"He covers His hands with lightning, and commands it to strike." Job 36:32

First the Power, then the Promise: God's Light Show over Chicago

Aimee Herd (June 30, 2010)

God has always said there would be signs in the heavens and in the earth. This could be a sign that our government, where most of the new team are from—Chicago—should pay attention to the God who is the "Father of Lights." And so should we all pay close attention to the signs sent from Heaven. –Steve Shultz, BCN.

A video camera set up by Craig Shimala captured some amazing action in the sky over Chicago recently, and it's been posted online in slow motion, making it all the more remarkable.

In the first video, several chains of white-hot lightning are seen connecting with familiar landmarks outlining the Chicago skyline—a "triple strike" on the Willis Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower and the John Hancock Building.

But the light-show wasn't over, and fortunately Shimala kept the camera rolling for what came next—shown on the second video.

After a few more lightning strikes, an incredibly complete rainbow forms just over the heart of the city, framing it much like the "Emerald City" was framed in The Wizard of Oz movie.

A Prophetic Warning to Barack Obama like King Nebuchadnezzar Received

With all that is going on in the world, with the economy in tatters, oil spewing in the gulf, spies, polarization and murder in the streets Barack Obama has had a vision.

Let's go back a couple years in history. You remember his election. Many called him a messiah. He even joked about it at a White House dinner. Not that he was, but that people called him such.

For a long time he basked in the glory of his new found adulation. It was at that point that he had a dream. A dream that was a foretelling of hard days to come. To avoid this future he found people like himself to surround and advise him. Many of those people were people with similar backgrounds to his own. Scholastics, academics, idealists, government career people.

He was careful. The dream haunted him. He said to himself, "if I do not deviate I can do this." That is why he has been so careful with the TelePrompter. He has wanted NOT to be found saying or doing things that could bring accusation against his leadership.

He started with pride, like King Nebuchadnezzar . But Like King Nebuchadnezzar he has been warned. Pride is pure plagiarism of God. Lately he has been reminded of the dream of warning.

He has become uncomfortable in his shoes. The coolness with which he governed is rattled. The pressure is under his skin. He is not handling it well. He has the facts, the facts are easy to find, they are everywhere. There just isn't any wisdom. The wisdom that comes from being fathered well and from knowing the father of all fathers has been lacking in his life from birth. That is why he often makes proposals from facts and not from wisdom. He lacks Godly wisdom.

Now Father is saying to Barack Obama, "if you lack wisdom, ask of me and I will give you freely."

He is also saying as he said to Nebuchadnezzar, unless you bow the knee and repent of your dependence on other than ME I will humble you. Your portion will be to lose your right mind for a time. You will see yourself cut off.

He is also saying to Barack Obama, "you were selected to pave the way for greatness for those called of my name from the community from which you and your wife came. I will not allow you to destroy that legacy. They are more important and I have a place for them that you must not spoil. There are those who would say we tried that once and it didn't work, when the next man or woman with similar heritage emerges on the platform of potential leadership."

President Obama, repent, bow the knee. Your presidency is now on the balance. You have been weighed and found wanting. The experience and ability you do not yet posses can become yours supernaturally if you will submit yourself to the Anointing of the Holy Spirit. It's a gift that comes from humility alone. Turn from your prideful ways and wicked advisers.

Wisdom will come when you no longer look to false advisers and confidants. They do not know the Lord of Glory. You do, but He wants you to know him even better.

You have received this dream, this vision, this warning. You know it is true. The decision is now yours.

Your future, Your presidency, our nation and even our world depends on you making the right spiritual decisions.

Bow the knee. Repent Mr President. Put away False Pride. God is God and he will share his glory with NO MAN. Not you. Not anyone. Pride goes before a fall, yours is right at the door.

If you love this country and hate the enemy of our souls, it's time to Pray for Barack Obama. Pray for him to enter fully into the kingdom of God, not as a King, but as a good and faithful one.

Barack Obama

FLEE

David Wilkerson Today

THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2010

RESIST AND HE WILL FLEE

Satan tempted Jesus with this offer: "All these things will I give thee, if
thou wilt fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9). This sounds so outlandish,
so ridiculous, how could it ever be considered a temptation? Believe it or not,
this was a powerful, enticing offer. Satan was challenging Jesus, saying, "I
promise that if you'll merely bow down at my feet, in a single act of worship,
I'll quit the fight. I'll give up all my power over these realms. I won't
possess or enslave anyone else. I know that you love humankind enough to be
accursed by God for their sake. So, why wait? You can sacrifice yourself right
now, and free the world from this moment on."

Why was the devil willing to give up all his power for this? He was trying to
save his own skin. Satan knew his eternal destiny would be sealed at Calvary.
So, if he could just keep Jesus from going to the cross, he might spare himself
that fate.

You may be wondering, "How could this possibly relate to me?" Satan still
tempts the righteous with a similar offer. Satan comes to us with threats and
accusations. He tells us, "You don't have to worship me—because I already
have access to your flesh. I know all your weaknesses. So, go ahead and testify
about your freedom in Christ. At the moment you're singing your loudest praises,
I'll overpower your mind with evil. I'll bring up your sin to you so powerfully,
you'll despair of ever being free. You are powerless."

How do we answer Satan's accusations? "Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you" (James 4:7). It doesn't matter how many temptations Satan throws at you.
You needn't fear any sin from your past. If Christ's blood has covered it, then
the devil can't do anything to separate you from the Father.

Words of the last few days

There have been words of wisdom and knowledge abundant in the past few days. I thought sharing them would be helpful:

If what you do is about YOUR ministry, YOUR gifting, YOUR kingdom, YOUR strengths it's not God, it's a Spiritual Ponzi Scheme. It must be about People. That's the God Agenda. Apostle John Eckhardt

When flesh takes a fresh revelation and touches it, it becomes so perverted it no longer gives life Apostle John Eckhardt

IF a service doesn't include Miracles, Deliverance, Prophecy, Healing and the supernatural, It's not a church service, it's just a social gathering.
Last Night, Apostle John Eckhardt

A teacher will help you get your facts right, but a SPIRITUAL FATHER will help you get your heart right!!! We have too many teachers and not enough Fathers in the Body of Christ. I read that in a big black book I carry around.

You can't impart what you don't possess. I keep getting this over and over again. Strive to become what others want to receive from you. Be possessed by the Power of God and you will have people asking...How can I have that TOO? It's more than speaking in tongues and dancing turn around. It's living a life of fruitfulness, order, peace, Joy and maturity. Your destiny is tied up in all that. Live your Destiny.

A mate, a person you share life with will double or cut in half your ministry. Look at Solomon. Tremendous destiny. But, he didn't finish well. It was about the wives. For Women, it's double true. Connect with the wrong man and he will trample destiny in your life out of you. There are great Men looking for Great Women. Greatness, even unmanifested will attract greatness. Look for Greatness, not good enough

Every Church's Mission and Purpose should be to get people healed up, delivered and secure in Salvation. After that they need more. Don't be a one trick pony. There is much to be done in the Body of Christ.

• The key to Spiritual Productivity, not agendas and activity
• Evangelism as a lifestyle, not a project
• To be Built Up in the Faith
• To be prepared for the work of the ministry
• To have the proper emotional strength to stand persecution
• To know that You can Make it
• To know you are not a loser
• To believe that you are going to win this battle
• To discover and achieve your purpose
• Building hope
• Saving lives
• Be ready to be sent out to expand the kingdom
• To live free of religion, needing only Jesus

The Rejection - The Prophet Jeremiah - A word from Denise Gansmann

Denise has been a long time corespondent. I saw this word and felt like it would speak to someone. It did to me.

Generational curses have a way of trying to awaken again through blame and accusations in the family. I understand the pain of past hurts; having at times of past felt abandonment issues from both parents, I realized it was not personal but a result of their own struggles with addiction or mental emotional displacements at the time.

I look at the experiences of Jeremiah the prophet to rise above rejection, into purpose and vision. As I read the book of Jeremiah I see the constant rejection he received from the people. He is no stranger to the pain for he says " I am afraid of their rejections". In Jeremiah's message is given hope to reform, change, restore. There are times the whole city rejects him even placing him in humiliation in the arm stocks, and placing him in a mud cistern. The abandonment is deep, but with Jeremiah it is only a abandonment to God, and he will suffer any amount to just get the people to a place of hearing the word from God that would save them, to warn them of the fall of the city, to bring a chance for restoration. He tries to get them to a place to see that their rejections are only a root of their own rebellion and indifference toward God.

Jeremiah's rejections have a purpose, a visionary word on the edge molding him secretly into a leader, reformer, Prophet and Restorer of man. All his rejections are thrust upon him since birth and only thru affliction is he chosen as Prophet. He is torn, abandoned and punished. He learns human nature enough now to strive to move the people forward to reform and changes leading to restoration of city and families. This prophesying is divine purpose and powerful...."Direction not rejection", if we could in our own rejections touch this....God does not deliver Jeremiah out of the rejection, he is placed in it where he prophesies powerfully.....reform, change and so the complete destruction of the city does not happen. He is moved to speak further from God in Jeremiah ch. 30, "Your hurt is incurable, your wound grievous, there is none to help you, I will restore health to you and your wounds i will heal ". There is hope to a seemingly incurable conditions. Stripped of all human resources before they were prepared to turn to the healing that only God could provide. "Direction not Rejection". Reading Jeremiah is hauntingly beautiful, moving, the experience of rejection is to the full but with the Prophet it is redeemed to purpose and spoken out over the people and families to bring reform and restoration. His unselfishness is focused to warn and save the city from ruin. I am moved to his focus as powerful......interceding over the city....he is compassionate, all to familiar with the hearts and nature of man having experienced himself many rejections and pains...always on the edge of a lamentation but never far from redemption.........selah.

At the end Jeremiah is given a safe place to hide in the guards quarters, the guard believes in his prophesy and together they watch the city burn as all the previous prophecies start to come to pass. There are some rumors and archaeological findings that the Prophet Jeremiah fled eventually to Egypt on ship and then to Ireland for the rest of his days. I want to think perhaps it was true that he found some rest from all the years of rejection in the emerald quiet grassy meadows of Ireland...........

This is the 111th passage in “Scripture… As We Live It“:

On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside at least 10% into the offering plate and store it up let the church keep it in its bank account, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting the church can give me a portion when I come. (1 Corinthians 16:2 re-mix)

(Please read the first post for an explanation of this series.)

Faithfulness in Our Calling

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1, by Os Hillman
06-18-2010

"He went out to meet Asa and said to him, 'Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.'" - 2 Chronicles 15:2

Asa was the king of Judah from 912-872 B.C. He reigned for 41 years and was known as a good king who served the Lord with great zeal. He reformed many things. He broke down idol worship to foreign gods; he put away male prostitutes and even removed his own mother from being queen because she worshiped an idol. The Scriptures say that as long as he sought the Lord, the Lord prospered his reign.

However, Asa was not totally faithful in his calling. There came a time in his life when he made a decision to no longer trust in the God of Israel. He lost his confidence in God as his deliverer. The prophet Hanani came to Asa to inform him that God's blessing was no longer on his life because of an ungodly alliance he had made.

Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war (2 Chronicles 16:8-9).

There are no guarantees that if we began well we will finish well. The life of Asa tells us this. It is only through God's grace that we can be faithful to our calling. Each of us is capable of falling away from God. Pray that God will keep you faithful to the purposes He has for your life. He strengthens those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

A Prophetic Word on Making Money - the death of the J O B

In the future, as things change and in particular as the current administration executes their plans for the economy, Jobs will disappear. The traditional job with benefits, a retirement program, and a 401K are now a thing of the past. Over.

It's now become obvious that until the current system has been deconstructed and a new start is made, the job market is not going to become just tight, it will become rare to find any kind of Job.

It already is in many places. I'm speaking about jobs as we used to know them. In the future a Job will not be your source, the God Given Gift in YOU will be. Father is about to show himself mighty if you allow him.

There will be ways to make money. There will be places to work. They just won't be traditional jobs. They will be part time. No benefits. Many times cash for work, no checks. The underground economy will grow despite the attempts by the IRS to get a handle on this. Become used to working for cash. It will become the norm. I saw a guy at a Subway Sandwich store pay one of his helpers in cash the other day. I know this was an effort to avoid the mess that makes hiring people so difficult. This will drive hard the cashless society. It will be a matter of revenue for the government. It will become a hide and seek life.

It used to be that to earn big money you tried to get into academia or government. Those two sectors have been big pay for a long time with lush benefits and retirements. With the coming economic reversals in 2011 many of those will dry up. States are going broke and so is education. The big money is over.

To make it in this dire future any dependence on a Job will become frustration. You will have to become creative to find new ways to make money. A few will become entrepreneurs. They will become achievers and be able to engage or even in some cases hire people.

Government has pretty much destroyed any potential for conventional hiring.

Now if you are working, if you have a Job, you may not lose it. If you have been employed at a company, you may well be brought back if you were laid off. BUT, some of those BringBacks are going to be part time work so they don't have to enter the whole world of benefit costs.

The system we knew just doesn't work any more.

Here's the good news, you don't need a Job to make the income you need to live. You need to depend on the creative power of the Holy Ghost to show you opportunities all around you.

Business enterprises, even the smallest are a step to Independence. What do you know that you can put your ability into that you can sell for money? What service can you provide at any level that someone would give you cash for? What do you know how to do that others do not that someone would pay you for?

Do you know how to spot a good bargain and exploit it? My sisters make decent money finding junk at thrift stores and selling it on Ebay and Craigs list. A lot of hassle, yes. But one person's trash is another's treasure.

Perhaps you can learn to invest for profit. Stock and commodity markets. Real estate. Art. Anything that has the potential to go up a great deal.

Being of service to someone will pay great dividends.

Sales and commissions. Everyone will pay something to get additional sales. They will pay a commission. You don't even have to be an employee. Just make a deal with them and follow it on. Be certain however that you have some capacity to trust you will be paid.

Estates and inheritance can be a good source. But you say, I have no rich uncles. I can't tell you of the times when people with money have included non relatives in their will for kindness. It just happened again the other day. An old man who had relatives and a lot of money took a liking to the person who did work for them, care taking, errands. When he died he left a pretty substantial legacy to that person. She had worked for years for money, not a lot. But, she cared for him. And she was rewarded. You can believe for this, be of service. There are a lot of lonely older people who need a friend and a helper. Do it for the right motive, (not the money) and you will be blessed in more ways than you can know.

Settlements in your favor. Many times in insurance cases it can go either way, believe that it will go your way. Here's where your faith comes in. If you have a lawsuit, believe it will go your way. This is provision.

Rebates, returns, coupons. Learn to use the system. I know of a person who by carefully using all the rebates, returns an coupons pays almost nothing for groceries for her family. It can be done. It's hard work. That's why most people don't do it. But, it's another non job way to get money for your work.

Of course, you might get money in the mail. I have. Just out of the blue someone is led by the Holy Spirit to send you some. Happened to me several times last year. Sometimes someone will just send you a gift. Receive it with grace. It blesses the giver and the receiver.

You have money you put away, hidden, a stash. Or someone else did. Keep your eyes open. It's all around. You will find it. I pick up money I see on the street. Seems stupid, but I take all my loose change every day and deposit it in a large jar. At the end of the year I count it up. Last year was over $600. That's real money. When I find money laying around, loose change, it goes in the big jar.

Sometimes bills can be paid off without money. Bill forgiveness. Bill cancellation. Bills decreased. This is something you got for a price you agreed to and now has become yours for less. Money.

Learn to do things you formerly paid others to do. Auto repair. Home repair. There are ways to become skilled at doing things. Books, training. Just taking care of your own stuff will save you money, but in a way, it makes you money. It also makes you more valuable.

Tied in with that is getting away from payments. From expense. From stuff you don't need. Drive and old car and keep it fixed up. It's always cheaper than a car payment. Live a fasted lifestyle. Fast from stuff you don't need.

There are very few quick money schemes that work. Mostly what is needed is just hard work. Mostly it's finding a need and filling it. I am speaking from the anvil of experience. I have at one time or another done all these things. It works.

Here's the prophetic part, prepare yourself for the next big crash. This time the government won't be able to bail anyone out. The money is all gone. The government's actions the past few years have destroyed the employment picture. It's now time for you to learn to make it without a job. Jobs are not coming back for a very long time. 2015 and beyond. If you are going to make it you are going to have to learn now to make money without depending on a Job.

God placed in YOU the treasure that you can discover if you will try.

I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. Isaiah 45:3

You can do this. Father says, I believe in you as you believe in ME. I will provide, I give you the power to Get Wealth.

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Deuteronomy 8:18

Father is looking for ways to confirm his covenant with you. It's not only in a JOB. The Jobs Jobs Jobs mantra has place in other's hands the dream God placed in you. Your salvation (wholeness) does not come from others. It can, but it must come first from YOU. You are the vessel thru which he pours every blessing, even for yourself.

Be the good steward, take the 5 he gave you and turn it into another 5. He will make you master over much. Even if he only gave you one. Make another. Show yourself faithful in the little.

Work this out. It's God's plan. He doesn't want you to see a JOB as your source, but Him. Let him show himself Glorious in your sight. He will multiply your loaves and fishes. And do it all without complaint. In due season if you faint not, you will reap. Sometimes in areas you did not sow.

^{Philippians 2:12}Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation

Go out there and take your place. Wealth is never really created or destroyed, just transferred. It was laid up for YOU. Get in on it. It won't happen in that Job you are hoping for. that's just sustenance. Dream Big. It will happen as you step out and step up. That is the Word of the Lord for Someone.

How do you know if a person is a true prophet?

If a person is a true Prophet, their lives are a demonstration.

I don't have to demonstrate my gender. People can see it. They know it. I respond to situations like a man. I do things as a man. I don't have to demonstrate my manliness unless I am unsure of it. If people wonder, is Gene a MAN? Be around me for a bit, and you will know.

The same of the Prophetic. If my life isn't infused and saturated by my DNA as a Prophet, if you have to wonder, if I have to demonstrate it to prove it, if I am concerned that you need to know of it by some dog and pony show then it brings into question the fullness of the Gift I carry.

I can no more change the call of God on my life than I can change my Gender.

I can squander it however. I can not use the gift. I can quench the Spirit in me. I can stay silent. I can become distracted by drugs, sex and Rock and Roll. I can even claw my way to hell. I'll still be a prophet, just a prophet in hell. I'd be a man in hell. I'd be a Prophet in hell.

The same of the Apostolic. If you are one, you just are. You don't have to try. It's your Spiritual DNA. You don't have to prove it. You are an Apostle because you carry the marks and measures of a true Apostle. I have known some who are destined for greatness and had the call of the Apostle all over them. Yet, for one reason or another, (usually fear of man) they have squandered the Apostolic gift they carry. They will go to the grave with the unfulfilled call of God on their life. The world will be a lesser place because they did not fully manifest the Gift in them.

A true prophet is supernaturally insulated from the fear of man. He or she has the same regard for man that God does (no respecter of persons). It's a gift. An Apostle doesn't carry that gift. He wants to exercise his authority therefore he wants to please others to accomplish it. The fear of man becomes a snare.

A few true Apostles overcome this, but it is a constant struggle. I have seen it over and over and over again.

If you need to see some demonstration from someone to illustrate the apostolic or prophetic calling and office, you probably don't have an apostle or prophet on your hands.

No one needs to ask, you just are one.

Lauren Champagne: Treasures of Darkness

The Lord seeks for a willing heart, the Lord seeks for those who want to be found.
Each one of us has a treasure within us waiting to be revealed.

Sometimes when you feel like you have no talent or ability it is easy to feel hidden.

The Lord is waiting for the hidden to be revealed. So every time you feel hidden know that the Lord has called you by name and he has put a treasure within you to find. To seek out. He will make known to you the treasures of his heart in yours. For the times we want to hide in the dark and not let ourselves be seen the Lord says that he will give us the treasures in the darkness. We don't have to hide our gifts once we find them . Even if our gifts our different from someone else. The Lord is looking for unity to rise up in the body of Christ. Did you know that there are different colors in the rainbow? With the natural eyes you may only see seven but through an artists eyes there is not seven colors of the rainbow they know how to create many different colors with the seven colors that they have. He is letting the treasures that have been hidden in the dark and that have been put on the shelf become artists of this nation and make known his kingdom.

So again the next time you feel hidden just know that you are about to be found.!

When you are found by the Lord it is such an everlasting beauty. A precious moment that cannot be taken away.

It is better for the Lord to call us by name then for our names to be made known.

Isaiah 45 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,

Perception Is Not Reality

TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1, by Os Hillman
06-14-2010

"The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken." - Job 4:10

The sluggard says, "There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!" Proverbs 26:13

In the advertising business we often say that "perception is reality" for the person who views our advertising message. It does not matter whether the audience believes the message to be true, only that they perceive it to be true. Their actions will be the same whether they believe it or only perceive it.

The enemy of our souls is very good at this game. He may bring on us what we perceive to be true when it is a lie. It may appear that there is no way around a situation. He may bring great fear on us. When we buy into his lie, we believe only what we have chosen to perceive to be true. It usually has no basis of truth. Such was the case when Peter looked on the waters during a night boat journey with the other disciples. At first glance, he and the disciples screamed with fear, thinking that what they saw was a ghost. It was actually Jesus.

Satan's name means "accuser." He travels to and fro to accuse the brethren. He brings an impressive front to all he does, yet behind that front is a weak, toothless lion with a destination that has already been prepared in the great abyss. He knows his destination, but he wants to bring as many with him as possible; so he often has a big roar, but little bite.

The next time some event comes into your life that creates fear and trembling, first determine the source. Look past the emotions and evaluate the situation in light of God's Word. Perception is not always reality.

How to have Revival and Holy Ghost Power in Your Church - It's time

Acts 5 (NLT)
Ananias and Sapphira
1 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”

“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”

10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

The Apostles Heal Many
12 The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them. 14 Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.

Ananias and Sapphira were good church folks. They were givers. They were valued and known by the fellowship. Yet, they wanted recognition, they wanted applause, they wanted to have folks respect them. They were influenced by satan to get what they wanted and it killed them. If you are in leadership, be careful. The ones stopping up the release of revival and healing are among you.

Be Peter.

Are you the good steward of a sound mind?

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

If we look at this inverted as often is the better case to grasp meaning, it would read:

For satan gives us a spirit of Fear, of powerlessness, of anger and hatred and a state of confusion and indecision.

I looked at several translations of the 2 Timothy to yeild this inversion.

I look at the state of the Body of Christ and I see the influence of Satan. Some emails I get are filled with fear, half truths, a sense of powerlessness, anger and confusion. The factual appraisal of them is marginal to non existent.

I wonder if the truth even finds the door. I wonder if that God Given Sound Mind and Fearlessness even exists?

I'm not speaking to any ONE, I get them all the time. So do you. 99% are bogus in every way. The most recent is regarding the Gulf Oil Spill and satan driven fear mongering.

It's also why I have come to reject much of the Fear Based Eschatology. I won't be left behind and neither will you. If your child wandered off, even in rebellion, and you had to continue on your journey, will you as a father or mother leave him or her behind? NO, of course not, you would search, dig, scour until the lost is found. No matter what he or she did, you would hold her close.

Listen to God your father Speak:

"I don't get it. God has left me.
My Master has forgotten I even exist."
"Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,
walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,
I'd never forget you—never.
Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands.
Isaiah 49

So, next time you get some flaky fear based angry email with all kinds of silly stuff in it, I speak a sound mind to you. Get past it. It's all a tool of confusion driven by the evil one.

GOD GAVE YOU A SOUND MIND.

Now, be a good steward of it.

When Jezebel Manifests - A Word of Warning to Church Leadership. JEHU

I have watched the Demon Spirit Jezebel manifest for the last three years. I thought over time the demon would retreat. I hoped. I prayed. Yet she will not. In doing battle with this spirit I have come to realize that she cannot be defeated unless you call her out and then cast her out. The spirit of Jehu must do this. While I am a Prophet, I am not the one who can do this. The Jehu of the house has to. I can warn, cajole, encourage, identify. But in the end, if Jehu doesn't do what must be done, she will stay in place. I have told the Jehu of the house...I can do no more. It's not my place. Only Jehu can do this job now. It's time to saddle up the horses and go to the House of Jezebel to cast her down.

The identifiers of Jezebel are simple and pretty well developed in this narrative.

There are a few I will elaborate on because they are so clearly demonstrated.

• To gain identity, glory, recognition, power, and satisfy the need for the "praises of men". This is a consequence of the desire for love and self-worth focused on SELF.

• Secondly the Jezebel spirit is a men hater and seeks to emasculate all men, and divest them of their authority and power over others. It fosters a distrust and hatred of men in general. The "Jezebel spirit" is in a constant agitation, terribly aggressive, very determined, callous, controlling, selfish, power-hungry, manipulative, unrepentant, deceitful spirit, an overwhelmingly evil spirit, and those are mostly only it's good points! Indeed this spirit can be definitely named "Satan's woman".

There are two main types of the Jezebel spirit:

• The high-profile type is generally gregarious, outspoken and highly visible. She is often seen as the "woman who wears the pants in the family".

• The low-profile type is soft-spoken, giving the illusion of being solicitous, motherly, protective, even appearing very submissive. The low-profile type may be the most dangerous, as she is the most difficult to discern. She relies heavily on manipulation for her power, in extremely subtle performances.

CLUES TO A JEZEBEL SPIRIT - If you wonder if you have a manifesting demon Jezebel in your church or fellowship, here are some clues. If He or She manifests very many of these, you probably have a Jezebel needing casting out. JEHU, be aware. She wants your position. Jezebel is:

• Deceiver - She will tell you want you want to hear, but her words just don't ring true. Jezebel.
• Un-submitted - She will pretend to be a team player, but isn't. In the end she will do her thing over the purpose you provided leadership on. She resents your authority.
• Power-Hungry - She wants to be in charge. That's why she is un-submitted. She wants power.
• Intelligent - Sadly, she is able. She is smart. She is clever. But she is not willing to use it for YOUR good. Just her own agenda.
• Hard Worker - She will work very hard. In fact her agenda is to make you so dependant on her you won't cast her down. She is involved in EVERY SINGLE ministry of the church. It's her way of power. Dependence. Emasculation.
• Self Worship - In the end, it's about her. She sees herself as the star. Put her on a platform and the look at me syndrome kicks into overdrive. She craves the center of attention. Addicted to prominence.
• Jealous - When someone obviously better than her shows up, she manifests intense jealousy and will to to great lengths to destroy her rival.
• Manipulator - She doesn't play fair. Don't expect her to. She is only interested in her. She will coach, cajole, manipulate, anything to be the Queen Bee
• Domineering - She will always want center stage. In charge. The queen or king. Never willing to give anyone any sunshine. In fact, you can always tell by a clock how much she needs to be in charge. She will always make up the bulk of the attention.
• Unrealistic Expectations of Others - This is to maintain her superiority. She will pick weaker people and put them in a place where they will do badly or even fail so she can appear to bail them out. It's a way to prop up herself.
• Perfectionist - She will push and push and push for better. It's a control system. And she pushes herself to create an atmosphere that causes others to believe they are not good enough.
• Seduction, Control, Manipulation - She will use anything including sexual innuendo to get here way. She is a flirt when she needs to be and a witch at other times. It's all about demonic influence.
• Ambitious - JEHU, she wants your job. She believes she could do it better. And she is going to try to take your platform from you as much as possible.
• Convinced - She is confident she is right and everyone else is wrong. If people would just listen to her we wouldn't have these problems.
• Murmuring, Complaint, and Criticism - Part of her strategy is to use criticism to further her cause. She will look for willing ears and fill them with venom. Jezebel.
• Infirmities and Disease - She thrives on people's ailments. In fact she isn't happy unless you are manifesting something she can bail you out from. Worse, she is constantly plagued by some kind of disease or another. Always has. She uses disease, hers or others to maintain her position.
• Superiority Complex - She really believes she is better than others, or at least she wants to think she is. She will try to take away any platform because she thinks she could do it better.
• Bitterness and Resentment - When things don't go her way, she becomes bitter and angry. She resents the fact that others get exposure that SHE didn't get. A queen bee stings.
• Jezebel and Children - This is the most insidious of all. She claims to LOVE children, but she uses them to further her means. She is always ready to help in Children's ministry because to THEM she CAN be the queen bee.

The last characteristic is the Jezebel Spirit is she wants to silence the Prophets of God. She wishes I didn't write and post this. She wishes I would shut up about all this. She knows this is about her. She would silence me if she could.

I won't stay silent. It's shut up in my bones. Until Jehu of the house throws her down, I will not be silent.

This is a word of Warning to Jehu. That's what a Prophet does.

Sin in Succession will lead to collapse. Succession Done in a Godly manner can lead to Renewal

Learning from the sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas

A strong Prophetic Word for Church Leaders.

The pattern you see in so many churches where the son or daughter of the senior pastor is slated to take the reigns of the fellowship Dad is leaving has tremendous danger in it. Most great churches are not great at developing a good succession pattern.

It's not that those in the succession line are unable or unqualified. They might be tremendous, they might be anointed, they might be gifted. But they are untested in Ministry Leadership. They haven't yet had to make the hard decisions to lead well.

There are exceptions. Joel Osteen would be one. I'm sure you can think of others. On the other end of the spectrum is the Dr Schuller's Chrystal Cathedral. The result of poor succession or worse succession simply because the son or daughter thinks he or she would like to take the reigns is a recipe for disaster. It has been there. I understand the motivation. If you love the ministry and you love your kids, you will naturally want to see your kids follow in your footsteps.

Particularly in these very difficult times. It's about Job security. BUT, that is not always the answer. Difficult economics have created a catch 22 in Churchenomics. Your kids need a job but there is no money. This is bankrupting ministries everywhere.

Many many churches are in default on the loans they took out to build big buildings. The building boom of the 90s has put many churches into a deep dark place some will not emerge from. Worse, expectations that things will get better soon are ill advised. Things must get worse still in our economy. It is going to be a long time before this kind of building boom will be renewed.

Churches will prosper, but they will be different. Very different. Better.

The strategy of building clerical succession from the family of the church leadership will fail (for the most part). They haven't been battle hardened. A battle is coming. Only the strong will survive. If you were to have your kids come into the ministry, the best way to do it is help them become trained, then kick them out. Make them plant a church or two. Fail. Get on staff at a large church and see how difficult and ugly it can be. Then, spend extended time on the mission field. A couple years perhaps. THEN, you have a chance at taking the reigns when dad steps down. Gordon Robertson followed this pattern and is an able replacement for his father. Better than Pat in many ways. But he earned his chops on the anvil of experience in the mission field, not from bloodline succession.

This is ONE of the benefits of the Denominational church. Catholic and Lutheran churches seldom suffer from this. The cross pollination of pastors and priests moving around from parish to parish means that battle hardening is happening.

Sure, there are dynamic powerful preachers in independent churches and congregations. They just don't do succession well. If I could speak a word of wisdom to them, it would be to kick the birds out of the nest and let them develop in the school of hard knocks. If you pastor a start up and have it fail, you gain respect for how much is invested in these ministries.

I wouldn't say it is impossible. Just very rare. VERY RARE. And if you think you might be an exception, you may be in gross deception.

This has always been the case. Succession by unhardened heirs of a ministry often leads to failure and defeat.

Consider Nadab and Abaihu. (Exodus 24) These two sons of Aaron couldn't have come from better stock. They GREW UP in the church. A study of Scripture clearly reveals these were two truly favored persons. They were, without question, the least likely of the sons of Israel one would expect to be executed so suddenly by their God. On the surface, all seemed so right and so bright for these two.

Nadab and Abihu were the sons of Aaron, the first High Priest of Israel, and thus the nephews of Moses. As such, they were the direct descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We can confidently declare, therefore, these men were of "good stock," from a fine, upstanding lineage, and had the blessing of godly examples of great men and women in their lives. This should have had a tremendous impact upon them for good.

They also had an exalted status among the people. Exodus 24:11 lists them as being among the "nobles of the sons of Israel." In Scripture, their names even appear before that of the Elders of Israel. Some have speculated one of them may well have been slated to be next in line for the High Priesthood after their father Aaron completed his service. They were being groomed for the highest positions of service unto God and His people at that time. Not something to be taken lightly.

Yet they fell badly. They were bad at being spiritual leaders. They failed. Not because they were bad, Dad (Aaron) put them in place too soon. They were not battle hardened. Battle with the Enemy. God had to kill them to protect his people.

OR

Consider The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. They were evil. Profane. Not battle hardened in dealing with the enemy of their souls. They grew up in the Church. They were church leaders because dad was unwise enough to put them in authority. Never mind that Samuel was growing up right in their midst. God had to kill all three of them to save his people.

Today God doesn't always kill the leaders who are drifting. He will however kill the ministry. He will close the church. He will stop the abomination. His heart is toward the people above the shepherds.

IF you are reading this and you are in this situation, it's time to make reparations. It's time to do the right thing.

Look for the Samuel's to lead. They are among you. They are your spiritual children. Seldom are the physical children also spiritual children. They know you too well. Be an Elijah, find the Elisha's among you and call them out. They will give leadership where your physical children cannot. Your children might be someone else's Elisha or Samuel elsewhere. Let them be that. Someday, they might return and become the person to take your ministry. But probably not.

The most successful sons of great ministries went on to become great ministers elsewhere.

I could name lots of names here, but it's not necessary. This is a trap only you can extricate yourself from. It's better to avoid it all together.

Duties of the Prophet

I saw this. Thought it worth considering. It's from 10 DIMENSIONS OF THE APOSTOLIC & 7 PRESENT TRUTH PRINCIPLES OF APOSTLES & PROPHETS.

It was all interesting but the part about what the Prophet is supposed to be for the Apostle is worth reading. The rest of the article is worthy as well. But, I guess as a Prophet when you have a Prophetic hammer, everything looks like an apostolic nail.

Prophets speak life into apostles, gives prophetic direction, revelation, and encouragement, translating the word of God in the heavenlies into earthly endurance and divine expectation. The prophet’s counsel carries a depth and degree not often found in the general masses of church counseling. Prophets helps the apostle through prayer and intercession, word of knowledge, and a fresh and seasoned prophetic word {such as the case with Haggai and Zechariah with Zerrubabbel and Jeshua. Prophets helps stabilizes apostles, especially since the apostle has a potential of becoming too rigid, pragmatic, and too practical in governmental matters. Therefore, apostles needs fresh fire and waves of the Spirit to flow in his or her midst ever keeping their hearts open to the voice of the Lord, even in appointed others.

Apostles may sometimes struggle in the area of patience {2 Corinthians 12:12}. Because of their motivation towards government, divine and spiritual order, and pioneering revelation, apostles can potentially become a bit frustrated over others as the people fail to embrace and to walk out the apostolic revelation. If not put into check and balance, apostles can get locked in over various attitudes and aspects of corporate church life that could actually hurt many. A wrong attitude can potentially arise over the deep need to see governmental spiritual order, submission, and proper spiritual alignment. Therefore, prophets can assist apostles in helping them to steer their motivation to the glory of the Lord.

Note: Jezebel is perhaps the greatest enemy to the prophets. But with every Jezebel mentality, force, spirit, or mindset, there is an Ahab nearby, a weak leadership, a weak link, or passive leadership which permits Jezebel to flourish. Jezebel is married {but does not act like it}, for her name means {chaste}. She is a covenant breaker, and a Zidonian priestess. She carries an independence {which is dependence on her own}, and is a slayer of God’s prophets. She hates the Elijah ministry unto this present hour 1 Kings 19-21; Malachi 4:4-6

So, when you reject or refuse to embrace the revelation, restoration, and recognition, as well as the receiving, releasing, and the reward of the apostle and prophet {or apostolic and prophetic dimension}, you open the door for potential Antichrist {substitute} and Jezebel values, beliefs, and mentalities which breed contempt, confusion, jealousy, strife, the works {of the flesh that is}, performance, competition, Diotrephes, and much more. When we reject the apostolic and prophetic spirit, or deny their place in the progression of God’s Kingdom and the Corporate
Anointing, we become open for other possibilities or multiple personalities which can result in the intimidation, manipulation, and domination of many sincere people which sense a rekindling of HIS desire and acquire HIS fire, and the fresh voice of the Lord for HIS present administration.} 1 Samuel 8, Luke 11:49-52

Does Hell Know who you are? Do they fear you at all?

Are You a Threat?
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1, by Os Hillman
06-10-2010

"One day the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?'" - Acts 19:15

Are you a threat to the kingdom of darkness? If satan and his demons had a board meeting and your name came before the board, what would they say? Would they say that you are one of their most feared enemies and they needed to keep many demons harassing and opposing you? Or would they say, "Gentlemen, this person poses no threat to our activities. Leave him alone. He needs no help from us." There are millions of church-going believers sitting in pews Sunday after Sunday who pose little threat to the kingdom of darkness.

If we truly believe that we war against rulers and principalities that cannot be seen, then we must realize that their mandate is to hinder any believer who is seeking to walk in the fullness of God. However, "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 Jn. 4:4b KJV).

If you are seeking to fully follow the Lord, you can expect harassment from the enemy. God permits temptation because it drives us deeper into the soil of God. These times reveal God's power to keep us and walk us through the temptations. Our message becomes fruitful when it is born out of obedience and suffering for His name. Do not consider it strange if you find yourself fighting major battles the more obedient you become to the Master. God desires each of us to become a feared enemy of hell in order to affect satan's domain. When you begin to feel harassed, chances are you are beginning to affect the kingdom of darkness, and satan doesn't like this. So, how many demons do you think are assigned to you?

Today God Is First (TGIF) devotional message, Copyright by Os Hillman, Marketplace Leaders.

Healing and Evangelism

This is a direct and complete repost of a very insightful post by Ron McKinzie of Blessed Economist. His take on the role of Healing related to Evangilism is great. I hope he doesn't mind. His blog is a regular read of mine and I commend it to you.

Healing and evangelism are usually treated as separate issues for the church. Putting them back together is critical to our future success.

Everyone is called to be a witness. So teaching Christians how to share the gospel with their friends and neighbours is really important. However it will not bring the big breakthrough that is needed.

The ministry of the evangelist is really important. Most Christians assume evangelism means preaching, but preaching at crowds does not work in many places, because people feel intimidated and badgered. The evangelist often hammers people into repentance by focussing on sin, which leaves people feeling condemned. Most people do not like it.

The New Testament describes a different approach. That healing/evangelism model is different (and used throughout the gospels and Acts).

1. Heal someone sick in a public place.

2. A crowd gathers and people ask, how did this happen.

3. The evangelist preaches the gospel by explaining what Jesus is done.

There are different couple of differences about this approach.

• The crowd gathers because they are curious about what they have seen. They want to be there. They are free to sneak away, if it gets uncomfortable. This produces a much more conducive atmosphere.

• The preacher does not have to prove God’s existence, because the proof is standing at the front of the crowd.

• The preacher does not have to badger the people, because they will often be asking what they need to do.

• The preacher does not have to prove Gods grace and love, because that is evident too.

• The focus of the preaching is different too. It does not need to browbeat people into repenting, but explains what Jesus has done, and explains to the crowd how they can get it.

This model of evangelism has not been seriously used by the church for about 1800 years. This explains why such a great gospel has been far less successful than it should have been.

I believe that if we are to see the big turn around for the gospel, then we will have to get back to that healing/evangelism model. We already know that nothing else works. We have this healing/evangelism model, but we have not tried it. The solution seems obvious.

The other side of this issue is that the ministry of healing has been totally distorted and abused. Most prayer for healing take place at the front of the church and is for Christians. It has become a form of entertainment for Christians and a tool for building up big name ministries.

The gift of healing is actually a gift for the lost. They are currently being robbed of gift that God wants to give to them. We will not see a real manifestation of the gift of healing until we take it out in the markets and villages where it belongs and give it to unbelievers in the way that Jesus and the apostles did.

Unless we can bring healing and evangelism together, we will not see the real explosion in evangelism that many Christians are dreaming about.

Are You Holding On … or Letting Go?

It's time to check your posture: Are your hands in the air? True worship requires surrender.

Christians used to talk a lot about surrender. They called it the consecrated life, and they sang about it in hymns such as "I Surrender All," "Have Thine Own Way" or "Wherever He Leads, I'll Go." These songs fueled the missionary movements of the past.

Today? Not so much.

"My question to you: Are your hands open and raised to God? Or are you making a fist? Have you given back to the Lord what He has given you? Or are your hands tightly clenched?"

In many American churches, "altars" are a strange concept. They are referred to as "stages," and they are used only for fog machines or music performances. "Altar calls" no longer fit in the time constraints of our trendy 80-minute services. Meanwhile, talk of surrender has been replaced by messages about self-empowerment and self-motivation.

The Good Life has replaced The God Life. The Path to Prosperity has become more popular than The Calvary Road. We are more interested in getting a breakthrough than brokenness.

Yet God is calling us back to consecration. Genuine worship, according to Romans 12:1, involves a wholehearted abandonment of self. Paul wrote: "Therefore I urge you, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (NASB).

When priests were set apart for God's service in the Old Covenant, they were "consecrated" in a solemn ceremony. The word for consecration in Exodus 28:41 means "to fill the hand." The word is a picture of an empty hand receiving God's blessings and then giving them back to the Lord in unconditional surrender.

My question to you: Are your hands open and raised to God? Or are you making a fist? Have you given back to the Lord what He has given you? Or are your hands tightly clenched? It might be a good idea to examine how you are holding every aspect of your life:

Your time. Does God have your life 24/7? Does He have your weekends? Have you made room in your life to spend time with Him? Or has prayer been crowded out by your favorite TV shows, time with friends or the demands of work?

Your talents. Are you using your natural and spiritual gifts to reach others for Christ? Or did you hide your talents, like the unwise steward in Jesus' parable? Have you assumed that, because others seemed more gifted, you should be a spectator while they serve?

Your money. The only way to know if you are truly surrendered to God's will is if your wallet is open. A lack of generosity toward God's work reveals a much deeper problem.

Your future. Are you driving your career plans—or have you allowed God to take the steering wheel? Ambition can take you a long way—but it must be yielded to His will or it will lead to tragedy. You must agree with what Jesus prayed at Gethsemane: "Not my will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

Your relationships. Do you allow friends, or romantic relationships, to lead you away from purity, integrity and spiritual faithfulness? The Bible says friendship with the world is hostility toward God (James 4:4). As painful as it may be, true surrender will involve cutting some ties.

Your sexuality. Many Christians believe they can be faithful believers while practicing immorality. Don't buy that lie. Living the consecrated life means repenting of all known sin daily—and fleeing from fornication, adultery, pornography and all forms of lust.

Your children. While we have been commanded to raise our kids for God, we also must entrust them to His care. After all, they are really His children, not ours. Once you've done your part, give them back to Him.

This week my youngest daughter—our so-called "baby"—is graduating from high school and headed to college in Georgia. Meanwhile my third daughter is leaving this week to minister on a foreign mission field for two months—in a place where women are not exactly safe or respected. I've had to consciously put my girls on the altar whenever I've doubted that God will take care of them.

It's one thing to give your own life to Christ. It's another thing to surrender those you love to His will and purpose. It requires a whole new level of trust. But it is the path that Abraham, the father of our faith, was required to walk when he put his son Isaac on the altar.

True faith always involves gut-wrenching surrender. I urge you to take the right posture: Get your hands open, lift them up to heaven and say with all your heart: "Lord, I'm all yours."

J. Lee Grady served as editor of Charisma for 11 years and is now contributing editor. You can find him on Twitter at leegrady. His newest book is The Holy Spirit Is Not for Sale.

Bluecifer and Anubis in America’s High Place: Casting a Shadow on Israel

I post this verbatim and without comment. This is a prophetic voice in the land. You can choose to hear him or not.

What follow is from Prophet Art directly:

As most of you probably know by now, a giant statue of Anubis, the Egyptian god of death and the underworld, was installed last week at the Denver International Airport (‘DIA’). Recall that Anubis sailed into New York Harbor in an equally prominent way on March 23, the same day the president signed the health- death-care bill.

…a seven-ton, 26-foot-tall concrete sculpture of an Egyptian god… will be built south of the Jeppesen Terminal… It’s being put in to preview the Denver Art Museum’s King Tut exhibit. The exhibit runs June 29 through Jan. 9, 2011, and Anubis will be standing guard during that time.

Note that two different people in the video describe Anubis as “paving the way”, ostensibly for the King Tut exhibit. I’m convinced its for much more.

I’ve been holding off writing on this. It seemed almost too obvious to anyone tuned into what time it is on the spiritual time-clock. On reflection though (and after more and more of you have mentioned it to me, my assumption being that most of you are also in touch with the Holy Spirit) it seems worth setting in context. There is more to it.

The saddest, darkest thing about it is that it has a “context” at all.

Lots of “interesting”, amusing, entertaining events with possible spiritual significance happen all the time without a strong connections to anything larger. They may provide new insights, but they aren’t watersheds of global import. This one, by contrast, seems to sit towards the opposite end of that spectrum. Spiritually, it is anything but an ‘accident’; anything but ‘coincidence’; anything but a side-show.

Denver is significant, I believe, not in and of itself (residents of that place are not, en masse, any more or less sinful, or faithful, than the rest of us any more than, say, New Yorkers) but because, as the centerpiece of the Rocky Mountains (my apologies to Billings, Albuquerque and Boise) Denver stands as AMERICA’s “high place”.

(Think John Denver’s popular tunes, or the fact that he didn’t choose to change his name to John Salt Lake or John Idaho Falls from the original mouthful of German he was born with.) Then there’s the “purple mountains, majesty” we’re all so familiar with in the tune, ‘America’.)

The mountains of sparsely-populated Alaska are higher and grander but their cities are much lower down. Sarah Palin notwithstanding, they are hardly central to American life. The Sierras of California boast the highest peak in the Lower 48 but none of the major West Coast cities sits at altitude.

I can think of no other serious rival to Denver as the U.S.’s Mount Carmel combined with Babel – a central hub for spiritual face-off and sparring. Note that Denver is also a primary ‘hub’ for United Airlines. Recall also the pagan worship circle legally allowed to remain on the grounds of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, just a bit to the south, another claiming on the “power of the air,” Ephesians 2:2)

See also the classic text, 1st Kings 18:20-40, as God, via Elijah, takes on the baal-worshipers of ancient Israel on Mount Carmel. Verse 21 seems especially applicable to the modern scene where few even want to honestly engage fundamental question of spiritual allegiance:

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.

I was drawn to this passage this morning as our pastor preached from Luke 16, verse 13 of which will be familiar to many:

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.

(I just learned that ‘Mammon’ — money — is a proper name. It means “The Lord of Unrighteousness”. It’s not a long trip from there to Satan himself. A review of the Clash’s classic song “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and its lyrics should give a further sense of this same concept from the other side of the salvation looking-glass.)

In short, not choosing (to follow Christ) is choosing.

Recall the DNC ’08 in Denver and the recently earthquakes that point to it.

And the so-called Stimulus Bill was signed in Denver for “symbolic” reasons relating to sun worship, on a highly auspicious date related to Israel.

In the Northern Hemisphere, objects cast shadows towards the north — longer in winter, shorter in summer. This Anubis statue, representing the Egyptian god of death and the underworld, will cast its shadow towards (and possibly onto) the Jeppesen Terminal.

The name Jeppesen means, “a descendant of Jessen, a form of Jacob”. As most know, ‘Jacob’ is another way of saying “Israel”. (In Genesis 32, an angel of the Lord, very possibly the Lord himself, renamed Jacob ‘Israel’ after wrestling with him all night. This passages is almost as well-known and foundational to Jews as John 3:16 is to Christians. Ironically, many Christians, including me, assume they involve the same guy — Christ, the Lord in a pre-incarnate cameo.)

A terminal is an end-point, e.g., the termination of a flight, or the termination of a car or bus journey to leave and catch a flight. When someone has a fatal illness, we say that he or she is ‘terminal’, meaning that his or her life is about to reach its end point. To have the Egyptian god of death casting a shadow on a building symbolic of the end (terminal) of the descendants of Jacob (Jeppesen) is most ominous, especially coming, as it does, amidst a cascade of events in and around Israel.

Among Jacob’s sons were Judah (see Genesis 29 — Judah is the name from which the term ‘Jew’ arises). Recall also the theory, touched on in a previous post, that America may be spiritually associated with either of Jacob’s sons-via-blessing (his half-Egyptian grandsons, via Joseph: Ephraim and Manasseh; see Genesis 48-49).

Looping back, recall that the reason we’re talking about this in the first place is that, the arrival of Anubis to our shores back in March seemed to signal the arrival of the spirit of Egypt. If America is spiritually “Israelitish,” as one commenter put it — my bet is Ephraim — then March 23rd represented a turning point as, Jekyl-and-Hyde-like, that side of our dual national nature felt strong enough to “come out” in public.

There are many reasons to think of America as having played a special “Israelitish” role in the world that I don’t have time to go into here — i.e., a role larger, and more focused on the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus Christ than any other nation except perhaps, in a different era, Britain. A prayer-covered D-Day, 6-6-44, i.e., 66 years ago today is just one example.

The King Tut exhibit in Denver is scheduled to begin June 29th. That evening marks the beginning of Tzom Tammuz — the 17th of the month of Tammuz on the Hebrew calendar. Here’s how one authoritative Jewish website describes it:

The 17th day in the Jewish month of Tammuz, Jews the world over fast and lament to commemorate the many calamities that have befallen our people on this ominous day.

The purpose of such fasts in the Jewish calendar is, according to Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov’s Book of Our Heritage, “to awaken hearts towards repentance through recalling our forefathers’ misdeeds; misdeeds which led to calamities…”

I’m sure readers can fill in more details but I want to get this up before the incoming thunderstorm ‘zaps’ my computer — or me!

“Bluecifer” is showing cracks (May 23, 2010)

The large blue mustang statue outside Denver International Airport is showing signs of wear just two years after its installation. This is not the first streak of bad luck for the mustang that has been given many other unflattering nicknames including “Satan’s Steed” and “Blue Devil Horse.”

Luis Jimenez [the statue's creator] was killed in 2006 when “Mustang” fell on him. Jimenez’s sons completed the blue metallic sculpture, which was installed Feb. 11, 2008.

Bluecifer’s New Buddy: God of the dead arrives at DIA (June 2, 2010)

Hmm… showing signs of wear only two years after “installation”? Interesting… The anniversary of Obama’s anointing in Denver at the DNC is coming up in August.

Keith Luker: A Dream of a Job Opening in Heaven: You are QUALIFIED!

I had a dream of a job opening in Heaven, and I saw a job application come down to the earth. It was extensive, comprehensive and very thorough! Actually, just to look at the application and to think about having to fill it out was intense and intimidating. Name, address, phone, email, fax, work history, experience, giftings, an essay on why you would be right for this job, and on and on it went.

I saw someone filling out the application, and thereafter it was taken back up to Heaven and landed on the Father's desk. I could see through the Father's eyes as He was looking at this job application.

As I looked at the application, I saw the name on the application: Jesus. It was Jesus' work history, His experience, His giftings, His perspective, and His essay on why He was perfect for the job. I saw the Father's hand pick up a big rubber stamp, and in large, bold black letters He stamped: "QUALIFIED!" across the application.

I awoke and instantly thought of the Scripture in Colossians 1:12..."Giving thanks to the Father, who has QUALIFIED YOU to share in the inheritance of the Saints in the Kingdom of Light."

I was stunned and amazed. HE has qualified ME. He has qualified YOU. When the Father has a job opening in Heaven, we apply for it, and when our application comes to His desk, He sees the qualifications of Jesus, His Son. He says, YOU ARE PERFECT for this job! You are as qualified as Jesus is!

Beloved, YOU HAVE BEEN QUALIFIED by the FATHER! That's all you need to know!

Keith Luker
Prophetic Worship Radio
Email: Keith@PropheticWorshipRadio.net

Why did Jesus ask his disciples to arm themselves before going to the Garden of Gethsemane

The sword that Jesus asked the disciples to bring to the Garden, the one Peter eventually used to cut the ear off Malthus, Caiaphas' servant was a real sword that did real damage. People have over spiritualized this account. They have tried to preach it out of the biblical narrative. This happened at the end of the last supper, just before going to the Garden.

Luke 22:35-38 says:

35 [Jesus] asked them [the eleven apostles], "When I sent you out without a purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?"
They said, "No, not a thing."
36 He said to them, "But now the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one. 37 For I tell you, this scripture must be fulfilled in me: ‘And he was numbered among the lawless’; and indeed what is written about me is being fulfilled."
38 They [the disciples] said, "See, Lord, here are two swords."
"It is enough," he replied.

Jesus is peacemaker...right? So this story seems to go against the perceived nature of a nice non confrontational Jesus. Wait, didn't Jesus seem to say that he DIDN'T come to make peace? Let's see what he said.

Matthew 10

³² “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

³⁵ ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
³⁶ Your enemies will be right in your own household!’^l]">[l]

³⁷ “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁸ If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. ³⁹ If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

Man, that doesn't sound like that "Jesus loves me" guy does it? Yes, HE DOES. Enough to want you and me to be ready for battle. The devil never brings a pocketknife to a gunfight. He's out to kill and destroy you. Yet Christians are defeated because they are not well armed for the fight to come.

Yet the Spirit of God is constantly revealing Jesus as one who knows what needs to be done. How to be armed for war. Paul wrote about this in Ephesians 6. What we don't understand is this armament was REAL in Paul's day. It had the net effect of causing Christians to recognize when they were not ready for war.

Ephesians 6

¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹²For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

The example was clear in the day it was written. This was the way soldiers dressed. Paul was saying what Jesus said. Get a sword and be ready to use it. Prepare for war.

Not just any sword, a sharp one, one that had two edges, one that could cut deep, one that could do some real damage. One that can cut even to the intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

So now to the question. Why did Jesus instruct the Disciples to bring a sword to the garden? To give them confidence and boldness. To be willing to confront. To allow them to manifest a warrior spirit when the enemy came. It was a living parable Jesus used to do training for warfare. When Peter used that sword, Jesus DIDN'T REBUKE Peter, he just told him to put it away. He was demonstrating the Glory of God.

John 18

²Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. ³So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"

⁵"Jesus of Nazareth," they replied.

"I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.

⁷Again he asked them, "Who is it you want?"
And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth."

⁸"I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." ⁹This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me."^a]">[a]

¹⁰Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)

¹¹Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"

Luke 22

⁴⁹When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" ⁵⁰And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

⁵¹But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him.

⁵²Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? ⁵³Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns."

Matthew 26
⁵² “Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword. ⁵³ Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? ⁵⁴ But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?”

Here in this confrontation, the disciples were ready for war. Ready to do battle. Ready to die. And even when they asked....Jesus didn't Say NO. The fight ensued, until Malthus lost an ear. Then Jesus stopped the fray. Not for peace. He didn't try to make peace with his enemies. Look. He heals, the soldiers fall back at his "I AM". He rebukes them for coming like cowards. He is bold in the face of torture and death. He is filled with purpose, even the purpose of drinking the cup he wanted to avoid if possible. Yet he says there is death in the sword. That admonition means that choose your weapons wisely. If you choose physical weapons you may die a physical weapon as a result. But in this fight choose a non flesh and blood weapon.

The disciples after the Baptism of the Holy Spirit got this. Boldness, a willingness to die a martyrs death, a lack of fear of those who would persecute them. They also had seen Jesus defeat death by the Power of the Spirit that now dwelled in them. They had the sword stronger than the sword Jesus instructed them to sell everything to buy before the Garden. We must be ready to do the same.

They now knew that the sword they carried in their mouth by the Spirit of God was more powerful than any physical sword anyone could carry. The BIBLE is NOT the Sword of the Spirit, it contains the Sword of the Spirit. The Word of GOD is the sword of the Spirit. The Word of God in our mouth must agree with the revealed word of God in the Bible. But it's the word of God in our MOUTH spoken in authority by the Power of the Holy Ghost that is the Sword of the Spirit.

We can be the same. We can walk in power and authority as Jesus did. As He demonstrated for US.

Christians have to stop bringing a pocket knife to a gunfight the devil wants to pick. The ultimate nuclear bomb in our mouth is the Word of God. It's above any weapon the devil can bring to the fight.

Let's do what Jesus instructs us to do. Get the Word of God in your mouth -- at any price.

one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy

Prepare for War!