The Price of Disunity

I have tried hard to be in unity with people who don't see things spiritually as I do. Not that there can be NO fellowship, just not much effectiveness.  I'm not sure why I wasted my time. 

There is much that can be done in the flesh in faux unity.  Habitat for Humanity, World Vision, Red Cross, Salvation Army, Food Kitchens, Homeless Shelters, Missions Trips and may other works that while having a grazing hint of spiritual implication, not much of it requires unity. Heck you can do all these things and be a pagan, a wiccan, a Buddhist, a Muslim or an atheist.  None of the works of mercy require much unity.  You don't even need a church building to do this.  The Rotary Club can do all this.

If that is what you desire, then you don't need much in accord with the people you serve with.  They can believe whatever they want and you can be tooth and jowl in tandem with them.

On the other hand if you want to do spiritual service (which in theory is why we have church) you have to have unity or it just doesn't work.  Teaching, correction, disciple making, prayer, intercession, faith, hope, love, prophecy, spirit and truth worship, deliverance from demons, healing (when it's hard), miracles and communion. 

Those things just won't work...well... without unity.  Doorpost shaking doesn't happen when unity is lacking.  All of the things mentioned above work best, and maybe only, when people are on the same spiritual wavelength.  They don't have to be on the same level, but there can't be ecclesial schizophrenia.  When the Bible says in James 1:6-8 it is talking about not only a person, it is talking about people, Churches of people, when they come together.  If there is wide ranges of opinion, there is going to be doubt and unbelief.  When that happens this is the result:

It must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind.⁷ For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord,⁸ [For being as he is] a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute), [he is] unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything [he thinks, feels, decides].

This is not only true for prayer but for all spiritual mercies.  The reason most churches do corporeal mercies easier is because it requires very little unity.

When true unity happens, miracles happen.  Manifestations take place.  Reality in the Spirit takes place when true unity happens... and places are shaken.

30while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus." 31And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:30-31

When a church tries to do anything in the Spirit without unity... nothing happens much.  That is why so many small groups do so much better.

Unity must be in the Holy Ghost... not in doctrine.  Sadly that isn't how it works in our area.

For people at the end of their rope

If you are at the end of your rope, go find people who have no rope at all.. right now with all the tornadoes and destruction there are people who's rope is gone. You still have a little.. an end. So, go there, even if you have nothing to give, help pick up pieces, sleep under the refuse, try giving yourself away without expectation of anything. Here's a promise from the throne: "If you help the poor (and desperate), you are lending to the LORD--and he will repay you!" Proverbs 19:17.

As long as your eyes are on yourself and your circumstances you will never be free. Peter only walked on water as long as he kept his eyes on the promise... when he looked at the storm he sank. Keep your eyes on the promise, now get out of that boat!

The Train will stop

It's not being the bearer of bad tidings if you can say with confidence that if the bridge is out ahead, and you know it is, that the train is going to stop...one way or the other. It's just the logical consequence of a bridge that cannot support any weight. When I say this current economic train will stop... collapse... self destruct... it's not that I am a gloom and doomer, it just cannot support any more weight.. there is nothing holding it up. The train will stop...when? I don't know... but it will stop.

Father has Turned You Over

Father God is not a bully, He is not a dictator.  He is slow to anger.  Full of Grace and Mercy.  He is seeking those who are voluntary lovers.  Obedient because they know Him.

Yet there is a place where Father will allow you to drift away, like the father in the prodigal son.   If you insist, he will turn you over to your lusts.

God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  Romans 1:28

While we know this verse and shake our heads, click our tongues and look with disdain on this, what we don't know is even lesser shameful lusts will cause us to be turned over.  It's not God's will.  He sent you His Spirit to operate as an umpire... yet you (and I) allow things in our lives that are unclean.  If we do this often enough and long enough it will consume us.  Father will turn us over to our passions.

This is why being legalistic is dangerous.  There is no life in that.  This is why holiness must come from within... change must be from the inside out.  As a really good ex Pharisee I can tell you with confidence that change is not driven by rules... it is only alignment with the Spirit of God.

Most of the problems in our world are because Father has turned us over to that which we have replaced His perfection for an imitation.  Poverty exists because of a lack of understanding.  Racism exists because of a lack of love.  Violence exists because of a lack of respect.  Homelessness exists because of a lack of honor.  

Our purpose as earthen vessels in whom God had invested HIMSELF in power should be to live as examples of what He does for and with his Children.  Yet we rely on other things, other people, other systems, other authority;  As if to say, God you are not adequate.  

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.  2 Corinthians 4:7

Let me be clear, the mess we have in the world around us is not the judgement of God, we called it upon ourselves.  We lusted after it.  We called for justice and received a demonic judgement of our choosing.  We have been turned over.

Now the only hope is for mercy and deliverance.  That will require single mindedness.  One that is without schizophrenia.  You cannot be of two minds.  You will only have one passion... and if you choose rightly it will be glorious... if you choose wrongly Father will turn you over to it... because
He must. 

Understanding the Communion Mandate

Anyone who considers communion comes to the practice mixed with tradition and religion.  They seldom let the text speak for itself.  They rely on tradition. The problem is religion has distorted the truth.  Communion has become a sacrament that is no longer sacred because we do not discern the Body of Christ in the eating and drinking.

There are three distinct iterations of the communion command that have existed since the instructions were first given by Jesus and then Paul in First Corinthians as it was commonly practiced in the first century church.

Number ONE: A Meal

The correction given by Paul to the Corinthians was about a MEAL... What some have called an Agape meal.  Today we might practice it as pot luck.  Everybody brings something and everybody eats.  Paul was critical of how it was conducted in the Corinthian Church and he corrected them:

^{1 Corinthians 11:17-22} But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.  What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

This was not instruction about a sip and a wafer, this agape meal was practiced commonly in the early church.  It was not a sacrament except as it was recognized.  There were not words of institution.  It was a recognition of the Body of Christ in the breaking of bread together. Example:

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Act 2:42

This verse does not reference communion as is practiced in the Catholic and Lutheran church today.  It was the Agape Meal.  BUT it was communion in that sense.  It required instruction. Paul did that.


Number TWO: Table Graces

The second is the Recognition of every time you eat and drink, you are remembering HIM.  This comes from the words used in institution and was practiced for centuries after Christ walked the earth.  Whenever even two people sat down to eat anything, instead of a common table prayer, they gave simple thanks, and in Latin would hold the food and drink in their hands and say "Corpus Christi" and then "Sanguinis Christi" ... no words of institution, just a recognition that in remembrance we recognize the gift that food is and that which Jesus came and gave himself.  Even now if I have a pizza and a coke I often will think of and sometimes even say... Body of Christ, Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi, Sanguinis Christi).   This tradition came out of the teachings of Paul...

1 Corinthians 11:24-25  For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."…

In this way there is a communion that takes place in the recognition of Him when we eat anytime... anything, there is remembrance.  Unfortunately there is a soft taking of communion in some evangelical church services that are simply remembrances.  It's not communion.  Once again the recognition of His Body and Blood is lost in tradition and flawed theology.

Number THREE:The Sacrament

The third iteration of communion is the formal sacrament. The way it is done in most churches lacks the capacity for recognition of the true presence of the Body and Blood of Christ.  It is irreverent.  Without understanding.  Dangerous really.

Churches end up in this trap when they try to minister communion with a too great frequency, it has become something we do often  ... so we do it unworthily in order to "Get it over with".    Time constraints have robbed people of what matters.  Communion is taken without thinking.

The issue is "THIS BREAD" and "THIS CUP".  It was the institution of a Passover type encounter with the living Christ that Jesus practiced.    Jesus words:  

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.  Luke 22:19-20

When with significant reverence and intentionality we enter into what Paul described in

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?   1 Corinthians 10:16

Then we consider  the warnings about the encounter with the Holy that Communion when done sacramentally and intentionally is where we touch the Living Christ.  We meet with HIM bodily.  Yet it is done so poorly.  Paul isn't sanguine about this loose flippancy in 1 Corinthians 11
(in the Amplified):

23 For I received from the Lord Himself that which I passed on to you [it was given to me personally], that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was treacherously delivered up and while His betrayal was in progress took bread,

24 And when He had given thanks, He broke [it] and said, Take, eat. This is My body, which is broken for you. Do this to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.

25 Similarly when supper was ended, He took the cup also, saying, This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink [it], to call Me [affectionately] to remembrance.

26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord’s death until He comes [again].

27 So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy [of Him] will be guilty of [profaning and sinning against] the body and blood of the Lord.

28 Let a man [thoroughly] examine himself, and [only when he has done] so should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that [it is Christ’s] body, eats and drinks a sentence (a verdict of judgment) upon himself.

30 That [careless and unworthy participation] is the reason many of you are weak and sickly, and quite enough of you have fallen into the sleep of death.

31 For if we searchingly examined ourselves [detecting our shortcomings and recognizing our own condition], we should not be judged and penalty decreed [by the divine judgment].

32 But when we [fall short and] are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined and chastened, so that we may not [finally] be condemned [to eternal punishment along] with the world.

33 So then, my brothers, when you gather together to eat [the Lord’s Supper], wait for one another.

34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together to bring judgment [on yourselves]. About the other matters, I will give you directions [personally] when I come.

IF Paul the Apostle was so serious about this so should we be.  In all three iterations of the communion, when we come together for an agape meal, when we meet one another over a cup and a bite and remember the Body and Blood given for us or when with intention we meet with Jesus in the Sacrament, it's time to discern the Body and Blood of Christ.

Pets over the top

Dogs. I don't dislike dogs. I don't hate cats. I just know them for what they are... animals. Same with horses. I am puzzled and sometimes irritated by the love and money spent by people on simple animals. Today we had a session honoring a dog in church. I know there is a purpose. I get it. YET... it's a dog. Not a person. I don't question the idea.. I do wonder about people's inordinate affection for such.

I mentioned this to a person casually, they said at once, "you grew up on a farm didn't you". YUP. Did . They said "that's why. To you a dog is just another animal, no different from a chicken or a pig". YUP.

I guess that's why people's love for pets, dogs, cats, horses is such a puzzlement to me. I have had all of them. Liked them. BUT they were just animals. Not people. When I hear someone say, "He's my baby" about a dog... I cringe. We are not far from the Hindu who worship the God of the Cow. Or the Ancient Egyptians who worshiped cats. Or the temple with Live Rats... Worshiped as reincarnated people http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/01/17/karni_mata_the_indian_temple_where_rats_are_worshipped.html

Something is wrong here:
Romans 1:24Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural,…

When we are Religious.. we trample

If you are religious you are going to hate this.


I see examples in scripture (mostly the book of Acts) of the Body of Christ praying as a group.  Peter in Prison and they prayed for his release.   Acts 12:5-18

There are allusions to a prayer of thanksgiving that seems more like an Apostolic Declaration.  But the earth shook.  This is when unity has power.
Acts 4:24-31

They prayed during fellowship.      Acts 2:42        Acts 1:14
  "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers".  No indication of what "the Prayers" were or are.  Just mentioned it.

All of these prayers were with people in unity.  People who sought God without reservation. People who were in one accord.

That is not the case in most churches today.  Sometimes in a small home fellowship it can happen.  But for the most part, there is a wide brush of  opinions, views, committment, theology, faith and unbelief in the average church of 200.  It is not earth shaking prayer when there are so many not able to enter into corporate prayer.    No unity.

Some groups will not even pray in public.  They won't ask you to "Join them in prayer".  They don't believe in being unequally yoked together with those without a commitment in unity in prayer.

So when we pray in a church service or any gathering why do we do it?  What purpose?  What is the pattern?  I find much of what passes for prayer is not really prayer at all.  It's tradition, dry and useless.  It gives the deacons and elders something to do.

I am not convinced that the idea of praying in a fellowship as an essential part of the Church event, UNLESS there is purpose like praying For God's Grace, His presence, for Favor, for  protection, for intervention.  I don't see what I read in the word of God as prayer in the Church of 2014.

Maybe we just do it because our fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, great great grandfathers prayed in public.  We have the national day of prayer coming up.  That is going to include a lot of people praying that don't believe what you do.  Does it help for a muslin, a hew, a deist and a nominal Christian enter into prayer together...?  We need to rethink the whole "Let Us Pray" or "Join me in Prayer" thing we do so thoughtlessly. 

BE YE CONSTANTLY FILLED....

Each event we remember at this time of year is overshadowed by the next. The cross and what happened there was powerful... He paid the price for your sin... 
 
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE -- then JESUS defeated DEATH, the GRAVE and HELL and rose again.. Glorified. First fruits for all of us. It was a GREATER victory than the Cross... Death no longer had any hold on us.. The law of sin and death was broken. 

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE ... 50 days later... after Jesus had taught on the Kingdom for 40 days he told his Disciples to stay in Jerusalem. These were Disciples who has sins paid for at the cross, had a measure of the Holy Spirit imparted to them, Had seen the risen Christ, had been well taught, had the promise of resurrection for themselves, had received instructions (the great commission) and yet Jesus doesn't turn them loose. He tells them to wait UNTIL... POWER comes.

Didn't they had everything they needed to expand the kingdom Jesus taught on... ? NOPE. Just like today we have many churches and religious leaders who think they can get by.. on the cross, the empty grave, the great commission, a measure of the Holy Ghost, well taught, and they go into all the world with great enthusiasm... without the ONE THING, the GREATER WORKS EMPOWERMENT .. that Jesus said was the promise of the Father. The Baptism in the Holy Ghost. IT made the focus on the cross and the empty tomb less than what JESUS really intended those who would turn the world upside down would do.... They would receive Power AFTER the HOLY GHOST came upon them. It's time to recognize that without the ability to BE a witness in the Power of the Holy Ghost...you are simply well taught and going thru the motions powerless. You have still not come into the more excellent way....

Warning: I will now go about offending the Religious.

Now that the Easter season is over, I have a couple observations.  For those who live in Pentecost it's a remembrance that while worthy of consideration is not a central focus of our spiritual life.  Yet, it does have a worthy purpose.  Like the Apostle Paul who established churches, preached to pagans in Athens, was a witness to Rome and was the vehicle for evangelism on the Island of Malta,  his proclamation of "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" the focus on the Lent and Easter season does have a purpose.  To win the lost.

Once a person crosses over from death to life, from darkness to light, from sin to sanctification there is a change in focus... looking to what God is doing right now in the earth, among his people and building his Kingdom.

It's interesting that Jesus is NOT recorded in Acts spending time talking about the events around Easter.  Paul mentions the Resurrection, but only in relationship to our Faith. 

Jesus in the Book of Revelation mentions His Death and Resurrection, but only in relationship to victory. 

“Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!"

Later in worship, it is mentioned in relationship to His Kingship and Glory. 

Rev 5:11 I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

It is that posture that moves the Heart of a worshiper, one who knows His of Her God as the King of Kings. 


Easter is a good evangelism tool... but once you become a documented citizen of the Kingdom (name written without erasure in that book) it's simply nostalgia.

We're all Doubting Thomases, seeing is believing -- until we become a Paul

In the accounts of the Resurrection it's striking how many times the word or equivalent for seeing is used.  Over and over again to prove to a person that Jesus had risen from the dead we have accounts that describe people seeing him alive, risen.  Why are these accounts so repeated and determined to offer what we know by Faith.. Jesus is alive...

There are recorded 11 events when the Resurrected Messiah appeared to his followers and then the first appearance of Jesus to Paul on the road.

1) Mary Magdalene (Mark 16.9-11; John 20.11-18)
2) the other women at the tomb (Matthew 28.8-10)
3) Peter in Jerusalem (Luke 24.34; 1 Cor. 15.5)
4) The two travelers on the road to Emmaus (Mark 16.12,13)
5) Ten disciples behind closed doors (Mark 16.14; Luke 24.36-43; John 20.19-25)
6) All the disciples, with Thomas (excluding Judas Iscariot) (John 20.26-31; 1 Cor. 15.5)
7) Seven disciples while fishing (John 21.1-14)
8) Eleven disciples on the mountain (Matthew 28.16-20)
9) A crowd of 500 (1 Cor. 15.6)
10) Jesus' brother James (1 Cor. 15.7)
11) Those who watched Jesus ascend to heaven (Luke 24.44-49; Acts 1.3-8)
12) Least of all Paul as though he was not living in the proper time (1 Cor. 15.8-9)

It's probable that many more people saw him but it's not recorded.  There is a tradition that says that Pontius Pilate saw him after the resurrection and was converted. Later he and his wife were martyred for their faith.  No basis in fact or history.. just tradition.

I have wondered if Jesus Bar Abbas might have seen the one who died in his place... some think he grew up in a religious home... what impact would that have had?

I wondered if the rich young ruler who turned away (Whom many think was Barnabas from Cypress) had an appearance that caused him to return.

Jesus appearance changes people.  It changed the disciples.  They were martyred without complaint.  Not ONE of the 11 ever denied the resurrection even when being tortured and put to death painfully.  Seeing was believing.  You can't deny what you know to be true.

Yet it is PAUL who is most like us.  Late to the seeing.  Eyes of Faith are needed to see Jesus.  However those late are most passionate, most determined, least shakeable.  Still today a secular culture and a secular church tries to put concreteness where people who lack faith makes it necessary.  It keeps asking for proof.  Evidence. 

It is only thru the eyes of Faith Believing that you can see the Kingdom and the King.  It is only on the other side of Pentecost where the Presence of Jesus becomes concrete.  No theory.  Real.  Solid.  Substance.

Paul saw.  Stephen being stoned saw.  John at Patmos Saw. 

AND in 72 AD Caiaphas Saw... as the religious system of the old covenant was being destroyed.  Jesus told him he would and he did,  Mark 14:61-63

Now we see clearly what Jesus tried to convey in this:

Acts 1:3-11  (The Message) After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”

When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”

He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”

These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud.     

He taught them on the Kingdom.  He spoke to many.  They ate together.  He was with them.  Face to Face.  YET he told them almost sternly that they were to stay until the promise of the Father came.

Yet.. we have churches led by men and women who have not yet received the promise of the Father... they can't see.  Scales on their eyes yet.  Blind leading the blind. So they try thru tradition and religion to place concreteness when only faith's substance can provide.

Tarry... it's time for the scales to be removed.

Two little known facts about the Crucifixion.

1. The alternatives that Pilate gave the madding crowd was to release TWO men named Jesus. Jesus Bar Abbas... or Jesus the Messiah. Jesus Bar Abbas would have been the son most likely of a priest. Bar means Son. Abbas... of the Father. So this priest's son had committed murder. Was to be crucified that very day. BUT the TRUE son of the TRUE Father took his place.

"So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?"" Matthew 27:17

2. There were Four women at the foot of the cross who witnessed the Crucifixion, THREE were named MARY ... Mary the Mother of Jesus, Mary the wife of Clopas who incidentally was one of the two men Jesus met on the road to Emmaus, And Mary Magdalene. "Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the {wife} of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene". John 19:25 Who was the fourth? She is identified according to scripture as the Sister of Mary the Mother of Jesus. In other scriptural references it is evidenced that her name was Salome. Some have taught that Mary the wife of Cleopas was Mary the Mother of Jesus' Sister.

It does not make sense that there would be two girls in the same family that would have the same name, I believe 'MARY'S sister' is Salome, the mother of James and John, Zebedees wife. Matthew 27:56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses,[Jesus mother] and the mother of Zebedee’s children.[Salome]

And while this is all sort of Bible Geek stuff.. it's good to know these things.

The Cock Still Crows

We all know the story of Peter denies Jesus three times and then the cock crows.   This even after Jesus told Peter this would happen. Mark 14:66-72

Then THE LOOK.  Peter is destroyed.  Lost.  Defeated.

That must have been a very long night... and next day and weekend.

How sinking his stomach must have felt.

We in our Biblical rear view mirror say things like, "I could never deny the Lord".  We say it but it is not yet been tested.  Not like Peter was.  He is seeing Jesus beaten to a pulp.  He has been in the garden when the military came to get Jesus to drag him away.  He is trying to stay near.. but not so near that he might also be arrested and beaten.  There are authorities only a shout away.

He is at threat of his very life if he is exposed.  And then people start asking hard questions.  He can say YES, I know him, I am his disciple.  In a second someone will rat him out and he is lost.

So he keeps his head down.  A small fib can't hurt.  It's wisdom... right?

Then a Cock Crows.  Devastation..

We are in the same place, our culture accuses us of being "Christian".  One of THOSE.  We try to fit in, we don't raise too much of a fuss.  We say things like, I'm not religious, I'm spiritual.  We are chameleon in our culture.  All things to all men... and then the Cock Crows.  We see that we did not respond truthfully when confronted.

How bold in the face of persecution will our witness be.  Witness as martyr which is the true interpretation.  I don't know.  I can be bold in theory.. yet in truth, until the gun is at my temple... I can't say for certain.

I really don't want to find out.  I know that for me, for all of us... that unwelcome crow is about to sound.  I hear Jesus say, Matthew 10:32   "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33"But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven".

Lord HELP ME TO STAY STEADY...

Joy is your Weapon

We don't understand Joy... We think it means happy.  We think it means self fulfilled.  We don't get it.

Joy is a gift. It comes from God. It is part of the fruit filled to overflow spiritual man.  Galatians 5:22

In danger, pain, toil, difficulty, debt, fear, tribulation, the singular weapon you have that defeats all the efforts of the Devil is JOY.  Full Joy means Full Defeat.. John 15:11

Not laughing, Joy means that despite all.... it's worth it.  Peter was hung on a cross upside down and crucified and had JOY.  Paul lost his head with JOY.  Not that they enjoyed it or loved the pain, the knew, it was worth it.  Romans 12:12

Jesus endured the cross because of the JOY set before him.  Hebrews 12:2

Joy is the weapon that wielded against pain and suffering allows for victory in darkness.

We have lost our joy when we lose our perspective, our hope.  2 Corinthians 1:24

The Bible says that the JOY of the lord is our Strength... that word strength can be translated weapon of warfare. "do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

The devil doesn't know how to deal with Joy in a born again believer in the midst of a battle.  He tries to discourage but to no avail.

Let's be a devil discourager and find JOY in the Battle.  James 1:2

The Joy of the LORD is you WEAPON.,.. this is a call to arms

I heard this from a prophet friend of mine last night... and I just wrote it out 

Return NOT to the FORMER .....

There is a pattern again and again in scripture that warns against returning to past things, situations, traditions, practices and activities.  It warns against living in the past either in glorifying those things nor in regret.

It continually tells us to forget, press on, turn aside, forsake.

There is a danger according to the word of God in living in the past.

I see it.  There are many who ponder things that happened and miss what IS happening.

The same is true for the quality of our relationship to the Father.  It is not ever going to be like it was in 1959, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1981, 1986, 1995, 1999,  2008 or even last week.  He is a new every morning God.  I posted all these dates because all of them have something to do with memories of my own.  You would have a different list.  I can think of great things God did in those years for ME.  You can assemble your own list.

Yet I am a new creation, or more accurately a constantly changing new creation.  One who is in the process of constantly becoming "Made New".

So when I find myself in a place, situation, relationship, fellowship or circumstance that is modeled over one of the ancienct paridigms.. I am uncomfortable, I no longer fit.  I am an outcast, cast out of my former self.

It's as it should be.  At least that's what the word says... forgetting what lies behind... press toward the HIGH CALLING OF GOD

Philippians 3:8  Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Romans 12:1-2  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Isaiah 43:25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

 2 Corinthians 5:17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Isaiah 43:18-19  “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Philippians 3:13-14  Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

When Jezebel Leads Worship Dies

IF Israel Houghton, Matt Redman, Kai Jobe and David Crowder tried to join some Church's worship team they would be run off the platform by Jezebel.  The desire for the Microphone over all else is a disease.  People get validation from the platform, not from God.  I have seen this with my own eyes.. the least capable,  least qualified and least anointed are gatekeeping the anointed and able from being on the team.  You will have lousy worship in churches when there is Jezebel directed leadership.   I get physically ill when I see this happen.

 Vincenzo said...
Jezebel is a demon of the mundane. No innovation or deeper revelation of God. She works with Python to squeeze the life out of anything new before it begins. She keeps things as they are for her own benefit. The sick and dysfunctional structures stay in place. The status quo.

Mary DIDN'T Know

Usually at Christmas.. but often at this time of year you will hear the song, "Mary did you know". Sometimes when I hear the deification of Mary among some it grieves me. She was more mortal and human than most. When we sing this song we are placing a burden on a woman who SHOULD have known.. but missed it. She was in the Upper Room at Pentecost and not until she received the fullness of the Spirit of God was she fully awake spiritually. Once the scales fell from HER eyes, she was able to see with more clarity then she did before. That's the result of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Think of what Mary had seen and heard before the day of Pentecost. She had an angelic visitation that told her of the child to be born and HIS purpose. She had a confirmation from Elizabeth. At the birth of the Boy.. Shepherds, Angels, Wise Men all gave testimony to who this child was and IS.
Then the flight to Egypt. And return. Jesus in the Temple. Miracle at the Wedding feast. And then his ministry. She was among those who followed Him, at least later. Yet we see she and His brothers come to him and question Who HE was.

With all that. With the revelation that should have been Hers... (if she had been connected spiritually by the Baptism in the Spirit) she should have been comforting the disciples and the other two Mary's at the foot of the cross.

She had heard Him say, heard what was about to come. Yes it was painful.. so was bearing HIM in birth. Now a new Kingdom was being established. In pain yet in glory.

I wonder what kind of revelation came on her as the Spirit of God started putting the jigsaw puzzle of her life together. We don't hear much about her in the Book of Acts. She didn't do much else that we know of. There's no mention of her death in scripture. In a male centered culture that wouldn't be unusual.

The reality is, you today, live in a greater revelation than even Mary ever had. You see the Kingdom. You see it growing. You see people once again saying Hosanna. The King is no longer coming...HE CAME...

And we can now live in that Kingdom with the revelation of who HE really is... Hosanna. Mary didn't know, but you DO!!

What did Jesus really mean when HE issued the Great Commission?:

 When HE said Go YE Therefore and MAKE Disciples...  was that the end game?  Was that it?  Just make?  HIS direct disciples got the instructions and have tried to pass it down and now so did we....????  Yet I don't see the net result in most places.  I don't see the DNA of Jesus disciple making in Christendom today.  I see preaching.  I see teaching. I see empire building but not what I see Jesus do.  IF the DNA of Jesus is intact and unpolluted in our current expression of of who HE is... then it would look different.

I have a bit of a different take...
Jesus commands disciples to make disciples.  Then what?  IF they are discipled well they will MAKE disciples who look like the disciples who discipled them.. and then on and on and on.  It would be a spread of a spiritual DNA that thru discipleship.

That  kind of discipleship would not be leader-centric.  It would be infectious.  Those who are discipled by the leader would go out and become just like him.  The focus of Jesus DNA is the enlargement of the Kingdom  by this infective DNA. 

Yesterday I offered a word of encouragement to a man I honor who is doing just this.  The work he is doing in creating disciples has the DNA of Jesus all over it.  It's inclusive, it's expansive, many sons and daughters are coming from the work, spreading out, doing the works of the master, people are being released to expand the kingdom.  It's a miraculous event.

I have been watching this carefully and a couple years ago prophesied that things would not expand in this ministry many times faster than before. It's now happening.  What the future will hold is hard to grasp... I only know this... this looks like Jesus..... This is what he intended.  Disciples made to make disciples that make disciples and on it goes.  It's not enough for disciples to just know the word and live life well.. they become disciples to create new disciples.

This is the DNA of Jesus... it's alive and well, spreading like wildfire, and until some institutional hierarchy called the Church decides to cork it off with clergy and laity brick walls... the Kingdom WILL expand....

In this COME LORD JESUS!!

"If the Gifts of the Spirit are suppressed, the gift of discerning of spirits is suppressed also." . .Robert Blackburn

 One of the greatest reasons many have sought to keep the gifts of the Spirit from operating fully is, a selfish motive. God did not give everyone the same gifts; they are distributed out within the Body, as the Spirit wills. Too many people, were actually ill, because someone had something they did not have. Another fear of these gifts, was simply, detection. The Spirit sees everything in us; and it cannot be refuted, that the Spirit gave some the ability to see many of the same things He sees.

We cannot know the things of the Spirit of God, within ourselves. To the natural man, these things are considered foolish, or even unnecessary. Why can't we in ourselves know what is of God? Because, as the Word says, they are spiritually discerned. One might ask, why did the scripture warn us about wolves in sheep's clothing. The truth is, they don't look like wolves; they look like sheep; you can't tell, looking on your own. When we are filled with the Spirit, we have a spiritual ability to discern, both good and bad. We can sense when something is not just right, or even false. I think that if we have been told to focus on only what someone in authority says, we lay aside our ability to know things ourselves; in the Spirit.

Not everyone is spiritual; not everyone is called, not everyone is chosen, and not everyone is what they appear to be. Somebody has to know the difference; and that's what many oppose; someone knows. We might have forgotten something; no one is to glory in themselves; no one is to take glory that is meant for God only, and give it to themselves, or to anyone else, for that matter. What likely turned some off about discerning of spirits, is it became clear, that the Spirit had gifted certain people to actually see the spirit of people and what their true attitude and purpose were. Those who were operating out of envy, strive and self-promotion, would be detected. We couldn't have that.

Repressing what the Spirit wants to do among us, makes us weak and very argumentive. To suggest that some who have somehow been placed in authority, may not belong there, is extremely offensive to those who think no one could possibly know the difference. I don't feel led at this time, that we should talk about what should be done with the knowledge of what the Spirit sees; just that we know, that somebody, is not seeing things they should be seeing. In truth, many did see. The Spirit did not stop passing out gifts in the Body, just because many did not want them there. Sadly, too many who did obtain certain gifts like this, were pushed out or silenced.

I say this in the fear of the Lord. We will either have all of the Gifts of the Spirit operating in their fullness, or we may find ourselves without any. It might sound to some of us, that the Spirit was picking and choosing, as to who had certain gifts, and who did not. The truth is, that is exactly what He was doing, and continues to do. It's all, done by the same Spirit.

Hide and Seek... winning

The devil is a seeker.. He seeks those whom he may devour:

 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8

He has no good lined up for you.  He has only ONE purpose:  

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  John 10:10

In a way we are in a game of hide and seek.  Our enemy wants to find and kill us.  It's a serious battle.  If we try to fight the battle on our own without any protection, without any camoflage, we will lose.  If we look like US we are exposed.

Many are on the battlefield doing battle in the flesh and losing.  That was never the intent.  I know all the teachings about Spiritual Warfare and the whole armor of God.  That's all good... yet like a TV commercial "BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!".

We were never designed to do battle, even well armed, in hand to hand with the devil. We are to live in the authority given us by the Holy Spirit.  Yet that authority is HIS handed to us. Those weapons are not carnal. 

The only way to win the metaphysical battle of life and death hide and seek is to hide well.

Your life is to be HIDDEN IN CHRIST JESUS:

Colossians 3  

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ² Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. ³ For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ And when Christ, who is your^[a] life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

⁵ So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. ⁶ Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.^{[b] 7} You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. ⁸ But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. ⁹ Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. ¹⁰ Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. ¹¹ In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile,^[c] circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized,^[d] slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
¹² Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. ¹⁴ Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
¹⁶ Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

When we hide ourselves in Christ Jesus we are invisible to the devil.  He comes to tempt and abuse but you look just like that one he confronted in the Wilderness, like the one he conspired to kill again and again and failed.  

You look like the one who conqured death. Like the one who went and set captives free from his oppression.

Not someone he wants to tackle once again.  

Like the Dos Equis commercial, "Stay Hidden my Friend". 

Are You Sure THIS Is The Christian Life?.. Steve McVey.. Law will cause a person to say, ''Lord, help me to do the things you want

Are You Sure THIS Is The Christian Life?.. Steve McVey.. 

 Law will cause a person to say, ''Lord, help me to do the things you want me to do.'' In other words, ''Help me keep your rules.'' 

Grace will cause a person to say, ''Lord Jesus, I am abiding in You and You in me. Express Your Life through me in any way You desire.'' It isn't uncommon for Christians to think that God has a long list of things He wants His children to do. But in Thessalonians ::4 we read, ''He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.'' Not only does Christ call us to the Christian life, but He will also live it for us.  

When God determines to bring us to brokenness so that Christ can live His life through us and we keep trying to live it ourselves, things will keep getting harder. When does it stop? When we reach the end of our self-sufficiency and have given up all hope in our own resources. Peter Lord has said, ''Wouldn't it be awful to spend all your life trying to make God an apple pie, only to die and discover He never liked apple pie?'' To ask God to help us live for Him is to request some sort of divine blessing on our effort to ''do what He wants us to do.'' But that isn't what God desires. Being preoccupied with serving Christ more than with Jesus Himself is a subtle threat to every Christian. Self-effort is the essence of legalism. 

It is pointless to pray to God to help you to live for Him. That may be your goal, but it isn't His. ''Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is  light.''

Spiritual Presumption

Romans 12:1-21
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

When I was younger, I spoke as a younger person. I had assumptions and presumptions of a younger person.  But now, I speak as one who knows I don't know.

There is a place in God where we come to the end of ourselves.  We know we no longer really know.

There were many things I "knew" and believed when I was a new christisan 30 some yearss ago.  I had read books.  I had studied.  I had grown up in the church.  I was "there".

What shocks most people as they age is how little all that they thought they knew for sure was soundly based.  That's why as a believer we must be certain of what we pronounce, the gifts we claim, the grace we carry.  Most of which I thought I had in 1977 now are no longer in operation.

Sure, I can preach, teach, prophesy, discern.  Yet... those gifts have modified. Matured.

When someone says to me, "I am very discerning" I know we are dealing with an immature gift.  It's not that they don't carry it at some level...but not at the level of true discernment...

It's a connundrum.  That which we think we have, once we assume it we no longer have it.  Look at the hundreds of people who clamor for the podium only to discover that they aren't really cut out for that.

Only true graces given by God are yours.  You don't learn discernment, there are no books.. You have it by grace or not.  A pet peave of mine is those who have read a psycology book or two and from that try to tell me about my hang ups.  WOW.  They can't even run their own lives, and now they presume to try to tell me now to run mine??

I guess gray hair has a way of clearing out the clutter.  The fake from the real.  Only with real humility do we enter into understanding our place in the Body of Christ.  Read the Romans passage again... it's about all of us.  

On which side of the tomb are you?

I have been hearing a lot of sermons during this time about the death of Jesus at the cross. It's good to ponder. However, there is an emphasis that is dangerous and can creep up on us. We see it in the relics and holy things preserved by the Catholic church. I read the other day that the Holy Grail used at the last supper was found. Color me skeptical, Of course there is a half ton of nails used at the crucifixion floating around and enough cross fragments to build a very nice house. Thorn crowns of al kinds are everywhere and who can forget the movie "The Robe". Relics.

All this concentration is focused on the left hand side of the tomb. Before resurrection. The only relic that I might give a second thought to is the shroud. I put myself in the mindset of Jesus' disciples and friends. Its the third day. Jesus has been killed. They go to the tomb. Expect to find a dead body. He's not there. BUT they see this wrapping... the shroud. When they SAW it they believed. It's even mentioned. So it makes sense to think someone would gather it up and preserve it.

It's just so hard to grasp the whole idea that someone would stumble back up to Golgotha to gather nails, wood, thorns or wander back to the upper room to retrieve dinnerware after Jesus rose from the dead. WHY? Jesus was (IS) risen. He walked among them. He spoke to and ate with them. Why concentrate on events that no longer were relevant? That is the left side of the Tomb.

It is only a pre tomb mentality that spends time with things that really don't matter any more. Even the whole lenten season in which we are fish eating involved, even the way Communion is celebrated is in a way a RE-Crucifixion of Jesus... as if he had to once more come back and re-die for our sins.

I hate to tell you this, but your redemption, the forgiveness of your sins is not involved in the communion sacrament. That is a flawed understanding of communion. The glory of communion is in fact HIM. We commune with HIM. We sit with HIM, we take his body and blood not as a sacrifice, but as a connection with HIM. As a tangible recognition of his presence among us. A parosia of sorts. We meet with HIM in that act. We regain our conciseness of HIM.

Jesus death and resurrection was sufficient all in all. All your sins, past present and future are dealt with. Nothing else needs to be done. Your sins before you take communion are just as forgiven as the minute after you partake. The way communion is administered in Catholic Churches and many near Catholic Churches is a dredging up of HIS death. What should be happening and doesn't is celebrating this thanksgiving event as an encounter. He shows up... bodily... as least in elemental fashion.

Before I let many of my evangelical friends off the hook who celebrate communion as a remembrance without an encounter, they miss it too. It seems to be that it comes as a holdover from history. We do this because we (the church) always did. It's a weak reason to do so. Time to regain the mystery.

When I hear sermons on the death, suffering and the cross... I want to hear about the empty tomb, the King of Kings, the Hallelujah of the competed work.

Jesus after the resurrection didn't say to his disciples as a mandate, "Go gather up all kinds of artifacts, preserve them, use them to attract people, find some nails, cut up the cross, find my robe and the thorn crown, we're gonna need it".

No According to scripture there was a singularity of the post tomb message. "Feed my Sheep" and the Kingdom of God. Then after 40 days He stepped back into eternity to rule and reign as he does today. KING of KINGS.

Let's fix our eyes on the right side of the tomb. There is life everlasting in evidence there. On the left... we put him to death again and again. Certainly we must preach the cross of Christ and him Crucified, but that is not the whole story... it's his presence in our lives right here right now as the Lord of All that really matters.. He expects us to be partners with him in expanding HIS Kingdom. Let's be about our Father's work and stop trying to nail him once more to the cross. IT IS FINISHED!!

Historians claim to have recovered fabled Holy Grail

Spanish historians say they have discovered what Monty Python could not - the Holy Grail, the legendary cup Jesus supposedly drank from at the Last Supper.

I heard an in depth interview with a white witch

 Dr. Evelyn Paglini.

 She is gone now, She died a few weeks ago and this was taped. She was telling how to use witchcraft to expel demons from your life and home.

To be clear I know the scriptures. I have used anointed handkerchiefs to transmit healing according to Acts 19:12. Not witchcraft. i have used oil to anoint the sick. Oil is oil. Even if you wipe some from the dipstick of your car, it will be as effective as some "special" oil in the hands of a Holy Ghost empowered saint of God. The effective oil of Anointing is because it is used by anointed holy people. It's the anointer not the oil. I believe in sign. It's good to have eyes to see things the Lord is showing. Just because a mirror breaks, doesn't hold forebodeing. Not everything that happens is a sign from God. Sometimes a license plate number is just a number. Sometimes when it says 4:44 on your clock it means that's what time it is.

YET... there is a convergence in the Body of Christ with witchcraft that bothers me. Some of what passes for Godly things are suspicious ... activities in the hands of a person who is a spiritual leader can become not just a distraction but white witchcraft.

Listening to the interview with the witch about casting out negative influences it sounded a lot like the kind of things I see and hear in many churches:

• Burning candles and as the various candles burn read meaning into how they drip down. These were sold by the witch.
• Lighting candles in memory or to carry prayers.
• Fragrant oils being sold for anointing various things. Each fragrance being touted as effective for various things. Some for finding love, some for healing, some for peace, some for protection from demons and a dozen other various fragrant oils for different purposes. And all were blessed by the witch.
• Tokens, left about the household to ward off demonic influence.. (of course the witch sold these). Also accounts of how magical items like valuable gems would appear in your home if you allowed for this by using the tokens.
• Instructions on how to rid your home of evil... for sale of course.
• Pronouncements from the witch of events about to happen... prophetic from a witch. I guess that can happen if you look at the witch of Endor.
• Schemes on how you too can make money doing what the witch did...she would sponsor you in then you could sponsor others in. Witchcraft.
• Special diets, potions and products made of herbs and spices to cure all kinds of illnesses.. all made from sound organic sources (which she could sell you).

How many of these things have you seen IN THE CHURCH? Too many

The world isn't looking for more and better witchcraft... they are looking for JESUS.

Let's forswear witchcraft! We are really stupid to have once again fallen for these foolish things. We are to be wise, and not like Manasseh who "used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger". 2 Chronicles 33:6

According to Acts 8 you can be a sorcerer like Simon and find greatness as a leader in your spiritual community and still be possessed of the Devil.

STOP NOW... walk away from dead works... death is in them.. Life is only in the Spirit of God

What about Hell is Hell

My view of hell is not as orthodox as some. It comes as I have pondered what Jesus said about hell, what the book of Revelation says, what Paul says in Thessalonians. And parables Jesus gave regarding Hell.

I believe that the alternative to eternal life is eternal death. Hades. Perishing.

I believe that those who reject God and his offer of freedom once it has been well explained to them and they have to make a decision, is an act of condemnation. This means that many people who's only exposure to the word of God is a bullhorn preacher on the street yelling turn or burn. That is not an accountable gospel message.

I believe that the lake of fire is reserved for some specific people. They are listed several places. Those are people who even knowing the truth, reject it, and become candidates for hell.

I believe that there are levels of hell... great torment.. and absence for the light of the father. No matter what it will be a very bad place.

I have heard the testimonies of those who have had experiences and seen hell. Some are more credible than others. I don't formulate

The hell many will experience is alone, dark, cold and with torment from demons.

Those who never hear, never know, never have a credible witness or call of the Holy Spirit on their lives will die .... but hell? I'm not convinced.

I would be interested if you have had a revelation of hell, what you believe. If your only input would be bible bullets, I have all them already.

In this season of movies and books about a revelation of heaven, it's appropriate to consider hell...

I do know this... There's a hell to shun and a heaven to gain... God can never allow for sin in his presence... so Jesus came and died so we could enter.



From another Prophet Friend of Mine.. His view and a good one:

It’s funny – in a sick and twisted kind of way – that so much of our understanding of “hell” comes from an Italian Catholic pharmacist during the dark ages, rather than from the Bible.
And we find ourselves defending the Italian pharmacist’s version, sometimes at the expense of what (little) the Bible actually says definitively.
It’s kind of exciting to watch as we begin to separate the Truth from the traditions that we’ve held onto for so long.
[EDIT: The "Italian Catholic Pharmacist" is Dante Alighieri. "Dante's Inferno" is his writing. It is not gospel. It is the first part of his 14th-century epic poem, "The Divine Comedy."]

We have a lot of books on Heaven, few on Hell.. time to get it right

3 Wild Facts about the first miracle of Jesus from Lance Wallnau

Read John 2: 1-11 and check out what I write.

"This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (John 2:11)

1. The FIRST miracle would be an important one. It will be an occasion that reveals something about Him. It will display an aspect of the Godhead that the world needs to see. It is the "beginning of miracles" that will "manifest his glory."

a. This first one... What shall it be? A finger extended into the empty socket of a blind man that results in the materialization of an eyeball? That's a great first miracle. How about the creation of a missing limb? Now THAT'S a "first miracle." What aspect of the divine nature will God showcase? Create a body part? Cast out a devil? Raise the dead?

b. BEHOLD - It will be the creation of a PARTY BEVERAGE!

c. POW! God wants mankind to know that He is not just the Judge of all the earth, He is also the God who throws great parties. He doesn't hold back either. This miracle reveals the nature of someone who delights to make extravagant provision - even for non-essential things! How totally non-religious.

This is a party, not a meal at an orphanage. We would expect a miracle at the mission outreach, but at a party? Evidently this first miracle reveals that God likes parties… and weddings! Especially when He is invited to attend.

2. This miracle was not in the mind of Christ at the moment it was suggested.

a. It seems that the FIRST miracle of Jesus was something HE DID NOT PLAN TO DO.

b. Jesus himself was always "led" by the Spirit and only did what His "Father showed" Him. When His Mother asked Him to solve the beverage problem it was anything but a life threatening situation. Jesus had resisted the devil for 40 days trying to squeeze the miraculous out of Him and it did not work. While back home, He will likewise not be pressured into manifesting anything the Father is not doing.

He told her "Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come."

Meaning, "Mom….not now."

c. Nevertheless, she told the servants to listen for His instruction, and sure enough, a moment after this exchange Jesus was given updated orders, evidently the time HAD come and this was it. Thus He proceeded to work His first miracle of manifesting His glory… the glory of a generous God who does not have a problem with having a good time.

3. There is meaning in some details. The number of water pots is SIX. Six is the number of man, and water into wine is a miracle of transformation.

a. As six is the number of man and the Son of Man is in their midst - the God-man was among them. Water and wine were in the same vessel! Humanity was carrying deity and this first miracle would prove it.

b. Six is also the number of days measuring when man was created. Adam was created on the sixth day. There are 6 days before the Sabbath and 6 days = 6000 years of biblical genealogy from Adam till now. Soon, at the end of the 6th day, God will transform us and we shall be changed from the natural to the divine- in His image. Mortal shall put on immortality.

c. Finally, the water is a type of the Word of God. When the Word has filled us we can expect the voice of God to speak a word, a "rhema" that transforms the word we carry into the power of the divine nature.

Fill your vessel with the water of the word and watch for the quickening of that word into divine activity in your life!

BONUS POINT - Most people misquote the head waiter: He didn't say "you kept the best wine till last" he said, "You kept the BEST wine till NOW!"

People often say the best is yet to come…but God says, if you are prepared to receive it, the BEST is right NOW! God is already working in the Earth and you do not need to wait till the end of days to see His glory manifest!

Feel free to like this and share with other Last Days party people.

What do you think?

- Lance

— with StevenChar Klinkenborg.

Prophetic Musings of the Day:

If you want to see more miracles, obey Him when He says: go bring fill cast out feed and a hundred other commands He gave and still gives. To obey is better than sacrifice. Do your best in obedience and He'll take care of the rest.

Every woman as a child dreams of herself as an angel, a princess, a queen, admired, loved, in high esteem, on a pedestal. No man can fill that for any woman. No job. No education. No family. Only ONE sees her that way. By HIM she is Beloved beyond measure. IF you try to find this anywhere but from the one who created and destined you on this earth at this time, you will chase an impossible dream. IF He cares about every hair on your head, (and He said He does), then you are so beautiful in every way... receive His love.. He's saving it all up for YOU!

The problem with the truth of the Gospel is not that it is so hard to grasp, that it is too fantastic, that it is made up and full of imaginations. The problem is it is so real. So visceral. Every episode and event from Genesis to Maps is real life grit and sometimes painful. No other text is so powerful and cuts away at everything man tries to put up against it. "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires". Heb 4:12

Our intimacy with the Lord is often measured by what it takes to distract us. I really really love my iPhone. And yes, I know bible programs exist. I use them on both of my iPads and my iPhone. Even phone ringing in church, because someone forgot to turn it off, is of little consequence. The issue is endless texts, emails, and internet inquiries during worship and the message. None of us are that important to warrant constant interruptions in our meeting with God.  From Bill Johnson


 From RICK TORRES
An increasing number of professing Christians are now hearing about God's grace as an empowerment to obedience rather than a cover-up of sin. This is great, and I rejoice with thanksgiving. The remaining issue which I continue to see crop up, is that even though many have now been made aware of the true nature of grace, they do not know how to IMPLEMENT the power of grace in a PRACTICAL way. In other words, for many, the concept of true grace is still a fairly mysterious thing, because their daily lives continue to produce more evidence of DISOBEDIENCE (also called SIN) rather than OBEDIENCE, which is the clearest evidence of FAITH IN CHRIST.

To bridge the gap between the CONCEPT of true grace and the PERSONAL, EXPERIENTIAL, PRACTICAL REALITY of true grace, is VERY SIMPLE.

Not hard.

Not complicated.

Doesn't take years to get.

Doesn't take Seminary or Bible Classes to learn it.

A child can do it and I'm about to tell you how...

READY?

REST in the TRUTH of who God is, what He has accomplished through the Cross, and who He has made you to be in Christ, by agreeing ONLY with that which is TRUE, according to Scripture, about GOD -- about the Cross -- and about YOU. Practice this REST in moment by moment, breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat COMMUNION/FRIENDSHIP/INTIMACY with God.

That's it. That's all you do. It's that simple.

This is called, "seeking first the Kingdom and it's righteousness," and God promises you that if you will practice this very simple and beautiful lifestyle, ALL shall be added unto you~ 



   

Convergence, a Kingdom Evidence... Clay Sikes

An invisible Kingdom is arising in His own; as the kingdom's of darkness take note of the hour. An eruption is happening, the likes of which the world has never seen. Soon, and very soon, these points of light will 'converge' making the light brighter - the true Body joining and connecting, such that function and purpose are released in the earth. The Body, connected to the Head, functioning as the Bride; an evidence of the Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. The Lord is birthing a 'convergence' of His people, as all types - young, old, mature, immature, all five folds of ministry, all denominations, cultures, races, and nationalities are joining and connecting. Those who are flowing into this "converging flow" do so without prejudice, preconceived notions, or stout traditions - just love! God is amassing the most awesome assembly in the history of the world, as the Body is taking shape right before our very eyes! Those who resist the tug in their heart, based upon 'limiting conditions' such as limiting associations to ONLY those who look, act, and think like them, will find that the cloud has moved and they 'didn't!' How sad, but very very true today. Awaken to the converging - the bringing together of individual parts 'called' to be connected. Those who realize 'connection' is a precondition to God-appointed purpose are searching the horizon and listening to the call (to connect). Those in the initial flow of this pattern of 'convergence' are those whose primary life-purpose, at the expense of all else, is serving the Father. Their love overshadows any differences with others, as they look for something to agree upon rather than disagree as is so common in Christian circles. Watch as God's Love launches an invasion on planet earth!