Do not wait until you are older to take your relationship with God seriously.
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”
[Ecclesiastes 12:1]
Friday, August 29, 2008
Challenge for the Young
Do not wait until you are older to take your relationship with God seriously.
“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”
[Ecclesiastes 12:1]
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Leadership… God’s Way
God wants me to read books… again![Hahaha! He has a sense of humor!]
I’m not much of a bookworm but I do, every now and then, read a few good ones. This time, two of my friends from church gave me really interesting books.
The first one is entitled, Spiritual Leadership, by J. Oswald Sanders. My former discipleship classmate, Venus, gave it to me as a going away present [uhm, she was the one who went away… to Canada].
The second one is called, Experiencing God, which was given to me by one of the young men in our cell group – one Famous Warrior.
God has been preparing me for something greater in the past few months, and with these books He’s thrown my way, I’m getting an idea of what it is. I continue to pray that the Lord would sustain me and enable me to learn what I need to learn in this season of testing, training and fine-tuning.
I’ve already read the first five chapters of SL, with a plan – a concrete one – to finish it by next Wednesday. I’m also planning to finish EG in a week’s time. This book reading schedule is actually leaps and bounds beyond what I used to do – it used to take me two to three months to finish a single novel (I’m progressing! God is a progressive God!).
Lord, let my days of experiencing God propel me to true spiritual leadership…
… but first, please help me get over my lack of interest in books.
- - - - -
To Venus and Louie: Thanks for the books, guys. Thank you for sowing Kingdom seeds into my life. The Lord bless you and keep you, and return what you have sown in due time through a harvest of righteousness.
God bless you!
Under an Open Heaven
James W. Goll: "Positioned for an Open Heaven"from the Elijah List
One of the most consistent ways that the Lord speaks to me is through "dreams." Once again, by the grace and faithfulness of God, the Holy Spirit gave me a very vivid instructional dream. The dream was filled with color and emotions, but no words. I do feel that this dream has meaning for me in a personal manner and yet contains truths that are for the Body of Christ. So let me unfold it.
I was attempting to stand in a room where there was a low ceiling. It was an old room filled with religious senses all around it. It was a room representing the Church in its present condition and, in particular, the overall condition of the church where I live in Greater Nashville, Tennessee.
I was standing on the outer edge of the room and I kept trying to stand up. As I would do this, my head would butt against the ceiling, and I could actually feel the weight of the stone ceiling on my head in the dream. I kept trying to raise the roof off by standing up, but it was not working. Then something like a giant, heavenly can opener came down from above and cut a huge hole in the stone roof. The hole appeared in the center of the room. I then moved from the outer edge to the center of the room, and as I did - I looked up.
The sky was filled with the promises of God!
There was now a brilliant "Open Heaven" stationed right over my head. The sky was blue and there were beautiful clouds hovering. I could feel the warmth of the sun upon my body. The atmosphere was filled with faith, hope, love and life.
I then proceeded, in the dream, back to the edge of the room where the ceiling was still intact, and yes, still quite low. Again, I had to crouch down to get under the low ceiling. I attempted to "stand upright" only to feel the weight of the ceiling suppressing me once again. So I stepped back into the center of the room. What a contrast!
Oh, there was clean air to breathe. There was light and no darkness. There was a sense of purpose and destiny fulfilled. I was now positioned correctly under an open heaven, enabling me to achieve the purposes of God. I was centered and walking in the light.
Interpreting the Experience
As I woke up, I had several "knowings" as a result of this dream experience. Again, there were no audible words in this dream. But the feeling dimension was very alive! I did feel a word dropped inside of me, though, as I woke up - "Get Positioned for an Open Heaven."
God wants us each to be properly aligned in this hour with Him and His purposes. He wants to lift the lid off the can, but we must position ourselves properly as this occurs. We must move from the side issues to the central ones. We must be centered on Him.
Walking in Open Heavens deals more with His work versus ours. Our efforts to push through and even "stand uprightly" are acknowledged, but it is truly His work from above that creates a sustained place or Open Heavens for His presence. He has the ability to break through even the hardest of places, circumstances and low ceilings.
Again, in the dream, the Lord saw my efforts and acknowledged them, but then He did the work that I could not. I find it quite interesting that it is more about His work from above than our work from beneath. He does respond, however, to our efforts. But we do not create an Open Heaven - He does. He is the Creator - I am not. I am a responder to His great love and initiative. Yet, what goes up must come down!
Below you will find a short excerpt from my study guide Revival Breakthrough. In it I give some basic Biblical teaching on Open Heavens, so - "Get Positioned for an Open Heaven!" Get into Kingdom Alignment for such a time as this. Step out of the shadows of the side edges and move into the center of His word, will and ways. Be centered in Him - after all, being "centered in Christ" is the best place to be!
Blowing The Roof Off The House
A. Making Jesus At Home In Your House - Read Mark 2:1- 5 slowly as a parable. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring personal applications to your life.
1. Mark 2:1 - Is Jesus at "Home" in your house, family, congregation, city? What would you need to do to have Him be more than the "honored guest" who occasionally shows up?
2. Mark 2:2 - When Jesus is "in His temple," people will gather and revelation will rest on the word of God. May God's house be full to overflowing and may the crowds gather once again to hear the word of the Lord!
3. Mark 2:3 - Some became dissatisfied with the crowds as they were. Four men became desperate for a "breakthrough" on another level. Through the heat of the day they carried their paralytic friend on a stretcher to the house where Jesus was. They worked hard to carry this "dead weight," possibly at a distance. It cost them something to get him there, but they wanted more!
4. Mark 2:4 - They could not get near to Jesus due to the crowds. They could have given up, but instead - they moved from the natural into the supernatural to find their solution. Then hope came. We will tear the roof off the house. So they proceeded upon the roof to tear it open with their hands. Through great effort - they dug a big hole in the roof (Opened Heavens) and lowered their friend into the presence of the living Messiah.
5. Mark 2:5 - Jesus saw "their faith." Whose faith? All their faith together! Then he spoke to the paralytic: "Your sins are forgiven." This results in healing the body. May these words echo through our lives today and the sick Body of Christ be raised up to "wholeness."
B. Opened Heavens
1. Like in Genesis 28:16-17, we need the gates of Heaven opened over our cities, churches and families.
2. Like in Mark 2:1-5, we need to "Blow the Roof Off" our thinking and concepts and believe the Lord for extraordinary works of grace. Desperate times take desperate measures. We need desperate laborers to arise, who are not content with life as it is, to tear the roof off in order to lower another into the presence of Jesus!
THREE KEYS NEEDED
A. Prayer Opens The Way!
1. Testimony of the Hebrides Island Revival in 1952: Two desperate women - Peggy and Christina Smith, 84 and 82 years old - were desperate for a revival on their island off of Scotland. They began praying from Isaiah 44:3, "For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants."
They reminded God of His word. Then they began to claim Isaiah 64:1: "O that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might quake at Thy presence..."
The oldest sister was blind, but she received a vision and proclaimed, "He's coming! He's coming! He's already here!" The Spirit of God fell in a barn that night where seven young men were praying from Isaiah 62:6,7, where it tells us, "On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth."
Sure enough, God came. This began the great Hebrides Revival under the preaching of Duncan Campbell. A spiritual radiation zone was created and many souls were saved!
2. Testimony of Evan Roberts and the Welsh Revival of 1904: At the age of 13, young Evan began to seek the Lord. At the age of 26, revival came to his hometown. He taught the people to pray two simple prayers. The first, "Send the Spirit now, for Jesus Christ's sake." The second prayer was similar: "Send the Spirit now more powerfully, for Jesus Christ's sake." Indeed, God's Spirit came down and 100,000 souls were swept up into God's Kingdom.
Today, a cry is arising: "More, Lord!" Yes, there must be a youth revolution come as it was with Evan Roberts. We must have a "trans-generational anointing" as it was with Peggy and Christina Smith. It is time for prayer to arise and to blow the roof off the house!
WHEN WE CARE FOR HIS PRESENCE
I want to tell you a dream that has recently again gripped my soul. In January 1999, while I was having some forced rest due to a hernia surgery, the Lord visited me with a piercing dream that is helping to set my course of direction right now, and I believe is a clear word to His people in this hour.
In this dream, I was holding long loaves of bread each wrapped in their own individual napkin. I was holding these loaves of bread close to my chest, right over my heart. Then I got our youngest child's (Rachel's) blanket she has had since birth. I now wrapped these loaves of bread in her dear baby blanket. I held the bread close to my heart and just kind of rocked the bread as you would a newborn child.
Then I heard the words, "When My people will care for, cherish, nurture and love the 'Bread of My Presence' like a parent does its newborn child - then revival will come." I then found myself awakened out of the dream only to find my arms were held out as though holding and rocking something. I then heard myself prophesying out loud in the bedroom the same words I had just heard in the dream as the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit was lingering over my body. The Lord was emphasizing these words by having them repeated twice!
This I know - He wants us to cherish and care for His Presence. Pray for His presence. Love His presence. Nurture His presence; after all, isn't this what you have longed for all your life? Isn't this what you were made and created for - to be a carrier of the most brilliant Presence?! Isn't this the answer to the Church's cry for more?
When will revival come? You got it! When we get up in the middle of the night - do the night feedings, hold the child close to our bosom, and wash the child of new beginnings with love and compassion - then revival will come!
Join me as we call forth an Open Heaven and Portals of Revelation to be opened across the face of the earth! May the Church around the world drink deeply from the wells of revival!
Let His Presence comes forth!
James W. Goll and the Entire Goll Family!
Encounters Network
Email: info@encountersnetwork.com
- - - - -
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Father. Leader. Lover.
Do you stop loving your sons even when they don't conform to your idea of who they should be?
One of the Lord's first leadership/fatherhood questions to me.
Each son is different. Each son has his own anointing, gifting and calling. Each son has his own personality, temperament and character. Each son has his own destiny and identity.
Each will take their own path to who they will become. No path is the same. Each son's path is unique.
Will you stop loving them when they don't fit into the image you have of them in your mind?
Will you still care for them when they take a path that's quite different than the one you thought they'd take?
Authority and Positioning
Chuck Pierce with LeAnn Squier: "Vital Keys Concerning the Next 30 Days!"
[from the Elijah List]
Dear Friends, Intercessors and Zion Aligned:
Please carefully read the key dream and prophetic interpretation below that applies to all of us.
Dream shared by LeAnn Squier:
"I was in an outdoor stadium, more like a performance hall or coliseum. Not so much the size but the importance of the setting and gathering was key. I arrived early, being one of the first in line to assure that I would be seated properly. I went through the gate and turnstile, and then walked down at an angle to all the seats. The stage was in front of us. When I got down to where my seats were, I looked back and could see that several had gone before and usurped the fences and the boundaries of the order set by the authority over the gathering. Many of the best seats all over the hall had been claimed.
"There was this one section that stood out brilliantly to me in the dream and I knew I was supposed to be seated there. The section had been saved by someone placing bright, hot pink stadium blankets to cover the whole section of seats. I looked around and there was this beautiful, elegant, stately black woman down front and I knew she was the director over everything. I went down to her and said, 'Is that alright? Are those seats available? Should they have been covered over like that?' She said, 'No, you're welcome to take those seats.'
"At this point I was down front close to the stage, but I knew I must be repositioned for this important meeting. Instead of just taking the easy way, climbing over others by zigzagging and running to secure my seats, I went all the way back to the entryway, and went through the gate and turnstile again. I waited on the three people in front of me.
As I was waiting on this pathway or concourse that you walk on, I stepped out to the aisle and there were children on the ground playing with toys. They obviously had some clear plastic toys that were now totally broken into many parts and pieces. They were all over the pathway. These pieces looked like clear broken glass. I thought, 'I've got to go to my seats, so I will just step on all the broken parts and keep going.' I felt the plastic pieces getting into my feet. I stopped and grabbed the next post in wonderment, shaking my head, wondering why all this broken stuff was on this pathway or aisle. I was just sitting there, plucking it out of my feet, and I woke up." -End of dream
I Have Your Next Seat of Authority
LeAnn shared that the key issues in the dream that impressed her were the authorities, the authorization, the positions that were given, the gates, the paths, and the brokenness that could have stopped her. I could sense the interpretation for us as she shared the dream. I heard the Lord say:
"I have destined a place for you. In the midst of My positioning, you are halfway. You are between redemption and purity. I am purifying you now so that you can find the redemptive thread for your life and the entryway into your promise. Your seat and position of authority has been destined.
"I am blowing new vision on you to show you your place of authority for this next season. Do not enter in the gate through an invalid way or hurry past the protocol that has been developed for your safety. Watch the authorities that I have positioned to help you into this next seat of authority.
"When you see your position, find your way fully through and into your next place. Even though much immaturity has torn up and broken the gifts that I am releasing and cluttered the path to where My people will be seated to rule in days ahead, walk forward anyway!
"Walk on top of that immaturity and do not allow that which My children have used wrongly to stop you. Do not allow My gifts that have been broken and abused to keep you from your new seat of authority. I will have those on your path who will point the way and keep you moving. You will be positioned with a new authority in a new place.
"I will redeem your place in the midst of those who have broken rank and run ahead of My perfect timing. This will not prevent Me from gathering again those who are willing to hear My call. I am preparing the places of broken, abused and unfulfilled destinies and will reseat My faithful ones that will lead on into the future. Harvest awaits and I will not be stopped."
GROW, MATURE, INCREASE and ACCELERATE in the Next 30 Days!
Because of our covenant alignment, I find wonderful blessing occurs in my life and this ministry when I pray for you. This is a time of asking the Spirit of the Lord to cleanse our blood and break any spiritual generational iniquitous patterns in our lives. I am declaring that you GROW supernaturally.
May you experience an acceleration and growth in your life in the next 30 days. May you make the sacrifices you need to make for others.
May you grow in your attitude and sustain a loving and respectful manner toward others even though they may not do the same. May you grow and mature in your character traits. You may be anointed, but let the Lord develop your character in a new way. May you react with wisdom and a cool and poised spirit in every difficult situation. May you grow through your resistance to temptation.
May you grow in courage and boldness. May you see abusive, detrimental situations come to an end. May you represent the Lord and be wise as serpents but gentle as lambs. May you always act according to Father's will and see His blessings manifest in the earth realm. May the Word of God come alive in a new way and your actions of faith increase. May satan's strategies of decrease be foiled in your life. Grow in resources. Let creativity develop in your difficult situations.
May you grow in your relationships. May you grow in gratefulness for people that God has placed in your life to guide you. May you grow and increase in your good deeds and acts of kindness. Go beyond your natural tendencies! Be compassionate and forgive those who are doing you wrong. Protect your marriage, your friendships, and your covenant ministry partnerships. Show others how to prosper so you may gain an increase yourself.
"Delight yourself in the Word of the Lord. In His law meditate day and night. You will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. You will yield fruit in due season. You will remain unique and not become barren. Your leaves and life processes will not wither. Whatever you do, you will prosper.
"For if you remain righteous in your acts and character, the LORD, who knows your way, will direct you in a straight path. The wicked will perish! So do not join yourself with those who are doing wrong for ungodly gain! Stay true to our Lord in this season and you will prosper!" (Paraphrased from Psalm 1).
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion Ministries
[from the Elijah List]
Dear Friends, Intercessors and Zion Aligned:
Please carefully read the key dream and prophetic interpretation below that applies to all of us.
Dream shared by LeAnn Squier:
"I was in an outdoor stadium, more like a performance hall or coliseum. Not so much the size but the importance of the setting and gathering was key. I arrived early, being one of the first in line to assure that I would be seated properly. I went through the gate and turnstile, and then walked down at an angle to all the seats. The stage was in front of us. When I got down to where my seats were, I looked back and could see that several had gone before and usurped the fences and the boundaries of the order set by the authority over the gathering. Many of the best seats all over the hall had been claimed.
"There was this one section that stood out brilliantly to me in the dream and I knew I was supposed to be seated there. The section had been saved by someone placing bright, hot pink stadium blankets to cover the whole section of seats. I looked around and there was this beautiful, elegant, stately black woman down front and I knew she was the director over everything. I went down to her and said, 'Is that alright? Are those seats available? Should they have been covered over like that?' She said, 'No, you're welcome to take those seats.'
"At this point I was down front close to the stage, but I knew I must be repositioned for this important meeting. Instead of just taking the easy way, climbing over others by zigzagging and running to secure my seats, I went all the way back to the entryway, and went through the gate and turnstile again. I waited on the three people in front of me.
As I was waiting on this pathway or concourse that you walk on, I stepped out to the aisle and there were children on the ground playing with toys. They obviously had some clear plastic toys that were now totally broken into many parts and pieces. They were all over the pathway. These pieces looked like clear broken glass. I thought, 'I've got to go to my seats, so I will just step on all the broken parts and keep going.' I felt the plastic pieces getting into my feet. I stopped and grabbed the next post in wonderment, shaking my head, wondering why all this broken stuff was on this pathway or aisle. I was just sitting there, plucking it out of my feet, and I woke up." -End of dream
I Have Your Next Seat of Authority
LeAnn shared that the key issues in the dream that impressed her were the authorities, the authorization, the positions that were given, the gates, the paths, and the brokenness that could have stopped her. I could sense the interpretation for us as she shared the dream. I heard the Lord say:
"I have destined a place for you. In the midst of My positioning, you are halfway. You are between redemption and purity. I am purifying you now so that you can find the redemptive thread for your life and the entryway into your promise. Your seat and position of authority has been destined.
"I am blowing new vision on you to show you your place of authority for this next season. Do not enter in the gate through an invalid way or hurry past the protocol that has been developed for your safety. Watch the authorities that I have positioned to help you into this next seat of authority.
"When you see your position, find your way fully through and into your next place. Even though much immaturity has torn up and broken the gifts that I am releasing and cluttered the path to where My people will be seated to rule in days ahead, walk forward anyway!
"Walk on top of that immaturity and do not allow that which My children have used wrongly to stop you. Do not allow My gifts that have been broken and abused to keep you from your new seat of authority. I will have those on your path who will point the way and keep you moving. You will be positioned with a new authority in a new place.
"I will redeem your place in the midst of those who have broken rank and run ahead of My perfect timing. This will not prevent Me from gathering again those who are willing to hear My call. I am preparing the places of broken, abused and unfulfilled destinies and will reseat My faithful ones that will lead on into the future. Harvest awaits and I will not be stopped."
GROW, MATURE, INCREASE and ACCELERATE in the Next 30 Days!
Because of our covenant alignment, I find wonderful blessing occurs in my life and this ministry when I pray for you. This is a time of asking the Spirit of the Lord to cleanse our blood and break any spiritual generational iniquitous patterns in our lives. I am declaring that you GROW supernaturally.
May you experience an acceleration and growth in your life in the next 30 days. May you make the sacrifices you need to make for others.
May you grow in your attitude and sustain a loving and respectful manner toward others even though they may not do the same. May you grow and mature in your character traits. You may be anointed, but let the Lord develop your character in a new way. May you react with wisdom and a cool and poised spirit in every difficult situation. May you grow through your resistance to temptation.
May you grow in courage and boldness. May you see abusive, detrimental situations come to an end. May you represent the Lord and be wise as serpents but gentle as lambs. May you always act according to Father's will and see His blessings manifest in the earth realm. May the Word of God come alive in a new way and your actions of faith increase. May satan's strategies of decrease be foiled in your life. Grow in resources. Let creativity develop in your difficult situations.
May you grow in your relationships. May you grow in gratefulness for people that God has placed in your life to guide you. May you grow and increase in your good deeds and acts of kindness. Go beyond your natural tendencies! Be compassionate and forgive those who are doing you wrong. Protect your marriage, your friendships, and your covenant ministry partnerships. Show others how to prosper so you may gain an increase yourself.
"Delight yourself in the Word of the Lord. In His law meditate day and night. You will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. You will yield fruit in due season. You will remain unique and not become barren. Your leaves and life processes will not wither. Whatever you do, you will prosper.
"For if you remain righteous in your acts and character, the LORD, who knows your way, will direct you in a straight path. The wicked will perish! So do not join yourself with those who are doing wrong for ungodly gain! Stay true to our Lord in this season and you will prosper!" (Paraphrased from Psalm 1).
Blessings,
Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion Ministries
Love is the Reversal
Rick Joyner: "Love is the Foundation, Door and Path"
Last week we ended our study by asking the questions about knowing our purposes, ministries, gifts, etc., which we have been given by God. If our Word for the Week readers are typical, only about 2 percent could answer all of these questions with "yes," and less than 10 percent could answer any of them with "yes." This is remarkable because studies have concluded that the number one question that people have is what their purpose is in life. Every human being knows inherently that they are not here by some random accident, but they have a purpose. Yet most tragically, less than 10 percent of Christians, who know their Creator, have the answer to this.
This reveals what is probably the greatest failure of present church life, but we can expect it to be changed - soon. When this is corrected, and Christians begin to perceive their purposes and the gifts or tools that they have been given for accomplishing their purpose, as well as the corporate purpose of the Church in our time, the result is going to be the release of the most powerful spiritual force the world has seen.
Seeing our own purpose can have the single most powerful impact on our own life after coming to know the Lord, being born again, and being baptized in His Spirit. Every Christian knows they are called to be a witness, but we have a calling in His body that is more specific than that. Every Christian is called to function in at least one spiritual gift, which is the tool that we are given for fulfilling our purpose. So how do we come to the knowledge of these? There is a clear and easy path to it. My purpose for this study is to make it as clear and easy as possible.
How To Know and Fulfill Your Life's Purpose
I say easy, as in easy to understand, but it can be more difficult to actually walk out. However, not walking this out will result in a much more difficult and frustrating life. Let me first give you an outline of the following factors:
#1) Resolving to live to do the Lord's will as the chief pursuit of our lives
#2) Beholding the glory of the Lord
#3) Honoring our spiritual fathers and mothers
#4) Finding and becoming a committed part of the Body of Believers we are called to be with
#5) Receiving the ministry of the five equipping ministries listed in Ephesians 4
#6) Being recognized, trained, and discipled
#7) Engaging in our calling
These are necessary for us to accomplish the purpose for which Christ called every one of us and to be a successful human being. The most basic criteria for success as a human, becoming what we were created to be and doing what we were created to do, is loving God. We were created for this and known by God before the foundation of the world. If there is any measure of success for us, it will be to hear from the King on that great judgment day, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV). Therefore, to hear those words should be the chief pursuit of our lives.
Our Chief Pursuit
Anything that eclipses our devotion to knowing and serving the Lord is an idol. An idol is anything that has more of our affection than He does, and it is also anything that we put our trust in above Him. The Word makes clear no idolaters will inherit the Kingdom of God (see I Corinthians 6:9). In Revelation 21:8, we are told idolaters will be thrown into the lake of fire and suffer the second death. Being an idolater is not something we want to be! That is the negative but, nevertheless, a true and necessary warning, so it is imperative that we not let anything eclipse our love and devotion to the Lord.
The positive is that keeping the Lord as our chief love and devotion is not only the path of life and the true fulfillment in this life, it also leads to eternal life that will be more wonderful than our minds can even now perceive. This present life is but "a vapor," a wisp that passes with remarkable speed. What we do here on earth establishes our eternal destiny, so we should not take this life or our calling and responsibility lightly but rather with all the seriousness and devotion that it deserves.
The Scriptures are also clear and we can totally trust in the truth that God is good - He is good to all and He loves all, wanting the very best for all. If we do not fulfill our purpose in life, it will not be His fault, but ours. We must want Him and His will enough to seek it.
He wants the best for us; living in His will and doing His will is the best life that we can ever live. This life that has been chosen for us could be hard at times and could even end in martyrdom, but if that is the case it is still the best life that we could ever live, and much better than any other option.
Love is the Foundation, Door and Path
Of course, the most basic calling for everyone is to love God above anyone or anything. Therefore, growing in love for Him is the foundation upon which every truly successful life is built. If we love Him above all and keep Him as our first love, then He will be the continuing devotion and pursuit of our lives. After that, we must love one another. So loving Him and one another is the foundation.
A foundation is something we not only walk on every day and build everything else on, but it must be the strongest part of the building. Since "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing," this is the main thing that we must always keep the main thing. Everything else is dependent on this. We must never be beguiled from the simplicity of devotion to Christ (see II Corinthians 11:3).
Love is both the door and the path to everything else. One who loves is not only the happiest human being, but the most fulfilled, as long as we keep the order of love right - God first and then people. It is not wrong to love things, but it is right to love the good things God has given to us, receiving them with thanksgiving. However, we must keep our love for the Giver first.
As we grow into the army we are called to be, one of our most powerful weapons is love. In many ways this army is like other armies in devotion, discipline, focus, training, seriousness, and so on, but in some basic ways it is unlike any other army. The weapons of this army are not like any human weapons, but are divinely powerful. We do not hate our enemies, but we love them! We do not fight to kill but to give life - not to conquer, but to set others free.
And this you can count on - you are going to love this job!
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Email: info@morningstarministries.org
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Last week we ended our study by asking the questions about knowing our purposes, ministries, gifts, etc., which we have been given by God. If our Word for the Week readers are typical, only about 2 percent could answer all of these questions with "yes," and less than 10 percent could answer any of them with "yes." This is remarkable because studies have concluded that the number one question that people have is what their purpose is in life. Every human being knows inherently that they are not here by some random accident, but they have a purpose. Yet most tragically, less than 10 percent of Christians, who know their Creator, have the answer to this.
This reveals what is probably the greatest failure of present church life, but we can expect it to be changed - soon. When this is corrected, and Christians begin to perceive their purposes and the gifts or tools that they have been given for accomplishing their purpose, as well as the corporate purpose of the Church in our time, the result is going to be the release of the most powerful spiritual force the world has seen.
Seeing our own purpose can have the single most powerful impact on our own life after coming to know the Lord, being born again, and being baptized in His Spirit. Every Christian knows they are called to be a witness, but we have a calling in His body that is more specific than that. Every Christian is called to function in at least one spiritual gift, which is the tool that we are given for fulfilling our purpose. So how do we come to the knowledge of these? There is a clear and easy path to it. My purpose for this study is to make it as clear and easy as possible.
How To Know and Fulfill Your Life's Purpose
I say easy, as in easy to understand, but it can be more difficult to actually walk out. However, not walking this out will result in a much more difficult and frustrating life. Let me first give you an outline of the following factors:
#1) Resolving to live to do the Lord's will as the chief pursuit of our lives
#2) Beholding the glory of the Lord
#3) Honoring our spiritual fathers and mothers
#4) Finding and becoming a committed part of the Body of Believers we are called to be with
#5) Receiving the ministry of the five equipping ministries listed in Ephesians 4
#6) Being recognized, trained, and discipled
#7) Engaging in our calling
These are necessary for us to accomplish the purpose for which Christ called every one of us and to be a successful human being. The most basic criteria for success as a human, becoming what we were created to be and doing what we were created to do, is loving God. We were created for this and known by God before the foundation of the world. If there is any measure of success for us, it will be to hear from the King on that great judgment day, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV). Therefore, to hear those words should be the chief pursuit of our lives.
Our Chief Pursuit
Anything that eclipses our devotion to knowing and serving the Lord is an idol. An idol is anything that has more of our affection than He does, and it is also anything that we put our trust in above Him. The Word makes clear no idolaters will inherit the Kingdom of God (see I Corinthians 6:9). In Revelation 21:8, we are told idolaters will be thrown into the lake of fire and suffer the second death. Being an idolater is not something we want to be! That is the negative but, nevertheless, a true and necessary warning, so it is imperative that we not let anything eclipse our love and devotion to the Lord.
The positive is that keeping the Lord as our chief love and devotion is not only the path of life and the true fulfillment in this life, it also leads to eternal life that will be more wonderful than our minds can even now perceive. This present life is but "a vapor," a wisp that passes with remarkable speed. What we do here on earth establishes our eternal destiny, so we should not take this life or our calling and responsibility lightly but rather with all the seriousness and devotion that it deserves.
The Scriptures are also clear and we can totally trust in the truth that God is good - He is good to all and He loves all, wanting the very best for all. If we do not fulfill our purpose in life, it will not be His fault, but ours. We must want Him and His will enough to seek it.
He wants the best for us; living in His will and doing His will is the best life that we can ever live. This life that has been chosen for us could be hard at times and could even end in martyrdom, but if that is the case it is still the best life that we could ever live, and much better than any other option.
Love is the Foundation, Door and Path
Of course, the most basic calling for everyone is to love God above anyone or anything. Therefore, growing in love for Him is the foundation upon which every truly successful life is built. If we love Him above all and keep Him as our first love, then He will be the continuing devotion and pursuit of our lives. After that, we must love one another. So loving Him and one another is the foundation.
A foundation is something we not only walk on every day and build everything else on, but it must be the strongest part of the building. Since "the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing," this is the main thing that we must always keep the main thing. Everything else is dependent on this. We must never be beguiled from the simplicity of devotion to Christ (see II Corinthians 11:3).
Love is both the door and the path to everything else. One who loves is not only the happiest human being, but the most fulfilled, as long as we keep the order of love right - God first and then people. It is not wrong to love things, but it is right to love the good things God has given to us, receiving them with thanksgiving. However, we must keep our love for the Giver first.
As we grow into the army we are called to be, one of our most powerful weapons is love. In many ways this army is like other armies in devotion, discipline, focus, training, seriousness, and so on, but in some basic ways it is unlike any other army. The weapons of this army are not like any human weapons, but are divinely powerful. We do not hate our enemies, but we love them! We do not fight to kill but to give life - not to conquer, but to set others free.
And this you can count on - you are going to love this job!
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Email: info@morningstarministries.org
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Living as Children of Light
(or Some BE’s in the Kingdom)From Ephesians 4:17 to 5:21
This was the word the Lord gave me, which I shared during my cell group meeting last Saturday (August 23). My cell group leader, Jesse, shared the other Saturday (August 16) his vision for the Davidic Generation (the group’s name) which was to bring people from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God; to establish Christian values in the lives of people; to train then for leadership; and to impact the community with Kingdom standards.
I believe this message that the Lord downloaded to me is in line with this vision. I believe these are some practical ways we, as children of light, can walk out our lives in Kingdom values, standards and principles.
The Apostle Paul admonishes the church in Ephesus in a section of his letter called Living as Children of Light (chapter 4, verse 17 to chapter 5, verse 21).
As I was pondering on this passage, the Lord gave me 8 BE’s that can be found in Paul’s exhortation. I believe the Lord wanted this shared to the group because everyone of us needs to have some practical applications to Kingdom principles.
1. BE SET APART FROM YOUR OLD SELF
Ephesians 4:17-19, 22 – we are to put off our old self and leave old attitudes behind
2. BE RENEWED IN CHRIST
Ephesians 4:20-24 – we are to put on the mind of Christ, wear the attitude of Christ and be covered with the blood of Christ
3. BE A LOVER OF TRUTH
Ephesians 4:25; 5:11-13 – there must be no lies, no falsehood and no half-truths in our lives; we also must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)
4. BE IMITATORS OF GOD
Ephesians 5:1-2 – as sons of the King, we must follow and emulate our God; how? By looking to Jesus as our standard
5. BE SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Ephesians 4:26-31; 5:3-7 – our bodies and minds are sinful by nature; our flesh is constantly at war with our spirit and with our God; we must allow the Holy Spirit to purify us, sanctify and make us holy.
6. BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE TO ONE ANOTHER
Ephesians 4:32; 5:19-26 – several times the scripture mentions phrases like “prefer one another in love”, “serve one another in love”, and “encourage one another in love”; there has to be that desire to build up others and to edify the body of Christ
7. BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LIVE
Ephesians 5:14-16 – one of the words the Holy Spirit has released for this season is “militant”. I believe now more than ever we need to be watchful of the schemes and tactics of the enemy. At the same time we need to be vigilant about the condition and the attitude of our hearts; remember: the enemy is a roaring lion just waiting around to devour someone.
8. BE AWARE OF GOD’S WILL
Ephesians 5:17-18; 5:8-10 – as children of God, we must know what pleases our Father; as citizens of the Kingdom, we must know what the King says about the Kingdom and about us; we should know what we ought to do as subject of His reign; Romans 12:1-2 tells us, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
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ps: i couldn't find an image of the letters B and E together. i thought the photo of Jerry Seinfeld's character in Bee Movie might work.
Friday, August 22, 2008
ADTT: Learning from God’s Generals [William Branham]
William BranhamApril 6, 1909 – December 24, 1965
We have moved on to the next level of our Apostolic Discipleship Training Track. For the succeeding Wednesdays, the class will be focusing on the lives of the revivalists, evangelists and preachers who have been chosen by God to do great work in past years. This is in line with our congregation’s preparation for the revival outbreak that will come to the Philippines.
Last week, we studied and discussed the life of William Branham who became known for the notable signs and wonders that followed his ministry. We based that night’s class on the video on Branham’s life in the series called “God’s Generals”, presented by Roberts Liardon.
The class was asked to take down notes on the strength and weaknesses of this revivalist in order to learn from his victories and avoid his mistakes.
One of the things that I thought was Branham’s strengths was his constant confession of his dependence on God; that he was just being used by God, always identifying himself to the people as “just like one of you”. This, to me, spoke of his humility as a vessel and a servant of God, and his reliance on what God can do through him, not on what he thought he could do on his own.
Another thing that I thought was really positive in Branham’s life was the fact that he always waited for the “angel” of the Lord to be present in the healing crusades before doing anything. Again, this goes back to dependence on God. He didn’t go ahead of the supernatural but waited for the presence of the Lord before doing his calling. After all, God is the one who does the healing – Branham was just the vessel.
I also was amazed at how simple his prayers were and how non-theatrical his presence was in the videos that we saw. The people that he prayed healing for didn’t even fall down. I liked the fact that there wasn’t that much drama in his meetings but the power of the Holy Spirit was undeniable.
The most important lesson I learned from Branham’s life was to stick to one’s God-given anointing and calling, because going out of the parameters of ministry, which God gave means going out on your own. This was clear in the later part of Branham’s life. He wanted to be a teacher because it was the trend of the time. So he changed office at will. He moved out of his covering and away from his anointing. The Lord then confirmed to me to stick to my anointing and not try to be someone else He didn’t make me to be.
More on William Branham on God's Generals.
You're Gonna Make It!
Al Thomas:
"YES, YOU WILL GET THROUGH THIS TRIAL"
[from the Elijah List]
I saw in the Spirit that some are now in the midst of a circumstance so potentially devastating that fear is drawing near. Others worry that they are beyond the point of recovery. Be reminded that you have a Friend who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24) and His adhesiveness is stronger than super glue. Do not agree with the accusations of the devil (Revelation 12:10).
The enemy has whispered to some: "You are a loser, a failure; you're washed up, never to recover, always to be known as one who didn't measure up to the call."
Some know what David meant when he said "no man careth for my soul" (Psalm 142:4) and Job when he wrote "My soul is weary of life" (Job 10:1).
This mess, this "no way out" dilemma can and will be turned around (Isaiah 65:24). God's view of what is happening is much different than yours. He will restore your soul (Psalm 23:3), renew your mind (Romans 12:2) and enlighten your eyes (Isaiah 35:5). Yes, He will deliver you (2 Peter 2:9).
Have all deserted you? He will not. If you are in the place of despair and heartache; do not turn away from God, instead:
KNOW THAT GOD HAS ALREADY CREATED A PLAN FOR YOUR RECOVERY
While you're having those occasional thoughts of quitting, keep in mind that God is currently behind the scenes putting things back together better than they were before you entered this mess (Jeremiah 29:11).
Some have asked, "God, how long do I have to stay in this valley before You do something?" That's the wrong question. The right question is, "God, how should I conduct myself while You are working on this thing?"
The timing is up to God (and the attitude is up to you), but I'll tell you this: It will take no longer than it has to. Not one second longer. God takes no pleasure in you going through this and seeing you suffer. Yet, He will not waste one of your tears (Isaiah 25:8).
THE DEVIL HAS SAID, "YOU HAVE BLOWN IT BEYOND REPAIR"...THAT IS A LIE
No matter what the obstacles, no matter how many times you have failed, no matter how big the pit you have fallen into, His plan for your recovery is sure (Isaiah 65:24).
Feel like you're being chased by giants? God doesn't lie and He has promised to deliver you even if giants with twelve fingers and twelve toes are chasing you (2 Samuel 21:22).
"He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee" (Job 5:19). "Six troubles, yea even seven" is a Biblical idiom or phrase that means no matter how many troubles (i.e. ka-Zillions) He will deliver you. Get that in your head.
KNOW THAT GOD'S PLAN FOR YOUR RECOVERY IS FOOLPROOF
As soon as Peter denied Jesus (John 18:25), God had a plan for Peter's restoration (John 21:17). This wasn't the first time Peter blew it, and it wouldn't be the last; so it is with each of us (Romans 7:19). God knew it was going to happen long ago and He made provision for it. You're not going under, you're going through.
Come high water, come fire or come all the demons of hell, the Lord will deliver you.
David wrote "Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through the fire and through the water: but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place" (Psalm 66:12).
This word wealthy means "rich fulfillment." Even though the enemy (and even your own mistakes) may have drained you of hope and strength, God will again bring the rich fullness of His presence into your life. There is no "ifs," "ands," or "buts" about it. He will do it. Why? He's so madly in love with you it's beyond your comprehension (Romans 8:35-39).
RECOGNIZE THAT HIS ANSWER IS ON THE WAY - EVEN AT THE DOOR
When we get discouraged and satan tells us the situation is hopeless, we need to resist (James 4:7) and take a stand (Ephesians 6:13). Remember though, no one overcomes by sitting down. Whatever you do, don't start sulking all day and feeling sorry for yourself. Stop with the "shoulda, coulda, woulda" stuff, dust yourself off and get back to the business of the Kingdom.
Don't try to figure out how He will help you. Don't imagine that suddenly He will say, "Abra Kadabra," like Houdini. Oh, yes, He could do an instant miracle and just might, but He wants you to trust Him to do it His way no matter what that may be.
Paul was stoned (and this was on a good day). His friends supposed he was dead (Acts 14:19-21), but the next day he was on the road to preach the Gospel. Some of you feel like you have been stoned, but you will get up like nothing happened.
The enemy likes to whisper to you that things will not change or turn around. Do not listen to him or anyone who speaks with unbelief. Like a bolt of lightning it will hit you that Jesus won the battle for you and you are called to be a conqueror with Him (Romans 8:37).
No, you may not feel like a conqueror right now, but Jesus has passed the baton to me and you (John 20:21) and He did not promise feelings would always accompany the call.
Rejoice, in all the pain, bewilderment and inner turmoil, God is working to reverse the circumstance and use it for your re-commissioning. You, who thought you were unfit, will re-emerge stronger than ever and the devil will see his work backfire.
Stand up...the horizon is before you. The dawn breaks. Victory is coming and you are one of His warriors!
Al Thomas
Celebrating His Life Ministries
Email: a.thomas@myactv.net
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ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Quantum Leap
David Van Koevering: "Keys to Taking Your Quantum Leap"
[from Elijah List]
Years ago, as a young scientist and inventor, I worked with Dr. Bob Moog and together we gave the music world the first performance keyboards called Moog synthesizers. I learned to work with electrons and photons - tiny elements that are so small they can't be seen! Yet these invisible elements cause all electronic devices to work. This project caused me to ask the question, "Is there more to our universe than what I can perceive through my senses?"
My search to learn more about physical reality and how it works led me to discover that quantum physics identifies a large part of our universe to be non-physical. I began to realize that the universe is greater than science has discovered, or can explain. Through quantum physics and spiritual revelation, the Holy Spirit confirmed keys to understanding physical reality. As you read this article, allow the Holy Spirit to let you hear more than I say.
There is a Non-Physical Reality
My studies in quantum mechanics led me to the works of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and others. Here I learned that everything we see is part of a vast ocean of infinitesimally small subatomic particles. Under certain conditions, these subatomic structures also take on the properties of invisible waves. When I learned that these waves, or particles which make up all matter, cause that matter to blink into existence by being observed by the experimenter, I was shaken to my core.
How could it be that these invisible elements, which make up all matter, can be changed from particles to waves by how they are observed? This reality is beyond our human consciousness and our five senses. Or is it? All of these particles and/or waves appear to be connected. How can it be that every atomic and subatomic element is hooked up? Is this invisible world a part of the spiritual realm?
I suppose the duality of matter being waves or particles and how quantum mechanics attempts to explain this revolutionary idea changed me forever. It caused me to do my own research, which led to the convergence of quantum mechanics and my personal spiritual revelation. I was about to take a quantum leap!
1 Corinthians 1:28 says, "...God (has) chosen...things which are not (the invisible) to bring to nought things which are (the visible)." This Scripture makes sense only when you understand it at the atomic and subatomic level. Everything is made up of atoms, which are frequencies of energy. These frequencies of energy are the voice of Jesus causing all things to be! Atoms are made up of subatomic particles, and subatomic particles are made up of superstrings (which are toroidal vortices of energy). Superstrings are tiny donut shaped packets of energy that spin at a frequency - or sing as in a pitch.
None of this is real in this dimension because they exist only in a state of possibilities until someone observes them. Then, at that observation, the potential becomes a thing - a particle or a wave. This quantum wave collapse, caused by observation, is called popping a qwiff. This is your first step to taking a quantum leap. You can see or observe a God qwiff (something God shows you that is not yet real in this dimension) and, by observing or popping that qwiff, cause that potential to become your reality. Be careful what you see; you are going to get it! Be careful what you say; you will get that, too!
Light is Slowing Down
The spiritual realm operates above the speed of light. The physical realm - this dimension - has been shaped to its current limits by the falls of both Lucifer (see Luke 10:18) and man in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3:7). When man fell, the speed of light slowed down. In the beginning, when God spoke the universe into existence, His entire bandwidth of glory was made physical. From His glory (all frequencies) and His voice (all frequencies expressed) all light, energy, and matter became.
It is believed that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Physicist Barry Setterfield, mathematician Trevor Norman, and Canadian mathematician Alan Montgomery have measured light and proven that the speed of light is slowing down.
That means that light may have been ten to thirty percent faster in the time of Christ; twice as fast in the days of Solomon; and four times as fast in the days of Abraham. My friend Chuck Missler says, "That would imply that the velocity of light was more than ten million times faster prior to 3,000 B.C. This possibility would also alter our concepts of time and the age of the universe. The universe might actually be less than 10,000 years old!" That sounds like a quantum leap to me!
Before the fall, God had created one realm from gravity waves to His glory. This present human realm is up through the electromagnetic spectrum to the speed of light. The interesting point about the speed of light slowing down is that when Lucifer (the bearer of light) rebelled in Heaven and was cursed and cast down - and I believe cast down from the frequencies of God's glory - he lost his bandwidth and fell down from his spiritual consciousness. In the Garden of Eden, when mankind sinned, was cursed in the fall downward, and lost upper bandwidth and spiritual consciousness, light slowed down even more.
Other Biblical events suggest that the cosmos lost bandwidth. Noah's flood is such an example. Light slowed down to cause just the right frequencies for the rainbow (see Genesis 9:12-17). At Nimrod's Tower of Babel, mankind lost the upper bandwidth to communicate (see Genesis 11:7).
Jesus Himself told His disciples that they will get their upper bandwidth back. In John 16:13 He said, "..when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth...and He will show you things to come." Jesus is saying, "I want to show you your future. You can know My will and My plan for your life, although right now, you don't have the upper bandwidth to see or observe it. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will give you the upper bandwidth to see things to come!"
Here is a quantum leap for someone: If you know something coming from your future, let's say a vision, a revelation, a desire, or even a creative idea, that information has to move faster than the speed of light to reach you. You can and must know your God-given assignment. Information flowing from your future possibilities is waiting for you to see - to observe - and call those things that are not as though they are. The quantum leap of knowing your purpose and assignment is waiting as a God qwiff for you to pop!
Matter is Frequency Being Spoken by Jesus
When God spoke and all the frequencies of His glory became manifest, the cosmos became! From the tiniest vibrating superstring that is causing or singing the atoms that make up the table of 103 elements, all the way through everything the Hubble telescope sees, are the vibrating frequencies of Jesus' voice.
Colossians 1:16-17 says, "For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible... He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (exist or are sustained)." The phrase "He is before all things" means that He is outside of our time. Jesus said to John the Revelator that He was and is the Alpha (beginning) and Omega (ending). Jesus is outside our concept of time in His eternal now and is causing all things to be.
When we consider creation and all things eternal, our false concepts regarding time and matter limit our understanding. Receive the concept that Jesus is outside of our time and calendar, looking in. He is observing. He is sustaining all things in this nanosecond (one billionth of a second) and is singing the frequencies or vibrations of your body. If He didn't, you would dissolve! Your electrons, particles, and subatomic structures are blinking in and out of existence. You think you are a solid object, but quantum mechanics has confirmed that all subatomic particles - the stuff you are made of - are blinking in and out of this reality.
Enoch was walking so closely with God in the Spirit that "he was not, for God took him" (see Genesis 5:24). Jesus simply stopped blinking Enoch into this realm! How close are you to Jesus Christ? How far away is your healing, your deliverance, or your miracle? He is close, for in Him you live and move and have your being.
In the next nanosecond, He sustains you or sings your frequency set. Understand that your healing or miracle is within the next nanosecond! In the blink of a nanosecond, He can cause your healing. Observe your healing, your miracle, your deliverance, and be filled with all Truth by observing the future God has for you. Take that quantum leap!
When we understand that we are being created in Christ by His causing, or by Him singing our song, our intimacy with Him will change. His song of creation was not something He did 16 billion years ago. He is causing you now! Because the speed of light has slowed down, because we have our upper bandwidth back, and because He is sustaining us every nanosecond, the act of creation is happening now! Take your quantum leap into His eternal now.
All Matter Has Memory - Your Words are Being Recorded
As a scientist and inventor, I have developed various memory retrieval systems. In the 1970s, I developed a laser optical music system to store sounds on silver oxide film and play the sounds back with keyboards, using modulated light beams. I was amazed when I found the Scripture in Joshua 24:27 that says, "And Joshua said unto all the people, 'Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which He spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God.'"
Was this Old Testament quantum physicist saying that matter has memory? Is this man, who called for and observed the sun standing still in the heavens, telling us that the stone is listening? This is the man who sounded a frequency that cancelled the frequencies of matter in the walls of Jericho, thereby dissolving their atomic lattice structure with his shout and song. Did this man say the rocks are listening?
Jesus said the same thing. Joshua said the stone could record, and Jesus said in Luke 19:40 that the stones would cry out. Habakkuk 2:11 says, "For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." I came to understand that all matter has memory. The Bible says that matter can record and it will play back. How can these things be?
As I studied both quantum theory and Scripture, revelation came. I learned that Gerald Feinberg, a physicist at Columbia University, named a certain subatomic particle, that he found in Einstein's math, after the Greek word tachys, meaning "swift." He called this superluminal particle a tachyon. This particle moved faster than light!
The tachyon is not looked upon favorably by physicists. If tachyons can be proven to exist and anything that moves faster than light can be found, scientists will have to explain how something can appear before its cause. For instance, if a scientific test was set up to look for this elusive faster-than-light tachyon, and the computer started at 12:00 noon counting forward through the test sequence, the test result wouldn't be at 12:01 or later. It would show the effect before the cause at 11:59 or earlier. Scientists don't have computers that count backwards and don't accept results that appear before the cause.
But wait. Two thirds of your Bible got to mankind before the event or cause! All prophecy is the result of facts before the event. All creativity comes before the actual physical reality! What is a vision? What is a word of knowledge? It is seeing, knowing, getting information before the causation. There is no other source of creativity than the Holy Spirit. All truth comes to man through the only source of truth we have, and that is the Holy Spirit. When you see your future, you are getting information faster than the speed of light through a means of streaming superluminal particles. The barrier of light speed is bridged from this subluminal realm to the higher bandwidth of the superluminal realm by the Holy Spirit.
Something like Gerald Feinberg's tachyon exists in all matter. It is just above, or faster than the speed of light. We know it's there because we find the results of such in the very fact of prophecy, or in the concept of words of knowledge, and even our Bible itself. These are proofs that the potential and possibilities of future promises or information is flowing to us. The superluminal tachyon-like connector exists!
That faster-than-light particle in all matter receives and remembers or records photons that shine on matter as in the photoelectric effect. Modulated photons go into all matter, reside in the vortex of superluminal faster-than-light particles, and knock electrons out. This photoelectric effect is how my modulated light musical instruments worked in the 1970s. That is how CD players and DVD players work now.
Today, it is not difficult to believe that matter has memory, because most of us have tiny memory sticks or memory cards that record or store information from our cameras and computers. Information flowing into matter and recalling it is commonplace. Photons from all light sources reflect from your body and off your belongings. Those information carrying photons go into all matter, including walls, your ring, and your watch. This information - even what we say and think - is modulating or moving through the connectedness of all atomic structures. This modulated photon goes in and electrons come out. That is why Joshua said, "This stone has heard." Every word, action, and deed done in the flesh has been recorded.
This is where yesterday went! It is all recorded in matter and will someday be played back. This is how evil and curses reside in places or things. Even though matter has recorded everything, your prayer in the name of Jesus can take the effect of Christ's blood - His blood that is eternal and beyond time - and cancel out all evil, sin, and past sin's memory from matter. Oh, that is a quantum leap for many! You can speak to and erase from places all curses and evil in Jesus' name.
Have you fixed your past? Have you removed all curses? Have you blessed the things you own? Have you blessed your house, office, car, belongings, money, computer, and phone? Are those things and places free from your past actions, words, and thoughts? You or someone else can speak a blessing or curse on your things. Somebody is about to take a quantum leap!
Seeing Your Future as God Sees it is Quantum Faith
Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance. It is the invisible substance from which your physical world was and is being created by Jesus Christ. Annette Capps said, "God used faith substance and word energy to create the universe. He spoke and the vibration (sound) of His words released (caused) the substance that became the stars and planets."
God's future potential and all the promised possibilities constantly flow through the Holy Spirit into you. Noise on my circuit limits my ability to hear His voice and see His future for me. The noise in my inner man is not always sin; my noise can be my gift, my ability, even that special way I am put together and wired. I can become so busy-noisy that I am out of phase with God's voice and vision for me.
As I get quiet and become still, I can hear and see what God's future is for my reality. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God..." My future comes from God's possibilities and potential. I pop God's qwiffs and my reality is! What an awesome quantum leap!
Creating Protected Places: Is Your Home Protected?
When we understand that matter has memory and that every good or evil action, word, or thought is recorded, it is our responsibility to remove, purge, and release evil memory. I'm also talking about evil memory that came to you through things you inherited. What about evil acts and words that were spoken over you? Or evil artifacts that are in many homes and places? Imagine what evil is recorded in public places, courthouses, jails, even schools, and the stuff in these places!
The Passover in the book of Exodus, chapter 12, is the story of a protected place. The blood of the Passover lamb was not put on the firstborn child. It was not applied to a person. Rather, the blood was put on the side posts and upper door posts of a place. Anoint your home, your office, your car, even public places in the name of Jesus. The Passover was an event where the children of God looked forward to their Messiah and His blood for deliverance and protection. By anointing your places and belongings with oil in the name of Jesus, you can protect them and connect our Savior's timeless blood over your places. What a quantum leap!
Elsewhen Teaching: Where Yesterday Went and Tomorrow Comes From
Elsewhen is the title of my book. This is an interesting word. Elsewhere means over there, or a place out of town, or out there somewhere. Elsewhen is your consciousness out of time here and into God's upper bandwidth of cosmic consciousness. It is to disconnect from things of this realm and become connected to ideas, visions, and input that comes directly from your Savior, Designer, and Creator.
Elsewhen is the experience of knowing without having to learn or push yourself to know. It is to so behold Jesus Himself, that you comprehend the root of wisdom through the Holy Spirit.
You herein have come to understand that there is a non-physical reality from which this universe and everything in it flows. Jesus Himself is causing your body, your spirit, and everything you have to blink into your reality. Light is slowing down and there is upper bandwidth and knowledge through the Holy Spirit. All the things of life and their purpose for you and your assignment are frequencies being spoken by Christ Himself at this very nanosecond.
Matter has memory, and you can change everything that has been recorded by what you observe, by the words you declare, or by the curses you remove and release in the name of Jesus. You can create protected places by anointing with oil and speaking blessings with your words of faith. Where will you start? What quantum leaps have come up in your spirit? You have been given a new elsewhen cosmic consciousness. Pop those God qwiffs and cause upper bandwidth to change your reality.
David Van Koevering,
President and Founder
Elsewhen Research
Email: david@elsewhen.com
GLOSSARY OF TERMS:
electromagnetic spectrum
Function: noun
: the entire range of wavelengths or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation extending from gamma rays to the longest radio waves and including visible light
super string
Function: noun
: one of the main objects of study in a branch of theoretical physics called string theory. There are different string theories, the most recent version being M-theory. A string is an object with a one-dimensional spatial extent, unlike an elementary particle which is zero-dimensional.
toroidal
Function: adjective
: Shaped like a doughnut (science and technology)
band·width
Function: noun
1 : a range within a band of wavelengths, frequencies, or energies; especially : a range of radio frequencies which is occupied by a modulated carrier wave, which is assigned to a service, or over which a device can operate
2 : the capacity for data transfer of an electronic communications system; especially : the maximum data transfer rate of such a system
David Van Koevering is a writer, minister, motivational speaker, quantum physicist and inventor. His current teachings, "The Physics of Worship" and "The Science of God Sounds" are changing lives worldwide. His life's work has demonstrated his gifts as a visionary, technologist, futurist and inventor. He is respected internationally for his 30-year contribution to the development and marketing of advanced technology that has forever changed the music industry. As a visionary, he often saw future products and technology more clearly than others, including his competitors. His gift is the insight to see, and by this observation to cause, and then define and communicate what he sees to others. By doing so, those things that were not, became as though they were, and reality changed. He truly has proved with his life's work and success that he understands where yesterday went and tomorrow comes from.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
[from Elijah List]
Years ago, as a young scientist and inventor, I worked with Dr. Bob Moog and together we gave the music world the first performance keyboards called Moog synthesizers. I learned to work with electrons and photons - tiny elements that are so small they can't be seen! Yet these invisible elements cause all electronic devices to work. This project caused me to ask the question, "Is there more to our universe than what I can perceive through my senses?"
My search to learn more about physical reality and how it works led me to discover that quantum physics identifies a large part of our universe to be non-physical. I began to realize that the universe is greater than science has discovered, or can explain. Through quantum physics and spiritual revelation, the Holy Spirit confirmed keys to understanding physical reality. As you read this article, allow the Holy Spirit to let you hear more than I say.
There is a Non-Physical Reality
My studies in quantum mechanics led me to the works of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and others. Here I learned that everything we see is part of a vast ocean of infinitesimally small subatomic particles. Under certain conditions, these subatomic structures also take on the properties of invisible waves. When I learned that these waves, or particles which make up all matter, cause that matter to blink into existence by being observed by the experimenter, I was shaken to my core.
How could it be that these invisible elements, which make up all matter, can be changed from particles to waves by how they are observed? This reality is beyond our human consciousness and our five senses. Or is it? All of these particles and/or waves appear to be connected. How can it be that every atomic and subatomic element is hooked up? Is this invisible world a part of the spiritual realm?
I suppose the duality of matter being waves or particles and how quantum mechanics attempts to explain this revolutionary idea changed me forever. It caused me to do my own research, which led to the convergence of quantum mechanics and my personal spiritual revelation. I was about to take a quantum leap!
1 Corinthians 1:28 says, "...God (has) chosen...things which are not (the invisible) to bring to nought things which are (the visible)." This Scripture makes sense only when you understand it at the atomic and subatomic level. Everything is made up of atoms, which are frequencies of energy. These frequencies of energy are the voice of Jesus causing all things to be! Atoms are made up of subatomic particles, and subatomic particles are made up of superstrings (which are toroidal vortices of energy). Superstrings are tiny donut shaped packets of energy that spin at a frequency - or sing as in a pitch.
None of this is real in this dimension because they exist only in a state of possibilities until someone observes them. Then, at that observation, the potential becomes a thing - a particle or a wave. This quantum wave collapse, caused by observation, is called popping a qwiff. This is your first step to taking a quantum leap. You can see or observe a God qwiff (something God shows you that is not yet real in this dimension) and, by observing or popping that qwiff, cause that potential to become your reality. Be careful what you see; you are going to get it! Be careful what you say; you will get that, too!
Light is Slowing Down
The spiritual realm operates above the speed of light. The physical realm - this dimension - has been shaped to its current limits by the falls of both Lucifer (see Luke 10:18) and man in the Garden of Eden (see Genesis 3:7). When man fell, the speed of light slowed down. In the beginning, when God spoke the universe into existence, His entire bandwidth of glory was made physical. From His glory (all frequencies) and His voice (all frequencies expressed) all light, energy, and matter became.
It is believed that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. Physicist Barry Setterfield, mathematician Trevor Norman, and Canadian mathematician Alan Montgomery have measured light and proven that the speed of light is slowing down.
That means that light may have been ten to thirty percent faster in the time of Christ; twice as fast in the days of Solomon; and four times as fast in the days of Abraham. My friend Chuck Missler says, "That would imply that the velocity of light was more than ten million times faster prior to 3,000 B.C. This possibility would also alter our concepts of time and the age of the universe. The universe might actually be less than 10,000 years old!" That sounds like a quantum leap to me!
Before the fall, God had created one realm from gravity waves to His glory. This present human realm is up through the electromagnetic spectrum to the speed of light. The interesting point about the speed of light slowing down is that when Lucifer (the bearer of light) rebelled in Heaven and was cursed and cast down - and I believe cast down from the frequencies of God's glory - he lost his bandwidth and fell down from his spiritual consciousness. In the Garden of Eden, when mankind sinned, was cursed in the fall downward, and lost upper bandwidth and spiritual consciousness, light slowed down even more.
Other Biblical events suggest that the cosmos lost bandwidth. Noah's flood is such an example. Light slowed down to cause just the right frequencies for the rainbow (see Genesis 9:12-17). At Nimrod's Tower of Babel, mankind lost the upper bandwidth to communicate (see Genesis 11:7).
Jesus Himself told His disciples that they will get their upper bandwidth back. In John 16:13 He said, "..when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth...and He will show you things to come." Jesus is saying, "I want to show you your future. You can know My will and My plan for your life, although right now, you don't have the upper bandwidth to see or observe it. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will give you the upper bandwidth to see things to come!"
Here is a quantum leap for someone: If you know something coming from your future, let's say a vision, a revelation, a desire, or even a creative idea, that information has to move faster than the speed of light to reach you. You can and must know your God-given assignment. Information flowing from your future possibilities is waiting for you to see - to observe - and call those things that are not as though they are. The quantum leap of knowing your purpose and assignment is waiting as a God qwiff for you to pop!
Matter is Frequency Being Spoken by Jesus
When God spoke and all the frequencies of His glory became manifest, the cosmos became! From the tiniest vibrating superstring that is causing or singing the atoms that make up the table of 103 elements, all the way through everything the Hubble telescope sees, are the vibrating frequencies of Jesus' voice.
Colossians 1:16-17 says, "For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible... He is before all things, and in Him all things consist (exist or are sustained)." The phrase "He is before all things" means that He is outside of our time. Jesus said to John the Revelator that He was and is the Alpha (beginning) and Omega (ending). Jesus is outside our concept of time in His eternal now and is causing all things to be.
When we consider creation and all things eternal, our false concepts regarding time and matter limit our understanding. Receive the concept that Jesus is outside of our time and calendar, looking in. He is observing. He is sustaining all things in this nanosecond (one billionth of a second) and is singing the frequencies or vibrations of your body. If He didn't, you would dissolve! Your electrons, particles, and subatomic structures are blinking in and out of existence. You think you are a solid object, but quantum mechanics has confirmed that all subatomic particles - the stuff you are made of - are blinking in and out of this reality.
Enoch was walking so closely with God in the Spirit that "he was not, for God took him" (see Genesis 5:24). Jesus simply stopped blinking Enoch into this realm! How close are you to Jesus Christ? How far away is your healing, your deliverance, or your miracle? He is close, for in Him you live and move and have your being.
In the next nanosecond, He sustains you or sings your frequency set. Understand that your healing or miracle is within the next nanosecond! In the blink of a nanosecond, He can cause your healing. Observe your healing, your miracle, your deliverance, and be filled with all Truth by observing the future God has for you. Take that quantum leap!
When we understand that we are being created in Christ by His causing, or by Him singing our song, our intimacy with Him will change. His song of creation was not something He did 16 billion years ago. He is causing you now! Because the speed of light has slowed down, because we have our upper bandwidth back, and because He is sustaining us every nanosecond, the act of creation is happening now! Take your quantum leap into His eternal now.
All Matter Has Memory - Your Words are Being Recorded
As a scientist and inventor, I have developed various memory retrieval systems. In the 1970s, I developed a laser optical music system to store sounds on silver oxide film and play the sounds back with keyboards, using modulated light beams. I was amazed when I found the Scripture in Joshua 24:27 that says, "And Joshua said unto all the people, 'Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which He spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest you deny your God.'"
Was this Old Testament quantum physicist saying that matter has memory? Is this man, who called for and observed the sun standing still in the heavens, telling us that the stone is listening? This is the man who sounded a frequency that cancelled the frequencies of matter in the walls of Jericho, thereby dissolving their atomic lattice structure with his shout and song. Did this man say the rocks are listening?
Jesus said the same thing. Joshua said the stone could record, and Jesus said in Luke 19:40 that the stones would cry out. Habakkuk 2:11 says, "For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." I came to understand that all matter has memory. The Bible says that matter can record and it will play back. How can these things be?
As I studied both quantum theory and Scripture, revelation came. I learned that Gerald Feinberg, a physicist at Columbia University, named a certain subatomic particle, that he found in Einstein's math, after the Greek word tachys, meaning "swift." He called this superluminal particle a tachyon. This particle moved faster than light!
The tachyon is not looked upon favorably by physicists. If tachyons can be proven to exist and anything that moves faster than light can be found, scientists will have to explain how something can appear before its cause. For instance, if a scientific test was set up to look for this elusive faster-than-light tachyon, and the computer started at 12:00 noon counting forward through the test sequence, the test result wouldn't be at 12:01 or later. It would show the effect before the cause at 11:59 or earlier. Scientists don't have computers that count backwards and don't accept results that appear before the cause.
But wait. Two thirds of your Bible got to mankind before the event or cause! All prophecy is the result of facts before the event. All creativity comes before the actual physical reality! What is a vision? What is a word of knowledge? It is seeing, knowing, getting information before the causation. There is no other source of creativity than the Holy Spirit. All truth comes to man through the only source of truth we have, and that is the Holy Spirit. When you see your future, you are getting information faster than the speed of light through a means of streaming superluminal particles. The barrier of light speed is bridged from this subluminal realm to the higher bandwidth of the superluminal realm by the Holy Spirit.
Something like Gerald Feinberg's tachyon exists in all matter. It is just above, or faster than the speed of light. We know it's there because we find the results of such in the very fact of prophecy, or in the concept of words of knowledge, and even our Bible itself. These are proofs that the potential and possibilities of future promises or information is flowing to us. The superluminal tachyon-like connector exists!
That faster-than-light particle in all matter receives and remembers or records photons that shine on matter as in the photoelectric effect. Modulated photons go into all matter, reside in the vortex of superluminal faster-than-light particles, and knock electrons out. This photoelectric effect is how my modulated light musical instruments worked in the 1970s. That is how CD players and DVD players work now.
Today, it is not difficult to believe that matter has memory, because most of us have tiny memory sticks or memory cards that record or store information from our cameras and computers. Information flowing into matter and recalling it is commonplace. Photons from all light sources reflect from your body and off your belongings. Those information carrying photons go into all matter, including walls, your ring, and your watch. This information - even what we say and think - is modulating or moving through the connectedness of all atomic structures. This modulated photon goes in and electrons come out. That is why Joshua said, "This stone has heard." Every word, action, and deed done in the flesh has been recorded.
This is where yesterday went! It is all recorded in matter and will someday be played back. This is how evil and curses reside in places or things. Even though matter has recorded everything, your prayer in the name of Jesus can take the effect of Christ's blood - His blood that is eternal and beyond time - and cancel out all evil, sin, and past sin's memory from matter. Oh, that is a quantum leap for many! You can speak to and erase from places all curses and evil in Jesus' name.
Have you fixed your past? Have you removed all curses? Have you blessed the things you own? Have you blessed your house, office, car, belongings, money, computer, and phone? Are those things and places free from your past actions, words, and thoughts? You or someone else can speak a blessing or curse on your things. Somebody is about to take a quantum leap!
Seeing Your Future as God Sees it is Quantum Faith
Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance. It is the invisible substance from which your physical world was and is being created by Jesus Christ. Annette Capps said, "God used faith substance and word energy to create the universe. He spoke and the vibration (sound) of His words released (caused) the substance that became the stars and planets."
God's future potential and all the promised possibilities constantly flow through the Holy Spirit into you. Noise on my circuit limits my ability to hear His voice and see His future for me. The noise in my inner man is not always sin; my noise can be my gift, my ability, even that special way I am put together and wired. I can become so busy-noisy that I am out of phase with God's voice and vision for me.
As I get quiet and become still, I can hear and see what God's future is for my reality. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God..." My future comes from God's possibilities and potential. I pop God's qwiffs and my reality is! What an awesome quantum leap!
Creating Protected Places: Is Your Home Protected?
When we understand that matter has memory and that every good or evil action, word, or thought is recorded, it is our responsibility to remove, purge, and release evil memory. I'm also talking about evil memory that came to you through things you inherited. What about evil acts and words that were spoken over you? Or evil artifacts that are in many homes and places? Imagine what evil is recorded in public places, courthouses, jails, even schools, and the stuff in these places!
The Passover in the book of Exodus, chapter 12, is the story of a protected place. The blood of the Passover lamb was not put on the firstborn child. It was not applied to a person. Rather, the blood was put on the side posts and upper door posts of a place. Anoint your home, your office, your car, even public places in the name of Jesus. The Passover was an event where the children of God looked forward to their Messiah and His blood for deliverance and protection. By anointing your places and belongings with oil in the name of Jesus, you can protect them and connect our Savior's timeless blood over your places. What a quantum leap!
Elsewhen Teaching: Where Yesterday Went and Tomorrow Comes From
Elsewhen is the title of my book. This is an interesting word. Elsewhere means over there, or a place out of town, or out there somewhere. Elsewhen is your consciousness out of time here and into God's upper bandwidth of cosmic consciousness. It is to disconnect from things of this realm and become connected to ideas, visions, and input that comes directly from your Savior, Designer, and Creator.
Elsewhen is the experience of knowing without having to learn or push yourself to know. It is to so behold Jesus Himself, that you comprehend the root of wisdom through the Holy Spirit.
You herein have come to understand that there is a non-physical reality from which this universe and everything in it flows. Jesus Himself is causing your body, your spirit, and everything you have to blink into your reality. Light is slowing down and there is upper bandwidth and knowledge through the Holy Spirit. All the things of life and their purpose for you and your assignment are frequencies being spoken by Christ Himself at this very nanosecond.
Matter has memory, and you can change everything that has been recorded by what you observe, by the words you declare, or by the curses you remove and release in the name of Jesus. You can create protected places by anointing with oil and speaking blessings with your words of faith. Where will you start? What quantum leaps have come up in your spirit? You have been given a new elsewhen cosmic consciousness. Pop those God qwiffs and cause upper bandwidth to change your reality.
David Van Koevering,
President and Founder
Elsewhen Research
Email: david@elsewhen.com
GLOSSARY OF TERMS:
electromagnetic spectrum
Function: noun
: the entire range of wavelengths or frequencies of electromagnetic radiation extending from gamma rays to the longest radio waves and including visible light
super string
Function: noun
: one of the main objects of study in a branch of theoretical physics called string theory. There are different string theories, the most recent version being M-theory. A string is an object with a one-dimensional spatial extent, unlike an elementary particle which is zero-dimensional.
toroidal
Function: adjective
: Shaped like a doughnut (science and technology)
band·width
Function: noun
1 : a range within a band of wavelengths, frequencies, or energies; especially : a range of radio frequencies which is occupied by a modulated carrier wave, which is assigned to a service, or over which a device can operate
2 : the capacity for data transfer of an electronic communications system
David Van Koevering is a writer, minister, motivational speaker, quantum physicist and inventor. His current teachings, "The Physics of Worship" and "The Science of God Sounds" are changing lives worldwide. His life's work has demonstrated his gifts as a visionary, technologist, futurist and inventor. He is respected internationally for his 30-year contribution to the development and marketing of advanced technology that has forever changed the music industry. As a visionary, he often saw future products and technology more clearly than others, including his competitors. His gift is the insight to see, and by this observation to cause, and then define and communicate what he sees to others. By doing so, those things that were not, became as though they were, and reality changed. He truly has proved with his life's work and success that he understands where yesterday went and tomorrow comes from.
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Famous Warrior
[for "Famous Warrior Whose God is Gracious"]Springs of living water that flow from within
Streams that bring life from your belly burst forth
Alive inside out as you walk on with Him
He gives you your life, your being, your worth
Receiver of grace from the Father above
Declared by your name, in prophecy foretold
For God is gracious and full of great love
He’s the same in your youth, He’ll remain when you’re old
A warrior you are, surrounded by fame
To lead and to rule is what your name entails
Renown, not your own, but from His holy name
The Famous One says, ”You will surely shall prevail”
Famous Warrior, go forth
Let His Spirit lead you
Through the trials that come
He will go before you
Do not fret, do not fear
You’re victorious already
For the Lord’s always near
Just stand firm and stand steady
Famous Warrior, arise
And take hold of you sword
There’s a war that is raging
There’s a foe who’s not bored
You are called to the battle
With authority in Christ
You are called now to conquer
You’re a warrior in His eyes
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Stay Stuck
Stick to your anointing.
God spoke this to me at work Wednesday afternoon.
He confirmed it during my discipleship class Wednesday night.
I was kind of frustrated Tuesday night that I couldn't give counsel to my cell group members the way my cell group leader gives counsel.
But the Lord assured me that He used my personality to counsel one of the young men in our church Monday night for a particular reason.
God showed me the significance of staying stuck to one's giftings and anointings while learning about the life of William Branham.
It's useless trying to be who you are not -- in the physical and in the spiritual. If you're not called, anointed and gifted for a particular task, you're asking for trouble by getting into that task in the flesh.
Thank You Lord for teaching me Your ways.
Amen!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Debugging the Prophetic
Steve Shultz: "Debugging the Prophetic: Questions and Answers with Steve Shultz"
[from ElijahList.com]
History of "Debugging"
In 1946, when Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper (Winner of the 1984 Woman of the Year Award, Young Women's Christian Association of the National Capitol Area) was released from active duty, she joined the Harvard faculty at the Computation Laboratory where she continued her work on early computers - the Mark and Mark III. She traced an error in the Mark II to a moth trapped in a relay, coining the term "bug." This bug was carefully removed and taped to the log book. Stemming from the first bug, today we call errors or glitches in a program, a bug - or the removal of the bug - the "debugging" process.
In 1946, Admiral Hooper joined the Eckert-Machly Computer Corporation (later called Sperry Rand). At Eckert-Machly she helped design the first commercial electronic computer called the UNIVAC. The UNIVAC operated a thousand times faster than the Mark I. "Debugging" came to mean fixing both computers and making things plainer when teaching.
Debugging Questions and Answers (Q&A) with Steve Shultz
Q. How and where do you find accountability for the accuracy and fulfillment of prophetic words delivered by the prophets today? Who can I rely on?
A. It is a double-edged sword to list every time a prophet is correct or accurate about a word. When we do that, people often criticize us for bragging, even when the word is accurate. At the same time, people can also accuse us of not having compassion, especially when it's a word of judgment.
We've found that it's up to the individual to decide for himself or herself if a word is correct, and leave it mostly at that. Scripture is clear that we are to "let" (that is, not disallow) two or three prophets speak and let the others pass judgment, or discern (see 1 Corinthians 14:29). That, of course, doesn't mean that a vote of five-to-four wins. The Church never voted on a word; neither do any roundtables I belong to hold the "power" (so to speak) to decide definitively if a word is correct ahead of time. We are a "too colorful" group of diverse prophetic people.
When we post any word at all on The ElijahList website - ANY word - some think it's from God and some think it's NOT from God. So, that's the way it's supposed to work. Over time, you will decide literally for yourself which words you feel are trustworthy for YOU and/or which prophets you feel have the least or best credibility.
I ask several people for counsel on many of the words we post on The ElijahList, but on the other hand, I don't ask for counsel on every word. So again, the Bible doesn't let the reader off the hook. You need to discern - not just our counselors. What if they are wrong, for instance?
We must also consider the riddle factor in most words, where God may speak in a parable or about a specific date. For instance, Hurricane Katrina seemed to be prophesied exactly one year to the date on August 29, 2004, by Chuck Pierce (one of my advisors). Katrina hit on August 29, 2005. We posted that word by Chuck Pierce one year to the date; and we posted a word by Kim Clement just weeks before Katrina hit - where he said bodies would float in the street in New Orleans (found in The ElijahList archives).
It would seem very low class to brag about such accuracy. And then sometimes we find that if we simply mention that a prophetic word turned out to be a correct year-to-the-date word, we receive comments about not being compassionate.
So, the bottom line is this: just work to decide for yourself which prophet/prophetess you most trust and which you don't and leave it at that. I believe this is the wisest course.
Q. How can we as Christians, know if a prophecy is true when it is not edifying, encouraging, or strengthening - especially when it sounds like judgment, and especially when it doesn't come to pass immediately?
A. This is the single most common question and the easiest one to "trip," or stumble over, than any other prophetic question in the New Testament era. First, a major point or two:
1. There are as many kinds of prophetic "downloads" that are revelation from the Heavenlies as there are personalities on this planet. So, there is no one form of delivery that can be discerned as being from God, or not from God. We have a glimpse of this in 1 Corinthians 14:3,"...everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort."
Likewise, we have another concept in the prophetic that makes properly discerning a prophetic word difficult:
2. Whether the Lord gives you a dream, a vision, a visitation, or any other type of seer experience with revelation included, HE often does not tell you if something you see and experience - is an evil plan from the devil - or planned by God; either way gives you the ability to stop it through prayer - if God is willing of course.
When I first got into doing The ElijahList, I would often get words sent to me like, America or the Church was a "stench in the nostrils of God." That became a key phrase that told me this person was not acting in accordance with the above Scripture, because who was strengthened by that?
So, I began to learn (and am still learning eleven years later) to discern which words are from God, and which are from the devil. Let me state it this way: When I wake up with an awful dream of something terrible happening and I wonder where that dream came from, I head straight to the "Throne of Grace" and ask God not to let that bad thing happen, be it personal, in my family, church, city, office, state, country and so forth. In most cases, I simply take the bad things to prayer and then those things don't come to pass.
For all I know, God has given thousands of people a similar dream and they are praying, too. This is good practice for all Christians. If you get a "bad" word, simply dismiss it or pray against it!
Even Abraham (prior to the Cross and prior to the time when we could say, "we have a personal relationship with God"), got in God's face when he was told directly that God would destroy an entire city, and said:
"Far be it from You (God) to do such a thing (that You've shown me or told me) - to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Genesis 18:25
Strange, isn't it, that with a personal relationship with the Creator of the world, we are afraid to get into the face of the Father and Jesus, His Son, and say, "Wouldn't You rather show mercy instead, God?" And then we can add, "Lord, I repent on behalf of the people for their sins and my own sins, but please don't destroy this city for the sins of the people."
There are times when God simply chooses to do His will and He just informs us of it, but I truly believe that most of the time, He is looking for a faith-filled man or woman to "stand in the gap" so that He won't have to judge an entire city or region.
Nevertheless, we are left with two principles:
1. Most prophecy is meant to build up and strengthen and encourage. The very fact that God is giving revelation can be encouragement enough to get you to pray. God only tells secrets to His Best Friends - and that's you and me.
2. There are times when God has sovereignly chosen to bring destruction after many warnings. In those rare cases, we can still affect the outcome - through prayer - by minimizing the destruction or saving many lives.
THE "ACID" TEST IF A PROPHETIC WORD IS TRUE:
Before I close out this long answer to a short question, let me give you a short answer by a wise prophet named Bob Jones. Here is his quote, which I love, "If a prophecy comes true, then you know it was right."
Whether you have to wait minutes or years for a prophecy to be fulfilled, ultimately, you'll discover if it was correct ONLY when it comes to pass!
Q. My Pastor allows several people to prophesy at church and I often get the exact same word those people just prophesied, yet my pastor doesn't want me to share it, even though it confirms what was just given prophetically. Please explain.
A. There is a term that I feel works well in the Body of Christ for this type of situation. It's called "resonate" or "resonation."
When the Holy Spirit is speaking, hopefully many people in the same room will be hearing the same thing at the same time. That is what makes them "resonate" with the word just given - because they are in fact hearing the same thing.
If you have great character, you will just be encouraged by the fact that you heard from God accurately. On the other hand, if you get upset because you are not allowed to give the same or similar word that was already given, you might be demonstrating prophetic immaturity.
We are instructed at any meeting to allow two or three - at most - to prophesy and let the others evaluate what was just prophesied. It doesn't mean that 57 people might not have gotten the exact same prophecy at the same time. If it's a large church, maybe more than 57 people were already hearing the same thing.
"Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said." 1 Corinthians 14:29
Remember that the Word is clear, God's sheep (that's all of us: you, me, and the whole group of us sheep, both mature and immature), DO in fact hear His voice. Therefore, in a large room there really should be a large number of people hearing and/or resonating with the word given up front - assuming that it's accurately given.
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." John 10:27
Q. Do I take a prophetic word given to me and just wait for it to happen? Do I pray into that word? Or should I try to help the prophecy happen?
A. The specific, technical and most helpful answer is, "Yes," to all of the above. I like to tell the stories about how I "stumble" into the prophetic.
Years before The ElijahList began, even before I was operating much in the prophetic, I was given a prophetic word that one day I would "connect the prophets by computer."
I thought how strange that was! You have to know this was the mid-1990's and the internet was barely known. The World Wide Web was just being heard about, but few were on it.
So, sure - I prayed into it. But then I went back to work with the work I was doing. Years went by. As that company began to wane, I starting playing around with the internet and prophecies I found on the web. For "fun," I sent a few prophecies to thirty friends. Just sending encouraging words - that's all I was doing. Someone sent back a request to subscribe, which shocked me because I wasn't looking for subscribers. Now, eleven years later, I have over 136,000 subscribers. Prophets, by the way, started asking me to connect them to each other.
So, I didn't rebel, and yes, I prayed, but mostly I forgot about it. I "stumbled" (with God's help) into the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Now, years later, being more educated in such things, I'd probably pray more and look for ways to "help" God by obeying my impressions more intentionally, rather than just "waiting" for something to happen. Other times, you have no choice but to wait until God moves.
But either way, I'm sure of this - I'm still surprised today with HOW God chooses to fulfill any prophecy I receive. He loves surprises!
Part of the surprise is sometimes how LONG you have to wait. I've seen prophecies take many years to come to pass. Sometimes the surprise is how a word comes true the very next day. It's all up to God how HE chooses to fulfill a word.
I would add this, based on what I've learned since then: Often, but not necessarily always, how you react IN FAITH at the very moment a prophecy is given to you, may depend on how quickly or how certainly a word will come true for you.
So, if you receive a good word and something inside of you, in faith, believes that word, then grab hold of that word with all that is within you! Obey impressions. Pray about that word. Decree that word. Remind God of His promise, or maybe His many promises. If you do that, you'll likely see more prophetic words come true more quickly.
Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
The ElijahList & ElijahRain magazine
http://www.elijahlist.com
- - - - - -
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Captivate
I will pursue You. I choose to do that. Even if my passion for You isn’t yet the burning bonfire that I wish it would be. I just know that the hunger inside is growing – I can feel it. You are consuming the proclivities of the old, killing the prospects of the past. God, please sustain me with a willing spirit that I may not lose heart and grow weary. Please captivate all of me and hold my attention on You only.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Kingdom Leadership
Rick Joyner: "Leadership in the Kingdom is Built Upon Loving the KING, Loving His PEOPLE, and Loving His PURPOSE"
Having His Cause
People mobilize for a cause, and then they follow leaders in pursuit of that cause. In the case of an army, the possibility of future conflicts could result in injury or even death, so for one to mobilize, there must be a high degree of belief in the cause.
To endure the daily discipline and training that is required to become part of an army also requires a continuing, deepening, and enduring devotion to the cause. Articulation of the cause and then building on the foundation of devotion to a noble cause is crucial for leadership.
In Christ, we have the most noble cause. Articulating and projecting the cause is basic to leadership. Because "the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (see Matthew 12:34), the most basic qualification of leadership in God's army is having His cause, which is His Gospel and His Kingdom in our hearts. The deeper and more real it is in our hearts, the more powerful the articulation will be because living waters come out of the innermost being or heart (see John 7:38).
Of course, the purest water is the most untainted and unclouded. Because the army of God is also His Bride and we know that by the end of this age He will have a pure Bride "without spot," we can expect her leadership to be both deep and pure in their motives. The deeper we go in our understanding and love of the Lord and the Gospel of His Kingdom, the more it should also purify our motives.
When the angel released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, he exhorted them to return to the temple and preach "the whole message of this Life" (see verse 20). After our call to the army by the Gospel, which is the commitment to give our lives to the Lord, to obey Him and follow Him, there is the need for the continual reiteration of the cause and "the whole message of this Life," including how we should live to represent His Kingdom. This, too, must be done from the heart because it takes "living water" to motivate the soldiers to excellence in their training, which in our case is all life skills.
Enlistment in the army of God is not over after a four-year stint or after a conflict is decided because we know this conflict will continue until the Lord returns. Therefore, it is crucial for the leadership in this army to be skilled at projecting the message on every level as a continual motivation of the army. Morale is crucial for the performance of any army.
Love God Above All Things
A person in love will not quit. Those who truly love the Lord above all things will do all things for the Lord. Those who have kept their first love wake up thinking about Him. The primary devotion of their lives will be to get closer to Him, to know Him better, to know His voice better, and to obey Him in all things.
If this is not our most basic devotion, then something less than God has eclipsed our affections for Him. The first and greatest commandment is to love God above all things. Anything else but this means we have departed from the path and have become deceived because there is no person or thing that is more lovable than God. Who could possibly perceive His great love, His great heart, and all of His ways and not love Him more and more? To let anything else eclipse that love is to make it an idol in His place.
This is one reason why lukewarmness is so offensive to the Lord. How could anyone really know the living God, the consuming Fire, and not be on fire for Him? To be lukewarm means to be shallow in our devotion, and if that has happened to one who knows the most noble cause there is, there must be a most serious character flaw or deception.
We should appreciate preachers and leaders who study how to be more articulate or effective in their preaching just as we should appreciate those who seek to do their jobs better. Even so, true greatness in preaching or teaching will be the depth of love that we have for the message.
We should appreciate the preachers and leaders who take courses or seek to learn better leadership and management skills. This, too, is necessary to lead well. We should want to do the best job possible leading those who have been entrusted into our care. Those who are trying to improve their leadership skills are to be commended and will likely also be the ones who are promoted by the Lord.
We should do this first because we love the Lord and want to do the best possible job for Him, but the best leaders will also love the people entrusted to their care. It should be the love in our hearts for the Lord and His people, not just promotions, which compel us to always study and try to do a better job.
If We Love Him We Will Esteem and Honor What He Trusts Us With...
We should care for the resources that have been entrusted to us enough to be the best stewards of them that we can be by managing them well. We often hear the saying, "seek the Giver, not the gifts," but that is not Biblical because the Scriptures exhort us to seek the gifts. This is not an "either/or matter," but one way we seek the Giver is by letting Him use us for His gifts and ministries to operate through. The Scriptures also exhort us to seek Him for our provision, our daily bread, and other things that we need or even want. This binds us to Him even more closely as our Source.
Of course, we must not let the seeking of His gifts and provisions eclipse our seeking Him personally. Also, if we love Him we will esteem and honor what He trusts us with and will want to be the best stewards possible. If we love the gifts, we will treat them with more respect and take better care of them. This is why it is right to "earnestly desire" (see I Corinthians 12:31) the gifts, just as Paul exhorted the Corinthians.
It is not wrong to love our ministries; it is wrong not to. It is not wrong to love the gifts; it is wrong not to. It is not wrong to love anything else He has entrusted to us; it is wrong not to, but in all things we must love Him more. We will also find that the more we love Him, the more we will tend to love other people and things. Love, passion, and compassion will all be the basis of the zeal for the message of His true messengers.
Certainly other factors contribute to becoming a good leader, but heart is the first. Therefore, we must guard our hearts and its affections, but we must also use them. Have you heard people say that love is not a feeling but a discipline? Try telling your spouse that you no longer feel anything for them but are just loving them in obedience to God. That is actually promoting "cold love."
Leadership in the Kingdom is built upon loving the King, loving His people, and loving His purposes. You cannot truly love someone or something without feeling it. If you feel it, it will come out in your words. Words without feeling simply will not motivate, and motivation is crucial to leadership.
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Email: info@morningstarministries.org
- - - - -
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Having His Cause
People mobilize for a cause, and then they follow leaders in pursuit of that cause. In the case of an army, the possibility of future conflicts could result in injury or even death, so for one to mobilize, there must be a high degree of belief in the cause.
To endure the daily discipline and training that is required to become part of an army also requires a continuing, deepening, and enduring devotion to the cause. Articulation of the cause and then building on the foundation of devotion to a noble cause is crucial for leadership.
In Christ, we have the most noble cause. Articulating and projecting the cause is basic to leadership. Because "the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (see Matthew 12:34), the most basic qualification of leadership in God's army is having His cause, which is His Gospel and His Kingdom in our hearts. The deeper and more real it is in our hearts, the more powerful the articulation will be because living waters come out of the innermost being or heart (see John 7:38).
Of course, the purest water is the most untainted and unclouded. Because the army of God is also His Bride and we know that by the end of this age He will have a pure Bride "without spot," we can expect her leadership to be both deep and pure in their motives. The deeper we go in our understanding and love of the Lord and the Gospel of His Kingdom, the more it should also purify our motives.
When the angel released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, he exhorted them to return to the temple and preach "the whole message of this Life" (see verse 20). After our call to the army by the Gospel, which is the commitment to give our lives to the Lord, to obey Him and follow Him, there is the need for the continual reiteration of the cause and "the whole message of this Life," including how we should live to represent His Kingdom. This, too, must be done from the heart because it takes "living water" to motivate the soldiers to excellence in their training, which in our case is all life skills.
Enlistment in the army of God is not over after a four-year stint or after a conflict is decided because we know this conflict will continue until the Lord returns. Therefore, it is crucial for the leadership in this army to be skilled at projecting the message on every level as a continual motivation of the army. Morale is crucial for the performance of any army.
Love God Above All Things
A person in love will not quit. Those who truly love the Lord above all things will do all things for the Lord. Those who have kept their first love wake up thinking about Him. The primary devotion of their lives will be to get closer to Him, to know Him better, to know His voice better, and to obey Him in all things.
If this is not our most basic devotion, then something less than God has eclipsed our affections for Him. The first and greatest commandment is to love God above all things. Anything else but this means we have departed from the path and have become deceived because there is no person or thing that is more lovable than God. Who could possibly perceive His great love, His great heart, and all of His ways and not love Him more and more? To let anything else eclipse that love is to make it an idol in His place.
This is one reason why lukewarmness is so offensive to the Lord. How could anyone really know the living God, the consuming Fire, and not be on fire for Him? To be lukewarm means to be shallow in our devotion, and if that has happened to one who knows the most noble cause there is, there must be a most serious character flaw or deception.
We should appreciate preachers and leaders who study how to be more articulate or effective in their preaching just as we should appreciate those who seek to do their jobs better. Even so, true greatness in preaching or teaching will be the depth of love that we have for the message.
We should appreciate the preachers and leaders who take courses or seek to learn better leadership and management skills. This, too, is necessary to lead well. We should want to do the best job possible leading those who have been entrusted into our care. Those who are trying to improve their leadership skills are to be commended and will likely also be the ones who are promoted by the Lord.
We should do this first because we love the Lord and want to do the best possible job for Him, but the best leaders will also love the people entrusted to their care. It should be the love in our hearts for the Lord and His people, not just promotions, which compel us to always study and try to do a better job.
If We Love Him We Will Esteem and Honor What He Trusts Us With...
We should care for the resources that have been entrusted to us enough to be the best stewards of them that we can be by managing them well. We often hear the saying, "seek the Giver, not the gifts," but that is not Biblical because the Scriptures exhort us to seek the gifts. This is not an "either/or matter," but one way we seek the Giver is by letting Him use us for His gifts and ministries to operate through. The Scriptures also exhort us to seek Him for our provision, our daily bread, and other things that we need or even want. This binds us to Him even more closely as our Source.
Of course, we must not let the seeking of His gifts and provisions eclipse our seeking Him personally. Also, if we love Him we will esteem and honor what He trusts us with and will want to be the best stewards possible. If we love the gifts, we will treat them with more respect and take better care of them. This is why it is right to "earnestly desire" (see I Corinthians 12:31) the gifts, just as Paul exhorted the Corinthians.
It is not wrong to love our ministries; it is wrong not to. It is not wrong to love the gifts; it is wrong not to. It is not wrong to love anything else He has entrusted to us; it is wrong not to, but in all things we must love Him more. We will also find that the more we love Him, the more we will tend to love other people and things. Love, passion, and compassion will all be the basis of the zeal for the message of His true messengers.
Certainly other factors contribute to becoming a good leader, but heart is the first. Therefore, we must guard our hearts and its affections, but we must also use them. Have you heard people say that love is not a feeling but a discipline? Try telling your spouse that you no longer feel anything for them but are just loving them in obedience to God. That is actually promoting "cold love."
Leadership in the Kingdom is built upon loving the King, loving His people, and loving His purposes. You cannot truly love someone or something without feeling it. If you feel it, it will come out in your words. Words without feeling simply will not motivate, and motivation is crucial to leadership.
Rick Joyner
MorningStar Ministries
Email: info@morningstarministries.org
- - - - -
ElijahList Publications
310 2nd Ave SE,
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Holiness and the First Stone
"Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy." Leviticus 19:2I was hanging out at one of the Roman Catholic churches near our congregation yesterday and was able to catch the 7pm mass there. The priest was talking about the issue of holiness and how men of the cloth are often misunderstood -- because of the scandals involving priests that have plagued the Roman Catholic Church [and even in other denominations].
As the priest was speaking, the Lord spoke to me about His requirement of holiness. People always have this high standard of holiness measured against priests, pastors and ministers without realizing that God requires holiness from all His children, not just from those chosen to minister in front of people.
Parishioners and congregants have this glossed over idea that their clergy, church leaders and ministers are in a higher plane of holiness simply because they appear in front of the masses. While it is true that there is a higher level of accountability for priests and pastors, I believe God requires the same standard of holiness for everyone, whether we are the shepherd of our flock or a sheep in the flock.
In Leviticus 19:2, God clearly states that requirement: "Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy." He does not give this command to a chosen few of his people but to all His people. "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel..." God says in verse 1 before giving the mandate of holiness to the people of Israel.
Immediately, what came to mind when the priest was sharing his homily was the story of Jesus and the sinful woman who was about to be stoned by the people because she was caught in sin. I was reminded of how easy and quick it is for us, the bench warmers and the pew-packers, to turn into a mob once we see our leaders, pastors or priests falling into some form of sin and immorality. Almost everyone of us wants to be the one to cast the first stone, without first checking if we ourselves have been living in complete, untarnished holiness and if we have managed to avoid every temptation that came our way.
Two questions came up while listening to the preaching last night:
1) do we, as congregants and parishioner, apply the same high standards of holiness in our own personal lives that we expect from our leaders?
and
2) do we pray for our leaders and cover them and the ministry that they do?
See, it's easy to point fingers at the mistakes of others, especially if they are front line ministers, people who have been called to serve us in front of many. But who's pointing a finger at our own mistakes? I can only hope we're are as adamant at our own failures as we are at the failure of others. Otherwise, we'd all be like the Pharisees and Sadducees who lived a life of hypocrisy. If we demand such high standards of holiness on priests, let us remember to apply the same high standards of holiness on ourselves because God doesn't have a holiness discrimination -- He requires and expects holiness from all of us, whether we are pastors or lay ministers or churchgoers. He requires it from all of us because He is a holy God.
Also, if our leaders fall into sin and fail, let's check ourselves to see if we did our part in covering them and supporting them in prayer. Paul encouraged Timothy -- and all of us -- to pray for all people and to "pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God"[1 Timothy 2:2]. As much as our leaders and authority figures are accountable to God for their own lives and for leading us, we are also accountable to God for our own lives and for spiritual support [among others] we are to give to our leaders. It takes two tango you know, and if our priests fall into immorality or our pastors fall short in the area of holiness, chances are we didn't do our part in covering them with our prayers.
I have heard many people [and I was one of these before] complain about the weaknesses of their leaders; complain about the duplicity of some priests; criticize the flaws of their pastors; point fingers at the inadequacies of their ministers; bawl about how the pastoral style is not to their liking; whine about the holiness and purity issues in the clergy; while we ourselves did not take time to check our own lives and our standing before the Lord.
Our leaders, pastors and priests are only human... and still human regardless of the titles attached to their names or the priestly garments they put on their bodies. They face the trials and testings as we do; encounter temptations like we do; they feel lust, pride, jealousy, anger and hurt like we do. They've not shed their vulnerability to the flesh just because their names are prefixed with Fr. or Rev. It just means that they are called to serve where they are. They have a calling and they have heeded that call. That doesn't make them holier or stronger or better than the rest of us. They are still human beings like you and me, but they are just called to that area of ministry.
This is not to excuse the sins and shortcomings that our ministers and leaders commit and fall into. Far from that actually. The Bible tells us to confess our sins and repent of them. It also tells us to correct and rebuke when ever a wrong comes up. I believe that if our leaders fall into issues of immorality and sin, they should be subject to disciplinary action as much as any member of the flock is. But the point I'm trying to make is this: to expect others to abide by a certain measure of holiness without adhering to the same measure ourselves is foolishness. It's like the old saying "do as I say; but do not as I do." Or saying something like "I expect you to be flawless and blameless, but never mind shining that light on my life."
If we expect our leaders to be good examples of holiness and righteousness, we must first have a realistic view about the issue. The truth is NONE OF US IS HOLY ON OUR OWN. That's why we all come to Jesus and adopt His holiness and righteousness as our own. The moment we start to think that we are holier than others, is the moment that God will begin to humble us and remind us that our righteousness as just like filthy rags before His eyes.
Jesus was very much against the issue of duplicity. He warned people about living pious public lives while leading sinful ones in private. If we are quick to point out the faults of our leaders -- even of our brethren -- we must be reminded to "first remove the plank from our own eye". Yes, there are priests who are errant, there are pastors who transgress, but we have been taught by the Lord Himself to forgive, to be compassionate and to carry each other's burden.
We all make mistakes, we all fall short of the glory of God. Instead of wanting to cast the first stone in the public square, let's put ourselves in the shoes of our leaders, priests and pastors -- or of anybody who sins for that matter -- and show the compassion of Christ to the sinner, while remaining hateful of the sin. "Separate the sinner from the sin. Love the sinner, hate the sin," is what I often hear from the first row from the pulpit where I sit. And it is sound advice. Jesus Himself adhered to it -- this was the message of His life. He extended His compassion and forgiveness and mercy to us. Why should we not do the same for our brothers and sisters?
Imagine what it would be like if Jesus was the one eager and ready to throw the first stone at you!
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