God is writing your Biography and mine

There are books that are being written about us – our life story – our biography; and it is being written and published in heaven by God, but that’s the real – raw – uncut version, warts and all, with the secrets and motives of our hearts and minds.

Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened the books. And another Book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by the things having been written in the books, according to their works.

Preach Christ and Him crucified

Ian wrote on CrossRevival forum: If a person exclusively-persuasively-powerfully-consistently preaches Christ and Him crucified, then it wouldn’t be far wrong to call them a “revivalist” , (prophet or evangelist would be a better term).

But if a person preaches revival, at the expense of preaching Christ, then it would be wrong to call them a true “revivalist”.

I don’t believe a true “revivalist” will preach on revival, and to a lesser extent, preach repentance, they will exclusively preach Christ. (i don’t believe this is splitting hairs, i believe it’s to see what is the ministry of the Holy Spirit, which is to exclusively magnify Christ).

More in relation to Tim’s post, whilst i love brothers like Ravenhill, such did seem to be pushing the same old paradigm of church – they saw revival as being the result of pulpit ministry and a continuance of the traditions formed by the IC – a paradigm far removed from the 1st century pattern.

Sorry for how I put this, as it could be construed to mean that I’m against preaching repentance.

I meant, that which characterizes our message – that which has the preeminence – the essence of what we are preaching : and that should be Christ, and him crucified.

We preach a Person, firstly, then, secondly, how men must respond to this Person, they must repent and believe in Him.

Not the other way round, that is, to preach repentance and then, secondly, preach Christ (if at all).

In this sense I preach Christ and then repentance to Him.

In Pentecostalism and other movements there has been and there is the phenomenon of the “repentance preacher” who does not preach Christ, but focuses on preaching morality, and only refers to Him as needed to support his position. In many circles He is an “add-on”.

In addition: Yes, when Jesus began His ministry He preached “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”, yet we need to acknowledge that this is God in the flesh, God’s only Son, walking on the earth and calling men to repent – meaning – He Himself was the message preeminently. When people heard Jesus call them to repent, the first question they would have asked is, “Who is this guy?”. Then, they would realize that Jesus’ call to repentance was essentially that they would follow Him, a Person.

Praying for the salvation of our friends

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. Romans 10:1

Similarly, “Father, my heart’s desire and prayer to you for ____________ is that he/she might be saved, in Jesus’ name.”

Great White Throne

From: www.youareallbrothers.com

To: The Redeemed

Subject: Great White Throne

Date: January, 2003

And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. Rev. 20:11.

Yesterday, all day, I had this sense before Father of the earth and heaven flying away from my sight, so that all that was left in the cosmos was Him!

There was nothing left to see except Him! : The Father and the Son and Holy Spirit; One God: who is infinitely more than life itself.

And all day I was thinking what chumps we are much of the time, for walking by natural sight and not by the spiritual sight which is freely given us as we behold Him by faith.

And, how much we try and avoid Him!  Adam! Where are you?  “I’m just hiding from you Father! please forgive me.”

How patient He has been with us little children. Heaven and earth is vanishing away now even as we speak!  and …no place for them will be found.

What place does heaven and earth have in your life? Do you realize that no place for it will be found? ; That it’s all vanishing away, from His face! ?

Look into His holy face and make your eternal place there today, always beholding Him; …following the Lamb wherever He goes… , …Looking unto Jesus…

Rev. 20:11 speaks of a dichotomy: a dividing of existence into 1 of either 2 fields of view:

To either behold His face, or, to behold heaven and earth, which is vanishing away from His face… He is everything

God loves, yes, but He also hates

“God loves, yes, but He also hates, I think at times we forget that. He certainly does not have a syrupy – anything goes, enabling kind of love.”

“There ARE things that the Lord actually “hates”! After a period of time of really seeking the Lord for “His eyes, His ears, His heart, and His tears” … He showed me the following verse. I found from it, that the Lord looks down from heaven, and sees things very differently than we do! …

Prov. 6:16-19; “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

Notice that homosexuality is NOT in the list … drunkenness is NOT in the list … drug addiction is NOT in the list!

And while certainly He is against all those things … and there must be repentance from all those things ( And these sins are abominations and God hates them, Lev.18:22, Rev.22:15) … it’s the secret attitudes of our hearts that He’s most concerned about. The things that no one but Him can see … many of which, an earthly court of law would find difficult to prove, or convict us of.

Pride, speaking lies, devising wicked imaginations, being a false witness, and here’s the seventh that’s an abomination to Him … SOWING DISCORD AMONG THE BRETHREN! … OUCH!

Luke 16:15; “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”

I don’t want to stand before the Lord one day, and find that many of the things I said and did, to please Him … He actually hated!

Lord, help us to have Your eyes and Your ears, Your heart and Your tears … for the lost, the hurting, the sick, and the dying … and for Your church … even those who are deceived … in Jesus’ name, amen!

From RevivalSchool forum

Interference

Interference (communication), in telecommunication and electronics, is anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message as it travels along a channel between a source and a receiver. Typically the term refers to the addition of an unwanted signal to the useful signal…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_(disambiguation)

Similarly, in our life as spiritual beings in fleshly bodies, there comes a constant interference against us, bcos we are lights in a dark and fallen world, and we are not of this world, we are spiritual men and women, united with God by His Spirit in Christ Jesus His Son.

The enemy of our soul would dearly love to “jam our radar” with his evil static or whatever he sends our way, or, with that which he deceives Christians into willingly partaking in, so that the voice of our Beloved gets crowded out with other stuff, so that we cannot hear Him.

We therefore should be aware of spiritual interference, and anything which can be a cause of it.

The way it’s supposed to be

What does “you are all brothers” mean?

These are the words of the Lord Jesus taken from the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 23:8  :

But don’t be called Rabbi: i.e. a religious leadership title such as pastor, reverend etc.,   for one is your Leader, even Christ; and you are all brothers.

And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. ..Referring to a spiritual father and not one’s natural father.

Neither be called leaders: for one is your leader, even Christ. ..Then what do we call “leaders”?  Simply brother, for ..you are all brothers.

Rabbi Jones

Think of this contrast: If a Christian leader started calling himself  “Rabbi Jones”, its highly probable that someone would show him this command of the LORD which forbids calling anyone Rabbi. What could Rabbi Jones say to defend his sin? For Jesus says don’t do it, yet he continues to defy the Lord anyway. He is calling himself Rabbi and allowing others to call him that, and Jesus says don’t do it.

Yet, if he calls himself  “Pastor Jones”  most would not correct him for that. Tradition has traditionally trampled the Word of God underfoot, therefore being called “Pastor Jones” or “Reverend Jones” , for example, is not seen by most today as being a sin. Yet the use of “pastor” or “reverend” etc. means exactly the same as “Rabbi” or “Leader”, i.e. the spiritual authority or leader of a church/synagogue.

Jesus forbids this and He commands us to teach all His commands to those who are disciples of Christ, (Matt. 28:19-20). If they continue to reject Jesus’ commands after being shown them, one would have to question whether they really are Jesus’ disciples, (Matt. 7:24-27).

The way it’s supposed to be

Jesus teaches us here, that there must be no head of a church other than He Himself, and no single leader except Him alone, for Jesus says:  ..you have ONE Leader,  who is Christ, and you are all brothers.. .

Jesus will express His leadership through the plurality of the elders, therefore they can only function if they are in agreement and unity in love. When we together seek the glory and honor of Jesus alone, and die to our own glory, then we are in unity. He has given us His glory, His Spirit which only glorifies Jesus. When the elders, and all of us, no longer seek our own glory : our own honor, name, reputation and gain, and we have one purpose, which is the glory of Jesus Christ, then, and only then, can we be in His unity and function together the way we’re supposed to.  There is unity only at the Cross.

John 7:18  He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

John 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

In the beginning there was One Leader, Christ Himself, and there was a true functional brotherhood, who were one in love. It should be so today. For this to happen “Church” needs to be redefined to discover the original meaning.

The sisters are included in the term brothers, for the sisters are also equal  sons of God by virtue of being  IN  The Son of God, however Jesus and the Apostles never ordained a female as a Leader, (i.e. Elder/Bishop/Shepherd/Overseer ),  because women may not have authority over men according to God’s created order i.e. His order in creation. Yes, they have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and they should be mightily used by the Holy Spirit, however their ministry must never usurp the authority of the brothers, (1 Cor. 11:7-10, 1 Tim.2:12), for if they usurp God’s divine order then they are defying God’s order, and will be judged accordingly by Him for it.

One Head

In the NT there is not one single reference to a head-position in any Church. Not one single precedent is there, yet Christianity has built altars to the imaginations of men: Practices and teachings that have originated in the imagination of men, then become tradition, and then are set in concrete as “official doctrine”, (as with Rome).

There is a great Kingdom difference between a team of co-equal elders who oversee and serve, than compared with a single leader and head of an assembly, a “pastor” who has people under him.

The Kingdom difference is that the plural eldership, with all the members of the Body,  ** IF **  walking in the Spirit and in love, truly reflect the nature of the Oneness and plurality of the Godhead. They are a unified living epistle; a “living advertisement” to the very nature of the submission in love within the Godhead.

They are not held together by a form, but only by love. They actually become a living expression of the Gospel, of Jesus Himself. They are actually the visible body of Christ, to the world, and not the invisible or theoretical one. This is the kind of UNITY and LOVE which causes unbelievers to repent when they witness it and taste it, (according to John 17).

The plural eldership must together, with the members of the Body, find the will and mind of the Head of the Church, who is Christ. Only then is the Head honored and glorified in the way that is due to Him. He must be given His due, otherwise it is robbery, or at worst, a mockery. He must receive the reward of His Calvary sufferings.

And only then are the Churches a true, faithful, authentic and accurate,  witness of Jesus Christ to the world. (John 17:21-22).  ..And no longer bringing shame and dishonor to His name. Compare the fruit of man’s ways, with the fruit of God’s way! Where has traditional Christianity, old and modern, brought the western world to?  To the brink of a holocaust.

Teams

The team of elders must  feed, teach, care for, and correct when necessary, those whom God has made them accountable for, without ever usurping Christ’s authority and place in their lives. We only know leaders by their service to us and love for us. Shepherds feed and protect. Your elders are the men locally who feed you the Word of God. We don’t know them by any honorific title. We know them in spirit and truth, in reality.

Their work is not to lead meetings, or traditional services, but rather they are to be in the midst of the assemblies, as those who serve, as it was in the beginning. Natural fathers “minister” within their families. They don’t set up a platform in the living room and dictate from their perch. Likewise, elders must never contradict the nature of Jesus, and His Kingdom, by following the carnal leadership principles of the world, (top-down and heirarchy). They must never take the place of the Holy Spirit in leading the Assembly, (tradition and form usurps and quenches the Holy Spirit).

Frog in a pot

Only a remnant in the earth will obey Jesus’ and the Apostles words. Most of christendom is already in the process of being assimilated into the kingdom of antichrist, (2 Thess. 2:3-4).  Its all by stealth : the ..mystery of iniquity. Like a frog in a pot that gradually gets conditioned to its strange new dangerous surroundings so that when it starts to feel the heat its too late, for it no longer has the strength to escape.

Likewise, let the Word of God warn you now, lest you become conditioned and hardened in your heart, lest the sin you approve of today consumes you tomorrow. Do not sit under any elders who are not blameless in the sight of God and men, (1 Tim. 3). If they don’t obey Jesus’ words, then walk away if they won’t listen to the Word of God. Life is too short to waste it in carnal pursuits.

Many, who have vested personal career interests, and financial interests, in the Christian religion, and their own selfish egotistic agendas to pursue, will automatically dismiss writings such as these as being just an idealistic dream, or even as being dangerous or divisive, but to the regenerate and obedient disciples of Jesus, these things represent the Kingdom of God coming among us in power, for the Word of God declares it.

Will the Church be restored to as it was in the beginning?

I don’t think so. The hour on the prophetic clock is too late. The night is coming when no man can work, (John 9:4). One sister says, The last days will be a matter of survival, not revival.

Apostasy is already everywhere; however, in the context of such a bleak scenario, there is still reason to believe that there will be NT churches thriving to some extent when our Lord Jesus returns, having the same life, holiness and love for one another that the 1st Century church had.

The underground church

The underground church in China is thriving in spite of intense persecution and having to meet in secret. Its like an “endtime forerunner church” showing us the way its going to be. Jesus said that He ..will build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Hell has already invaded and possessed most of what people call “Church” and “Christianity” today, therefore such is not what Jesus is building, though, wherever the gospel is preached people are born again by the Word of God. This is the mercy of God and not the approval of God.

The invasion is in many places ever so subtle, yet it is the spirit of antichrist nevertheless, which denies Jesus by accepting other ways, and by accepting immorality and perversion. The spirit of antichrist promotes a “different Jesus” than Jesus of Nazareth. We are accountable for whatever we accept or condone.

What Jesus is building cannot fall, and will overcome, and then at the last trumpet will be taken out of the coming holocaust of God’s righteous judgment.

The way it’s supposed to be is the way Jesus’ builds: it is His wisdom. You can either be a part of the answer or a part of the problem. Are you committed to the way it’s supposed to be ?  Is the fellowship you are a part of the way it’s supposed to be?  If not, please pray and work for the way it’s supposed to be , and don’t settle for anything less than what Jesus requires and commands. He is worthy of the reward of His sufferings.

Accountability

I submit the writings on this website to the true Church worldwide for testing, as an equal brother amongst brothers, a sinner saved by grace: saved by Jesus.

Gifts are a stewardship for which we need to give an account of one day. I will invest whatever gifting the Lord Jesus has entrusted me with in His Church, and not bury it in the ground, or hide it.

If, when reading the material on this site, you believe we should work together in some way, then please email me. We covet your prayers.

Re: accountability – I’m very happy to supply some of the names and contact details of the brothers and sisters we are in fellowship with, to whoever sincerely requests it, if it well help further Christ’s Kingdom.

One good thing about the internet is that it helps to keep us accountable : as everything that we are saying and sharing is out there in the public domain to be scrutinized by anyone :  we are saying nothing in secret. Just as our LORD did. There is no hidden agenda. What you see is what you get!

Are these writings copyright?  Answer:  ..Give Unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.. (Matt 22:21)

In Jesus,

Ian Vincent.

February 5, 2006

Central India

I felt impressed to go and witness to this guy but I didn’t

:A brother in Australia writes:

Gidday Mate, Well I’m alive eh. The guy across the road is dead. He got stabbed to death tonight about 2 hours ago. Two weeks ago I felt impressed to go and witness to this guy but I reasoned it was just my stupid thoughts and what would he want to know about God. They were always fighting and boozing. Mate that was a mistake. The guy is now dead and I would say in Hell. I found myself looking at the body begging the Lord to raise him. I was sitting across the road hiding behind curtains asking God to please raise him so I could tell him. Now I know the Lord knew I wouldn’t but that does not make the journey any easier, oh that I would know His voice and know it clearly. Not even fifty yard across the street and I reasoned myself out of possibly this guy’s only chance at redemption?

Ian replied: This shook me up mate. What a hard lesson. Reminds us that our high-calling in Christ Jesus is not a game.

POST SCRIPT: This brother (Billy) found out later that it was someone else who was murdered, and not the guy he felt impressed to witness to. Praying that the guy in question will be saved.

I believed, therefore I have spoken…

Psalm 116:10a

The True and the corresponding Counterfeit

Here: http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/the-true-workings-of-god-and-counterfeits-of-satan/

Metaphor of the tight-rope walker

Had this picture yesterday of a tight-rope walker walking along the tight-rope with his balancing pole firmly in both hands. I saw the balancing pole he was grasping as representing “the whole counsel of God” – ALL the words of God. He had to keep both hands grasped onto this counsel and wisdom, and this “body of truth” had to be kept perfectly in balance. To go to one aspect of the truth, at the expense of the other, would cause him to lose balance and fall from a height.

Daily we hold the truth “in our 2 hands” – metaphorically, that is, we daily have to walk in, live in, equity with the whole counsel of God, and to be aware when we’re getting unbalanced in anything – whether it be our feelings, passions, thought life, speech… everything.

But I count myself as nothing; nor do I regard my life as valuable to myself, so that I may complete my course with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear solemn testimony to the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, now I know that you all, among whom I have passed through preaching the kingdom of God, will no longer see my face. Therefore I testify to you this very day, that I am innocent of all blood. For I did not draw back from declaring to you all the counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit placed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of the Lord, and of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

(Acts 20:24-28)

Sheeple

From: http://sheepleblog.net/page/About.aspx

The mission of SheepleBlog is to provoke mindless sheeple into becoming thinking people.

Wikipedia defines sheeple as:

Sheeple is a term of disparagement, a portmanteau created by combining the words “sheep” and “people.” It is often used to denote persons who acquiesce to authority, and thus undermine their own human individuality. The implication of sheeple is that as a collective, people believe whatever they are told, especially if told so by authority figures, without processing it to be sure that it is an accurate representation of the real world around them. The term is generally used in a political or religious sense.

…It shall be in the last days, and I will bring you against my land…

http://apostasywatch.com/audio/ezek38.mp3

Ezekiel 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:

16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Love the Body of Christ – the unknown quantity

Many of Jesus’ people are bringing a curse on themselves bcos they do not love the Body of Christ.

Specifically, they do not LOVE the Body of Christ, that is, they don’t really care about the Body. They are sectarian. They only really practically love those in their own sect. But Jesus commanded us to even love our enemies.

We don’t have to agree with the Body of Christ before we begin loving them. We don’t have to approve of that which Christ does not approve of in the Body in order to love them.

Not agreeing and not approving does NOT bring a curse; it’s not loving which brings a curse, for it’s sin and sin is a curse – it hardens the heart (Heb. 3:12-14).

We’ve been sold a lemon when we’ve believed that agreement and approval are synonymous with love, they’re not.

Yes, the extent and measure of the Body of Christ is known only to Christ:

Nevertheless the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those that are His,” and, “Let everyone naming the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.” 2 Tim 2:19

The Lord knows those that are His, but we don’t. To us, the Body of Christ is an unknown quantity bcos there is the MYSTERY BABYLON “christian” religion everywhere in the nations, which Jesus calls His own to “come out” of. Yet, those saints who are still in Babylon, who haven’t come out yet, are still members of Christ’s Body. Bcos of the existence of MYSTERY BABYLON, the Body of Christ is an unknown quantity to us, and not a clear cut equation.

And:

For just as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

(Rom 12:4-5)

For just as the body is one and has many parts, but all the parts of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free–and we were all given to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the parts, each one of them, in the body just as He desired. And if all parts were one part, where would be the body? But now indeed there are many parts, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” But to a greater degree the parts of the body which seem weaker are necessary. And the parts of the body which we consider to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater propriety. But our presentable parts have no need. But God united the body, giving greater honor to the part being inferior, lest there be divisions in the body, but the parts care the same for one another. And if one part suffers, all the parts suffer together; or if one part is honored, all the parts rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

(1Cor 12:12-27)

Oil for your soul

When I was in High School there was a kid of whom the teachers sometimes comically remarked, He’s a little highly-strung!

Like the strings on a guitar which have been tensioned too highly and therefore can snap at any moment, the Christian who is dry in their soul can be highly-strung and prone to “snapping”.

The anointing oil and healing balm of the Holy Spirit is “oil for our soul”, keeping us tender, supple and flexible, just as Jesus made us to be.

If and when we become dry in our souls, we become like a dry branch which snaps easily. We become highly-strung, meaning there’s a tension in us – something unresolved that’s pulling on our insides.

On the other hand, the green branch is flexible, it doesn’t snap under pressure, but it bends and springs back to where it was. The green branch is willing to yield, and yet, in the yielding, loses no integrity.

Abide in Jesus and bear much fruit.

He is God

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in sunder; he burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psalm 46

A square peg trying to fit into a round hole

If you’re conformed to Christ, you will never be conformed to this world, or the worldly church. You will always be a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.

The thing is to not try and “fit in”, just be who Jesus has made you to be, and is making you to be, and that’s a free-man or woman, who confidently represents Jesus Christ anywhere and everywhere they go.

The disciple of Jesus Christ will never “fit in” with MYSTERY BABYLON. For a season they will be perplexed and confused, and say, What’s wrong with me that I never seem to fit in or belong? Sometimes it takes many years for the truth to be solidified enough in us so that we understand WHY we don’t fit in, and that it’s good we don’t fit in.

Don’t intellectually offend ignorant people

Andrew said: One of the things that Toronto always used to say was that God is in the business of offending our mind to reach our heart. In other words, He’s gonna be deliberately offensive and bring up all kinds of totally weird and whacked out things to deliberately offend us so that we will take on board this kind of spirit.

If then the whole church comes together at the same place, and all speak in tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an unlearned person comes in, he is reproved by all, he is discerned by all. And so the secrets of his heart become clear; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God, reporting that God is truly among you!

(1Cor 14:23-25)

David said, in relation to these verses: What was the Lord saying through Paul? Don’t intellectually offend ignorant or unlearned people who come in, because you’re not doing the work of God if you do that.

From:

http://www.unleavenedbreadministries.org/sabs/051408.mp3

God is saying here in these scriptures that unbelievers should not, when they assess the behavior of Christians, come to the conclusion that we are mad. We are not to present anything to them which insults their intelligence (the offense of the Cross is enough offense).

They refreshed my spirit and yours

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. I urge you, brothers (you know the household of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints) that you also subject yourselves to such people and to everyone who works and labors with us. I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, for what was lacking on your part they have supplied. For they refreshed my spirit and yours. Therefore give recognition to such men.

(1Cor 16:13-18)

Peter Wagner’s bad leaven is rising

The following is from C Peter Wagner’s website from about one month ago.

“We have just returned from “opening the West Gate” in Seattle. Oh my! These “Opening the Gate” gatherings are just incredible. Different regions in our nation have different anointings and callings.”

“We at Global Harvest Ministries felt it was strategic to gather in the Northeastern area of our nation to cry out for the gates of Heaven and Earth to align.”

“Knowing this will help unlock the ancient sounds and paths in this nation that will produce wealth and dominion for the future generations…”

“….. we would like to invite you to join us in Dearborn, Michigan for what we are calling Opening the Gate of Change to the Nations. Dearborn has the largest population of Muslims outside of the Middle East. Therefore, we will be there to pray and prophesy to the nations!

This is a year to open the gates. Most of us think that the gate is a physical place that will appear in front of you.”

“However, the first gate we must go through is Heaven’s Gate! This is where we enter boldly into the Throne Room and receive super-abounding grace so we can leap through the place of the “new” in the earth!”

“Consequently, on July 24-26, we will be convening a gathering in Dearborn to open the gate of change to realign the nations.”

“Understand the Wealth and Power Wars that are occurring in the earth as NATIONS Realign!”

“While we are together, we want to unlock the winds from the North. Biblically, the north wind is an awakening wind.”

Unquote.

The bad leaven is rising in Wagner, which is good, as anyone who was double-minded previously as to whether his ministry is of God certainly now would be convinced by this WACKO writing that he is very off. The bad leaven has risen and the error is obvious, not hidden.

Leaven (yeast) begins in a small quantity but multiplies rapidly. A little leaven leavens the whole lump (Gal 5:9).

The good leaven in the saints means they get better and better over time, they become progressively more conformed to Christ, in Spirit and the Truth of His Word.

The bad leaven in the disqualified means they progressively get worse and worse, their life and teachings just get nuttier and more “out there” as they get older, and their folly is exposed.

This HAS to happen, …for there must also be sects among you, in order that those who are approved may become recognized among you. (1Cor 11:19).