THE ARTIFICIAL OR THE REAL THING?

If we only knew how much mental and emotional manipulation goes on through music, TV, ads, internet, etc.... "1984" has been here since 1984. It's even imbedded in some of our modern "worship music." It all looks innoculous but it is all training the brain to respond to externally enhanced stimulation for a desired result. (especially visual stimulation...) It may be the government and corporations (maybe even some churches have fallen into it) but in reality our addiction to it is orchestrated by the "god of this world."

It is all built on the science that the brain through the eyes and ears stores far more information than what we consciously see or hear. A lot of actors today admit that they do not act the part. They "channel" the character they are "playing." That's why there is such an emotional element to movies and even cartoons today that hardly existed decades ago. Back "in the old days", while watching a movie, one pretty well knew it was only acting but today we are drawn into the movie or even cartoons as mental and emotional participants. I hate to say it but what we view on the internet, even yes Facebook, has that element to it. It is replacing normal thought and emotional patterns with artificial stimulation. We are becoming and thinking what we are being artificially stimulated with. We have artificial news, information, emotional and even spiritual stimulation. It's all designed to create a society that is controlled by artificial stimulation. Once established it makes for a very high degree of control of human beings.

If we were to actually think about it, a century ago, mankind did not have this volume of aritificial stimulation working on their thought processes. Children grew up with little or none of it. Adults lived their whole lives without it. Everything in life was real and tangible. They lived in a world where everything in it was touchable. They were in touch with the expression, "The real world." There was almost nothing about life that was artificial. Even their imaginations were fairly healthy. They imagined real things.

If we are aware of third world countries, children there are not imagining their latest digital input. They imagine things like "going to school" or a different life having the things they need. They are quite comfortable playing with a stick. Adults by and large imagine a better life. They are by far more focused on real things or real things that are at least tangible in their imaginations.

We have become slaves of the digital world and digital imagery input. Artificial sensory input and our memories and imaginations have been made captive to what is constantly injected into our minds with a volume and intensity that the world has never before known. That's why things like porn have become so prominent in society. It is artificial stimulation. It is not even remotely real. People's minds are tuned to the digital and artificial for satisfaction in life.

There's a spiritual element to much of all this. It kind of is reflected (for example) in the news people absorb. By and large the news media personel (that we see) are not "trying" to deceive us so much as they are already deceived themselves so become conduits of deception.. The bottom line is if we are filled with deception we become channels of deception. If we believe a lie we will pass it on to others. That is probably 90% of what is going on in the world around us politically, socially and even religiously.

Years ago, I use to tell people, "If you want to have visions from the Lord, TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION!." Go on a fast from digital, video and audio input. You may find out (and very uncomfortably so) that you will be entering into an awareness of a battle for your own mind. Like a food fast, you will very likely find yourself craving for digital stimulation.

If I had the influence on church gatherings today in the west, I would encourage (and I do) that you turn off all the electricity at the gathering except necessary lights for safety. Do it for a month! You will quickly find out what is being orchestrated by the Holy Spirit and what is artificial stimulation. (and what is artificially induced "worship" and "annointing"). Unplug the band and all the fancy video presentations and maybe some if not most preachers need to unplug themselves for a while.

The "god of this world" (Satan) is saying "Let it go!. Don't resist." and Jesus is saying, "No! Submit your hearts to God, Resist the devil and Come to ME! I am the way, the Truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me."

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