Tag: Elijah

“Night Watcher” #3 / Jonah

Path Without End

75364021-1200px Who can tell me what the very last word in the Old Testament is? Who can tell me the last word God spoke before hundreds of years of silence? It is the word “curse”.

It’s Sunday morning and I’m in my quiet place watching and listening. I like to always write something on Sundays, and what am I hearing? There are many idols set in the high places that God’s people have forsaken. How have we forsaken them? Why do we bow to these idols? Where are the Elijah’s?

God spoke of a return of a type of Elijah, a type of John the Baptist, and a return of the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers. And then He threatened/ warned, if this did not happen…well… the exact words are: “lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Book of Revelation begins?)

We are at such a point again. The church, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has kept Antichrist at bay for many centuries, but scripture plainly says the return of the Lord will be after the Antichrist is revealed, and a great falling away of people. If the church is no longer anointed/ powerful enough to hold back the coming of the Antichrist and his revelation, then all the curses of the book of Revelation cannot be far behind. This is what is at stake. The stakes are high!

If America is not living in a perfect storm/ CURSE right now, then I don’t know what it is. We now see the Postal Services being added to the mix. They were on course to lose 11 billion dollars! So Trump appoints a man to “fix” it. But how do we know this is not his way of sabotaging mail-in voting? The honest answer is, you can’t! But is there a real problem with the Postal Service and also mail-in fraud? Yes there is! Again, a perfect storm! And each side wants control of that pawn! Are we reduced to pawns rather than prayer? If our prayers have no power, then yes!

Is this perfect storm/ CURSE actually caused by the worldliness of our modern day church? As Eli and his wicked sons lost the Ark of the Covenant  and brought about a King Saul; and as Jonah the prophet of God running from his assignment, are we in a God-given curse such as Elijah brought upon his day by praying for drought, famine, death, and CURSE? Elijah obeyed God in praying for a curse! Is that the prayer God is answering today?

Is it possible that there are times when a CURSE is the only FIX? And if so, get ready church, because until King Saul is finally overthrown, the Davids of this world must walk in wisdom as they continue bringing the next great move of God. Of which, David was Israel’s greatest moment in history! But before all that he was an outcast and criminal, surviving in caves! Ever feel that way?

Prior to that greatness, in the days of the Prophet Samuel there had been major problems in the House of God, by way of the priesthood of Eli and his sons. Lets just say they had become very worldly. This spiritual condition in the Temple contributed to the people demanding a “king”. God told Samuel to give the people what they wanted and they got “King Saul”, and he was impressive to look at, but as time went by some major flaws were revealed, such as great pride.

His personal pride was so so strong that he would give into people in order to make them happy and himself look good, but he disobeyed God. His pride was also so strong, he tried to murder David! He realized he had lost God’s anointing and now David had it. Saul was tormented of demons, and sought to kill the next move of God. Will we be guilty of such a thing?

On the ship that day with Jonah, the pagans were doing everything they knew to survive that storm, but nothing was working, and the ship was going down. I see our country even now, doing everything it can think of to stop this storm, but the words “peace be still” are not working. There is an evil in all the high places of our land, and it seeks to set on fire the course of nature until the foundations of our country all burn down and new foundations can be set. And in this fire, even as the Prophet Samuel was powerful in the midst of his time, and a shepherd boy named David was rising, there is a new wine and a new wine skin forming!

Which comes first, the wine, or the wine skin? I would say the wine! Why is there a need for the wine skin until the new wine? David was being anointed long before he actually gained his platform. But we are in this time, church. Whether we believe Microchurches are the answer, the new wine skin, or simply getting back to early church ways, which I believe Microchurches are a part of.

If Trump is reelected and brings prosperity back to our country, how will the modern church change? Will they not seek prosperity and blessing even more? Will the hate against a hypocrite church professing to follow Jesus, who forsook wealth and materialism, will not that hate continue growing until they will rise up and throw the church overboard? In this perfect storm, the curse either comes on the church now, or a greater hate/curse later. Jonah is on course to find his whale’s belly. And in the midst of all that, I believe David will come forth, and there will be many battles to be fought for the city Jerusalem to rise with the power of the Ark again.

“The night watchmen found me as they made their rounds. They beat and bruised me and stripped off my veil, those watchmen on the walls.” (S. of S. 5:7)

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“Of Doves & Demons” #2 / Microchurch.

Path Without End

 

 If they can silence us, we lose.

“But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.” (John 7:13)

Courage/ Fear/ Leaders. I see 3 main elements in that scripture, and we have the same 3 today. I see a scripture saying there was a “lack” of courage, an “abundance” of fear, and a group of “evil” leaders. Human nature never changes, therefore, history always repeats. But where is wisdom in this? It is strangely missing.

I keep hearing a phrase today: “Good Trouble”. Has anyone written up the boundary lines of just exactly what that is? When someone puts a Pro-Trump sticker on their bumper and then their car is mysteriously beaten with a baseball bat, or keyed, is that good trouble? When a simple man stands outside his own store and preaches Jesus, but he is suddenly shot dead, is that good trouble? When stores are “looted” by protesters/ rioters, is that called good trouble? It use to be called “criminal”! When buildings are set fire it use to be called “arson”. But now it’s good trouble? When media constantly twist the truth, in other words, they lie. Is that the new good? When churches are set fire, statues violently torn down, people cursed out and threatened, guns pulled on people setting in their car, or risking a nation’s election for the sake of your personal gain, is that good trouble?

Followers of Christ, it is not wrong to be afraid because the threat is very real, but we must not be silent! Silence crucified our Lord!

The evil leaders used lies, money, and threats to stir up an illusion of HATE, because people of dishonor can be manipulated. Hate then causes fear because the “HATERS” will attack you, whether by word/tongue, or even physically attack you or your possessions. The threat is very real, and the fear too, but what of courage? Please allow me to point out, we are not called to courage alone… but to courage & wisdom!

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.” (Matt. 10:16)

In warfare it is well said, “Know thy enemy”. The snake is our enemy. Do you know how to stop a snake? Be the eagle! They that wait upon the Lord! The Anointing!

Here’s some spiritual wisdom. It is very foolish to have departed from the ways of our Lord. Somehow, while asking the question: What Would Jesus Do?”, we forgot to ask “What DID Jesus do?” Our modern church system is not what Jesus, nor the Apostles, nor the early church fathers DID, and we have lost the Anointing. Lets get it back! If not in mass, then in micro! If not as a whole, then as a person! As in personally! It can start with you and I.

I believe Jesus is taking his church back to the beginning, back to Pre-Constantine time, and that is why the gates of hell will not prevail against her! And in the book of Acts you see the very large church of Jerusalem being shaken like a salt shaker and people going forth! Going forth to saturate the land! Fill the communities! And become HARD TO TARGET!

Eagles are hard for snakes to target. Eagles live in the high places, not the low. Eagles have the advantage of the high ground, even unto the sky. They swoop down from above and then disappear. They live in pairs, and raise their children to also be eagles. They work as a team.

Elijah was an eagle. The Bible says Elijah will show up again, in the last days. He was hard to target! He would sweep in, declare a thing, or do a thing, and disappear! He was a man just like us, but also a man of great prayer, and he was Anointed! He had a mantle, a covering from God! We must be of great prayer too!

The snake uses silence to attack their enemy with that forked tongue. The snake creeps up on its prey by way of silence, flipping that forked tongue all the way, smelling its way along. Once they are close enough, then comes the fangs and poison. They know that words truly are mightier than any man-made sword or gun or bomb. They must frighten us into silence in order to win. It is basic snake strategy. The scriptures show they did it to Jesus. The enemy does not change his tactics because he knows this works! We see it all over the world, evil leaders using fear to maintain their power, or gain power. They sensor the airwaves. They control speech. No freedom of speech. SILENT! Or else.

The Jerusalem church was very easy to target. That church was God’s launching pad for his Gospel rocket, but was never meant to be the plan once space was achieved. It was a launching pad of great power and force to go forth and saturate the earth, but it also took persecution to get the people to see God’s big picture. Have we lost sight of the big picture? It is human nature. So God shook the shaker sending them forth, and they were not silent!

Jesus kept it simple and real. Why have we turned church into a “building” and a repeating “program”? But if we learn from the wolves we as sheep have been sent into, we would know that a wolf pack is small enough to be hard to target, and yet big enough to still be deadly in its effect.

I truly believe Micro church is the new wine and new wine skin. The persecution is coming and it’s just a matter of time. The sooner each of us get back to doing what Jesus actually DID, the better off we will be. The sooner each of us get back to simply “following Jesus”, the better off each of us will be. For we will receive a wisdom of how to be truly effective in our day.

Elisha had asked for a double-portion of the Anointing. Elijah said he had asked for a hard thing, but when Elisha took up Elijah’s mantle, he shouted, Where is the God of Elijah? And God answered!

Jesus said, “Follow Me.”

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“Of Doves & Demons” #1

Path Without End

 “…and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” (Isa. 10:27b)

How do you win a battle of Love verses Hate, words verses guns, or doves verses demons? It cannot be done through the flesh. This brings us back to where we need to be, people of God. Our carnal ways will be our demise. We must relearn what we have forgotten. We must get back to where Jesus started us. BACK TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, and something called the ANOINTING!

In this world bullets are feared, and rightly so; but in the bigger world, the world this little world was birthed from, the Anointing is feared most of all, because of the Anointed One, whose name is the name above all names…Jesus!

But some tried to use the name of Jesus, and the demons said…Peter and Paul we know, but who are you! (Then proceeded to beat them!) There must be the Anointing. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof will fail. Have we forgotten His way?

Here’s our situation… as followers of Christ we are called to Love in a world that Hates, and especially hates us! How do we survive? How can we win? It’s Mission Impossible!

UNLESS… there is a God in heaven who will once again grant his power on us as he did Samson back in the day! But who of us are ready to pay the price of the anointing? Who of us are so hungry for more of God that He is all we can think about, and we seek Him as in the Song of Songs?

The HATE is evident to see, that is the problem, but now we need the solution to the problem. This new series “Of Doves & Demons” I am hoping will run for awhile. I think God has much to say and we have much to relearn. We have much to regain of what we have lost, as David bringing the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem.

In just this past month, our little Fellowship that we like to call: “CHURCH EVERYWHERE”, has seen 2 unexplainable powerful touches of God upon a few people. I have longed for such things but never seen it before on this level! This is new for me! It was literally the power of a sovereign God touching hearts in a way beyond us! I honestly believe it was supernatural in nature, and the only thing different I have done is seek God specifically for His “Anointing”.

I have studied and sought. I am still studying and seeking and I must begin sharing thoughts as God inspires.

It is easy to see the strategy of the enemy> HATE. Steal, kill, and destroy! He’s actually not very creative. Powerful people are using their tongues to set on fire the course of nature. It is set on fire of hell! But they have a strange fire, God’s Word speaks of it, and we have a holy fire. Yes, the Church must get back to fighting strange fire with holy fire! This is the Anointing, and it is the supernatural power of God.

There is so much to say on this. It comes at a cost, priest of the Most-High God. Are we ready to perform the sacrifices we are called to perform? If we are, then just like Elijah, there will be fire from heaven! And the priest of Baal will fall!

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“What I want in a Micro/Simple Church” #3

Path Without End

9021 I have taken a pause before continuing this subject. A Fellowship member actually asked me if there was a reason that I had not published in a few days? The simple answer is “Yes”.

I mentioned last article that I had downloaded 6 books related to this new move of God. I have been searching the oceans for the Sea Change. I have known it is out there. I have known its wave is coming. God told me so. I have wanted to be a part of it, and so much so that we left the traditional church 3 years ago to begin searching and implementing our own version of it as best we could. But that has not kept me from searching for someone who already has it going. Someone of a like-mind as to what I have heard from God. And I believe I have finally found one! And it’s already helped me form our next big step!

I have 2 books I’m reading like crazy trying to get it all in me, and I already know this blog site will soon be reflecting our revelation in a greater way. One is a book entirely on “Elijah”, by A. W. Pink. It has been so excellent so far. But the other book is actually about a different form of doing church right here in the United States, and it has been already functioning and tested for ten years! I’ve read 50% of the book and highly recommend it! I have great expectations for the next 50%, too! I actually had to force myself to write this today, so as to be faithful to such readers as there may be. So I will end this article with what I look for in a Micro Church leader, but first I want to tell you a little about this book.

“UNDERGROUND CHURCH”, by Brian Sanders. I’m not going to try and explain much about their ministry, at least not yet, his book is so worthy of reading for yourself. They are located in Tampa Bay Florida area. At the time of the book writing, they had a little over 200 Micro Churches doing all kinds of different ministries in the name of Jesus! They are very “MISSION” oriented. And as I read the book, not even half way through at the time, maybe there is an anointing on this book, but I suddenly was literally led by God into an “encounter” that has shown me the outreach/mission ministry our small Micro Church needs to start! I have been praying for this for months! Suddenly, BREAK-THROUGH!

This micro group outreach and community “inreach” will also provide many exciting and interesting stories for future writings. I’m looking so forward to it! I’m hoping we can launch no later than October. All I feel free to say at this point is, it involves rescued dogs! So if you love dogs, you can expect our future here to involve stories and dog pictures of rescued dogs that will be used to rescue people in need! That is the dream. I believe God has given me the structure for how this would work. I can hardly wait to launch this, but first there are preparations to make, and we are on it!

So now… I must curb my enthusiasm just a little bit, so I can write a little on what I’m looking for in Micro Church Leadership. Here’s a few quick thoughts, the man I’m looking for, and the man I want to be myself, must be honest, true, kind, peaceful, and a love for simplicity. He is very naturally simple and deep, and not what we see so much of today, not complex and shallow. Oh! and no money seeker! No lover of money! Living high on the world’s hog! God will provide! Let your moderation be known!

Of course he must be “called” of God, and because he is open and available, it is easy to examine his life and see if he is or not. He loves the pure Word of God. He teaches exactly what is written, and the whole Word of God, not just his favorite parts. He is not afraid to be open-minded and have respectful conversations with all peoples, but he has an ability to share what God hath said without disrespecting sincere people. His words are graced with God’s love. The sword of the Lord must always be carried in a sheath of love.

He understands holiness without being judgmental. He has enthusiasm! A fire in his belly! A youthfulness and energy! He believes in pursuing God dreams! And as Brian Sanders put it in his book, his head is in the clouds, but his feet are in the fire! Yes!!!

There is much I could say here, of course, but the main thing is it is obvious to one and all God has called this person to a God-given assignment, now what is that assignment? Let’s figure it out and make it happen! For God’s glory!

Of course God’s Word gives us a description of qualifications. 2nd Timothy is excellent on this. It speaks of in a great house there are vessels of gold and silver, vessels of honor, and vessels not so honorable. The whole book is great on this subject. It speaks of the last days and how many will no longer desire the true Word of God. And 1st Timothy has a very detailed description of Eldership/Bishop qualifications in chapter 3.

I was going to say more on this subject, but it really is so basic and simple. It’s a matter of really knowing each other and promoting each of us into our obvious callings of God. I’m going to leave this subject at that and also repeat again, both 1st and 2nd Timothy are excellent of this.

Now just before I end, as I have been also reading the book on Elijah, one thing I have found myself pondering is how Elijah was actually praying for a severe drought! He was praying for poverty and hunger! The man of God, called of God, was praying for God’s hand of blessing to lift from the people of God! And he knew what he was praying would bring hardship and suffering on one and all, including himself!

He was praying for suffering, lack, hunger, poverty, judgment, hardship, even death on God’s people! Are we to seek the curses? Do you do that? Are we in such a time today? Can you picture praying for such a thing to come on yourself and all around you? This is certainly not what you hear megachurches teaching. Are the days of Elijah coming again? Dare we pray for such things? Are we selfless enough to do what’s best no matter the cost? Has someone already been praying it? Has it already begun happening? Have you ever seen such a time? And it is only beginning!

We will end here for now, with much still to think about, as I continue being excited about our future. Our micro group has always been dog-friendly from the very beginning, and now it appears we may be going to be even more so. Maybe God was giving us a sign! Praise God! Seek and save that which is lost!

Teepee Blip #5

Path Without End

20200612_214259 Have you trained yourself to know His voice? Elijah was not moved by the powerful forces of nature. Not a tornado, or earthquake, or fire. He heard no voice of God in them. However, after that, in the silence, he heard God’s whisper!

Elijah had been on foot for 40 days, alone, and finally into a cave. Elijah knew solitude. Scripture says John the Baptist was of the spirit and power of Elijah. John lived in the deserts until his time of revealing, and then he confronted the backslidden Israel, and a wicked king, just as Elijah did.

In the solitude, in the deprivation of various kinds of deserts, in a discomfort zone, in that quiet we learn to hear God’s whispers. Who are those God can whisper to today? Who volunteers? In the rush, in all the noise, yelling, and strife of today, in all our busyness, who is waiting upon the Lord so as to hear the whispers we so badly need?

Elijah was like Isaiah 40:31. No one could find him! No one could catch him! And in the end he mounted up with the wings of an eagle! They that wait upon the Lord… 

But God asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (Hiding in the cave.)

Jezebel, a high priestess of Baal, had promised to kill him. Because he had been very zealous, very zealous for God, like Jesus, like John the Baptist, like Gideon; but God had other plans, and God sent him out to anoint…anoint…anoint! 3 times! A big dipper! And those anointings were the undoings of Ahab and Jezebel. Because he was a man able to hear God’s whispers.

Baal fills our pulpits today. Jezebel fills our platforms and pews. God’s people cozy with Baal. May the days of Elijah come again! A Gideon anointing to contend against Baal! Jerubbaal! (Judges 6:32) If there is no Jerubbaals, then the tornadoes, the earthquakes, the fires will surely come!

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