Someone missed the transition from communicating about church to communicating about G-d
The above image was seen on my personal wall and so I am re-posting it here with my thoughts:
As a pastor, I would like to address a notoriously faulty paradigm here.
How does “don’t make church a high priority” translate into “no concept of G-d”?
If we communicate truth, and we move from one concept to a different concept, without language for a smooth transition that connects the two realities, then the flow will be choppy.
We live in a church age where where church members and preachers have equivocated “G-d” and “church”, and subsequently used the two interchangeably.
Or G-d and Christianity, and then utter retardations such as “Christianity is the only valid religion” or “Christianity is the only way to G-d”.
And as we all know, Jesus said:
“The Church is the Way, the Truth, and the Life”.
And we have made the church responsible for spiritual growth. And we have abdicated our responsibility, to, flowing from our personal relationships with the Trinity, raise our kids up in the nurture and the admonition of the Church.
Are you getting it yet? Too many of my cynical Generation X are done with the “Church is G-d” Bolshevik.
The issue is not church, but growing up without parents who impart through the spirit to them, not the reality of church, but the reality of G-d.
If I impart knowledge of an institution and then farm my kids out to someone else in order for them to be instructed in Scripture without doing that heavy lifting myself first, then I don’t know how much good the church will do or be.
I will also say this.
Most of my wounds spiritually came from believers in institutional churches who refused to make discernment a priority or listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit also a priority, while judging me by my exterior, repeatedly and brazenly, which in turn led to slander and false accusations.
I’ve been a believer for 37 years, and have been raising my kids without an institutional church’s backing for the last several years, and it’s not because I have a theology degree, but because I listen to and hear Him.
It is amazing to me that, in the first 3 steps of this sequence, G-d HIMSELF, the Word of G-d, Jesus is not mentioned. Just a damn institution which may or may not get my kids closer to the L-rd if it does not know how to equip and release according to design.
So, if the sequence is to truly be logical, I would replace “church” in each step with “G-d”.
Over and over, I have seen all kinds of memes and posts that refer to institutions and seem to imply the institution is the same thing as the Man, and that simply is not the case.
A church is only as healthy as the strength of the personal relationships its members have with the Holy Trinity apart from the power and authority structures they attempt to place on one another.
Beloved, I invite your spirit forward to connect for a few minutes.
Spirit, listen tot he word of G-d for you for today.
The L-RD said to Cain…
From Genesis 4:6, 9 ESV
Spirit, this text clearly says that, when Cain sinned in unrighteous anger and in the execution of murder both times, it never says he went to G-d. Rather, the text seems, at least to me, to indicate G-d came to him.
Let me say that again a little louder for those in the back.
Spirit, after Cain messed up twice, G-d didn’t consign him immediately to hell or Sheol or banish Cain. G-d came to Cain to help coach him to fix the problem.
Cain chose to leave G-d’s presence, not the way we typically hear this preached.
Nor was Cain this “ooooohhhhh wicked rebellious sinner beyond redemption.”
And this whole overgrown “a holy G-d cannot look on sin” nonsense that we have constructed off on own or two proof texts.
Plainly, after Cain sinned and before any sort of repentance take place, G-d approached him when there was still blood on his hands and offered to help him out of it.
Spirit, after our mess-ups and before the repentance bears forth, there is a moment in which G-d comes to visit us with His kindness and which His offer to help us to a better place.
So, Spirit, I bless you to speak up when we each screw up and to say “HEY! THIS IS THE WAY BACK HOME!!!!!”
I bless your voice to be among the oldest in our ear and presenting the kindness of the King as the way back home, even if the way back home may be difficult.
I bless you to latch onto and to display the reconciling desire of the Father’s heart when we are missing it.
I bless you to remind the person in whom you dwell that the way back home is already ready already (pardon that odd syntax), and the door is already flung wide for you to come back home, and the Father waits to kill the fatted calf in celebration of your return.
I bless you to be full of the purposes of the L-rd as you come back home and as you respond to the voice of the L-rd who is ever near the screwed-up.
I bless you to light on the path and the place where we ought to go.
If we are exhorted, spirit, to come boldly before the throne of grace, what’s to stop the Father from boldly coming to us with kindness to make…
all things new….
Be reconciled, you who have messed up, to a Father that wants you home.
We have too many people that treat themselves as Slaves of the Master rather than Noble Subjets of the King: Those that wish to only think with their souls, their natural minds, and what they can perceive with their senses, which are all great gifts from the King, but do not account for the reality and knowledge of the things of the spirit. Obedience is part of the equation of how we walk with the L-rd, but it is not the end goal. Further, if we treat ourselves only as slaves, we will never step into the fullness of who we are as sons who build and create in partmership with the King. Gang, you are noble, and you are sons (And I have said this before, and I will say it again. Ladies: if men can be the bride of Christ, you can be called sons of G-d. Congratuations, life is uncomfortable for all of us). We need way more believers who want their spirits leading, because it is on the level of the spirit where the King does most of His interactions and work with us. And it is the spirit leading that enables us to be the most productive as followers of Messiah. And it is the spirit that is active from conception, while the soul requires the functioning of the mylenated nerves in order to function. G-d, in handicapping our souls for the first portion of our lives, and causing our spirits to be active and engageable from conception, enabled us to move to a place of strength in accordance with His design. So, when I construct a blessing for the spirit, it is precisly because I am following the design and blueprint G-d set up, as that we could have gthe easiest time walking as sons, overcomers, and those who will walk toward holiness and righteousness rather than constantly struggling with sin. We were made for walking as spiritual beings, and not merely soulish beings.
So, without further adieu, and knowing that Scripture teaches that we be sanctified in spirit, soul, and body, let’s jump into the next several blessings for this window.
As we enter the season that includes the Holy Days of Awe (Rosh Hoshanah and Yom Kippur), Sukkot, and the Simchat Torah, please know that the days surrounding the Autumnal Equinox, which is often known as a holy time for the witchcraft community and defiled for us, were made to be set apart and holy by the L-rd. These twenty days between September 10 and September 30, and especially the 21st were intended by G-d to be days where we deeply connect and recover lost ground with Him, and with that…
Beloved, I would like to invte your spirit to be present for the next few minutes.
Spirit, listen to the word of G-d for you for today
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
Psalm 16:6 ESV
Spirit, in our reconcilation to the L-RD in this season, there is room for the Father to provide many different good and perfect gifts to us. Part of the blessing that G-d the Father wants to give to us is the blessing of protection. Secure boundaries. And boundary LINES that are set up where HE wants them to be set up. Not boundary lines that we have set up. And certainly not boundary lines that the enemy can set up and move whenever he wants to.
Boundary lines that are G-d-ordained are set up for a purpose. They protect and help secure our inheritance. And in this security, we have the opportunity to walk with the King as He establishes our territory,
Our inheritance is not just heaven, spirit. Our inheritance is tied to our destiny in the near-term and present here on earth as we walk as sons who expand the kingdom, while the whole earth groans in anguished expectation as it waits for the manifestation of SONS of G-d.
And all parts of that inheritance are valuable, spirit. And they all merit the protection that the L-rd.
So spirit, I bless you to recognize the blessing and favor of the L-rd.
I bless you to be discerning enough to know when the enemy is attempting to fool you about a boundary marker that he has put in place. I bless you, spirit, to resist the boundary markers of the enemy.
I bless you to hear the boundaries the L-rd has set in place, and as you keep those boundaries.
I bless you to know the full measure of the territory (physical, generational, spiritual) that is yours to steward.
I bless you to rejoice at the bounty of the Father’s heart for you. He does not give boundaries to keep you fenced in, but rather so that you can establish and secure governance over what is legetimately yours.
Spirit, I bless you with the tenacity to fight for the full extent of your territory. And I bless you to remove those enemies that do not belong on your land.
Be at peace, spirit, and be more deeply reconciled with your G-d, who has given you boundary lines that surround what will ultimately become pleasant places.
I bless you to find your way back home to the place in the spirit where you belong.
You are loved in many ways, spirit.
I bless you with those realities in the name of Yeshua.
Gang, what hopes to follow is a series of blessings for the new window that approaches.
Now, for those new to my methodology and this idea of a Window of Reconcilation, please allow me to expand a bit on this.
Some of us have discovered the concept that the seasons of the enemy’s greatest attack and slamming are actually designed to be seasons of intensity that advance not just the kingdom of G-d, but also in specific flavors.
For whatever reason, the date ranges before and after the seasonal changes (the two soltices and the two equinoces) are periods of intense spiritual activity for the dark side, and as a result, we understand G-d, being the career-minded opportunist that He is, He wishes for these seasons run awash in His activity against the other side.
And further, we have noticed that during these seasons, there is an opportunity to reconcile to one of four facets of our life in Him.
In the case of September, we find that there is an unusual grace to gain some significant ground as it pertains to our relationships with G-d. It is possible this is because we are near the Days of Awe in the Hebrew calendar.
So, noting that, I would like to offer the following blessing of your human spirit as it relates to G-d, and some flavors of reconciliation.
The Blessing #1: Reconciled to G-d: Names of G-d: Father
Beloved I would like to invite your human spirit to come forward to interact with me.
Spirit, listen as I read the following portion of Scripture.
“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”
Exodus 4:22-23 ESV
Spirit, this passage does not outright proclaim the name of G-d I am thinking of, but it does implicitly speak to that name.
There was a time when G-d the Father was not Creator of Heaven and Earth. But given, Jesus was always present from the beginning (John 1), and given he was everlastingly and eternally begotten from G-d, there was never a time when G-d was not Father.
And I realize and feel the pain and frustration that some of you have felt in the relationships you have had your earthly fathers.
However, G-d the Father has always been Father, and He knows what is necessary to raise up sons to their destiny.
His destiny in the Exodus account was not so Israel could liver perpetually as slaves under the people of Egypt. Rather, they were made to inherit the land of Canaan, the Land of Milk and Honey.
The Father does not withhold His very Son, and as a result spirit, He will also give to us every good and perfect gift.
So, spirit, before you freak out, I bless you to pause and breathe deeply. I bless you to turn your face to Father and see him as Father, not an abuser, but a tender affectionate and kind Father. It is not the wrath of G-d that breeds repentance, but rather, the KINDNESS of our G-d.
So, spirit, given the L-rd puts into our spirits everything needed for life and godliness, I bless you to receive fruit groves of kindness from our King.
I bless that kindness and tenderness of heart to so permeate you, spirit, that the first response to a mistreatment is not wrath or vengeance, but what can be done to show kindness to the next person you meet.
I bless you, spirit, to know our Father as a protector of His children and the one who deals with abusers of his children with a heavy hand.
I bless you to know the kindness and severity of our King, and I bless you to see what is laid before you, by the great heart of the Father of Lights.
As you encounter the Father, I bless you, spirit to hear and apply His wisdom to many different situations.
And I bless you to see the gifts and flavor of grace He has for you for today.
Be at peace in the restful adoring gaze of your heavenly Father.
I bless you with those aspects in the name of Jesus.
This post was prompted as a teaching from Scripture based on a question that I receved from one of my friends on Facebook. So, follower of Yeshua, what follows are some thoughts on the concept of a sausage factory versus the kind of factory that blesses the L-rd.
Someone once asked me to break down the concept of a sausage factory and what I meant by that, given I use the term a lot.
I was going to respond to that, but I think Donald Hardy does a superb job concisely describing it in the above comment, so I posted his thoughts above, and then I will expand on his commentary with a few thoughts of my own.
Basically, sausage factories = any place where the products made are belched out with grinding efficiency and made to look identical one to another.
If we are supposed to conform to the image of Christ, however, what is wrong with this, and can I back this up with Scripture?
The problem is that we were each designed by our Creator, the Everlasting Father, with a unique design that is set up to fit hand-in-glove somewhere in this world. And this world, while for a season has been made subjected to futility (Romans 8:20), was also designed to experience liberation. That liberation comes through sons who step into sonship.
Sonship Defined
And what do sons do? Well, for starters, they survey around them and see what tools they have on hand, and they use those tools to solve problems that face them. A son was designed to give and build. A son was made to create.
And as we step into the L-rd more fully and progress in our walk with Him, we move from bondage to obedience. And obedience is not the end game. Obedience is the midpoint in our journey from bondage and slavery. The end game is sonship and freedom to act. As we mature in the fruit of the Spirit, we grow more like Him, and He gives us some choices to act, and there are consequences that follow as effects from the causes that are our actions.
Don’t shoot me for not talking about daughters, ladies. We as men are the bride of Christ, and you as ladies are the Sons of G-d.
Congratulations, life is uncomfortable for everyone.
Think about it. A bride is made for receiving intimacy from her husband in varied forms. A bride receives.
And a son gives out. It’s a pattern of two. Giving and receiving. Male and female. Evening and morning. Intimacy and Donimion.
Note how the church is mentioned in the New Testament versus the Kingdom. The flavors of the passages are different. Those are not a single entity, but two seperate entities.
And on the complementing end of the spectrum, a son gives out. He or she builds the Kingdom using the tools and plans given him or her by the King. As noble subjects of our King, we start out by hearing what the L-rd wants, as Moses began when he came to the L-rd (the L-rd told him what to do in the beginning with the plagues and presenting himself to Pharaoh), and then the L-rd begins the process of transitioning us to devising solutions to problems. Note the progression and growth of Moses from Exodus 3 – Exodus 14:15.
In the issue with the serpents first trio of plagues, Moses spoke to Aaron, Aaron spoke to Pharoah, and Aaron performed the acts with his staff (Exodus 7:9; 7:13; 7:19-20; 8:6; 8:16-17) In the next trio of plagues, G-d removes a set of training wheels as it were and says “Moses goes in to speak to Pharaoh”. Much less Aaron involvement (8:20; 9:1; 9:10). For the final 3 plagues, Moses does them without Aaron’s involvement.
And then for the Red Sea incident, the L-rd utters a curious phrase. “Why are you crying to me?” Meaning: you are a son and have matured. You can exercise some crativity. That is something you say to a son who has a library of understanding and growth and tools that he can use to build.
Likewise, in our relationship with the L-rd, as we begin, we work at hearing G-d’s voice, and merely doing what He says.
But as we progress, the L-rd says about certain things “you have faced this circumstance before, and now like a Father who has equipped His son, I am going to step back a little bit, though I am still near you and watch you engage with the tools we have designed together.”
And, brother or sister, it is okay. He has not gone AWOL or left the shop where we are. He is allowing us to experiment with the tools we have been given by Him to figure some things out. He is sitting on his stool and smiling at us as we grow to be more like him. There is sweat on our faces and oil mingling with concrete, or sawdust on the floor of the shop, or the acrid scent of solder or torch-cut metal.
And as we become more familiar with the tools that are the principles of Scripture, we begin to move toward our design and destiny for which He has hardwired us.
And that destiny is unique for each of us.
This is why in Scripture, Paul talks about “One body with many members”. It is not about us each looking the same or being the same or acting the same. G-d knew when He made each of us, that we were made to do something unique. None of us has a truly identical purpose one to another.
Let’s ingest this following passage and hunt for the details.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthains 12:12-26 ESV
You are not a sausage, follower of Christ. You are a unique individual. You are a fruit factory. A tree in the garden of the L-rd.
And you were made to take the finite principles Father gives you, and weave them together into a nearly infinite series of solutions to solve problems that you face.
So many are parroting the same answer to the same problems, whether that problem is political, or church-related, or culturally-related. You have the capacity, and as a pastor, I give you the permission to walk freely in your design to be a fruit tree that produces solutions to problems no one else is solving, and to develop the skills necessary to prossess your unique birthright.
And by the way, as sons in the kingdom, you are also leaders. You are not followers. This is not about merely ceding your authority to someone else. Rather, it is about stepping into the authority He has given you and which you have spent years earning.
So, I end this with a Blessing of your spirit.
Beloved, I call your spirit to attention in Jesus’ name.
Spirit, listen to the word of G-d for you for today.
“The L-RD G-d took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
Genesis 2:15 ESV
Spirit, your Father created Adam for a purpose, to work and tend the Garden of the L-rd East in Eden. This garden was an excellent ecosystem, but there were still animals to name and design and tools to unpack and learn to use. The man was made to work the garden. He was made to unpack horticulture, and animal husbandry, and a vast array of agricultural and ecological issues. He was given problems and two paths to potential solutions.
1) Take from the tree of knowledge.
2) Take his problems and talk to the L-rd or within himself and his G-d-given spirit to unpack tools to solve those problems.
Likewise, spirit, you also have been magnificently designed to solve a particular set of problems. You were hardwired for something or made for something.
So, I bless you to turn your face to Father, and receive from Him all the instructions and software necessary to unpack what is in you and what is in your heart and what is in your situation that needs solving. You have deep and complex problems that you face each day, and those require complex solutions that are created from the weaving together of principles (cause-and-effect relationships).
Orville and Wilbur Wright did not get the plane off the ground without methodical research into weather and air patterns, the flight of birds, the consideration of different materials, and the sowing together of those materials into a right design, turn, lift, descent, glide, thrust, as well as the right piece of land.
Spirit, the aviation industry is rife with the designs of the Wright Brothers that were meshed together. Wilbur was a Prophet by Redemptive Gift (Romans 12:6-8), and Orville was a Teacher.
Prophets naturally lend themselves to strong emotions, quick movements, ideological bents, and the new, bleeding-edge, technology, and a singular sense of humor that mostly leads to snark. They are always pushing forward based on their amazing capacity to solve problems and fix things, and they often are held in disdain because they see a problem usually before anyone else, even fi they get a little tunnel-visioned in their focused intensity.
Teachers, on the other hand, are the consummate safe havens, anchors, and tinkerers in the world. They experiment and go back and refine a hundred times over. And they are meticulous in their research and background information and history and devotion to the old. And they have a singular wit and a lively sense of humor.
So, spirit, I bless you not only to weave together principles when the L-rd places you in your “garden”, but also to hear the L-rd when He tells you to go do thus and so.
I bless you to follow what the L-rd has put into you, and to unpack the treasures, even if the rest of the world, and G-d forbid, even the church says “You are not supposed to go that way or do this, because a good Christian looks like this, not that”.
I bless your pursuit of your original design and purpose.
I bless you to speak up so that the person in which you dwell hears you and moves with you.
I bless your design to hear and relay the voice of G-d in the midst of a world et up with arrogance, woundedness, and pride.
I bless you to fight for your two feet of breathing room, and I bless you to know the King more deeply as you are unpacked.
I bless you to be at peace and wholeness even when no-one but the L-rd supports your journey, in the name of Yeshua.
In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the great deep, and the Spirit of G-d was hovering over the face of the waters.
And G-d said….
Let there be light…and G-d separated the light from the darkness and principle from principle and idea and concept from idea and concept and complexity from complexity so we can see each building block as it is.
Let there be a dome to separate waters from waters
Let the waters separate from the land, and let the vegetation appear…
Let there be signs to separate days from months and seasons from years….
Let there be well-timed creatures in both the heavens and in the seas…
Let there be systematized animals on the dry land that are constant in their presence that are sensitive to the justice of G-d
Let there be fulfilling respites and strong pushbacks against futility and let those regular respites form a boundary between vigor and apathy.
Genesis 1:1-2:4 paraphrased
Seven boundaries, gang.
Each causing and allowing factories of thought and ideas and action to coalesce and weave together so that we can stave off the serfdom of darkness from the Kingdom of Light.
For, and I surmise you will agree, you do not wish to take the road to serfdom.
For that road is full of stubborn taskmasters, and futilely unproductive pain without respite that continues to grind in a choppy, oilless mess.
You were made to glide as a well-lubricated machine and a joyous son in the mindset of a Light-hearted and systematic Kingdom of Love.
And while Prophets bash, and Givers and Rulers /Judges/Deliverers and Servants order, and Teachers, Exhorters, and Prophets and Mercies reveal and Mercies find flow, and Exhorters gather, and Teachers plumb down….
And Givers/Stewards manage and provide….
There is a deeper connection and division and lines and boundaries that are given to each of the seven gifts to make.
And we will cover those in depth in the coming weeks and months.
But as for now, as I have stirred the pot between the six-colored rainbows and the seven-colored rainbows, I will ask you to consider one thing:
What does white truly look like?
And what are all the different types of light and frequency created on the first day, and how are those different from the waves in the fifth day?
Some weapons that are forged with the enemy’s intent to harm us actually do harm us.
“But wait, David. You are teaching heresy. The Word of G-d says, ‘no weapon formed against you shall prosper’. What are you talking about? I am so confused.”
Confusion comes when we refuse to read all of what is tied to a particular passage.
There can be a number of reasons why weapon prosper, but I want to focus on one dynamic of Isaiah 54:17 in particular: its immediate context.
So, the text for verse 17 reads:
no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and their vindication from me, declares the LORD.
Isaiah 54:17 ESV
Many sectors of the Charismatic Movement get so stuck on declaration and decrees, that they do not account for the context that builds into us that sinewy, tough, muscle in the spirit that comes through the process that enables Isaiah 54:17 to become a reality.
They miss that Isaiah 54:17 is contingent on walking well through the sequence of Isaiah 54.
The context for that passage is the set of keys to verse 17.
It reads:
“Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married,” says the L-RD.
“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.
“For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.
“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.
“For your Maker is your husband, the L-RD of Hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the G-d of the whole earth he is called.
“For the L-RD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off”, says your G-d.
“For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you.
“In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the L-RD, your Redeemer.
This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the L-RD, who has compassion on you.
“O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
“I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones.
“All your children shall be taught by the L-RD, and great shall be the peace of your children.
“In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.
“If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you.
“Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy;”
Isaiah 54:1–16 ESV
I am of the viewpoint that Isaiah 54:17 is meant to be loaded, and, behind verse 17, is supposed to be the following disciplines:
1) Sing in your barrenness while you are giving birth.
2) Enlarge your place unto the boundaries for which the L-RD has designed you.
3) Resist fear. This leads to the removal of shame, but shame is rooted in something deeper: the absence of dignity.
4) Receive dignity first BEFORE YOU RECEIVE HONOR. Honor is for what you do. Dignity is for who you are. This might mean you need your receiver fixed, if it is broken.
5) Receive the honor of what you do.
6) Stand in your office of wife, both men and women. Just like there are no daughters in the kingdom, there are not bridegrooms of Christ. Congratulations, life is uncomfortable for everyone.
7) Recognize the seeming or believed or possibly real desertion and the real gathering of the L-RD. Meaning, recognize and walk through the seasons He gives you.
8) Recognize and be able to discern when we are being afflicted and when we are being borne up and be able to celebrate the King’s majesty in the midst of this.
9) Become life-giving in a deep and principle-woven manner. We have too much shallow life-giving abounding in too many of our churches. Too many preachers with their inch-thick understanding and wisdom, and not enough miles-deep and stone-heavy principles-woven-together Teachers who will enable us to deeply mine more from the Acripture than merely to “stay in love with Jesus: it’s that simple.” It’s not that simple.
Simple solutions do not touch complex problems that have not been understood, nor in woven to discover the principles and the opposite spirit.
10) Allow Him to set your foundations and forge you. No flames of forge and no Paraclete’s hammer, zero success against the weapons forged against you. If you are not tempered, you will break and shatter against those weapons (now you know part of where our blog name comes from).
Thanks to Isaiah the Teacher for helping contribute to this.
After this sequence, much of which will be extremely painful, then the weapons will not prosper against you. You who have been tested.
Be at peace, gang, and ask yourself, “do I want that +80 authority that can only be earned?”
A letter from Henri Nouwen to Fred Rogers ie Mr. Rogers
Dear Fred,
I have just returned from Europe where I received permission from my Bishop to stay at L’Arche. I am now back here hoping to settle more definitely and find a new rhythm of life that is a little more livable than what I have had in the past. I read the article you sent me and can very well understand how much that must have hurt you. It must be really painful to be confronted with a total misunderstanding of your mission and your spiritual intentions.
It is these little persecutions within the church that hurt the most. I simply hope that you are not too surprised by them. They come and will keep coming precisely when you do something significant for the Kingdom. It has always struck me that the real pain comes often from the people from whom we expected real support. It was Jesus’ experience and the experience of all the great visionaries in the Church, and it continues to be the experience of many who are committed to Jesus.
I don’t think it makes much sense to argue with the writer of this article. He speaks from a very different plane and will not be open to your explanations. Some of the criticisms we simply have to suffer and see as invitations to enter deeper into the heart of Jesus. I won’t send you some of the reviews I get of my books, but some are not very different from the tone of this piece. So I certainly feel a unique solidarity with you.
Let us pray for each other, that we remain faithful and not become bitter and that we continue to return to the center where we can find the joy and peace that is not of this world. Thanks so much for staying in touch with me.
Much love, Henri Nouwen
H/T Scott Sauls and Mo Thomas
Gang, Scripture reads:
For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him.
But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.
We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.”
Psalm 55:12-14 ESV
Truly, there is a level-up opportunity emblematized here, against the Fifth Head of Leviathan here.
This is in part because some just want to make a sound that does not mesh with the sound the Holy Spirit or their human spirit wants to resonate. Twisting sounds emanating from those who name Christ is precisely what the Fifth Head of Leviathan is about.
We must seek for what our spirits and the spirit is saying.
And we must help by correcting sounds that are twisted and originating sounds that are untwisted.
Be at peace, spirit, as you learn to flow with the Spirit’s guidance and illumination. Run and speak alright. And keep your rudder amidships though others might seek to push you into a bad place.
Why are we deciding what someone is based on a small set of decisions that are held under a million power magnifying glass?
Where is the Mercy Season Fragrance and tenderness in all of this?
The desire to make news is so devouring that you have to litigate a gymnast’s actions and ask the question of whether or not heroism is present??
And, some ignore the socialist actions of a governing board that refuses to celebrate excellence, but rather attacks excellence?
Or worse yet, we focus of secondary issues, such as whether or not she was good for her decision, and ignore the attacks on her dignity.
This proves the entire fourth estate (a term used for legacy news media) does not have anything better to do with their time except lead us to a place of fostered discord.
And I don’t want their evaluation of her decision.
Rather, I want them and us to celebrate the honed skill of an athlete who is a cut above the rest.
Mediocre journalism has become what the masses thinks is fresh manna, and they don’t realize they are devouring maggoty, stinking bread.
FOX, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, NBC….the whole lot of them are peopled by predators with an agenda that is unredeemed.
And many of our current modalities in the culture are governed by modalities that deny redemption and kill nuance and refuse to make a way for robust discussion.
Picking apart a person that you should be protecting and honoring as the weaker vessel (the way Christ protected and protects us as His Bride) is the summation of what should be in our mouths.
Managing our words, or better yet, STEWARDING our words and communication when it does not matter to us will determine whether or not others hear our heart when it finally does matter. There is a wealth of sound present in the earth, and a landfill of noise given off by the fourth estate
And we will reap what we sow.
The problem here, is how are we enabling sound and clear communication to emanate from us in such a way that it gives life rather than takes it away.
Are we supposed to never speak anything that is negative or indicates our anger? G-d forbid!
But if we are frustrated, let’s really weigh our words and measure them with frugal economy so that they do not spill over into dishonor of others.
Slaves obey…..and they have zero creative will or desire or tools….and they have access only to what their master gives them…..
Sons create…..
I have a few questions for you. And I have hammered and pounded and beaten this drum forever.
Why the impotent focus on what Bezos and Gates do with their money?
Shouldn’t the focus be on unpacking your own stuff?
Is our job to handle other people’s stuff and see to it other people pay “their fair share”, when fairness is not in the Bible anywhere?
Is our job not to unpack the massive amount of treasures G-d has given us?
Or is it to wonder why someone else had any fulfilling OUR vision and OUR plan for their lives?
Your problem is not Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates or Warren Buffett.
Your problem (or problems) are issues that you personally deal with….
Your problem is between your ears…
Your refusal to see what G-d has given you….
Whether or not we realize it, these issues we have been dealing with for YEARS….they already have a slew of answers to them.
I will again mention two things.
We froth at Amazon, Disney, or other company C, and we miss the issues in government, or we froth at government and miss the evil companies.
But it seems we never put the two together.
And deal with the cohesive whole.
Our excuse? We like either the red or the blue solution. One of two Republicrat solutions.
And we ignore the reality that “what you pay taxes on, you own.”
Meaning, we have paid massive amounts of money into services and companies that have done evil things, and I rarely hear believers attempting to leverage the financial investments in these companies to ask the King to steer these companies in a direction that better aligns with His will.
Further question.
Can we leverage our investment to intercede for that alignment of those companies without coaching G-d as to what his purpose and direction for these companies is?
And we rarely ask Father to shine His light whereever He damn well wants to shine it.
And we rarely down a corporate womb of agreement long enough to ask Father to steer companies or governments because we’d rather talk about the injustice as if a yutz of a businessman can or has gassed Jews.
Or we Yell about the penis-shaped ship long enough to say, “he could end world hunger with those billions.
Forgetting world hunger IS….
Because of mindsets…..
The problem of world hunger and creating the foolish solution of confiscating wealth to end it won’t end it.
You will end world hunger when you end personal hunger.
And you end personal hunger when you stop saying “the answers to my problems belong to someone else”.
And when you stop trying to force people to care for the poor or hungry.
That damn spirit of jealousy that has caused fascists to loot and pillage and burn whole cities is a real problem.
And jailing or interning or concentrating or exterminating a race because you think another race is superior.
Calling for reparations when you fail to heal your own wounds is precisely what gets us to ripping all kinds of things apart.
Failing to understand your Southern brethren because you think you can talk down to him or her and they are backwards…
And using the fire of the world to confront what is ultimately a spiritual problem is how you ensure fractured relationships will continue.
The problem is not billionaires or millionaires.
The problem is misfocussed attention on the gifts and resources of others and a failure to unpack, steward, or use your own.
I just recently pulled out a major cork to some large-scale problem I have been dealing with for 3.5 decades.
And you know what?
I am going to keep on pursuing solutions to problems that have not yet been answered.
Gang, this peanuts of the Billionaires is going to get us nowhere.
The problem is the spirit that wants to keep us blind to our own resources (spirit of Jealousy)
The problem is the spirit that says we have no resources (the spirit of slavery)
The problem is the spirit that says other people are responsible for fixing our own problems (the welfare spirit)
You are not a slave, unless you stop creating and start pointing the finger and expecting that your solution is what Jeff or Bill have.
And world Hunter proceeds from a mindset that I cannot do anything to change my station.
And when Scripture shouts:
HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN US EVERYTHING THAT IS NECESSARY FOR LIFE
And yet we continue to act as if some people were given the goods and others simply were not….
We can quit making excuses that the solution is someone else’s responsibility….
That is a damn carnal Teacher with selective responsibility or a half-blind, non-principle-weaving and severely-wounded Prophet speaking.
And I simply will not make excuses for the juxtaposition of anyone’s radically-gifted-for-life life and “my problems are solved with their crap”.
This is not how any of this works.
And you won’t work if you think your problems are supposed to be owned by someone else.
