I Once Had A Dream

I once had a dream that as I understand it, the outward form of what is known as the church fell into a bottomless chasm leaving us totally reliant on the pure light of Jesus to carry us across that chasm. That day the Lord spoke a confirming sign: That the doors to Russia were going to open... But someday they would close as quickly as they had opened. That was in 1987. In 1991 or 1992 the doors to what was formerly the USSR suddenly opened to everyone's shock. I'm not much of a betting man but the relationship between the USA and Russia has of late relatively soured and that door is being prepared to slam in the face of the USA. 

If my understanding of all this holds true (we see in part and know in part), the non-profit corporation that the "church" has been leaning on is about to pierce our hand. It will either not exist or we will be forced to choose between keeping it and denying God or following Him and letting it go. My sense from another vision is that the decision to hold on or to let it go will not have any in-betweens but comes with serious eternal reprocussions. It will be like a fire that will force us to one side or the other.

I am not by any means saying that we should at this time abandon the outward form and the non-profit status but rather to be very vigilant in the coming times and allow God to teach us how to do without it. We do need to recognize though that it will be God allowing these things to prepare us for the 2nd coming of the Messiah. That is very important so we can keep our discernment sharp. If we are all bent out of shape and blaming governments, political parties, Muslims or even other "churches" we will not see the day of our visitation coming. It is in spirit much like 9/11. A few saw it for the warning to this nation that it was (God's hand lifted for a second) and unfortunately many were found (and still are) blaming scapegoats to avoid the conviction and have totally missed the warning of the LORD at that time..

There is something we need to understand about God's ways. If it comes down to it He WILL sacrifice a nation to accomplish the purity of His Church. If we don't understand that we will stumble. Jesus is not coming back for a Church that looks like it just got chopped up at a butcher shop. He is going to have His way with His Church and our flesh is NOT going to like that one bit.

The Church is going to enter into this time of refinement as a huge ocean pleasure cruise liner with lots of room for passengers but it is going to come out of this time we are entering into as a sleek, much smaller fighting ship and everyone on it will be a functioning part of it's crew.

Christians - Why We Are Failing

We don't fight against flesh and blood but rather principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. Now if anyone is having a hard time understanding the first part of that scripture (and if we are, it is highly unlikely that we remotely understand the 2nd part) take a sharp object and insert it slightly into your arm or leg. The "flesh" will part and "blood" will come out. Is there anybody alive on earth that test will not produce the same result from? That is a very powerful concept because it just eliminated 7 billion potential enemies to fight and leaves only the second option as to who really is the enemy we should be battling furiously. But the truth is that we are hanging on to the first set of "foes" and failing miserably to defeat the second.

Islam is an ideology that is incompatable with not only the doctrines of the Messiah but the very Spirit of the Messiah. One is totally dependent upon the flesh and the other should be crucified to the flesh and completely dependent on the Spirit. But there is one somewhat common thing between the two as far as religions go:

One cannot say that all Muslims are violent extremists any more than one can say that ALL Christians are using their recreational time hanging out at graveyards raising the dead. But in the same way one CAN say that anyone who is a Muslim and is affected by the ruling spirit can at any time resort to violent religious actions just as any Christian can be moved by the Spirit and empowered to raise the dead. Now if we are not jumping in our cars to go to a graveyard right now perhaps we should humble ourselves and seek God's mind as to what may be more compatable with our level of faith.

So here is a spiritual principle: If we lump people together and identify them as a group or agenda in our mind and that is how we relate to them, we are actually empowering that ruling spirit and possibly maybe even likely creating a stronghold in our own mind that can make us useless to God. But if we allow God to instruct and empower us to see each and every human being as an individual that Jesus died for and refuse to lump people into "categories" of any kind then the the very premise on which a ruling spirit is functioning is defeated in us and whether we understand it or not in the people we are relating to. Every person then is observed based solely upon their individual behavior (which is exactly how God sees us). God is also then able to lead us to individuals and He in us to relate to them as such. If we approach an individual solely as one of a bunch or an agenda, we are already defeated because we are empowering the very thing that may be resisting God.

I don't think we realize how much of our lives (and prayer lives) are confined by not understanding this one principle. Human beings by fallen nature gravitate very powerfully to the security of group identification. That is true whether we identify ourselves and others politically, religiously, or even by our favorite sports teams. There is an endless list competing for our loyalty if we are not focused solely on indentifying with the Messiah and particularly in His death for us. What we choose to identify with personally is going to seriously affect our subsequent choices as to how we are going to relate to others.

The Basis of Marriage and the Church

This is not perfect but then we should never presume anything written as perfect except the scriptures. Please consider this in that light. I did not really feel comfortable altering it from the way it came out. Also as the the last section on "marriage", let it not be abused and taken as license to sin....

"My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." 

A brother and I were praying in the spirit one day in an old fire damaged house I had bought back in 2002 when suddenly there appeared a line of fire between us. It was forcing us to choose what side of the fire we were going to be on and then it got so big that there was no way to jump over it. Then the vision was over.

I worked on that fire damaged house for four long hard years and by using older materials from houses that had been torn down and some new material was able to not only restore it but it was the most beautiful structurally stable house in the neighborhood inspiring many others to improve their houses.

But the cost of restoring the house became so great that My wife and I struggled to make the payments to the bank and though we lived in it about 5 years, we finally had to put it up for sale for far less than it was worth.

When we walked out of that house after it was bought by two homosexuals all we had left was enough to start over. So for all my hard labor to build that house, the house was then occupied by what I detested (not the people themselves).

He who has ears to hear let him hear...

 I didn't understand how God was using all this prophetically. I just lived through it and He formed the situation. The external "houses of God" and country that we have built after 9/11's warning from God went unheeded by both the country and the church as a whole is about to be divided between the profane and the holy.

I do know that "the spear that we are leaning on is going to peirce our hand." with sorrows. That the decisions that He is going to bring us to will also force us to choose between the "houses of God" built by men and the "HOUSE OF GOD" He is building in Spirit.

Years ago the LORD showed me that the non-profit status in relationsionship to the government of churches and ministries was going to change dramatically and that those who were not willing to "compromise" with the "fire" he was going to allow would not retain that status and that the boy scouts of America would be the first one to fall by either compromising or losing their NP status by standing against an immoral and unlawful demand.. At the time decades ago I didn't know what that would be.

According to law a non-profits disolution [disolving] ] (funds, building, etc) has to go to another NP corporation. Many will not be willing to count that cost as true gain.

But the beauty of all this was that the True church connected by the Spirit would rise up in that day and be seen in it's true form and glory.

But then knowing that eventuality, why are we so relying upon political influence and power? What is wrong with us that we embrace something that should not even once be named among us. Our connection to the government is the very thing that allows us to divide endlessly into 10's of thousands of legal independent identities - something that is no different than the world system we now live in.

So that being said brings up an important point:

Are we married when we have a "ceremony" saying so or the government says so or is it the decision to come together as one as God designed even in our physical beings to be outfitted and honored not for our external status with the world or even our status with an external church that itself is living in adultery with it's own governments but rather our faithfulness to live out our lives together unto death.

Then much more so should the CHURCH and those of us who believe rely upon our status with HIM and faithfulness to HIM unto death and NOT our status with the government or even the external religious form of the church?

When JESUS died upon the cross and shed HIS blood, HE said, "IT IS FINISHED!" HE set indelibly the relationship between His church and Himself forever. No ceremonial or legal status can ever "further" or deny what he has done. We are saved solely by faith in the shed blood of Jesus and His Promise (or binding betrothal) that He will keep His word to us.

So if a marriage is not determined by ceremony or legal governmental status but by faithfulness to one's promise unto death, so it is with God's Church.

The Ingathering Of The Sheep

One of the most beautiful animal things in nature I have ever seen happened years ago when we were living in the center of Oregon. It's sheep country and almost everyone who lives in that area has sheep. I used to do a lot of carpentry for a huge sheep ranch (30,000 acres) and one day the manager who was a friend of mine told me to come with him to see something.

Mitchell is known for it's hills and highlands with a few canyon-like lowlands.

My friend pointed my attention to a hillside which is actually the edge of a highland. As a watched for a while the most amazing thing I have ever seen animal-wise in my life happened. The side of that very long hill suddenly was becoming covered with sheep coming over the top and down into the lowland. Over 3000 of them. All at once together decending the steep side of the canyon. It was like a wave of sheep decending until the whole side of the hill was alive and moving. I can't even begin to describe the suddeness or the beauty of it or how massive it was.

Photo from www.raisingsheep.net/

Sheep are wonderful creatures. Unless they are restrained by man-made fences, they naturally do certain things well. They know how to search out food and as a general rule will eat together. They also do not have to be encouraged to reproduce. A small flock over some years can become quite large and yet remain together. Some may wander off and get into all sorts of trouble but by nature especially when they begin to spread the alarm amongst each other over a danger they will flock together. They are natural flockers.

But I would be cheating you out of a part of the picture of those sheep I saw coming over that huge hill if I didn't tell you about the shepherds that guided and cared for them. Unlike the other sheep owners in the area, these men came from generations of sheepherders. Many of them were Basque's who were brought in. They ate together and lived together and worked amazingly well together. They knew that there was only one flock and that flock belonged to their master. I never once in over 5 months saw them quarreling over whose sheep were whose. They were men who would spare no lengths to go out and reflock those who had wandered off.

But if I might take the liberty to express. There was one sad thing about that day. Unlike the sheep over thousands of acres who gathered together, the sheep who were fenced in by their shepherd's claims were unable to attend. All they could do was stand longingly at the fences that held them from gathering with the rest of the sheep. Because men had fenced them in they were unable to join the others...

...in that Great Ingathering of the Sheep.

* In case you didn't notice, all the sheep in the picture above are looking in the same direction. The same thing is happening with the flock of God's sheep. They are all starting to long to gather together as one flock and their attention is being drawn longingly in the direction of their coming Master. If you get in the way of that or start building new fences (or refusing to tear down old ones) you may end up on the side of a hill somewhere tending goats... And that my friends is a warning of things to come... Claiming God's sheep as your own in the day that is coming is to risk the wrath of God...

The Trumpet Blast

A sound rising up out of dead silence,
Like no other, the trumpet blast is heard.

The sound of all the trumpets in the universe,
blowing at the same time...

From the highest pitch beyond reason,
To the most uncomfortable deep bass.

From the softest, almost inaudible sound,
To the loudest sound imaginable,
They all blow their trumpets together as one.

The earth trembles and shakes at the sound,
Men fall on their knees in fear and trembling -
And every thought is laid captive,
      to what is coming.

The mountains are leveled, the valleys filled,
And there is no place to hide from the sound.
It is the sound of the Body of Christ together with
The hosts of Heaven all crying out with one voice,

"The day of the LORD is at hand..." 

The earth is being prepared for that day,
The day of the return of it's Messiah (Saviour).

Those awaiting His return are crying out with one voice,
From the softest whisper to the loudest scream,
At the same time, with the same mind and heart,
with their voices beginning to sound out,

"Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!"

Blow, trumpets! Blow!

Sing Along Murder Song by Bob Riley

THE LAST WORD TO AMERICA

Left unheeded, this is the final word to the nation called "America."



I listened to this in tears yet a certain joy of expectancy. This is the FINAL word to this nation. If it goes unheeded the judgement is set. 

But I was very clearly reminded of a vision I had when we were praying in a fire damaged house one day. I was shocked for a minute when a ditch with fire appeared right in the living room we were praying in. The fire was so hot that no one could ever cross over it to the other side. As the Church in America, we have underestimated the day we are living in and the ONE whom we say we are serving. 

The other thing that came to me was a fearful sense that the day is coming soon that the "spear that the church is leaning on is about to pierce it's hand." Our reliance and confidence, even our own church identities is leaning on the strength of our relationship to the government but that is about to pierce our hand instead. 

We have invested in politics, our worldly strengths and our non-profit status with the government but all that is about to fall into the pit. We will be faced with doing without it and our politics, worldly strengths and organizational strengths and retaining our relationship with God or falling into the pit with those things we are holding onto. Oh the image of the "Church" may still remain but it will not be God's Church - it will be another's. 

The remnant Church is about to be stripped naked of it's unclean garments and given another - one that is holy and acceptable to God - but it will be substantially smaller than the one we perceive as God's today. It is that fear that will drive many "leaders" to lead many astray to save their outward form instead of preparing those they have influence over to face the day that is fast approaching.

What Jesus is counseling us to do is to "buy gold refined in the fire." Those who have suffered for the Lord's name sake, overcome and prosper, by nature will have greater wisdom of God...

Natural Laws Planted In Creation

The natural laws of the creation cannot be broken. It is only a momentary deception when we find ourselves able for a time to circumvent them as natural beings. They are there for our own benefit and protection but violating them can lead to death.

The law of gravity keeps us from simply drifting out into outer space and suffocating to death. It keeps your toddler from taking a few leaps and bounds and ending up miles away in minutes from your protective arms. Most people think that when they get into an airplane, (which circumvents the law of gravity for a short time), that they are "flying" somewhere. That is deception because you are actually sitting stationary in your seat grounded by the law of gravity. The airplane is flying... You are NOT - nor can you. Not single law of government or religion can change that - it is a natural law.

It seems like almost an entire generation is seeking to circumvent a natural law designed to propagate the species of mankind. Like any other natural law of the creation, it is only a deception when for a while you seem to have circumvented it without "falling to the ground" and getting hurt. If you try to fly without artificial means of support, the ground and the natural law rule over all and will have the last say in any argument to the contrary.

This generation has gotten in a Jetliner, are all comfortable secure in their seats and rejoicing in the fact that they and all their friends are on board and the airplane is taking off. They are having a grande party like usual, but...They don't realize that the pilot of the plane they are trusting in and thrilled about is a terrorist...

MUSIC: SECULAR OR SACRED?

A brother posted a really nicely done worship song recently and I found myself posting this in the comments:

"Whatsoever things you do, do them with all your heart 

as unto the Lord and not as unto men."

Such a guideline for us who listen to and perform music that in all things we do them to glorify God and not for the admiration of men!

When the Lord touched me and saved me decades ago, I was a musician playing in clubs in the hotels in Hawaii. That was my life but it was also my emptiness because performing in the secular world (and unfortunately in the "modern christian pop world" is a barren life craving for the attention and admiration of men.

When I first started going to a gathering sometimes they would sing a song out of the old "hymn book" and I couldn't appreciate the words because I just couldn't stand the music. Three months later, I had no desire at all to play or to listen to secular songs (and never did again after almost 40 years.) BUT I started loving to play and sing those old hymns and worship choruses and it didn't matter if people cheered the music or admired my person, whether there was a whole crowd or just me before the Lord.

I discovered that the whole reason God placed that desire in us to sing and appreciate music was solely to express worship and to glorify God.

There was one song from my secular musical past that I used to sing with all my heart in my early years. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Find The Cost of Freedom." but I had changed the words to glorify God.

"Find the cost of freedom... 

Nailed upon the cross.. 

Jesus Christ has won it all. 

Laid my burden (of sin) down."

That is the only secular song I ever performed (besides "happy birthday to you".) in almost 40 years. Nobody influenced me or taught a "rule". It is just what God did from the beginning of my walk and I love Him for it.

It's funny because I have never shared that part of my testimony in words before today. I just found myself blessed with the living of it. Nobody ever taught on the subject. It was just pure grace and still is. It wasn't a "Thou shalt not." it was a "thou shalt." The work of God in us in that way can be expressed so beautifully in the scripture:

"Old things are passing away.Behold, all things are new!" 

- (2nd Co. 5:17)

USA: We Are Blinded By Deception

Genocide

53,000,000 children (Who would now be American citizens) have been butchered over the last four and a half decades by the USA. That's approximately 1/6th of the current population of the United States. If God was going to overlook that, He would have to have Adolf Hitler canonized as a saint. If we could hear those children crying out, "How many more have to die. How long Lord before you avenge us of our blood..." we would be rightfully terrified. Those cries have been mounting for 45 years and of late have become deafening in Heaven. If this nation ignores this warning any further, that will be a fatal mistake. This country is slowly heading towards eliminating not just the unborn "undesirables" but ALL "undesirables."

Wars

Since WWII, the greatest military power in the world has not won a single war (call it what you like) and ultimately has retreated leaving a horrible mess in the aftermath:

• Korea
• Vietnam
• Iraq
• Afghanistan (soon)
• By our foreign policies and questionable "covert" activities initiating a never ending "war on terror" that has spread out potentially all over the world causing untold millions to live in fear of the next explosion in their midst

Arab Springs

Covertly or openly supporting and encouraging "Arab Spring" revolts resulting in nothing less than chaos and misery for those whose countries and economies now lay in shambles in the hope of "spreading democracy":

• Libya
• Egypt
• Syria

The Statistics

1. 50-60% of marriages during that time have ended in divorce
2. 47% of present children were born out of "wedlock"
3. Reproductive Sex without the permanent commitment of marriage (as it has been known as up until now) is the norm.
4. 5% of third graders have had sex. 50% of all high school students have engaged in sex - a large majority with multiple partners
5. Has become the world's largest producer and exporter of pornography
6. The "Entertainment Industry" who has lost any sense of moral compass
7. A population who is rapidly discarding any sense of true moral values and replacing them with psuedo values who have been left with:

• An economy virtually crashed and artificially restored that is now nothing more than a helium filled balloon waiting to burst

• An endlessly rising national debt being "resolved" by printing money of virtually counterfeit value

• A government that has been for several years virtually dysfunctional who has lost all sense of direction or obligation to represent it's people.

Distraction

And yet with all this and much more hanging over this countries head and its citizens most of us seem strangely disconnected from the reality of it all. Probably like no time in the history of man, we are being bombarded by by the great god, "Entertainment." Whether it is news, or video/graphic fiction, that "god" like an electronic drug is designed to keep us from any rational thinking about these things for any meaningful length of time. It is designed (deliberately) to distract us from what is really going on around us and especially to distract us from seeing the truth and being driven into prayer to the one and only true God and Father of Jesus who alone is able to save us and this nation.

Deception

• If you take a frog and drop him into a boiling pot of water, he will instantly and instinctively try to jump out.
• If you take a frog and drop him into a pot of cool water, he will probably stay right there. If you very slowly heat the pot of water up one degree a minute at a time, the frog will never notice the difference. He will just sit there until the water boils him to death... 

That is what is happening in this country to it's citizens. Even though in many ways the heat is being turned up we will just sit there because we are being made comfortable even with the things we would normally be very uncomfortable about. It's happening in the general population and it's happening in the "churches" and it's happening to each one of us in some way or another.

So now that you've taken the time to read this I guess you can go back to your facebook or TV or latest political discussion...

OR... You can spend some time and consider the fact that if we don't jump out of this pot of water into the waiting hands of the very loving, powerful God and Father of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and savior of the world that we are all going to boil to death - very slowly and painfully.

"We do not fight against flesh and blood but against powers 

and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places."

The problem is a spiritual one. We need a Spiritual answer...
Fighting in the flesh or with political power is only adding to the distraction...

Gathered Together In Him

If the West will not respond to God's call for this hour we are living in, Africa and other 3rd world nations will...

What has been coming on my heart for some time now is that God's moving in this nation (USA) is more dependent on we who are followers of Christ (Messiah) in that we are the ones that need to humble ourselves before him. And perhaps it will help us in seeing that Africa and other places are exploding with the Gospel and moves of God's Spirit to ask ourselves honestly why that is not happening here. We have massive buildings, 10's of thousands per gathering of audio visual equipment, Billions in funding yet we are not able to produce before God the fruit that simple poor third world countries are producing. It is time for the Church in America to realize that we are no longer the head but rather the tail of the donkey that Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on...But we need to realize that even the tail of the donkey has a purpose and we need to humble ourselves before God, find out what that true purpose is and walk in it.... There is much meaning in the word "SERVANT" of God. God has given us this opportunity to be the tail of the donkey to save us from our pride... Pride in our name, Pride in our ministries, Pride in our churches, Pride in our political parties and pride in our nation. They must all go, to bow down and make way for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to ride into Jerusalem once more... No one will be left standing when Jesus returns... We will all be on our knees...

The picture above is almost overwhelming I still cannot get over such a sight. That is how God looks over the entirety of the Body of Christ. 

This morning I had a flash of this picture in my mind out of the blue and the Holy Spirit said, "How many people do you see?" The thought was staggering to imagine how to count that many people and before I could answer (I am not sure I actually could) the answer came from Him and overrode everything in me. The Father's answer:

"I see ONE..."

"I see my SON..."

God has gathered us from many nations and kindreds into His Son. He is in us and we are in Him. And we are all ONE in HIM. The Father looks out over the expanse of all of us gathered together in HIS SON and sees only ONE!!! He sees Jesus! Let us all see ourselves together as ONE in HIM. 

Because anything else is SIN...

My Early Testimony

40 years ago...

Trapped and drowning in a car turned upside down in a ditch. No hope. I'm going to die! Fear. No air left. No strength to try to get out anymore. I pass into the unknown. I am ushered into the presence of God. You know. The one I cursed and ignored. The one I didn't believe even existed. The one when others mentioned Him, I would laugh to scorn. The brunt of my jokes is now my judge. I have no lawyer. I am not allowed to speak. Every breath I have taken. Every thought, every motivation. Every secret wrong I have done. All played out in living color. I cannot hide. I realize I am a condemned man and there is no hope. There is no escape from the truth. It is utterly terrifying.

Suddenly there is great indescribable power displayed. I am whisked from certain death to life. I have a new breath of air. My body passes through a space that only a few minutes before I couldn't even get my arm through. All within less than a split second. My two passengers are sitting on a rock above the water. Their backs turned to the wreck. They are sad. The tow truck driver arrives. He looks shocked when I pop up to the surface. I didn't tell a single soul for years. I had no words to describe. I know now it is called, "The Mercy of God..."

I had a back injury from the accident so no one would hire me so I went up to Alaska to work. I tried to clean up my life but I kept falling on my face in the mud. No matter how I tried I knew that it wasn't enough to please God. I finally gave up but I was so empty. Came back home. Played in a band in the hotels. On the surface everything was great but inside I had no life in me and had to deal with constant back pain.

One night we had a 45 minute break and I went outside in the garden between two hotels and I stood there alone, empty, wondering if there was even any real meaning to life. Suddenly everything around me was filled with the presence of Jesus. Yes there was a certain fear but I was numb to it now. I knew I was a condemned man. I had nothing to look forward to in that way. But His presence was so beautiful, so loving and life was pouring out of Him towards me. I was awestruck. Then He said to me,

"Come into My Kingdom..."

 and those words were so full of life and forgiveness that all I managed to say was, "YES!" as I stood there basking in His presence. Then as I was standing there, the same power that had ushered me out of that car and out from the water that night went through me like a bolt of lightning and my back was instantly and permanently healed and my life was turned upside down in a wonderful way.

I was thinking today how sad it is that this generation seems to have turned it's back on God but then can we really blame them? Have they ever seen even one miracle (in "church" or out on the street) Have they heard the Gospel go out in power where man stands out of the way and let's Jesus run the show? (He is very good at it!). I think God is hearing a heart cry inside this generation. One that by and large we are ignoring. They want the real thing. They want evidence.

For decades now, by and large people have been hearing the Gospel of 2000 years of defiled churchianity but soon they will hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached in power. Power to save. Power to turn people's lives around. Power to heal and all that will be found in God's power to forgive and cleanse from sin. That is one purchase that has already been made for us and it was Jesus that paid the price to make it possible. People cannot see that because often we are obscuring their view. But that is all about to change...

Jesus is saying something but with all the noise we are not hearing Him.

"Come into My Kingdom or get out of My way!. There isn't much time left and I am not willing that even one perish..."