“For what it’s worth”

I’m taking time to write these words as an attempt to somewhat fill an obligation. God has so moved in my “Gotham Quest”, and he has so answered prayers and opened doors, that my time spent on this blogsite simply no longer compares. Alas, so few comments, so little affect really being done compared to the “Gotham Vision” God gave me. This blogsite has simply become an interruption to what I need to be doing, but I do need to tie up a few loose ends so as not to leave everyone completely hanging. So for those 2-3 people who are really reading this blog, I will try to answer questions. I’ll try to answer what I can think of now, and then if you have other questions, I” try to respond.

1.) First of all, as I went downtown that night to work out on the steps of our War Monument, (91 steps), I really did encounter a young man just out of college, and he was pacing back and forth looking at his hand and then back to the sky. It was nighttime, but the monument also has lights. It was an eerie set-up in the night with city lights, tall buildings about us, and stars in the sky if you could see them. I had planned to elaborate on the whole experience had I wrote the details of this story, but even now I have a neighbor waiting on me to take a chainsaw and help cut limbs from his damaged trees. (We had a bad storm.) God has used the storms, dogs, and various things to open ministry in my own neighborhood. OOPs, now I’ mixing two questions.

Anyway, God opened a door for me to speak to the young man pacing, and it turned out he was practicing a speech. He wanted to become a motivational speaker and he had his first event, a class of graduating high schoolers, he was speaking to the next day. We talked for a good twenty minutes about God, vision, Bible, and motivation. I prayed with him before I left, and yes, it was also a very good workout. But ever since I embraced the “Gotham Vision” and watered it in prayer and action, God has been opening doors. I’ve had at least 3 encounters on that War Memorial.

2.) The vision has become one of “Neighborhoods”, my own, and others. God showed me a different way to do “Home Groups”, small groups, life groups, or whatever you want to call them. First of all, you need to find that special person in a neighborhood who is willing to be “Priestlike” to those around him. In other words, “Do What Jesus Would Do”. Once you find one of these rare individuals, you impart vision and begin a small Bible study/prayer group in their home, but here is the difference…YOU DO NOT INVITE ANYONE FROM YOUR CHURCH TO YOUR GROUP, UNLESS THEY LIVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD!

The key is that you only reach out to those in your neighborhood, they become your main ministry, and you look to find others willing to do the same thing. This is why I’m about to take my chainsaw and spend my Saturday morning getting to know my neighbor who I barely know. Before this day is over, we will be “connected”, and then he will let me speak to him about Jesus, eternity, Bible, faith, God, church, little by little it will come. There must be relationship, and the phrase, “Hi, I’m your neighbor”, still works in America.

3.) I’m also back to working on writing a book. My first book, “The Last Christmas of Jonah Joe”, continues to touch people’s lives and is now in a few church libraries, but God has me writing another story called “God’s Bounty Hunters”. I’m loving it, but it requires time, and I could be writing those words right now, rather than these that I can only access that 2-3 people might read. It just doesn’t compare. Last week, in another neighborhood where I have found a willing Bounty Hunter Priest, I had the privilege of sharing the Gospel message with a young man whose house caved in from the storm and now has temporarily moved into the house of our Priest. His girl friend has moved in too. So, because I am in this neighborhood, not in the church box, but in this neighborhood, I now have three I am sharing God’s word with, and we have only been there one month. It started with “the One”.

4.) The vision is to: “Go forth…in weakness.” Paul said, when I am weak, then am I strong. It is a paradox. That is why we don’t understand it and fail to do it. God makes it work because it is his way and not ours. He sent the seventy “forth” in “weakness”, as lambs amidst wolves. I don’t have time to completely get into this because I am busy living it. I am not just a crusader for Christ, but I am a “Caped” crusader, because as I recognize my weakness, but still obey and go forth in faith, God Covers me. That “Covering” is an anointing that all the great witnesses of God has known. It is the power to be a witness. It is becoming the Priest we are called to be, going forth to save our city, one person, and one neighborhood at a time. The Ripple Effect. I have written about this. There is much written on this site if there are those who are curious.

5.) Batman said, “Gotham needs me.” Jesus says the same about your neighborhood and city, but we must be “Caped” if God is to use us. PRAYER is key to our priesthood. My house shall be known as a house of prayer, Jesus said. Then we go forth not in our strength, but in our weakness. We do not resist God, but we are weak towards him. We are weak towards our God so we can be strong in our God. I embraced this Batman metaphor, this Gotham vision, and now my life is full of adventure and passion as I see the enemy being exposed and pushed back around me. It is a heroic lifestyle for those who understand the true heart of God. This vision has been a tremendous spiritual blessing in my life.

6.) I may try to report in here once in a while when I get the chance, but for me, the action is out in the streets. People are dying out there. Jesus came to be with the sick. He leaves the 99 to go to the one. If you’re one of the 99 and you don’t feel God like you use to? He’s probably waiting for you to leave the 99, of which you are one, and help him reach another ONE. In a sense, his strong presence has left you to find the ONE, because you are now part of the 99, but he invites you to join him in that great adventure to save your city.

I’m not even going to check this article for mistakes, it is what it is. I’m anxious to get out there. For the 2-3 faithful readers I have had, thank-you so much for your encouragement. If you have a blogsite reaching and affecting people, keep doing it, but for me, I seem to be more effective “out there”. I am still writing, but it looks like “book form” has become my goal. I love the things God has done with “Jonah Joe”. I give them out as God leads me and the feedback has been awesome. Be blessed everyone, and love your neighbor as yourself. I’ll drop a line from time to time if God leads me to do so.

“Is God’s Word True?”

God said never let the fire go out! Let us be “Keepers of the Flame”.

What does it mean to be a “Caped” crusader for God?

That “Covering”, that Cape is so important!

As faithful Priest, let us never leave home without it!

OUR STORY CONTINUES BELOW.

 

“Do You have Your Gotham?” > Chapter Nineteen

THE ENCOUNTER III > If Indianapolis is my Gotham, then the events of RFRA, and the LGBT community is to big to be ignored. (This account began last chapter.) It is not normal for Indianapolis to be national news except in race events, or perhaps football. So if I am to be honest in my accounting of taking the spiritual welfare of my city, and my own neighborhood as a very personal matter, then my silence during this time would be deafening and render my honesty as suspect. I’m not worried about my reputation, only God’s testimony through me. I’m use to being a nobody. Whether I succeed in my mission for God, or fail miserably, I want this Gotham series to be a true account of what can happen when you truly say, “Here am I, Lord. Send me.”

If you read this chapter and love it, chapter one begins in archives dated Dec. 7, 2014.

BEGIN CHAPTER NINETEEN

Don had listened to the news reports all day long. His city, his Gotham, the city that he loved was being pounded from every direction. Politicians were reeling and scrambling to hold special sessions and try to fix the bill that nothing was wrong with, but mass delusion was upon the nation and Indianapolis was the target. Businesses were threatening to pull out, conferences were threatening to cancel and Satan’s favorite weapon, MONEY, “appeared” to be draining from this city like blood from a wounded and dying man.

As the days slowly passed, it was revealed what our leaders were truly made of. The Mayor, the Governor, even the Church, all was revealed. Yes, this city is vulnerable, very vulnerable. It can be taken. It is being taken.

Don was home in his sanctuary, praying and pondering these things. A firestorm was raging in his city, but there was no wisdom. A book on a shelf caught his eye, “Day of War”, by Cliff Graham. He pulled it from the shelf and thought back to the day he first read this book and began to get a revelation about the “Covering” of God, and becoming a true Priest, a Caped Crusader. Opening a few pages, he rereads the scriptures:

“Oh Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.”  (Psalms 140:7 ESV)

“I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people. I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.”  (Psalms 89:19-20 NIV)

What is this thing of taking God’s business very seriously? This is God’s city, not man’s, and though man may think he is running the show, man is really such a weak little thing, in need of a great God, and after man has made all his loud boasts and flaunted his darkness in broad daylight…he still answers to God. There is one throne, and one God who sets upon it.

“This is where you planted me, Lord. To be a light and do your will. None of this is a surprise to you. The battle between light and darkness, love and hate, godliness and unrighteousness. It never ends upon this planet and your people stand in the gap between heaven and hell proclaiming your word. Let man make his boasts and flaunt his darkness, but in the end your word, and your people, still stands.”

“It is a dark night, Lord, and a greater darkness cometh, gross darkness upon the minds of the people, but what does it mean to be a dark knight in dark times? Leaving the Church box and invading the night? Willing to be a light shining, invading, going into the darkness in the power of God’s secret things, the power of Priesthood, a revelation ready to go forth, and when it does your army will rise in greater numbers than man has imagined, and more power than any man can possess. For it is not the man, but it is God flowing through the man. We are called to be vessels that carry your Presence and speak your truth in love and grace, but also a warning of judgment.”

Don thought back to his childhood days in the country, alone with God, and a love for comic books. Batman was one of his favorites. Gotham was always being invaded by some new evil, but Batman was there, paying the price to stand in the gap and save a city. In these days we now live, it is much more than homosexuality we face, but there is the murder of babies, sex without responsibility, rampant pornography, alcoholism, drug addiction, and possibly a generation rising who is “fearless”. Fearless to do whatever good, or evil, they see befitting. Will the Church be a strong tower to run to in this time? Or a bunch of people just hiding? Will you come out into the darkness, oh man of God?

I can hear the Joker laughing his insane laugh. The Riddler has cast his best riddles for you to solve. Catwoman is seducing whomever she may. Two-Face is spinning his lies and flipping his coin. Mr. Freeze would freeze you in fear and keep you hiding in your nice little Church box. BUT THERE IS A COVERING FOR THOSE WHO DARE TO ENTER A SUPERNATURAL SURRENDER, AND LET GOD BE GOD THROUGH THEM. God is always looking for the few, the Gideon’s army, who will break their vessel so God’s light can shine, and the enemy destroys each other. They are good at that, you know. So full of hate and confusion, serving the one who destroys, they usually destroy each other, but we are here to save them from that destruction.

Don laid the book, “Day of War” on the coffee table, grabbed his keys and headed for the door. It would be dark by the time he got downtown, but there was a place that had become a focal point for him, and God was drawing him there. A certain War Memorial with 91 steps leading to a pair of golden doors, with words that said, Spirit, Life, Light, and Truth. He loved to workout on those steps and also pray for the city on the walkway that looped around it. He would run up the 91 steps and then pray as he did the loop. He could always see the Circle Monument rising up into the skyline just a few blocks southward, and it would cause him to pray even more. He needed a spiritual and physical workout right now. There were some demons he needed to exercise as he climbed into the Silver Bullet and started shifting gears towards downtown. Little did he know he would encounter a Motivational Speaker that night, practicing his speech. (But that must wait for next chapter, coming soon.)

“Do You have Your Gotham?” > Chapter Eighteen

The Encounter III > What is God’s covering? What does it mean to be anointed and become a caped crusader, standing against the evil of our day? What is the calling of a Priest, and to be more than just a good person? Perhaps you say, “But I’m not a Priest, I’m just saved.” Just saved? Oh but you are, my friend. You are a Priest. If you are saved, then you have been elevated into a supernatural royal Priesthood. The question is, when will you realize the value of what you have received in Christ?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Don pondered the events of the past few days, his city, his Gotham, under spiritual attack on a magnitude beyond all expectations. It literally seemed that all hell was breaking loose on an unsuspecting people, and not a thing could be done about it, or so it seemed. Nothing our current leaders have any knowledge of doing, at any rate.

It had begun in the dark corridors of politics. Indianapolis saw a need to pass the RFRA (Religious Freedom Reformation Act), like several other states had already done. No big deal, right? WRONG! The whole thing blew up nation wide, and his city was now daily national news! But why? What was special about Indianapolis? Why Indianapolis and not the others?

It was a fire storm to the nth degree. As he worked his daily job, slowly driving through the parking lot in his silver Honda Civic, he called the “Silver Bullet”, not as in a beer, but going back to the Lone Ranger, a man who had to put on a mask and cover his face, live like an outlaw in order to fight the evil of his day, as he slowly cruised through, keeping an eye on the safety of those vehicles, he listened to every word, every lie, and every defeat coming over the airwaves.

More than one Christian had already been driven out of business by the homosexual agenda, simply because it was a violation of their faith to be involved in such a wedding. “Is there not a cause?” David had declared to his brothers and Israel’s army. So Christians are undeserving of any kind of legal protection as their faith comes under attack? Can the average person afford to fight a legal battle in our expensive courts? Do I have freedom of religion in America, as long as it harms no one else? Can a Christian speak of what that Book says, in America, without being financially ruined? Is that freedom? The free exchange of beliefs and ideas? Are not Pastors paid to speak every word of the Bible? Is that not their expertise? Has their very job become a fast ticket to jail, in America, land of the free? How far we have slid! And the pace is quickening!

Why Indianapolis? Could it be they see us as vulnerable? The next target on their list? As the idol god of MONEY began to threaten our city, I watched our governor fold like a house of cards, and a city go into panic. It was shameful, completely embarrassing, a black mark on this city. Yes, I do believe we are vulnerable, and the evidence is plain to see. RFRA had to be fixed, even though there was nothing wrong with it, fixed so we do not lose MONEY, who cares about the Christians, our MONEY is at stake here.

Don tried to find any source of logic in what he was watching unfold. Mass delusion was upon the people, logic and reason meant nothing. It did not matter what was true, only the perception, only the smoke and mirrors, only the lies, only the MONEY! And what does this reveal about the hearts of those promoting the lies? It must be a very dark place in which they live, but God’s anointed ones live in light, and we are a threat to their darkness, so we must be silenced in any way they can. You are a threat, Priest of God. You are covered and caped in something they don’t understand, but they are the haters, for they hate the light.

I do not believe in stealing. Do you? I do not believe in lying. Do you? So, if because of my faith, I do not believe in what a thief will do, does that mean I “hate” thieves? Or that I “hate” those who lie? I may not like what they do, and I may be against what they do, but that does not mean I don’t care about them personally! And it certainly does not mean I hate them! Is this something “unbelievers” are incapable of? Certainly not, for how many rehabilitation systems do we have? We prove our capability of this every day! And yet, they say you can’t be against homosexuality without being a hater? Oh how darkness loves to make the street only run their way, but it does mean that I do not want to take part in what they do! Nor do I want to promote it! Do I, as a Christian, a follower of Christ, still have that right in America? Do you, as an unbeliever, have the right to hate stealing, without hating the thief? There is no difference here, but as it has been said, logic and reason cannot stand against mass delusion, and they are perfecting it. How close are they to perfecting psychological warfare?

I watched my Gotham grovel before the feet of the idol of MONEY. The darkness was so thick I could cut it with a knife. They say 50% of hate crimes are committed by people 25 years of age or younger, as in the recent killing of nine African American Christians in a Church in South Carolina. Do you know what that means? The hand writing is on the wall but the professionals of our time fail to see, the blind leading the blind. This shows our future harvest! We have sowed these seeds and a very dark harvest is coming! Is homosexuality only 2% of our society? Check your schools and see what is coming! Yes, there is a great need for God’s caped crusaders.

Don found himself praying as he cruised in the Silver Bullet, and a scripture filled his thoughts:

“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” (Isa. 60:2)

(Dear Lord, as I have taken it upon myself to share these dangerous thoughts in a world rapidly changing, I pray for common sense once again to be alive and well in America. As the homosexual is free to believe what they choose, in the free exchange of ideas, I pray that so am I. Continued soon, I hope.)

“Embracing the Light”

“And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.”  (St. John 3:19 NLT)

If you are reading this article, chances are you are not one of those spoken of in the above verse, but you are one who embraces God’s light, and if Jesus stood before you right now, you would give him the biggest hug ever and not want to let go, because…in essence…that is what you are doing when you embrace the light…you’re embracing Jesus!

Now I’m going to take this message a very strange direction because I am likely writing to believers who want as much of God as possible, and I have seen an error in our Christian camp that bugs me. The error likely started as the result of the King James version being slightly off on a certain translation. This error certainly opened the door for those who would want to run with such an agenda.

In Revelation 1:6 and 5:10, it would seem that the word “kingdom” was mistranslated as the word “king”. Now you can search this out for yourself, but I’ve looked it over for a while, and the mistake seems to be evident. You may be thinking this is a small mistake. It perhaps could have been except for we seem to have developed an entire theology around being “Kings” in God’s kingdom instead of Priest! This false perception has done much damage to the body of Christ, and if you are a seeker of greater light, then you might want to hear my reasoning on this.

First of all, to add a little more evidence to the error, both the Old Testament in Exodus 19:6 and the N.T. in I Peter 2:5 & 9 speak of us as a kingdom of Priest, a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood. If Revelation 1:6 & 5:10 were translated as “kingdom” instead of kings, then it would be in perfect harmony with everything written before, but when it is translated as “kings”, there begins to be division. Also, both the NLT and the Amplified Bible have it as “kingdom”. But why is this so important, and how has it caused so much damage?

Instead of one long article, I’m going to do this in 2 or 3 short ones. So let me throw a few things out here quickly. The life of a Priest is very different than the life of a king. The desires of a king are very different than the desires of a priest. Whereas a king is set on the authority to move men, the priest is set on the mission of moving God! And let me ask you which is higher? How important is it for us to move God?

Now if the scripture really did say kings, then we would know there is a purpose for both and God has a way of working it out, but “kings” is a mistranslation and every action of Christ proves it to be! Even to the washing of his disciples feet! Yes Jesus is the ultimate king, but our mission here in earth at this time is that of priesthood! We are called to serve, not be served. We have Churches full of people trying to build their own castle and throne and to worn out to be faithful to serve others in the duty of their priesthood. This is light! This is more light if you want it. The vision of priesthood in Christ is more powerful than any king could ever be!

Kings desire to move the peoples, but Priest know the importance of moving God, without which nothing worth doing is done! The Church is called to move God… “If my people?” Only God can break down the walls of bondage and addiction and truly deliver a person.

A king is looking for his castle and throne. whereas the priest is looking for a cave to seek God, and then walk out of there clothed in God’s light! The king loves fancy royal robes but the priest yearns for holy robes. The king is not concerned if the fire goes out on the altar, whereas the priest knows we have been commanded of God to never let that fire go out! We have too many “would-be-kings” and not enough “Fire Keepers”!

Are you catching a glimpse of the damage this “King’s Kids” theology has done to the body of Christ? Can you imagine what might happen in God’s church and in the fields of the lost, if the average Christian suddenly loved to fast and pray? Yes, I did use the word “fast” in there. (A four letter word? Not to a priest!)

Please consider what the difference might be in the world today if God’s people were really “on fire” for God? You cannot serve God and money. A King seeks his gold, a priest seeks to become pure gold. Please consider what I have written here, until the next time.

“Favorite Bible Chapter”

This is like MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, but I had to try. There is so much more I could say on this chapter, but in an effort to be brief, I pray the Holy Spirit help you read between the lines. Take your time, and enjoy. Let the Holy Spirit reveal so much more than I have written. (And feel free to share your own if you have one.)

“My Favorite Chapter of the Bible”

I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE A FAVORITE CHAPTER OF THE BIBLE. I ALWAYS CONSIDERED THAT TO BE “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE”.

So I can’t explain what happened to me the other day when I was having my morning cup of Bible and I read this chapter and it was like, “Wow, I think this is my favorite chapter.”

I have memorized Psalms chapters 1, 23, 91, and 112 so I can quote and pray them on a regular basis, but my favorite chapter is none of them. I also love the chapters containing the Sermon on the Mount! (Matthew 5-7) But it’s none of them either. So imagine a drum roll if you will, as I reveal my favorite chapter to be: St. John 3. (And it is not because of 3:16, even though that is such an important verse, but it is the whole chapter! Even from the way it starts to the way it ends.)

Imagine this, a Pharisee, a sage, a religious leader, a mystic, a seeker of God and truth sneaking around in the dark of night to have a secret meeting with the nomadic rebel teacher, Jesus! In dark of night! This man is desperate for a private counsel with this mysterious man of God known as Jesus, but he doesn’t want his fellow religious leaders to know. He is risking his reputation, his status , everything, to ask this Prophet a few questions. He wants to see for himself! One on one! So he comes like a ninja in the night, hiding in shadows, looking over his shoulder as he hurries along to his secret meeting, and what does Jesus tell him?

“You must be born again.” (Whaaat?)

Can you imagine? Nicodemus is not your average Bible student, and he is not a fool. Most likely he is above average in intellect and very serious about this secret mission. He has seen some of the miracles and he knows this Jesus must be sent from God, but his answers seem to come from another world! He confuses everyone with riddles and parables. Whaaat?

Jesus begins going deeper with the riddle. But can Nicodemus follow him deeper? You must be born of water and the Holy Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

I can imagine that Nico’s head is spinning as Jesus then say, “The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (WOW!)

NOW IT GETS EVEN BETTER! JESUS CHALLENGES NICODEMUS!

“You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?” (WOE!)

This chapter starts out like a book that grabs you from the very first page and just when you think the plot can’t get anymore exciting or intense, it does!

“I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen…if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.”

IN OTHER WORDS, I’M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN TELL YOU WHAT I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES, NICODEMUS. I’M NOT TELLING YOU WHAT I READ IN A BOOK. I’M TELLING YOU HEAVENLY DETAILS I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES. EVERYTHING I DO AND SPEAK COMES FROM ONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE, AND I HAVE COME FROM THERE, AND I’M GIVING YOU FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS OF WHAT MAN HAS NEVER SEEN! (WOE & WOW!!!)

After this is when he explains how greatly God loves mankind, that he has sent me to save them, and whosoever believes on him shall be saved. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him! However, for those who do not believe, they are judged already. Jesus has not come to judge, but to save us from the judgment already on us!

Now another climatic moment comes when Jesus says, “And the judgment is based on this fact:”… Now stop the movie right here for a moment. This is where a stupid commercial break cuts in and leaves you hanging! The judgment is based on this fact! (What is he going to say? What is it all based on? I can hardly wait to know!) Commercial finally over!

“God’s light came into the world…but people loved the darkness more than the light…for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light…and refuse to go near it…for fear their sins will be exposed.

But those who do what is right…come to the light…so others can see they are doing what God wants.”

What a thunderous revelation! It all comes down to whether we are drawn to light, or not? Whether we love the darkness or the light? God’s light came into the world, but man loved darkness more! This is a strong word of revelation Nicodemus is receiving in the dark of the night!

But the chapter goes on: Nicodemus exits, and John the Baptist enters in! John reveals that Jesus must become greater and greater, while he will decrease, fade into the background. Then he confirms that Jesus has “Come form above, and is greater than anyone else!” We are earthly, he explains, but Jesus comes from heaven and testifies of what he has seen and heard with his own eyes and ears!

AND THEN A VERY SAD STATEMENT: BUT HOW FEW BELIEVE WHAT HE TELLS THEM!

This is a major point, John 3 makes it not once, but twice! Once by Jesus himself, and then by John the Baptist! Jesus is first hand witness to the realities and glories of heaven, God’s Kingdom, and he came here to show and tell!

BUT HOW FEW BELIEVE HIM.

When I read this chapter I am hit with so many waves of feelings and revelation that I stand amazed. Questions roll through my mind like, why am I “attracted” to the light, and others are not? And also, how can anyone not be attracted to his light?

In verse 44 John reveals that Jesus has been given the Holy Spirit without limit! So…am I limited? What measure do I have? Can I increase that measure? WOW. Now I am challenged as to what I shall do?

Finally, a thunderous conclusion. This chapter keeps hitting to the very end.

“Any who believes in God’s  Son has eternal life.” (The AMAZING grace of God. What a great treasure to be rejected by so many.)

“Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

I see the lightning flash, I hear the thunder roll, and the chapter ends.

Fire and Flame

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME. LET NOT YOUR FIRE GO OUT!

“Living with Fire and Feeding the Flame” #3

KEEPERS OF THE FLAME.

Leviticus 6:12a & 13 > “And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not be put out.” / “A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.”

Luke 12:49-50 > “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished.”  Signed: Jesus Christ.

THE LOVE OF ANYTHING WORTHY WILL TAKE US INTO THE FIRE AND MUST BE PURSUED WITH FIRE. 

(Partial quote from “Teaching with Fire”).

The cost of discipleship. What is your vision from God costing you? You have no vision? Then you likely have no fire either. What is your function in the body of Christ? What is your mission, your task, your heart-felt assignment from God? Does it burn within you like a flame? If not, then all you’re doing is punching the spiritual time clock, and anybody can do that. You should leave that boring assignment and pursue what burns within!

Jesus said, I must be about my Father’s business! It burned within him. He cleared the temple and then his disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for Your house has eaten me up. (Consumed me!)

Are you on fire? Do you feel his flame within? Is the oil flowing, or do you need a trip to God’s cave? Why are we so occupied with living like kings when we should be living like priest? Ahh, now we’re getting there. The king is not concerned about the fire as the priest is. So many kings and so few priest in the body of Christ. So many sparrows flapping flapping flapping, and so few eagles. So few of God’s children ready to surrender and let go of the things that glitter glitter glitter. But the call is going forth and all that glitters is not gold. Kings will cast their crowns at his feet for the chance to serve. Yes, “his feet”, Mary hath chosen that good thing that cannot be taken from her.

Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things…many things…many things. But “ONE THING” is needed. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at Jesus feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted…many things…many things…many things.

Will you leave your kingdom building long enough for a trip to God’s cave, to sit at his feet? The secret things, the secret things. The duties of a priest and that of a king are so very very different. Even the lifestyle is so very very different. So many warriors in God’s body, fighting to slay financial dragons, but so few priest praying to slay lustful dragons. The 6th archetype, the Mystic, the Priest.

The king seeks a castle and a throne, but the priest desires a cave, a place to seek his Master for the fire that burns! Five archetypes to be stuck upon, the Orphan, the Innocent, the Wanderer, the Warrior, the Altruist; but it is the Priest that brings it all into balance, holds the spiritual center, and should be our burning desire. But no, we would be king.

T’is a legend, a fable, indeed, but it holds such a powerful truth, the legend of Camelot! And how did such a city come to grace the imaginations of so many people? A simple mystic known as Merlin. Where would we be without our spiritual seekers? Still swallowed up in the dark ages, that is where, and so was Merlin, so much so that he retreated to a cave where he battled with great depression. So are the spiritual, sensitive to the spiritual conditions of our time, encroaching evil, have you felt it? Is there a burden on your heart for the millions of people lost without Christ everyday? Is there a burden driving you to a cave to fast and pray? Do you feel it? If not…then you are distracted like Martha, but Merlin ran to a cave as he was heavy with the burdens upon him. Depressed about the darkness of his time and knowing what should be!

In the cave a crystal flashed and a vision came! From there, a simple mystic set about to create a place called Camelot! That vision gave rise to many an inspiring Knight in shining armor! But none of it would have happened without the one who had no desire to be a king, and only to seek the secret things the secret things of a world not seen. For we look not at that which is seen, but at that which is not seen. Right?

I hope someone will tell me if anything I have just written makes sense. It speaks to me, but does it speak to you?

The Warrior is not the priest, and much fanfare will come to the one seen slaying dragons, but the secret things…the secret things…the humble world of the priest, given to a supernatural surrender, without whom there would be nothing worthy of a king to reign over, only more and more dark ages. Will you get a vision and be a priest to your neighborhood? Learn of the secret things, practice them, and establish God’s Kingdom where you live?

I recently sat in on the monthly meeting of a government housing apartment complex. In six months time I have watched the Spirit of God transform the atmosphere of that meeting because of a young minister who has sown the seeds of sacrifice in that place. A Priest can bring about transformation that no warrior can. Let us lay aside our kingship and warrior status, no more Superman, let us heed the call of priesthood! The 6th archetype is most powerful of all, the power to transform, the power of connecting man to God!

Living with Fire / Feeding the Flame

GUARDIANS OF THE FIRE! KEEPERS OF THE FLAME!