens (Revelation 8:3-5). Your prayers are like Holy Ghost gunpowder, to amplify the effectiveness of this angelic firepower. The more we contend on our knees, the greater breakthrough we will see smashing in from Heaven to earth.

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16).

As we pray, we can’t pump anything up and make it happen. Your efforts are not necessary! But we can align with what has already been accomplished in the timeless realm of eternity. As we are pressing in for breakthrough and prophetic promises at this time, it is important to remember that we are not just praying to a ceiling. We are simply agreeing with what has already been positionally accomplished on the cross, and lining up the earth with the Heavenly answer. These prayers have already been released in the right now of that realm. We are not climbing a ladder in vain – in the Glory realm, our prayers are always effective! And we do not just fill these golden censers forever! There are angels constantly helping us, to tip them over and catapult them down, dropping fulfillment to words and answers to prayers like an air squad bombing the enemy’s coordinates! Our prayers release an initial conception in the Spirit, but we must continue to pray the answers through until birthing comes in the natural.

There is a true wind from Heaven on intercession in this season. For those who do not abandon the prayer closet, the spoils of harvest are yours. For those who are satisfied, they will find even the portion they have begin to dwindle.

Angels of Future Destiny

One of the things that diffuses our prayer is a sense of despair. We tend to think Heaven is sluggish and lazy with the answers to prayers, because up there, everyone is lounging around and no one is in a hurry. But this is not so. Angels are not just casually playing their harps on a cloud, ignoring your pleas to God. Did you know that these angels are already working ahead of you? It is you and I, rather than Heaven, who need to get on board with the promises of God. As eager as we are to move into the promises and inheritance, we rarely move our feet to start activating them!

When Jacob buckled down and decided to face his fears, confronting Esau and physically moving into the Promise Land, he was in for a complete surprise! For one, Esau was not angry with him. And furthermore, there were angels already there ahead of Jacob, waiting for him to align with his own destiny!

As Jacob was on his way into the Promise Land, the angels that were already assigned to Jacob met with those angels stationed in the land who were assigned to his prophetic future. This was the Mahanaim, “God’s army,” which were the two dancing armies of angels (Gen. 32:1-2, Song 6:13). This dance between the two armies of angels is a sign of fulfillment of prophetic promises. God has ranks of heavenly hosts already assigned to your future, as well as angels that are walking with you in the present. These angels are pressing in against the adversary on both sides of time until you get breakthrough. When the two armies penetrate the obstacle that is holding you back from destiny, there is great rejoicing.

Your angels are excited about meeting up with those angels waiting on you in your future destiny. Remember this: those angels of destiny are already yours! It is time to pack up camp and begin to move toward the promises. Help your angels out a bit!

Prepare for the Wildfire! Part II

2007-02-08T15:14:00.000-09:00

We have not begun to imagine the holy violence that is coming to the church. In the coming days, Christians will no longer be viewed as pussy cats, but as lions. I am not talking about waging carnal warfare: we do not need another crusader affair. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). A generation equipped with supernatural force is coming on the scene, and the word “Christian” will no longer be a term of derision or mockery. Rather, it will evoke holy fear and dread in the hearts of men. A generation is literally coming forth who will walk in the mantles of the sons of golden oil (Zech. 4; Rev. 11) with the same authority as Moses and Elijah, whose words have authority to release plagues into the earth, call down fire to consume their adversaries and shut up the heavens. The Lord is extending the same choice and mandate to this generation as He extended to the prophet Jeremiah, when He said:

Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them (Jer. 1:17).

There is a clarion call to boldness and aggression. Either you will continually be terrified, or you will become a holy terror! Passionate warriors will carry a tangible atmosphere of the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord upon them everywhere they go, striking dismay in the hearts of men around them. We ourselves will shake off cowardice, though others around us are struck with fear – and we who walk in this anointing will delight in the fear of the Lord (Isa. 11:3)! This is birthed from a place of violent passion in the heart of a bride that will not be held back from her lover. The bridal paradigm is for the pure in heart. The seeker-sensitive, mamby-pamby, purpose-driven gospel of religion will be confronted by an army of Spirit-possessed, Spirit-driven juggernauts plowing over every golden calf that stands in their way. Not a man-pleasing generation, but a generation possessed by the God of pleasure. A generation of fiery, John the Baptist sorts is emerging who will run over the pretty little gardens of religious idolatry and lay an apostolic foundation stone that will grow into a mighty mountain.

It is an army of wholehearted lovers that possess and occupy enemy territory.

Burning with Pleasure
A company of people are beginning to emerge who will be fully possessed by this God of pleasure, in whose presence there is “fullness of joy” and at whose “right hand there are pleasures forevermore” (Ps. 16:11). Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father, is the good Pleasure of God incarnate. This same river of pleasure that flows from Him is also a blazing river of fire that cannot be contained:

A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened (Dan. 7:10).

Daniel saw this river of fire, which is the moving, burning passion of Christ whose flames carry an intensity without end. Pleasures forevermore does not simply signify a quantity of pleasures (i.e. 40 million chocolates), but rather an infinite intensity of pleasure (i.e. a brand of chocolate, one bite of which will supernaturally transform you – body, soul and spirit – into pure, radiant light).

The loving pleasure of God is so intense, it can only be compared to fire. And it burns up anything that stands in its path. Joel’s army will be a terrible army, but its ranks are terrible because of the degree of intimate, holy bliss they have tasted. This army is so utterly addicted to this God of ecstasy, nothing will turn them back. They have so embraced this raging flame of love, they have become living firebrands in His hand. The wildfire has made them indestructible.

A fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns; the land is like the Garden of Eden before them, And behind them a desolate wilderness; surely nothing shall escape them (Joel 2:3).

God does not simply want to destroy the bad things we have built, but many of the good things as well! Every kingdom of man, every religious work and structure, will be tested by fire. Notice in this passage that the land is not the Garden of Eden, but it is only “like” the Garden of Eden. You are the garden of the Lord, and He is interested in a temple made of living stones. He did not come to redeem systems and formulas, but people. Any systematic structure that is not flexible enough to carry the new wine and is too brittle to be stretched will surely be broken.

It is not good enough that multitudes of people would want to have more of Jesus – that would not start a revival. But if only a handful people would let Jesus completely have them, putting no boundaries on this wildfire – now that is something God can work with. A little spark can start a mighty flame that will burn down entire cities in this day.
Jesus is going to have a church that is fully His, which does not dictate how much of His Glory they will allow in the door. They will neither set parameters on Him, nor tell Him how He is to behave in order to have a “good service.” In fact, God is breaking His church far beyond a “good service” mentality, and into a Kingdom mentality. Expect to see massive outbreaks of the Glory in the grocery stores, the shopping centers and the very street corners of your city. When Jesus possesses all of us, then we can be entrusted to possess all of Him!

Burning Away Bondage
Let me make it clear that this “wildfire” that God is releasing can be quite offensive, and most dangerously intoxicating. If you get hold of it, you will be amazed at how quickly it gets hold of you! One of the first things it does is shatter the bondage of depression. For too long, the church has perceived that depression is a fruit of the Spirit! If you get too happy or optimistic, you can be sure someone will come unnerved. In fact, if you get too happy about God, people will hate you! If you begin to enjoy the pleasures of your supernatural inheritance, people will grow very jealous – you can count on it. The question is, will you back down in fear of stepping on a few toes? Will you water your victories back down to the lowest common denominator, in order to “build bridges” with the spiritually impoverished? Will you attempt to “‘descend into the deep' – that is, to bring Christ up from the dead?” (Rom. 10:7). That is the real arrogance. Christ has already lowered Himself to become available to men. You are called to lower yourself as well; however, this does not diminish your responsibility to shine like a star in the heavens.

What I am saying is that, when the Glory begins to break out, religious people, depressed people, people bound with demons of rejection and all other sorts of things start to get offended, and their dross rises to the surface. But the answer is not to start apologizing for what God is doing, explaining everything away, and turning back to natural human reasoning to set people free! No. You cannot explain away the Glory, and you cannot explain them out of bondage with the natural mind. Just stay in the Glory, and don’t worry about it. Keep getting whacked by the wildfire, and let them do what they will. You will watch some people get delivered, and others walk away. The wildfire will cause people’s demons to be exposed rather quickly, and they will either choose to get free or get further stuck.

To believe that by human effort, you can lower yourself into someone’s pit and somehow pull them out, apart from the effectual workings of Holy Spirit’s bliss, is apostate reasoning at its core. The enemy’s primary tactic is to try to keep you out of God’s Glory. If you start getting drunk in the Spirit, for instance, and someone gets offended – you need to drink more, not less! That is not the time to sober up and explain. It’s time for somebody to get free.

We can empathize with the sufferings of others, but when they suffer by choice (which is the bulk of all suffering) we cannot excuse them for hardening their hearts from Goodness Himself. Your call is to arise and shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord will rise upon you (Isa. 60). The hungry will be attracted to this light. Others will be repelled by it, yet the light will still expose their lack of hunger.

Better Than the Best
God is coming in a way that is loud, violent and inexplicable. He is not dancing around our toes anymore. He is crunching them if necessary. The coming move is not something that can be “massaged” into people with teachings and messages and explanations. Holy Spirit will be coming upon people in the rawest of forms. It will both irritate and attract. The manifestation of the Spirit in the coming days will be rather obnoxious and rarely palatable to those who are not truly hungry. But to those who are sincerely thirsting for a deeper realm in God … ah, the bliss! Prepare to discover your aching heart’s desire.

The best of the best – even notable prophets of repute – will be offended by the coming move of God’s Spirit. The Lord told me recently that “the best of the best are not good enough.” If the best prophets in the land were doing their job with perfection, we would already have global revival. God is waiting on us to bring revival, not the other way around. To continually blame God for the church’s inability to bring in the harvest in our cities is to try and shift the blame to His sovereignty. We must own up to our apathy and shortcomings if we are ever to overcome them.

Oh, how subtly we blame God for not having revival! We could have it today if we chose it. Unfortunately, even the prophets are slumbering in the land. We thank God for the servants He has sent us – and compared to much of what we’ve had in the past, we should be very thankful that so many prophetic and apostolic voices are emerging. But the “who’s who” of the charismatic conference circuit, whose faces adorn magazines, television and the internet, are simply not at the level God requires for broad scale revival. And just because someone says the right words about wanting revival and being on the vanguard of the “new thing” does not necessarily mean they will like the new thing when they see it. Every one of us can have just as much of God as we want because Jesus tore Heaven open on the cross. So if I lack fullness in any area – if I am not a fire starter in my own sphere of influence – it is my own fault for rejecting God’s graces!

This is not to say we should condemn ourselves for apathy. Instead, we should view it this way: that we are choosing to miss out on a party. God is not angry with us. In fact, He is amazingly patient with us during all this waffling and sleeping in the pews as if we were at a church lock-in. Would it be a strange thing to learn that the majority of quiet masses of pew-sitting, hand-shaking, polite-smiling Sunday parishioners the world over were in a far deeper state of spiritual rebellion than a wild-eyed, buck naked Isaiah sort who doesn’t use the same soft language, religious garb or conventional niceties as the choir lot? Could it be that the unique, unpredictable vibrancy of the Holy Spirit is quenched, even in the most charismatic of settings? It could just be that God is too wild, expressive, emotional and brilliantly enjoyable to be welcome in our club. One reason the world has become so ultra-sensitive and suffers from the relativism of political correctness, is because the church is full of appeasers who have lost the ability to carry the sword of truth and the oil of joy. Parishioners strive for acceptance, pastors strive for numbers and nobody wants to face the inconvenient truth that our motives are slavish and self-serving.

I believe that God is about to release something that cannot be packaged, marketed or made into an easy pill to swallow. And yet, the multitudes will be drawn to it, because they are hungry for something real in an age where there is a vacuum for truth. Instead of making God palatable to the masses, is it possible that we have been running completely amiss? Is it possible that the Lord is sending the most undomesticated fire the earth has ever seen? What if God actually wants to intentionally release the most riotous demonstration of His Spirit imaginable? In this age of political correctness, seeker sensitivity and religious boredom, is it possible that Jesus is about to reveal Himself as the great Offense? Is the stumbling block the builders rejected about to emerge as the mountainous capstone that causes all of us to stumble to some degree? I can honestly tell you that no prophet alive today has seen the complete picture of what is coming. And I can tell you this: it will look like utter rebellion to the systems of the world and social religion. Revolution. Unfettered wildness.

Prepare for the Wildfire! Part 1

2007-01-29T15:10:00.000-09:00

It’s time to go deeper.

God is moving His bride beyond charismatic religion. Beyond the conventional and the traditional. An all-consuming fire is being released in our midst, and anything that can be burned will be torched. The Lord recently told me that He is not coming to support many existing religious structures, but to burn them to the ground. His goal is to bring us into full possession by the Holy Spirit.

God is releasing radicals, fanatics and extremists in this hour who are absolutely infected with a craving for the Glory realm. A militant bride is emerging who will walk in fiery, passionate authority on the one hand, and a glorious supernatural ecstasy on the other. In fact, two of the main thrusts we have seen that mark this fresh outpouring of Glory is a deeper realm of drunken joy in the Spirit, and the other is a radical boldness. We have found that the fire God is releasing in this day is forging boldness and authority in His people – not the kind of human boldness which is worked up and rooted in insecurity. This is the blazing zeal of the Lord that is kindled in the furnace of divine jealousy for the Bridegroom. This jealousy does not allow us to bow to the fear of man or idolize religious structure of any kind. This is a violent, heaven-rending anointing.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matt. 11:12)

This aggressive, militant passion is about to sweep the church at large, but for those who are infected by this move of God’s Spirit, prepare for some misunderstanding! This fire will swiftly strip you of your man-pleasing spirit, and the fresh authority that comes with freedom from the fear of man will begin to freak out many of those around you! Those who choose to walk in this anointing should be prepared for this: for you to simply walk into a room, the atmosphere you carry will draw a line in the sand!

Although this is an intense fire, it is a most delightful flame. As the Bride of the Son of God, we have become one with Him. Understanding how beautiful and accepted you are in His eyes will begin to unlock a ferocity within you to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. When God looks at you, he sees a beautiful, yet militant bride:

You are beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, majestic as troops with banners (Song 6:4; Note: Tirzah means “beautiful”).

You have troops of an entire army within you. Many of you reading this today carry a church, a network or even an entire movement within your belly! Latent within you is a captain of thousands or tens of thousands. The wildfire of God’s Spirit is going to birth a generation of dread champions who will become a holy terror in the earth. They will walk fully saturated in the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord (and they will delight in it!), and their lives will demonstrate the supernatural power of God on an almost daily basis.

“We are as beautiful as Tirzah and as lovely as Jerusalem in the eyes of God. However, to the enemy this lover, this overcomer, is as terrible as an army with banners. Banners indicate a readiness to fight and also mean that the victory is won,” writes Watchman Nee.

There is a prevailing sense of false humility that has afflicted the people of God in these days. We have somehow come to equate humility with insecurity. Church people expect you just to bend over to all opposition. We’ve turned the cheek so many times, we are dizzy from spinning. Any little wind of opposition from the enemy is assumed to be a “closed door” from God, because people get complacent, too lazy to fight, and they don’t have enough faith to plow through mountains. So many Christians do not understand their identity as sons of God, and so they do not act with authority. Our cowardice and apathy has caused us to bend and waffle and give up ground in our governments, our schools, our homes, our marriages and even in our pulpits. It is no wonder that many mainstream denominations are struggling with issues of homosexuality in this hour! A sissy church will never stand up for the truth.

How have we lost the apostolic boldness to daringly preach the word of God with blatant audacity? Where are the burning, blazing lamps today like John the Baptist, leveling out a straight path and clear-cutting a way for the Lord? From the womb, John carried revival for a nation in his bones. I don’t think John would sit still in a pew.

We can no longer afford to equate humility with cowardice and insecurity. But whenever someone gets bold and starts to stand on the truth, their lifestyle of faith and holy aggression is seen as a sign of arrogance! Where are the George Foxes of today who will boldly stand up in the congregations of the whitewashed and boldly proclaim the truth, even though he was repeatedly dragged out and stoned everywhere he went? And miracles followed! There is a generation of “believers” today who are seduced by a slumbering gospel of talk only, and though they may intellectually agree with doctrinal truths, their hearts are far from the reality of the Kingdom. Expect a radical reformation that is even now on the horizon.

True Humility
Because the Lord has given us a high profile, supernatural ministry, my wife and I get lots of “stay humble” words from people. I used to wonder if I was quite the arrogant jerk to deserve such admonition so often. It took me some time to realize that I didn’t need to repent from cockiness everyday. The problem is that the church lacks a war mindset, and because of this, aggression is often confused with arrogance.

It is imperative that the church has true humility. God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6, 1 Pet. 5:5). And if you humble yourself, you will be exalted (Matt. 23:12). But what is humility? Obtaining humility does not mean you become a creampuff, sissy Christian. For starters, true humility has to do with obedience. And foremost, it is obedience to the movement of the Spirit of God. We must honor God’s presence when He comes – whether he shakes us, quakes us or whatever He wants to do!
Personally, we are confident in the Lord; the Lord is accelerating us in our youth, and we do not apologize for Him when He does crazy things through us. For many people, this is intimidating. Because of the influence God has given us, as well as miraculous giftings (which are readily available to anyone who wants them), people think we should be especially sycophantic and groveling to somehow insulate ourselves from pride. Although we must embrace a spirit of gentleness, the wildfire will no longer allow us coax and molly-coddle religious devils. There is no peace to be made with Jezebel. God has enough apple-polishing lap dogs. He is looking for valiant sons who embrace their authority. The earth itself is sick of this slavish docility. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed (Rom. 8:19). Rise up church! Where are the princes of the earth who will rule with justice? Where are the preachers who are motivated by passion and not insecurity?

Prepare for the Revolution
Many, if not most Christians, are shy, fearful and insecure in matters of faith. And their definition of “humility” has more to do with operating in this timid spirit than it does true contrition of heart. This is why so many “submit” to the poor decisions of their “spiritual authorities,” rather than knuckling up to the table and boldly walking in the truth. Few people are brave enough to scorn rejection, casting aside the man-pleasing spirit, and walking forward into the lion’s den. Lots of sheep think they have to eat from the self-deprecating trough of religion every Sunday morning, living a bland, colorless existence, without challenging the status quo. A lifestyle of breakthrough and a regal identity as co-creator with God is too lofty to accept.

God is not apologizing. The age of apologetics has passed. The present move of God is in your face, raw and demanding.

Submission to the Spirit always breeds boldness. The nonresistance mentality of the church has produced a weak-kneed, bootlicking attitude of false resignation. Any obstacle that comes our way in an enterprise must surely be a sign from God to retreat, because our cringing compliance knows nothing of fighting and pressing through until we gain a victory. I believe that with all the blessing of inner prayer and spiritual union theology handed down to us through the Quietist movement, its hellish concepts of utter pacifism has produced an age of church mice who know nothing but to curtsy and run for cover when things get hairy in the foxhole. Slavish compliance to every wind and wave of opposition produces wishy-washy cowards.

But get ready for the wildfire. A generation of blazing lamps walking in the spirit of Elijah.

Nothing is safe from God’s reach. God is shaking, shifting, restructuring and breaking a lot of things right now. There is a “holy deconstructionism” that on the one hand tears down the systematic religion of man, but on the other hand, it simultaneously builds up the true temple: the church of the living God! What Jesus is doing right now is this: He is starting to blurt out some uncomfortable truths that we have long been avoiding. For those who embrace these truths, there is an overwhelming joy and an exotic discovery of the realms of supernatural authority and experience available to us. Bizarre miracles, angelic visitations, open-eye visions and visitations are just a few of the things being offered us, along with a constant infilling of the intoxicating new wine of His Spirit – an abiding Glory that never fades, but only increases. In fact, it is the wine of His Spirit that most enables us to move into the wild ferocity of this zealous boldness.

The infilling of God’s ecstatic, intoxicating Spirit is what empowered the apostles to speak His word boldly in Acts 4. In Acts 2, they had to get loaded before the miracles exploded! A drunk man is not easily contained. He does not polish his words. He is not seeker sensitive.

No fresh move of God has ever come without a mess. God is messing up our meetings. He is messing up our reputations. He is messing up our ability to gather crowds at times – pruning away the religious fluff, so that multitudes of souls can come in on this fresh wind. As for me, I am tired of entertaining Christians. I am ready for the billion soul harvest. And for those who embrace His crazy wildfire that knows no boundaries, there will be a favor that comes from God and with man that scarcely could have been imagined. Let us move on to full possession.

To be continued …

Lord Bringing Shift, Restructuring, New Construction

2007-01-17T21:24:00.000-09:00

We are excited about the start of a new year, and we feel the zeal of the Lord being kindled afresh like a fire burning in our bones! We are just finishing a two-month period of pulling away from the road, for a season of meditation and writing. We expect to have a new book on Song of Solomon complete in the coming year. We are also resuming our itinerate schedule this week, and next month, we are kicking off our first local Sons of Thunder conference for 2007 – the Wildfire Gatherings, in Griffin, GA. We expect this to be a dangerous time of intense Glory and complete transformation for our lives, families, ministry and region. We would encourage you to come to this free conference expecting miracles and breakthrough!

2006 Year End
We are so grateful for the tremendous release of supernatural manifestation God has given throughout 2006. It is impossible to count how many creative miracles, healings, financial miracles and salvations we have seen during the course of the year. Just since sending out our last revival report in the fall, we have seen the Lord work some tremendous miracles, save many souls and bring us personally to seven nations in 2006. We traveled to the Maritimes late in the year, seeing dozens of healings: deaf ears opened; several people received back their lost sense of smell; many were healed over cell phones; and many recovered from problems with arthritis, feet, back and joint ailments.

At our Breaker Anointing conference in Georgia, metal plates and pins melted from many people’s bodies. One woman reported that she could no longer locate 11 screws in her leg! The Lord emphasized the paradoxical themes of resting in the Spirit, contrasted by the urgent need to press in for more of the Glory realm. The atmosphere for miracles carried over as we ministered at a Greater Atlanta Healing Rooms conference: more hearing was restored to the deaf; a metal rod melted from a man’s back; teeth were supernaturally filled with gold (one woman received two full gold teeth), and many were healed of arthritis, joint and back problems. A protruding tumor shrank and disappeared from a woman’s stomach before our eyes as the Lord dissolved it. Several responded to words of knowledge concerning diabetes and other internal illnesses.

In Marysville, Mich., we watched as many young people were ignited with fire as the Lord moved powerfully at a Joel’s Army conference. There were more creative miracles and salvations and lots of personal prophetic words.

Overcoming Warfare
It is important for us to understand the times and seasons in which we live. Just since the start of 2007, the Body of Christ is now experiencing a time of turbulence, shifting and restructuring in the Spirit. Many have felt that their spiritual eyes and ears have been cloudy in recent weeks. If you have been experiencing warfare and confusion, know that you are not alone. This is a time for endurance, pressing in and overcoming the adversary. This is not a time to lay down and give up. We would encourage you to read John’s words for 2007 which we posted at the start of the Hebraic new year. The Lord spoke to us about “going the distance,” and that He was pouring out a “Rocky” anointing to slug out the final rounds before moving us into a spirit of excellence. Despite a current state of warfare, the Lord is paradoxically releasing a peace and a rest in the midst of the current spiritual storm. This year, 2007, is also a Sabbath rest year. We must remember that the “God of peace will soon crush satan underneath your feet” (Rom. 16:20). In the midst of the whirlwind, peace is your friend at the eye of the storm.

The Tornado is Here
A couple weeks ago, we went to visit with Bob Jones, when an unexpected tornado zipped past our home, knocking over trees and blowing open the doors of our house. That day, the Lord gave another sign in the heavens, a large rainbow that stretched right over the city of Atlanta. Here is a photo captured by the Atlanta Journal newspaper:

We are excited about what the Lord is doing in the city, and we will discuss a few more Atlanta-specific words later. But across the church at large, the Lord is calling us to embrace the whirlwind in this hour. He is bringing a major overhaul to the way we do things. He is even restructuring the way we perceive the Kingdom, ministry and our life purpose. Many have been running the rat race of performance-driven Christianity, and God is blowing it all away with a spiritual tornado at this time. Allow Him to change your schedule, rearrange your plans and pull the rug out from under you if need be. Restoration is at hand. Although you may feel that spiritual famine is all around, you will be amazed to discover that breakthrough and abundance is right around the corner. The whirlwind is making way for the promise of the Father.

The Whirlwind Restructures
Many found at the turn of Dec. 31, that their plans and system of doing things almost immediately collapsed! God is restructuring things for a smoother alignment. My nine-year-old daughter, Maile, was given this prophetic word for 2007:

“I saw a whirlwind and a timer. A whirlwind means a retiming and people starting over, and the timer was God’s timing. Two-thousand seven is a new year and a starting over time.”

Do not let the shakings and swirlings cause you to look for safe harbor in religious structures! Often when our eyes get blurry, we look for a safe, static system to rest our heads, and that is when many turn to legalisms that have the appearance of safety. Instead, like Abraham, we should return to the last place of our visitation. We don’t want to camp in the past. However, during times of warfare, it is very appropriate to remember past victories, for such testimonies release an overcoming spirit. And remember the words spoken over you, because this contending precedes the fulfillment of promises given. Although, the voice of the Lord may not be clear, loud and blaring right now, you will hear his whisper in the place of rest and peace. My daughter was also given this for 2007:

“I saw the word, ‘whisper.’ I think that God wants us to be quiet and press for the thing that God has told us, and don’t just shout it out right away. I saw a river, and I think God just wants us to relax and drink and swim in His water.”

Crossing the Jordan
Bob told us to expect this difficult season to last another six months, but that in June, the Body of Christ is about to cross a spiritual river Jordan into a season of taking the promise land. For the past year, Bob noted that the prophets in particular have been undergoing a molting season. When eagles molt, this is a difficult time for them. They lose their feathers and become very vulnerable. It is a time of testing and turbulence. Expect this period to last another six months, but for breakthrough to come around June 6.

Nevertheless, amidst the storms and turbulence, there is a special grace and favor the Lord is imparting. For those who say “yes” to Him right now, there will truly be an explosion of the glory realm and an ability to access the things of heaven like never before. There are things coming around the corner which will be both very good and very bad. This is especially a time to be interceding against more acts of terrorism and natural disaster. But also, be expecting the Glory of the Lord to arise on His people like never before.

Increase in the Angelic
A strong increase is coming in angelic activity. Not just interpersonal communication with angels as we have known it, yet that will accelerate as well. There is a level of angelic encounter coming as was afforded to Abraham, Gideon and Jacob. In these encounters, there were actually “beings” who materialized and were able to eat with the patriarchs. Not just visionary spirit beings. Whenever these type of beings showed up, something major was about to happen. We are on the utter verge of a major shift in the church, as well as governmentally in the world. Remember that when such beings visited Lot, the time for the destruction Sodom and Gomorrah was at hand.

Shift of Authority
At the turn of 2007, we lost several major governmental leaders within a period of one week. Gerald Ford passed away, a political leader known for stepping in during the midst of a moral crisis in our nation. Also, Saddam Hussein was hanged at that time – a governmental leader known, on the contrary, for his wickedness. Unknown to many in the younger generation, a very powerful man of the Spirit died that same week: Harold Bredesen. Known as the “father of the charismatic movement,” Harold was a powerful leader in his day, influencing presidents, Middle East policy, and leading several prominent church leaders in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, such as Pat Robertson. He was featured on major television networks and secular magazines in his time, and even sparked a movement among Yale college students of speaking in tongues and moving in spiritual gifts.

With these deaths, there has been a vacuum in the spirit, and God is causing new leaders to emerge. The enemy is also poising to release new leaders of wickedness. Interestingly, one other major celebrity died that same week in the Atlanta area: James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul.” In the shift that is taking place today, God is circumcising the soul of His people, to purify us for the manifest glory to come. This is going to cause us to vastly accelerate in our authority and influence: and in favor both with God and man.

Jacob had a divine encounter, where he was reminded of a word from 20 years earlier in his life. There is something God is doing in terms of fulfilling promises made 20 years ago. Interestingly, 20 years ago, the church was marked by the fall of television minister Jim Bakker and the PTL network in 1987. Very often, in God’s timetable, prophetic mandates are fulfilled in 20-year cycles. In recent years, Morningstar Ministries and others have sought to restore the foundations laid through Bakker’s ministry – namely by rebuilding some of the facilities he constructed at his Heritage theme park near Charlotte. While many in the church wrote him off altogether for the obvious failures that were exposed in his ministry, few remembered the thousands upon thousands of souls he helped to lead into the Kingdom, or the vast benefit his ministry had on millions of people. We often turn on our leaders when their sin or weakness surfaces, and we also tend to throw the baby out with the bath water.

We need to learn to restore our leaders, and not judge the bulk of their work by their failures. At the start of 2006, I prophesied that some influential ministers would fall during the course of the year, which unfortunately happened. The church is no longer starry-eyed regarding the humanity of its leaders, and we are learning how to forgive and restore.

Now, 20 years after the fall of Bakker, the Lord spoke to me quite clearly that he is looking to restore the ministry of the gathering angels to the church, which were once assigned to Bakker’s ministry. We scarcely can imagine what this will look like. Prior to the televangelist failures of the late 1980s, Christian television was watched, to some degree, in almost every home nationwide – quite often by nonbelievers! Television ministry, though often scoffed at today, used to be enormously popular. Multitudes were disillusioned in 1987 and beyond, and Christianity became a byword in many circles where, before, there was at least some degree of respect for the faithful.

Setting the Sail
In a recent dream, the Lord instructed me to hand my ministry to Jim Bakker, and then I saw Jim releasing a massive, pure white sail into the air that was caught up by the wind. This was not literally Jim (and understand that this prophetic word is not about the restoration of his personal ministry) but it was symbolic of the broad platform and sphere of influence that was given to him in years past. The Lord is about to enlarge many, many ministries this year, giving them a huge sail, because he can entrust them for their purity (the sail was white), and because the harvest is coming in such massive proportions, our barns will scarcely hold the new believers coming into the Kingdom! Also, expect a powerful new anointing to come on “Christian television,” as crazy wonderworkers begin doing supernatural stuff in the streets, giving a whole new meaning to “reality TV.”

Remember that a new breed of leadership is arising, both good and wicked. God wants to restore what the church lost 20 years ago in terms of influence with the masses and ability to harvest souls wholesale. Get ready to see stadiums filled very soon. Bob told me that a materialized angelic being came to him in December, who had not been on the earth in 70 years. When he was last on the earth, in 1936, that was when Hitler, Mussolini and several other fascist dictators were just coming into power. More than ever, it is time for the sons of God to arise and be revealed, to displace the demonic authority satan is seeking to enthrone right now. God wants to restore Kingdom influence, and He will do it largely through displays of supernatural power.

Sonship
A very key element God is emphasizing at this time is sonship. He is raising up sons and daughters.

If you have been experiencing warfare, know that the enemy wants to strip your identity, which is his primary tactic. This was his methodology with Jesus, while tempting Him in the desert … if you are the Son of God. Continue to contend for the promises, and understand that you are a son and the beloved of the King. For many, this has been a season of fasting. Whether you are fasting or feasting, draw near to the Lord. Part of the current transition deals with the Lord wanting to reorder our houses this year. Fundamental shifts and changes in the way our lives and ministries are structured are here. There is a structure that is from God, but it is far more fluid and living than the structures of man.

Bob says that the molting eagle is getting new feathers, which will not be eagle feathers, but dove feathers. The dove represents sonship. It represents peace and gentleness. It represents a remembrance of the poor. It also represents a city-taking anointing! Jonah had an anointing to take an entire city, and his name means “dove.” The dove may not have the piercing eyesight of the eagle, but even more importantly, its gaze is single. It can only focus on one thing, with no peripheral vision. God is releasing a holy priesthood whose gaze will be fixed on Him and Him alone.

Strategy for Atlanta
While our vision is international in focus, the Lord has also called Sons of Thunder to build, plant and invest ourselves locally in the Atlanta area, which we believe is key to taking the south. In the Spirit, Bob saw 2x4’s as far as the eye could see, which were for building new construction here. We believe that the Lord is building something that is altogether new in this day. While we feel specifically that there is a city-taking anointing poised for Atlanta, this is something that is available for your city, too! God does move sovereignly on many cities and regions. He visited Toronto. He visited Pensacola. He visited Spokane and other places throughout history. But we do not have to wait for the dancing, sovereign hand of God to come before our cities can be taken. God responds to hunger. He does not just decide where to visit with a roulette wheel. If you build an altar for Him in the place of intimacy, purity and sacrifice, you can expect Him to respond and invade your region as well.

Our desire is to see the Atlanta area become a watering hole – a revival hub, not just for more of what we’ve seen in the past. This is something entirely new that God is releasing. It is outright revolution. It is out with the old, in with the new. This should be the vision for your city and region as well.

Join us for a Conference or Mission Trip!
We would encourage you to visit our newly updated Web page: http://www.thenewmystics.org/. There you will find a list of our upcoming conferences for 2007, as well a list of mission trips where you can join us in the nations. We have postponed our next trip to Uganda to September, to allow more people to register and be part of what the Lord is doing there. We will also be taking a team to India in December for a crusade and to help us plant our Sons of Thunder orphanage. We are excited to report that work is beginning on the orphanage in Bombay! Visit our orphanage page and read the testimonies of our house parents Nisar and Ranjana Immanuel. Their stories will inspire you. We are still in need of $20,000 to meet our funding goal for the facility, so please prayerfully consider a gift toward this end. Nisar already has a number of homeless children selected for assistance, but no place to house them!

Catch the Wildfire!
Our “Wildfire Gatherings” are coming up in February with an absolutely wild team of Welsh prophets who carry the DNA of Sons of Thunder. You will truly be equipped with the tools it takes to maintain a lifestyle in the manifest Glory of God, and you will also become more effective in saturation-style, marketplace evangelism! We will get filled with the Spirit everyday and take teams out to the streets for power evangelism outreach and training! The dates are Feb. 19-24, which is coming up quick, so mark your calendar!

Also, plan on joining us for “Engaging the Seer Realm,” in May, with veteran seer John Sandford, founder of Elijah House, and Aaron Evans, of Streams Ministries. After this, our next SOT sponsored event will be five nights of Glory meetings with Jeff Jansen, Joshua Mills and myself in Georgia in July. And in October, we will be storming the city of Atlanta with “The Violent Take it By Force,” a conference/power evangelism event with James Levesque, Shawn Gabie and myself. All of these are FREE events!

Excellence, Aggression and Fullness in 2007 -- Prophetic Mandates for the Coming Year

2006-10-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

On the Hebraic calendar, we have just completed the high holy days of the year – the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and the Feast of Tabernacles (Succot). On the Lord’s timetable, we have just moved into a new calendar year, and this is a season when many prophetic people receive downloads from Heaven about the coming year. In this week’s message, we would like to share some of the prophetic insights the Lord has been giving us for the coming year, so that we can best plan to accommodate the Kingdom’s advance through our own lives. It is important that the people of God have vision, for as we know, “Where there is no vision, the people perish …” (Prov. 29:18).

This is considered the Hebraic year 5767, and on the Roman calendar (which the Lord in His infinite wisdom knew the world would one day observe!) we are moving into 2007. Clearly, this is a year of “sevens,” which in Biblical typology represent completion, perfection and fullness. We believe that the fullness of God’s Kingdom and the fullness of the gospel of that Kingdom is about to begin shining through a remnant church like never before this year. We believe that a revelation of partnership with His sevenfold Spirit (Rev. 1, 4, 5; Isa. 11:2) is about to begin to revolutionize the church. The church is a lampstand meant to burn with the fullness of His sevenfold presence – not just a little flicker here and there! For those who have positioned themselves, it will be “on Earth as it is in Heaven in 2007.”

A Year of Completion and Perfection

Things that the Lord began to do in 2006 will be completed in 2007. Some of you may remember a prophetic word I gave last year, saying that the Lord was making “natural” preparations in 2006 for a “spiritual” explosion He would release in 2007. We will talk about this explosion more below. The Lord will complete a number of things in individual lives, ministries and callings which began years ago, and people will feel the transition into the new beginnings that are coming in 2008 (“eight” being the number of new beginnings). Ecclesiastes 7:8 tells us that, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning.” For many, this will be a year to finish hard. At the end of a race, that is the time to sprint. Time to “go the distance” and complete the race you have been running with flying colors.

Go the Distance! (A Lesson from Rocky)

Although we have been in ministry a number of years, I was born in 1976, making me only 30 years old – the year of age in which Jesus began His earthly ministry. In 1976, the best picture of the year award went to “Rocky,” who was also 30 years old in the film. Over the last week, it has been surreal to catch the prophetic symbolism in this film, which the Lord has been prompting us to watch (and its sequels!). I told my wife that I am pursuing the “Rocky anointing” this year! There is something about the nameless, faceless underdogs emerging on the scene this year who are going to be able to “go the distance” and finish the big fight like Rocky did in 1976. It is no coincidence that yet another Rocky film is scheduled for release before the end of the year (still Hebrew year 5767), in which the fighter comes out of retirement for one last bout. This is a year in which the green sprouts and old timers will emerge together. The cross-pollination of the generations is about to unleash havoc on the enemy’s camp.

For those of you who remember the flick, Rocky was not an exceptional fighter in that first film. I don’t even think he knew how to hold up his gloves to deflect a punch. But one thing he had was endurance. He knew how to take a punch and keep going. He had stamina and a willingness to persevere. Catch the second half of the verse we mentioned above, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” For those who have been patiently enduring trials, this will be a year of relief and completion. Pride makes many false starts, but patience will test our faith so that it comes forth as gold.

Clash of the Sword
This is a year of warfare, and many prophetic people have noted that it is the year of “the clash of the sword.” This is true, in that this will be a year of aggression: “… the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). But the warfare we will face this year is GOOD!

All warfare is to our advantage this year, because it is offensive warfare. Pray that God will let the sun stand still in the sky another hour, as he did for Joshua, so that we will have more time to wipe out and route the enemy this year. All advances against the enemy this year are “above and beyond” the usual take. They are exponentially more strategic than the minor battles won over the past six years of your life. The things you press in for, and the ground you take in this next short season, will affect you dramatically for the next five years to come.

Determine to push the enemy as far back as you can possibly go this year. Eat honey to strengthen you and to enlighten your eyes like Jonathan! The honey of His presence will strengthen you for the battle.

Guess what? The Lord has a few tricks up His sleeve for this year. In Rocky II, the champ was a southpaw. But instead of fighting with his left hand as usual, he had to awkwardly retrain himself to fight strong with his right glove. Many of us have been forced by circumstance into a trial/desert season, where we learned by necessity to strengthen and even rely on muscles we don’t normally use. In the same way that Rocky fought with his right hand throughout the match, many of us have been battling with spiritual muscles that needed necessary strengthening, but they were not primary to our calling. In the last round of the match, surprise! Rocky whips out the left hand that had been hiding the whole time and starts cracking heads.

God has been saving His best wine for last, and although we are sprinting this last year of a seven-year cycle, we are about to get our “last wind” coming out of nowhere. Strengths and talents you forgot about years ago are about to re-emerge from God’s fallow ground cycle of the seasons, and you are about to rise up with strength upon strength to pound the enemy into oblivion. This is important: Do not stop fighting when you get your own personal breakthrough this year! You have ability this year to route the enemy from the lives of your friends, family, workplace, city and region! Many will be at peace with some level of moderate personal success this year, but the real dread champions who are emerging will fight for their brothers and sisters, going above and beyond the call of duty this year, because they see that the enemy is retreating! Like the warrior tribe of Gad, the true champions of this year will cross the Jordan and fight for their brothers, even though they have acquired their own land. Interestingly, Jacob prophesied over Gad saying, “Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders, but he will attack them at their heels” (Gen. 49:19). There are many Rockies, many Gads, who have been taking punches, but with the endurance of bulldogs, they are not letting go, and they will continue to pursue their enemy until he is annihilated.

Warfare by Rest

This is also a “Sabbath rest” year – a seventh day season. Out of the place of rest, “The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20). This is not to say we are to become complacent this year! We will war against apathy, but we will operate in true rest. This is a paradox, because though we are slugging out the last rounds in the natural, we will be tapping into a spiritual quickening – an ability that supersedes our own strength this year.

This year, the Lord will be setting many people free of performance orientation: fear-based striving for acceptance. As we cease our striving, we will be laying down many time-wasters that were preoccupying us from the presence of the Lord.

Guard your time. Stay in prayer and you can work less this year. Voices will try to crowd out what the Lord is doing and keep you preoccupied with time wasters. Stay focused on the Lord, and He will release an overcoming spirit. Our primary mode of warfare is to stay in His Glory presence!

Spirit of Excellence Being Released
Even as this is a year of perfection and completion, this is also a year of coming into God’s excellence. A fresh wind of excellence is about to blow over a number of ministries, Christian businesses and even families. The Lord will be washing away the “rag-tag,” piecemeal mode that has marked many works. Yes, God’s perfect beauty looks like death on a cross – and God is not looking for glitz – but this is a year of resurrection power. There is a crisp, polished thing God is about to do with many people that will not be phony or pretentious. The brilliance of His splendor is about to shine through His people. It is one thing to be content when things are sloppy and disorganized (and as we mentioned before, we do not want to become anal and performance oriented). However, the Lord is about to spit-shine some of his battle-scuffed warriors and there is a new gleam about to come upon them. The pig-pen cloud of poverty and “settling for less” is about to be exchanged for a brilliant cloud of Glory!

Year of Spiritual Explosion

The Lord laid some natural tracks and worked on natural relationships over the past year which will be foundational for attaining the new spiritual heights to which he is taking us this year. There will be explosive releases of the glory of God and creative signs, wonders and miracles which will become widespread in the body of Christ. The level of the supernatural being exhibited in some of the most cutting edge ministries today is about to become commonplace for the average believer.

There is going to be an absolute skyrocket into the realms of visitation, dreams and prophetic revelation for the hungry and thirsty this year.

The supernatural is about to get “messy” this year. Out of control. God is releasing the wildfire. It cannot be contained by religious structure – even charismatic religious structure. A lot of “charismatic” religious devils are about to be exposed this year as “good ministry” gets edged out by God’s best ministry. Old wineskins are going to be stretched this year. Some will snap altogether.

Stay in the Glory!

As simple as it may sound, the best advice for this year is to stay saturated in the Glory of God. The Lord showed us a yellow helmet with safety glasses. He said that those who dwell under the covering of his Glory this year will have protection for their mind and eyes. Conversely, there will be an increased level of insanity and spiritual blindness in the world around us, which should not be surprising.
This is a year to stop taking the mainstream media seriously. For too long, the church has tried to argue with a pseudo-scientific, secular media, as if it were engaged with an equal, intellectual counterpart. For the most part, this has been a distraction, and has caused the church to lose focus and run in a thousand different man-pleasing directions. The enemy is going to notch up the hysteria in the media to another level this year, because he wants to distract us. Unplug. The humanistic reasoning of the media and the degrading concept of relativistic “fairness” it portrays (always assuming that two sides of an argument are always equal and opposite, and never acknowledging ultimate right and wrong/good and evil in a situation) will continue to subtly water down the morality of a nation that does not let its true conscience become awakened and stirred to righteousness. If we stay consumed on the secular media, we will be drawn into fighting on the enemy’s turf.

Instead of tuning into the madness, take advantage of the clear Heavens this year, and tune into that. Stay in the Secret Place; be presence-focused and not purpose-driven this year. Allow the Lord to protect your mind this year, and allow your mind to stay renewed with the word to protect it from the lies of the enemy. Satan’s number one tactic this year will be a release of an assault of lies to bring defeat, paranoia and insecurity. He will try to infiltrate relationships by causing suspicion, mistrust and other issues. However, as we stay in the glory, the Lord will not only protect our own minds, but give us authority to set others free. The truth will set us free this year!

Restoration in the Media
Media, communications and a number of broadcasting avenues will recover the airwaves for harvest this year. There is a struggle over the second heaven this year. It is important to note that right now, the church is still just taking back the airwaves in terms of being “relevant” to the people. For too long, Christian radio and television has been so religious, it has driven off listeners and viewers. There are intentional, focused demonic assignments launched just to make this happen. But this is a season of bringing quality, creativity and cultural relevance back to programming and media outlets.

But beyond mere relevance and creativity, which is a prerequisite to reaching the lost over the airwaves, the Lord is about to start sprinkling the media with demonstrations of his power this year. Not just broadcasts of minor healings and hype, but wild, creative miracles, signs and wonders in real time. God’s “reality TV” is about to bring Kingdom demonstration right from the streets into the living rooms of viewers, and it will be some of the most controversial broadcasting on the air.

The Lord wants to release the mother lode in terms of power evangelism, but he must first prepare a people who are willing to weather the criticism, fraud charges and outright persecution that comes along with operating in His power – persecution both from within and without the church.

Fresh Breaker Anointing Being Released
A fresh breaker anointing is being released this year, as this is a year of offensive assault on the enemy’s camp. Don’t be surprised when hell comes to the bargaining table this year. Because this is a year of tremendous breakthrough, the enemy will try to forge a truce – don’t make peace with the enemy! Like Jehu, our attitude toward Jezebel must be, “What do you have to do with peace?”

A number of prophetic voices have received Isaiah 41: 15-20 for this year: “You will be a new, threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains. You will toss them into the air, and the wind will blow them all away; a whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will rejoice in the Lord.”

As the Breaker is released, know that revival will start this year in many obscure places.

Year of Wealth

This is an important subject for the coming year, and a number of our associates have confirmed what the Lord is saying about Kingdom finances: There is an immediate season open right now in the spirit for financial breakthrough. It is something we will need to contend for, because the next few weeks or months could set the course for years to come in terms of finance and provision. We feel that the Lord is saying He is going to send “finances with wealth” this year. There is a difference. One speaks of basic monetary substance, but wealth is something more. Allow the Lord to give you a “cushion” this year. This is a year in which the poverty mentality has to go altogether from our thinking. It is not a little holy pet demon we need to be stroking, just in case God intended us to be beggars after all. Poverty wants to crush you, and we cannot befriend the devourer.

Somewhere along the line, we thought that a lifestyle of faith meant scraping by, and that God would miraculously supply the can of beans on our doorstep, just when the kids were about to die of starvation. Always saving you just in the nick of time. The check coming in the mail in the 11th hour, just seconds before the bills are due. Of course, God does that stuff, and it’s brilliant. But God wants us to already be trusting Him so much that we don’t need those 11th hour fixes to teach us a faith lesson anymore. Adam never had to wait just in the nick of time for a grape to fall from the Tree of Life to keep him alive in the 11th hour. No, Adam was blessed and lived in abundance. And that is God’s intention for His creation.

There are seasons of learning to walk by faith, where we make mistakes and scrape by. Then there are seasons of just doing it – walking by the faith we have learned – where we can maintain. We get by in a state of “just trusting.”

But there is an altogether higher level. There are seasons of excellence, perfection and overflow: where we stretch in even further into the truth of God’s loving abundance, goodness and desire to bless us. It is here that we step into wealth and learn to be a blessing on the earth.

God does not want us hoarding for self gain, however, He does want us to fill our storehouses so that we might be generous givers. God is looking for a people to whom He can entrust Kingdom wealth (not just finances, but also Kingdom power, authority and miraculous abilities), so that we have enough to splash over onto others. The “just getting by” mentality has to go this year. There is a half-truth that tells us “God’s never too late or too early; He’s just right on time.” That sounds good and religious, but it’s not scriptural. The truth is, God likes to splash His favor on us too early, right on time, and after the fact! He’s the God of before, during and later! The Was and Is and Is To Come! He wants to make you the head and not the tail, and He wants you to ride on the heights of the land.

If we nod our heads to the idea of getting a full storehouse, expecting to suddenly become generous when it brims over, chances are that it will never happen. If we can’t be generous in our lack, we are fooling ourselves to think it will happen in our abundance. Remember, He wants to bless you this year, but moreover, He wants you to be a blessing.

This is what the Lord wants to quicken His faithful with this year: “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day” (Deut. 8:18). We have not realized the significance of what God wants to do in this arena enough. We must be striking the ground hard with the arrows right now, and not let this window of opportunity pass us by. This is a time to press in, and have intercessors honing in on this subject over the next few weeks.

Obviously, we must know that the true wealth of the Kingdom is wisdom and virtue. And when we seek wealth as an end in itself, we have opened ourselves to the love of money, which is a root of much evil. But there is always warfare over financial assets, as it consumes a large part of our time, toil and lives. And we must learn to press in to access and manage money without becoming consumed by materialism. When we cease to love and serve money, money becomes a servant.

A few keys to accessing wealth are these:
1- Good stewardship;
2- Giving generously (There is a great favor coming onto mercy ministries this year, especially onto those who sow directly into the poor);
3- The fear of the Lord (“… Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever” Psalm 112: 1-3);
4- The love of wisdom over the love of money (“I {Wisdom} love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me; enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver” Prov. 8:17-19).

Through a wild chain of events, the Lord showed some of our associates in Wales that huge stockpiles of wealth, literally millions upon millions that have been secretly hoarded by nonbelievers, are about to start pouring into the church. These are literally “mountains of wealth” that some will begin to bore into this year. Proverbs 13:22 states that, “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.” The point of this prophetic teaching is not to motivate you by greed, but to enable us to be both open to God’s wealth that is coming, and to be able to enjoy what He gives in a righteous manner.

We must store up wealth for future generations. In this, I am talking primarily about spiritual wealth. There is a passionate, fiery love for Christ that supersedes any material wealth man could offer: “Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love all the wealth of his house, it would be utterly despised” (Song 8:7).

A New Refreshing for Europe

In the Spirit, I saw a European-style shower get notched up to the number eight on the nozzle. There will be a cleansing and an increase of new beginnings and outpouring for Europe this year. Ministries based in Europe, or with established European relationships will see an increase in the outpourings of God this year.

Flame is Fanning in Asia/Southeast Asia

There are open windows of opportunity for major harvest in India this year. While India is ripe, there is a risk of it closing within a few years, apart from strategic intercession. A number of Muslim countries will become increasingly open to the gospel this year like never before. The Lord will be dealing with Iran this year on a number of fronts, but strongholds are going to crack there largely through the native Christian population beginning to intercede from within the nation.

A number of nations will open for large evangelism campaigns that were previously closed. Revival fires will continue to swell to major proportions in Indonesia and Malaysia. The percentage of Christians in Indonesia has increased dramatically in the last several years. The revival there will continue to escalate. All of Indonesia will be taken for the Lord. Southeast Asia will become one of the next major revival hubs for the entire Asian continent. There is potential for the next “Azusa-level” outpouring to spill out from Malaysia.

Pulling out of Ruts

In the Spirit, the Lord showed me a “come along,” one of the rope winches used to pull a vehicle or large object out of a rut or place where it has become stuck. This year, the Lord is pulling us out of a lot of old cycles. Ministries that have been in a holding pattern will have the opportunity to break out this year. It may come gradually – seemingly just inching forward. But the difference is that there will not be the “one step forward two steps back” pattern you have experienced. This is monumental. Also in 2007, for those ministries who become associated or affiliated in relationship with apostolic networks (not politically per se, but relationally in some manner), there will be a multiplied increase to pull you out of the ruts of spiritual isolation and captivity.

Season of Repentance
The Lord showed us that literally this is the “hour of repentance” for a number of individuals, but moreover, for entire large ministries. There is strategic timing from God as He is offering special grace to move out of old habit patterns. There will be a heavy focus on the need for purity this year. Our friend Matt Sorger recently posted a similar word on Yom Kippur for 2007, noting, “In this season of awakening, we will see two parallel streams – holiness and power. God is taking all the mixture out, so we can handle the pure power of the Holy Spirit. We don't always know what is in our hearts. If there is something that must be purged, God will purge it. This is a time and a season where we need to humble ourselves, and let God search and cleanse our hearts.”

Expect more dross to be purged from large ministries. The purest silver is the silver refined seven times.

It is Worth the Mess

Though this may sound a bit crass, the Lord showed me a large shovel used for following elephants around in the circus tent. These elephants represented power ministry that will draw the people, and they will continually leave behind messes.

Proverbs 14:4 tells us that the stall is clean when there is no ox, but if we want the power of the ox for harvest, there will be messes to clean up. The Lord also spoke to us regarding the “circus” atmosphere of revival. There will be no need to hype what God is doing in this season. The testimonies of real-life miracles, signs and wonders are going to be so phenomenal that many will accuse the people of God of sheer make-believe. Dead raisings, spontaneous generation of matter (feathers, gold, gems, money, etc.), creative miracles like instant weight loss, freedom from paralysis, regrowth of hair and other wild demonstrations of power will invoke mockery from the unbelieving (even the “Christian” unbelieving), because they will simply be too phenomenal to swallow at times.

It’s going to get messy. No mess, no power. But God is not too concerned about mess.

Daring to Delve Deeper

2006-09-10T11:31:00.000-08:00

Before the literal second coming of Christ, the Lord will first return in His people. Isaiah the prophet tells us to “arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you” (Isa. 60:1). Although deep darkness will cover the world, this is the church’s brightest hour, as we experience levels of God’s manifest glory presence like the world has never seen before.

There is a clarion call for the church to emerge from the ashes and confines of her natural limitations and sin-induced bondage, into the limitless reality of a higher realm where all things are literally possible through the unfettered ability of an all-powerful God. An omnipotent God who lives inside of you, as a believer in Christ.

God does not want us to be bound by familiar spirits, doubts, fears, the expectations of the natural mind, or even the physical laws of the universe! Jesus constantly challenged His followers to expand their view of reality, moving them from earthly thinking into a Kingdom mindset. He walked on water, raised the dead and demonstrated a higher spiritual plane – to which each of us now has full access through the shed blood of the Son of God.

God wants to free us from the heavy oppression that consumes us in this present age. With each degree that he brings us into freedom and ecstasy in the Spirit, the carnal mind tries to question whether it is too good to be true. In fact, due to the condition of this fallen world, each of us has been conditioned to walk under a cloud of heaviness. True joy, holy bliss and the powers of the age to come seem too fantastic to be at our disposal (in our sense of unworthiness, like Adam discovering his nakedness, we have built defensive walls, guarding against hope deferred).

Garden Bliss

Adam walked in such brilliant pleasure – even in the earthly realm – that to breathe the pure oxygen of the pristine Garden of Eden would have given him a natural high. And every breath he took was in intimate communion with God. His life was indeed pure bliss. For us, every level of spiritual freedom we experience is taking us from one degree to another, back to a state of purity and delight that God intended. We do not comprehend the degree to which God wants to intoxicate every moment of our day – spirit, soul and body – with the wine of His love. In fact, we have already been given complete access back to the Garden, as Jesus opened the way to the Secret Place through the torn veil of His flesh. We can appropriate as much of this “Garden lifestyle” into our present existence as we are willing to receive.

Our entire lives are a process of moving from a present state of numbness into the endless degrees of His pleasure.

Why is there a generation loaded on Prozac, escaping on crystal meth and crack rock, and doped up on television, living fantasy lives vicariously through pretend people in Hollywood? It is because we have forgotten the bliss of God. It is time to repent: to turn back to His goodness. To be filled to overflowing with His Spirit. To rediscover our destiny in just being in Him.

Ironically, we are afraid to receive the endless gladness of God into our lives. This is because we have hardened our hearts amid the hurts, rejection, trauma and abuse of living in a fallen world. God wants us to risk new levels of holy bliss. He wants us to dare to receive His goodness at unprecedented levels, and open up again to the higher life, trusting Him implicitly.

The degree of freedom we experience in the Kingdom is in direct proportion to the level to which we have become fully possessed by Holy Spirit. Many are under the profound delusion that they are already completely possessed by God, and that the sum of their existence represents a lifestyle at the peak of revival. But I would contend that no one has yet experienced the fullness of revival and the manifest presence of God. Although the fullness of God rests positionally in the heart of every believer.

The Gold of Egypt

God is looking for a people who will shake off all natural limitations, the sin that so easily besets us, and the false perception of where our spiritual experience will be “capped.” We subconsciously set limits for ourselves, never expecting to go higher in God. Some of us hope to one day be free from bondage by the skin of our teeth, but we never really expect to thrive or to live on the heights of the land. Recently in a dream, the Lord told me to “Dare 15:14.” I woke in the middle of the night, and the Lord gave me a parallel message from Deut. 15:14 and Genesis 15:14.

In the Deuteronomy passage, the Lord was referring to fellow Hebrews who sold themselves into slavery. Every seven years, these slaves were to be released. But they were not simply to get out of bondage. They were to move all the way from bondage to abundance!

For the slave who was set free, the Lord commanded: “Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today” (Deut. 15:14-15).

The slave was not simply to become a free man. He was to be given much provision. The passage of Genesis 15:14 further clarifies this principle:

“But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions” (Gen. 15:14).

God does not just want to bring His people out of Egypt. He wants to bring them out with the gold! Many of us are OK with getting free from bondage. But it is something altogether different to move into abundance. In fact, we will often sabotage ourselves in order to avoid it. We don’t feel worthy. We walk under a sense of false humility. We choose needless suffering to which the Lord has not called us. We embrace a slave/orphan mentality, over a spirit of sonship.

The apostle Paul said that he learned not only to cope with suffering, but he also learned to receive God’s abundance (Phil. 4:12). For those with an orphan spirit, this is very difficult. We try to determine how much of God’s goodness we will receive, and limit ourselves. We must risk vulnerability and mistakes to go deeper with God. Some people receive salvation, but they feel that Third Heaven experiences, dreams and visions, angelic interaction and the like are simply too “high and lofty” to attain, so they never position themselves for it. Some people feel that if God could just help them get their bills paid, that would be great. But they never believe for God to allow them to thrive in the land. Some people open themselves to a few spiritual gifts (tongues, etc.), but they never expect that God could blow them totally out of the water with trances, translations or miracles, signs and wonders.

Whenever we pre-determine how much of God’s goodness we will receive, we are essentially taking the reigns of our lives back into our own hands and scoffing at His Lordship. The irony is that a life submitted to God equates to sheer ecstasy. When we reject His ecstasies, His gifts, the benefits of His hand, we reject Him! We do not submit to a task master, but to one who has “rivers of pleasure at His right hand” (Ps. 16:11, Ps. 36:8).

God does not simply want to free you from poverty and put you into the middle class. He wants to make you rich. And I am not just speaking of natural possessions. “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). God wants to bring you into an abundance of intimate communication with him, an abundance of power, and abundance of provision for Kingdom purposes, an abundance of joy and an abundance of holy intoxication!

He wants to supply you with flocks – from a slave to one who influences other people! He wants to supply you with grain from the threshing floor – fresh revelation! He wants to supply you with wine! He wants to load you down with the weight of his golden glory!

God does not just want you to be blessed. He wants to make you a blessing. On one side of the cross, you are a beggar. On the other side of the cross, you are a giver. And you give out of His overflow. Everywhere you go, you change the atmosphere and stuff happens. The air literally bends around you when you enter a place, because you are infected with the presence of Almighty God. The test results are in: you are Holy Ghost positive!

Window of Acceleration for Kingdom Finances Part II

2006-07-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

In our last teaching, we discussed the resurrection power coming to the church’s finances at this time, as there is a prophetic window of acceleration for funding related to the harvest. We highlighted the symbolic significance of three, one dollar bills that have been showing up miraculously in people’s pockets in our meetings. Last week, this happened again in Columbia, S.C. A woman reported after a meeting there that three, crisp brand new one dollar bills appeared in her purse. They were numbered in sequential order, with the first and last letters being “JC.” One of our associates also reported that, as he was saturating in the heavy presence of God last week, someone put a $100,000 check into his hand!

This week, we will provide some follow-up teaching regarding Kingdom provision, the favor of God and overcoming the spirit of poverty. It is essential that the people of God experience true freedom in the area of finances, in order to be free of all natural restrictions in fulfilling their calling and vision in the Lord. Too many people in the Body today have received a truckload of prophetic vision, but they are simply not walking any of it out. For many, their excuse is a lack of funding to meet the vision. But the Lord is always “able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). As a supernatural generation, we have no excuse to be bound by natural limitations.

Getting free of debt and flowing in the abundance of Heaven is especially important in this time of acceleration for harvest. It takes money to win souls, and this is the hour to purchase harvest fields. Those who are wise will invest in souls in this season. There’s the old adage, “Invest in real estate. They’re not making any more of it.” There is some truth in this, but the real estate we should be investing in is in the Heavenly realms. Wherever our investment is, there our heart is also. And the more we invest in the things of Heaven, the more seed money God will entrust to us, even in this temporal realm.

You Don’t Need Provision: Get Anointed!

It is important for us to clear up a very big misconception: We really do not need to spend that much time praying for provision. It is not financial blessing that we need, but rather, we need the anointing. We need God Himself, and when we get close to Him, we begin to experience His favor. Five minutes of God’s favor is worth a lifetime of strife. When we seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, all other things are added to us as well (Matt. 6:33).

As we draw close to the heart and presence of God, his favor begins to rest on us. As in the life of Job, the cream and butter of God’s favor begins to grease our feet, so that we slip easily through life, without strife or friction (Job 29). In fact, Job’s life is not about suffering, but it is a wonderful illustration of God’s favor. Job’s suffering was only one small sliver of his life story. Job lived a very long life of tremendous blessing, and after a brief dark night of the soul, Job was blessed again: even double!

Job did not just have money. God’s favor brings much more than that. God’s presence poured freely for Job, even in the hard places, “The rock poured out rivers of oil for me!” (Job 29:6). The “friendly counsel of God was over my tent,” he says in verse 4. When Job went to the gate of the city or took his seat in the public square, young men would hide and older men stood in awe and respect. Even princes would shut their mouths, and nobles hushed their voices, their tongues sticking to the roofs of their mouths (verse 10). Everyone blessed and approved of Job. People waited for his words like the rain, and those words rested on them like dew. After he spoke, they kept silent (verse 21-23).

How would you always like to get the best parking spot? Glide easily through congested traffic? Be elevated among your peers? Get all the company perks your first day on the job? It is not wrong or arrogant to want these things. The problem comes when we strive to attain them ourselves, rather than allow God to do it for us. When we humble ourselves before Him, and acknowledge that all blessing comes from Him and Him alone, then He is free to lift us up. You were made and destined for honor. But we seek God: not honor, money or anything else apart from Him. Life is simple when we determine to seek after Him alone, and let Him take care of the rest.

Remember the Poor

One of the keys to walking in this type of favor is that Job sought righteousness on behalf of the poor and oppressed. He was not just trying to build his own kingdom, or trying to accomplish his own vision. Job himself says that this favor came “because I delivered the poor who cried out, the fatherless and the one who had no helper. The blessing of a perishing man came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know” (verse 12-16).

Righteousness is not just a state of “being,” but a state of “doing.” It includes reaching out to the broken and oppressed and delivering justice on their behalf. This is what Job did, and it brought immense favor onto his life. So the favor of God comes first through pouring ourselves out to Him alone, and secondly, from pouring ourselves out to the poor, the fatherless, the broken.

Favor comes first from extravagant intimacy with Christ, and by being filled with His presence. First, as we lose ourselves in Him, we must learn to waste everything we have on Him like Mary, pouring out costly oil over His head. This is different from giving to the poor. This is “wasting” all that we have by sowing directly into Him – directly into the glory: spending our time in worship, giving our financial substance to ministry and not just social relief, etc. We seek Him first, because He is the Alpha and the Omega, and besides, “the poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me” (Matt. 26:11). At the table, when Mary pours out her fragrant offering, she is criticized by Judas for not selling it and giving the money to the poor. But Jesus essentially tells us: if you have to choose between worshipping me or feeding the poor, worship me!

But the worship of God is not divorced from feeding the poor and fathering the orphan. And so, this is the second key to favor: making the widow’s heart sing, defending the case of the afflicted, fathering the fatherless. Mercy ministry to the downtrodden is an important key to unlocking favor, because what you do to the least of the poor, you have done it to Jesus Himself.

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy. …” (Deut. 15:11).

Get Free from Poverty

God wants you free from poverty, so that you will be more effective in the Kingdom, and so that you will not always be focused on pinching pennies. So that you will be a blessing to others. The irony is, those with a poverty spirit are often more focused on money than those who are free from poverty. But there is a ditch on either side of the road. God does not want us to be materialistic idolators either! You cannot serve both God and money. This is why we have such a hard time sowing and giving money away.

Getting free of poverty is really simple. It starts with a lifestyle of intimacy and favor. But in terms of what to “do” practically, it boils down to sowing into the Kingdom and working hard. God does not just want to click His fingers and let you win the lottery. That kind of wealth would be frittered away anyway, and it could likely lead you to corruption. He wants to build stewardship and faithfulness into you, so that you can rightly manage Kingdom wealth and properly invest your talents. It starts with being faithful with what you’ve been given. And you can’t even steward what you have been given without help from above! There is an anointing for stewardship that must come upon your life.

Anointed for Stewardship

If we want God to expand our tent pegs and give us more land, then we must recognize that there is going to be more grass to mow. If He gives you more spiritual or natural territory, then there is going to be more responsibility to maintain it.

Stewardship is a largely misunderstood subject, because we think of it as a striving work. We often think that God gives us a thing, and then it is up to us to maintain it, steward it and rightly manage it. But this is not true. God knows you can do nothing but squander everything if left alone. The Father alone is the Master Gardener. He is the Great Steward.

You cannot steward anything by yourself. If you are incapable of handling even the wealth of this world, “unrighteous mammon,” how do you expect to steward the anointing and spiritual gifts that He puts on your life? But here is a Kingdom secret: He hasn’t entrusted you with the anointing – He has entrusted it to Himself. He knows that, apart from Himself, you can only blow it. And so He is the one who is faithful to steward it and see that His good purposes are completed in your life. All you do is submit and abide. Stewardship is really easy. The problem is, we think that we can do even the ordinary, mundane things of life apart from the anointing!

Our everyday lives must become a constant practice of His presence, so that His Spirit invades the little, everyday, ordinary things that we do. This is how His quickening begins to seep into our day, and before you know it, life is lived in a blissful state of Holy Ghost autopilot. Whether washing dishes or raising the dead, we are saturated with Him at all times, and taking care of what He gives us becomes second nature.

Only Father can enable you to steward, maintain and cultivate the gifts He has already given you. When He gives you something new or big, you must not fear your own ability to mess it up. Rather, you must trust in His ability to foster and take care of it through you. He is the one who is faithful and true to complete the good work He began in you.

We see many people who are naturally gifted, but they seem to throw it all away because they lack faithfulness and stewardship skills. I was one of these types of people. As a student, I was always naturally gifted, but likewise, I always lacked faithfulness to develop my gifts. For instance, I was regularly placed in gifted classes, with a high IQ. But I was completely lazy and apathetic. I had no study disciplines. My good grades came naturally as a grace gift. However, when I reached college and the courses became more challenging, I lacked the perseverance to study and memorize new things that did not come naturally for me.

The B and C grade students who were always “beneath” me intellectually suddenly overtook me in their scores. While I had been earning A’s for free, they had been tediously building their study muscles and learning to maintain and work for what they got. While those people were on their way to law school and doctorate programs, I had collapsed into a lifestyle of drug abuse and moral apathy.

God will give you a gift. But you must also continually depend on Him for the grace to maximize it and maintain it. Many people “choose” to remain impoverished, both spiritually and naturally, because they are intimidated by the responsibilities that come with receiving higher gifts from the Lord. Don’t fear responsibility. Even at the “top of the ladder” you will always feel weak, vulnerable and incapable. But you learn that His strength is made perfect in your weakness there.

The King’s Table

A large part of stewardship depends on not clinching onto what you have. A good steward lends freely, because he has a heavenly – not a temporal – perspective. All bread that is cast upon the waters will one day return, and even the seemingly small, insignificant gifts doled out in secret can have the most impacting reward. The object is to move our natural assets into spiritual commodities.

Hold onto everything with open hands and give liberally. Stewardship of Kingdom finances does not look like tucking them away in Fort Knox or burying them in the ground, because the Lord is a “hard task master.” I have been to the treasure room in Heaven, and I tell you, the doors are always open. There is always enough abundance, and Father spills it out on everyone, the righteous and the unrighteous. How much more His children? Abraham never jostled with Lot over who would get the best land. In fact, he let Lot have the pick of the land, and so God gave Abraham an eternal inheritance in the Promise Land. David never jostled for Saul’s throne. He blessed Saul, even when Saul was out to kill David. And because of this, God gave David an eternal throne. Christ Himself sits on David’s throne.

As we shake off the orphan spirit that causes us to strive and clinch the crumbs, we move up to sit as sons and daughters at Daddy’s table. You really need to understand how rich your Daddy is. Have you ever considered how your Dad, the King, sets his table each and every day? There’s plenty on that table for you. Just consider how extravagant King Solomon set his own table every single day:

“Solomon’s daily provisions were thirty cors of fine flour …”

That’s 185 bushels! Every day! How much bread does that make? Think of all the preparation it took just to cook up 185 bushels of flour each and every day!

“and sixty cors of meal …”

That’s 375 bushels! Every day! On top of all the flour! How much cornbread does that bake up? Are you beginning to get a glimpse of the extravagance of the king?

“ten head of stall-fed cattle …”

Just imagine how many burgers you can cook with one whole cow. Not to mention 10 of them, each and every day! Remember, these are stall-fed: fed by human hands every single day of their life, in preparation for less than one course of one day’s meal at the king’s table!

“twenty of pasture-fed cattle …”

This means thirty cows in all, slaughtered every day of Solomon’s life for his table. Solomon must have been one barbecueing machine: absolutely hell on wheels when it comes to cows. Those cows would have preferred Rambo on speed than to encounter Solomon when he was hungry.

“and a HUNDRED sheep and goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roebucks and choice fowl” (1 Kings 4:22-23, my emphasis)

I think you get the point. The Father’s table is a table of plenty. And when we clinch crumbs, we only prevent ourselves from moving into His rich bounty of provision. In the place of abiding, we understand Father’s love for us, and we cease to horde for ourselves. We cease to seek a blessing from God, and instead, we learn to become a blessing. Did you know that you are a source of God’s blessing to those around you?

I want to share one more principle with you regarding kingdom provision that has been very effective in our own lives. It corresponds with last week’s discussion on sowing into the glory.

Blessing the Prophets

Earlier, we discussed laying our fields at the feet of the apostles like Barnabas. When you lay your field at the feet of the apostles, you have purchased that field for revival. Your treasure has been laid up in heaven, and your “field” has been positioned to be reaped for the kingdom.

Our fields are not just our finances, but our homes, our children, our relationships and more. Our inner life. Our ability to communicate and interact with God. When we lay these things upon the altar, we make room for resurrection power to be infused into them.

There is a principle to making room for the glory in your own life. What happened to the woman who made a place in her home for Elisha? She who was without a child got a son. Later the son dies, and Elisha has an obligation to raise him from the dead. Sowing into the glory will even bring life from the dead in your circumstances. Of course, we are not just talking about sowing into a project or a church program, but investing into the anointing itself.

We can learn much from this story in 2 Kings 4. Jesus said that when we bless a prophet in the name of a prophet, we will receive a prophet’s reward. Throughout history, God has always used his holy men in this way: He has made them dependent on the resources of the people, so that they will be a blessing to others. God could just support them supernaturally, like He did with Elijah, feeding him by the ravens. But even Elijah was sent out to get a meal from the widow at Zarephath. And through her generosity to Elijah, she received unlimited oil and flour, which represent complete provision, but also an unlimited source of anointing and revelation (1 Kings 17).
When someone blesses a holy man, that man usually recognizes that God will bring a reward, and so he moves on and leaves it up to God. But sometimes, when a person goes out of his or her way to sow extravagantly into the glory, the prophet feels a special obligation to that person. This woman blesses Elisha by making an entire room in her house for him. Elisha does not just leave it up to God to bring her a reward. In fact, he feels such a special obligation to this woman, that he “takes requests.” He pronounces a special blessing out of his delegated authority. Elisha does not necessarily have this type of authority in every circumstance, you must understand. But because the lady went out of her way to bless the prophet, she receives the prophet’s reward.

“You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you?” he asks (2 Kings 4:13).

This story is not just about sowing financially into prophets and apostles. It also tells us to make room for the prophetic in your life. Make room for the apostolic. Make room for the presence and glory of God, and you will reap the benefits.

On a final note, remember that God often calls us to do this when it is not easy. And extravagant giving is costly. Consider the widow’s mites. Although the value of the mites was small, the value itself is insignificant. The important thing to note was that “she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:4). And Jesus felt obliged to make special mention of it, honoring her in the midst of the Pharisees. When Mary poured the costly oil over his head, Jesus also took special notice in the midst of his leaders, saying that this would be remembered forever.

Window of Acceleration for Kingdom Finances Part I

2006-06-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

This week, we will be further examining God’s prophetic timetable regarding the seasonal shift of Shavuot (Pentecost), particularly in regard to releasing Kingdom provision for the end-time harvest. The following article corresponds with our recent series on power evangelism, and I would recommend that you read those teachings in our archives, to better understand the urgency of the hour.
As we have stat ed over the past few weeks, we feel that this year’s Pentecost marks a wholesale release of authority in the realm of power evangelism to the corporate body of Christ, but it also points to a number of other prophetic indicators. At a series of meetings we conducted on Shavuot earlier this month, there were a number of healings, including several unusual miracles: metal pins melted from someone’s body, several instant weight loss miracles occurred, the Lord healed blood-related diseases, etc. But of greater interest was this: We instructed everyone to check their pockets at the onset of the meeting, because often God will miraculously deposit money there when His glory intensifies during the meeting. Following the session, a lady approached me having found three, one-dollar bills in her pocket which were not there before. By the next day, we learned that several others had similarly found three, one-dollar bills in their pockets. Furthermore, in the offering plate, a sig nificant number of envelopes all had three, one-dollar bills enclosed!
In the weeks following those meetings, the Lord continued to download what we feel is a timely message regarding Kingdom provision.

Release of Resurrection Power in Finances
While the number three represents the Trinity, the Lord clarified to us that this sign represented third-day resurrection power in the realm of Kingdom finances. Interestingly, none of th e bills appeared to be crisp, new dollar bills, but rather, they were bills which had already been in circulation. It is as if God translated the money from somewhere else, and put it into these people’s pockets!
We feel that the Lord is bringing back the axe head that was lost. In 2 Kings 6, one of the company of prophets who was with Elisha had lost a borrowed axe head, which fell in the river Jordan as he was chopping wood. Elisha made the iron axe head to float, thus bringing back the thing that was lost. In the same way, we feel prophetically, that this is a season of the Lord restoring loss in the realm of finances for the body.
The Lord gave us Is. 42:22, “But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are snared in holes, and they are hidden in prison houses; they are for prey, and no one delivers; for plunder, and no one says, ‘Restore!’” This is a season to begin saying, proclaiming and declaring the word “Restore!” over your finances. God longs to pour out the provision to supply your vision for this last day harvest. Not only is he pouring out power in the marketplace, but also in your day-to-day needs and affairs. And there is funding needed to fuel the labor of the harvest fields.
At the beginning of 2006, we prophesied that this would be a year of cancellation of debt, as well as the repayment of debt. That God would provide means of escape from it. For many, instead of escaping, it seems that the debt has continued to pile on since January! However, we feel that the fulfillment of this word was reserved, to begin now in the month of June. Shavuot is the Feast of Weeks, marking harvest season at the end of a 50-week period. This is also prophetic of the 50-year jubilee cycle, in which debts were ordered to be cancelled in all of Israel. So prepare now for the turning of the tide! The Lord is also making it clear that he wants us all to succeed financially, not just for our own sake or our own little kingdoms, but to further HIS Kingdom!

The Floating Axe Head
When we look at the story of the axe head, it is important to recognize first of all, that the thing was borrowed. Borrowed, represents debt. And this was not just anyone in debt; it was a spiritual person – a prophet, in fact. One of the first things that Elisha asked was this question, “Where did it fall?” (2 Kings 6:6).
God does not just want to bail you out of your predicament. He also wants to give you wisdom, to understand how you arrived there in the first place, so that you do not fall into the same pit again. Where did you lose your axe head? Where did you first start to encumber debtor financial loss? Is there a pattern or a character issue at stake? Have you lacked an essential element of faith, or overextended yourself needlessly? Allow the Lord to first show you where the loss occurred: where it is rooted.
Next, Elisha cut a stick and threw it at the place where the axe head was lost. This means we must apply the cross to this area of our lives. The Jordan River also represents the cross, or the baptism of self-death. Once this happened, the axe head was restored, immediately coming up supernaturally to the surface. Resurrection power!
The time is now for resurrection power in our finances. In our Shavuot meeting, there were nine sealed envelopes that supernaturally appeared in the offering basket (from a relatively small crowd), each bearing three, one dollar bills. Nine envelopes – or three threes – represent God in His fullness, right now! Bob Jones told me since that time that this number represents a “right now” thing of God, not something for the distant future, but for the present. For this reason, we feel that there is a key window of opportunity for financial breakthrough and Kingdom funding in this immediate season.

Examine Yourself!
Do you have all the funding you need for the vision the Lord has given you? Are there areas of loss in your life that still await vindication and the justice of God? If it is indebtedness you struggle with, how did you get into debt? Let us begin to examine these areas sincerely, then apply the sacrificial work of the cross them.

Concerning debt, in particular, let us look a bit closer. In the Kingdom, there is a difference between laws and principles. There is no specific law against indebtedness, but there is a general principle in script ure that debt should be avoided. This is not to say that a mortgage or auto loan is unbiblical. But neither is it something we should enter into lightly without God’s direction. Some have leapt headlong into legalism over such issues, never borrowing anything at all. Others have borrowed carelessly. Sometimes God does direct people to incur no indebtedness whatsoever. There is no formula, except to rely on the voice of God and not give heed to the deceitfulness of the heart regarding riches. It is clear that we are expected to use wisdom in these issues, and hear clearly from the Lord.

Whe n the Lord begins to pinpoint an area where you lacked trust – perhaps where you stepped out on credit, rather than stepping out on faith – then it is time to apply the cross. And in the area of finances, the cross nearly always looks like giving.

God uses foolish things to confound the wise. One of the most “foolish” things we can do to escape debt is to sow into the glory. Of course, this is really not foolish at all, but it is the wisdom of God to deliver us from poverty and fear of lack.

Sowing into the Glory
We are not called just to invest in a person or a ministry, but into the very glory of God. This is where acceleration comes from. We don’t just sow into man’s projects, but we sow into the anointing – into the things God Himself is blessing – and then Miracle Gro is applied to the seed!

In Acts 4:36-37, we read of a man who invested greatly into the apostolic anointing:

“Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

First of all, the man Joseph should not have owned any land at all in Israel, since he was a Levite. The land may have been sold in Cyprus, or perhaps it belonge d to his wife. But either way, it very likely represented everything he had, as he sowed a very costly gift. As we follow the progress of the life of Barnabas, we begin to see the ramification of this sacrificial sowing into the glory. By Acts 13, this same Barnabas is recognized as a “prophet/teacher.” And by Acts 14:14, Barnabas is recognized as an apostle, right along with Paul! He reaped the very same mantle into which he invested his earthly treasure.

There are a number of keys here to pick up. First of all, we should recognize th at everything we own belongs on the altar, not just our tithe! Also, while we can never buy the anointing, as Simon the Sorcerer attempted to do, we definitely reap it when we sow into it sacrificially. Whenever I see a mantle on someone’s life that I respect and long to operate in myself, I love to sow into their lives and ministry, because it always rubs off when we partner with Heaven.
Furthermore, it is critical that we not just pursue provision or finances, but rather, pursue the anointing and favor of God on your life in the place of intimacy and relationship. It has been said that five minutes of God's favor is better than a thousand days of strife. As we learn to trust God with our needs and pursue His glory, it is His favor that will begin to open doors.

Next week, we will take some of these concepts further, as we discuss the favor of God, overcoming poverty and becoming a blessing in the Kingdom …

The Next Wave is Here: Power Evangelism (Part II)

2006-06-10T15:15:00.000-08:00

Last week, we discussed the new wave of power evangelism that is right now being unleashed on the body of Christ. Because this is a monumental shift in the church at this time, we would like to further explore some of the implications, as well as give some practical tips for engaging the supernatural realm in the marketplace.

A Gospel of Signs and Wonders?
Many are afraid to pursue power, signs and wonders today because they associate any supernatural manifestation whatsoever with the miracle-working heretics the scriptures clearly warn about. But scriptures are even clearer about a last-day company of believers who will work true miracles for the glory of God, to usher in the last-day harvest. Are there false signs and wonders being worked in the world today? You had better believe it. Just consider all the New Age gurus, shamans and Far Eastern religions that are performing more legitimate supernatural acts than most average church-goers. These are “legitimate” in the sense that they are really supernatural (not just parlor tricks), however, they are demonically inspired acts of power. Demonic power is real – it is the heresy and lies which lurk behind them which are “false.”
If there is a false, counterfeit sign, then there must also be a true counterpart. Moses’ rod turned to a snake – the exact same miracle as Pharaoh’s magicians. If someone were to turn a stick into a snake in any average church service today, it is almost guaranteed that half the congregation would flip out and flee! This is a bizarre sign, and it looked just like the trick that the sorcerers could do. But Moses had a different power source: Almighty God! And Moses’ sign triumphed over the other counterparts, as his serpent gobbled up the rest.
We do not preach a gospel of signs and wonders. Nor do we preach a gospel of salvation only. Both are only partial truths that can lead to error if left to stand alone. We preach the same gospel that Jesus preached: the gospel of the Kingdom. The Good News of the Kingdom encompasses more than just salvation. And the Kingdom is much bigger and broader than just the church. Church is only part of the Kingdom. Salvation is just the door to enter into the Kingdom. And many people camp there. Many churches preach a salvation message every single week, and the flock never matures past an “avoid hell” mindset. Many never get past that door, never entering into the fullness of the Kingdom. And this is partly what Jesus meant, when he said that many in the religious order stand in the doorway blocking others from entering, even though they never enter in themselves (Matt. 23:13).
Like Paul, we must preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But we need to unfold the fullness of what that really means, and its implications are eternal and multi-dimensional. If the gospel you are preaching is true (not just theologically true, but also demonstrating the flavor, Spirit, character and nature of Jesus as you preach it), then God will back you up with power. Consequently, we must also recognize that miracles themselves are not a fail-proof litmus test of perfect doctrine. Many wonderworkers throughout history brought great glory to God through their miraculous lives, yet many simultaneously erred on certain points of doctrine.
Moses struck the rock, and God still blessed the people with a miracle. Water gushed out of it. But Moses was told to “speak to the rock,” not strike it. And so Moses was prevented from entering the Promise Land. Moses improperly demonstrated the nature and character of God as one who wanted to strike the people in disfavor. That was not the case: God was not angry with anyone. In this case, Moses erred, but nevertheless, God still used him to work a valid miracle. Many of the healing evangelists of the past century also worked tremendous healings and unusual miracles. They led many to the Lord and inspired many to a higher walk of faith. Yet many of these same men fell into strange and aberrant beliefs at times. This does not mean we should avoid miracles and supernatural power! It just means we should be stabilized in the word and the heart of God. I truly believe that intimacy with Jesus is the key to preventing even the grossest doctrinal error.

Pursue Power
I am fully convinced that there is no danger, whatsoever, in pursuing godly acts of power. The apostle Paul explicitly directs us to eagerly desire the greater spiritual gifts. Those who reject the true power of God will be most prone to succumb to the counterfeit when it is presented. The same is true for the prophetic. Those who most reject true prophetic insight from God are often the most prone to counterfeit prophetic. This is why we have a multi-billion dollar psychic industry today, and many of those calling psychic hotlines are Christians! Where there is a vacuum for the true prophetic, people will eat anything, even garbage. Even in the church today, there are various pseudo-prophetic materials that are extremely popular, but they are not inspired revelation from the throne! They are just guesswork ideas of how the end-times will unfold, and many of the eschatological ideas presented there are not Biblically based. God doesn’t want us trying to figure out the future analytically. He wants to reveal it Himself. If we just get into the Word and into God’s presence, we are not left behind guessing and confused.

Increase Your Faith Level
There is a simple formula for stepping into power evangelism: Believe!
If we just believe the scriptures, then all things truly become possible. Although we tend to agree intellectually with the validity of wild miracles in the Bible: the parting of the Red Sea, the calling down of fire from Heaven on Mt. Carmel, etc. – the truth is, we really don’t have a deep, heart-level belief that much of this is true. Otherwise, we would begin to emulate it in our own lives!
Furthermore, the greatest thing we must come to believe is in the reality and close proximity of God at all times in our everyday lives, no matter how we feel. Diving into the Word, and becoming saturated with His glory presence will propel us to a greater degree of supernatural manifestation.
Signs haven’t followed our message, because the church has not believed. I do not speak of “saving faith.” Salvation is not based on the miracles you do or do not perform. There are degrees of faith. And to the degree you believe, so will your life demonstrate the miraculous. Faith is increased by hearing the word of God – both the written logos and the inspired rhema.
Are there levels of faith? “According to your faith let it be to you” (Mt. 9:29). “I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel” (Mt. 8:10). It is clear that Jesus quantifies faith. It comes in exponential levels. “If you have faith as a mustard seed …” Clearly, our faith must be increased, in order to press in for the higher realms of the miraculous. One little mustard tree grows a mighty tree. But how does this happen? Overnight? No. Faith must be partnered with patience. It is by faith and patience that we inherit the promises. Many give up praying for healing after only a couple of tries. Their faith lacks patience. Patience will test your faith, to see if it is real. Satan lacks patience. If you keep your faith in tact, you can often wait him out.
So there is faith, but there is also patience. There is faith, but there is also love. These virtues overlap, but they are also distinct. I am convinced that if we pursue the love of God first and foremost, then faith will be added to us. Love conquers all.
We should also understand that seeing is believing. Do not forget the testimony of miracles that you have already seen, because these testimonies serve to bolster your faith in the future. So we honor small miracles, and keep them in remembrance, in order to build our faith for bigger ones. If I see one little miracle, it becomes a platform for me to step up on that same level of the miraculous and beyond. If I watch someone get healed of a broken arm at a revival meeting, then seeing is believing. I can tap into the remembrance of that testimony and believe for healing the next time I am praying for a sick person. For God, there is no difference between healing a head cold and raising the dead. Both require the same substance of faith.

Divine Alliances Being Forged
Along with this outpouring of power evangelism, divine alliances between ministries will allow the body of Christ to strategically pinpoint cities and regions. People will travel from miles to sweep entire cities, where literally everyone in a large metropolitan area will hear the gospel preached at once – often within a day’s time. The prophet Joel tells us that the Lord’s army will literally take nations in a day. Imagine when the church functions efficiently in such unity and power, responding to the “now” words of the Lord to such a degree that massive offensives can be launched at a national scale. Not just someone saying, “I am a national-level prophet.” But I’m talking about an outpouring where everyone hears and responds on such a broad scale, regardless of denomination, title, rank or position, that thousands of believers buy plane tickets and converge en masse on a foreign nation armed with the power of the gospel. Truly, the Lord is about to be head over his church again, by the Spirit, in the same way that He desired to lead Israel without a king. And we will respond corporately and strategically to His voice without the need for hyped programs that are really just geared to build up someone’s individual ministry.

We will see churches populated overnight. There have been individuals in scripture, like Jonah who took a city in a day and Elijah who turned a nation in a day. But there have also been foretastes of this scale of corporate mobilization in the church as well. John Dowie, who built a whole city in Illinois based on divine healing, consistently assaulted the city of Chicago in the late 1800s, sending in so many teams of healing evangelists that every single door of the entire city had been knocked on by someone empowered with the healing anointing. Dowie was known coast-to-coast.

Part of the setback has been your focus on your own region!

To be a truly effective body, we must learn not to be territorial. God does not care what title is on your building. In fact, He does not even care what flag is waving over your yard. The church is about to identify more with its citizenship in the Kingdom than its citizenship and affiliations on earth. Then, we will not just be focused on getting our own house, our own neighborhood or our own city saved. We will have a much broader Kingdom vision. Though we may be called to a specific geographic area or people group, we never want to get myopic. Often, God will call you to sacrificially focus on cities and regions outside of your own, in order to achieve breakthrough where you live. It’s the principle of losing your life for others, in order to find your own life. It’s the same spiritual principle, only it is broadened to a macro scale for regions. Sacrifice for the life of another’s region, and you will receive breakthrough in your own.

I was raised in the state of Georgia, but left years ago for ministry work in Alaska, as well as the many other places the Lord has carried us to around the world ever since. Just recently, the Lord called us to return back to Georgia, and it is amazing to experience the level of breakthrough here, now that I am returning to the region. We have experienced a tremendous level of miracles, favor and provision. Since our focus has been and remains outward and mission-minded, the Lord is now granting favor on the home front.

I was amazed to see that one of the churches in our home town here had grown from 450 members to 3,200 in just a few years! It is truly the only “mega-church” in town, with a very large percentage of them being new converts. And interestingly enough, the pastor there attributes the tremendous growth and favor of God on this work to their continual focus on mission work outside of the immediate region.

God knows we all need him to touch our respective cities and regions. And He is so pleased when He sees that we have a heart for our home lands to be reached. However, He wants to expand our love to the foreigner as well. On an individual level, this principle especially true, as evangelism of any sort requires us to step out of our own comfort zone to reach out to others.

Francis Xavier, the great missionary to India and Japan in the 1500s, operated at an intense level of power evangelism. He led 700,000 to the Lord, with many dead raisings and 500 pages of firsthand documented miracles recorded at the time of his death. Xavier regularly levitated off the ground during communion, and once an entire town was instantly healed of a deadly plague just because his boat pulled into shore that day at the dock!

Although Xavier’s primary work was the mission field, he also had a dramatic impact on his own homeland of Spain. His letters and revival reports from his Far East exploits paved the way for taking ground in his own home region for the Kingdom.

But sacrificial mission work, though noble -- and church growth programs, though well-devised -- are not enough. We need comprehensive and daily strategy from the throne room of God, we need the manifest hand of His power and we need a generation that walks in bridal intimacy like never before, in order to bring in the last-days harvest.

The voices of the prophets must begin to come into strategic alignment so the body is not flailing. It is imperative that we know the times and seasons for specific regions. We are coming to a day when God will say “now is the time for Indianapolis.” All of the prophets will agree, and ministries from around the nation and beyond will pour resources and planning into taking Indianapolis in one massive offensive. There is commanded blessing in the place of unity.

Tips for Engaging Power Evangelism

Obviously, there are no formulas to working miracles. The only formula is to get anointed! You must be utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit. However, there are a few practical pointers I would like to suggest that the Lord seems to be using with us:

>>Stay full of the Spirit! – as I said before, this is foundational for the miraculous. Lots of people flop and crunch and manifest and wiggle because God shows up in a church service. But how consistent is their walk? Does God disappear when they are at the grocery store, or are they no longer “drunk as you suppose?” (Acts 2:15). The apostles were not afraid to have physical manifestations of the Spirit of God right out in public. Lots of people leave their ecstatic experiences with God in the closet, or in places where it makes them look more “spiritual” (in a conference, meeting, etc.), but not in places where they could be mocked or persecuted. This often disqualifies us for the “greater glory” that could show up when we follow His River into the streets. I like to drink in public.
Not everyone experiences God with manifestations, but everyone can know His presence. It is actually His presence that brings the boldness you need to approach people. In Acts 4:31, after the apostles prayed, “the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” The infilling brings boldness. It is the wine of God that enables you to say things confidently, because you are so inebriated in His presence that you don’t care what other people think.

>>Seek Signs & Wonders! – Jesus says that a wicked generation requires a sign to believe. But He never said that He wouldn’t give them one! I would suggest that it is a wise people who seek signs, in order to convert a wicked generation around them. A lot has to do with motives. Do you seek God’s power just to be entertained, or because you love Him and want to demonstrate and experience His glory? For those who believe it is wrong to seek signs and wonders, they may have a few doctrinal conflicts with the apostles of the faith who prayed, “Now, Lord … enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30). To enter into the things I am talking about will require much more than a casual, “Well, if God wants to do it, then His will be done …” That kind of fluffy garbage – waiting on a lightning bolt – is why much of the church is so apathetic today. We should have read the scriptures enough to KNOW what His will is. And we need to be full enough of Him in order that we can step up and fulfill His will with our delegated authority. We must aggressively pursue the miraculous.

>>Go two-by-two – I now understand a very practical reason why Jesus commissioned his missionaries to go out in pairs. It keeps us accountable to the vision and the common goal in mind. This way, when your waiter comes to the table in the restaurant, you don’t back down and think “Maybe it’s not really her time to hear and see the gospel.” Your partner is there to remind you that you are on a mission, and someone just swam into your net!
I find that I am much more effective in evangelism when I am with someone else. And spiritually, your combined presence drives more demons to flight, because when two or three gather, there is Jesus in the midst of us.

>>Get around anointed people – Find someone who already moves in this stuff and hang around them. Watch them. Let the anointing rub off on you. Healing and the working of miracles, much like the prophetic, is a transferable anointing. Don’t be foolish and say, “Well if God wants to move, he can do it here on my turf.” Go to where God is moving. If it means traveling 800 miles to a conference or making a pilgrimage somewhere outside of your own back yard, do it! I have met many people who refuse to go to conferences or spiritual watering holes because they have no perception whatsoever of how resident or transferable anointings work. It boils down to their arrogant presumption that if God is truly moving, it must involve themselves first and foremost. They have problems receiving from others, either out of pride, jealousy or hurt. That is why God will often use foolish vessels to carry his greatest power, because it requires us to humble ourselves all the more in order to receive from them!

The Next Wave is Here: Power Evangelism (Part I)

2006-06-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Shalom!
Yesterday evening, June 2, 2006, marks the beginning of Pentecost-Shavuot on the Jewish calendar on a year that corresponds to the 100th anniversary of a latter-day “Pentecost” outpouring on Azusa Street, Los Angeles in 1906. This weekend marks a most strategic release for the Body of Christ as the Lord is beginning to extend a baptism of fire like the church has never before experienced at this level of intensity.
I am writing to tell you today that the next wave is here. And it is called power evangelism. The church has been in a beautiful season of renewal and refreshing over the past decade, as the Lord has been restoring tenets of intimacy, soaking and the first-love art of practicing His presence. But unfortunately – and quite frankly – many have begun to fall asleep while “waiting on the Lord,” and it is time for the next move of God to shake us and wake us into action. There is truly an awakening wind sweeping from coast to coast, and the signature mark of this next wave of the Spirit is supernatural demonstrations of power in the streets. There is a release of signs and wonders – healings and various miracles – available in the marketplace today like the church has not seen since the Voice of Healing revival in the 1950s or the Azusa outpouring a century ago, when parishioners spilled out of William Seymour’s old horse-stable church literally going door-to-door through the city streets with bottles of anointing oil to heal the sick.

“It is time to launch an all-out assault”
As this awakening wind begins to blow, we will see that the kingdom truly suffers violence and the violent will take it by force. We have noticed a drastic increase already in the power afforded us on the streets. Just the other morning in fact, a lady who was deaf from birth began to feel her ears begin to crack and pop open as I cast a deaf and dumb spirit out of her in the middle of a small, crowded breakfast café in rural Georgia. Later in the day, the Lord spoke to me and said, “It is time to launch an all-out assault.” We are living in a time when we can no longer afford to hesitate. Today, the Lord is giving His church marching orders to carry His power to the marketplace.
Lately, in our meetings, the Lord often has us commission everyone two-by-two at the ends of the service, once they are brimmed to overflowing with the Spirit. Then we launch them right out of the meeting with some activation homework: Go get a soul! We have people spill immediately into Wal-Mart, Denny’s or whatever is open late, in order to keep up with God after He leaves the meeting.

Importance of Shavuot
We have been anxiously awaiting this weekend, and the entire month of June in fact, since meeting with Bob Jones earlier this spring. Bob told us to be on the look out for the strategic timing of June 2, and that the entire month of June will be one of the best times ever for the church at large. We believe this is intrinsically connected with a fresh Pentecost outpouring for power evangelism.
Traditionally, Pentecost/Shavuot (which literally means the Feast of Weeks) is the date when Moses received the commandments on Mt. Sinai. Later, in the book of Acts, it was this same time that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and the same law was written on their hearts by the power of the Spirit. Pentecost represents a full release of the Word of God, mingled and connected with the Spirit of God. It represents the two latter-day mantles coming on the church: the Law of Moses and the power of the Spirit of Elijah. Both were foretold by the prophet Malachi.
On Shavuot, the people of Israel were commanded to wave two loaves of bread as an offering before the Lord. Unlike other bread and grain offerings, the two loaves of Pentecost were explicitly required to contain yeast. Yeast is this case is representative of sin. All other bread and grain offerings represented the coming sacrifice of Jesus, who was pure and blameless. However, these two loaves on Pentecost represent YOU – a sacrificial people, who pay the price to walk in the fullness of the Spirit and the Word. The two loaves are also Moses and Elijah, the mantles of the two witnesses coming onto the church (see Zech. 4 and Rev. 11). The last day church will walk in the purity of the word (not legalism), as well as the power of the Spirit. And Revelation 11 tells us that we will do the same signs as Moses and Elijah – at times even calling down fire, releasing plagues, etc.!
The power that God is releasing in this next wave is phenomenal. However, the anointing is a costly oil. It costs everything you have and requires a lifestyle of becoming a living sacrifice, dying daily as Holy Spirit increases in your life. You must become a wave offering. And believe me, it’s well worth the cost! When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, three thousand people were killed because they transgressed. But in the Book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, three thousand were added to the church and they were given life as their old nature was crucified with Christ. There is a massive wave of harvest released when we step into this level of anointing.

The Wave is Here
In his Shepherd’s Rod for 2006, Bob and Paul Keith Davis state that, “All that has taken place in this hour is part of the preparatory process for a wave of harvest that is to come. The next major outpouring of the Spirit will be for ‘power evangelism.’”
I feel that this current move of God is on the level of the next Toronto, or the next major outpouring, but it will effect exponentially more people directly. We have already been swimming in this thing for a while, but it is about to catch like wildfire throughout the body. Individual believers and pockets of groups everywhere will start their day by getting drunk in the Spirit (the apostles had to get loaded before the miracles exploded!), get directives for the day, and then launch out to the marketplace in signs and wonders. To those who were faithful to build on what God released in this past renewal (soaking, intimacy, Holy Ghost drinking), He is now taking them to the next level of raw demonstrations of the miraculous. For those who refuse to move forward, they will get stuck in an old wineskin of just laying on the floor – and even risk losing what they have.
It is important to get filled up before you try this stuff. Intimacy in worship enables you to hear revelatory instructions, and when you follow that instruction, that’s when demonstrations of power happen.
This is why the time directly after our miracle services is a great time to immediately snatch souls from coffee shops, grocery stores or whatever is still open after hours. Because people are full! Just a couple weeks ago I went to Wal-Mart after a service and the first person I approached was struck with the Spirit of the Fear of the Lord. He was a big guy, but after I approached him for prayer, horror struck his face. He jumped into his car and wouldn’t roll the window down again, even as I tapped on it! That night, we led about six people to Jesus in one fell swoop. A guy’s back was healed on aisle four, and he recommitted his life to the Lord. Another man with a limp leg was healed in the automotive section, doing squats right in the middle of the store!

Signs are the Litmus Test for the True Gospel
The early apostles never preached a gospel that was not backed by power. Acts 4:33 says that, “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace (favor!) was upon them all.” When the Holy Spirit shows up for harvest, His presence is always marked by supernatural boldness and miraculous power. Miracles are not always the seal of approval for sound doctrine, however, the gospel will always be marked by power when it is preached in its fullness. Consider again, in Acts 14:3, as Paul and Barnabas spent time in Iconium, they were “speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.” Holy Spirit is the “enabler.” When we seek Him first, stuff happens. Notice in the passage above that the miracles were given, in order to “confirm the message of His grace.” For too long, there has been a charismatic focus on trying to convince the unbelieving element of the church that miracles and healings are for us today. But this focus keeps us stymied. Miracles are not just given to convince other Christians that miracles are for today. This is a circular exercise in futility. Miracles are given for a higher purpose than simply to point to their own existence. Miracles are given to “confirm” the message. They are given to prove and illustrate Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.
Anyone who does not operate in signs and wonders is not completely illustrating the gospel. Ouch! Jesus said in Matt. 10:7-8, “As you go, preach this message: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” The message of the Kingdom is much broader than the message of salvation only. And it is a message that can not just be talked about, because the “Kingdom of God is not just a matter of talk, but of power” (1 Cor. 4:20). It is a message that must be demonstrated and clearly seen.
The church is now moving from an age of talk to an hour of display. Instead of just hearing about supernatural stuff, we are seeing it. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to ask if Jesus was truly the Messiah, Jesus responded in Matt. 11:4, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” Jesus did not just have them speak of what they heard, but what they saw with their own eyes. They didn’t just rattle off some teaching they heard. They didn’t tell John just about a miracle they “heard about” that someone else performed. They didn’t even tell John a personal word they “heard” from God in prayer. They shared firsthand accounts of what they had seen, with their own two eyes, in addition to what they had heard. Outward display. Physical manifestation of the unseen realm.
We will continue with more next week!

When will Joel’s Army emerge? Part II

2006-05-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Last week, we discussed how God is waiting on us to step into our true identity as sons and daughters, manifesting the fullness of the Kingdom that already dwells within us. As we begin to believe who we really are, the outworking of our God-nature will spill over into our natural lives with explosive supernatural experience. The timing of the release of Joel’s Army is simply hinging on you and I realizing and appropriating the fact that we are not dry bones, but a mighty army already.

We must no longer identify ourselves with the natural circumstances or even the temporary struggles we face in this world. We are first and foremost citizens of Heaven, and that is where we should spend most of our time. Your spirit man is already seated with Christ in Heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). And that realm is a greater reality than the shadowy natural world around you. You are a spiritual being clothed temporarily with a natural body.

Your spirit is melded together with Jehovah Rapha the Healer. There is no separation between you and Christ. It is only logical that the hem of your garment should heal the sick. If the ark of the presence sat on Obed-Edom’s land and caused his house and crops and land to prosper, how much more should your marketplace, home and surroundings prosper, since you are now a carrier of that same presence?

Owning our identity

We are on the earth, even while we are in Heaven. We dwell simultaneously in two realms. In the meantime, we are bringing our soul into the submission and maturity of who we already are in the spirit. The only reason we have not seen the full outworking of our supernatural arsenal, is because we are still in this process of aligning our soul with Heaven. The Christian life is much less complicated than we make it. It is simply a matter of realization.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father (Gal. 4:1-2).

When is the appointed time for the Father to release the fullness of the inheritance to the children? You already have it. You own the whole estate. So when is the set time for you to step into it? As soon as you are ready. He is waiting on you. This is not a timing element, but a maturity issue. And maturity is defined by our level of holy hunger and unconditional openness to the Lord. And these things increase by “tasting and seeing.” Again – it is by realizing His goodness that is already lavished upon us. We love Him more by recognizing that He first loved us.

We are sons and heirs. We are not slaves. The Lord is shaking off the orphan spirit and making us bold to approach the throne of grace. An army cannot be focused on its insecurities and failures. Nor can we focus on the distance to our destiny. Our destiny is today. The Lord is releasing an understanding of our beauty, holiness and positional authority. He has placed His beauty, His holiness and His authority on us. We just need to believe who we already are! We must continue to hammer this point, as it is critical to the emergence of Joel’s Army.

For one, understand that you are completely perfect in Him. If that is how He sees you, then it is a greater reality than what you have believed about yourself. Song of Solomon 4:7 says, “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” You carry such an intensity about you, because of His blood, that the Lord Himself says, “Turn your eyes from me; they overwhelm me!” (Song 6:5).

You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:21). You are absolutely perfect forever! (Heb. 10:14). You have been made holy (Heb. 10:10).

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation (Col. 1:22).

Many are so fearful and shame-ridden that they shrink from this kind of talk. In their false humility, they refuse to stand on what the Word of God says about themselves. Many who are contending for healing, prophecy, signs, wonders and miraculous powers will excuse their lack of fruit by simply saying, “I’m not there yet.” But the truth is, you’ve been there all along. The fullness of the Godhead already dwells in you. Every gift is already inside of you.

And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority (Col. 2:10).

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3).

We even have the mind of Christ! (1 Cor. 2:16). That means access to everything He knows – access to the full range of the thought-work of God. Nothing is impossible for us.

Joel’s Army will emerge when we encounter a deep recognition of this true identity, becoming who we already are. This means believing the word, and allowing our soul to come into alignment with who we already are in the spirit man. We are a heavenly class of God-like beings, made in His image. Even the angels are in wonder at us. In the sanctification process, we must not get hung up on the defects of our soul. We must tap into the greater reality of the spirit realm, where our spirit man is already completely perfected in union with Him. Identification with the spirit brings the soul into alignment. The Christian mystics often refer to this as our True Self. That inner man who is absolutely complete in Christ.

No one has ever tapped into everything salvation purchased for them. Some think it is impossible. But there should be no strife involved in owning what you already own! Your acquittal is based not on your deeds, but on a free gift. Not based on what we do – based on what He did. Already yours. Take it, live in it, drink it, feast in it. We don’t do anything to achieve it, we only believe it. It will not take years of prayer and fasting, nor any other amount of spiritual discipline. It takes faith and desire. And these too are free gifts.

Stop identifying with your infirmities and shortcomings. Those belong to the false self. Simon the Leper was healed 2,000 years ago, but still today, we refer to him as “Simon the Leper.” Talk about owning your disease! It became his name and trademark for the ages. We own weakness, fear, pride, ambition, religion and all manner of spiritual roadblocks. But Jesus doesn’t see any of that stuff when He looks at you. You must begin to see yourself through His lenses. He does not see your dry bones. He sees a great and vast army.

To get a glimpse of who we are in the spirit should build us up, not puff us up. The True Self is complete in beauty, because it is His beauty placed upon us. We must not trust in our own beauty, as if it is somehow separate from Him. Apart from Him, I am nothing.

We want holy confidence without pride or self-sufficiency. False humility denies your true identity. True humility recognizes the source of your strength and purity. To acknowledge your True Self is not to be self-focused. The True Self is always locked in a gaze toward the Savior. Let my gaze be upon Him.

When I am fixated on Him, I will become like Him. This is like a simple, mathematical formula. Gaze at Jesus, and you will become like Him.

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).

To look at Him is to become captivated and possessed by Him. When our eyes are full of His light, our entire being becomes light. We are not Bride focused, but Bridegroom focused. More important than the emergence of Joel’s Army is the coming of the Lord Himself. And when will He come? Perhaps, again, He is waiting on us.

There must be an Elijah generation that will usher in and prepare the way for His second coming. A company of people who operate in a forerunner spirit. This army must see Him coming ahead of time in order to manifest an accurate depiction of who He is in the meantime. We need our spiritual eyes open to gaze on Him now, so that the church can be a clear manifestation of who He really is here on the earth.

Who Are You Waiting For?

Let’s get up close and personal for a minute. It is easy to criticize the corporate church for her apathy and lack of power, but revival begins with me. The church may indeed be in a state of dryness. But all it takes is one fire starter to ignite the dry fields.

Psalm 103 begins with the psalmist just calling his own soul into submission. It ends with him calling the angels, the heavenly hosts and all of God’s dominion into alignment with Heaven. God can use one submitted soul to shake the nations.

Do you have to wait for the rest of the army to be rallied, before you take up arms? This is perhaps one of the largest misperceptions regarding Joel’s Army. We wait for someone else to break through, to set the marching rhythm – wait for someone else to set the precedent and call the Lord’s battalions into alignment.

But here’s the kicker: you are already enlisted. The moment you gave your life to the Lord, you received your draft orders. The real question is this: do you want to be a grunt or a general? The Lord is looking for leaders. A leader is someone who takes initiative and doesn’t look for the approval and confirmation of others. Leaders are not afraid of criticism. Nor are they swayed by the praise and vain glory of men. The spirit of a pioneer steps into uncharted territory and plows the way for others to advance.

Joel’s Army is already on the rise. And you can ascend its ranks just by allowing the Lord of Hosts to wear you like a suit and move with the flow of His river that already resides fully inside of you.

When will Joel’s Army emerge? Part I

2006-05-09T11:02:00.000-08:00

How long have we heard the prophecies about the Lord amassing a mighty army of wonderworkers, seers and revivalists – a supernatural generation that will prepare the way for His second coming? This is not a new concept. From the onset of the present-day prophetic movement, the emergence of this company of forerunners has been a hot topic. Prophetic voices such as Bob Jones, Paul Cain, Rick Joyner, Mike Bickle, Jack Deere and countless others have heralded the advancement of an end-time generation that would demonstrate signs and wonders like never before in history.

In this series of teachings, we want to look briefly at the Lord’s timetable for the emergence of this army. The modern-day resurgence of this prophetic understanding can be traced back to the Voice of Healing revival in the 1940s and ‘50s. Men like Jack Coe and William Branham saw an entire church rising up to operate in healing, prophecy and the fullness of the gifts and outworkings of the Holy Spirit. They trumpeted the coming prophetic army spoken of by Joel:

Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come. Before them a fire devours, behind them a flame blazes (Joel 2:2-3).

The Lord thunders at the head of His army; His forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey His command (Joel 2:11).

Apostolic faith movements in the latter 19th century foresaw the church coming into the fullness of manifest power. At the dawn of the Pentecostal revival a century ago, Charles Parham said:

At Christ’s second coming the church will be found with the same power that the apostles and the early church possessed. The power of Pentecost is manifest in us. The Christian religion must be demonstrated. The world wants to be shown. Then let God’s power be manifest through us.

In another prophecy, found among the writings of late healing evangelist Charles Price in 1916, and perhaps dating back to 1679, we see a foreshadow of this end-time army:

. . . the most prophetical generation, will the Most High raise up who shall deliver His elect by the force of spiritual arms; for which there must be raised certain head powers to bear the first office, who are to be persons in favor with God, whose dread and fear shall fall on all nations, visible and invisible, because of the mighty acting power of the Holy Spirit which shall rest upon them; for Christ shall appear in some chosen vessels to bring into the Promised Land. Thus Moses and Joshua may be considered types of some upon whom the same spirit will fall, yet in greater proportion! Whereby they shall make way for the ransomed of the Lord to return to Mt. Zion.

There has always been a remnant in the church who have, by faith, foreseen the coming end-time apostolic age. Why? Because it is truth. This is not imaginary. Peter himself saw it on the day of Pentecost, tracing the very words back to Joel, who tells us that the Lord will one day pour out His Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28-29).

What will this generation look like?

This will truly be a company of people who blow the boxes of “church as usual” to smithereens. As Aaron Evans recently said, “God is going to take the book of Exodus and the book of Acts and He’s going to supersize them.” Much can be said about this army of God, and much more will be written, as we have already seen first fruits of its ranks

For our purposes here, I will only highlight a few points about the characteristics of this army. In my book, The New Mystics, we discuss this coming generation in more detail, offering historical precedent for the level of power they will display.

The bottom line is that this company of people will be more intimate with the Lord and display more of his manifest power than any other generation. Miracles like have never before been seen will become commonplace. Healing will become so readily available for the church that just to walk through the doors of an assembly, one will be instantly healed.

As persecution increases, including persecution in the West, some will literally become invincible to it. They will possess the spirit of might like Samson or David’s Mighty Men. These will be similar to many of the “would-be” martyrs throughout church history – some of their bodies were incombustible to flames, survived boiling oil, or continued to live for a time, even after they were beheaded!

Many will understand their authority even over the natural elements of this earth. They will stop tidal waves, speak to objects and command them to move – someone will even literally speak to a mountain, and it will throw itself into the sea.

This is not just a generation that will operate in a gift of healing or a prophetic utterance. They will demonstrate bizarre miracles. There will be mass dead raisings, translations, levitation and other things. This may sound far fetched, but all of this stuff has already happened in the lifetime of Jesus and the apostles. And John 14:12 tells us that greater things than these we shall do, because Jesus went to the Father. The very same Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead is living in us, so how much more shall we operate in His power? In fact, all of these things have already happened in the church age. But we will see a culmination of miracles in this end-time bridal paradigm that has no Biblical precedent, other than the fact that scriptures tell us all things are possible for them that believe.

This will be the generation of the Sons of Golden Oil – the two lampstands and the two olive trees in Zech. 4 and Rev. 11. They constantly flow with the oil of the anointing, the lampstand representing their continual walk in the fullness of the sevenfold spirit of God. They will be typified by the mantle of Moses and Elijah, the two saints whom Jesus met on the Mount of Transfiguration in Luke 9, when he shone the brilliance of His manifest glory. Moses and Elijah represent the Spirit and the Word, and this is a generation who will walk in the Spirit and the Word full throttle, enabling them to ascend heights like none of their predecessors before them.

God is Waiting on Us

It is imperative that we eliminate a few misconceptions about the timing and emergence of this great supernatural army. For far too long, we have labeled it a “coming” generation – future tense – and for the sake of expediency I often say the same. But this apostolic bride is only “coming” inasmuch as we ourselves are willing to sit around in our grave clothes or hide in the baggage like Saul, afraid to step into our authority as sons of the King.

Most of us are content to sit and twiddle our thumbs, anticipating the release of some divine dispensation – a worldwide lightning bolt that will somehow transition us into the latter days and the start of this generation. But Jesus has already given us everything we need to access His unlimited anointing. Is it possible that He is waiting on us?

I recently had a dream in which the Lord Himself leaned over to me and asked, “When will this generation come?” I was not asking Him; He was asking me. We are not waiting on God to supernaturally bring this revival generation to pass. God is waiting on you and I to become who we already are. To manifest the fullness of the Godhead that already dwells within us.

Romans 8:19 tells us that all of creation also waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed – to manifest who they already are. Nature itself, the very elements of the earth, are longing to be brought into their divine alignment, even as God set Adam over earth as a shadow of Christ over creation. The authority of the Kingdom of Heaven longs to be released on earth, and the earth is crying out for Heaven. Could it be that the lynchpin – the critical link in the chain – is you and I? Is it possible that the only missing piece of the puzzle is for you and I to believe who we already are? Or moreover, to believe who He is within us?

Revival is Now

I am fully convinced that revival is right now for whoever wants it. We can have as much of God as we want. We can operate in any level of holiness, hunger, humility or power that we want. Heaven is fully open and at our disposal. Every veil is torn that separates us from God, and all enmity between us and the Father has been removed through the shed blood of Christ.

There are no excuses for us to be sleeping during harvest time. Proverbs 10:5 says, “He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.” There are no excuses for us not to be operating beyond our natural capabilities. No excuses for us not to operate in the supernatural. Lack of faith is not an excuse, for we can always ask for more faith. Apathy and lack of desire is not an excuse, for we can always ask the Father to rekindle the flame of divine intimacy.

It is awakening time. Time for action. To say we are waiting on God for revival is essentially our pitiful way of blaming Him for the iniquity in our communities and the unregenerate hearts in our own spheres of influence. He has put you and I in the midst of these times and places to be salt and light. If salt loses its saltiness, it is worthless. Many are not seeing revival around them, because there is no personal revival within. Every day should be revival time for you and I. He expects us to extend our own staff of delegated authority. Like Moses, God wants us to stop whining for Him to do something, and instead stretch forth our own rod of power to split the Red Seas before us.

God has equipped us with all the tools we need to make revival happen. In fact, He has given us His very Spirit!

Do you not say, “Four months more and then the harvest?” I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest (John 4:35).

Now is the time. Joel’s Army will emerge with or without us. Our own individual role in this movement will be determined by us, because many are called. The question we have been asking, “How much longer?” is really insufficient, unless we are asking it of ourselves. This is our chance to run with gospel of the Kingdom like no one before us. Let us make the most of our days here and become earth shakers.

The Control Spirit and Apostolic Fathering Part II

2006-04-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

This week, we will continue our teaching on apostolic fathering and the control spirit. We will primarily be discussing how to get free from the influence and wounding of control. I will also be highlighting the need for sound leadership and apostolic covering.

Apostolic Authority

Even as the law of the Lord brings life to us, the Lord longs to give us healthy boundaries that preserve us and protect us. The same is true of leadership who serve as a spiritual covering. Those who have been wounded or hindered by leadership may perceive all spiritual covering as a wet blanket. But good spiritual fathers are a shield that protect us from harm and release us into greater potential than we could ever imagine reaching on our own.

Apostolic fathers will not overstep the boundaries given them by the Lord. Likewise, the word “apostle” does not guarantee universal authority. In other words, just because someone is an apostle in one area, does not mean he has authority in all other areas. There are spheres of authority in which we operate. Paul was an apostle to the gentiles, but he never claimed any authority over the Jews in Israel (Gal. 2:9). In fact, when he went to Jerusalem, he humbled himself and came under the authority of the other apostles there. Obviously, Paul’s letters have universal authority over the entire church today. But at the time of his life, they were not so widely recognized.

This principle is true in all spheres of fivefold ministry. The pastor of First Baptist of Smalltown, U.S.A. cannot expect to just waltz into United Methodist Church of Big City, U.S.A. and bear the same authority as he does at home. His words don’t carry the same weight – at least in the eyes of the people – nor does he have a God-given right to step in and exercise control.

In addition, true apostolic leaders will not implement legislation on believers that is beyond the scope of healthy scriptural guidelines. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. They will not micromanage the personal affairs of the flock, or legalistically instruct them on matters of personal preference. Except on clear moral issues, it is best to reserve liberty for the flock.

Getting Free From Control

For leaders who struggle with control, freedom begins with relinquishing it. Very many of the fathers in the church today have never first learned to be sons. Sometimes, we simply need to pull away, slow down and let go. We need to evaluate our motivation for ministry and remember that our primary objective is not to fill the role of a teacher and leader, but a father. We have many teachers, but only a few fathers (1 Cor. 4:15).

Abraham was the father of many nations. He never jostled for position or strived for an inheritance like his grandson Jacob. In fact, Abraham offered Lot the pick of the land – gave him the choicest possessions – and God later blessed Abraham with an eternal promise land.

Apostolic fathers have the genuine best interest of their spiritual children in mind. They are not seeking to build their own kingdoms, or simply increase their own sphere of influence for self-satisfaction. A key to reaching this place is stay reliant on the Lord, and not on our own ability to lead. We must learn to trust God. Anything else is scrambling to the top in the strength of our own human effort.

We Need Leadership

The spirit of control hinders the spiritual development of believers and keeps them stagnated below the level of the current ecclesiastical administration. In some cases, this is a very low level, as many pastors today are not even qualified to lead a home group.
The Lord is raising up a body of people who are fully equipped to minister – a royal priesthood who dig out their own revelation, instead of just feeding off another man. He wants mature eagles who do not need to be fed, but can search out their own meat. And He surely does not want an entertainment-based club where believers tune out and become viewers, or “hearers of the word only.” God wants us all doing the stuff of the Kingdom. Nevertheless, though we are all kings and priests, the church still needs leaders. Understand that the call to relinquish control is not a call to abandon positions of leadership.

The scriptures are clear that we are to respect and willingly work with local church leadership (Heb. 13:7, 17; 1 Thess. 5:12-13). Many do not like to face this fact, because they have been wounded by church leaders in the past. But really, there are no other options. Without operating within the framework of the local church, we are guaranteed to stagnate, face intense spiritual warfare and in fact, become an enemy of the church through our criticism and bitterness. Without getting plugged in with the body, we will shrivel and become unproductive.

For those who have been wounded by leaders, it is important not to judge them. When we judge the Lord’s anointed, no matter what depth to which they have fallen, we curse ourselves to spiritual barrenness. If you have not encountered a controlling leader, you have probably not been a Christian for very long. There is no avoiding this test. There is a Saul that precedes every David, just as there is usually an Ishmael before every Isaac.

Many are so wounded that they perceive any spiritually aggressive activity as “control.” They would prefer men of God to be soft peddling sissies who walk in false humility, never confronting issues of sin. Jesus was meek, but He was no pushover. We must learn to be meek and gentle, but also to be fiery and bold as the situation demands. The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force (Matt. 11:12). Jesus was no cream puff. He took kingdom dominion at times. For instance, he violently cleared the temple of its money changers. But even there, it was more of a prophetic act than anything else. Had He wished, Jesus could have snapped his fingers and every temple merchandiser would have disintegrated into thin air.

Get Healing, Move On

Control is a form of spiritual abuse, but we cannot live forever under the stigma of unhealed wounds. The Levites were not allowed to minister if they had open wounds. It is paramount that we get healed and move on. We must learn to accept the inherent risk that comes with any relationship – the risk of getting hurt. Many refuse to reintegrate with the church or come under another leader’s authority after they have been burned by a controlling or legalistic church. But this is dangerous. We should not go to the opposite extreme by distancing ourselves from healthy accountability and sound leadership. Forgiveness must be extended in order to function in the Christian life.

Habit patterns and expectancies can develop within us which draw us to spiritually abusive situations. Often, a child grows up in an abusive home, then later marries into an abusive relationship. The expectancy of abuse – or a blind vulnerability to it – can lead some Christians to continually bounce around from one controlling church to another, never able to find a consistent, safe place. This could be the result of reaping bitter fruit from growing up in a controlling home. Unforgiveness and bitterness toward parents will consistently bring bad fruit throughout our lives. It could subconsciously draw us alongside leaders (in business, marital relationships and yes, even church leaders) who are more likely to struggle with control issues.

We need to forgive and get over hurts. We must also recognize that we will never find imperfect leadership in the church. If we are not willing to submit to imperfect human leaders (if you ever find a perfect one, let me know), this can be a sure sign of a religious spirit. Our own pride can prohibit us from submitting to them.

What is Healthy Covering?

Many do not understand healthy spiritual covering, because they have never seen it exemplified. Again, we have many teachers, but few fathers. We have many people willing to instruct us, but few who are willing to die for us. Good fathers have the best interest of their children in mind. They understand sacrificial giving. They understand nurture. They understand play.
True fathers love. They are not self-seeking. They are not out to build their own kingdoms. They are not out to court the bride of Christ to themselves, but prepare her, unblemished, for her coming Bridegroom.

Apostolic fathers will emulate on earth, what Father God does in Heaven in Psalm 91: They will be a shelter, a resting place, a refuge and a fortress. They are not takers out to shear the sheep or get “filthy lucre.” They will save the victimized from the fowler’s snare and from deadly pestilence. They will be a faithful covering, even as the Lord covers us under the shadow of His wings.

Yes, apostolic fathers will establish guidelines for holiness and right living. But their heart in these matters will be to protect us, mature us and release us. Not to confine or dominate. To the lawless – or to those who have been victimized – any authority or discipline may feel like control and legalism. But good fathers discipline those they love and consider sons.
Healthy discipline does not equal control and exasperating children.

The Control Spirit and Apostolic Fathering Part I

2006-03-22T09:48:00.000-09:00

We could write many articles and books on the nature of the emerging apostolic office in the church. And many have been written. That is not our goal for this teaching. Over the next two weeks, we will be looking primarily at true apostolic authority as it contrasts the spirit of control. We will be defining the spirit of control, and looking at a few key aspects that differentiate apostolic ministry from this negative influence.

Many are wary of transitioning into the apostolic movement, simply because the word “apostle” is associated with infallible, absolute authority. And many have been so burned by controlling leaders in the church that the last thing they need is someone claiming divine dominion over them! It is important to understand that apostles, along with the prophets, are the “foundation” of the church (Eph. 2:20). Without them, we will not plumb the depths of foundational teaching and kingdom authority that are necessary to recover the height and depth of holy intimacy that God longs to share with us. Apostles are not controlling caps that keep us from ascending spiritual heights. In fact, true apostolic authority gets underneath others to support them as a strong floor for reaching the unfathomed heights of supernatural experience with God.

Foundations Versus Ceilings

We have all encountered church leadership models that hinder spiritual growth, rather than facilitate it. Just as someone begins to take hold of vision and soar, they are swatted back down by a controlling person or board who sit “at the top” of the decision making process. This is almost always rooted in fear or pride. Perhaps the most classic example of this dynamic is illustrated in the lives of King Saul and David.

After David kills the giant Goliath as a young man and finds great military success under Saul’s command, Saul hears the people dancing and singing, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands" (1 Sam. 18:7). At this, he begins to grow envious and intimidated by David. He begins to view David as a threat to his own personal success, and Saul starts to protect his own position of authority as ruler of the kingdom. From the onset, Saul thought, “What more can he (David) get but the kingdom?” (1 Sam. 18:8). Before long, Saul tries to kill David outright, pursuing him in a drawn-out manhunt for years.

Saul was intimidated by David’s success. However, he should have facilitated David’s “ministry” for the mutual benefit of the nation. Saul was insecure from the beginning, whereas David demonstrated courage from his youth. When he was first called out as leader of the nation, no one could find Saul because he was hiding among the baggage (1 Sam. 10:22).

This same type of insecurity is the basic building block for the spirit of control. Rather than perceiving David as a gifted son – the blessing for Israel that he truly was – Saul saw him as a competitor and a risk to his own authority. Meanwhile, David always loved Saul and sought to restore their relationship. Even when he had the opportunity to kill Saul, David refused. Very often, gifted people are faced with rejection because they unknowingly intimidate the old guard. God will use this rejection as a breaking process – even as He did with David to strengthen him in the wilderness. But ultimately, we must get healed of rejection and move on, as David also did.

If Saul had supported and gotten himself underneath what David was doing, instead of limiting David, his entire life would have taken a different course. Our desire for our spiritual sons and daughters should be for them to excel further and higher than we could ever go. It is my prayer that my own sons and daughters go far beyond anywhere I could possibly imagine. Saul held positional authority, but he lacked a father’s heart. Even Saul’s natural son, Jonathan, was more predisposed to help David than his own father.

True apostles will be like a foundation holding up the house, instead of a ceiling at the top that prevents people from going any higher. Often, we get intimidated by others who have more skill, begin to have more “spiritual experiences” than we do, or whose lives seem to garner more favor than our own. For pastors, elders or other church leaders, this can be especially intimidating. If someone in the pews is more equipped than the guy in the pulpit, how does this challenge their authority? Many resort to control tactics and begin to overly assert their position and influence.

Apostles Serve

We should understand that control is a demonic influence. Even the Lord is not a controller. Why else would he have put Adam and Eve in a garden with the Tree of Knowledge, aware that they always had the option to buck His authority? God respects our free will and human decision making. The Lord never exercised control during his earthly ministry. Though he had complete access to all the angelic hosts of heaven, still he humbly submitted to death on a cross. He could have snapped his fingers and evaporated His accusers. Yet He valued something more than his own ability to control situations: He valued submission to the perfect will of the Father. He did only what He saw the Father doing (Jn. 5:19). Jesus got low and He served. People with control spirits have a very difficult time serving. Nevertheless, St. Paul defines apostles as “scum of the earth” who are “servants” (1 Cor. 4:1). There is no good leader who has not learned to be a servant first.

The four gospels, like the four living creatures, reflect four primary aspects of God’s nature: He is like an eagle (spiritual) and a man (natural). He is like a lion (authoritative king) and like an ox (lowly servant). It is my belief that the face of the eagle must perfectly balance the face of the man. Jesus is completely spiritual – completely God – but He is also a completely natural man. In the same way, the face of the lion is perfectly balanced by the face of the ox. Jesus is the King of Kings, but He is also the Servant of All. True apostles are servants. He who is least is greatest in the Kingdom, and the servants are the greatest of all.

Control is Witchcraft

Apostolic fathers will under gird, serve and facilitate the vision of others. They will not use manipulation or become competitive, thus preventing the release of their sons and daughters. The control spirit is fueled by strife and human effort to hold things together. But the fruit is not unity. It has the opposite effect, as control eventually sinks the ship. It breeds rebellion and exasperates those who are under its influence. Many began in ministry with an earnest heart to serve, but over time, the weight of upholding religious structures and the pressure of people’s opinions pushed them to use their own human strength and control tactics to get the job done.

When Saul was waiting on Samuel at Gilgal, his army was hard pressed and he grew impatient. Facing enormous opposition – “soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore” (1 Sam. 13:5) – his people began to scatter, and so Saul overstepped his authority and did what only a priest could do: he made a burnt offering, in order to win God’s favor for the battle. Just then, Samuel came on the scene, telling Saul that the Lord had stripped him of an eternal kingdom that day.

Control is fueled by human strife, not the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s own sacrifice is sufficient to get the job done. The spirit of control is essentially a form of witchcraft or manipulation. All manipulation is witchcraft. It is no coincidence that Saul ended up at the witch of Endor’s house before his life was over. The control spirit is a form of false authority. Witchcraft can be defined as operating in any authority outside of the Holy Spirit.

Controllers operate based on need. There is need everywhere. Saul needed to win his battle. This was clear. But God was not wringing His hands up in Heaven. True faith understands that “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 24:1). It understands sovereignty over need. It does not use human wisdom and make rash decisions, just because the people begin to scatter. True faith is patient. It waits on the Lord.

When the Lord is our true source, we are not compelled to reach out our arm of flesh to steady His ark like Uzzah, who was struck dead. God does not need us to hold Himself up. If necessary, God’s ark can levitate.

It is not just pastors and leaders who are used by this spirit. Passive controllers can be the worst, because their tactics are more subtle and hidden. These people do not need to have direct authority, as does a pastor or leader, as long as they are able to manipulate and pull the right strings to get what they desire.

Charismatic and Institutional Authority

We want anointed leaders – those chosen by God because of divine call and “charisma,” or anointing. There are essentially two types of leadership in the church: God ordained, charismatic authority and the institutional, ecclesiastical authority that is recognized or appointed by men.

Charismatic (anointed) authority is vested in one who is called out by God and empowered for service through the Holy Spirit. Institutional authority, however, belongs simply to anyone who is recognized by the people (i.e. the guy with the pulpit, the influence and the platform to make decisions and call the shots).

Charismatic leaders may never be recognized by men. The prophets were stoned. Likewise, the worst of Pharisees can be recognized in ecclesiastical places of church leadership. Just because a person has influence over others does not indicate that they are in God’s perfect will or position.

The ideal situation is when charismatic leaders are in places of institutional authority. That is the perfect overlap. David was just such a man. He was ordained by God, and he was also recognized by an entire nation as their leader.

Saul began his course this way. He was called by God, but when he sought to take the reigns of his office in his own strength, he lost his true charismatic authority – and ultimately his institutional authority as well. God removed His Holy Spirit from Saul, and an evil spirit from God actually came to torment him (1 Sam. 16:14). In the end, Saul was more of a problem than a blessing.

Signs of True Apostolic Authority

There are a number of things that mark true apostolic authority. True apostolic leaders know how to delegate authority and even decision-making capabilities to other leaders. They do not seek to implement only their own vision. They recognize the God-given vision in the lives of others and work to get under them and facilitate them in any way possible.

Apostolic leaders facilitate individual expression and creativity. As a foundation in God’s house, they understand that this is a house fitted together with unique, living stones (Eph. 2:22). They do not produce factory-line, cookie cutter Christians in their own religious image. They facilitate the diversity of individual calls of the different parts of Christ’s body.

Apostolic leaders seek to reproduce themselves like true fathers. They do not need to be needed. An apostle’s goal is to “work himself out of a job” and build up other leaders who can take over his responsibilities. Their ego does not want their spiritual children to be “co-dependent” on them for everything. They can hand over reigns to people with less experience than themselves, even when it may result in a few mistakes being made. Many ministries succeed for a season without healthy fathering; however, they rarely are able to reproduce themselves. Perhaps there is a gifted or charismatic leader, but when that leader passes on, so does the glory. Their ministry dies with them.

Apostles know how to delegate. Apostolic leaders are not performance oriented. They are not legalistic perfectionists. They allow the growth and maturation process that any true father must have who is raising young, maturing children.

Paul tells us that apostles are “master builders” (1 Cor. 3:10). They are essentially planters. Today, there are quite a number of people with the world “apostle” on their name tag, with no works, no building and no substance behind the title to prove it.

But apostles are not just people behind a good church growth program. God must also stamp their ministry with a supernatural seal of approval. Their ministry must be marked with signs and wonders. Paul said, “The things that mark an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles – were done among you with great perseverance” (2 Cor. 12:12).

In addition, the apostolic office is not simply one that is an elected, man-appointed position (Gal. 1:1). Apostles must have seen the Lord. Paul did not walk with Jesus during His earthly ministry; however, He was struck blind by an open encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus. He later writes, “Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” (1 Cor. 9:1). Even when the first 11 apostles cast lots to appoint Matthias to replace Judas, he was not simply a name they picked from a hat. He had also been with the Lord the whole time (Acts 1:21).

Apostles are tasked for laying strong foundational truths, but they can also access all of the other office gifts: those of the prophet, evangelist, teacher and pastor. They tend to have a strong drive – a holy ambition – which is a likely a reason that Paul and Barnabas split their ways. For this reason, it is important to understand that apostles must also be mutually submissive to the other fivefold offices – as well as to other apostles who hold them accountable, as Paul did with Peter.

Progressive Revelation Part II

2006-01-31T22:17:00.000-09:00

The nature of progressive revelation is that God gives us keys along the way, from one level of glory and understanding to another. The Lord is concerned just as much about the process as He is about end results. He is God of the journey, not just God of the destination.

Truth itself, in a very real sense, is progressive. The fundamental truths of our faith are absolute and unshakeable; however, they are living absolutes. God is always moving and brooding over creation. God’s movement in the earth has always been progressive. From one covenant to the next, He has been in the process of revealing His heart from depth to depth. The subsequent birth of denominations and new movements in the church age have likewise ushered in restored truths, each one adding upon the other to serve as tributaries that culminate in the river of God.

As individuals, we progress in our ability to see, hear and perceive the things of God. Along the way, we may try to cut corners and achieve God’s benefits through human strife like Jacob. But the ultimate goal of all creation is to find all its fountains in Him, and to cherish His heart above all. As we recognize that the great Revealer is walking with us in this journey, we are less likely to prize any of His individual benefits above Him.

Pursue wisdom

The degree of revelation in which we are walking is tied intricately to the level of wisdom we possess. Wisdom and revelation are used almost interchangeably at times in scripture, though they are distinct from one another. Hidden things are shared with the wise.

A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Prov. 1:5-7).

Our growth capacity for revelation corresponds with our pursuit of wisdom. Even Jesus grew in wisdom (Luke 2:40). There is a process of maturity in our spiritual development that is a prerequisite for moving onto the meatier things of God:

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Heb. 5:14).

Overall, Jesus Himself is the source and end of all revelation. The Spirit of Prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. To the degree we are filled with Him, we will grow in our revelatory capacity. But this requires more than mere gifting. The Lord also expects us to exercise and develop our gifts, adding to them skill.

Adding skill opens doors

The scriptures tell us that David played his instrument with skill. The temple of the Lord was built by skilled craftsmen, and the armies of God were always skilled in the ways of war. Skill usually takes time and practice. Even Beethoven did not write his best symphonies at age five. He practiced. Skill must be added to the giftings of the Lord, and this good stewardship makes room for even more anointing.

How do we develop revelatory skill? For one, we must take a “use it or lose it” approach to our gifts. We must simply exercise them. It also helps to step out past where you are comfortable. Find a safe environment to practice your gifts and push them to the limit. Learn from others. Study. Find your calling, and hone your craft.

In the meantime, do not run from God’s purging flame as He develops character within you. Allow Him to work humility, patience, peace, longsuffering, kindness and all the fruits of His Spirit into your life. Seek to hear God not just for your own life and destiny, but for other people. This displaces selfishness and makes you a more trustworthy servant and friend. In the long run, you will find that it opens a door for the Lord to speak more clearly into your own life.

There are obviously basic, fundamental necessities for prophetic growth: Immerse yourself in the scriptures, make time for the Lord to speak to you in prayer, have regular times of worship, learn from mature prophetic ministries and simply stay teachable, without ever thinking that you have “arrived” as God’s man of the hour. The list goes on.
The important focus of this lesson is not how to get revelation, but to understand its progressive nature. To this end, we should not despise the incomplete parts of the puzzle that God gives us along the way. Nor should we think that a single part comprises the whole.

Purity releases power

God does not keep things hidden from us out of spite. He wants to come closer. The bottom line is that we can have as much prophetic revelation as we can handle. The greater our capacity for it, the more the Lord will share of His hidden manna. This is why God will often hold back revelation from us until we embrace purity of heart. However, prophetic gifting often develops separately from character growth. This is why we should never confuse powerful gifting with impeccable maturity. Gifting and character develop on separate courses, like two train tracks, and both are needed to move ministry forward. They are connected, but not entirely dependent upon one another. Both are needed to keep the train from derailing. Integrity and personal holiness issues will ultimately affect prophetic gifting.

The time factor

Another reason that revelation comes progressively is simply because God is so immense and multi-dimensional. We can hear something from the Lord that is for 20 years down the road. Or 400 years down the road. We can hear something that is for a future generation to accomplish – not even myself. We can hear something that is for our neighbor and accidentally take it as a personal directive. This can be confusing.
God is outside of time and space, so knowing the appropriate interpretation and application of prophetic words and experiences are just as important as receiving them. This can come with time and exercise.

Since we are addressing progressive revelation – revelation that comes to us bit by bit – it is important to look closer at the time factor. Spiritual vision comes in degrees, but this does not hinge on time itself. True maturity has very little to do with how many years you have been a Christian. It has nothing to do with your position in the church or even how much practice or experience you have had in exercising your gift. Skill and experience are factors, but not the most important ones. True maturity depends on one thing: How much of the Lord you have.

The closer we get the Lord, the more he entrusts us with the hidden secrets of the Kingdom.

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him (2 Chr. 16:9).

This should be an incentive for anyone – young or old, learned or inexperienced – to dive in for more of the Lord. God is not looking for age, experience or degrees. He is looking for hearts. We should not be intimidated by our perceived lack of personal training, but inspired by the fact that God is literally at our fingertips. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

By His Spirit, God can “teach you all things” (John 14:26) if you spend time and draw close to Him. There are no age or class restrictions. In fact, in these last days, the Lord says he will pour out His Spirit on young and old; and even children will prophesy.

Intimacy unlocks revelation

Jesus intentionally cloaked the meaning of His teachings in riddles, to prevent them from being understood by the immature and unbelieving:

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables …” (Mark 4:11).

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces …” (Matt. 7:6).

God is very intentional when He hides, and it is never out of malice, but for our best interest. As we draw closer to the Lord’s heart, we bypass the need for dark speech. Friendship with God enables us to ascend into the chambers of His secret counsel. We become like Abraham, who was called a “friend of God.” Of him, the Lord said:

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”(Gen. 18:17)

Understand that God has already extended friendship toward us, but it is our responsibility to draw near and extend our own friendship to Him. That is why the scriptures tell us, draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:8).

God speaks progressively because He wants to keep us in a place of total dependence on Him. Knowledge and spiritual foresight can be dangerous apart from utter reliance on the Lord. It is actually to our benefit that the Lord does not reveal all of His majesty to us in our weakened state. It would destroy us.

We love control, so we want to know exactly what God is doing, in order to fit it into our own schedule and preferences. Yet we can never subtract the mystery and the “unknowing” that is an essential part of the Christian walk. We do not always understand the mystery, but during the process of discovery a relationship is being formed – we can have “fellowship with the mystery” (Eph. 3:9).

Idolatry of revelation

Revelation, when pursued for its own sake, can become an idol – a distraction from the presence of God.

In fact, apart from intimacy with the Father, our prophetic endeavors run the risk of devolving into Christian “fortune telling.” This is another reason why we should allow God to speak on his own time schedule – telling us what we need to hear, when we need to hear it. Even psychics in the secular realm are able to ascend into the second heaven and pull out information by their own will and unredeemed gifting. It is imperative that we get ours from the Third Heaven, directly from the throne of God. And that means not just hearing what we want to hear, but exactly what the heart of God is saying at a given time.

Yes, we should be very zealous for more revelation. We are told to “eagerly desire” to prophesy (1 Cor. 14:1). But we desire revelation because it is an extension of the Lord. We do not just milk the Lord for goodies. Here is the critical factor: Do we seek revelation, in order to draw nearer to the Lord? Or do we seek the Lord, in order to gain more revelation?

When this issue is resolved, and our motivation is purified, the level of revelatory experience in our lives will increase dramatically. But it will be properly directed and we will cease to strive in this arena. The goal of all prophetic revelation is not simply to get us a better job, build a bigger church or to be more spiritual. The goal is to draw us closer to the Lord.

The Mystery revealed

Christ is the eternal Mystery. He is always open and available to us. While revelation generally comes to us in part, over time, we must be confident in accessing the revelatory realm now. It is important to re-emphasize that God’s perfect desire is to have absolute, unadulterated conversation with us.

Do not be mistaken when God seems hidden – He wants to speak to you. He wants to speak more than you want to be spoken to! He is not an absentee father who forgets your needs and inner desires. God does not want us fumbling in the darkness. His very goal of dying on the cross was to clear the communication lines between God and man, in order to restore the relationship with Him that Adam had in the garden. That is why on the cross every mystery and treasure was laid open and bare before us.

When Daniel interpreted the dream for the king of Babylon, the king said:

“Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery” (Dan. 2:47).

God is surely a Revealer of mysteries still today. This word revealer is translated as “galah” (gel-aw). It means to denude in a disgraceful sense. It implies sending one into exile, because exiles were usually stripped of everything by the overcoming army, down to their naked bodies.

God wants to literally strip away and nakedly expose every mystery of Heaven – every shroud that covers our eyes from seeing Him in all His glory. Already, God has violently torn open every secret. He has stripped the darkness and torn it open like a king set out to battle who strips his enemies bare. He does not want any mystery or riddle to separate us – He wants no roadblock to keep us from knowing Him.

The word “galah” means to uncover, shamelessly tell, plainly publish, reveal. Jesus’ heart is to reveal every mystery of God plainly to us and give us open access to all of Heaven. Is this not why God so exposed Himself, allowing us to strip Him naked and hang Him on the cross for the entire world to see? Every veil is torn. The mysteries of Christ are laid bare.

We do not yet understand the treasure we already hold in these jars of clay. We do not simply possess a heavenly inheritance. We are already seated in Heaven in the spirit realm. We do not just have Heaven’s keys – we are already on the throne with Christ (Eph. 2:6). Now that we have access to such a great heavenly deposit, we are growing up into the maturity of ownership. Like a royal child that matures, our allowance grows bigger and bigger. We begin to appropriate and unwrap the very gift that has belonged to us all the time.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate (Gal. 4:1).

We are sons and daughters progressively growing up into authority as heirs to the Kingdom. Here is a paradox: God is completely accessible, yet He is completely inapproachable. Through the shed blood of Christ, every mystery is revealed and every veil is torn that once kept us at a distance from the Father. And yet, He is still the Lord of Glory, so holy that no man can see Him and live. Christ alone gives entrance to the higher realms of the Kingdom. But it is His grace that also prevents me from running ahead with more revelation than I can handle – until He increases and my own sinful nature decreases.

If the Lord holds us back at a distance for a season, it is only for our own good, until we are able to bear more of Him. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy the journey.

Progressive Revelation Part I

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Understanding how the Lord speaks to us progressively enables us to better enjoy the prophetic journey and to ultimately engage a higher revelatory realm.

Revelation rarely comes on a silver platter. We often wait for lightning bolt experiences and divine encounters, while missing the still small voice of God that coaxes us gently from one realm of understanding to another. Developing an ear to hear is always a process. And even specific divine directives usually come piece-by-piece over a period of time.

Scripture tells us that from days of old the “schools of the prophets” were instituted as men were trained to hear the voice of the Lord. Samuel heard the Lord from childhood, but he would not have recognized the voice without Eli’s instruction. Mature prophets are not born in a day. God always births small, vulnerable babies, and a season of gradual growth, instruction and maturation must follow.

Why doesn’t God thunder?

We think life would be much easier if the Lord would just speak to us audibly. This seems like a simple solution to our confusion, as if it would guarantee us clear direction and solve the world’s problems. And surely the Lord would prefer this realm of clear communication. But history shows us that the clearest communication – even the audible voice of God – does not guarantee obedience. Consider the children of Israel, who heard God’s audible voice corporately:

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die” (Ex. 20:18-19).

Here, we see that an entire nation heard the voice of God, yet they withdrew from it and eventually turned to rebellion. Remember that the clearer God speaks to us, the more we are responsible to adhere to His command. This should not be a reason to withdraw from His voice; however, it is an expression of His grace that he only gives us what we are capable of living up to.

It is not God’s perfect will to keep us in darkness. He does not desire to hide from us or to keep Kingdom secrets shrouded from us. He wishes to give us the fullness of the Kingdom right now. The problem is we are not yet capable of handling all that Jesus longs to entrust to us.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now (John 16:12).

Issues of pride, fear and immaturity disqualify us from jumping headlong into the depths of divine revelation. And for these reasons, God reveals truth in layers, both for our own sake and for the sake of those to whom we minister. It is actually because of love that God is sometimes silent.

Concealing future destiny

Just because we do not understand everything God says does not mean He is being quiet. God does not just want to speak through our ears. He wants our entire lives and everything we experience to be a reflection of Him. God is always speaking to us in dreams, inner thoughts and through the circumstances of life. But we do not always perceive it. God has to cloak much of what He says for a number of reasons.

For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man, He keeps back his soul from the Pit, and his life from perishing by the sword (Job 33:14-18, emphasis mine).

Here, we see that God intentionally seals His instruction away from us, to protect us from pride and from perishing. Very often, this is a reason that we do not remember our dreams. God is instructing our spirits in the night season – directing our paths – but our conscious mind is kept unaware of it. Otherwise, we would try to accomplish God’s destiny for our lives on our own, in our own human strength. Or we might simply be overwhelmed by the monumental tasks to which He calls us, and we would withdraw in fear.

Have you ever had déjà vu? The “old school” deliverance ministries used to claim that déjà vu was demonic, simply because they did not understand it. But déjà vu is simply when you remember a dream or vision that God sealed away long ago, and now, suddenly His hand of guidance is being revealed over your life. Instead of calling it “déjà vu,” we should simply call it “remembering a vision.”

Although we only see the future in part, God sees it fully. And we can trust that He is guiding us step-by-step along the way.

Activating the future

While we are discussing future destiny, it is good to briefly address a common question: How do I discover the plans God has for my life? We have all asked this at some point, and it is one of the primary things God reveals to us progressively.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known (1 Cor. 13:12).

It is imperative that we have vision. We need to know our destiny, and we must hear clearly to speak into the lives of others. God will purposely keep these plans withdrawn for a season, so that we do not try to achieve them in our own understanding. There are many practical steps to discovering your destiny: dive into the scriptures, hear from other prophets, assess your current abilities, discover what God has already given you a desire to do, etc.

But it is one thing to know the plans God has for you. It is another thing to step into that destiny and begin to practically activate it. Perhaps the greatest key is this: Identity releases destiny.

As we learn to identify ourselves with the Lord – as His friend, as His brother, as His child, as His bride – it is only natural that we should become familiar with His voice. And then we begin to step into the role of that future person we are to become.

Ask yourself: What kind of character will I have when I am walking in my destiny? Where will I live? Who will I associate with? How will I spend my time? What disciplines will I practice regularly?

As we envision these things, we can gradually begin to step into the framework of our future, and somehow pull the future into the present.

The Emmaus journey

These general principles are true for attaining any type of revelation. As we identify with the character and nature of Christ, He is revealed to us more and more. But receiving revelation is not the ultimate goal for the believer. Intimacy and relationship with Jesus is the goal.

The mysteries and enigmas of God are given, for a large part, to engage us and draw us into a communion – an ongoing dialogue with the Creator. The beauty of mysteries and the hidden things of God entice us to understand their meaning. And in the process, we find that we have all along been walking along the Emmaus road, having fellowship with the hidden Christ.

Understanding revelation is always a journey. But likewise, there is always a breakthrough at the end of that journey. He does not keep us guessing forever. God begins to draw our hearts until they burn within. And at the end of this Emmaus Road, the bread is always broken, and our eyes are opened to the living Christ who is already seated with us at the table. We realize that every puzzle, every riddle, is from Him and through Him – and it all points to Him.

Honoring small beginnings

Since revelation is progressive, do not despise small beginnings. Even the most gifted prophets face unanswered questions and confounding mysteries. This is the way of the Kingdom. And it is better to be content for a season with the unanswered paradox, than to try and explain the unknown with pre-packaged, cliché answers.

People like to sound smart and appear to know what’s going on. God prefers honesty. One way to tell a false prophet (or at least an immature one) is that he has an answer to every question. Be comfortable with starting small, and God will increase your vision. It all starts with humility. Numbers 12:3 tells us that Moses was “more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” And this released him to hear the Lord more clearly than anyone else.

“When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord” (Num. 12:6-8).

In the passage above, we see about five different ways the Lord speaks, some of which vary in the degree of accuracy and intensity: dreams, visions, face-to-face clearly, riddles (parables) and the open seer realm. In fact, there are different types or degrees of prophetic gifting throughout scripture. For instance, there is the nabi prophet, which in Hebrew means “to bubble forth as from a fountain,” or simply “to utter.” This is the type of prophetic gifting we are most familiar with, when someone simply spouts out the thought that bursts forth from the heart. But then, there is also the ro’eh or hozeh prophet, which means the “seer.” For instance, Samuel was a seer, while Nathan was a nabi prophet. Seers are more visually oriented.

Develop the goose bump

All of these avenues of hearing and seeing require patience, practice and development. Many people get frustrated that they are not having open encounters with angels and third heaven visitations, but most prophetic people do not start off on this level. Remember, God always births spiritual babies, not mature eagles. If you are faithful with the little, more is added.

If you develop the small, inward visions the Lord gives you, before long, you will begin seeing those visions with your open eyes. If you are faithful with the simple nudging He gives you, He will trust you with more complexities. Patiently steward the little things God gives you, and He will bring steady increase.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings (Prov. 25:2).

In fact, when people complain to me that they never hear the voice of God, I ask them, “Have you ever felt a goose bump during a worship service?”

Most reply that they indeed have, and I tell them, “That’s a great place to start.”

Something as simple as a goose bump during a worship service can serve as an initial trigger. The next time you go to the grocery store, that same little goose bump may trigger when you are talking to the checkout clerk – then you know that God is trying to get your attention. Develop the goose bump faithfully, and one day, you will see angels.

The Patient Pursuit

The Lord once spoke to me very clearly while I was preparing for a sermon at Starbucks. I heard His audible voice call my name, “John.” But when I looked up, no one was there. Only a sign that read, “The secret ingredient to this exceptional blend? … Patience.”

Patience is a powerful ingredient to receiving anything from God. It is a vital fruit of the Spirit. It is also the key to progressive revelation.

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised (Heb. 6:12).

Faith without patience is not really faith at all. If we really believe in the unseen realm, we will not be shaken by the lack of immediate results. Many people get frustrated when God does not zap them or speak to them at a church meeting, and they lack the patience and consistency to contend for his voice. We should consider the story of the famous healing revivalist John G. Lake. When Lake began to pursue the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he did not see immediate results. For nine months, he diligently sought the Lord with fervent prayers, until finally, one day the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and he was immersed with the Lord’s presence.

What were the results of John G. Lake’s waiting and contending? The Lord rested on him so powerfully that more than 100,000 documented healings were recorded in his five years of ministry in Spokane, Wash. Even plague cells that were placed on his hand immediately died on contact, when viewed under a microscope, because the healing anointing rested so strongly on his physical body.
What if John G. Lake got frustrated and gave up because he didn’t fall over at his first charismatic conference? We must exercise patience. Daniel prayed for 21 days before the angel came to his assistance, although Daniel’s prayers were heard in heaven the first day he spoke them (Dan. 10:13). Or consider Joseph. The Lord revealed his destiny at an early age, but it took years and years of trial and testing before it came to pass. Does it feel like you are having a slower start in hearing the voice of the Lord? It may be because you have greater potential than most. Be faithful to exercise what you have and contend for more.

Even physical healing often requires patience. Miracles are instantaneous, but healings can take time. I once prayed for a cross-eyed baby, and there was not a noticeable result. But the next day, his father brought him back to our meetings with good news: one of the eyes came uncrossed overnight! The child had moved from having two crossed eyes to one crossed eye. That was an improvement, so we prayed for him again that the Lord would continue the work, and we sent him home. Often we consider “partial healings” to be incomplete, when in actuality, we should see them as works in process.

In the same way, we are always receiving revelation in process. We should press in for more understanding, without getting frustrated along the way. Let us contend for spiritual maturity, but not try to grow up too fast. True maturity waits for the Lord.

Prophetic Words & Directives for 2006

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At the beginning of each year, we like to seek the Lord regarding corporate prophetic words for the body of Christ, as do a number of other ministries. We believe that by looking comprehensively at what the prophets are saying, the church can gain a better perspective of what the Lord is doing and how to better participate with him in the times ahead.

On this note, we would like to recommend a few other messages from respected ministries regarding 2006 in the links throughout this article. Some of their insights I have interwoven here, to give further perspective on what the Lord has been showing us.

Divine Alignment
Some have rightly pointed out the prophetic significance as the Jewish Feast of Lights (Hanukkah) coincided exactly with New Year’s Day 2006. On New Year’s, the eighth candle (representing new beginnings) was lit during this feast, which commemorates the cleansing and retaking of the temple in Jerusalem by the Maccabees from the pagan Greek authorities, in the years prior to Christ’s birth. Rick Joyner has posted a more extensive explanation of this. However, we would like to accentuate the point that this is both a year of new beginnings and a year of purification for God’s people. Patricia King has released a timely word for the year, pointing out that the book of Malachi is for this hour. This is because the Lord is revealing Himself as the Refiner and Purifier. It is critical that we take this strategic opportunity to receive purification and deliverance while it is available. We will discuss this further below.

Year of 'natural' preparation
The most prominent word we have been receiving from the Lord is that 2006 will be a year of natural preparation. As the sixth year of the new millennium, we should remember that six is the number of man. This, of course, is different from the number 666, which represents an unholy trinity. Adam was created on the sixth day, and his humanity is symbolic of the “natural” man. For many, this will be a natural year. The Lord wants to plant our feet solidly on the earth, so that we will have a healthy foundation from which we can soar to the heights in the days to come.

For many, there will be a rooting in “normalcy” this year, in order that the Lord can afford to trust us with ascending supernatural heights. We want to be a supernatural people, but not a super-spiritual people that lose touch with the basics of life. Many feel over-extended in their ministry endeavors, and others are experiencing outright burnout. This is largely a result of not having the natural house in order. First the natural, then the spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46).

There is a measure of earthiness that is required to live a healthy life and conduct adequate service for the Lord. We are not talking about “worldliness” but “earthiness.” There is a big difference. Jesus had a human nature, but not a sinful nature. He was fully God, but He was also fully man. Many of us try to become spiritual, but we have not learned how to be a healthy human being first! I have heard it said that we often forsake the lower rungs of Jacob’s ladder. Before we can ascend the heavens, we must have balance within our natural lives. “Balance” is not a good word really, as it is often associated with watering down opposite extremes. But God likes extremes. He desires that we become extremely natural and extremely supernatural at the same time. Jesus was both, but He was not a “balanced” hybrid of the two.

On a practical level, this will entail setting homes in order, building budgets, strengthening family relationships and getting ordinary/mundane things accomplished. These things are necessary, in order to make a platform for coming release of divine power and “super” natural activity in 2007.

Cancellation of debts
This strengthening in the natural activities in life is going to be accompanied by a grace to get out of indebtedness. The Lord will be canceling, as well as helping believers to pay off their debts this year, especially as they work toward implementing better stewardship and organization.

Focus on families
The Lord is about to curb the divorce and abandonment rates of the church. For years, the percentage rates of divorce in the church pretty much resembled those of the world. But as the true church emerges from the false religious fronts of nominalism and apathy, we will begin to see her shining in purity and true love. We are truly at a turning point where these rates are about to bounce backward. This is a year to invest in family relationships.

Year for relationships
This is a strategic year for balancing and building relationships in general. The more time and effort we put into relationships this year, including selfless acts of kindness, the more the Lord will begin to move on our behalf supernaturally.

This is a year for selfless giving. Horizontal relationships need to be strengthened, even as we strengthen our relationship with the Lord. Too often, believers seem to be pursuing the Lord wholeheartedly, but meanwhile they are accumulating a poor reputation for integrity in interpersonal relationships. But as we learn to stop fending for ourselves like fearful orphans, and fend for the needs of others, the Father will begin to give us good gifts this year on an unprecedented level.

Person-to-person relationships have much to do with the “natural” focus of this year. Understand that “natural” does not entail an absence of the supernatural. The Lord will be awakening the ears of His servants morning by morning, and there will be an overwhelming abundance of revelation for the people of God this year. In fact, God wants to be involved in our natural, everyday affairs far more than we realize. God Himself is about to step into our grocery lists, our clothing selection for each day, our conversations at the drug store and just about everywhere we go. There is going to be a merger between our natural lives and our spiritual experience more than ever before, as Heaven and earth draw closer and closer together in these last days.

Many have also labored under pressure, because of the spiritual urgency of the hour. But this must be balanced with the fact that God remembers we are but dust (Ps. 103:14). The spiritual demands for the coming age are so intense, in fact, that they are beyond our natural limitations. This year, God will be setting us in order, so that we do not bear spiritual burdens in our natural strength, but learn how to properly release them to Him. Amid the calamity and storm of the last days, God wants a people of peace and repose who ride firmly in the eye of the storm.

Birthing in secret
In the coming year, the Lord will be issuing a “silent release” of ministries, business, leadership and promotions in the body, as He will be “birthing destinies in secret.” More specifically, He will be birthing ministries “in the Secret Place.”

We see in Revelation 12 that the dragon is waiting to destroy the child just as the woman is giving birth to him. In the same way, the enemy is seeking to take out those new expressions of Christ being birthed into the earth by the church at this time. But just as the child was taken up to God and protected, so will the Lord be drawing many up to Himself, just as their destinies are being birthed.

Moses and Jesus were both hidden at birth, to protect their lives and God-given destinies, both of which would impact all of mankind for the ages to come. In the same way, the Lord will be birthing and releasing this year, away from the spotlight. Before we know it, there will have been an assumption of power for many who have been held back in the body in prior years. This relates to ministry, business, government and other spheres of influence. For many, it will come unexpectedly, and for most, it will be the fruit of developing a secret relationship with the Lord.

We must understand that the Lord is looking for purity, faithfulness and preparedness, in order that He might hand over the keys of the Kingdom to trusted servants. In the same way, this will be a major year of preparation and restructuring. I would also recommend an article by Dutch Sheets on this coming, comprehensive restructuring. The church is headed for drastic shifts, and Dutch is right in emphasizing the severity of this restructuring. It is primarily part of the transition from the church age to the Kingdom age. He makes a valid point that if we pray more this year, we will have less work to do.

It is critical that we do not waste time this year, and that extra time be taken to prepare for the future. We should remember that preparation time is not wasted time. It is critical to trim our wicks and get oil in our lamps, so that we will be ready for the Lord when He moves.

Maturity of both light and darkness
As we are entering the new apostolic age, the gross darkness of the world is getting darker, even as the light of Christ is shining brighter on His people. Both good and evil are coming to their full maturity, together. The wheat and the tares have been growing up alongside one another, and never has the contrast been so extreme between the two.

This year, there will be an even clearer separation of the sheep from the goats. Hypocrisy is being shaken from the church. Everything that can be shaken is being shaken. The true church will be emerging brighter than ever before, as nominal church goers will be brought to the point of true decision, whether to go with the gospel or to reject it.

America still being chastened
Earlier in 2005, prior to the hurricanes that struck the south, the Lord showed us bodies stacked up like cordwood from at least 12 cities in the U.S., primarily smaller communities that felt safe and far removed from potential danger. While this was partially related to the coming storms (honestly, we did not realize it at the time), we had the impression that the Midwest/breadbasket area and East Coast would also be involved as target areas – and this has yet to come to pass. We do not enjoy sharing hard words of this nature, and I want to clearly indicate that God’s heart is for intimacy and restoration. His judgments are only levied in order to remove every hindrance to love. Nevertheless, this is serious business.

With this being said, I should relate that the Lord is still “disciplining America like a Father disciplines a son.” This is not a call to panic, but it is a call to intercession. It is common knowledge that we have the blood of millions of unborn children on our hands. America has also spewed immorality and worldly values across the globe through its media. And despite America’s foreign aid and humanitarian efforts, its economic policies have equally ravaged and oppressed the third world throughout the years.

The Lord loves America, and still has plans to bless her. He still honors our godly heritage, the prayers of the church and our support for Israel. Nevertheless, there is still potential for more natural disasters and terrorist activity. This can be delayed, if not prevented through strategic intercession, but this is a critical time for repentance on a national scale. And the hour is at hand when the people of God will need to pay attention to the prophetic arm of the church like never before.

Healing anointing to increase
In many ways, it may seem like another refining year for the Western church. But the Lord will be preparing us in 2006 for a greater release of the supernatural in 2007.

The healing anointing will continue to increase corporately over the next three years, and if we handle it properly, the Lord can entrust us with a whole new level of the miraculous never before witnessed by the modern church. What we are currently seeing, in terms of the healing anointing, has been “done before” in previous revivals. But right now, we are in a jubilee period of restoration of the Voice of Healing revival that tapered off 50 years ago. If we handle this healing deposit properly – better than they did – then we will be entrusted with an even higher level of supernatural power than they walked in.

This will require greater personal integrity. And the church is being called now to come out of an entertainment-based model and into corporate mobilization. This means there must be willingness for the body to activate and exercise healing prayer in the marketplace. We must also cease to elevate individual ministers who operate in the supernatural and instead, intercede for them. This will be key to seeing these wells of old open further and broader than ever before. Otherwise, we risk another decade or more of setbacks, as well as the potential fall of more prominent ministries.

Release of harvest angels
This is going to be a year of answered prayers – things we have contended for and seeds we have sown over the past 10 or 20 years are going to come to fruition. This is specifically related to a harvest of souls, facilitated by the angelic hosts. Many have noticed an increase in angelic activity in their lives in the past several months, but were unsure of the reason. The reason is this: the harvest!!

I was recently with my 1-year-old when she simply said, “Angel.”
Then my 8-year-old further elaborated, saying, “There’s an angel in the corner.”
After that, my 4-year-old came in with the best part, “There’s five angels and five angels and 10 angels and one angel and two angels.”

Most parents would write off such talk as babble from a child who cannot yet count, but the Lord quickened something to me regarding the number of angels he described:
5-5-10-1-2

Then the Lord led to me Isaiah 55:10-12:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

There is a return coming on seeds sown long ago, and there will be a rejoicing that accompanies the harvest. Lost loved ones you have been praying about for years are about to come into the kingdom. This is a year of returning prodigals. Families are about to come into the kingdom en masse. This is a year of families. God wants us to focus on families more and more, even as the world will show greater disparity. Prophetic words released over the souls of the unsaved are about to see their fulfillment. Overall, this is a year of the Lord’s divine mandates coming to completion and being returned to him.

Worship and warfare
One of the most important issues at hand is a call to strategic spiritual warfare this year, and those who heed it will receive breakthrough. The enemy is launching specific attacks against the prophetic movement this year. For some, this will be intimidating. For others, the challenge will be viewed as an opportunity for significant advancement. The enemy is about to use some of his best intimidation tactics, so it is important not to get defensive, but remain on the offense.

More precisely, the enemy is now in a state of panic, launching an assault against the merger of the prophet and the evangelist. He seeks to cut off the emerging movement of prophetic evangelism that is paving the way for apostolic reformation. Much of this attack will be on the grounds of personal integrity and holiness issues.

However, what the enemy intends for evil, the Lord plans to use for good. He is far above the coming onslaught, and He is not wringing His hands with fear. Old forms of ministry are sinking like the Titanic, and several months ago, the Lord showed us an angel called “Sovereignty” which actually ministers the sovereignty of the Lord! The Lord intends to use this season of warfare to purify us, deconstruct old wineskins and bring us to the next level.

The restoration of the prophetic office is still relatively new, and the Lord is intent on keeping it refined and purified. As the movement continues to gain acceptability in the church over the next several years, those who operate in deception and immature prophetic giftings run the risk of gaining too much influence. In this sense, the Refiner and Purifier of the book of Malachi is emerging. Although this may seem like a harsh word, the Lord gave me Isaiah 28, which speaks of the Lord’s priests and prophets becoming drunk on the things of the world. It is critical that the church continues to contend for a pure prophetic word, without settling for our current degree of “types and shadows” revelation.

Obviously, there is a grace for growing and developing in our gifting, and I am not talking about “prophets in training” here. What the Lord is cracking down on is personal integrity issues. Nevertheless, there is also a grace from the Lord to develop a “passion for purity” this year, and for those who return to the Secret Place of the Most High, there will be an increase of favor.

This coming attack will take a number of forms, but our strategy for combat is sweet and simple. In a dream I was given Psalm 95:2-4. We must remember that worship is our primary tactic for successful warfare. The Psalmist writes:

Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him.

Worship warfare is going to bring us to victory this year, and the assaults of the enemy will serve to draw us closer together. Above all, we should contend as our primary goal to draw closer than ever to the Lord’s heart this year. His love is our compass and our guide in the days to come.

Overall, 2007 will be such an intense “spiritual” year, that we need all of 2006 to prepare for it. First the natural, then the spiritual. For those who are faithful in getting their natural houses in order this year, the Lord will entrust reservoirs of spiritual blessing and higher heights in the following year.

The Bride in Fullness Part III

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There is a process of self-discovery which is not at all a discovery of self, but a journey of discovering the Christ within. It is a process of owning the beauty He has placed upon us – the beauty of absolution – so that we completely become that which He says we are. As we are bolstered in our true identity – what the mystics called the True Self, which is the church as Christ sees the church – we gradually begin to own that persona.

Until we can see ourselves – not in an intellectual or strictly theological position, but on a deep, heart level – as the spotless, perfect, impeccable one He loves, our outward lives never manifest that positional truth. But as we see, taste and understand this love He extends toward the beauty He has given us, that same love transforms us from one level of glory to the next.

Positionally, the blood of Christ has completely freed me from all sin, bondage and sickness, seating my spirit man in Heavenly places with Christ at the right hand of the Father. Outwardly, in the soul realm and the physical, natural world around me, I am still working out the expression of this great salvation with fear and trembling.

I am in a process of becoming. But in the meantime, Christ still sees me as fully perfected. He does not see my hypocrisy. He does not see my double-mindedness. He has intentionally limited His own vision, so as to place my sins as far from his sight as the east is from the west. I am washed clean and perfected. Dwelling in the consciousness of His adoration over my beauty is the thing that woos my heart into life.

Let us look at the next attribute of the bride, which relates to this washing of her redeemed state:

“Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone” (Song 4:2).

This third aspect of the bride’s beauty in chapter four relates to the teeth. Teeth speak of discernment. They speak of “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). As teeth tear food, so is the sword of the Spirit sharp and penetrating, enabling us to devour solid spiritual food.

“But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to discern good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).

There is something about the word of God which, like a sword, slices deep and brings division. Remember that even the fiery tongues that came upon the apostles at Pentecost were cloven, or divided.

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

There is something about the radical division between light and darkness, life and death, truth and fiction, which comes from the release of the word of God. Jesus Himself said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword,” (Mt. 10:34). In Christ, there is no communion between light and darkness. He separates the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous, the holy from the defiled.

Foreshadowed in the Song, we see this division properly balanced within the mouth of the bride, as each tooth has its twin. The word of God is set within her in absolute purity. There is division between the teeth, even as Jesus has a double-edged sword coming from His own mouth. While in the process of our sanctification, our tongues spew both fresh and salt water, good and evil – however, the Lord does not see us with this imperfection.

My discernment is still developing, but Christ sees me with already perfected discernment. This gives me confidence to speak His word with boldness and power. He sees my teeth as sheep come up from the washing – my discernment cleansed, my mind transformed and renewed. As His sheep, I myself become the very tool of discernment – His very agent in the earth to reveal and manifest his nature.

The Bride in Fullness Part II

2005-08-18T01:19:00.000-08:00

(This week's message is part of a concurrent series on the Song of Solomon. For more on the Canticles, please visit our archives)

This week, we are continuing our study of the bride, the church, in the fullness of her beauty and glory, as depicted in Song of Solomon chapter four.

Let me first say that the goal of all ministry to the church is to prepare the bride, like the king’s eunuch in the book of Esther. The Lord wants his ministers to be spiritual eunuchs, who have no desire to draw the bride’s affections to themselves. Until the bride is manifesting the spotless purity which the Lord has given her, this will be our constant task: to get her ready and prepare the way for the Lord.

In our last study, we began with the first of seven attributes of the bride’s appearance, discussing her eyes which are like doves, speaking of single vision, her attention given exclusively to the Bridegroom.

This week, we will discuss her hair. Understand that the Song – despite a very common misperception – has little to do with human-to-human romance, or the marital relationship between a man and wife. In the same way, we are obviously not discussing physical eyes, hair, lips or natural attributes. We are looking at much deeper, spiritual principles. I am not suggesting that the Song has no significance for human marital relations, but its primary purpose is to point us to the Lover of our souls. It is about God and the church. After all, human marriage is only a shadow and a symbol, pointing to this same greater reality.

“‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery, but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:31-32).

:: her hair ::

The symbology of earth can scarcely describe the content and principles of Heaven. The truths of Heaven are absolute, however they are layered in degrees, and our understanding of divine mysteries is progressive. There are surface meanings to divine truths symbolized in the natural realm, but as our understanding grows deeper, the Lord reveals truths which have no context or allegorical comparisons in the natural world. The deepest things of God can only be described in relation to other heavenly articles and things in the unseen realm.

For instance, on one level, we have the stars, the seasons, the mountains and seas, even our own physical bodies made in the image of God. These all point to Him. But on another level, God is more clearly depicted by strange creatures full of eyes, servants of fire, flying scrolls, wheels within wheels and other bizarre heavenly things that exist in the invisible world.

With this said, we will dig much deeper into this week’s main passage, which otherwise will seem almost comical on its surface – especially since we no longer live in an agrarian society. Here it is:

“Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead” (Song 4:1b).

On the surface, the symbology of the bride’s hair speaks of her glory and her strength. In the first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, we see that the bride’s hair is symbolic of her glory and her submission to the Bridegroom. We may also remember Samson. As a Nazarite, his long hair symbolized his strength, but also his separation and submission to God.

The glory and strength of the bride comes through her utter submission to the Lord. In fact, the virtue of meekness is defined as “strength under control.” This was why, in the natural realm, the apostle Paul had women cover their hair. It was symbolic of the church’s strength and glory held under rein and devoted solely to her Lover.

There is much power when strength is held in reserve and self-control through humility. At any time, Jesus could have called on a legion of angels to deliver Himself from His persecutors, but instead, he refrained and accomplished His greatest work on the cross. In fact, He laid aside the fullness of his power and glory in Heaven, in order to meekly step into humanity. In the same way, Roman war horses were referred to as being “meek.” Understand that these mighty creatures would charge boldly and powerfully through lines of spears, taking arrows and wounds to their bodies in combat. Yet they never broke ranks or tried to escape. They would calmly follow the orders of their riders until they simply fell over dead in battle. That is true power. That is the call of the church.

In submitting ourselves to the Lord, laying down our rights and our very lives, our strength is replaced with His. The prophet Ezekiel literally laid his body down before the Lord at His command, lying on a bed for more than a year in a prophetic act. It is no coincidence that his name means “God will strengthen.”

Remember that it was also Mary Magdalene’s hair which was given over solely to the Lord as she humbled herself and wiped His feet with it. In such a way do we give over all glory, honor and strength to Him, and in doing so, our true beauty is manifest.

So why do goats symbolize the bride’s hair?

On this note, we will delve a bit deeper. For one, goats are a sacrificial animal. Also, the Lord shepherds us as His flock, caring over even the strays and leaving the masses behind just to seek out the one who is lost. In the same way, the Lord numbers even the hairs on our head (Mt. 10:30). But these goats are descending Mount Gilead. That is, they have just entered a place of freedom. This speaks of the bride’s abundance and inheritance in the Spirit.

:: Descending Mount Gilead ::

In Genesis 31, Jacob has just fled the house of Laban where he worked for 14 years for his two wives. Laban was the epitome of one who operated in a control spirit, and he deceived and cheated Jacob throughout the years, using him and never letting him go. He pulled a “bait and switch” on Jacob, giving him Leah as a bride instead of Rachel, and Laban represents a form of unjust, worldly system.

Laban’s name means “a place in the desert.” Also the word laban means “to make bricks,” perhaps symbolic of Israel’s slavery in Egypt. Throughout this time, Jacob was constantly striving to no avail to gain inheritance in his own strength. This was a season of toil and slavish service under Laban. Jacob’s life was full of cheating and conniving, as we read earlier in Genesis when he traded his brother Esau a bowl of soup in exchange for his birthright. And during Jacob’s tenure with Laban, things were no different. As Laban cheated Jacob, “changing his wages 10 times,” so did Jacob deceive Laban.

In another bid to keep Jacob under his service, Laban had agreed to give Jacob all of the spotted and speckled flocks as his wages (likely the rejects of the herd). Jacob then schemed a plot to breed Laban’s flocks in such a way that nearly all of them eventually became spotted and speckled. Thus, they became Jacob’s. Jacob’s flocks soon outnumbered Laban’s, making Jacob a very rich man. This may not seem very honest, but it was actually God who took away Laban’s livestock, giving them to Jacob (Gen. 30:9). The Lord caused this breeding scheme to work supernaturally.

Despite all of Jacob’s striving under the control and toil of Laban, it was actually God who supernaturally brought Jacob into his inheritance. It was God’s strength, not Jacob’s, which prevailed. And why did God bless a man like Jacob? Primarily, it is because Jacob did not despise the birthright. Jacob was willing to pay the price, and even bend the rules, to inherit the promises. He was a sly trickster, but he was willing to struggle for the best.

Many of us are quick to criticize those in the church who strive (even somewhat religiously) for the Lord. We may sense their false motives and recognize their veiled bid for acceptance with their dead works. Nevertheless, God is more pleased with one who is willing to contend and struggle for Him, than one who is simply apathetic.

God would rather us be hot or cold – passionate one way or the other – than simply indifferent and lukewarm.
There is something about treasuring the promise of abundance, the hope of inheritance in God, which causes His pleasure to turn toward us. Despite Jacob’s motives and tactics, he saw something in the Spirit that was of great value, and he was willing to contend for it.

After God had blessed Jacob with flocks, He instructed Jacob to leave Laban’s house. And Laban was in hot pursuit.

Finally, Jacob’s relationship with Laban climaxes at Gilead. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.

It was at Gilead that God once again intervened for Jacob, warning Laban in a dream neither to harm nor to do good to Jacob. He was instructed simply to leave him alone. There, the two made a covenant, building a heap of stones to serve as “a witness between me and you,” that neither man would harm the other. They set their boundaries and Jacob was able to go on his way.

Gilead is a place of setting boundaries between the place of toil, striving labor and bondage on one hand, and the place of freedom, abundance and inheritance on the other hand. Was Jacob seeking a father’s blessing from Laban? Probably. He knew he had received Isaac’s blessing under false pretenses. But Jacob was finally beginning to realize that only God could adequately bless him.

Gilead is a place of “coming out” from among one’s captors or from a desert season. In fact, Gilead was the first fruits of the Promise Land. Even before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River to take the land of inheritance, the tribes of Gad and Manasseh asked Moses if they could simply have the land of Gilead on the east of the river, because it was so fertile and good for grazing.

Gilead is a down payment on what is to come. Gad was one of the fiercest tribes of warriors, and although they were given Gilead, they vowed to fight alongside their brothers until all of the other tribes had secured their own land of inheritance.

Gilead is not the end of the battle. In fact, it is the beginning of a great war. But it is a place of turning from a posture of defense and strife to a posture of offense and overcoming. Not just for oneself, but sacrificially for others.

Our inheritance does not come on a silver platter, and there is always a contending for it in the Spirit. Jacob was referred to as one to have “struggled with God and with man and have overcome” (Gen. 32:28). Gilead is a place of turning away from slave labor and turning toward a place of diligent, kingly rule.

Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor (Pr. 12:24)

There is a form of “godly service” which is actually strife. We land there when we are too lazy to step up to a higher level of faith to rule and reign like kings. Kingly rule is more productive and less oppressive than slave labor. And diligence is much different than strife.

Gilead is a place of transition out of a somewhat self-imposed desert, and into a battle zone. Jacob’s journey was not over. Jacob had yet to fully surrender to God at this point. He had yet to wrestle the Angel of the Lord all night and come to grips with his own weaknesses and inabilities. Yet Gilead was a foreshadow of the Promise Land. It was a representation of the cross, and Jacob and Laban even made a sacrifice there as a foreshadow of the cross.

Jacob was on his way to confront Esau – something he should have done much earlier. When we face the battles God intends for us, however large, we are no longer pursued by the temporary captors God must necessarily design for us to get us back on track. God will redeem our time spent in the desert, but why waste time there if it’s not required? Israel could have left her desert much sooner, had she been willing to face the giants of the Promise Land. In the same way, many Christians struggle with personal bondages of sin and worldly task masters, because we are unwilling to face the daunting tasks and high callings that God puts before us. If we do not move offensively against the gates of hell, we succumb to their snares.

Consider Jonah. Had he gone to Ninevah as the doctor ordered, he never would have suffered the belly of the whale. We must pursue our calling obediently.

Gilead speaks of a membrane wall we break through, from the captivity of the defensive Christianity of the desert to the freedom of offensive Christianity in the Promise Land. Our strength is sapped in the desert where we run from God. But when our strength is submitted to His will, we are empowered to bring down giants. No matter how many years we have spent in captivity, nor how daunting those giants must seem with our present state of sapped strength, that same vigor and joy is renewed when we make a step toward coming out.

And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall (Mal. 4:2).

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Is. 55:12).

Remember that the Lord sees the church through the blood-tinted glasses of perfection. He sees that she is already descending Mount Gilead. The covenant has already been cut on the mountain. She is already on her way toward the task at hand, and her strength, glory and beauty is already given over to His will. She does not give her strength or beauty to another. She is purified as a virgin.

Furthermore, the flocks of her inheritance are not for her own use, or for her own squandering. All of her glory and strength are given over to the Lord as a testimony to Him. Gilead is a “heap of witness” – a testimony to the Lord. As we glorify God in the sight of witnesses, so will He glorify us. Mary wiped Jesus’ feet in the sight of all the others. In the same way, what she did for Him will always be told “in memory of her” (Mk. 14:9).

The Bride in Fullness Part I

2005-08-01T01:16:00.000-08:00

(This week's message is part of a concurrent series on the Song of Solomon. For more on the Canticles, please visit our archives)

Recently, I was looking at the full moon shining brightly over the bay where we live, when the Lord began speaking to me about His bride.

He said simply, “I want My church to shine in her fullness. It comes through a revelation of her beauty to me.”

The Lord showed me that a strategic key for the church to enter the fullness of His glory is to understand how He perceives us. The moon has no light of its own, but it reflects the sun. In the same way, we reflect the Lord’s beauty, and it is breathtaking for Him to look at us. Without knowing God’s perfect love for us, we can never enter love’s maturity. As the apostle states, “to know this love that surpasses knowledge” leads to being “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:19). What would that look like? The measure of all the fullness of God? And yet, we read in Colossians 2:9-10:

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

Already, the inheritance of Heaven is in hand, and the Holy Spirit is our down payment on more to come. In the proper season, we will enter a realization of this fullness. To the degree that we demonstrate and reflect a full and complete expression of the Lord, so shall be the level of own spiritual maturity. Unfortunately, so many of us are content with the level of revelation or experience we have already received in the Lord. We set up camp, and never move on to take hold of this anointing called fullness.

In Song of Solomon chapter four, the Lord begins to express the beauty and the splendor of the bride. He does this not in vain flattery or to fill us with pride, but so that we begin to value ourselves based on His own estimation of us and by the grace we have been given. No longer do we esteem ourselves based on our circumstances, trials or the enemy’s accusations. No longer do we compare ourselves with the beauty and favor of others. But we stand on the firm truth that God is passionately drawn toward us no matter what. It is His unmerited, undeserved favor that has spilled over onto the bride, bringing beauty and life from ashes and hopelessness. The beauty, hence, is not her own, but comes “because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect” (Eze. 16:14).

In verses one through five, the Lord begins to specify seven features of the bride – her eyes, her hair, her teeth, her lips, her neck, her temples and her breasts. Each verse is full of symbology and identity for the believer, so we will take this passage slowly over the next few weeks, in order to allow time for the Lord to saturate us with revelation. On the surface, these verses seem merely to be of a shallow, poetic nature. But in reality, the seven features here represent the number of perfection and fullness. God’s sevenfold Spirit – the seven candlesticks among which Jesus Christ Himself walks – is the fullness of His glorious presence, which we seek to reflect in our lives. We should not be content with just a trickle, just a corner of all that God has for us. We must press in for God in His entirety, moving on from a hope of things unseen to a faith that realizes and takes hold of the substance of the unseen realm. And beyond that faith is the greatest key of all: the love of God that unlocks every door.

:: Achieving single vision ::

How beautiful your eyes are my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves (Song 4:1a).

Here, we see that the Lord is captivated by our beauty, even from behind our own self-imposed and religious veils. He draws us out by calling forth a beauty in us that has not yet been realized. Despite the shrouds and blocks that seemingly stand between us and the Lord, He has positionally removed every one, and he sees our future state of perfection even now in the present. As our eyes are filled with Him – the doves of His presence – we are overcome and begin to radiate His own brilliance. Our eyes become full of light, as do our bodies.

A dove’s eyes have very singular vision. They do not see the peripheral distractions around them, but only focus on one thing at a time. In the same way, the Lord sees His bride as being pure and spotless with the purity He has given her. He sees that she looks neither to the left nor to the right, but that her eyes are fixed on Him and Him alone.

Understand that Jesus is prophetically wooing His bride into her destiny here. At this point in the bride’s immaturity, her eyes still dart to and fro, still flirting with the spirit of the world. And yet, He calls to her not as a harlot, but as the spotless, chosen one, whose eyes are firm, steady and fixed. Although I may feel hypocritical and double-minded, Jesus does not see me that way. When the Father looks at me, He sees one whose heart is sincere in its seeking. His perception of me is “Oh, how beautiful!” not because of any merit of my own, but because of the shed blood of Christ.

As for the practical realization of this positional, spiritual principle, it is good to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).

I believe that as we delve further into our study of Christ’s holy infatuation with the bride, we will begin to notice many of our insecurities fall away over the next few weeks. As odd, and perhaps paradoxical as it may seem, understanding and identifying myself with the God-given beauty of the bride will turn me into a bold an vicious warrior for the Kingdom. In my meetings, I often encourage the men of the church to learn to identify themselves as Christ’s bride. I do not mean that one should become effeminate by any means. But understanding how passionately obsessed the Lord is with our beauty causes us to step out of our caves and stop hiding in fear and shame from the fullness that awaits us in the light.

Authority in Intimacy

2005-07-22T01:12:00.000-08:00

(This week's message is part of a concurrent series on the Song of Solomon. For more on the Canticles, please visit our archives)

Out of the place of intimacy, the believer is given all authority to crush the head of the serpent and live the life of an overcomer. Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God’s universal plan has been to restore mankind to a place of communion, wherein our hearts and lives are drawn back to Him. As we are positioned into a place of restored relationship with God, we find that our lives begin to once again demonstrate the authority over our atmosphere and circumstances, much like Adam held authority over his own surroundings in Eden.

The first realm of authority we begin to inhabit is self control over our own deeds. Sin no longer is given license to reign in our mortal flesh. But God seeks to entrust us with much more rulership than simply over our own habits and actions. The life of the believer is not centered around overcoming personal sin issues. That is a rudimentary starting point, but our lives are centered around the Lord Himself.

The authority with which we can be entrusted really has no boundaries, and is measured only by the degree in which we are submitted in love to the King of Kings. Spiritual authority is not dependent on years of training, seminary education, age or length of time as a Christian. It is measured solely by how much of the Lord we have in our lives.

Last week we read of the beloved emerging from the dark night of the soul, to a triumphal vision of King Solomon – who is here a type of Christ, specifically modeled as the King of Glory. He came from the desert like a column of smoke, not unlike the cloud of glory that encamped about the children of Israel and led them, even when they were in the dry places.

King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he made it of wood from Lebanon. Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple, its interior lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem. Come out you daughters of Zion, and look at King Solomon wearing the crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his heart rejoiced (Song 3:9-11).

Notice that the King was crowned on his wedding day. Isaiah 61:10 further illustrates this “as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest. …” In the place of intimacy, we are crowned with authority. But moreover, the Lord Himself is crowned with authority as we turn our hearts to Him. As we give him our allegiance, we increase the scope of His power. Notice that this is the “crown with which his mother crowned him.” Who is the mother of Christ, but the church? Of course we are not the mother of God as if we preceded Him – but the church, like Mary, gives birth to an expression of Jesus and His Kingdom in the natural realm of the earth. As the presence of God hovers over us in secret prayer, it causes us to release a tangible Heavenly deposit into the world around us.

One way that we crown Him, is when the crowns of our lives are given to Him. All of the service, glory and accomplishments of our lives are laid before Him to increase His domain, even as the elders laid their crowns before Him in the Book of Revelation.

The paradox is this: although the church, like a womb, gives creative expression of God’s Kingdom into the natural realm, yet we are still the work of His hands – Him who is the Creator of all things. We are made by Him, to be carriers of Him. Solomon made for himself the carriage, and the carriage is us. “He made it of wood” means He made us of flesh, as wood is a typology of mankind in scripture. We are the vessels that carry His glory, created specifically for that purpose.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Cor. 4:7).

Our calling is to be a habitation place for His presence. A place that the Son of Man can finally rest His head. A softened heart is like the royal upholstery of this carriage; our inner life is like its interior lovingly inlaid for Him. We are the temple He inhabits, and the Lord will never dwell in another temple made by hands – He will live only in the chosen ones who carry His name.

It is for this reason, in Amos 9:11, that the Lord says He will restore the Tabernacle of David. He never promises to restore the Tabernacle of Moses, the temple of Solomon or any other earthly structure. Why? Because the Tabernacle of David represented intimate worship, where His people could come openly, without the barriers and veils of the Mosaic Tabernacle, to worship directly before the Ark of the Covenant itself. It was symbolic of direct, unhindered communion between God and His people, which did not hinge on works, ceremony or outer form. It spoke of a new covenant. Remember that this was the lifestyle lived by David, the worshipper, who was commended for having a heart after God’s own heart. For this, David was given a kingdom – authority – that would never end. An eternal throne, birthed in the place of intimate worship as a poor shepherd boy. In fact, even Jesus sits on David’s throne! David was a “mother” who crowned the Lord in the place of intimacy.

One day, every knee will bow to the Lord. The Lord will eventually appropriate His authority over all things, but He is lingering for those who will, by choice, first submit their allegiance to Him willingly. We will either bow our knee to Him out of force, or out of passionate desire. To those who bow the knee out of desire, their inheritance is to rule and reign with Him forever. The more authority we give to God in our lives, the more authority He will entrust us with in our own lives here on earth.

God does not want those who bow the knee like robots. He wants lovers, not slaves. This is why there was free choice in the Garden. And this is why He did not keep His presence in the dead, stationary forms of manmade temples. We are a house built of living stones. Like Solomon’s carriage, or the throne on wheels in Ezekiel’s vision, we are a moving seat for the King. We can operate in the fluidity and life of the Spirit and move at His will.

Understand that God does not need our service, and that is not His reason for exercising authority over us. Our love and service toward the bridegroom makes his “heart rejoice.”

Divine Interception

2005-07-15T01:43:00.000-08:00

In recent weeks we have discussed the strategic dance of divine intimacy, as the Lover of our souls will often hide from us, only to be revealed in the very next instant. This repetitive transition between hiddenness and manifestation is a consistent pattern for the one who sets his heart to love. From the place of spiritual sight and revelation, we are often taken next to a place of darkness. It is there that we must come to grips with the true depths of our blindness and spiritual bankruptcy. Though in seasons of manifestation, we clearly see our Heavenly riches in Christ and taste His abundance, it is in the dark night that our faith is strengthened so that we no longer doubt, are no longer double minded, and can therefore be entrusted with even greater riches of the Kingdom.

We are on a path from glory to glory. We are consequently on a road from death to death. The more He increases, the more I decrease.

When we honestly confess our lack, limitation and ultimately, our dependence on the grace of God alone, we are freed to enter another season of revelation and visitation. In this cycle of up and down, we eventually are led into a place of peace and inner stillness that is no longer dependent on the soul’s sensory experience of God. We have contentment and an abiding pleasure in being grounded in the truth of God’s undying love for us, whether we feel it and experience it or not. Though we are in the night season, the terror of the night no longer affects us. Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil.

One of the only constants in the life of the believer is the assurance of discontinuity and turbidity. Jesus promised us not a rose garden, but in fact, the opposite. He assured us that we would face considerable ups and downs in this life. Jesus Himself experienced a broad range of emotions: at times He was broken with weeping; at times He feasted and rejoiced; at times He was so distraught that He sweat drops of blood. And though He was one with the Father, His communion with the Father was not always crystal clear. He developed it over time. Jesus went through a desert season (at least one, literally), where he was personally tempted by the prince of darkness. He went so far as to be “led” by satan during this process (see Lk. 4:5, 9). Of course, Jesus was not led to the point of sin, but the fact is that when He limited Himself in power and entered humanity, He laid aside some of his communicative privileges with the Father.

Is that too hard to swallow? Consider this “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mt. 27:46). Jesus was obviously not in touch with the Father on the cross, that is for sure. The Father totally turned His back on His Son, because of our sins that were placed upon Him. This was the cup that was given to Him by the Father to drink.

The point is, it is a natural part of our Christian walk to encounter desert seasons and dry spells. The dark night is not to be interpreted as God’s abandonment of us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Rather, we should count it a privilege that He has hidden from us for a season, because we are given the opportunity to search Him out anew. After all, “it is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” (Pr. 25:2).

Amid God’s seeming arrival and departure, our faith is being consistently rooted in the truth. And this produces great peace, aside from circumstances. As the apostle Paul stated, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want” (Phil. 4:12).

This principal is true both in natural and in spiritual matters. Paul was not speaking only about money here. While we all desire spiritual abundance – supernatural encounters, angelic visitations, prophecies, healings, etc. – we cannot forget the important beatitude that “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Those with no spiritual abundance in their outward lives are still heirs to the Kingdom, which is inherited through faith alone.

Blessed are the poor in spirit … this verse is not given so that we will desire spiritual poverty, or to discourage us from searching out spiritual riches. The exciting part is that we can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven now, here on earth, as was Jesus’ prayer: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven” (Mt. 6:10). But we should be quick to admit that we are already in a wretched state of spiritual poverty (no matter how many demons we’ve cast out, how many prophecies we’ve uttered or hours of prayers we’ve prayed). This is a necessary step toward entering this abundance. On the one hand, we are utterly bankrupt, yet paradoxically, the work of Christ makes us heirs to the throne.

We cannot rely on our old experiences or the manna of yesterday to calculate our spiritual wealth. If we are so full of yesterday’s bread, we will miss the Lord when he comes new and afresh.

The Lord says to “realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Rev. 3:17-18).

We are heirs to Heaven on earth. But in the grand scheme of things, even the greatest saint on earth has barely tasted a drop of what Heaven holds. We are like children playing in the mud puddles of Heaven’s lowest levels, and calling ourselves satisfied. In the end, the richest reward is neither Heaven nor earth, anyway. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Mt. 24:35).

Jesus is the treasure. Jesus is the Word of God that is formed in our hearts through a process of faith and patience. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Patience comes in the waiting, in the testing. In confessing our wretched need, I do not suggest we overly identify ourselves as sinners. We identify ourselves with Christ, and that is the quest of the beloved.

When we last left the beloved, she had searched through the streets for her Lover to no avail. Though she asked Him to appear as He did in days gone by – like a gazelle or like a young stag – He had not revealed Himself to her in the way she desired. He was still hidden. She remembered Him in His wildness and unpredictability. But this same unpredictability, like a double-edged sword, had left her wondering, grasping at straws as to His whereabouts.

And now, after searching desperately:

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city.

“Have you seen the one my heart loves?” (Song 3:3)

Notice that she has searched and found nothing. And yet, she herself has been found in the process. Found by the watchmen, who she questions. The watchmen often represent the seers, the prophets. One job of the watchmen is to keep the times. They not only stand guard on the city walls to search out what is coming on the horizon. The watchmen also search out the city from within. And that is what they are doing here. While the watchmen do not represent Christ Himself, they do point to Him.

In the night of purging, our hearts are searched deeply by the inner lamp of the Lord. Within our city walls, as we come to grips with the depth of our inner lostness – our continual need for deeper and deeper levels of sanctification and evangelism of the secret recesses of the soul – the Word is brought into the inner courts of our heart.

As we submit to the process of the dark night – as we willingly encounter the cross – we find shortly thereafter, past a brief process of entombment, that new life is given. And suddenly, without notice – perhaps without any real expectancy – we encounter the object of our search.

Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held Him and would not let Him go till I had brought Him to my mother’s house, to the room of the one who conceived me.

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires (Song 3:4-5).

We see that, although she was faithful to rise from her slumber, the beloved’s earlier chasing and striving through the streets after her Lover were partly in vain. An “A” for effort, but in the end, it was the watchmen who came to her. And it is the Lord who reveals Himself. In the desert, we often move from one extreme to the other: from snoozing on the couch to flailing in the water. From complacency to vain chasing. God is not after our works, as much as He is after our realization of Himself. It was good that she ran through the streets, not that it accomplished anything in itself, but it was a confession of her inadequacy apart from a deeper level of communion. And as we draw near to Him, He draws near to us.

Really, transcendence to deeper planes of romance is as simple as asking with pure motives. There is not much doing involved. However, those motives are purified in the furnace of the desert. And just when there is nothing left within us to search, God seems to intercept us unaware.

This is much like a male driver, who is so lost, he is finally willing to pull over at the gas station to get directions. God will draw us to a point of humility and desperation, where our only goal, our only desire, is to reach the destination, no matter the cost.

When the heart is positioned, by God’s sovereignty and our distinct, yet passive allegiance, we are suddenly surprised to find Him in the passing. Not as a destination, but in passing, we see Him to the greatest degree we are able to withstand in the moment. Our thirst is such, in those dry desert sands, that we are desperately ready to take Him right into the room of conception. At the first sign of water, we think we can drink a barrel.

Of course, God is moved by this kind of desire. In the opening of the Song, it is the King who draws us into His chambers. But now, our hunger for Him has grown so severe, that we have actually moved Him to go along with us. Not by our running, but by our desperation.

But the beloved still has quite a way to go, and true love is still being formed in her. Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires. Nevertheless, her love has begun to overtake the process of timing. To those who keep the times, she can only ask “Where is He?” The key to breaking the cycle of the seasons and the years in the desert is to have this question formed within us, “Where is He?”

The testings have put within her a resolve to seek the Lord while He may be found. So that when she finds Him, she holds onto Him – as did Mary when she saw the resurrected Lord – and she does not let go. Like Jacob, she has learned to value her birthright, and is willing to hold fast to the Lord, even if it means she must wrestle Him throughout the night.

Remember, it was not Jacob’s striving which moved God, but his hunger. In the same way, we should know that God is not moved by our blind searching throughout the streets for Him. But He is intoxicated by our willingness to go there for the sake of divine hunger.

And what is the reward? Those who seek will find. To those who knock, the door will be opened. The Lord honors our sincere, searching hearts. Though misguided we may be, no time spent in preparation and seeking is time spent in vain. The Lord will restore even the time spent searching in blind alleyways.

The beloved does not encounter the Lord in the way she wanted, as a gazelle or a stag. But the reward of her searching is a far deeper revelation of Him. To her surprise, she is intercepted by the Lord as He comes as the King of Glory. The Lord of Hosts – King of the armies of Heaven.

Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant? Look! It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel, all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared for the terrors of the night (Song 3:7-8).

Desert time is not wasted time. In the desert places, we are unknowingly preparing the way for the King.

God in Hiding

2005-07-07T14:17:00.000-08:00

We must understand that a vital strategy in the Lover’s pursuit of His beloved, is to withdraw from her. We are engaged in a dance, in which the Lover is made manifest to us, just long enough to capture our attention before fleeing back again into the shadows.

Unless the Lord hides His face from us for a season, we are never stripped of our soulish frivolity to the point of sheer faith – faith being the only substance we can offer to God with which He is truly pleased, apart from love itself. And as we know, love is quite easily feigned and most often misunderstood as strictly the substance of emotion and sentimentality. Though it most assuredly involves these things, love is far richer a concept. It is laced with the truth and terror, the sacrifice and volatility of God Himself. Its depths cannot be charted or explored without, at times, a volitional estrangement from emotion and the lower states of the soul. Much of what we call love is self-centered fluff.

For the beloved, true love is still too elusive a concept to grasp as we enter the third chapter of the Canticles. We are left in chapter two with her pleas for Him to return to her in His earlier fashion, “turn my Lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag” – this being the likeness of His former visitation in the Song. How often have we pleaded with God to reveal Himself in the same way He did before? In the way we came to adore, when our heart first swelled with anticipation? We built monuments around that old well, that old movement, that old revival. The place is littered with sentimental relics of a day gone by, and we continue to ask God to operate as He did back then.

But those whose hearts were truly enlivened in that day have come to understand, in their inmost being, that the living flame of divine love no longer burns around those old relics as it once did. Though we all play the same old ritual and sing the same old songs, everybody knows. Though the form and structure remains the same, there is an awareness that the spark of life no longer dances in those old statuaries. Ichabod, the glory has departed. Something within her – not the slave woman who has fully come to idolize the old forms, but rather the remnant of the beloved who still remembers what those forms once represented – something within her still cries out that there is something more. And so we suddenly find her, here in the throes of the dark night, longing to see the one her heart adores past the shadows of confusion, isolation and the aridity of the soul. She tosses and turns over the hope of a deeper communion she has never really tasted, yet somehow she knows it exists.

All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for Him but did not find Him. I will get up now and go about the city, through its streets and squares; I will search for the one my heart loves. So I looked for Him but did not find Him (Song 3:1-2).

We see a number of transitions in this passage, and there is no need to point out the obvious. She is stepping out past the complacency and immaturity of soulish fancy. From dreaming on her bed to putting feet and action behind her love. She is stepping out of the window and reaching into the cold, dark night. She willingly steps out of a place of comfort and security into what may seem like an irrational void. She risks a pointless pursuit, and seemingly, that is what she gets. “I looked for Him but did not find Him.”

Those who have faced spiritual disappointment. Those whose hopes and dreams have at some point crumbled, understand this feeling of divine distance far too well. It is one thing to lean on the false comfort of the appetites, then to have them removed. It is altogether another thing to become dependent on a preconceived framework for the divine, just to have the rug pulled out from under you.

The dark night has several fundamental purposes. Foremost is to strengthen, out of sheer necessity, our belief in the substance of things not seen. To simply believe that He is. Beyond all feeling, learning and even experience – to know on a primal level that He is. And secondly, if not equally important: to believe that He is good. The desert is a gift to us, in that it allows us to consolidate our misconceptions, insecurities and slavish fears regarding God into one lump sum and then put the whole nasty mother to death. In the desert, between Egypt and the Jordan, we are transformed from slaves into warriors.

Yes, it is necessary that God hides from us, so that our dependence is not built upon an experience of Him, or even on facts about Him – but rather, our dependence is placed strictly on Him and Him alone. Trusting in the one who is unseen and unfelt is a required rite of passage. Blessed is he who has not seen, and yet believes.

As I said, we are engaged in a dance, in which the Lover is made manifest to us, just long enough to capture our attention before fleeing back again into the shadows. In this we are allured, not by manipulative advances and false starts. But in fact, we are allured to the soul’s graveyard, where we chase our Lover into those self-same shadows until we lose ourselves. And all the time, unknowingly, we are falling headlong into Him. In the end we will see that He was with us all along.

The soul must become detached from its perceptions of God, in order to make room for Him. In this, I do not advocate the utter detachment of the darker mystics. We are not called to a lifestyle of nihilistic, stoic withdrawal. However, the Lord does delight in suspending our senses, putting to death the lower passions of the soul, in order to relate with us on a higher plane of spiritual consciousness.

The key here is to allow the Lord to do His own hiding. Instead, we are the ones most often hiding from Him in the name of maturity and prudence. We choose our deserts and detachments, even when He, in no way, is calling us to go there. We would often rather run to our own religious, nihilistic corner, then enshrine the sepulcher as if it were the destination, instead of a momentary, often unnecessary tool. We think that God’s hiding is a cat and mouse game, and in slavish spite, we seek to turn the tables and demand that He pursue us for a change. We are quite unaware that He has been doing this very thing the entire time.
Thank God that, in our self-imposed isolation and self-destructive self-pity (the kind we enter sulkily when he reappears without explaining His absence), he does not enable our bitterness. But like Jonah, He sends a worm to eat away at our shade tree and add to our self-imposed misery until we choose to snap out of it. We can have a desert if we want one, but the Christian walk is much more full of life and liberty than the stale mess kit we’ve been shoveled.

Catching the Little Foxes

2005-06-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely (Song 2:14)

It was Moses who asked the Lord, “Now show me your glory.” He was placed in the clefts of the rock, so that he could bear to see the goodness of the Lord as He passed by (Ex. 33). The fearsome goodness of God was so intense, that Moses had to be covered, and then he could only look at the Lord’s back, because to see His face would have been more than any man could bear.

As we grow in our hearts’ desire, this becomes a consistent cry, “show me your glory.” We want to see His face. We want to hear His voice. We want our senses to be filled with Him as He draws near. However, in this verse, we see that these longings are reciprocated by the Lord. It is the Lover here speaking, saying to the bride “show Me your face, let Me hear your voice. …”

As much as we long to draw near to the Lord, it is the beauty of the bride that draws Him to us. He is saying, “Come to Me.” Pull aside. Allow Me to enjoy you. He is thrilled to see our face and to hear our voice.

It is our sweetness, our loveliness, which allures and attracts the Lord to us. Considering our fallen state, it is difficult to wrap our minds around this. The favor He has shown toward us seems too overwhelming to be real. Can He really be so pleased with us in this way?

Moses asked, “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you.” We want to experience the consistent, abiding presence of God. Continually. Not just a momentary visit. We want to experience Emmanuel, God with us, and move into an everyday awareness of His love and favor toward us.

It is for this reason, that He next beckons us:

Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom (verse 15)

The little sins. The small things. The compromises that slip in and spoil our vineyard – which spoil the place of intimacy where we bear fruit – these are the things we must root out. We cannot let the wine be ruined. We cannot be negligent with this vineyard. It must be kept sealed away, with no cracks in the wall for the little foxes to enter.

Sometimes catching these foxes means rooting away outward habit patterns. Sometimes it means dealing with mundane distractions – taking the time to tend the vineyard, not being overly preoccupied with the cares of the world. And sometimes, it is as simple as rooting out the insecurities and issues of the heart that block intimacy. We sometimes neglect this garden because we shy away from the intensity of His love for us. While intellectually, we can comprehend that God loves us unconditionally, we feel awkward to gaze upon it for too long. We turn to busyness, details and entertainment.

Our calling is higher than that of Moses. Through Christ’s blood, we can now gaze upon His goodness with unveiled faces. If we can grow bold enough to approach the throne of grace and taste the goodness of this terribly intense love, then the insecurities and fears in every other area of our life fall away like shadows. If we become bold enough to be vulnerable to the Bridegroom’s advances, we have courage to tackle anything.

We must grow confident in the Lover’s desire for us. We must understand how breathtakingly beautiful we are to Him. He wants us completely, and our beauty is reserved for Him and Him alone. This love is exclusive, and reserved for no other idol.

My Lover is mine and I am His; He browses among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee, turn, my Lover, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the rugged hills (verses 16-17)

As He browses among the lilies, He is feasting on us. He grazes like a wild gazelle or a stag. His wild, unpredictability enters our field and he takes from us our most prized possession – our hearts. In the night, when we are alone and our vineyard is sealed away from any other cares or distractions, we invite Him to draw near and have His way with us.

From Vision to Activation

2005-06-08T17:54:00.000-08:00

(This week's message is part of a concurrent series on the Song of Solomon. For more on the Canticles, please visit our archives)

Until love is awakened, our spirits slumber. Although we begin to envision a lifestyle of reckless abandon for God – that is all we have at first – a vision. A thing is dreamt about before it is realized. Conceptualized, before it comes into being. Each new level of experiential divine intimacy is preceded at first by a process of pondering and envisioning. At this point in our study, the Beloved has still not moved from a place of vision to activation in this relationship – from conceptualization to actually taking hold of its fullness:

My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.” (Song 2:10-13)

There is a very real call to arise and take hold of our destiny. That destiny consists of habitation with the Lord. But notice that the Beloved is reiterating an earlier conversation with the Lord here:

My lover spoke and said …

This is not the Lord speaking, present tense. She is remembering the vision – this is a rehearsal of things formerly told to her. Perhaps a remembrance of past prophecies given. She is still familiarizing herself with the call to “arise.” To awaken. She is still in a place of pondering the vision. We must understand that throughout life, we are called to hold onto certain words and visions for a necessary time of pondering and processing. When the angels, shepherds and wise men came to Jesus’ birth, there were great signs in the heavens accompanied by profound prophecies. But Mary did not understand it all at first. Scripture tells us that “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk. 2:19).

It is important that we do not cut short the pondering process. The season of meditation on what has been spoken, and envisioning things to come. As with Joseph, the word of the Lord first had to test him for a season, until those things which had been spoken over him came to pass. There is an element of God’s timing at work here. Do not awaken love until it so desires. Understand that, at this stage of the passage, the night season is still technically underway. There is a proclamation that “winter is past” and that the season of spring – the time of love – is at hand. But this is a prophetic statement. It is like Jesus saying “the child only sleeps,” when everyone else around can clearly see that she is dead.

The blossoming, the singing, the presence of the doves (habitation with God’s Spirit), all have their obvious connotations as a time of awakening and spiritual renewal. But inevitably, we have a part to play in bringing this spring season into being. God has already called the spring into being, but we have to arise to take hold of it. We cannot just ponder the vision forever. At some point, we have to appropriate and step out into the truth that has been spoken.

:: active resurrection ::

Awakening from the daydream into a manifestation of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, is the very substance of resurrection power. The shadowy vision should always be trumped by the true substance of that vision, when it appears. Christ’s followers could hardly grasp what He meant in saying that He would be killed and rise from the dead. But when it happened, they were utterly amazed. We see through a glass darkly, but when He appears in our midst, He will blow away the befuddled, childish concepts to which we once clinged.

We must step forward from the vision to the reality. We must see our destiny on the horizon, and begin to position ourselves for it. That is how we literally bring the future into the present. But you cannot make resurrection power happen. It is God that pulls you up from the dead. God who awakens you. This is a fine dance between His sovereignty and our free-will responsiveness. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you. There is a season of waiting and pondering on what He will do, but eventually, we have to step out into the realm of faith and doing ourselves. In this sense, we allow Him to do through us.

There is a clear call to position ourselves for resurrection power. To prepare ourselves for the King. The bridal call is to get ready for the Bridegroom.

:: supernatural preparation ::

How do we prepare ourselves for the King? Notice here in verse 13 that the trees are bearing early fruit. Fig trees speak of natural Israel. You may remember that Jesus cursed a fig tree at the time he cleansed the temple of the money changers and offended the Pharisees. In that passage, the fig tree was already in leaf, but it was still too early in the season for figs. It gave the appearance of bearing fruit, but it was not ready.

Even as natural Israel was not ready for her King, so the tree was not prepared for Jesus. Although it was early in the season, and by all natural expectancies should not have been ready for fruit – nevertheless, God calls us beyond our natural limitations. We do not just have permission to move beyond our natural limits – we have a responsibility to do so. When Jesus cursed the tree, He told His disciples:

Have faith in God. … I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, “Go throw yourself into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him (Lk. 11:22-23)

Jesus was speaking very literally here.

Natural limits are no excuse for the people of God. We have settled for a very low standard – a very weak level of faith – and built up a set of excusing doctrines for it. Even as Jesus has prophetically called your spring season into being, so must you actively learn to call it into being. We have been waiting on Jesus to move our mountains, but He has been waiting on us to do it with the Spirit and the Word. Does this sound too much like a “Word of Faith” teaching? So be it. That’s what it is. We like to get comfortable with our mountains and our winters and our night seasons. But God wants us to bound over them, cast them into the sea, and make them a place of new wine and holy revelry. Level the path and make straight the way for the Lord – not for our own selfishness, but for His glory.

The church is too comfortable with its dead, natural limitations. With waiting on God to move, but never exercising the divine authority that has already been given to us. Like Moses at the Red Sea, we are begging God to act, but He asks, “Why are you crying out to me? Stretch out your own rod, your own authority.” The Kingdom of Heaven dwells within us. It is springtime, abiding time, revival time, whenever we choose to turn our gaze in that direction and declare that it is so.

It is one thing to pray for revival. It is another thing to make revival happen. It is time to make the prophetic decree that revival has already come. The church is not dead, “she is only asleep.”

There is now a call to wake up. To take hold of the destiny and the lifestyle of intimacy with God’s presence that we have always dreamed about. Waking up means putting our vision into motion. Everything is still and predicated at the tomb. There is nothing to write home about. For too long, we have enshrined that place, with a false glorification of self-death. The lifeless place of “nothing happening to the glory of God.” Dead stillness has the appearance of holiness. But the point of the Christian walk is not for me to “decrease,” but for Him to “increase.” His increase is the ultimate agenda, and my decrease is only a natural byproduct. Much of what we have claimed to be “death to self” has actually been bowing the knee to a religious spirit and actually has strengthened the fleshly nature. True death to self should result in resurrection power, life and fullness.

We will know resurrection life by its fruit. It is living, moving and active. Its movements are like Elijah’s – unpredictable and beyond human comprehension (1 Kings 18:12). It swims against the stream. It is marked by the spontaneity of desire.

We have set up camp at the tomb, but Jesus is now removing our grave clothes. He is waking us up, not just to visions of hope, but to the substance of things hoped for. He is saying “Arise, my darling … come with me.”

God of Wildness

2005-06-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

(This week's message is part of a concurrent series on the Song of Solomon. For more on the Canticles, please visit our archives)

Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires (Song 2:7)

The intrinsic element of desire must necessarily be at the core of our being to pursue God in the manner He prescribes. Love cannot be formulated. There is an element of deep, reckless longing that must burn beneath the exterior forms of our worship. It cannot be forced or calculated. In Deuteronomy 12:4, the Lord tells us of the pagans, “You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.” In this, He was not just talking about the form or methodology of their worship services, or what types of altars, incenses or instruments they used. Moreover, the Lord was saying he does not want slavish service in which we follow patterns and shadows of worship, with no inner life or spontaneity.

God Himself wants to lead our worship, because He can – he is a living God. The prophets of baal cut themselves and cry aloud, trying to find the formula for him to appear, but the spirit of Elijah makes a mockery of them. Elijah literally asks, “Is baal out relieving himself? Where is baal?” Our God, however, is real, present and responsive. Ever-present Emmanuel. You can’t see baal; he’s out to lunch. Our God is motivated not by empty sacrifice and formula, but by burning desire. This is why we do not pray for Him to bless our ideas. Since He is a living God, he can initiate His own. We are blessed when we get onboard with His plans.

Real. Responsive. Alive. Close at hand. Moreover, completely untamed and uncontrolled. He is a good lion, but not a tame lion.

Listen! My Lover! Look! Here He comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! There He stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice (verse 9).

Gazelles and does of the field speak of a wildness. These are not livestock that move at the command or will of man. Love originates in the will and spontaneity of God. The arousal of love is not a predicated, legislated thing. It must be invoked by a deep “desire.” One cannot will himself to love. A relationship cannot be a forced thing. It takes you off guard. It is a thing of poetry. A glance of the eye that catches you by surprise. It is the spark of the breath of life that animates a man.

:: listen, look ::

Notice here, that first the senses are turned to God. Listen. … Look. … Desire comes first by peering at the object of our affection. When we see Him, we will be like Him. On the same token, when we see Him, we will fall in love with Him. It is inevitable. This is why prayer is important. Its purpose is to fix your eyes on Jesus. As we pull aside to gaze at Him, we become entangled with His beauty – enamored to the point of infatuation.

What surprises us the most, perhaps, when we look at Him, is that He has been staring intently at us all along. Waiting for a chance to step into our awareness.

We put up walls and barricades from this kind of intimacy, but the Lord is a faithful peeping tom, always gazing at us through our blinders and veils and lattices. We insulate ourselves from His fire, from this intimacy – asking Moses to go and speak to Him for us, instead. We would rather have a nice, normal church service. A picket fence Christianity. Live life as usual. Keep Him at arm’s length. We don’t like the uncontrollable wildness of His whims. We like to pretend that He belongs in our boxes.

But He is a wild stag. A life in the Spirit is far more wild and unpredictable than a worldly life. And a religious life is the driest of all. If you are bored with your walk with the Lord, something is wrong. Even as the Lord leaps across the mountains in this passage, we see those in His army doing the same in Joel 2:

With a noise like that of chariots they leap over the mountaintops, like a crackling fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army drawn up for battle (Joel 2:5).

And also …

In that day the mountains will drip new wine. … (Joel 3:18).

The wine and wildness that emanate from the presence of God release us to operate in the Spirit of Might (see Isa. 11). This is a tangible anointing of boldness and power. We take on the same wild nature of His own authority and dominion. This is a place of resurrection power, in which God Himself rises up within us with strength and ability that is far beyond ourselves. This is a far cry from the emasculated religion of Jezebel’s priests.

You have exalted my horn (my strength, authority) like that of a wild ox; fine oils have been poured upon me (Ps. 92:10).

He strengthens us not just like an ox, but a wild one. Is this clean, predictable Christianity? The stall is clean when there is no ox, but if you want the strength of the ox, things will get messy. Understand that this is not blind zeal of which I speak, but zeal coupled with wisdom. That is the potent formula for spiritual dynamite.

This wildness is not a lack of self-control. However, it is a wholehearted giving over of one’s self to the control of God. This power and authority, this mighty breaker anointing, only comes through an awakening of divine intimacy in the inmost parts.

Manifest Refreshing

2005-05-25T05:26:00.000-08:00

(This week's message is part of a concurrent series on the Song of Solomon. For more on the Canticles, please visit our archives)

Last week we spoke of lingering in the presence of the Lord, and about the apples that refresh. Secret prayer releases signs and wonders – power in the natural realm. Look at any notable miracle worker throughout church history and you will see a resume of hours upon hours of one-on-one time with the Lord.

Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love (Song 2:5).

Let’s talk about these apples a bit more. This week we will look at the refreshing of God’s presence, and the manifestations sometimes associated with it. Sometimes standing firm in the word of God means you are unable to get off the floor. As I was preparing this for this word in prayer last week, I had to physically crawl in order to reach the restroom because of the heavy glory and faintness that the Lord swept over me. This is the nature of things under the apple tree. Does it always make sense to press into this Kingdom in such a way? Not to the natural mind.

We should note in the previous verse of this passage, “He has taken me to the banquet hall” (verse 4), that the banquet hall can be literally translated as “House of Wine.” It is a place of heavy drinking in the presence of the Lord. God is all about a good party, and when He steps into the room, you can expect glorious chaos to ensue.

:: manifestation ::

The glory in the secret place will impact the body and soul realm at times in powerful manifestation. Again, it is not that we pursue manifestation, but in our honest pursuit of the Lord, such activity is sometimes a byproduct – as it has always been throughout scripture and church history. Sometimes God is hidden, and at other times, He is manifest. We should never base or hinge our spirituality on manifestation, but neither should we reject it as if it were altogether unbiblical. We have a clear precedent in this regard from Pentecost forward. Even in the Old Testament, the Lord moved prophetically on His holy men in much more a bizarre fashion than simply making them flop on the floor. Isaiah walked naked for three years. Ezekiel lay on his side for more than a year, flipping only once. And when the glory rested in the temple, the priests could not even stand to perform their duties, because it came upon them so strongly.

It is humorous to consider the writings of great revivalists and missionaries of the past, and how they would occasionally speak of gathering together to be “refreshed” in the Holy Spirit. Ever wonder what that looked like? We’ve stereotyped so many of our forerunners as stiff-necked, starch-collared holy rollers. But many of them were complete Holy Ghost drunks. In Jonathan Edwards’ meetings, people swooned and fell over and entered trances under the weighty hand of God. John Wesley writes of prayer meetings with George Whitefield and others where they all fell to the ground in awe and amazement at the presence. An early Methodist convert wrote in 1807, “I thought they were distracted, such fools I’d never seen. They’d stamp and clap and tremble, and wail and cry and scream.” An even earlier such gathering in 1776 was described as follows: “the assembly appeared to be all in confusion, and must seem to one at a little distance more like a drunken rabble than the worshippers of God.” Quakers and Shakers were so named because they physically shook and trembled under the mighty presence of God.

We should get used to a few physical manifestations in the church – every revival has been marked by them. If we can’t handle someone falling over in a church service, how will we cope with blood and fire and billows of smoke when the Lord releases Mosaic signs and wonders back into the earth? Do we want revival, or a funeral dirge?

Clean cut, predictable worship services may be nice, but if we want the strength of the ox, the stall is going to get messy. We must learn to think spiritually, so that we do not get hung up on messy services full of manifestation, laughing and flopping. We must set our eyes on what God is doing amidst it all. Often, he is simply moving on hearts and playing with His children. Usually, He is filling us with power.

:: fiery embrace ::

The renewal of the mind brings great power.

His left arm is under my head, and His right arm embraces me (verse 6).

The left arm speaks of the spiritual side. Even in the oldest Christian icons, artists painted Jesus’ left and right sides differently, to reflect the duality of his divine and human nature. The left arm under the head here speaks of a spiritual understanding that bypasses the carnal mind – actually renews it – while giving rest to the thoughts and release from the cares and the worries of the world. This spiritual perspective is what makes Christians often look like idiots in contrast to the wisdom of the age. We are supposed to be that way. We are salt and light. We do not try to offend, but the cross is an offense. Seeming blind trust in God stirs up frustration among the religious and the ungodly, who are working so hard in their own strife. If you begin to operate in the favor, ease and buttered feet of the anointing, those who strive will become envious.

When we let the Holy Spirit come upon us and do as He pleases, we ourselves will become a sign and a wonder. On a very basic level, that is really even the point of physical manifestations. Brother Lawrence, who made it his sole ambition to practice God’s presence, said that when the glory came upon him very strongly, he would often do very silly, childish things because he couldn’t physically contain it. We mentioned in a previous study that people came from miles around just to watch him wash dishes, because of the way God visibly manifested the Holy Spirit through his actions.

Our spirituality must be intrinsically connected to our natural lifestyle. Christ was both God and flesh. In the same way, our spiritual side (and even the spiritual practice of prayer) should in some way birth visible, tangible fruit in the natural realm.

It is the right arm of the Lord in this passage that embraces us. The right hand is the one that is extended into the world, the “strong arm,” with which we carry out most of our natural business. The right side is the natural side in most biblical typologies. In regard to manifesting the kingdom in the earth through giftings, miracles and the like, that is a right arm affair. Yes, this is an embrace of love in verse 6. But it also speaks of a supernatural endowment imparted to us. This is not just the Holy Spirit “in” us, as much as it is the Holy Spirit “on” us. There is a difference. The fire burns both within and without. When the Holy Spirit rests on a person, like a blanket or a mantle, then there is a release of supernatural activity that spills over into the natural realm. The right hand speaks of God’s hand of power and authority in the earth, stretched into the natural realm. Jesus, the extension of the Trinity who stepped from Heaven into the earth, sits at the Father’s right hand. The right hand is the one God stretches into our earthly dimension to demonstrate His power. The embrace of God’s love and the embracing mantle of supernatural power in the life of a believer should go hand in hand.

Remember how the apostles prayed in Acts 4? “Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And after that prayer, what happened? The place was shaken, they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they “spoke the word of God boldly.” Keep in mind this was two chapters after Pentecost, and this represented an entire new level of glory and power than was seen at first when they began to speak with tongues of fire. By Acts 5, the manifest presence of God’s power had increased to the point that people started falling dead in the glory with their sins, because it rested so strongly on the church.

:: glory realm ::

With each new level and realm of glory we enter, the old man passes away to another degree. The deeper we go, the more we lay aside. There are things you can get away with in the outer and inner courts that will get you killed in the Most Holy Place. Even our old ministry style must be laid to rest. There is a lamp stand and some measure of light – some measure of revelation even in the inner court. But as we enter the glory realm, the oil flows and the fire burns beyond our control. It is no longer enjoying God at our own pace and pleasure. This is a place of full possession, where you are utterly at His disposal. Leave the dim light behind and press into the all-consuming fire. We are on a constant pursuit from new wineskin to new wineskin, because the old bags can’t hold the new wine. This is the substance of renewal.

This type of “right arm embrace” can be a bold, powerful infusion of the miraculous. Many still worship the Lord according to outer court systems of human regulation: Do not eat, do not touch, do not taste. Wear this to church, organize the pews in such and such a manner, etc. Still others press into the inner courts and have a few visitations, get words of prophecy, taste the revelatory realm and see that God is good. But we want more than visitation, we want habitation.
Where are those who will go deeper still, to the level of full possession? To go into the Most Holy Place means they may be dragging you back out by the rope around your ankle. This is a level of power that you do not control, it controls you. It is a sword that you do not bear – the sword itself wields you. And sometimes strikes you. Remember when Joshua asked the angel of the Lord before a battle, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” How did the angel respond? He said “No.” He represented the interest of one who was altogether above the fray.

This level of glory is not about twisting God’s arm and pleading for Him to back your own cause. This is a level of glory wherein we get on board with His agenda. And since we are no longer in control, there is a certain holy wildness that comes over us. It is the unfettered wildness of love.

Lingering

2005-05-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am really drunk as I am writing this right now, but I will do my best. This week, we are going under the apple tree. And as I entered that realm to pull out some bit of revelation to share, the hand of the Lord was again heavy upon me with holy intoxication.

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste (Song 2:3).

Stepping into the shade of the Lord is to step into the secret place of His presence.

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. … (Ps. 91:1-4).

In this shadow of the Holiest Place – in the presence of God where we find protection and sustenance, we are literally covered as with a blanket, with the thick, honey-like substance of His Holy Spirit. It is the warm, rich place of worship, where our spirits literally incubate and grow into maturity. There is no true maturity outside the presence of God.

In this deep place of His abiding presence, where our attention is captivated by God, we find that a number of principles are at work in us. Among these are healing, strengthening and life itself which begins to saturate us to the core (not as a direct result of our labor, or even of our intention to gain blessing. But these things simply splash over onto those whose focused is lost on the Lover of their souls). In fact, to pursue the Lord for these wonderful byproducts can be utterly selfish if our hearts are not foremost sold out to Him and Him alone.

Jesus is the Tree of Life, from whom we must eat. And in consuming His fruit, we find that we can tap into the Kingdom dynamic of “eternal life” immediately in the here and now. We are living our eternal life right now – it doesn’t start when we get to Heaven, though it originates from there. Why wait until Heaven before we take advantage of its potential? We can begin to pull things from the spiritual realm into our life here on earth (Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven), when we know the heart of the Father. This was a basic principle of how Jesus operated in the miraculous. He spent hours tucked away in the presence of the Father, soaking in the atmosphere of Heaven. Now through Jesus, we have access to that same Heavenly dimension. The Kingdom is at hand.

:: tree of life ::

Jesus Himself is The Life. Many Christians live their entire lives still eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (note that good and evil have the same root). While their lives may not bear the semblance of sin, and in fact may bear the fruit of a number of “good deeds,” the radiant presence of God, the spark of inner flame of life itself, is woefully missing. In their religious doldrums, they are often the last to recognize it, still trapped in the rights and wrongs of a moral law system, while never ascending to deep relationship with the Lord, which is really what true life is all about.

There were two trees in the garden. We are not called merely to good, and obviously not to evil. We are called to Jesus Christ, a living person. That is why when we pray, it is often beneficial to just let go of our thoughts and be still and quiet. Prayer is not a time to think about Jesus Christ or the Father or the Holy Spirit. Why sit around thinking about Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit when you can encounter them! Thoughts are nice, but an encounter is much more productive.

We are too busy and fretful to stop for God. We spend more time thinking about going into the prayer closet than we actually spend in prayer. And when we do stop for prayer, we rarely take the time to get centered and really focused on God. We’ve got a million other distractions and hang-ups. It takes a good 15 minutes just to get acclimated and to no longer feel guilty for not praying enough. Then, after that, we go through our intercessory list of needs and wants and asking and me, me, me. When will we ever get to the God stuff? Hear what He wants to say? I think prayer should be about 15 percent talking and 85 percent listening. And that’s a conservative figure.

It is the performance system of do-gooding – that slavery mentality – that keeps our prayers limited to an obligatory intercession time, but never ascending to the ecstasies of actually visiting and enjoying the Lord just for who He is.

Getting back to the text, understand that the sustaining shade of the Lord covers us much more thoroughly than a mere branch. The apostle Paul says that we are “in Christ.” We have a hiding place much deeper – we are inside of God. Much of our prayer should just be exploring the depths of God’s inmost being. It is not just a conversation, it is an experience.

One time, in prayer with my daughter, we were both in the Spirit and we stepped into the Tree of Life. I saw in a vision that the Tree itself had a doorway, and inside was a room. As we entered it, there was a fire in the center that burned. Meanwhile, I knew that the enemy was pursuing us, and I felt that we were supposed to step into the fire. We did so, but the fire did not consume us. This fire is the burning presence of the Holy Spirit that rested on Moses’ bush (a foreshadow of Jesus, aflame with the Spirit). As I stood in the center of the flame, the enemy was unable to draw near. It is in the center of the fiery presence of the Lord that we are made invulnerable. Even as the Spirit dwelled within Jesus, so He dwells within us. It is the eye of the storm that we are most safe and protected in His refuge. In the fires of God’s refining furnace, we are protected from the thugs of Babylon.

:: secret exposure ::

He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love (verse 4).

The covering presence of the Lord is truly a hiding place, but not the secretive, dodgy kind of hiding as is typical with the kingdom of darkness. In the Lord, all things – even things done before the Father in secret – are exposed in the light. Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. Although we technically “hide” in God, he is loudly proclaiming and displaying Himself over us like a banner for all to see. The paradox is that, as we tuck ourselves away in secret with God, we begin to glow brilliantly. When we sneak away with Him, we are revealed. When you begin to hide and saturate in God’s presence, it becomes plain to everyone. Humble yourself, and He will lift you up. On the other hand, if you exalt yourself, He will have to oppose you. But here in the place of God’s presence, we are filled with the good things of His table. In the days of kings, everyone knew those who sat to eat the rich bounty of the king’s table – they were the ones known throughout the land, because of their favor. To those who devote themselves to the Lord in secret, He will exalt them at the proper time.

:: the waiting ::

Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love (verse 5).

The shadow of the Most High is a place of strengthening. It is a place of quiet and waiting – just sitting with Him and being with Him. They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. Remember that waiting, tarrying, was a prerequisite for the disciples before they were endowed with power in Jerusalem after the Lord’s ascension.

It is critical that we recapture the discipline of waiting in the stillness of the Lord’s presence. Without the rich stream of contemplative prayer in our lives, we can never come into a quiet reliance upon the strength of the Almighty One. Our own strength will burn out quickly like the tail of a comet, but the Lord’s strength is exponential. He moves from strength to strength – inviting us to likewise move from glory to glory. God is not like some nuclear reactor in the sky that will eventually run out of energy after its half-life is over. Nor is He like a dying star that slowly loses its fire. He is ever burning hotter, growing in intensity – as He will forever.

Do the angels always cry “Holy, Holy, Holy” because they are forever mesmerized – constantly discovering some new, unseen aspect of the Lord, which they are speechless to describe? Perhaps it is more than that. Perhaps the Lord Himself is ever “developing,” expanding, intensifying in His glory (not that there is a measurability or limit to His present glory. But perhaps the endlessly Perfect One is actually getting better all the time!). The nature of His eternal substance will forever be a mystery.

The point is, we must stop and take the time to drink in this God of wonder. We cannot be too busy. It is the “raisins” that strengthen us. Raisins are not a fruit of immediacy, or instant gratification, consumer Christianity. It takes time for them to soak in the sun. They speak of a lingering. Waiting.

There is also a freshness of expectancy we should have when we linger under the apple tree. There is also ripe, fresh fruit there that is picked just today. The rhema word – freshly spoken words that are rightly fitted for the moment. Rightly fitted apples. “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver,” (Pr. 25:11). The presence of the Lord is a place of refreshing and renewal, but we should not draw into the process of waiting without an expectancy that God is going to show up. To have faith is to know that He is with you. Waiting is not a boring duty or an end in itself. We linger in the presence because it is a place of sweetness and delight and fresh revelation.

And although we begin to be strengthened and refreshed in this place, we can hardly keep our balance, because we are “faint with love.”

Maintaining a House of Intimacy

2005-05-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

In recent weeks, we have been walking through the Song of Solomon, where we will now continue. …

The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs (Song 1:17).

Here, we see the exquisite, yet unbending nature of the relationship shared between the Lover and the Beloved. Not only is this dwelling place of love built of rich materials – cedars and firs – but this house of intimacy is a sturdy, safe place of covering. There is no safer place than the secret place of His presence, where we are called to dwell.

But even amid the initial intoxication of holy love, there is a call to the necessary consistency and diligence it takes to maintain this relationship. The Christian life will not always be a continuous string of ecstasies and supernatural experience, though we live a Kingdom lifestyle. Yes, we need more of the supernatural, but neither can we forsake the very basic disciplines of prayer, study, giving and demonstrating good character. It is one thing to take new land in the Kingdom; it is another thing to mow the lawn. Let us look briefly at another passage from Solomon related to these beams and rafters:

If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks (Eccl. 10:18).

The Lord will never abandon us, but we can abandon the fires of intimacy in such a way that our hearts grow cold toward Him. Through slothfulness and idle hands, the rafters will fall in, as we gradually abandon the zeal we had once cultivated for the Lord. What begin as little leaks in this roof can eventually lead to an entire house of decay.

Small compromises lead to devastating sins.

There is an assertion here of the effort that goes into this house of love. It is a volitional, calculated pursuit of God that we are on. It takes time to dig out a deep, secret relationship with Him. And quite frankly, it is not always an emotionally exhilarating process. I do not think it ever has to be dry and boring, but sometimes the glory is masqueraded behind the mundane things of life.

:: everyday lovers ::

In a marriage, or a relationship with a friend, emotions are involved, but not all of the time. There is just the everyday fabric of life that consists of simply being together and being aware of one another that makes up the bulk of a loving co-existence. Intimacy is not just an emotional exhilaration, but a life of honesty, humility and transparency lived before God and men that most demonstrates the Kingdom.

We cannot talk about intimacy with God, while ignoring the needs of our neighbors, hating our spouses and abandoning our children. There are basic principles of the Christian life that must be maintained as part of this house of intimacy. We serve Jesus when we serve the poor. We love Jesus when we love the broken hearted. We visit Jesus when we visit the prisoner, and feed Him when we feed the hungry. This is putting hands and feet to the gospel.

We want God’s presence to saturate our everyday lives, whether we are washing dishes, doing business reports, hammering nails or studying algebra. We want His Kingdom to be manifest within our common lives and vocations and thus be released in the earth. The very nature of a “calling” is that one task, job, venture or career that a man is driven to perform, because he most experiences the anointing of God smeared on it. Under the blood, the Genesis 3 curse of toil is reversed, and a man can actually enjoy the works of his hands and walk with God in the midst of his earthly activity. Our pursuit of God’s heart is never so “spiritual” that it is divorced from the activities of the natural realm. Adam walked with God, and he tended a garden. God does not negate natural activities, but His presence actually enhances them.

On the same token, we do not want to confuse the common with the sacred – though the two often walk side-by-side, like Almighty God birthed in a manger. Yes, we are called to a thorough, holistic diligence in our pursuit of God in every area of our normal, natural lives. Yet, at our core must always be kindled that undying spiritual flame which says “There must be more!” The Christian life is not a gray balance between the black and white of natural and spiritual life. We need to be more spiritual and more natural. The result is a life of vibrancy and color.

:: diligent heart ::

As for the spiritual end of this pursuit, too often, the Christian life is reduced to a set of morals, practices and disciplined character, yet the intensity of a deep, supernatural chase of the person of Jesus Christ is somehow shuffled to the side. In our removal of “laziness,” therefore, understand that we are not merely advocating a lifestyle of outward performance and activity. This is ultimately a kingdom not built by hands that we chase hard after. We can never forget the bottom line – that it is all about Him and Him alone.

The diligence of which I speak does indeed produce the fruit of good deeds and character. But this is foremost a maintenance of the fire that burns in the altar of our hearts. The fire of holy passion is the heartbeat of every believer. And, I believe, it is the sole thing we will be called to account for when our deeds are weighed by the Lord. On this matter, I believe that a major key to keeping this house strong is found in the next two verses:

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens (Song 2:1-2).

It is imperative that I identify myself foremost as a lover of God. I am a rose of Sharon. I am the beautiful one, the fragrant one he adores. Yes, I may be a tailor, a butcher, an accountant – but I am foremost the Beloved.

:: rose of sharon ::

Sharon means “plain” and it is a place of grazing. The deepest roots of the word speak of the heat of jealousy, to vie with a rival, or to burn, blaze up and wax hot with anger or jealousy. You see, this is a place of strife, a place of pressing in, a place of warfare. It takes a real diligence to maintain the heart, because it is where the crux of all determination takes place. A place of decision where two kingdoms are jealously vying for our lives. The course of a man’s life is determined by the substance of his heart.

But Sharon is also a place of grazing. A place of feeding. Unless we actively engage in the wrestling process of diligently pursuing the Lord, we cannot feed on the best of the land. No victory comes without pressing in. Like mature eagles, we no longer depend on others for regurgitated food in this place, but we learn to pursue meat on our own. We dig out revelation from the Word. We get hungry for the things of heaven.

It is here that we become a thing of beauty in the midst of the struggle. The lily among thorns is one who receives and gives revelation. Lily means “trumpet,” speaking of one who declares the prophetic word among the maidens and among the thorny system of the world. It is in this place of adversity that we will either be crushed, or we will grow most fruitful. We must learn to view opposition and warfare not as an altogether bad thing. The Lord allows opposition, because He always wants us to turn it into opportunity. The greatest saints always used the enemy’s attacks to propel them to altogether new levels of intimacy and power. Challenges should always serve to bring us to a higher level in our walk with God.

Perhaps the primary tactic of the enemy during warfare has always been to question our identity as it correlates to the identity of God. This is because he despises the relationship between God and man. How did he constantly tempt Jesus in the desert? “If you are the Son of God. … If you are the Son of God. …” He questioned Jesus’ identity.

Amid the warfare, the struggles and the strife between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness, we should never surrender our identity as the beautiful Beloved. As the one loved by God. This is the secret source of our strength. In fact, many think Jesus is the lily of the valley in this passage, but we see that the Lord is really talking about us, “Like a lily … is my darling. …”

Of course, the original text of the Song does not even differentiate which words are spoken by the Lover and which are spoken by the Beloved. In the deep place of spiritual union, the two merge into one to such a degree that there is no separation. In that place, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Dying – letting go of all self-will, self-esteem, self-determination and self-identification means to be filled with the increase of God’s will, God’s love, God’s zeal and God’s life. It is to identify ever more with God’s name and authority.