Author: theparacleteshammer

A friend of mine, Archbishop Daniel Williams, recently posted the following to his blog, Coffee On the Dock. I cannot recommend his work highly enough.

OTHERS MAY, I MAY NOT
Learning to turn away from appealing but short-lived gratification is a process. We tend to think of holiness as a rules-based form of life, but it it so much deeper and richer than that; it is not so much what we do or not do as much as it is sensitivity and obedience to God’s voice. It is primarily inward, not outward. Once I complained how unfair it seemed that many others appeared to be less restricted than I. As I questioned the Lord on this I heard Him speak as loudly in my heart as I ever have in my life: “Others may, you may not.” I said out loud with sarcastic indignation: “That’s it? Others may, I may not?!!” Silence. His answer required no further explanation. Father, you discipline the ones You love. Forgive my contemptuous hubris; Your high call requires my very best. Period.

“If anyone says he has read all of Augustine’s writings, he is a liar.”

DISCLAIMER:

For the record, these are my own nuanced thoughts on the topic.

With many thanks to Sandy Landry, who had the patience as a mother in Israel, to work through the Gifts with me, for working with me through towards my Redemptive Gift, and Anna Zimmerman, who was the first to challenge the idea that I was a Teacher.

As I had said before, I first encountered Arthur Burk’s material 18 years ago. Specifically with respect to the Redemptive Gifts of Cities. I was going to college at the time, in a Teacher City, and belonged to a Teacher Church.

So, my very first shoulder rub with the Redemptive Gift’s (RG’s) was with the gift of Teacher.

My best friend, for the longest time after he had first pegged me as an Exhorter, became convinced after some discussion that I was in fact a Teacher.  Some other friends also had that thought, and even some mentors and pastors.

That was until I had a conversation with Anna, in which she ranted about the various gifts in relation to me. I had earlier been in the process of thinking that I was a Teacher, a Prophet, or a Mercy (go ahead and laugh at that one, after all that is why you read my writings: to laugh and to receive the medicine that you need for your liver complaint.

I had recently taken Mercy off of the Table, and was thinking that maybe I was a Prophet.

I was in the process of telling Anna that I was wavering between Prophet and Teacher, and despite my vast library, I made an observation that in my spirit that I was Prophet despite that. It was something I felt.

So, I told Anna that I thought I was a Prophet, and she replied affirmitavely that I was.

So, I asked her to expand on her reasoning for that, and the following piece gives some wonderful nuggets as to how some of the gifts flow.

Okay, Father, you are the G-d of Community, and so, Father, I step into Your presence in accordance with John 14:6.
Your WORD DOES NOT SAY THAT WE LIVE IN MANSIONS DOWN THE STREET FROM YOUR HOUSE!  YOUR WORD SAYS SPECIFICALLY THAT YOUR HOME CONTAINS ROOMS FOR EACH OF US.
I RENOUNCE THE IDEA THAT WE HAVE TO BE A DISJOINTED, FACTIOUS MESS!
Your Word says that “in my Father’s House are many ROOMS, not MANSIONS!  Besides, Even in the KJV, “Mansion” is from the Latin word manere meaning “dwelling place” and the Greek there is μοναὶ meaning “a place to remain” or “a room”.
It doesn’t say we have a house disjointed down the road from Father’s house. It says explictly that we have a place IN Father’s home.  I don’t live down the road from Daddy’s house where He gets tired of seeing me, and then I have to go home for a few days before I can see Him again.  I live with my Father.
I step into Your Presence with my Tribe. Every.  Single.  One.  Of.  Them.  And I ask You, the Father of Community, to align each us with whatever expressions of community You want for each of us, both individually and in the various groupings in which You intend for us to dwell.  Would You do what You do best, and bring us into the various places of community You have designed for each of us, even if those expressions are not legitimized by the institutional churches as we have experienced them?
We want Your community, whatever that looks like.  No limitations on that, and no religious perversions of that.  Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, Precious, Affectionate, Righteous, and Liberating Father..
Further, I come against and nullify every poison pin that other believers have sentenced each of us to out of the Spirit of Jealousy.  I ask, Father, for you to remove both the substance and effects of the poison and bitter gall from us.
Community. Not forced. Not coerced. Not manipulated. Just the way You want it.
We hunger for a life-giving community in Your hands and in Your affections.  Thank you L-rd.
So, Father, would You begin the process that leads to reconciliation with Your ordained communities, in whatever fashion You desire such reconciliation should happen.
In the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach.

A few days ago, I pondered the following sequence of Christology.
Life of Christ = Time
Death of Christ = Land
Burial of Christ = Community
Resurrection of Christ = Birthright
Ascension of Christ = Office
And I want to focus on the middle one because of some implications for the season we are approaching soon in terms of reconciliation.
Christ’s burial happened in the context of community.
Granted, it was not the kind of thing one traditionally thinks of when one imagines the word “community” but community it was nonetheless. Nicodemus and Jospeh of Arimathea, two little-known characters, one who came to the L-rd in the middle of the night and provided us with the first half of John 3 in that famous exchange that led to John’s exposition starting in verse 16, and the other unknown until this point, took Jesus’ body and paid him honor.
Let’s consider for a moment the verse that deals explicitly with more of Joseph’s motives.
The text in Mark 15:43 says that he was “a respected member of the council (possibly the Sanhedrin) who was also himself looking for the kingdom of G-d…”.
It is possible that, as a disciple of Jesus, he knew about Jesus’ promise of being resurrected, something about which Jesus himself spoke.  And thus, knowing this, he asked for the body of Jesus.
The kingdom happens in community, not in solitude.  It happens with others.  Joys are experienced, lives are changed and made whole, and it takes the grain of wheat falling to the ground and dying for people to be brought together.
Consider the community of two on the way to Emmaus.
The community of Eleven just before Jesus appeared.
The community of Peter and John running to the tomb.
The community of John and Mary brought together in Jesus’ death.
The community of Joseph and Nicodemus, who were hunting for the kingdom, brought together in order to bury the body of Jesus.
And reconciliation often happens at funerals, and only happens in the context of community.
When others are reconciled to G-d, they are reconciled to a community of Three.  The Trinity is a community.
And salvation often happens when we are faced with mortality, often in light of someone we deeply love being buried.
It’s our job to be reconciled, lest we die alone and in bitterness.
So, I bless you in this season of being reconciled, as you seek to know Him, that you would be reconciled to G-d and to those from whom you have been deeply estranged.  I bless you with a right sense of where your place is.  I bless you with a right sense of who your tribe is.  I bless you with a revelation of where G-d wants you.  And I bless you with an understanding of the depth of His love.
I bless you with the pigheaded stubbornness that comes with recognizing your place and a refusal to bow to the pressures of others who tell you that you have no place.  I bless you with the fierce intentionality that you will not rest (except when He calls you to rest) until you are squarely placed within the communities for which He has designed you.  Whether that is a mission field, or a church, or a family, or the Trinity, or a marriage, or a workplace, or another life-giving context of friendships.
I bless you with the sobering revelation that the Son was buried so that you could be knit and vulnerable with the right people yet again, whatever that looks like for your unique context.
As you struggle to be part of a community, may you find the right one that is life-giving.  I bless you  with this revelation as we enter this season of reconciliation of community.
And I bless you to consider the communities that were formed in the context of Christ’s burial.
No burial. No resurrection.
No burial. No communities of intimacy.
No risk or skin in the game. No thrill of exhilaration as you find your place in community.
 

The text is made up of two phrases, set parallel in comparison to one another.

Now, I think Solomon’s theology was off.

It was off because as an Exhorter, he was designed to know G-d and just chose to not do so. He maxed out everything but that one bit: knowing G-d and making Him known.

It is the glory of G-d to conceal a matter and the glory/honor of a king to search the matter out (Proverbs 25:2, Revelation 1:6).

In Hebrew, we call this a Particle of Comparison, Proportion, or Similarity. It compares, relates, or sets in proportion two different objects: in this case, the spirit and the bones.

2) Therefore it was important that that system remain undefiled in Christ.

3) Likewise, the spirit is critical to life.

4) Therefore, perhaps we can say there is a life-giving tandem that is designed to occur between bones and spirit.

5) Perhaps the spirit is what clothes and vivifies the bones, as reflected in Ezekiel 37:3, and Proverbs 17:22 (extend the principle),

A half-baked potato, perhaps. And a theory I will hold onto loosely.

But, there you go.

My take on Ecclesiastes 11:5

This is a very practical and well-organized grab-bag of tools for those working through answering the question of whether or not an AHS is present with them.  Beyond the value toward working with AHS’s, there are sundry other topics that can really be fleshed out
 
Arthur here talks about some more of the practical aspects, having covered the theology and the theory of AHS in the first series.
 
He covers the fact that there are a number of usual ways that AHS’s gain entry, and most of those revolve around some means by which we are either empathetic toward the dead and dying, or have some vested interest in or affection towards the dead. Think Navy SEALS, Paramedics, those involved with the Pro-Life Movement, and those who are just nice and sociable with very few social guards, in addition to those who have vows of connectivity and social contracts.
 
There were a couple of aspects that sparkled deeply for me and those parts have broader application for beyond AHS.  For example, the segment on Bones sparkled for me. There is a depth of exposition that Arthur brings out of the collective text of Scripture that the church has done a shamefully anemic job of expounding when it comes to the skeletal system.  The Psalms and the Proverbs talk about those things that bring greater life to our bones, and it is left to some soul or group of souls to unpack a good theology of bones.
 
Also, concerning the Parietal lobe and spatial relationships, I was completely floored.  The building of parietal lobe that happens when we are out of proper parietal functions.  I struggle with some clumsiness issues, and the idea that an AHS might be the responsible is astounding.
Arthur mentions the Hip, the Adrenal Gland, the Prostate, the Legs, and other places in the body. He then moves into a discussion of authority and then finalizes with a discussion on land.
The level of variety in this teaching set is just flat-out beefy.  It is not just one genre of teaching alone, though it revolves around the topic of AHS’s.
It is a veritable Potpourri of vintage Sapphire Wine, and I cannot recommend it enough.
May you be blessed.

Arthur Burk, a friend from California, is in the thick of a trip to Europe.
Recently he completed a leg of his trip that took him through Romania, one of the few places in Eastern Europe that is extremely precious to me.
Another friend of mine visited there 19 years ago on a missions excursion out of YWAM Tyler. We were Freshmen in college, and both Arthur’s trip and my other friend’s trip affected both men deeply.
What resulted is the following post on the Sapphire Leadership Group’s Facebook Page. These words sparkle and shimmer deeply, especially for those of you that are Redemptive Gift Exhorters. Read on for some strong truth, Sun, Moon, and Stars:

ROMANIA
Serina and I went to Romania after the Vienna event, to connect with some Noble Subjects there.  It was our first venture.
We went with some fairly high expectations but the trip exceeded anything we had asked or imagined.
The congregation that hosted us is an Exhorter church with some decades of history behind it.  In the history of the various leaders, then have made most of the mistakes common to Exhorters, and have suffered exquisite pain and large loss as a result of those violations of principles — both known and unknown.
To their credit, they have face every skeleton in their closet, made the hard choices, suffered some remarkable productive pain through the course corrections they made, and today they stand in an enviable position.  there is a remarkably knit-together, wise core, and significant spiritual authority.
As you all know, my history with the Exhorter tribe has been challenging at best, because of the commitment to wallpaper over sin in the camp, in the name of love.
I have never before walked with an Exhorter congregation that has as thoughtfully and deliberately and carefully dealt with the issues that needed to be dealt with.
As Serina and I came into the circle of their love, it was an extraordinary experience of transparency and authority.
I taught on sundry topics during the short time we were there, and again and again, they have already dealt with the key issues, often not knowing why, but having their ears on.
We are so impressed with the fragrance of Christ that is around this group, and the pile of “dry firewood” waiting for a match.  They have earned the right to speak into some issues in their community and we are on tiptoe with expectation to see where they go in the next chapter of their journey.
While my admiration from a Kingdom point of view is immense, in recognition of how they have positoned themselves  for the work God for them, there was another story that played out in the background.
That was a measure of healing for me as I walked in safety in their midst.  The non-reality of Exhorters in general has let them to be labeled in my mind as one of the least safe tribes to walk with.
Here, we laughed and cried and risked and battled and celebrated and worshipped.  Through it all, there was never a bruise from any one of them, on any issue at all.  And with my history, that is astounding.
So I am grateful for the long arm of G-d and His ability to multitask, as He advanced the Kingdom through our visit to them, and brought some long overdue healing to me, on the side.
One does have to ponder His reaching all the way to Romania, and choosing THIS congregation to pour the oil and wine on those wounds of mine.
I am grateful and looking forward to walking further with them.  They definitely grace the term “Noble Subjects of the Great King” and we are honored to have them as part of our global tribe.

Some food for thought for those of you that are curious about what happened with the lymphatic system issue with Joan.
Here is a good bit of context.
Joan had come to me earlier this year with some issues with High Blood Pressure. We had gone several places, addressed the proportions of her Arterial and Venous systems, checked for Leviathan in the kidneys and a number of other issues.
At some point before reconnecting with me, Joan had connected with two other Plumbliners, and one of them had picked out some issues with Leviathan and ran through a few deliverance modalities with her.
She circled back around with me with a similar issue of BP, and I went to hear from the L-rd about what was going on.
Now, whether it was my own spirit of Holy Spirit, I heard a voice say “lymphatic system”. So I did some hunting through the Wiki on the Lymphatic System, which moves a considerable amount of fluid through the body, and the sense that I had gotten was that the ducts and nodes functioned similarly to a system of aquifers. I thought this was had some similarities to how Arthur Burk describes Sheol in the teachings on Alien Human Spirits (AHS).
So. I began to pray after my fashion.
I called Joan’s spirit to attention, made the assertion based on the science that there was a major movement of fluid in the container called the Lymphatic System. So, I reasoned based on this, that it could have some effect, directly or indirectly, on the amount of fluid and therefore, the amount of pressure on Joan’s Circulatory system.
So I instructed Joan’s Spirit and asked HS to readjust the proportions of the the parts of the Fluid Transfer System as needed, specifically focusing on the Lymphatic System, Lymph Nodes, and Fluids.

Out of my mouth leapt the words, “the lymphatic system is a system of aquifers for the body”.

And y’all have the reports from Joan’s own hand. And there has been some measurable and sustained change in her life since this time.
So, I don’t so sausage factory. And I don’t have one unified prayer. But I am able to and willing to connect with y’all, if any of y’all have any desire to waste an hour pursuing praying through this issue and see if there is any movement that is helpful.

Reposted with permission.
Carlene writes:

Today in the beautiful area of Montana that I’m so blessed to live in…we got a ton of snowfall. It’s been snowing all day and I ventured out into the beauty of it briefly tonight – just to walk to my mailbox. It was up to my knees!! We have an official blizzard warning on and churches are cancelling Sunday services which I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced a church actually cancelling services – so you know it’s pretty sketchy out there.

What is totally getting me right now though is the complete and utter beauty outside that I see, and the steady wind I hear with my ears. The pure white of a fresh snowfall is always something that ministers to my spirit, and on a night like tonight to look up at the sky and the stars and the effect the weather pattern is having on them is just something magical, for lack of a better word. Then you add on top of it this wind that is steady and strong and is loud enough that even inside my house – there’s the steady “hum” of the wind. It draws your attention – and I find something important about that sound too – my spirit is noticing and I’m found in worship.

Things that occur in the natural tend to make me ponder the spiritual. I wonder what it would be like to live such a dynamic Spirit-filled life, that you heard His wind in such a steady form as the “hum” I’m hearing right now outside that doesn’t quit. I wonder what it would be like to look at ALL your surroundings through the “pure-whiteness” that Christ’s blood affords. What if you looked at the darkest of skies but could always find the stars that are housed there regardless of how black the night was?

This all leads me to asking Him, crying out to Him – for new anatomy. I want NEW ears, and NEW eyes – to see what He sees, and to hear what He hears. Do you know if we lean in to see and hear….we really will? “He who has ears, let him hear…” Scripture says. That tells me that basically there is always something to see, and always something to hear – and He says we will – if we have that “yes” in our spirit to do so.

So, precious Father – we ask You for new anatomy. And don’t just stop at new ears, and new eyes…..but new touch, new taste, and even new smell! I want to smell the fragrance of heaven wherever it has gorgeously invaded this earth…..and I want to know where Your touch lies, and I want to taste and see that the Lord is good. New anatomy I pray …for all who are hungry, and all who are willing, and all who are needy of Your fresh touch and life in this way. Count me in Lord…. I want to observe with my senses in the Spirit – ALL that You are doing…ALL that You have to say….and ALL places where You are active.

Come Lord Jesus….come.

~2/17/18 Author: Carlene “CeCe” Prince

With credit to Arthur Burk and Carlene Prince:
Spirit of G-d,
Please don’t let another day pass without me being able to recognize, anticipate, celebrate, savor, and tell about Your fingerprints in all of creation.
Transform my senses in the way You want them transformed that they may be utilized to experience the reality of Your creation inthe way You want me to experience it.
Utilize them, Ruach HaKodesh, to be additional tools in my toolkit that my spirit can utilize to discern the work of Your hands of kindness.
Anoint my eyes with eye salve to see what You put before them, to recognize the kaleidoscopic beauty of the snows that fall, the humidity the flowers need, the cacti in the arid desert, the mosses and lichens of the taiga, the raging waves of the oceans, and the colors of the rainbow that follow a maelstromic thunderstorm.
Anoint my ears to hear the blessed sound of every raven, crow, vulture, and buzzard I have ever cursed, and to bless them with precisely the song that Father wants them to sing, that they may experience the redemption You have designed for them. Help me to speak with the authority You have given me to see them redeemed from the culture of covens that seek to use them for foul purposes, given they are Your blessed servants and their loyalty and bonds of community and expressions of affection within their breeds are rivalled in few other places in the Animal Kingdom. Help me to see them as the picture of loyalty and the workers of cleansing, cleanup, and sanitation that You put in every place. Help me to see and hear their beauty, in stark defiance of the many ways they have been badly used and abused by the kingdom of darkness.
Help me to rightly hear the sound of every bird, the silence of every snowfall, the sharpness of every cutting breeze, and even the sound of every light.
Help me to appreciate the sound of crying babies and the bustle of cars in Battery Park City.
Teach me how not to curse the traffic I have to deal with, but to appreciate every moment You have designed for me as a moment to redeem with hearing the way You hear, even if it is the sound of a hundred cars going the same place I am going. Help me to never waste a moment in that traffic.
Help me to treasure and see redeemed the sounds I once cursed.
And to hear anew the sounds I often take for granted. Help me to remember that some sounds will only occur for a season, while other sounds are eternal.
Anoint my nose and mouth to smell the fragrances and aromas around me and to taste the flavors in the way You have designed me to respond. Help me to rightly discern the scent and flavor of those things I enjoy, as well as scents with which I may not be as familiar,
The rose and the Confederate Jasmine; the pungent garlic and onion; the depth of Rosemary and Thyme; the grinding and brewing coffee early in the morning with breakfast and late at night with pie; the scent of fresh rain on a hot summery day; bacon or lamb frying and chicken roasting; the sweet smell of leaves decomposing on the forest floor; the sharp and refreshing scent of Frasier Fir and Scotch Pine; the smell of baby powder and warmed milk; gas fumes; cut grass; antifreeze; fried cod and malt vinegar; and a million other things I may or may not recognize. Help my nose and month to be points of contact that are used to discern, celebrate, and expand Your kingdom.
And, Ruach HaKodesh, anoint my hands, feet, and skin to contact everything You want me to touch, and to celebrate those things that I enjoy.
Help me to recognize and not just be Your hands and feet to touch the lives of others, but also to receive the touch that is so critical to the flourishing of life. As You have designed joy to be the emotion that is expressed in the context of community, help us to engage with our sense of touch in such a way so as to discover those things that bring us joy and the aspects of touch that You utilize in us to bring others intense joy. You have not merely dwell alone in isolation, nor have You designed us to either give or receive, but to do both giving and receiving by turns, and to engage with others in community, whatever that looks like.
In the name of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.
Amen