We are told to fight because sometime long ago, our overlords betrayed us.
We are told to fight because it is easier to do what we are told by our spiritual fathers and mothers and coverings and leaders than it is to fight from the resolve our Father gave us.
We are constantly told that abortion is the priority issue and then we are given a script by every prophet and apostolic overseer tells us this is the right course of action.
Meanwhile, they are blinded to every other aspect of every other issue out there.
And much of the church has joined every other caliber of blindness in existence.
I am done taking my orders from dog whistles in the Democrat Party, the Republican Party, The Trump Campaign, any other political party, the apostolic, the prophetic, or any other source…..
At all….
I am done with the bread and circuses that a movement or a group tells me to gather around.
I am done with any sembalnce of pretended objectivity.
I am not going to control another follower of the L-rd with fear or intimidation that if they do not vote for Trump, or Biden, or Jorgensen, they are going to stand before G-d and give an account for why they didn’t vote this guy or that woman into office.
This level of control and alienation comes from the Spirit of Python, and I am NOT buying the garbage of control that flows from fivefold “prophets” and “apostles”.
I am done with the manipulation, the mezmerising spirit, and the blindness. If you are a card-carrying Republican, Democrat, or single issue voter incapable of seeing the whole picture, because you are allowing yourself to cut everything off for the sake of a golden calf, you will not find what I am about to say very useful.
YOU MUST RESIST THE MESMERIZING SPIRIT THAT IS TAKING HOLD RIGHT NOW. Blind people voting from a place of slavery are not liberated people. And liberty, freedom, is dangerous. Full and true liberty, where G-d is not in control, is a terrible thing, especially when someone else has it.
Gang, you have been fighting with carnal and worldly weapons, and I and the L-rd are inviting you to a place where you shun those weapons and the usual arguments for a set of weapons that the election supervisors and the politicians and the carnal or soulish Exhorters cannot leverage, control, or use, but that the Chief Exhorter, the L-rd Jesus Christ, can.
This election and the land are getting toxic, and many of those one “the two sides” are getting toxic. And I am done.
AN INTRODUCTION AND SOME CUSTOMARY PROVOKING STATEMENTS
Because New York passed an abortion law or some such thing, people all of a sudden have started to talk about and exegete the news.
It has been raised as an argument against those who might be pro-life that G-d cannot be pro-life, since, in the Bible, and specifically, in the Torah, he killed babies.
I rarely discuss current events at the same time they are happening. But today I will make an exception. Check that. Two exceptions.
#elliotabrams
It is uncomfortable to talk about how unrighteous our government’s actions are in the area of abortion and talking about how righteous a pro-life stance is, while turning the blind eye to the warhawking anti-life nature of conducting police state actions overseas, that are the purview of Republicans and Democrats alike.
Back to what I was talking about, seriously. Sometimes we want to excuse our government’s stupidity by an appeal to one issue, when there are a breadth of issues at play. And such exegesis gets sloppy.
Some days, our exegesis, which can turn to support one group or party over another, is only painted with broad strokes that Scripture does not use.
And when it comes to Scripture, sometimes our exegesis boils down to making sure that the G-d in the right hand side of the Bible apologizes for the actions of the G-d in the left hand side of the Bible.
But here is how I would processionally explain the actions of the G-d on the left hand side of the book, in seven elements.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8
PREFACING THE SEVEN ELEMENTS: IS HE REALLY AS MEAN AS SOME SAY?
Consider also the fact that the “kinder, gentler” guy on the right hand side of the book, at the end of the right hand side, plagued the whole earth and wiped out a million here and there, in case we think the guy on the right hand side has more reformed ways.
Translation: parsing the Old Testament G-d and the New Testament G-d out from each other as distinct causes the whole book to fall apart greatly. Truly, they are one and the same. Revelation teaches us that. And His Judgment is His mercy.
BACKGROUND TEXTS FOR RECONCILING THE TWO PARTS
G-d, on the other hand, as Scripture RELENTLESSLY teaches throughout both the Tanakh and the New Testament, gives space for people to repent and reform before He executes against them.
Cue cluster of texts that show G-d’s mercy and granting people space and breathing room to repent before He judges.
Jonah 3-4, where G-d relents/repents after the capital of the flaying Assyrians repents.
Revelation 2:21, where G-d gave Jezebel space to repent
Genesis 15:16, where G-d gave the Amorites space to repent, that He didn’t have to, and would have caused something to work out between Israel and the Amorites had they repented.
Genesis 18:17-19, where G-d debated what he would share with Abraham, knowing Abraham’s righteousness, knowing Abraham’s heart to cry out for mercy, and knowing that Abraham was able to affect G-d’s heart because Abraham was the friend of G-d in only the way Givers can be.
Deuteronomy 2:9 and Judges 11:17, where G-d gave Moab their land, and commanded Israel not to harrass them, even before Moab fought against Israel (Joshua 24:9). This could have led to Moab’s national repentance and a reconciliation and commerce between Moab and Israel. And even when the national reconciliation did not take place, G-d STILL played out the drama that should have been between Moab and Israel in the story of Ruth and Boaz.
Genesis 46:4, where G-d SENT Israel down to Egypt, and G-d DWELT WITH Israel IN Egypt, and during which season, Israel had centuries to get to know her G-d, and the Amorites had space to repent and prepare the land for the ISRAELITES, which could have happened instead of their destruction.
Genesis 47:6, where Pharaoh gave favor to Israel in the land of Egypt and with the pagan ruler of Egypt.
Isaiah 19:24-25, where the L-rd will ultimately bring about redemption of the Egyptian nation, and the Egyptian nation will occupy the first place. SECONDLY, <GASP>, pagan, flaying, barbaric Assyria. And third, Israel.
Exodus 4:22-23, where G-d first reveals to a pagan nation His name of “Father”. He then commands, before the first drop of water turns to blood and before the first frog touches the land and dies, Egypt to LET HIS SON GO. And then the judgments start and increase.
And yes, one can argue G-d kept Pharaoh from repenting, because of Exodus 4:21 and 7:3, but to merely argue that is to see only part of the whole narrative. Psalm 115:16, “the highest heavens belong to the L-rd, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.” G-d has given people free will to choose what they will or will not do. He does not always get what He wants.
From the point above, through the entire sequence of issues, the L-rd showed the Egyptians what they had done in infant genocide towards the men of Israel (Exodus 1:22, note the waters turning to blood in 7:17-21 revealed the death that was in the water and the blood that was on the Egyptian hands). The Tenth Plague was the progressive outflow of the response of the Egyptian injustice of Israelite genocide. Again, there are causes and effects. And when you sow the cause, you will reap the effects.
Let me point out also the counsel of G-d in Exodus 9:19; He told the Egyptian people to gather their flocks and herds to keep them from the hail. Some listened, and some did not. There were Egyptians who had livestock that kept them in from the hail and their livestock was spared. This opened the door for some of them to turn. G-d uses every circumstance to bring people to Him, including His judgments.
Recall also Exodus 12:49, which could plausibly imply that, during the plagues, there were some Egyptians in the nation that chose to follow the G-d of Israel, and chose to align themselves with Israel, and celebrated the Passover. Even if there were none that did actually align with Israel, He still made provision for that.
The book of Joshua is completely devoted to the destruction of whole nations while the Israelites possessed the Promised Land.
Element 1: G-d’s decisions, even those decisions that result in human death, are ALWAYS executed in the context of His mercy and His justice, which are the twin facets of His love. What will drive His children to seek Him?
Element 2: G-d’s purposes are aimed at a long-game strategy. He weighs all decisions with an eye toward redemption and how they will impact eternity and His house.
Element 3: G-d aims to eradicate sin, rebellion, iniquity, and abomination from the earth.
Element 4: G-d’s yearning desire is to walk among us, be our G-d, and for us to be His people. Whatever keeps that community from happening He may remove from us.
Element 5: G-d looks for the fruit on the tree. He looks for fresh water or salt, hot water or cold, humility or assertion, upness or downness, filiality or bridality. He looks for consistency that He can utilize. He looks for and brings organized sequence.
Element 6: Sin twists and perverts the good, and that twisting is revealed in the fruit of the tree that is planted. G-d despises things that twist and mar. Element 7: Everything G-d is, does, or permits to happen is ALWAYS with an eye toward straightening out the twistedness.
Look, it is not like G-d on a bipolar whim massacred millions of innocent babies in an unprovoked rage.
He gave all of these nations, including Mizraim, CENTURIES to repent. And when a culture of death and murder is embraced, somewhere down the line, death is going to be result, and the empire that embraces death is going to self-devour.
He exposed the Egyptian culture for the death-bringing culture it had become. Blood was already in the waters before the first plague. He just forced the nation to see the blood that was in the water. He untwisted the reality of the waters. And in so doing, He allowed all of those baby boys’ blood to testify (Hebrews 12:24).
The Golden Calf is an example of a culture self-devouring. The Levites massacred 3,000 of their own families and so were ordained through G-d’s warring against the defiled spirit of idolatry.
National sin has national consequences. Longstanding sin has consequences. G-d even showed longsuffering toward the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities on the plain, and Lot interceded for Zoar, and as a result, G-d spared that city.
And one of the names of G-d (Exodus 34:5-6) is The L-rd Who Is Longsuffering.
G-d is not Hitler, G-d is not Pol Pot, G-d is not Stalin, and G-d is not Mao. And it is not really the church’s job to justify the behavior of G-d to others. G-d can work in, around, and through our objections and the obstacles. But we have to recognize that the principles of Scripture do work. Sexual sin has sexual consequences, murderous sin has murderous consequences. Abortive sin has abortive consequences. Actions do have reactions. Sum of the Forces, Newtonian approximations, and all that jazz.
And Jezebel’s genocide resulted in her blood being shed.
And Naboth’s Vineyard landed on Ahab’s head.
The Principles work, without prejudice, and without caring what you think about how nice G-d or anyone else is.
And ultimately, G-d can work every situation to His glory.
But for us, now is the time to wake up, acknowledge reality in the stead of hiding from it, and bless New York, as we should have, instead of cursing it.
G-d was there first, and this decision on New York’s part is not helped by cursing New York. Rather, gang, let’s not carry on with eighty-five reams of conversation, and instead work with what we know about the Giver and Exhorter design of the state and Manhattan, respectively.
Bless the Giver and the Exhorter dynamic of that state. Just some thoughts here, gang.
You know, someting occurs to me about the faith that G-d intends for us to have.
As a Christian culture, we have grown obsessed with weather or not James is adding to the grace of G-d.
Whether we can remain saved without works.
That might not be what James is discussing.
He might not be talking about faith and the presence of salvation….
Rather, he might be talking about the works of faith as an evidence or absence of life.
We have nad the discussion of grace versus works as what is required for salvation.
That may not be what James has in view.
In view, what James may be thinking about is faith that has works as an evidence of life.
Are we so concerned with whether or not we will get to heaven and everlasting life, that we fail to experience the life He has for us now as well.
If you only ask the two-dimensional question of faith for salvation, and do not step into the fuller faith that shows you have life now and a relationship now.
It appears we have, then, at least two forms of faith.
The faith that leads to salvation, which is solely by grace.
And the faith that breeds life now which is based on works that flow from our love of, devotion to, and relationship with Christ (Matthew 25: The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats).
A dead faith is not a faith that brings out life and it does not flourish.
A preoccupation with grace to the exclusion of works is not a faith that gives.
What we have received as grace, we must give out.
Just like the Sea of Galilee vs. the Dead Sea.
Freely you have recieved. Freely give.
We must move from received grace, to executed grace, which is works, in order to not only be saved, but also show proof we are living.
Those of you that enjoy the MCU as much as I do, love picking out various RG’s. Now, trigger for the death of Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. who is in my mind the quintessential Giver. Consider the following words from Coulson’s death.
“This was never going to work if they didn’t have something to….”-Agent Phil Coulson-
Fight for….those would have been his last words.
This was never going to work if they, the Avengers, didn’t have something to fight for.
That is a positive thing that you do, Giver tribe. Your death or your suffering may provide the impetus for the conception and birthing of a new thing G-d is doing in the earth. Keep doing what you do, gang. It’s not over yet.
Consider the following clips.
First, with the Exhorter Tony Stark in three clips, because the Exhorter does things in threes:
And in the presence of the Ruler, Thor, who is learning how to walk in a fathering role, after which he restores to the Prophet Jane Foster her equipment so she can continue her research.
When the Giver tribe walks by faith, they empower those around them to have the catalyst to create a new resource, or their presence causes new resources to come to the fore or be discovered, or for a new project to be risked on and others to put skin into the game after they have made the initial investment.
And then, in the ultimate sacrifice above. Givers, you may be called to put your life on the line, and your death may be the catalyst for the birth of something new.
The meta truth, the behind-the-truth idea He was conveying might have been, “do not engage with any behavior that could impair your judgment and capacity to weigh and decide”.
When we are walking in our offices of priest, pastor, whatever stands in the way of our exercising sound judgment and discernment is something that needs to be put away.
Whether or not we realize it, there is truth and applicable revelation to be had from the pages of the Law.
The L-rd intends us to move through the text and execute its truth for us.
There is a string of decisions made by leaders in the Charismatic Movement that happened because of impaired judgment.
Our responsibility and portion are to keep our wits about us and clothe ourselves with sobriety.
Am I saying we all teetotal are all times? Some may be given that as a permanent or seasonal assignment from G-d, and that is for each of you to work out, but no I am not being legalistic.
However, at the very least, when you are executing in the office of priest to the L-rd, you are in need of sober judgment.
And for those of you who pastor alcoholics or other addictive personalities, you might have to completely turn away from the use of alcohol. It depends on what the L-rd shows you.
I have a pastor friend who was challenged by the L-rd because of his need to be able to pastor alcoholics.
My counsel to you is, whatever you decide, be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and do what He tells you on this issue.
I say “more thoughts” because so believe I have written before on this topic, at least one time.
But these thoughts occurred to me a few minutes ago.
Track with me.
What if the L-rd’s issue with Nadab and Abihu, and the reason he struck them down is because they were interfering with the seven day process of cleansing, consecrating, and ordaining Aaron and them to serve as priests?
What if the events of Leviticus 10:1-2 are their interference and insertion of more action that was not needed into the complex process of preparing the men as priests? Indeed, the L-rd instructed that the men were not to leave the threshold of the tent (8:33).
What if the unauthorized fire they offered interrupted the process of remaining on the threshold of the tabernacle to finish the process the L-rd outlined?
I realize it seems like such a small thing to some, and “all they did was offer a little incense”, but that is missing the point. The point is when the L-rd spoke and gave them a fairly involved process, it was in their best interest to do what He said. Period.
Adding to or taking away from the process that was outlined was a disregard for the L-rd’s requests.
Translation: when the L-rd speaks to you and on those occasions where he spells out what you are to do, then do that.
If you interfere with the L-rd’s instructions, and add your own thing, and leave the threshold of your responsibility to perform some add-on that you thought would be a good thing, when He spells out specifically what He wants to you, then you will have to accept the consequences.
Sometimes the L-rd gives us a blank sheet on which to write, and sometimes he hands us a 37 page instruction manual.
It’s excellent when He speaks, and we must be flexible to dance between those times when He lays out a plan, as with the ten plagues, and times when he tells us to write the script, as at the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba.
But when He prepares a full plan, let’s not edit it.
To be sure, TPH is first and foremost a scriptural exposition site. But closely-linked to this is the application and execution of those principles that are embodied in the life of our Messiah to real situations in life for the upbuilding of the Jesus-follower, that they may continue His work and mission of reconciling us and liberating us from the boot of the tyrant.
Truly, because of the Spirit of G-d, we are able to expand on and defend all that is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent/praiseworthy.
Erin, who is a fellow Florida native, has done her work and fought for our liberties overseas for a season as a soldier, and still fights presently as an RN and BSN.
This is a well-written piece of personal testimony is reposted here with permission:
A few people have asked me to share my Delegation testimony, so here is it…
My name is Erin Marie Olszewski. I am a mother of three little boys (Dylan, Drew, & Logan). Drew was severely injured by a vaccine.
I am an active registered nurse in the State of Florida and hold a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing. I have nearly two decades of front-line clinical care experience including military training as a combat lifesaver.
That being said, I am also a Combat Wounded Veteran of the United States Army Special Operations Command. I fought to defend and uphold the Constitutional rights of American citizens and lost many friends who fought alongside me. I will not allow their sacrifice to our great country go in vain for 0.00000009% (nine-ten-millionths of one-percent) Florida measles rate.
Therefore, any unsupported legislative bill that threatens religious freedoms of any child or adult of our great nation once again deploys me as a soldier to protect those rights I swore by an oath to defend.
I met in-person with Senator Lauren Book a couple weeks ago to gain an understanding of her knowledge on this issue and found it extremely frightening that she was unable to answer basic biology questions that I asked her. I expected more from someone introducing public health legislation, including a response to the inquiry I sent to her via certified mail.
Although the burden of proof should be on the person who sponsors this legislation, she continues to avoid this responsibility.
Therefore, I would like to provide an accurate, unarguable substantiation that DOES protect citizens from the removal of their religious rights. This comes from a sworn under-oath affidavit made by Theresa Deisher, Ph.D., who holds a doctorate from Stanford University Molecular and Cellular Physiology along with a postdoctoral from the University of Washington.
“I am submitting the known scientific facts about fetal DNA contaminants in current vaccines. In the U.S., as of June 2018, according to the CDC, there are 13 manufactured vaccines containing human fetal cells (MRC-5 and WI-38). More are coming. Anyone who says that the fetal DNA contaminating our vaccines is harmless either does not know anything about immunity and toll-like receptors or they are not telling the truth. The beliefs held by many that the cells and DNA of aborted fetuses are used in vaccines are accurate and until that changes, there will likely be religious objections to vaccinations for this reason alone.”
…but none of this matters as the bill is not being heard and I do respectfully thank Senator Gayle Harrell for this. However, I’m glad I got it on the record so Senator Book and any other legislature considering supporting unfounded legislation such as SB64 can consume it at their own leisure.
In the Torah, the process for returning a leper back to the full community was an involved and multi-step process. It speaks to the celebration of one who has been cleansed.
In much of the modern-day church, the process of restoration is very stripped down, and there is very little in the way of process.
Many times, we come of the law and because we have one or several preachers’ voices yelling in our ears “you are not under the law but under grace” we our of respect to their vehement overapplication of Paul’s counsel, ditch several books’ worth of good teaching, reproof, correction, and training in rightousness, and instead we, with that ditching of counsel, we also have a radically stripped-down version of moving someone, who was separated from the community, back into the community. Our salvation mechanism by which others become entertwined with a household of faith, Roman Catholics, Anglicans Orthodox, and other high-church traditions excepted, has become a community-minimal-investment, five minute prayer at an altar with little deliberate celebration in the life of the church.
Frequently, anything that is more than this is treated as a nusiance by the church because we are not under the law but under grace, and so we do not have much material from which we pull real celebration of someone’s addition to the church.
One area where the Catholics, Anglicans, Orthodox, and like sectors of the church get chatechism (discipleship and integration into the community) right is they draw out the process over the course of weeks and months, make much about someone’s first communion, involve the family, set out special clothing and rites for the occasion, and involve a number of individuals.
We we cut the law out, we cut out, for example, the passage on how lepers are reintroduced into the community.
In Torah, the leper was inspected several times, the priest made several pronouncements, a number of sacrifices were brought, the priest involved with his process left the camp and entered his space, blood was sprinkled on the leper seven times, cedarwod and hyssop were picked, birds were selected, and one of the birds was killed while the other bird was dipped in the sacrificed bird’s blood, that bird was released into the open field, and the leper was pronounced clean. His hair was shaved, and he was reintegrated back into the community.
Contrast that with someone who raises their hand to accept Jesus.
It is just left feeling a little thin.
And our modes for reconciling the backslidden believer are equally thin.
Gang, we have to do better. There could be more of a process that we engage in, so that our celebration more nearly matches that of the angels who rejoice.
I wonder, what that process would look like.
A celebration and a meditation and a retreat where a group of new converts takes away with a priest or rabbi or pastor to a place where they have connection of the deep truth of who G-d is as Father, who Jesus is as Husband, and who Holy Spirit is as Counsellor.
There has to be something more than what we currently do for many new believers.
Part of the Teacher Tribe. Deep, soulful eyes. Chewing the cud. Providing life-giving nourishing deep and solid food. Solid meat for chewing, and unbelieveably safe and tender hearted.
Responsibility…..
Who is going to take care of the mess they make?
Yes, I know. This is a pic from the Redwoods in Northern California, and no one needs to rake after them. But when you own a yard and a piece of land, there is an extent to which you are responsible for making sure the leaves that fall on your property do not kill the grass.
It takes responsibility that maybe you do not want to deal with, but when you deal with it, the results are that the grass that you spent a lot of time caring for and manicuring will grow more prolifically.
Raking the leaves is a really good picture of what the Teacher is made to do even if they want to select to not do it.
In an e-mail exchange with a mother in the faith, I recalled calling this principle, paralleling the Redemptive Gift of Teacher and the Third Head of Life, “not the sexiest principle”. Maybe it is because we do not think of “do the tasks that are assigned” as the most supernatural method in existence.
But it is critical for us to walk in. And bearing and breeding this principle into all of our people and practices as followers of Christ is critical for us to walk in all He has for us.
“So, David, when did this become attractive as a principle for you?”
A good question, and I will connect some dots for you here.
The Dots
Hewlett-Packard’s early history helped draw me to this principle.
I will explain.
There are several items, found in this teaching that explains a grouping of businesses, that some in the circles in which I run call Onyx Businesses, that at their best, foster environments where people can tinker and experiment and adjust to get their products to a place of perfection, AND, on a global scale, influence the culture of their business and others to a place where they become responsible for executing justice in an arena of society. These companies have qualities about them that parallel the Redemptive Gift of Teacher listen in Romans 12:6-8 and about which I have discussed at length here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Thinking about the passages in Scripture that parallel the Teacher in Sequence (being the 3rd in the fractal of 7), Genesis 1 brings out the Third Day, in which the dry land and vegetation is created. Being very simplistic, when the leaves fall in autumn, a mess naturally happens. Piles of leaves everywhere that can kill the grass if those leaves are left in place. So we take up the responsibility to rake up those leaves and bag them.
In Hewlett-Packard, David Packard and BIll Hewlett pursued a vision beyond the profit motive:
In 1949, David Packard, attended a gathering of business leaders. As the day wore on, Packard became increasingly frustrated with the parochial, small-minded perspective of his fellow CEOs. Peering down from his 6′ 5″ frame, the 37 year-old Packard voiced a contrary view: A company has a responsibility beyond making a profit for stockholders; it has a responsibility to recognize the dignity of its employees as human beings, to the well-being of its customers, and to the community at large. Packard later reflected in a 1964 Colorado College commencement speech: “I was surprised and shocked that not a single person at that meeting agreed with me. While they were reasonably polite in their disagreement, it was quite evident they firmly believed I was not one of them, and obviously not qualified to manage an important enterprise.”
Hewlett and Packard rejected the idea that a company exists merely to maximize profits. “I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money,” Packard extolled to a group of HP managers on March 8, 1960. “While this is an important result of a company’s existence, we have to go deeper to find the real reasons for our being.” He then laid down the cornerstone concept of the HP Way: contribution. Do our products offer something unique—be it a technical contribution, a level of quality, a problem solved—to our customers? Are the communities in which we operate stronger and the lives of our employees better than they would be without us? Are people’s lives improved because of what we do? If the answer to any these questions is “no,” then Packard and Hewlett would deem HP a failure, no matter how much money the company returned to its shareholders.
Most entrepreneurs pursue the question “How can I succeed?” From day one, Packard and Hewlett pursued a different question: “What can we contribute?” and thereby HP attained extraordinary success. This success, in turn, enabled them to invest even more in making a contribution, which produced even greater success, which led to increased contribution, which created even greater success. This virtuous cycle eventually enabled Packard and Hewlett to personally contribute at levels far beyond what they would have dared to imagine as young men. In 1995, Packard attended a dinner at Stanford University. Former engineering dean Jim Gibbons mentioned to Packard that, by his rough calculation, he and Hewlett had donated on a present-value basis as much to Stanford as Jane and Leland Stanford had given to fund the university. As Gibbons related in the June 1996 issue of Stanford magazine, Packard showed something he rarely allowed: a moment of visible pride. It passed quickly, and all Packard said was, “That’s very interesting.” Later, upon his death, Packard bequeathed nearly all of his $5.6 billion estate to a charitable foundation.
From the forwaard to “The HP Way”, written by Jim Collins
If you see the capacity of the business to move beyond the profit motive to work with transforming and caring for their employees and the outside culture, then you would see some things that caused HP, as an Onyx (Teacher) company to shine.
We move from merely taking care of ourselves to getting married, having kids, establishing a profession, maybe leading a company, a church, a nation, an army, or a club, to expanding and bettering at least some part of society.
This is kingdom economy. Sustainable, responsible impact on something greater than ourselves.
Tinkering Creativity
One thing for which HP was known for, was hiring and retaining a workforce of tinkerers. There are stories of HP employees in the early days having side projects at home that they were working on, and that discretionary time is necessary for tinkering in order to increase overall tinkering. And with HP, who had access to various expensive tech tools, they would loan out those tools to their employees for brief periods so they could use them on their tinker projects at home.
That curious tinkering streak leads to perfection, which is the gift of a Teacher company, characterized many a Teacher company like HP. Rolls Royce was another example. Sir Henry Royce would take his engineers onto the beach and draw pictures and diagrams and they would figure out how to unpack a series of problems that led them to engineer automotive….perfection. In a Teacher company, the Product of Perfection has a thousand different facets.
And creating tinkerers multiplies creativity, however expensive that process may be.
Employee Care Through An Environment of Trust
What that loaning out of tools and other manifestations of this behavior in the company cultured created was this: an environment of trust. The company sowed in trust to its employees, and in return, reaped much.
I will say it again, a bit differently now; HP, before the unions, cultivated an environment of trust.
In one story, someone had checked out a very expensive piece of equipment from the comapny for a tinkering project, and locked the cage that led to the tool room. Bill or Dave found out about this when they went to check out another tool, and, frustrated with the lock, cut the lock with a pair of bolt cutters, go the needed tool, and left a note saying something to the effect of “Do not ever lock this cage again.”
One other aspect of this in HP. They refused to make college students, who needed additional training, sign forms promising to work for the company for a series of years after HP paid for their training. That is, after trainning was paid for, the employees were free to leave and work for a competitor. The idea was that the company was so confident that employees would stick around based on how the company treated its employees that they didn’t need to create barriers to leaving.
This sort of thing is virtually unheard-of these days. And that trust sown, coupled with a competitive salary and benefits package, led to people who were loyal to the company, and that loyalty created a bulkhead so strong that unions were never an issue for the company as long as that culture was in place.
It was only when the trust eroded, and the responsibility shrank that unions encroached on the comapny.
Cultivating Responsibility That Effects Social Transformation
Some people hate the term social justice, especially because they hate a particular political party, but Isaiah and the L-rd of Hosts were zealous for justice being brought to various people groups in various seasons. And Teachers were made to skillfully execute and expound how to carry out a burden for a segment of society. Anisha Cruz, anyone (she knows of what I speak)?
The question I have to ask of each of you in the tribe, especially those who spend inordinate amounts of time asking G-d to intervene when you are doing disproportionately little to unpack what He has already given you is this. “Are each of the spheres in which you are involved increasing or decreasing as a result of your action. Not His action. Your action. Are you taking on responsibilities that you may not have been directly assigned by someone, but you know (through your zeal or burden) that you are supposed to take those burdens, causes, or assignments up and make an impact that will outlast you.
Teachers are one of the three generational gifts, along with Givers and RJD’s with the capacity to impact and reproduce at a greater rate in their descendants than the other four gifts (Prophet, Servant, Exhorter, and Mercy).
When you take on a measure (not in insane amount that you cannot handle, but rather an amount that is a STRETCH FOR YOU but you can manage with execution) of responsibility that was not yours to begin with, and G-d and man may not have assigned you that responsibility, but you see a facet of that topic to which the rest of society is blind, but is something for which you have a vision, then life will be the result.
And for those who choose the responsibility that leads to life, the one thing to the exclusion of many other good things, to them will belong some of the hidden manna.
Picture of Responsibility: Samuel
Samuel, who was not in the bloodline for the priesthood as a Levite, of the tribe of Ephraim, took up the priesthood after Eli and judged Israel.
He took on a responsiblity that was not his in his office of priest, because Eli had abandoned his office. And Samuel was what G-d had to work with.
Samuel judged Agag, because Saul refused to stepped into his office and responsibility to execute.
Responsibility is what leads to the unusual execution. Responsibility is the execution of mishpat where G-d has orchestrated it to happen. And we can partner with G-d to effect change.
Conclusion
So, in the area of responsibility, I have an assignment for us.
What is one thing that you want to happen that you are zealous for that no one has taken up the responsibility for, that you have the tools to execute on, and that you know will result in something that will increase the kingdom of G-d?
It could be that that one thing is one thing G-d has for you, because either no one else sees the problem, or, if they see it, they think “not it!”.
Just some thoughts here, gang.
Samuel’s responsiblity was not the priesthood by bloodline, but at that time G-d had no one else and Samuel was set apart.
Gang, it is time for us to stop making excuses as to why we are not doing the things.
And it is time for us to try some things out that may be a stretch.
The Principle of Responsibilty is the “last stand on earth” principle. (Relevant timestamp below is 2:30-3:30, and putting aside the politics of the 1964 election, focus on the principles here)
The Principle of Responsibility is the wall of the Kingdom that protects it from enemies foreign and domestic.
The Principle of Responsibility is the meat, heart, and bedrock that causes us to do something.
Take your stand, gang, and do your thing, whatever that thing that you may have avoided for days, weeks, months, or even years. You have a responsibility.
And realize that, in order to have life, you have to have the willingness and the testes or ovaries to fight. Jump into the fray and strap your sword or tool belt, and cause the battle to be joined.
DISCLAIMER: You know, there are going to be some in my audience that, because of the Teacher and Researcher nature of some of them, are probably going to function as boo birds for this, making links to New Age, or Law of Attraction, or other things because I–and the supplier of the floral essences that I have begun to use–utilize terms like “vibration” and “frequency”. I have also long stated that some of my material and thoughts are a bit on the edge in the esoteric.
That is okay, because most of what I post on pretty much focuses on the text of Scripture and this carries a lot of weight with those who are Evangelical Christians, which form much of my target audience.
But I do look at, consider deeply, and ponder a lot that is a bit too out there for many evangelicals. And I do not share much of that, because our movement to deeper things in Christ, where the L-rd moves us from one level of deep to another level of deep often comes where He establishes a set of paradigms that we can handle, and then moves us into a larger or deeper paradigm which requires him to remove some “training wheels” off of our bikes.
This will likely be one of those deep-end things that might come across as New Agey to some. And for those who are concerned about that, I would recommend Disc 2 of a Teaching Series by Arthur Burk called MOHA (The Majesty of His Artistry) where he discusses Christians that open up yoga clinics in order to reach New Agers and witches.
Just saying that sometimes our means of reaching people gets stale and we need to embrace something that is part of our design that the crunchy church culture might look askew at so we can challenge that religious superstructure that some of us have come to depend on. And we might have to remind ourselves that because G-d was there first and G-d created all that is a frequency, and all that is light, and all the universal, non-optional, cause-and-effect relationships, He is well-aware of what happens in creation and what is utilized in various fields and the multiplicity of tools that are available to move us from one area of being into another area of being.
By the way, what follows is more of my personal point-of-view and I am not preaching this as “you have to swallow everything I say or else be branded a heretic”. I present these things for y’all my audience to mull over and either utilize or discard as you see fit.
And with that, let’s begin this review.
A Path To How I First Met Seneca and Her Company
About a 18 months to two years ago, I was in the process of moving my way through a group on Facebook that the owner of Freedom Flowers is also a part of. And somehow she chimed in that an interest she was looking at was cataloguing all the emotions in the book of Psalms in Scripture and considering which emotions were tied to the spirit and which emotions were tied to the soul.
And so, I chimed in that I was interested in collaborating with Seneca on cataloguing a spreadsheet of the emotions in the Psalms. That is currently a dormant project but it is still of interest to me, so I occasionally look in and read a Psalm for that purpose.
So, we got connected and I figured out that she owns a business that works with manufacturing what she describes as essences using various plant materials, which is something she has been doing since she was a kid, and she found a way to turn this passion into a buisness.
This is not the same thing as essential oils. If you asked for a brief rundown, go here.
At the point when I started connecting with Seneca, I was already transitioning from working exclusively with people as a pastor to working with land, which is a bit more esoteric.
However it works, I personally pick up on the emotions of most of the various pieces of land that I visit. For example, when I visited Cape Hatteras and the lighthouse, the land felt wounded because of the way the land has shifted and moved and how a mile’s worth of the treeline has been swept away due to currents of the Atlantic near the island of Hatteras have changed. So, I began responding by asking the L-rd to speak and to sing His love over the island.
I have two prominent trees in my yard at home, and they communicate after their own fashion to me. One is a Japanese Cherry and the other is a Tulip Poplar.
And this year, after I had planted my vegetable garden, I started by planting sunflowers. After they had popped up and begun to bloom, I was dealing with some negative memories pertaining to my late father, and I happened to wander out to the vegetable garden to do something (mowing or weed-eating I think), and when I went to stand in front of the sunflower, my emotions toward my father began to lighten. Something began to shift through my interaction with the sunflower. Cannot explain better than that.
Vibrations and Frequency: Please Do Not Shoot This Down
So, according to how this works, and you can do the research on your own, each member of the plant kingdom gives off its own frequency, and affects certain things. As certain medications (the lion’s share of which come from substances that were created on the Third Day, plants or green life of some sort) affect certain interactions in the body, so also plants function in a similar fashion. The research behind this is more than I can explain, but I can tell you from personal experience that it happens to work somehow.
Frequencies and vibrations affect the body all day long. And these frequency given off by the particular essence I have been using, when introduced into the body, shifts and realigns around the area of being able to work with paradoxes.
In my case, it also positively unearthed and helped me deal with a number of things pertaining to spiritual and emotional trauma that was generations old.
All because I introduced the essence which contained the material that resonated the frequency of the flower in question.
The Trial Posted to Facebook and The Review of Double Delight Rose
About a couple of weeks ago, Seneca posted somewhere that she was going to host a trial and wanted to know who among us struggle with some sort of paradox found in Scripture. Well, I have a few of those that I struggle with, but the most prominent one deals with the twin reality that we as followers of Christ are both sons and servants, and both realities are present at the same time. So, I said “sure, send me some of this essence as part of your trial”. The essence is called Double Delight Rose.
So, she sent me some, and the instructions call for it to take 4 drops 4x a day. So, I began taking it. And I am currently still taking it.
And not only have I begun to have a breakthrough on recognizing that I am treated as a son of the King, but I am also able to carry that and do stuff for the L-rd that He asks, serving him with the mindset of being both a son and a servant. That is, living as a son in Father’s embrace and doing the work that a servant would normally do without feeling like I had to do the work in order to maintain my position as a son. Rather, the work of serving flowed from the place in which the L-rd had already positioned me as a son.
In addition to this, the L-rd in this season has begun to push some generational strongholds to the surface so they can be dealt with, specifically rejection. My grandfather suffered from rejection from being abandoned by his blood parents. My father suffered from rejection as well. and I did. But something happened in the taking of this essence that has caused that stuff to be dealt with as well.
It strikes me, that given we have an electrical machine called the human body, and it runs at a certain frequency, that if we change that frequency, something else will also be affected.
As the adage goes, “the proof in the pudding is in the eating.”
My take is, something is either going to work or it is not. And staying in our dysfunction is not working, but when we have tried everything and nothing works, the new thing on which we risk a trial period may not be better than staying exactly where we are.
So, my tl;dr review for Double Delight Rose is as follows: outstanding for helping to resolve my particular paradox.
And while there may be some flakiness to some of the material out there in the interwebs as it pertains to vibrations and frequencies, that does not wholesale negate everything that is given as a possible solution that utilizes frequency or vibrational language.
I have had a block in the paradox and rejection arenas, and in the last 2 weeks I have begun to actually and really address the blockages in a big way. Seneca’s essence has helped as a really solid tool for dealing with that and getting to, as her passion is, a place of solid freedom.
As a side note, I checked out her other essences, given my wife and I are going to become regular customers of hers, and I stumbled across the Sunflower essence, and guess what it helps the user deal with?
Father issues.
Just….wow…..exactly thing thing addressed by my sunflowers.
So I have ordered that essence and a couple of others.
So, that is my fuller review.
Seriously, skeptics, give her a try and see if there is anything to her work.
It was really worth my time, especially given I have seen a bit more of a release to write and act more in accordance with my design, and I handle seeming contradictions week in and week out.
If you have further questions, I will be happy to field some of those myself as best I can, because I get some of the more esoteric stuff that seems weird, and may be able to put it in terms that are less weird.
