Category: Redemptive Gifts

The Redemptive Gift of Mercy

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts
Food From Johnny Pacific
Mercy!

I have spent some time processing these gifts.

Before I realized I was a Mercy the first time, about 3-ish years ago, I pondered the Prophet, Teacher, and Exhorter relentlessly.

Of all the gifts, I speak to the Teacher the strongest, because of the relentless nature of the specific attacks and accusations against them. And because of my mind for the Scripture, I have landed as Teacher before with a number of people. But then I realized that I carry the office of Teacher, and Scribe, beyond everything else, and so, that actually explains my penchant for writing and the things of Scripture adequately.

Further, every time Arthur or anyone else discussed Mercy, my Mercy portion (which I now recognize sharply) would always speak forth about it to me.  You sometimes just know.

I was not able to see this about myself, because of a number of issues, particuarly woundedness, not the least of which is I frequently have an opinion about most things all the time, and I am pretty good at articulating with a great deal of words what my views are on a particular topic.

Most of the time though, my private life, and my interior castle, are things that have occupied a considerable amount of my reality.  Just because I can cut like a Prophet, or hold forth like an Exhorter, or process like a Teacher, does not mean I am always like that.  My default, contrary to the views of others, is toward gooey intimacy, and without exception, I have always went the way of mothering and pain avoidance.

But under the plethora of words, and open sharing, and scribal editions, and parchments, and ink, and quills, no one would have guessed that.

As a matter of fact, when I first articulated Jesus coming into my office with a scribal desk, quill, parchments, and ink, it was during a deliverance session, and the person ministering to me assumed that was a negative manifestation. Accusations /insinuations of a religious spirit soon followed.

Most don’t understand that one of my intimate places is in my office, with ink on my hands, writing, penning.  It was the first place I hated, because in Kindergarten, I was always losing my box of crayons (my first writing/creating utensils) and when Mrs. Hartley had us writing paragraphs, I recall deeply loathing the exercise.  It was indeed my first place of suffering.  And the first test I clearly recall knowing where I was constantly being resisted in the spirit by clowns.

I love the slightly-bitter aroma of ink, and the feel of my hands sticking as I lift a sweaty palm from a quickly-written piece. I have never lacked for words to say. The pen

The second time I discussed Jesus as a Scribe, joining me at my desk and scribing with me, and what He called me, I was again reproved, during an inner healing session, where I had to fix and correct in the spirit the work of inner healing being done on me. It’s bad enough to have to ask for help from people who are engaged with inner healing. But to have to pinch-hit and ad-lib counter-deliverance from people who think what you are seeing is demonic is just one of the things I have grown used to doing.

But it is okay.  I will continue chugging along with or without others who either understand me or do not understand me.

Some Markers for the Mercy

Instead of my usual list of bulletpoints, for the Mercy, I wish to highlight some dynamics that are not really better-articulated through a list, and rather are better for more fluid writing, and in no particular order.

Beingness

So, we talk about the Prophet being identified for the bold, and ideological way they look at things.  Always with a sword out, as Megan Caldecourt once told me in Dalton, GA, back when I was discussing being an Exhorter (yes I have been back-and-forth over several gifts, and it is a running joke within the tribe about which gift I am this month.).  They have a sword out even when they don’t want to.  The sword is usually draped across their lap, or like a pistol at a poker table.

And the Servant bustling about and taking care of the felt needs and apologizing for existing, or because the gravy is too thin, or the mashed potatoes have a lump in them (for your information, if you have no lumps in your mashed potatoes, you need to repent because lumpy potatoes is correct doctrine of mashed potatoes).

And the Teacher’s obsession with primary sources and their preference for the original langauges and the exposition and the references, and their slow butts and their deliberation, and their big frame.

And the Exhorter’s capacity to derive truths and revelation and their social butterfly status. and the capacity to hold forth and deal with large and diverse groups and get them moving in a particular direction.

And the Giver who just looks for a deal, and sniffs out hidden agendas, and always wants to renegotiate, and has a plethora of divers interests.

And the Ruler/Judge/Deliverer who sets up systems to take over some aspect of the world.

Mercy Gravitations

So, where does that leave the Mercy?

I am glad you asked.

Bryan Trapp, my close Exhorter friend, would tell you about their discussing things in ethereal otherworldly terms.

Mercies are designed to understand beingness.  Ethereal.  Rest.  Satisfied fulfillment.  Fullness.  Their expression of the character of G-d is in His, pardon the iinvention of the word, isness.

You heard me.  Is. Ness.  Isness.

In the beginning, G-d did not merely exist. He was. He is’ed.

And we with all of our Ruler-season apologetics and defense of the faith and exposure of heretics, and, and, and this movie that proves his existence, or this book that talks about the manuscripts.  That does not prove the existence of G-d, and we do not need to somehow prove that G-d exists or defend Him.  Seriously.

As if G-d was like a bump on a log without effective actual kinetic movingness and flow.  And as if He needed us poor, witless souls to defend Him.

God does not exist.  And those passages that use that term in Scripture are inadequate.

Rather, G-d is the root of all that is. And G-d is the foundation and ground of all being. And, again, if I told you that the remark “G-d is the ground of all being” came from Neo-Orthodox theologian Paul Tillich

G-d IS.

G-d BE.

I AM.

He is ever moving, ever-revealing, and every is-ing.

G-d is not a rock that sits around and does nothing, but THE Rock in a weary land.

Neither are rocks mere inanimate objects. According to Jesus, they have the capacity to speak. It is not a freaking metaphor to say “the rocks would cry out”.

So what was G-d doing while creation was humming along on the seventh day?

He was BEING.  He was G-dding along.

He was emantating effulgent, active, effective, holifying, radiance.

Now Bryan Trapp sees my Mercy-ness with my esoteric language bursting forth.

His essence and light were humming forth.

Digression

And now that I have used that word “humming”, I understand that some are going to make the link between sound and light.

There is a connection, but the connection is not as much of a two-way street, or one-to-one ratio as one might think.

Sound is a vibrational wave.

Light is both a wave and a particle.

Sound does not have mass. Light does.

Sound is a disturbance. Light impacts more deeply.

Back to Mercying along though.

More Ether and Greater Fulfillment

Mercies are frequently the most aware of the concepts of being and existing.  And they are capable of feeling all the weird feely things all at once.  They are usually the ones who peer with ease, deeply into people.

And nature.

And animals.

And creation.

And they love a deep problem.  And the subjects they love they love to research deeply, and they love to curate the best books and materials on that subjects.

This is why I have 85 billion commentaries on Scripture.

This is also why I do not have a Nintendo Switch Lite. I have a Switch.

Many times, a Mercy can be pointed out by their tastes in that which is a cut above.

Sometimes, a Mercy can be pointed out because they are often the odd one out that everyone else is making fun of their points of view.

Sometimes they seem as if they are on another planet.

And the frequent obsession with purple.  Purple is correct doctrine.

And many a male Mercy has been cast from his dad’s side because he was perceived as effeminate, and if I let that weird son of mine into my garage, he won’t understand, and he will break something because he doesn’t know how to fix things like my other more analytical son over here.

Often, Mercies are not the jacks of all trades.

Though some can surprise you.

And then there is Albert Einsten, and King David.

And the maker of empanadas and street food extrordinaire, John Walquist.

https://johnnypacificeats.com

With his gift for fragrance, and his capacity to cultivate ambiance.

Many a Mercy’s love and need for physical touch and intimacy is mistaken for homosexuality.  And so the accusations get hurled.  And they often either have too many relationships that turn into trainwrecks, or they go to the opposite extreme to prove they can be like every other believer and not need physical touch.

And so an unmet need gets stuffed, lest they get mistreated or misunderstood by others.

And all they want frequently is one loyal friend that will not hold them in judgment as weird as they and their ideas might seem, who can jive with them, and with whom they can build somethng unusual.

Loyal Friends Who Are Registered Democrats And Republicans

After your heads stop exploding, conservative evangelicals, read the following.

One can be a Christian and a Democrat. Or a Jew and a Democrat.

I have a friend who is a Mercy and they are also a follower of Christ, and they happen to be a registered Democrat.

God-For-Freaking-Bid.

Here is the thing.  If you are able to handle being friends with someone and suspend judgment based on their denominational or political affiliation, there is no telling what treasures G-d will bring you.

My Giver grandmother, once wanted to host the Democrat Governor of Florida, Bob Martinez, at our local Chamber of Commerce in Starke, and the Republicans who got wind of this got up in arms.  And she responded saying, she did not care what their political affiliation was, she was going to connect and work with whomever the governor was.  And she got to host him.

Gang, sometimes the best thing, and the most G-d-Oorchestrated thing you can do is withhold judgment.  You never know what the L-d will do in your midst and whom He will connect you with, if you just walk with Him.

And Mercies are capable of restraining judgment quite skillfully. And they are judged frequently because of the mentality that it is better to live in a bawdy, gonads-out manner, with not a lick of shrewdness.

What was the line from that movie?

“I would rather stand with G-d and be judged by the world than stand with the world and be judged by G-d.”

The problem with that quote is not the quote itself. Rather it’s this idiotic perception that a dichotomy must always be present.

Well, of course you would rather stand with G-d and be judged by the world.

What you might be missing is there are a crapload of ways to spread the gospel than just with an apologetic-driven and a tract-driven form of ministry.

Some methods of sharing the gospel are so 1920’s that they need to be ditched because they simply do not work anymore. The reason certain movies do not appeal to or convert present-day postmodern, Mercy-season people is because the capacity to coherently speak propositional truth is not the prevailing factor in bringing someone into the kingdom.

Showing an atheist the movie G-d’s Not Dead and G-d’s Not Dead 2 will not convince them.

Rather, not being a serial rapist, adulterer, or child pimp is what is going to win them. In other words, it is about consistency and integrity and grit.

It is about relationship and intimacy, not whether or not they see you as a credible authority or whether or not you have dotted ever I or crossed every T in our presentation of the Romans Road.

In other words, did I bother to give a shit about actually wanting a relationship with that person and connecting with them, and putting up with their mouths and behavior, or am I just in it to put a notch in my belt.

One With the Spirit and Six With The Soul. That Is Not How It Works. That Is Not How Any of This Works.

One other dynamic is that Mercies are often known for leading with their emotions, where the other six gifts frequently lead with their minds.

I know I am likely going to catch grief because I didn’t use the same language here that Arthur used about a Mercy receving something first in their spirits.

There is a large reason for that.

In Nurturing Your Spirit: Basic Seminar, Level 1, Arthur made the comment that “G-d does not deal with us on the level of our souls, but rather on the level of our spirits”.

This is different to what he said in his video on the Mercy that says the Mercy connects with G-d on the spirit level while the other six connect with G-d with their minds.

So, why the disparity? I think I understand why.

When I have watched G-d work with each of the gifts, I have seen Him or felt Him attempt to connect with each first on the level of their spirits.  And with a Mercy, the first evidence this has happened is a touch in the emotions. With the other six, there is another point of registering that they have gotten the memo.

Again, this is my take, as is this entire post.  And y’all are welcome to take or leave as much as you want.

I am just reporting I have seen, and I think there is a better way to articulate this interaction and differentiation between the Mercy and the other six gifts in how they interact with G-d.

Data Vs. Gut

One other dynamic of the Mercy that differentiates them from the other gifts, is that while the other six like to present data for proving G-d is over here, the Mercy doesn’t do that, but insteads has a gut reaction and knowledge that G-d is somewhere and often cannot expian why or provide a litany of hard data proving G-d is in a certain thing or place.

And this often extends to a lot of their interactions with others.  If they have a friend who is getting ready to do something, and there is a danger that no one can predict or see, the Mercy will often get a…something somwhere….and they tell their friend that it might not be wise for them to proceed along that course of their plan.

Mercies can often feel the what without knowing why.

Another indicator you are dealing with a Mercy or that you are a Mercy, has very little to do with how much Mercy you show.

Good, now that I have that out of the way….ahem…

Magnets For Wounded Peeps + Feelings

Mercies also are magnets for every wounded or rejected person in an area.  If you have ever been in a situation where someone who is a stranger comes up and dumps their complete lifestory onto your lap, you might be a Mercy.

And Mercies often double as empaths.  Or burden bearers.  Pick your term.  Some might get up in arms because “empath” is too New Agey, and “burden bearer” is a more Christian term, to which I have to shrug my shoulders and let them figure it out.

That is, they feel when people share things.

They feel all the feely feels.

And for those who are irritated with the feeling language and how we have a generation of men who are effeminate. No, we have had feminine men who are in touch with their emotions in every generation, including President Lincoln, and instead of calling us gay or castrated, you need to learn how to accept our love, affection, and embrace, and feeling through a problem, and maybe recognize that some of us are not going to look the way you think a typical man should.

Handling “Incompetence”

By the way, if you are dealing with a Mercy, though they might seem incompetent to help you in your workshop, if you give them instruction on what to do and you are willing to coach and teach a LOT, you might have a reliable worker who because they connected deeply with you, might also be willing to do the DEEP research necessary to help your projects arrive and a place of excellence.

And I know many who will say Prophet and Exhorter are the only visionary and verbal expressives of the bunch, and Mercies are generally soft-spoken, but if you get a Mercy going on a topic they love, or you cross something about which they are zealous, they can get really lippy and mouthy (think King David with Goliath).  I know many a Mercy who by their talk can peel the stubborn paint off of a wall, or command a stop sign to say GO.  Give them a track and they may outvision and outtalk even a Prophet or Exhorter. Doubly so if they are given to socialization or slightly extroverted.

Granted, that is not the usual way with a Mercy, but I have seen it happen.

On the topic of Churches in Revelation here is your fractal of the names of G-d from Revelation, each with its Fractal of Two

Prophet: G-d of the Seven Stars/G-d Who Walks Among the Seven Lampstands
Servant: The G-d Who Came to Life/ G-d The First and Last
Teacher: G-d of the Sharp Two-Edged Sword
Exhorter: The Son of G-d/G-d with Burnished Feet and Fiery Eyes
Giver: G-d Who Has the Seven Spirits/ G-d who Has the Seven Stars
RJD: G-d the Holy And True/G-d Who Has the Key of David
Mercy: G-d the Amen, the Faithful Witness, and the True Witness/The Beginning of G-d’s Creation

Can G-d Use Me?

The dynamic of this Mercy Season is not whether you are hot or cold, as if cold was a bad thing. The question is “can you be both hot and cold by turns, as needed?” The question is whether or not G-d can used you as the situation demands.

Laodecia was not rebuked for being for or against. Cold was just as good and useful as hot, depeding on the context. The only thing G-d hated was lukewarmth. Sloth. Entropy. Devolving to only ever hunting for the path of least resistance.

So, gang, I bless each of you in this sequence to consider your gift, as you read through the sequence. May your day be blessed and filled with all His fullness and may you walk in extravagent fulfillment.

The Redemptive Gift of Ruler/Judge/Deliverer v2.0

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts

The Seven Spirits of God and the Ten Compound Names of God

If you are reading this, I am assuming you have come from my post on the Giver. And if not, and this is your first post on the Redemptive Gifts of Romans 12:6-8, may I suggest you go back to the beginning and read them in sequence. For those who are newbies, start here.

The Fractals in Scripture, as previously stated and for our purposes, are patterns that self-repeat and self-reinforce in some way. We previously looked at the fractal, or repeating pattern, of Seven in Scripture, such as the Seven Days of Creation, the Seven Trees of Isaiah 41:19, the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches of Revelation, the Seven Questions of Moses to the Burning Bush, The Seven Names of G-d in the Book of Revelation, The Seven Trumpets, The Seven Seals, the Seven Gifts of Jacob to Joseph, the Seven Curses of the Book of Judges, the Seven Redemptive Gifts, and so forth.

These patterns parallel one another, and can be superimposed on one another.

Another of the seven fractal are the Seven Spirits of G-d in the Book of Isaiah, and further in certain of these patterns, there is one of the seven that is the complete expression of the other six. The Spirit of the L-rd is constituted of the Spirits of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, and Fear of the L-rd. This ties in with the Colors of the Rainbow, where White is the totality of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple (Indigo is just a shade of Blue), and the Seven Principles that undergird all of Scripture (Proverbs 9:1), where the Principle of Design is broken apart into Authority, Responsibility, Pain-Suffering/Sowing-Reaping/Reality, Freedom, and Fulfillment. The White and the Six Colors. And there are those areas in Scripture where you have the one and the six.

There is another pattern in Scripture, namely the Fractal of Ten. The Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom, The Ten Commandments, the Ten Horns of the Beast, The Ten Plagues Upon Egypt, et al.

With respect to G-d Himself, we have heard regularly of the Seven Compound Names of Adonai.

And there are those seven which parallel the other groupings in the fractal of seven.

Adonai Yireh, Adonai Rapha, Adonai Nissi, Adonai Shalom, Adonai Rohi, Adonai Tsidkenu, and Adonai Shammah.

But those are not the only major compound names of Adonai.

There are actually 10. So, many of y’all have heard of Adonai Tsevaot, the God of Armies; and Adonai Makkadesh, the Lord Who Makes You Holy. Those are an additional two.

And those names parallel God the Son (God of Armies) and God the Holy Spirit (God Who Makes You Holy). But where is that tenth name?

Answer: in the same place as the most important passage in all of Scripture. Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Props to Maria Lillirose for pointing this one out.

Shma, oh Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord Who Is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and all of your soul/being and all of your very/everything else.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5: partial translation mine

The Lord Who is One. Adonai Echad.

That is the tenth name.

Taken together with the other nine names, we arrive at the grouping, or fractal of ten.

And that fractal is a combination of the 3 and then the 7. The Trinity and the Redemptive Gifts.

And paralleling those in order we have the following parallels.

Adonai Echad = God the Father
Adonai Tsevaot = God the Son
Adonai Makkadesh = God the Holy Spirit
Adonai Yireh = Prophet
Adonai Rapha = Servant
Adonai Nissi = Teacher
Adonai Shalom = Exhorter
Adonai Rohi = Giver
Adonai Tsidkenu = Ruler/Judge/Deliverer
Adonai Shammah = Mercy

So, those are some thoughts here, to open up this post on the RJD.

So….

Why Adonai Tsidkenu For The Ruler

The Ninth of those names parallels the Ruler (called alternatively the Judge or the Deliverer) specifically because the Ruler of all the gifts, when he or she is walking in intentional righteousness, has three types of authority that flow toward them and and that WERE MADE to flow toward them, as he or she passes those qualities outward to his or her circle of influence.

These three types of authority parallel the three treasures in the Ark of the Covenant (Pot of Manna, Aaron’s Budded Staff, and The Tablets with the Law of Moses).

The Tablets of the Law represents the Ruler’s Moral Authority to which the Ruler, if he or she is to move toward full effectiveness, must anchor. And who but the Rejected Stone is a better anchoring point?

The Pot of Manna represents the Judge’s Authority of Divine Provision: the Ruler who engages with G-d has access to a supernatural provision that is for the vision given by the Father.

The Staff that Budded represents the Authority of Appointment or Office: G-d’s sovereign choice of the Ruler to solve the problem of bringing together a complex of principles into a place of syncronization between the internal and the external worlds that results in freedom. It is the staff budding that G-d used when he said “Aaron is my choice for priest”. And in the life of the Deliverer, the Lord will specifically have a time where He says, this is my man or woman for this job, end of discussion.

The synching of these three things brings an aspect of fullness to the Righteousness that is supposed to indwell and sanctify us, but especially the Ruler. The Judge, that is, derives a disproportionate ROI from these three principles being present in their life.

So, with that, let’s jump into the Ruler.

The man pictured above with his ever-loyal dog, Gibson, is my pastor, John Chase, from Massachusetts. His dog was named after the Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder, Kirk Gibson, most well-known for catalyzing the Dodgers’ Game 1 upset of, and eventual triumph against, the Oakland Athletics the in the 1988 World Series.

Pastor John’s forté is taking imperfect people and building teams with these people in order to accomplish a desired end. This is vintage Ruler.

Further, he does so as one who knows the appointment of the King, the provision of the king, and the moral authority of the King. He is one of the most easy-to-point-to examples of a RJD that has an excellent grasp of the three treasures of the Deliverer.

And for those who wonder why I keep moving between the terms “Ruler”, “Judge”, and “Deliverer“, see my explanation further below.

On the Sixth Day God Said…

“Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

From Genesis 1:24-25 (ESV)

The earth brought forth the land animals here, and those animals are variously used in ways that create a bevy of life-giving systems. This is part of the Ruler’s DNA. Cows pull the plows, chickens make a disproportionate amount of eggs. Beef. Milk. Bacon (for those who like it). Horses that do all sorts of things. Dogs that serve a bunch of functions such as badger flushing, sheep herding, protecting family, policing airports, company for humans, emotional support, visual support. Cats that condescend to their human staff and hiss when we screw it up. You get the idea.

The Ruler is notorious for their interaction with systems, and many of those are not always so life-giving. But around a Deliverer, usually develops some sort of empire or massive system.

For example…
I rest my case…

Now, the relative life-giving of those systems will be specifically determined by the relative health of those individuals.

And the Ruler, if not healthy, can destroy his or her employees….

https://nypost.com/2019/07/13/inside-the-hellish-workday-of-an-amazon-warehouse-employee/

However, the Judge who is healthy and fathering his teams, provides a rhythm that is unparalleled in the level of synchronization, and can find themselves in possession of a team that is loyal to the core.

And the purpose of the Sixth Day was in the creation of life-giving and sustainable systems.

One good example of this is that aggregate of organisms we call the Animal Kingdom. There is a great deal in the Animal Kingdom, and among each of the individual groupings therein, that show this principle of Systems that are both life-giving and sustainable, where disproportionate energy is produced from the resources that are put in.

Animal Cellular Respiration, which creates Adenosine Triphosphate, which, in turn, provides the energy needed to drive many processes in animal bodies, is also a really good example of a sustainable system.

Who In the Bible Can Be Considered To Have the Gift of RJD?

The preeminent example of a Ruler in Scripture, for better or worse, is Nehemiah. 52 days to build a wall. Withstanding all sorts of opposition. Driving his workforce to build and to fight, which is a key twofold component of the Ruler. Constructing systems to get the job done, with little regard as to the ethics of the situation. In task mode as a machine. Building, fighting, leading, putting together, making dozens of decisions at once. These are all aspects of this gift at work.

Also consider the Pharaoh of Exodus, Judah the son of Jacob, and Manasseh the king of Judah with the 55-year-long-mostly-very-gnarly-reign.

Why the Name Mix for the Ruler

I will tell you why.

The Term “Ruler” does not embody the full bent, way, and direction of the gift’s expression whatsoever.Mny times, when I hear “Ruler”, or “Leader”, or “Administrator”, as man Evangelicals term the gifts following the bent of the New International Version, I think “king with a crown on his head leading his kingdom and telling people what to do without getting his hands dirty”. I think “desk jockey pushing paper”. I think “CEO”. I think “useless suit with MBA”.

i think “despot”.

I think white collar, Ken Lay, Enron corruption. And scandal.

It is because when I get near these terms, I immediately think of a host of disparaging terms that do not involve rescue, deliverance, liberty, freedom, and growth in a loving manner of sonship.

Such terms as those found in the first grouping are not the heart of someone like John Chase…

Or Seneca Schurbon, the Founder of Freedom Flowers, a company that markets flower essences that also happen to help in the arena of deliverance and inner healing using a largely-neglected treasure vein: the buds of Kingdom Plantae.

The Judges in the book of Judges have a similar problem. That term “Judge” is not “man in black robes issuing verdicts and sentences”.

It is more akin to “Deliverer”. It is someone who is inherently concerned with the liberation of people that are in his sphere of influence and authority. Someome who willingly fights to bring liberation to a people for the simple fact that he or she has a bleedingly affectionate fathering heart for them, and hunts obssessively for their deliverance, and will fight overwhelming odds to give a place of familial affection for those who are being harassed. This is the Ruler at some of their finest expression.

The idea of weaving together those three items (resources, principles, and blessings) leads to people who can more effectively acquire the tools, strategies, and skills to effectively build and fight. However, they must be willing to fight the right enemy and build the right edifices and structures. It is not merely satiating a bloodlust, nor is it building whatever empire suits the vision of the moment. Rather, it serves to build toward the vision that Father gives.


The people that we describe as operating in a high degree of Freedom are what we call “sons”. And relax, ladies. If men can be the Bride of Christ, y’all can grow comfortable with the idea of being sons of G-d. Congratulations, life is uncomfortable for all of us. These terms describe function rather than form.

Knowing How to Build and Knowing How To Fight

  1. In learning how to fight, the high-functioning Ruler/Judge/Deliverer teaches you who the real enemy is. They help you keep focused not of every distraction around you that is ancillary and secondary, but rather the primary and main goal, and therefore the main opposition that is blocking the vision of Father from going forth.
  2. In learning how to build, the Ruler, with help from the team in the surround, shows you how to implement the plan and vision that G-d has given. They are the ultimate how-to manual for implementation of solutions that work. They are not so much as concerned with the rightness or morality of a solution. Rather they understand and find an or any solutions that work. They are the ones designed to surmount obstacles to achieve objective. If you release a RJD to build, they will get the job done and won’t need a whole lot of cheerleading. They will drive toward an objective with fierce intensity and blast any obstacles out of the way. They won’t necessarily do it with a light touch either.
  3. However, in order to build and bight effectively, we need to confront how we define, view, and recognize resources. I hope you will indulge me while I step on my soapbox from mothering and start fathering.
  4. We have built into our church movement as charismatics who obsess and fawn over every anointed leader in the fivefold ministry, an annoying habit of welfare Christianity.
  5. We are so blasted used to being taught to beg the L-rd or lick the boot of the anointed apostle, prophet, or other grand poobah in order to get the finished products without any transformation or machining or cutting or molding or processing on our part.
  6. We have failed relentlessly when we are presented with raw materials. Our major requirement as sons, the one where we know we have begun to mature, is that when the L-rd graduates us from being immature to mature, and instead of handing the finished product to our spoiled butts, Father hands us raw materials.
  7. Our responsibility is, when He hands us finished products, instead of griping about why He did not give us the finished product, we learn the skills necessary to machine the materials into finished products and use those products we create to build with.
  8. The Judge’s job is to grow us from begging for finished products into warriors who can “adapt and overcome” like the Marines do.

The Ruler Number Line and the Fact That Obedience Is Not That Important

Some of y’all needed to be shocked and jolted by the blaring statement I just made in the heading.

Obedience is not that important.

Let me say it again with a little more nuance, because I am pretty good at nuancing statments.

Obedience is not as important as some of y’all make it out to be.

Now, let me fly by it one more time with more nuance.

Your definition of obedience is not as important as you make it out to be.

Frequently, we have a really 1-dimensional view of obedience (check the box once you have done the task), and we want to apply our anemic religious frame for obedience on others around us.

We don’t drink, smoke, dance, or chew, or run with the girls that do.

Submit to your apostolic covering.

Apostolic oversight.

Everyone needs a covering, because without a covering, you are exposed.

But obedience is not just about a checkbox. It is about building a kingdom, so there are always a few more dimensions that go into each process in which we are obeying. There is a motive for obeying and a real effect of obeying.

In short, the RJD functions as the ultimate fathering influence of the Redemptive Gifts, more than even the Servant and the Prophet. When paired with the Servant and the Prophet, something wonderful happensl however. The below will show you one example of how the Redemptive Gifts are amazing when the function in tandem.

The Prophet sees, points out, and celebrates the design of the son by infusing them with dignity.

The Servant builds platform underneath the son and shows them the revelation that they are a son, and will tenaciously hunt for the good in anyone, no matter how trashed and wounded they are. They also create the environment where the Father Himself feels welcome to come and invade the son’s life with the revelation of sonship, if the son is willing.

The Ruler’s Principle On a Numberline

I want to show you the Ruler’s Numberline two different ways.

-100______________________0_____________________100

Bondage Obedience Freedom

Degrees of Bondage are from -100 to -1. Obedience, where you are free but not really making an impact in the lives of others, is 0. And Freedom ranges by degrees from +1 to +100.

This is the numberline that Arthur Burk discusses when he talks about Temptation, for example, and I agree with him.

Freedom is not just being able to walk in obedience. Freedom is what happens when the temptation needle does not even flicker.

We in the church in many places are used to seeing, hearing, preaching, and treating obedience as the endgame.

Obedience is not the endgame.

Obedience is where you hear Father tell you to do something and you get your will into line with His.

Obedience is merely a transition point from bondage on the way to Freedom.

And you were not merely designed for obedience.

And no, sons do not merely obey.

That is the job of servants.

And Jesus told us, “no longer do I call you servants”.

What does he call us, gang?

FRIENDS!!!!

This walk with Jesus is not just about serving, nor is it simply about obeying.

And those of you that are focusing on the passages about serving have missed the ultimate goal of walking with Christ and being in Christ.

Behavioral Characteristics of the Ruler/Judge/Deliverer

  1. The RJD is inherently concerned with the creation of sons.
  2. Because of point 8 in the previous list under “Knowing How To Build and Knowing How to Fight, the Deliverer does not spend a lot of time assigning blame which would create exasperated sons, but rather teaches them how to build, how to fight, and how to fix the problem. A Ruler is often very easy to spot based on whether or not she has a tendency to single out the person who is at fault.
  3. In the creation of sons, the RJD is designed to be linked with the Sixth Principle, the Principle of Freedom.
  4. Those principles I keep mentioning, though they originally find their expression in Bill Gothard and the Institute of Basic Life Principles, and they became popularlized in the Charismatic Movement through the work of Arthur Burk, have a bevy of biblical meat behind them.
  5. So, what is Freedom? How does it look on Monday Morning and how does it create sons. I will give Arthur the floor on this topic twice. First, he mentioned that he defined, “Freedom [as] the fruit of effectively weaving together resources, principles, and blessings to move toward your birthright.” (The Seven Principles, Disc 8, Cut 2, Timestamp 0:00-0:08). Secondly, if I recall correctly, from his teaching on the 6th Head of Leviathan, Arthur defined Freedom as when your internal world and your external world fit together in a match or a meshing together. The meshing of what is inside and what is outside, means there is a flow that happens and manifests regularly. When we handle the principle of Freedom well, and by handling it well, I mean we look to create win/win situations regularly in our dealings with others, an access to a certain divine cadence manifests. God shows up and systems and processes where we once ground out solutions now glide. Where we once grinded, we now glide with more liberty and free flow. Creating the win/win puts spiritual grease in our formerly squeaky and rusty gears.
  6. Any gift that finds its sweet spot and works at that sweet spot will get an effortless and disproprotionate return on investment in that area. When the Ruler hunts for the win/win, the flow that happens in the systems they worked at creating is crazy, and the empires put themselves together more easily. And the end result is that these systems become way lifegiving.
  7. So, imagine the British Empire.
  8. And how imagine the British Emprie without the brutal and ugly underbelly, and imagine it fully lifegiving and fathering to all under its influence. Imagine them equipping and releasing the American Colonies rather than controlling and exploiting the Colonies’ and forcing the colonists’ hands. Imagine, no Teay Party, no violence, no Camden, no Cornwallis destruction of South Carolina, no King George III calling for their heads on a silver platter. Just equipping and releasing. And with the full might of British wind in the American sails.
  9. Gang, this is the picture I seek to put into your minds as you yearn for a fully-grown Judge.
  10. Deliverers are among some of the busiest members of the community and the church. Along with the Servants, they usually have the most packed schedules of all RG’s. The only difference between a Deliverer and a Servant is the Deliverer is only as busy as they want to be, which is usually pretty busy, given their schedule. Servants, because they can have a difficult time saying “no”, can fill up their schedules to the point where the schedule runs them instead of them running their schedule.
  11. Deliverers are the skeletal system of the body in large part. Consider the similarities. The Skeletal System is the sort of system that provides more than just a scaffolding for the rest of the body to be grouped around. It provides mineral storehouses for the Cardiovascular System. The femurs are where one aspect of the life of the body, the red blood cells, are produced. The bones occupy a large segment of teaching in Scripture. They also provide materials necessary to synch the rest of the body.
  12. Likewise, the RJD provides an organizational life-giving hub for the rest of the body, and the other gifts. Other gifts may rely on relational or ideological connections for their strength, whereas the RJD has the capacity for tapping into an internal strength that is their own.
  13. Because of this, the Ruler’s self-reliance and independence can land them in hot water.
  14. Judges need a trustworthy friend in whom they can confide deeply and with whom they can go the distance. It probably needs to be someone as strong-willed and bullheaded as they are.
  15. When a Ruler finds this friend or herecouple of friends, provided strong betrayal does not enter the picture, this sort of friendship can benefit both the Deliverer and the non-Deliverer.
  16. Deliverers, when healthy, can make the ultimate fathers if they can tap into their capacity for relational skill.
  17. Left-brained Judges are built to be machines of efficiency.
  18. Right-brained Rulers definitely skew the model, because their creative flair seeps into their team-building, gathering, organizing, and fathering activities.
  19. The best I can say about the Right-brained Ruler is that they are designed with a creative flair in mind. That empire-building germ combines with a creative…quality…about the Ruler.
  20. Deliverers are known for effectively building with minimal resources and for pushing the resources the have into places of maximum output. If not healthy in their expression, then you end up with things like Jack Welch’s odiously satanic Stretch Goals; Tom Watson, Sr.’s domination of IBM; or Jeff Bezos’ nutters where he explodes as his employees in Amazon.
  21. In the case of Jack Welch, “stretch goals” were about how we could get the employees to do more work for the same amount of pay. Not just no, but hell no.
  22. When this happens, it is an indicator that the Ruler lacks a conscience.
  23. And when a Ruler lacks a conscience, they really get…ahem…unwise and mean-spirited. They make some of the finest and most efficient predators.
  24. The Deliverer has to be crucified and sanctified in their temperament in order to judge wisely. Their responsibility to is anchor themselves in an understanding of the qualities embodied in the three treasures in the Ark of the Covenant.
  25. The Ruler must learn how to measure themselves against, and be in possession of, the principles embodied by threee treasures found in the Ark.
  26. The stone tablets of the Ark represent the Judge’s moral authority.
  27. The omer of manna speaks of the Ruler’s capacity to feed on the divine provision and to dole that supernatural provision out.
  28. The budded staff speaks of two things. First, the Deliverer is selected and appointed by G-d. Secondly, the nature of the fruit that came forth from the buds, almonds, speaks of the fact that G-d remembers the Ruler’s appointment to a task big enough for the Ruler to do. Almonds symbolize memory and a refusal to forget. The Amygdala in the brain, two almond-shaped organs, determine what emotional value to assign to given memories.
  29. G-d does not forget the day, season, the history, or the circumstance of his appointment of the Ruler. His appointment of the Ruler to the gift of RJD is permanent, hardwired, good, without repentance, irrevocable, and a glorious expression of His busy nature.
  30. As the Deliverer leans into his Principle, s/he grows in Freedom and is enabled to help others grow into freedom and sonship. The key, however is he or she must be submitted to hunting for that principle.
  31. The Deliverer does not trust others easily outside of the expressed interference of G-d. However, if the Ruler hears G-d speak, he or she will work at extending trust.
  32. One key to working with a Ruler is that you must be willing to work at being willing to value protecting their heart.
  33. The one thing that will destroy a friendship with a Deliverer faster than anything is betrayal.

So, questions? Comments? Thoughts? What is missing?

And before we proceed to the gift of Mercy, this post provides some missing material.

The Redemptive Gift of Servant (v 2.0)

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts, Servant

If you are reading this, I am assuming most of you are coming from my post on the Prophet. If you have not read that post, then I would strongly recommend going here. If you are unsure what a Redemptive Gift is, then go here.

Death Grips, Destroying Rough Drafts, and Writing Better Works

I had a thought of updating what I had written, but I understand that frequently, the best work we can do frequently comes from doing work afresh, with no previous frame. Dr. Witek, my Poetry teacher from college once said, that sometimes you have to be willing to destroy your most precious work of writing in order to bring out an even better work. And that thing which you grasp so much with a death-grip can keep you from doing the thing you were meant to write that pulls from a deeper place.

In the last post, I updated my post on the Redemptive Gift of Prophet and said I was going to do one post on each of the seven gifts of Romans 12:6-8 in sequence in order to give you some ideas. In the next to the last post, on my introduction, I covered the Servant as an example of how the fractal (repeating pattern) of Seven works in Scripture, and I covered the Servant’s capacity to cleanse things above all the other gifts.

Well, between posts, I decided that I was going to cover not only the attributes of the gifts, but some of the fractals as they come and are important to highlighting each of the gifts. And writing, as it is for my friend, the Man From California, is cathartic for me. I have experienced a massive trauma, which was partly my fault this past weekend, and, sitting here in this espresso bar in the mountains of Western North Carolina, or rather, standing here, at 9:47, writing is a salve to me. So, with one remaining non-sequiter, the Servant.

Oh Yeah. About that Non-Sequiter

And that non-sequiter is that I am planning on writing a longer piece on the Redemptive Gifts, given there is much more to consider and mine that has not been mined, as it pertains to relationships, marriage, family, and parenting, and it is quite possible that I am going to partner with some peeps in writing these works.

The Patterns of the Gifts

Because the gifts are tied to a fractal, and fractals repeat in nature, we see the patterns of the gifts, from research, repeat in nature and reality. Just as every person has a Redemptive Gift, so we also believe, thus far, that every organization, grouping, and other entities parallel these gifts. One example of the parallel. Look at the Teacher and the Digestive System. Or the Servant and the Excretory System (including the Integumentary System, that is, the Skin).

Just like the Digestive System helps us to digest the solid meat and food to derive nutrition, so also the Teacher helps us digest all manner of truth in order to derive nourishment.

Just as the Excretory System cleanses us of garbage and waste from our bodies to keep up clean, and the Integumentary System cleanses us through sweat, and also helps protect and regulate body temperature and the organs, so also the Servant helps protect and cleanse the body, people in all manner of walks of life.

A Disclaimer

Before I jump into the Servant, I would like to reiterate the value Yeshua put on His words testifying and His works. When the Pharisees, who represent the very worst of the Teacher tribe, wanted him to justify His lawbreaking, He presented them with the statement and exhortation that the believe the works, if they could not believe the words He spoke. That is, He was putting the works He did on a par with the words he spoke as valid evidence His testimony was true.

I said that because we might be tempted to ask, “where is this found in the Bible”. And not everything we say about these gifts is found explicitly in the text of Scripture with three references so you can have enough Scripture passages to back up this teaching. The reality of these gifts are found in the analogies, types, and shadows of Scripture and in over 30 years of many of us working with and observing these gifts not just in Scripture, but also in real life and experience. The principles work, and the patterns work. This explanation might seem sacrilegious to some, but it is the best explanation we have. We will do our best to cover as much as we can from Scripture, but sometimes, the best we are going to find will be limited to the works of G-d in nature and real life. And after all, Paul did say that men who have never heard the gospel preached would be held accountable and without excuse due to the proofs of G-d in nature. The patterns are found throughout the design in creation and nature. So men, whether or not they have the written Word, are still without excuse. They are accountable for the revelation they have, and the law of G-d is indeed written on their hearts and in their design (Romans 1:19).

About the Servant In Particular

  1. The Servant is, above every gift, probably the most overlooked, the most unseen, and probably the most dishonored (Joseph in the New Testament, the Servant, evidenced because he took in stride, without contesting it, that his reputation would be destroyed. Why this is is not universally known. My theory is because they allow it, and the enemy is only so willing to oblige the body in its own systematic destruction. And without the Oceans and the Atmostphere, we cannot breathe and cannot survive, as both are critical for temperature regulation, cleansing, and overall life. Indeed, very few regularly think about air until their airway isn’t patent and functional.
  2. And the Weather patterns, which were created on day two, don’t rouse our ire, until there is a hurricane, or a tornado, or too much humidity, or not enough moisture, or too much rain, or too much snow. And then we rouse our mouths from their slumber, without checking first to see if the L-rd has determined that this or that weather pattern is necessary. Further, we curse the humidity and rain until there is a drought.
  3. And frequently, Father uses the Weather Patterns to judge areas and regions. In 2004, California, when they signed the multi-billion dollar bond for stem-cell research, then received destruction to the state economy, which liquidated the funds from that bond, through the droughts, then the heavy rains, then the overgrowth, then drought, then forest fires. And no matter how much the church pleads with Him to reverse His judgment and send rain, in spite of the fact that the change in weather patterns was brought on by the iniquity,
  4. The Servant is usually the one placed in the hardest assignments in terms of dysfunctional people groups, families, and social situations, precisely because the Servant is the one who is equipped above all other gifts with the tenacity to see the good in the garbage. Put a Servant in a family, and watch the rest of the family talk down about the worthless, deadbeat, do-nothing, underachieving black-sheep of the family. When this condescension happens, something in the Servant will rise up, speak to, and make much of the one or two positive traits. They have to hunt for something and make much of it.
  5. Servants will usually do one of the following two things in most situations. They will push through more than any other gift (yes, Prophets, even more than y’all) for something that they believe in. They will also push through for someone else’s stuff, and insist on helping others to possess their birthrights and inheritances, frequently at the expense of their own. They will also give up on their own stuff.
  6. Why is this? Because we have taken that passage that says “prefer one another ahead of yourselves” (Philippians 2:3: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves) and we have twisted it into this perverted thing where we act to take care of others at our own expense, when that is not what the verse is talking about.
  7. Servants do not need to read Philippians 2:3, because they already have it in their DNA, just like Prophets do not need to be told to have faith. Prophets, likewise, have Hebrews 11:1 written into their DNA.
  8. Philippians 2:3 and its context is designed for us to put to death the concepts of real selfish ambition and vain conceit. IT IS NOT MEANT TO PUT TO DEATH OUR DREAMS OR THE GOALS THAT FATHER HAS PUT INTO OUR HEARTS, OUR SPIRITS, OR OUR SOULS.
  9. Servants, you have a nasty habit, because you can go longer and stronger than any of the other gifts without honor, of killing G-d-ordained dreams and purposes that are for you, in the pursuit of helping others achieve their own goals. This is a bastard offshoot of the best of your gift. You are required to pursue and possess your birthright as are the other six gifts. If you do not, your spiritual and physical seed will have a hard problem to fix. Go, find your birthright, and possess it, and in the process help others according to your design, but know that if you neglect your stuff in your pursuit of helping others find and possess theirs, it will destroy a major purpose of your life.
  10. Read the following very carefully. This helping others at the expense of what G-d gave them to possess is not what Servants were designed to do by G-d, but is rather a perversion and twisting of their design. We have adopted this twisted and satanic mentality in the church, and especially in the American church of feeling like we have to choose between two things in a sick sort of zero-sum win/lose situation. We have not learned how to skillfully play for a win/win scenario. Turning everything into a sordid form of competition where there are winners and losers. We have let the business world, the sports world, and the super-alienating political world (every 4 years we have this cycle of alienation we call the Presidential Election: who can alienate the greatest number of people from the political opponent?). This spirit of alienation twists us into Abimelech and the City of Shechem, and meanwhile, Jotham laughs at us. The Servants among us can teach us how to supplant this nonsense of win/lose, and look for the best in each person in a situation.
  11. Servants were made to cleanse, above all the other gifts, cleanse leaders, land, time, things, people, birthrights, families, and other defiled junk. This is why Servants are usually placed in close proximity to other dysfunctional people, and other leaders, and other situations that need cleansing. Think of the Bronze Laver and The Brazen Sea (Exodus 30:18-28; 1 Kings 7:23-26).
  12. Servants at their most twisted can slip into embracing a savior mentality.
  13. Servants do not usually seek the limelight. They prefer the fringe, and the hidden.
  14. Servants are usually given to working with the environment in some way, whether animals, or trees, or land, or weather, or the oceans, or the waters, or some dynamic. They usually are treated as a safe place for the non-human creation. It’s like a sixth sense. I know one Servant who had a massive green thumb and is effortless when it comes to planting vegetable gardens.
  15. Servants, as with Queen Esther, are the gifts that are most without guile. Esther repeatedly did not play to see how much booty, gold, and gems she could make off of her one-night stand with the king. Rather, she dressed simply. Servants give a straight-up answer, and don’t usually know how to play the angles with finesse, and work the room the way some of the other polished-up gifts can.
  16. Servants, as exemplified in Esther, are most gifted in the area of cleansing leaders, and breaking the spirit of premature death. Often, Servants will be paired next to the Giver because of the Giver’s birthing anointing, and the Servant will protect the new thing G-d is doing.
  17. Servant Organizations will tend toward the color brown a lot (UPS, Birkenstock) and an unassuming or underwhelming presence, as well as a bad utilization of space. Birkenstocks are not the most elegant-looking shoe, but dang they are some of the most comfortable and durable shoes on the market. They were also manufactured in the German Region of Hesse, whence came the Hessians who fought as hired troops for England in the American Revolution, and they were also roundly cursed by the American colonists.
  18. Let me give some textual bits that speak to the Servant here. “When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go in to the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king’s eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised (Esth. 2:15). Most women got a one-night stand and then got to keep whatever they wanted. Esther wanted none of that ostentatious gold or jewelry. She told Hegai to “take care of it”.
  19. “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” (Esth 4:16). The Esther Fast, the most severe type of fast, is the one instituted by this Servant, and is used to turn back the spirit of death. It is the Servant who embraces the fasted lifestyle, and the Esther Fast specifically, when someone’s life is on the line and the death is not supposed to happen, that earns the authority to turn back the spirit of premature death.
  20. The Servant not only becomes the catalyst against the spirit of premature death, but also is the catalyst for G-d’s retribution against the enemies of G-d’s people. “The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark” (Genesis 7:20-23) When G-d wanted to wipe out the depravity of man and rescue his people, it was to the Servant Day, with its weather patterns, that G-d turned in order to cleanse everything and set it back into place.
  21. Because of their tie-in with the Atmosphere and the Oceans and Weather Patterns, the Servant is G-d’s go-to in order to set everything into array with the environment of a situation in order to make others feel welcome. From hosting company, to taking care of animals, the Servant has this extra boost to run circles around the non-Servants in order to meet the felt needs and to create a living space that is comfortable and well-put-together.
  22. And most importantly, the Servant is the one above all the gifts that is designed to create the space where G-d feels most comfortable showing up. The Servant, beyond the other gifts, has no ambition or hidden motive for wanting G-d to show up. She or he just wants the King to show up, not so the Servant can have warm fuzzies, or great meetings, or “have church” or “revival” or any of the other legitimacy crutches the other gifts hunt for in the presence of G-d with their ambition. Rather, they want the King to show up simply because the King wants to show up and is comfortable showing up. And they will do whatever they can to get whatever obstacles are in the way that keep the King from being comfortable showing up. Servants, in their highest function, are designed to create an environment where the King would WANT to show up. Our text for this, is illustrated in the Tabernacle, but it is rooted in the Seven Trees of Isaiah 41:19. The Presence of G-d shows up in the tabernacle, but think about the wood which is covered in gold or other metals out of which the furnishings of the Tabernacle are made. It is acacia wood. Now, look at the fractal of the Seven Trees: “I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together.” And ALL of the 27 other references to this word deal specifically with the putting together of the Tabernacle, and it is the only wood used in the construction of the Tabernacle. This shows the value that G-d puts on this wood, as a picture of what G-d thinks about the Servant.
  23. The Servant, because they are good at creating a life-giving environment for others, frequently will work well with anything that can be construed as an environment, and they will work well with the ecology, the environment, and animals and plants. My MIL, who is a card-carrying Servant, has a gift for understanding dogs and cats for example, and she has more than a green thumb. Her working with vegetable gardens and bringing them to a place of flourishing is effortless.
  24. Because of 23, the Servant may prefer to work with animals and ecology more than with humans. And given that we are called as a church to redeem the entire ecosystem and the whole creation, it is good and useful to have people who are willing to work with non-humans and bring the dominion of Our Father to the physical environment. There are other gifts that are capable of working WELL with the ecology, but the Servant has a larger capacity and a greater chance of doing this more frequently with a greater chance of success.

Granted, this is not an exhaustive list, and for another set of attributes, look here. That said, there is always more.

Be blessed, gang.

And from here, please proceed to the Teacher.

Concerning the Redemptive Gift of Prophet (Revision)

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts

In the previous post, I discussed the concept of Redemptive Gifts and lightly touched on how they are tied to the other groupings of seven in Scripture.  We covered one of those groupings, the Seven Days of Creation.  However, there are others, such as:

  1. The Seven Signs of Christ in the Gospel of John
  2. The Seven Parables of the Kingdom in the Gospel of Matthew.
  3. The Seven Last Words of Christ
  4. Seven of the Ten Compound Names of Jehovah
  5. The Seven Trees of Isaiah 41:19
  6. The Seven Items of the Believer’s Armor
  7. The Seven Things the L-rd Despises
  8. The Seven Items of Furniture in the Tabernacle
  9. The Seven Gifts of Joseph to Jacob
  10. The Seven Letters to the Seven Churches in Revelation
  11. The Seven Names of Christ in Revelation 2 and 3
  12. The Seven Treasures of Christ in Revelation 2 and 3
  13. The Seven Spirits of G-d
  14. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom
  15. The Seven Actions of Wisdom in Proverbs 4:6-10 (Wisdom will keep, guard, exalt, honor, give a garland, give a crown, give many years)
  16. The Seven gifts of a godly woman, the serial entrepreneur, which array her home, from Proverbs 31:13-26. (Understanding in textiles, food, real estate, vintage, fitness or self-stewardship, dexterity, and instruction)
  17. Seven Questions of Moses to the Burning Bush
  18. Seven I AM Statements in the Gospel of John

The groupings, most of which form a pattern tied to the Redemptive Gifts, have themes and patterns that repeat, and we refer to any pattern that repeats as a fractal.

So, as a refresher of the last post, let us leap into a brief description of the gifts.

DEFINING OUR FRAME

So, what exactly are the Redemptive Gifts? And what is their purpose?

They are the gifts mentioned in Romans 12:6-8, which reads:

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

Some call these the Motivational Gifts.

They are called Redemptive, because G-d uses our hardwiring to redeem creation. They are called Motivational, because they describe our motivation.

There are seven different types of hardwiring that each have a different motivation.

And they are motivated to share the King of Kings in a different facet, and each of those facets is good.

From the business side of things, because businesses are often extensions of the people who receive the vision for the companies they found, I have mentioned various people and organizations that I think have this or that gift. This post series will not address the business side or the land side of things.

Before I get into the expression of how the gifts work in individuals, however, I need to address three items so our heads and hearts are in the right place.

THE THREE REALITIES OF UNIQUE HARDWIRING, FILIAL IDENTITY, AND WHOSE TEACHING THIS REALLY IS

1) Unique Hardwiring: We are discussing that special hardwiring that G-d put into each of us when we were conceived and then born, that purpose and role that we each have in effecting G-d’s ultimate plan of redemption. I don’t know how many of y’all realize it, but all of y’all were put on this earth to solve a particular problem USING YOUR UNIQUE HARDWIRING, and not someone else’s hardwiring. A Prophet is designed, for example, to drill down with a simplistic worldview. A Giver, on the other hand, is designed to see the shades of gray and complexity and not to be black-and-white. We are not supposed to be forcing the black-and-white person to see the shades of gray and vice-versa. We are supposed to see the unique designs, embrace them, celebrate them, and see them set up to succeed, not cast stones at them or tell them how they have to be part of a sausage factory and become like everyone else.

2) Filial Identity:

fil·i·al

ˈfilyəl/

adjective

  1. of or due from a son.

There is no mold for the kingdom work. G-d makes us, knits us, and crafts us. One mold per person, and then G-d breaks that mold. You have a unique design, it is good, it is unique, and while it is one of seven (because that is reflected in creation), there are an infinite number of ways that each unique son of the Kingdom expresses himself or herself in their unique design.

And yes, I did use the term “son” and “herself” in the same sentence. We are sons in the kingdom, and we are each the bride of Christ. Congratulations, life is uncomfortable for all of us.

Woman of G-d, you are the son of G-d.

Man of G-d, you are the bride of Christ.

And I am sorry, but I will not sugarcoat that reality.

3) Whose Teaching: There are people who assume that this teaching is solely the product of Arthur Burk. This is not his signature teaching. He moves from research project to research project, looking at new paradigms. Further, he does not rest on his laurels. It is a teaching of his, and it is not the center of his teaching, though it is a major part of his paradigm. And while many of us that have accepted the Redemptive Gift teaching are friends of his and track with SLG, it does not mean that we are his groupies or that we hang on his bell waiting for him. The teaching on the Fractal of Seven and the Redemptive Gifts belongs to all of us, and it is the responsiblity of those of us who walk in the light of those revelations to find our own place in the constellation that was articulated by both Arthur and Bill Gothard, who, if you recall what Arthur said on the original Redemptive Gift teaching, was provided the original source material that Arthur used for about 25 years.

This is the teaching that was gifted to the body of Yeshua ha-Mashiach. It’s not one man at the top and we all sit at his feet, nor is it one man at the bottom and we all stand on his shoulders. Rather, it is one of our number who shared this with us, and we walk along side him as just fellow believers. It is G-d’s revelation that G-d gave to some men and they in turn, dispensed it to us in order for us to become factories and produce new revelations and paradigms using the same principles.

Do not put either Bill or Arthur on a pedestal. And do not put any one of your friends on a pedestal either. I will explain with each of the gifts.

Now, having said that, let’s jump into first of the Redemptive Gifts.

THE PROPHET

I would like to start by covering the first of the seven gifts, the Gift of Prophet, which is different from the Office of Prophet in Ephesians 4 and the Manifestation Gift of Prophesying in 1 Corinthians 12-14

BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS

  1. Binary, Didactic Worldview-everything is black and white, right and wrong, in and out, up and down.
  2. They decide what they like and do not like and they are quite comfortable telling you in a hurry what they think and why, even if they have not spent as much time as you would have spent thinking about that issue and question. And they don’t care if you think what they said took them 2.5 seconds to say.
  3. Prophets think in terms of absolutes.  So, when you are dealing with those kids that are absolute and black-and-white, DO NOT CURSE THAT PART OF THEIR DESIGN.  DON’T force them into a mold and DON’T CURSE them by saying “once you grow up, you will see there are shades of gray” and “you can’t be so black-and-white”.  THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR GRAYSCALE. Loose those young Prophets and let them go.
    1. Now, at some point, it will help them when they have a friend or three that is patient and willing to help them see some complexities in life, but they are very good at taking the complex and boiling it down to a practical solution.
  4. If you want a problem-solver, make sure to make friends with a Prophet, because they are the ultimate problem-solver, bar none.  They eat, drink, breathe, sleep, and live problem-solving.  In fact, by the time you have gotten your first cup of coffee to your face for a sip, they have solved twenty-five problems that no one asked them to solve.  It is just that the problem-solving engine was conceived running.  G-d conceived them in their mothers womb, and gave them a V12 with 28 speeds in the transmission, and that engine runs faster than a Formula One car.
  5. They may suffer from an insufferable amount of tunnel vision, as in the case of George Washington Carver (go to this video link and watch from 2:10 to 5:30).  They may not see any other dynamic or detail on the way to solving the problem that they are focused on and passionate about with a laser-focus.
  6. Because of their intense drive, they also have to go somewhere.  They have to have a point, an objective, a reason, a purpose, or a goal.  They cannot just be not moving along without know where they are going and why.  The need to have a destination is usually a non-negotiable for them.  They are always going somewhere.  They have to be proceeding.  They have a direction.  Frequently, they are in motion.
  7. And about these goals and purposes, Prophets are legendary for, and are usually reviled for, being turbocharged in terms of their intensity.
  8. They are designed to see the results of cause-and-effect relationships, and as a result they use those cause-and-effect relationships to solve problems.  Think of George Washington Carver and the Peanut as the solution for the soil depletion.  Think of Thomas Edison and the light bulb as the solution for creating light after the sun went down.  And as a final example, Henry Ford who was an inventor, shut down his factory so that he could work on this new thing of which he had conceived and called it “the assembly line”.  It revolutionized the automobile industry.  And that was Ford’s gift to the automotive industry.
  9. Prophets make decisions very quickly and can shift to the execution of those decisions with blazing-fast speed, not always realizing the full implication of those decisions and executions. George Washington Carver and the peanut and then creating the mess of not having an economy for all those peanuts.
  10. They are often seen as bold and brash, but that is because they readily see far and have vision for the distance, which means they often lack at seeing broadly.
  11. The Prophet also does not do fear.  Everything they do they do with confidence.  They are no-fear with respect to their relationships, with respect to solving problems, and with respect to their giving.  They are often are the most generous of the gifts, even more so than the Giver, because unlike the Giver who will give wisely and with an eye toward bettering infrastructure, the Prophet will bypass his brain in his impulse to give.  They will lead the charge on all sorts of things.
  12. Prophets will initiate the building of new things, the articulation of new ideas, and the expression of new things. Nicola Tesla, for example.
  13. Prophets are interested in the new way more than they are the old. They like a blank sheet of paper to do something new.  If they are put in charge of something existing, they will enlarge it, improve it, fix it, change it, or quit from it.  They don’t do maintenance. They fix.  If you try to give a Prophet something to maintain, the odds are high that, if he doesn’t do one of these above things, he or she will break it.
  14. Prophets direct and show direction.  They direct the church and show the path or many paths, depending on if direction is needed, or if options are needed.  Think of the skills necessary in driving versus chess. One path versus survival on many fronts.
  15. They move toward brokenness and chaos, in order to bring order out of that chaos.  Broken people, broken situations, broken spirituality.
  16. Prophets will move toward the darknesses that intimidate other gifts.
  17. They will care compassionately for the broken and for the roadkill.
  18. Their greatest battle is with bitterness, offense, and the maintenance of their joy.
  19. They have the greatest range of emotions and volcanic expression of those emotions.
  20. Because they are intense fixers, they will see what is wrong in a situation and they will judge what is wrong and make a running list of all the things that need fixing, and if you let them fix, they will fix those things.
  21. Prophets have an intense judgmental spirit typically.
  22. Prophets can be completely condescending without realizing it.  Because they are usually right in their assessment of a problem given a set of principles, they know they are right and this can irritate some of the less sure gifts.
  23. They take the initiative to judge.  They will judge situations, things, and also other people, and themselves.  Because of this tendency to pass judgment, they can come across as judgmental.  This can lead to straining and fracturing of relationships.
  24. They are also brutally honest to a fault and while they may also be harsh with others, they are even more harsh with themselves.  When they do wrong, or when they sin, they beat themselves up, and they will seek to root every single detail out.  Their mindset can turn into a graceless or merciless one where they say to themselves, “it must be because of this or that sin that I am getting punished this way”, and they will hunt for all the sins they recently committed plus the ones they thought about committing but never got around to doing.
  25. Coupled with the compulsion for honesty, is the personal ethic to which Prophets hold themselves, in all dealings.  In the parlance of today’s culture “a man got to have a code.”  They hold to a set of unwritten expectations and ethics/morals that they will not violate. This also ties back to their intense sense of right and wrong.
  26. When you are dealing with relationships, you have to divvy out the Prophet and the other six.  The other six gifts are relationally-driven, and the Prophet is ideologically driven.
  27. They extrapolate based on a given set of principles to predict future events.  And they see at a distant.  Because of this tendency, paired with the quickness of passing judgment, they will often be treated with contempt or wonder by others.  “Why are you freaking out over such a small change here?” He or she is not freaking out over this minor deviation here.  He or she is freaking out over the implications over there in that MAJOR catastrophe.
  28. As a result of being misunderstood, one of potential results of that is the bitterness above.
  29. They are very hard working as a result, and sometimes may slip into the sin of trying to help G-d out through their capacity to work very hard.
  30. While your right-brain dominant Prophet presents as very emotional and very expressive, your left-brained Prophet is more reserved.  Yes, I know a lot of people that would say, “a Prophet is very verbal-expressive”, but I know a particular Walking-Tall Prophet, who sets the bar in my eyes for all Prophets, and he is L. E. F. T. B. R. A. I. N. E. D..  He definitely skews the curve for the tribe as a whole.  Also, because he is left-brained, he is very reserved and has patience to listen to everything. Very, very tender.
  31. Laterality (the study of left- versus right-brained thinking) is a huge marker for how these gifts present.  In your left-brained Prophet, you are going to have analytical thinking and more computer-y, sense-oriented thinking.  In your right-brained Prophet, the presentation is going to present more emotionally, more intuitive, more gut-thinking, etc.  They will both be able to solve problems, and they will both have a truth indicator, but their method for arriving at that truth and solution will differ radically.
  32. Following the pattern that sets out the combined teachings of RGI, RGC, the RG YouTube videos, and MOHA, (all of which you should really view) coupled with my own observations, the Prophet and the Exhorter both flow in principles.  The difference is how they use them. While an Exhorter points out cause-and-effect relationships to move people in the Principle of Reality (A/K/A Principles of Sowing and Reaping) dealing with realistic usage of time to accomplish a task, the Prophet will use principles woven together to build and move into something new.  Think of Wilbur Wright, the Prophet, and his Teacher brother Orville, and you have the weaving together of a massive amount of principles to achieve something theretofore unachieved:fixed-wing flight.

So, how do I know when someone is a Prophet?  Easy.  He eats, breathes, drinks, sleeps problem-solving.

A couple of those characteristics to hit here.  First, hopelessness.  Hope is the gas for any prophetic gift.  When hope is not present, despair and destruction that set in.  Destruction of the Prophet’s spirit and soul.  If despair overtakes this person when there is no goal purpose or point, then the odds are high you are dealing with a Prophet.

Second, when a Prophet is high-functioning, he or she can be very good with relationships, if he is careful to guard against running and fleeing at the first, second, or third sign of trouble, and if he has people who understand those temptations and will be life-giving to him.

Turn On The Magic of Colored Lights….

You know, imma throw out my thoughts on the colors of the rainbow and the Redemptive Gifts, though they may stir up some controversy and though Arthur may disagree with me.

I am of the opinion, and current science will read this way as well, that there are six colors in the rainbow.

The Prophet then, because he runs with Principles, and flows in them, parallels the Principle of Design. Now Design is another way of saying Principles.

“The Principle of Design is foundational to all other principles. In fact, the very phrase, ‘the Principle of Design,’ is redundant. There can be no Design without Principles. There can be no end product without the underlying, abstract concepts that supports that product. So Design is the art of weaving Principles together in order to produce change” (Arthur Burk, The Seven Principles, Disc 2, Cut 1, 0:48-1:10).

“The challenge for the Prophet is to embrace all of the Principles” (Arthur Burk, The Redemptive Gifts of Individuals, Disc 2: Prophet, Cut 1, 0:25-0:29).

Therefore, the Prophet’s color of light is White.

The weaving together of all the colors of the rainbow produces white light, so the weaving together of all the Principles that produces change is the reality of the Principle of Design.

Second, the Prophet, because he is designed to flow in all the principles, is also designed to flow in the Principles that govern human relationships.  If a Prophet is high-functioning, he can really engage well in effective and strong human relationships.  He is not designed to fail in his relationships.

Third, my mother once heard from Father, when complaining about the color white the following statement:

You have no idea what white actually looks like.

And as I ruminated on this conversation between my mother and the Almighty, I saw white the way the L-rd envisions it in part.

Like unto an opal that is dazzling in its array of many different colors.

Heaven’s white might be likened to something that is like a mixture of pearlescent softness, and opalescent, rainbowed brilliance, with the spread of colors hidden just beneath the surface of the unified white, but always looking for an excuse to shimmer in polyvareigated radiance.

This is the beauty and majesty of white, and the beauty and majesty that MAKES the Prophet the spectacular picture of holiness that reflects the unstained robes of the King and parses out between the black on the one hand and the….

WHITE….

on the other…..

And in the inky blackness of utter darkness shines the brilliance of His white, very colorful light.

#LetThereBeLight

So, there are some things for y’all to think about.  Just my take, gang.  What say y’all?

The Redemptive Gifts. What Are They?

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Redemptive Gifts

NOTE: At the end of each post, I will provide a link to the next post on the Prophet, and each subsequent post in the sequence of the Redemptive Gifts, and following the Prophet, I will link at the top of subsequent posts where you are coming from. Thus, the set of Redemptive Gift Posts will form a chain link. And now, the introductory post.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean by ‘redemptive gifts?’ “

“Why are you calling that person a Mercy? I thought Mercy was an adjective.”

“How is a Redemptive Prophet different from an office Prophet?”

“What is this goofy language you are using, David?”

“It sounds like you are part of a cult.”

Well, not really. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we might be doing that we forget who came along for the ride.

Allow me to back up and to partly explain why you are here.

You are here in part because of my doing.

You see, I have an unusual capacity to draw people in. When I want to draw a crowd or group, it can be useful. But when I want to do one-on-one with people, it can be a little bit………frustrating?

I have come to some startling realizations among those people that call me friend. I have this uncanny knack for being able to draw people who are absolute strangers to a given concept, and helping them grow into an understanding of the concept, and then helping them segue to the next season using that concept or those concepts as tools in the next season.

To the place where they are ready to transition to a larger season, set of relationships, or set of truths. In fullness, we move from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18), from strength to strength (Psalm 84:7), and from faith to faith (Habakkuk 2:4), for as it is written, “the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). And part of my job description is to help people increase their capacity to receive, store, apply, and utilize.

Kind of like a bright star….more on that later.

I came to this realization in the last few weeks while working to walk well with a new set of friends who are relatively new to the concept of the Redemptive Gifts. And, since the concept of the gifts and their associated terms are common conversation points on The Paraclete’s Hammer, I figured that I would give a ground-zero entry-point, an intro post for those people who might not know what the gifts are, what we mean when we say “Redemptive Gifts”, and how they hook in to the rest of Scripture.

So, without further adieu, the Intro:

When we discuss Redemptive Gifts, we are referring to those seven gifts that are found in Romans 12:6-8.

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

Romans 12:6–8 ESV

From that Scripture passage, we pull the following list of seven gifts.

  1. Prophet
  2. Servant
  3. Teacher
  4. Exhorter
  5. Giver
  6. Ruler
  7. Mercy

First delineated by Bill Gothard of the Institute of Basic Life Principles decades ago as Redemptive Gifts, these gifts have several associated parallel patterns throughout Scripture were discovered by Mrs. Judy Lee and the Gifts and their parallels were popularized by Arthur Burk of Sapphire Leadership Group.

So, at the outset, before anyone decides to label me a heretic for mentioning Bill Gothard in anything other than a “stone-the-heretic-with-stones-that-he-may-die” tone of voice, please go jump in a freaking creek or take a cold shower.

These gifts were not only seen as distinct from the Manifestation Gifts of 1 Corinthians 12 and 14, and different again from the Office Gifts of Ephesians 4, they were also connected to many of the other heptadic (“heptadic” means “seven-fold”) groupings found throughout Scripture. A pattern that repeats. Also known in mathematics as “a fractal”.

Yes, I know I could probably nuance the definition and terms a bit better than that, but for our purposes of looking at patterns and types and symbols in Scripture, such a definition suits the purpose, and I know the definition might break under overanalysis, but this is not the time for that. I am plenty armed for that work at a later date.

In Scripture, there are patterns among the heptadic groupings throughout scripture that link together. For example, Teachers are often found in medical and research arenas, and most medicines derive from some plant life on some level, and when were plants created?

The Third Day, and the Teacher is listed third among the seven gifts.

Further, in Scripture, we see the Bronze Laver used for cleansing in the Tabernacle as the second of Seven Key Objects In the Tabernacle of Moses.

And the Servant and the Second Day, where the weather patterns and atmospheres were created, occupy the second position of the Fractal of Seven, and both have unusual capacity to cleanse.

Further, the Seven Days of Creation show us the following parallels, if you will pardon the repetition of the Second Day. Granted, this is not going to be an exhaustive list, and it is only going to be a getting-your-feet-wet intro:

  1. For Day 1, we see the Creation of Light. But consider this. Not only did G-d create light on that first day, but He also created everything that was necessary for that light to exist on that first day. Now, reasoning from principle and using a little bit of science, what is required for light to exist? Understanding that “all different types of light are part of an electromagnetic field that flows across time,” and understanding that light is both a wave and a particle, you have to have four things: Time, Space, the Laws of Science, and then the Matter that operates within in those natural laws. And as Time, Space, the Laws or Science, and Matter are necessary building blocks, or Principles with which G-d built everything and which He utilized in order to get His Light to every dark place, so the Prophet is known for, using the principles governing all of reality as tools and building blocks, putting a million of them together in order to produce something that is useful and new. To illustrate, it was was not a simplistic “up” and “go” that got the first airplane into the skies. Rather it was a complex weaving together of dozens upon dozens of principles and variables. Thrust, lift, birdflight, gliding, kites, behavior of different wingforms in the air, windspeed, catapults before the first airplane wheels were considered, weight, loft, temperature, weather, and on and on and on. The Prophet’s ballpark and expertise is in the area of everything embodied by that first day and so much more.
  2. For Day 2, the Servant’s Day, G-d created the waters above, the waters below, the expanse between (the sky and atmosphere) and the weather patterns. And what do the weather patterns and the atmosphere and sky and oceans do? Quite simply, they perform massive cleansing and massive life-giving functions. They are not readily seen usually, but they keep us alive in ways we do not understand. Likewise, the Servant carries this massive capacity to cleanse people, above all the other gifts.
  3. For Day 3, G-d created the dry land and Vegetation, which is where we get the first concept of the Teacher. The dry landforms, dens for animals, tree homes for woodland critters, desert landforms for desert critters, polar and rainforest areas for those critters, all the safe places for each animal was created on this day. In addition, the vegetation that provided sustenance and medicine was provided on this day. Here is the picture we draw from this; the Teacher was designed to be a safe haven, a safe place, and a safe person emotionally. There is a massive amount of medical tie-in with a Teacher, and as stated above, most medications derive from things created on the Third Day. Also, the dry land, the dens and homes for animals that were all created with the dry land on the Third Day, the Teacher is a refuge for those who are overtly oppressed. They are typically emotionally incredibly safe.
  4. For Day 4, the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, we move to the Exhorter, and the picture here is of broad scope. The Exhorter has, of all the Redemptive Gifts the capacity for working with the widest cross section of differentiated humanity. And, the sun, moon, and stars, control tides, give warmth, provide radiance, give a broad light, and attract people to study them, wildly divergent people who would not otherwise gather. Don’t believe me. Remember the solar eclipse a few years ago in North America. It caused EVERYONE to stop and stare and talk. That is what the big, bright, massive, sparkly things do, they move masses of people to a bunch of places. Just like the Exhorters.
  5. Day 5, the Birds and the Fish, brings us to the Giver with one key trait: timing. The Birds (including everything that flies: don’t shoot me down over bats) and the Marine Life ( everything that swarms the oceans, again, with the whales) both have MASSIVE seasonal and timing components to working together.
  6. Day 6, the Land Beasts, deals specifically in the concept of Systems with a million moving parts that all have to synch together. Herbivores, carnivores, and humanity all living together on land having to organize themselves and engage in the work of dominion.
  7. With the 7th Day, we come to the concept of rest, and the Mercy was made to just be and experience the depths of intimacy.

Granted, that is just one overly-simple expression of the pattern of how one grouping of seven parallels the Seven Redemptive Gifts.

But, what I want you to see as we move into this is that each gift is unique and plays a VERY valuable component, without which, the whole creation would descend to utter chaos.

And, please draw the parallel, no matter who you are or what your gift is, (and I think we each only have one Redemptive Gift as our dominant driving force) you are EXCEPTIONALLY valuable and have a real place where you can make a difference. Not to be all things to all people, nor to be nothing at all, but to do that one thing you were made to do.

To fix the one major problem G-d made just for you to fix.

To possess the one thing that will bring you the greatest fulfillment.

To possess that thing we call your birthright.

That is the reason we discuss these concepts of Redemptive Gifts so readily.

Helping you to discover what your gift is, and what it looks like on Monday morning, functioning highly and expanding the Kingdom is one of the things that brings me intense satisfaction. And with that, we will jump into each of the gifts as they come.

Consider these things deeply as we file through each gift. Ask a ton of questions.

Think about the implications, and let’s really explore what these mean for us as a tribe.

Be blessed, and sleep the sleep of the righteous.

And for those with insomnia, here is my post on the Prophet.

Givers and Intercession

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Giver, Intercession

DISCLAIMER: Hodgepodge of thoughts ahead.

Every morning when he dresses the lamps [of the lampstand] he shall burn [incense], and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the L-RD throughout your generations.
From Exodus 30:7-8

Of course, Aaron was a Mercy.  And yes, Mercies and intimacy are somewhat second nature, though intimacy is the birthright of the Prophet more than the other six in terms of ROI.
But intimacy and friendship are different.
Moreover, the Altar of Incense is a Giver Picture.  And while Mercies do intimacy, Friendship is the purview of the Giver.
And read that dual phrase with me, ponder it.
Every morning, burn incense.  Every evening, burn incense.
Every day and every night.  Find some of the incense of G-d’s heart and G-d’s friendship to burn on the altar.  And the incense is as vast and varied as the Givers are.  Whales, birds, fish, serpents, monsters, eagles, terns, penguins, sharks, squids, octopi, mollusks, crustaceans, hummingbirds, and all their vast and varied homes from the second day and third day.  A variety of nests and nooks, abover the ground and under the sea.
And it was not just any incense, not just strange or unauthorized incense or even unauthorized fire for that matter (Leviticus 10:1-5) that they were to offer, but rather the most holy incense.  The camp’s best incense.  Incense that the L-rd knew.  Incense that has the right feel to it.  Not just soulish incense, but spirit-driven incense.  Not just blinded incense that does not pray with precision, but sharpened, discerning, perceptive incense.  Not just incense that prays only for the prodigals of believers, but for all prodigals.  As you recall, there was a movement of believers in the 60’s that prayed for prodigal, hippy kids of believers, and they were so short-sighted that they failed to include the children of unbelievers in that intercession.
Our job is not just cry out for our kids, but to also pray for the lost and the things that really do matter in their lives.  It is right and good for the plight of the lost to also touch our deep places.
G-d will let the bowls of incense in heaven fill up so that He can get the ROI not just among believers, but also from unbelievers.
Are you, Givers, willing to step into a place of alignment and agreement with that desire of His heart?
Or are you just content to complain about what the Left or the Right is doing?  Are you content to complain about the agenda of the homosexual community?  Or are you willing to spend time in the holy place, talking with the King about His heart?
Execute His heart and in the process, He will help you bear the things that are on your heart, your mind, and your reins.
A most holy altar demands appropriate incense (Exodus 30:10).
Givers are designed freshly for Intercession, in the same way that Prophets for Sacrifice, Servants for Cleansing, Teachers for Fellowship, Exhorters for Revelation, RJD’s for Execution of G-d’s commands via life-giving systems that Execute His work, and Mercies for the burning fire of consecration and mystery.
We in the Giver tribe can do the good work of providing resources out of our own strength, or we can walk by faith (our cardinal virture).
I use “we” not in the sense of “me”, because I am not a Giver, but rather in the sense of my tribe of Givers.  So, don’t let that sentence cause you to stumble.
I know I am no Giver because I don’t have Giver face.  Not a poker face, but in the words of Anna Zimmerman, it is a face that can mask the emotions exceptionally well.
Back to the topic at hand.
Because of your capacity for friendship with G-d Most High, Givers (Jas 2:23), you have a capacity to connect in intercession and keep it from becoming a religious thing that is unparalleled, if you will choose to walk in it.  It is better to intercede out of the friendship you have, instead of the religious spirit that you can so easily walk in.  And Givers and Teachers can walk in a reigious spirit if they are not careful.  They, like Teachers, can walk after the good things instead of the G-d things.
And we need both to militate against the religious spirit.  We need both to connect with G-d and to do the one thing He is telling them to do.
The bottom line for the AOI (Altar of Incense) is that it is designed to be the home for burning the best incense, instead of the leftover junk, or the other stuff that came into being without Father’s permission.
Keep the strange stuff away from the altar, and burn the best stuff from the King’s heart on it.
Keep all the good things you want to pray for away from it, and hunt for the specific one thing that He wants to show y’all.
Engage with the Prophets in your life and connect with them, to consecrate those altars, to apply blood from the sin offering (Exodus 30:10) to the horns of the Altar.

From the Desk of Dave Brooks: Window of Reconciliation for December

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Exhorter, Sapphire Leadership Group, Window of Reconciliation, With Destiny
I will be gone from SM for the next 90 days, gang, but Aoife will know that I got the drop on her this time around, thanks to Dave Brooks.  For those who do not know him, he is worth getting to know, as a Giver.
It’s okay, gang.  Some of y’all are going to have to read that couplet again.
Anyway, From Dave’s desk:

Hey Everyone! I have a couple of “food for thought” items I’d like to offer, for your consideration. One is that we have a window of reconciliation coming up a month from today, and it’s not too early to start leaning into it.
Here’s a link: https://theslg.com/content/window-of-reconciliation-december
For the past two years, I’ve started leaning into the March window of reconciliation for community starting in January. For Susan and myself, our community has been pretty chewed up and toxic in many respects. I can’t say exactly why but for whatever reason God has met us in these efforts and we have seen a lot of restoration in that area, not always what we specifically looked for, but overall quite marvelous.
The second thing I wanted to float out there is that I’m starting a Scripture binge, as of two days ago. I normally read through the Word twice a year using a 90-day plan in YouVersion. However, I’m using the hunger approach this time; instead of a programmed number of chapters, I have it in my heart to go until it’s done for the day. I listened to most of Genesis yesterday and started Exodus this morning, with Susan.
For me, this goes toward satisfying and nurturing something very deep, and it always does a significant cleansing. I have in the past experienced a number of “things” (I’ll omit details) which have provided significant direction or motivation.

The linked text from Arthur is as follows:

Window of Reconciliation – December

Reconciliation with Our Destiny

Have you ever wished you could rewrite a couple chapters of your life?
Most of us have.
Let’s try another. Do you feel your life is slipping away and you aren’t making progress toward possessing your birthright?
Most of us feel that, too.
If you are part of that “most of us” tribe, you need to do some business with the King during the month of December because there is a window of reconciliation then that is too good to pass up.

Special Seasons

Did you know that all time is not created equal?
On the first day of creation God carefully pointed out the two disparate sections of the time He had created. Then He carefully showed that each day of the week was unique. On the fourth day, He introduced the concept of seasons and stipulated that His seasons were to be ruled over with precision.
Knowing the extravagance of God’s love gifts to us, I am sure there are layers upon layers of seasons that were created for our wellbeing. We are only now beginning to look for them and understand how to synchronize with God’s provisions in time.
There are four seasons of reconciliation during the year which we have identified. Each runs for ten days on either side of the solstice and equinox. They are as follows:

  • March 10th-30th is the season for Reconciliation with Community.
  • June 10th-30th is the season for Reconciliation with Land.
  • September 10th-30th is the season for Reconciliation with God.
  • December 10th-30th is the season for Reconciliation with Our Destiny.

Reconciliation is always on God’s heart and we are permitted to reconcile at any time throughout the year. However, He showed us with the Day of Atonement that we should come to grips with how much alienation we have permitted to creep in each year, and at the appointed time there is extra grace available to move back toward our proper places of connection.
So December’s window of reconciliation is coming. What does it look like for you to be reconciled to your destiny during this window?

The Process

The first step is to set aside a realistic block of time to assess how you see the nature of your calling. It is important to listen to your honest feelings, even though your theology may protest that some of your feelings are inappropriate or irreverent.

  • For example, have you never even considered your calling so that you face the shame of negligence?
  • Or have you sought it diligently and found heaven to be silent on the issue?
  • Do you feel you have no calling, or are you afraid of its magnitude?
  • Do you wish at times your calling was smaller, less dramatic and demanding?
  • Or do you envy the great calling others around you clearly walk in?

The second step is to assess your timeline in light of your destiny.

  • Do you feel you have wasted valuable time in the past?
  • Perhaps you are grieving a great sin that might have cost you at least a portion of your birthright.
  • Or are you one of the few who has known and pursued your destiny with a clear focus and great intensity since your youth?
  • Or have you been eager to move toward your destiny but feel God is detached, ignoring your passion and not providing what He must provide for you to go forward. Perhaps you feel you are watching the years slip away without any chance of possessing your birthright.
The third step is to bring your feelings into alignment with God’s reality. This is reconciliation.
There are three realities that you must embrace.

  • Your call is exactly right for you. If it feels like it doesn’t fit, then you are not seeing something correctly. It might be that you do not see what your call really is. Or you might see only a small part of your total call. Or you might desire another call that is not right for you because of your unresolved legitimacy issues. Regardless of the cause, the reality is that God did not mismatch your call to your design and your time and place in history.
  • God is not running behind in your life. World history is full of stories about people who seemed stalled or blocked but suddenly found that God had been busy for decades creating a perfect cultural context for them to possess their birthright. When His time was right, they leaped forward because the way had been prepared.
  • Finally and most significantly, there are no shortages of opportunities in life. Let us suppose for purposes of discussion that you have indeed sinned so grievously in the past that God Himself has removed some portion of your calling.

Suppose His justice no longer allows you to do what was originally planned. Stop for a moment and try to visualize all the tasks He has allocated to specific people that are not being done by them.
Everything that has been removed from someone, or abandoned by someone, is available for reassignment by God.
Ponder this example: Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land because God gave him the birthright that Moses forfeited by his sin. God’s justice may require Him to remove something from you as He did from Moses, but if you have been diligent in developing your design, He has a million warehouses full of “unclaimed property.”
While His justice removed one thing from you, His love would rejoice in giving you more . . . if you are worthy.

Can It Really Happen?

Your objective in reconciling with your destiny should be to bring your emotions into alignment with God’s reality. This is such a vital task that I urge you to set aside significant blocks of time to wait on the Lord.
Share with the King what you know to be true about Him and His reality. Then share what your emotions shout at you every day, blatantly contradicting that truth. Finally, invite Jesus to crown this season with yet another miracle of reconciliation as He brings your emotions into alignment with His reality.
How will He do it?
I have no idea.
And that is precisely what makes this process so spectacularly wonderful.
Christ’s resources for bringing about reconciliation are more varied than the number of stars in the sky multiplied to the millionth power. This is the essence of His nature. This is what Jesus came to earth to do. This is His greatest joy, finest masterpiece and most enduring triumph.
Even if you have a treasure chest of the most exquisite memories of Christmases past, the King would be delighted to exceed all your past experiences by giving you the consummate gift of becoming reconciled to His design and His destiny for you.
THIS is MY reason for celebrating this season.
Arthur Burk
Herzogenbuchsee, Switzerland
November 21, 2008

The Destiny That Would Have Established and Redeemed the Tribe of Benyamani.

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Anthropology, Christology, Redemptive Gifts, Servant, Theology

Saul’s obedience would have established Benjamin forever.
Just think about that…..
Back up in the text of 1 Samuel, and read chapter 13.

Saul would have had an eternal kingdom.
Just think about that the next time you think so little of yourself.
From chapter 15:

Saul thought little of himself.  Insecurity as a marker for the Servant.
Gang, this post is short and sweet. And to-the-point.
Think deeply about this tonight.
In the same way, think about it the next time you are tempted to think your own unrighteousness or smallness is of greater consequence than Christ’s righteousness and greatness in you.
And consider what would have happened if…
More on that tomorrow…

Receiving the Gifts We Don’t Want, Regular Signs, And the Coincedences That Sometimes Happen

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Akouology, Exhorter, Redemptive Gifts, Theology

I really hate to burst some bubbles in the minds of some of my friends, but this is one of those posts.  And DISCLAIMER: these thoughts are more my own, and may not reflect the views of my friends.  In fact, there is something offensive in here for everyone, so without further adieu:If I have Not Offended You.jpg
THE PROBLEM
An inability to hear G-d’s voice can be one of the most devastating things we can experience.
And yet, in John 10:27, there is no pause and no symbolism in the L-rd’s words, nor does He appear embarrassed by the idea that we should be able to clearly hear His voice.
He said:

My sheep [actually and literally do] hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  -John 10:27-

Somehow along the way we got lost in the idea, and allowed the damnable idea to take root and grow into our theologies that G-d only somehow speaks unclearly sometimes.
Some believers have been known to take John 10:27 and we adjust what it means.   They take it as a narrow band of literal speech, or they metaphorize it into something ethereal and symbolic, when it is supposed to be straightforward and clear.
 
THE ASIDE ON COINCEDENCES AND HEARING G-D’S VOICE
Personal viewpoint here:  Sometimes, believers also CAN get lost in the nonsense that “there are no coincidences”.
Let me say that one more clearly so my audience can get my meaning.
Coincedences do exist.
“Uh, oh. David just run off the rails.  There is no Hebrew word for ‘coincidence’.”
My response: just because the word does not exist in a particular language does not mean that concept does not or cannot exist.
And, from my vantage point, they do happen, even for the Spirit-Led believer, and we need to have the capacity to distinguish when they are happening versus when they are not happening.
Sometimes things do just happen.  And how does this concept tie into this post?  Here you go.
We need to have the sharpness of discernment to know the difference between when something is a coincedence and when something is not a coincedence.  When you see that number 22 (or pick your favorite number), please don’t get so glassy-eyed that you think every occurrence of your favorite number or other phenomena is the L-rd speaking.  One is a data point; two or more is a pattern.  Look for the patterns.  If there is a pattern, mark it, but don’t assume it is the L-rd speaking, unless you know it is the L-rd speaking.  If you think He might be speaking, ask Him, and if He replies that He is, then search out what he is communicating.
There are indeed times when the L-rd is intending to speak to you in phenomena.
There are times when He just wants to hand you a phenomena just to say He is present and with you.
And there are actually just times when said phenomena is just happening.
Just as there is not a demon behind every bush, though there are demons behind some bushes, also understand that there is not an angel behind every cloud, though there are some behind some.  Our responsibility is to know the difference between the supernatural occurrences, and the natural occurrences.
Please understand, I am not trying to make fun of those who have experienced deep and mighty things in the context of meteorlogical phenomena.  If it comes across that way, I apologize.  My concern truly is that we don’t make everything mean something just because it is there.  This is no El Capitan, we don’t climb it just because it is there (well, okay, some might).  We talk to Dad, and ask Him, “hey Dad, is this you?”
 
Sometimes the leaves just turn red in the fall because G-d wants to paint them because they look pretty.
 
WHEN BLOODY MOONS CATCH OUR EYES
Let me point you out a more solid example of this where I take exceptional issue:  the “blood” moons.  Look with me at verse 14 of Genesis 1.

“And G-d said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.”

Genesis 1:14–15 ESV

The SMS (my shorthand for Sun, Moon, and Stars) were set as regular phenomena in the expanse of the heavens on the fourth day to occur and go through phases and eclipses at regular, predetermined, intervals.  Like the hands of a clock, where we can tell precisely when 3:33 PM is going to occur across the various timezones, we also can predict the position of the sun and the moon in a given moment, and where Orion’s belt is going to be in the sky relative to what time of year it is. Every. Single. Day.
Now, am I attempting to bash those who look up at the clock every day and see the same time pattern every day?  Absolutely not.  I have had those patterns myself, such as when my firstborn son was born at 22:22 on September 5.  I get it. And there are those seasons where it does legit happen.  And we ought to recognize it as such.  But sometimes we engage in the task of overreading, and we need to have the capacity to discern if and when that is happening.
Back on the subject of the blood moons
We know when the eclipses are going to happen 8500 years from now.  Every partial eclipse, every total eclipse, every pattern.  And those patterns are not out-of-the-ordinary.
When Dad speaks, and it comes to the Joel 2 and Acts 2 types of things, He will speak using the out-of-the-ordinary phenomena.
So, no, Yeshua is not coming during blood moons on the Feast of Trumpets in accordance with your interpretation of 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Matthew 24.  And no, the moons over the US and the various towns named Salem are not going to be the signs of His appearing.  And no, the appearance over the US or an appearance over Israel means diddly-squat.  And, no, you may not make money off of the fact from me.  The L-rd will come when He is darn well ready, and I think before that, we are going to have to learn to understand, know, and be wise to a few principles.  Go home and actually just spend time with Him.  And don’t try to predict his coming based on regularly occuring phenomenon.
And look at the phrase “the moon will turn to blood”. That has NOTHING to do with a regularly occuring, predictable astrological event.  When the moon turns to blood it will be unlike anything we have ever encountered, and we will know it.
And “the sun will become dark” does not mean solar eclipse.  It means something we have NEVER seen before.
And, no, Mark Biltz didn’t get it.  I am sorry.  And the Shemitah and the Harbinger aren’t what we should be looking for.
Our eyes should be FIXED on Him, not regular events, Him.  Not current events.  Him.  Not attacks upon this nation or that nation. Him.  Not this or that false christ ot denounce.  Him.  Not people saying “I am the Christ” or “Jesus is the Christ”. Him.
Anything besides Him is a paltry substitute.
 
WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH RECEIVING GIFTS WE DO NOT WANT
If we are not clearly hearing His voice, then we will find cheap substitutes for that voice.  He has not left us without clarity or a solid voice to discern.  So why the lack of hearing G-d’s voice?  What is the vacuum that is sucking us dry in the area of His voice.
We call this the Canaanite Iron Bowl.  Iron was connected with the Canaanites, and as the fourth of the seven enemies in the book of Judges, we see the Canaanite Curse (and perhaps Canaanite structures) hit Exhorters most keenly.  And this bowl is something like a structure that fits over the head and keeps the one under it from hearing clearly what the L-rd is trying to say.
I wonder if there are six other structures.  Maybe an opportunity for another teaching.
 
EXHORTERS AND HEARING G-D
Exhorters are the Redemptive Gift that, above all the other gifts, is designed to hear new revelation about the nature of G-d that is missing from the current revelation, and that is transformational to our understanding of the nature of G-d.  Exhorters TRAFFIC in revelation and can effortlessy pull new revelation faster, bigger, more quickly, than the others (Seven Principles).  As a result, they are in need of hearing G-d’s actual, certifiable voice more keenly than the other gifts.  That is one of their jobs and that is why they sparkle so radically as witnesses to the nations and influences of great crowds.  That is why they are the go-to for G-d’s chosen instruments as world-changers.
Take Moses the Exhorter for example:

“And he said, ‘Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the L-RD make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream.  Not so with my servant Moses.  He is faithful in all my house.  With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the L-RD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Numbers 12:6–8 ESV

And oftentimes this structure that blocks us from hearing the voice of G-d, comes upon us for a number of reasons.  But the one that I want to highlight more than any other is this one.
 
WHEN WE REJECT PART OF WHAT G-D WANTS TO GIVE US
The Canaanite Iron Bowl has license to come upon us when we or an ancestor rejects the voice of G-d.
I would like to give Arthur Burk full credit for discovering this concept, by the way.  His series “Hearing G-d” is critical to understanding how this structure works. You can grab the teaching here (for the CD’s) or here (for the MP3’s).
The Canaanite Iron Bowl can come upon us when we take the revelation that G-d wants to give us and we only accept part of that revelation.  So, if G-d gives 100 units of revelation, and I decide to keep the 90 units with which I am comfortable and toss aside or junk the 10 units with which I am not comfortable, then what that does is it gives the enemy a blank check to later nab the revelation I do have and put me into a deficit of owing him the revelation that I do have.

To him who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

And earlier in John 10:

the enemy does not come except to steal…

If you reject what G-d wants to give, you will wonder why you have less than what you did accept.
Here is the kicker, gang, and the attitude we need to assert with the L-rd.  In order to get the revelation I want, I need to be willing to accept with it the revelation I do not want.
In order to keep and maintain the gifts I want from the L-rd, I need to be willing to handle and steward the gifts I do not want that G-d wants to give me.
This means, I have to be sharp as a boxcutter when it comes to knowing the difference between a coincedence and revelation.  And yes, stuff does just sometimes happen.
The Canaanite Iron Bowl can come because we or someone in our family line was content to receive this revelation here, but that revelation (especially if it had to deal with suffering or correction) over there was to uncomfortable to integrate into our lives.
If we want the sharpness to clearly hear His voice, we have to be willing to drink whatever cup He assigns us.
Do we accept the bits we like and reject the ones we dislike, or do we take everything He has for us?
When we fail to hear his voice, we sometimes like to sub in those things that are cheap imitations.

“You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let G-d speak to us, lest we die.”

That right there, was their mistake.  “We do not want G-d to speak to us, lest we die.”
If you do not want to hear His voice, then He will actually stop speaking.  He will honor your request.  And rejecting His voice when He sends you servants to speak to you, is
If you believe a lie, then you will have the lie you want.  If you believe no man can behold the glory of G-d, then that is the lie you will have.  If you believe that your lot is only dark sayings, and not “face-to-face, as a man speaks with his friend”, then that is what you shall have.  If you believe that only the prophets of the Tanakh were able to speak with precision and accuracy, and not you, then that is what you shall have.  If you believe that Elijah was more holy or more special than you, and it is not your birthright to hear as he heard and walk as he walked, then that is what you shall have, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CLEARLY WRITTEN

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours,

Hey, gang.  These men and women were identical to us; they were humans.
Let me flip-flop that statement.  We have a nature like theirs, and we are identical to them.

For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.  Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.  For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.  But their minds were hardened.  For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.  Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3:9–18 ESV

We have a better covenant, and a better set of promises, and our capacity to hear G-d and do mighty exploits is somehow less and with less clarity?  Seriously?  Is that what Yeshua died for?  So we could merely go to church once a week and tithe?!
And we have a “maybe that was G-d I heard, maybe not.”
And we settle for clouds and witching rods, and tea leaves and a choked and semi-alive communication line which that bastard snake can choke out anytime he feels like it is getting too strong?
Gang, there is more.  I challenge each of you.  There is more.  He has more for you to hear.  Reject the mentality that you have to hear less because you deserve less.
Reject the lie that says “I occasionally hear him from time to time, maybe.  Stupid Samaritan dog am I.”  As if your L-rd is saying “it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
This is not about begging off the crumbs that fall from Lance Wallmau’s or Jeremiah Johnson’s or Lou Engle’s or Arthur Burk’s tables.  This is about you baking your own bread and butchering your own steaks.
And so what if the word Father gives you does not mirror their words?
It wouldn’t be the first time that one prophet disagreed with the mass of the rest.
And L-rd knows, we have had enough psychic doors opened in the prophetic that we need to start repenting of ours, closing them, and pointing out when a word is off.  Even if the speaker is Lou Engle, or Jeremiah Johnson, or Arthur Burk, or me, or anyone else.
Grab that teaching and remove the bowl and reject the non-reality that hearing G-d has to be a chore or something labor-intensive; t does not have to be.
And for your chewing, here is the NRSV on Genesis 1:6-8.  That word for “expanse” or “firmament” can mean “dome”.

“And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so.God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”

Genesis 1:6–8 NRSV

So, question.  Do we want the dome of the expanse of G-d’s clarity and revelation and truth, or do we want the suffocation of the Canaanite Iron Bowl?
 

The Redemptive Gift of Yeshua

by theparacleteshammer, posted in Christology, Ed Silvoso, Exhorter, Principles, Redemptive Gifts, Sowing and Reaping, Uncategorized

So, there is still a lot of curiosity, and I could never exhaust this topic.
But, there is still floating around this idea that Our L-rd was a combination of all seven RG’s, based on the early teachings of our mutual friend, Arthur Burk.
Let me say, unequivocally, that He was born fully-G-d and fully man.  With a soul like our, that was singular, and with a spirit like ours, that was divided into seven portions.
And let’s look at the textual evidence first.  Setting aside what Arthur said, let’s look at our main sources for understanding on the life of the Son of G-d.
The Gospels.
I would like to consider a couple of texts for our purposes, starting with Matthew 11.
We know John the Baptizer was clearly hardwired with the Redemptive Gift of Prophet.  And he was hardcore.  John Sandford, in his book that sets the standard for our understanding for the Office of Prophet, The Elijah Task, made the observation that the Baptizer had a camel-hair shirt that was turned inside out, and that this was a way of putting his skin into a place of continual flagellation.  Anyone who has touched a camel would get an understanding of such a garment would afflict the skin.  It is not the softest material.
John breathed the judgments of G-d on the Pharisees repeatedly.
He also never, never associated with people in crowds by choice.  He was in the lonely places of Judea, and the crowds had to come to him in order to speak to them, and he was a fireball to ANYONE to whom He spoke.
Now, look at our L-rd, Messiah Yeshua.
He was in the lonely places by choice and by need, but he also spent his ministry with people constantly.  He was a General Contractor, and by nature of that job, dealt with people, subcontractors, owners, tenants, and other people incessantly.  And He went to Zacheeus out of the crowd and in the midst of the crowd.  And He compelled specific people to come with him, including Matthew, the…
TAX COLLECTOR…
And the wedding feast in Cana, when He bartended to a bunch of inebriated wedding guests.
And the friend……
Of sinners….
And he spoke to them, as a man speaks to his friend….
And He wept….
Over the man Lazurus…
As a man weeps for His friend…
And we with unveiled faces….
Beheld His glory…the presentation of the Man who was full of Grace and Truth.
And He made known to them, the nature of His Father, their Father…
He knew and processed the nature of G-d, who is a good Father.
He was not a machine Ruler, though He understood the principles of Freedom and Sonship.
He was a social without exception Exhortery Exhorter.
He suffered much pain, and dealt with the Exhorter’s Principle in the hardest manifestations.  And possessed His birthright.
Because He will not rest until His Father’s house is FULL OF PEOPLE WHO ARE HIS FAMILY.
NONE!  ALL!!
G-d is willing that NONE should perish.  G-d is willing that ALL should come to repentance.
That none should perish.
G-d loves cities.
Who told you this, David?
20 years ago, an Argentine Exhorter by the name of Ed SIlvoso told me this in a church in DeLand, Florida, named First Assembly of G-d, pastored by an Exhorter.
Yes, yes, Exhorter, it is your job to mess up the church with the new revelation that the body is missing.
That His house may be FULL…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUT9NWzaReA
 
11:00 in, gang.

“What we see in Scripture is process. There’s one snippet that we have as an example of process, and that is G-d’s passion for cleansing the land from death.  It is going to take seven months after the Battle of Armageddon for the specified teams to find every piece of human flesh and bone and give it a proper burial.  That is process. The King doesn’t just come in and fix Israel overnight.  He takes the remnant of people that are left after the tribulation and gives them process tasks, and I believe that the Millenium is going to be a process of the church learning from Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate Exhorter–He walked in the Redemptive Gift of Exhortation–we are going to learn from Him principle after principle about how to heal our ecological mess, and today we need to LEAN INTO it, not with the fear and the panic that the ecology movement is perpetuating, not with a sense of lack or poverty, but with biblical principles.
Arthur Burk, The Majesty of His Artistry, Disc 5, Cut 7, “Measurable, Verifiable, Sustained Change, Timestamp 1:32-2:47

And the Exhorter’s playing field is the Principles, and showing cause and effect.  It is not the Prophet, who is designed to use principles to build with.  But the Exhorter is designed to do principles nonstop.  Lots and lots of Principles and Revelation.
Moses, Solomon, and Paul were all Exhorters, and they FLOWED in Principles.
And the Sermon on the mount and the parables are Principles all.
And, here is a final piece. Listen carefully.  Every fight that He picked with a Pharisee was over a principle that He was giving to them, to help fill out what was missing from their theology.  They, Teachers, missed the one thing.  Hello, Philistines.  This is why the Exhorter and the Teacher go so well together, hand in glove.
So, there you go, gang.
This is my analysis, and this happens to also be Arthur’s analysis.
Enjoy it.
Giggle.
#mischief