Faith and a Feather

Last week I was at a meeting in Albany Oregon with a precious group of believers who are hungry for God and gather regularly to seek Him and to engage the supernatural realms. This particular meeting was set aside to seek the Lord in faith and expectation for gemstones from heaven to manifest. Many of those at the meeting had experienced this before, but there were those there who had not yet but wanted to. I was invited by a friend, and although my wife and I did not attend as guest speakers by any means, we were invited to share a few words about the gem manifestation.

I spoke for about five minutes, and after sharing a brief testimony I encouraged everyone present that God wanted to give them gems–personally. God loves each and every one of us and desires to directly interact with each of us. He desires to lavish gifts on each one, and we are not so special that God won’t do for us what he does for many others, whether it be gems or any other miracle. I encouraged the group to actually go around the room and look for gems, as God is a good Father and loves to give his kids gifts that they’ll enjoy, much like any earthly parent gives their children fun toys to play with just to see their enjoyment. I let them know that looking for jewels isn’t a sign of valuing them over God, but that we are simply getting to appreciate the gifts that God is giving us–we’re not seeking his hands instead of his face, but we want to both know God and get the goodies!
No sooner had I shared this than a well-meaning but misguided woman did the favor of sharing a short testimony with exhortation that we were definitely not to look for gems at any moment whatsoever, and that we were to worship the Lord only and not get off into idolatry with this gem-business. If God wants us to have gems, He knows where to put them so we will find them without searching for them. I must confess, I was very disappointed to hear this. This woman single-handedly dealt a huge blow to the growing faith in the room, and I am sorry to say that I don’t think it ever quite recovered.

I am sure if I had been prone to arguing we could have gotten into one, as the woman had a very contrary attitude about her. I was very gracious with her disagreement, even backpedaling slightly in stating that each person needed to decide what was in his her or her heart with the Lord in how to address this issue she had brought up, when in reality the woman was dead-wrong. She was determined to pursue the issue and made sure she had the last word on the subject so that everyone would bow to her will on the matter. I feel it important to point out that In Matthew 7: 7-8 it says “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Jesus himself instructed his disciples to ask and seek, and if Jesus says it, we should probably do it.

A few minutes later during worship the Lord instructed me to get up and start looking for jewels, telling me that if I didn’t they definitely would not appear. I realized that this woman’s words had put everyone in a state where they didn’t want to offend her and weren’t going to look for gems. I got up and walked across the middle of the room and began searching on the far side of the room from her. After I did so, a couple other people got up and started to do the same. It wasn’t too long after that this woman left the meeting, and after she was gone a number of other people also began to search in earnest, and the gathering took a much lighter, more enjoyable tone.

Although no gems appeared that night, there was a supernatural manifestation that evening. While the woman was still present, I found a single small white feather near me on the floor. Feathers are a manifestation I am familiar with and have experienced over the years at home, church, at my workplace, and even in random public places. In this case, I believe the feather was showing a level of warfare that was happening over this issue of supernatural manifestations. I was pleased the feather appeared, but I was disappointed it didn’t go any further than just that lone feather.

This meeting was a bit of an object lesson for me in regards to things-supernatural. We often do not realize the power of our words and the attitude and intention behind those words. We have the ability to create and encourage faith, as my wife and I had done with the things we shared, and we have the power to sow doubt, as that woman had done. I wish I could give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she did it unwittingly, but the purpose of the meeting was no secret, and if she didn’t want to be around people who were looking for gems it would have been better for all of us if she had chosen not to attend.

Faith is a tenuous thing at times, and when faith is wavering the smallest things can tip it one way or the other. It is important, therefore, that we encourage and cultivate lifestyles of faith that push us toward heavenly realities on a daily basis. A single feather from heaven was all that appeared out of a group of 20-30 believers, many of whom have already seen and a few of whom currently still experience this on occasion in their own homes, all of whom had been praying that week and that day for angels to bring gemstones into the meeting. That feather served as a bit of a lesson to me–that not only do I have a lot to learn about dealing with contrary people in large group meetings, but that more important than just those people are the influence they have on the rest of the people present. When given the choice to build up or tear down it is always best to take the high road and encourage our fellow man, strengthening his faith in the good things God is doing. When opinions are at odds, we will never go wrong by emulating the fruit of the spirit.

If you are interested and want to learn more about the miracle of feathers from heaven, consider reading my book:

US Print: http://amzn.to/2aNw1Zj

US Kindle: http://amzn.to/2aBjox2

Feathers From Heaven – Our Personal Story

Gems From Heaven:

Part 1: “Our Experiences”

Part 2: “What Do They Mean”

Part 3: “How Do I Know This Is God?”

Why I Love Gemstones From Heaven

Gemstones From Heaven Podcasts

Court Case: Alignments with Death

As many followers of this blog know, I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes physical immortality, as evidenced by many scriptures that speak toward that end as well as things Jesus himself directly stated to his disciples. With that said, I am not discussing immortality in this post so much as I am sharing a heavenly experience I had earlier this month that I engaged specifically to deal with matters of life and death in the spirit realm. It is my hope that this post encourages you in your own pursuit of all things spiritual and godly.

I went up into the spirit back into the Courts of Heaven where I had been led previously by an angel to disavow attachments I had made to Death and to put myself in the custody of the Spirit of Life, Holy Spirit. The court case began with someone presiding over the case, although I did not quite understand who. I was clear, however, that this was a human, not an angel or other being presiding over the court.

I took my seat on the right side, and Death was located at a table to my left. There was no jury, as this was essentially a custody hearing and I was seeking to change custodians. I was invited to speak and explain why I was seeking this court hearing. I explained that I did not understand when I was younger that I did not have to die, and so I made many statements and held beliefs and engaged in actions that aligned myself with death and I placed myself in its care. I went on to say that I now understand that I do not have to die and I want to be released from Death’s custody.

Death then stood up and had a chance to speak. When I looked at Death I saw this thin, spectre-like being that was a sort of smoky black with ill-defined features. It stood up before the judge in a hissing voice and began to accuse me, stating that I had chosen it and that I was its rightful property. After it gave a short speech, it sat back down.

Next, I saw a man holding a scroll approach the judge’s bench–it was Jesus. He unfurled this scroll before the judge and they had a short conversation which I could not hear. I couldn’t read the scroll but I understood that it was basically a writ stating that I had been fully bought and covered by Jesus’ blood, and that as a result Death had no rightful hold over me. This was all the evidence that was needed, and after the judge saw that, he called me up to the witness stand to testify. This was my opportunity to declare and decree in the heavens what my intentions were for the future.

I got up to the stand and I stated that I now believe that I am not destined to die, but to live forever. I acknowledged that while I once believed I had to die when I was younger, I have since learned the truth and have come to accept that reality. I stated that I no longer consider myself under custody to death and place myself in custody of the Spirit of Life, and I broke agreement with every belief, mindset, and understanding that I had previously held that said I would get sick or had to die. I renounced every statement I had made or that anyone else has made that has cursed me to be sick or die in any way, or that I have agreed with about the hold that death has over me and others. I stated that I am no longer allowed to die, but if for any reason I ever were to die, that I would resurrect immediately unless the Lord wanted to show me something in the heavens first, but that any time I were to ever die that I would always, always come back to life. Having completed my decree, the judge banged the gavel once and basically declared that my custody had changed hands.

Before the case was dismissed, the being who was serving as my counsel, who I could not clearly see but believe was Holy Spirit, petitioned the judge for a transfer of property from Death to me. The counsel basically explained that Death had stolen from me and as a result that I was entitled to seven-fold the amount stolen from me. The judge instantly granted this, and assigned a bailiff of the court to go carry out this decree, then ended the case.

With the court case over, Death stalked out of the room, but he was actually hobbling now, as though life force had been taken from him and he was now weaker. A man who was glowing in golden light approached me, and introduced himself as Isaac. I understood that he was Abraham’s son. As I could not see him clearly, he dimmed the light emanating from him, and while I could not see him clearly I could see that his hair was brown, that his face was somewhat rounded in shape, and that he was shorter than me. He explained that he had a few things to share with me. First, he told me that while I was not at that point yet, as I continued down this path of immortality that at a certain point my cells themselves would literally undergo a transformation. I had a vision of what he was saying as he was speaking, and it showed me where my cells literally transformed from normal cells into vibrant, golden-glowing cells that emanated life-energy and had no speck of sickness or disease in them.

He then escorted me to a garden, which he said was my garden in heaven. It was spacious and beautiful, with much lush greenery that was landscaped quite beautifully, with a gazebo in the part of the garden that I saw. We turned, and Isaac showed me a young tree, approximately five to six feet tall, that had two or three pieces of oblong, pear-like fruit on them. “This is a tree of life. Take a bite of the fruit.” He said. I picked one and took a bite. It was juicy, and as I ate it I could feel a message being sent to my cells to dump toxins and other garbage they had been holding, and I could feel my intestines beginning to church slightly. At his instruction I took two more big bites, then he told me to plant the core in the ground, which I did a short distance from the other one in an empty space. I understood that a new tree was going to grow from it, and that because life in heaven is so abundant that even the fruit wasn’t going to decay but rather would remain intact underground yet still have the tree grow out of it. From there, Isaac took me to a mountain which he said was my mountain–my property. Stored inside were a great many things, but he took me to a room that was filled with scrolls and other writings.

The room was jam-packed, but everything was in disorder. Random scrolls and rolls of paper were piled on things and papers were spilling out of filing cabinets, as well as various piles on the table and other surfaces. He explained that there was a lot of revelation present in me, but that because everything was so cluttered that there was revelation I had received that I haven’t even realized because it is hidden under the piles of disorganization. He instructed me to work on “cleaning up” so that everything would become more organized. I had a vision of a small, half-sheet-sized piece of glowing golden paper that was sitting on the floor somewhere, and that while I could see this paper in the vision, that it was hidden under other things and that as I cleaned, I would find it. I took this to mean that I needed to clean up how I have my computer files of all the prophetic words, dreams, and other revelation that God has given me so that it is more accessible. From there the experience ended.

I hope this gives you not only a glimpse of some of the things that are possible in the spirit realm, but a picture of what a case in the Courts of Heaven might look like. There are many courts and the cases do look different depending on the subject matter, but I encourage you to test the waters and try it out for yourself!

The Influence of Demons

Demons can be nasty critters–and unfortunately for us they sometimes hang out inside of us and wait for opportune moments to flare up, like a bad case of gout. Or allergies. Or . . . you get the point. I have been “saved” and following Jesus for over 28 years, and yet, somehow, I still find demons flaring up from inside me at the most inopportune times, often completely unnoticed by me. Tonight is not one of those times, as I was able to recognize it for what it was and deal with it.

The story will follow in a moment, as well as what I did to deal with it, but let me say this first: yes, Christians can have demons. Yes, I know there are probably a bajillion bible verses someone is readying at this moment to throw at me to Bible-bash me into correct theology without actually changing my experiences, but the truth is that I have cast demons out of a number of believers and some non-believers, and I find the “Christians can’t have demons” theology to be, in and of itself, demonic in nature. If the enemy can get you to believe that they’re not actually there when in fact they are, they’ve already won, with no resistance from you whatsoever. If you’re one of those people, don’t feel a need to comment below–although I censor very minimally, I probably won’t approve the comment. Why? Because it’s simply not true. I will probably go into “sound Biblical teaching” at another time to expound on this further, but for now, just suspend all disbelief and hear the story.

Late this evening (it is now the middle of the night as I am typing this) I was driving home from a movie with my wife. We were chatting about a variety of things when I began to go off on this rant about her, my grandchildren, and a couple other things. At one point I could hear her muttering under her breath but I didn’t hear what. Very shortly after that it was like someone turned off a switch and amidst my loud ranting and rambling, I started to purposefully quiet my voice and I said “. . . and I’m not really sure why I even just went off on you like that right now. I am really sorry.” Turns out the muttering under her breath had been my wife praying for me, and the switch that got shut off was demons manifesting through me.

Yes, I was “in control” of my body the entire time, in that I was physically driving a car, etc. but at that moment I wasn’t really in full control of my emotions. Or more accurately, I wasn’t exercising full control over them. There was this anger that was bubbling up from within me that started subtly at first but eventually was full-bore without really any reason for it in the first place other than what might normally be called “venting.” Well, I was venting all right, but only a small portion of what I was venting was my actual feelings. The rest of it was demons riding on and encouraging those feelings to blow them sky-high, and in doing so cause me to emotionally vomit all over my poor wife.

The truth is that I actually love my wife a great deal, and was exceedingly sorry that I had just treated her like that, with really no provocation whatsoever. When she prayed, it was like a veil was pulled away from my awareness and I realized that I was basically spouting the words of demons residing within me, and thus chose to stop spouting. At that point I began to renounce the feelings of anger and the beliefs that I had just been shouting, and verbally separated myself from those thoughts and feelings. Next I began to speak to spirits of anger, rage, and any other spirits that I could think of that were related to the subject matter, as well as to any that were connected to them, whether known or unknown, and whether I had named them or not. In other words, I was trying to get as many as possible out of there. A short time later I began to observe signs within my body that demons were, indeed, leaving. I cannot say how many left versus how many remained, but I was pleased that I at least became aware enough in that moment to cease demonic manifestations and emotionally hurting my wife and choose to do something about it. I have since apologized to her multiple times, and, being the gracious woman that she is, has accepted kindly each time, but it has brought a new level of vigilance in my mind regarding my behavior.

How often are my actions and emotions influenced by demons? How often do I start thinking thoughts that are being whispered in my ear, yet I believe they are my thoughts and I start actively thinking them? How often do I let myself unwittingly become a pawn of the enemy by being unaware in that moment of the spiritual battle raging around me? Probably far more often than I would like to imagine.

God has been reminding me of this issue recently, and I am amazed at how much I have forgotten to wage a spiritual war on a daily basis in my mind, will, and emotions. The soul is the zone of our battlefield, and we fight that war with spiritual weapons. No amount of yelling at my wife is going to change a single thing that love won’t change, and it will only damage in the process, whereas love will heal.

Demons want to use the creative power that God has given us in our words and thoughts to steal, kill, and destroy, and the more unwitting we are about it, the better. If we don’t take every thought captive to Jesus Christ then we invariably will be used by the enemy far more often than we think. We can choose to speak death or life over people, and according to our words it will be done in the earth.

I want to encourage each reader today not to leave from reading this post in fear of how the demons are going to get you, but with a heightened sense of awareness that we are, indeed, in a spiritual battle that is fought in the day-to-day choices we make and the things that we speak. I encourage you to ask God in the coming days, weeks, and months to reveal every place where your actions are being influenced by the demonic realms, as well as help you to exorcise all of the evil spirits that remain within you and to prevent any new ones from coming in. If you know anyone who is able to help you with that, much the better, but don’t forget that angels fight on your side, and you can ask God to release assignments to angels to war on your behalf! Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world! May you be blessed today and may the Lord reveal to you every scheme of darkness that is set against you, and deliver you from every snare of evil, in Jesus’ name. Amen!

How I Learned to Travel to Heaven

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The first time I ever tried to ‘go’ into the heavens I was driving in my car on an hours-long trip, talking on my cell phone with a friend named Ben. We were talking about the idea of freely accessing the heavenly realm, and I was the only person I knew until that conversation who believed that was possible. Turns out that the things I had been pondering were things he had recently begun to experience too, and it was a confirmation to me.

In weeks past I had been thinking about things like “We are seated in heavenly places in Christ” and “we are blessed with every spiritual blessing IN heavenly places” and ‘come boldly before the throne of grace’. They all suggest that there is an experience to be had that goes along with this concept of ‘in the spirit’. And if there is an experience, and it’s something God has for us, then I’d like to experience it myself.

Ben told me about the first time he ever went to heaven in the spirit, and what he saw. And when he went the first time, a friend walked him through what he saw in a particular place he had been to in heaven. Ben started out by just imagining the things his friend was telling him about. If the friend said there was a tree to his right, he’d imagine that. Then he started to see what else he could see, and started actually interacting with the imaginary experience, and it basically had stopped being just imagination and had transitioned into the actual place in heaven the friend was describing.

Right there on the phone he started telling me about it and I started seeing it in my head, sort of like I was imagining it too, but it was almost the same as if I was having a vision too (to me they’re a lot alike — vision and imagination). He was telling me about it and told me to try it later when I wasn’t driving, but I realized that I was actually doing it then while we were on the phone. I’ve been back to that place multiple times since then, and one time I ended up on a horse that took me to a city where I had an encounter with Jesus that brought some inner healing to me related to my sexuality. I am happy to share that with you later if you want to hear about it.

But that’s how I got started my first time ever. Since then, I have had other experiences that have had me places in heaven, and sometimes I might choose to go back to a location I remember just because I can. When I ‘go back’, it’s much like how I went the first time. I start remembering and imagining what it was like, with the intent that I’m going to actually BE there. As I do that, I begin to experience it in my mind/imagination once more,

As for how you can practice it — have you ever had an experience or a vision that you felt like took place somewhere in heaven? If you have, you can just remember and re-imagine that experience, and you’re basically going to re-enter that place in the spirit just by wanting and imagining. And from there, what you do in that place is up to you. You might see if you can meet an angel or just ask God to do something and see what happens, or walk around and see what else you see nearby that place. For the longest time we have had this belief in religion that spiritual things had to be hard to attain–whereas Jesus said that his yoke was easy and his burden was light. I encourage you to try heaven-travel on your own, in a quiet space if possible, and see what you might discover. Heaven is much closer than you think.

If you would like to read more about traveling in the spirit, pick up a copy of my book The Beginner’s Guide to Traveling in the Spirit, available on Amazon.com in both print and Kindle.

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All Creation Groans

I love miracles. If you ask anyone who knows me well, they would agree that I am a miracle-fanatic, and I love talking about them. In spite of this, it can be so easy to discuss the miraculous so much that I miss the big picture entirely. After all, miracles truly are exciting! However, I will paint a picture of where I believe God’s end-goal is in regards to his plans for mankind. To understand the plan going forward we have to understand that the plan at the beginning never actually changed, although the method to arrive there may have changed along the way. In Genesis 1:28a it says “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’” Nowhere in the rest of the Bible does God suggest that He plans to do anything different. While some might say that in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, that God plans to replace Heaven and Earth, I have a slightly different perspective on what God’s plan might be when it says that a new heaven and earth come down, but to get there we have to understand the original plan.

In the beginning of creation there was a problem. Lucifer and other angels rebelled against God. They waged war in the heavens (read that as Universe) and caused great destruction, of which I might imagine that Mars and the asteroid belt are just a few of the products of that great destruction. Anyway, God created city in the east of the landmass on earth at that time, in a land called Eden, which means pleasure. In it, he placed a garden, and while this is not the commonly taught version, the Bible states quite clearly that the garden was in the east in Eden. In other words, it is quite likely that Adam and Eve had a home in the city of Eden, population of two. If you look at Revelation 21 it actually makes much more sense that God begins and ends the story in a city, whereas we have long believed that God began in a garden and ended in a city.

Adam took daily walks with God in the garden, but that was where God shared his plan for the restoration of all things with Adam and they planned together how to restore creation. After all, Paul laid it out somewhat plainly in Romans 8:14-32. It’s a bit long but hang with me:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

In short, through Jesus we have literally become God’s children–not theoretical children but literally God-spawn. We are no longer humans but a brand new creation! The process isn’t complete yet–we are waiting for the redemption of our bodies so that we can live in the newness of life that God promised us. That, however, wasn’t the original plan, as Adam’s body didn’t need redemption when it was created. The plan was to restore creation!

All of creation, the entire cosmos of the universe, has been subjected to this slavery to decay and corruption. It is our job as the sons of God to seek and save that which was lost — all things! In other words, God isn’t going to destroy the earth as has previously been thought. No, Jesus came to restore all things, first with us humans to reconcile us to God, then, as Romans 8 says, that God will graciously give us all things! He has given us dominion and authority, but we are the ones who have to subdue it then remove the decay that is intertwined within the fabric of this universe. Ephesians 1:8b-10 says “With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” There will be a day when we permanently alter the energetic matrix of this existence and correct all that which was corrupted by Satan and other spirits long before we came to the earth, and in doing so we will bring unity to all things!

Revelation 21:1-4 says “Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’’”

This passage doesn’t say that the earth has been destroyed, as some have thought, but something else. In v1 where it says “the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” the greek word translated as “passed away” is parerchomai. This word means that an era of time has passed or that something has gone by or carried past and is no longer present. In other words, an old order or era is over. Then in that verse and the next, a new order is being established, one where God and man no longer have any separation. Interestingly enough though, in v4 where it says “the old order of things has passed away” the word for “passed away” is aperchomai, which means for old and evil things to leave or vanish like a vapor.

In other words, much like the old testament order of living and doing things was set aside after Jesus completed the requirements of that law, God has declared that even the old order of things on earth and in heaven will be set aside for a new order and new way of doing things in our future experience–one where there is no longer death, mourning, crying, or pain. It does not say, however, that the earth is going to be obliterated and we will all die and go to heaven. No, when our bodies are redeemed we will continue to live on and inhabit the cosmos, continuing to preach the good news to ALL creation, even to far away planets in distant galaxies. While I know this sounds crazy to some, God’s view is far higher than ours, and His ways far more expansive than ours. We have set our sights far too long on this tiny little planet called Earth as somehow being the be-all and end-all of God’s plan when He has forever in His word been saying “Come up here,” beckoning us to take a higher view and understand his grand plan for the entire cosmos. I encourage and welcome everyone who reads this to not just take my word for it, but to search this out on your own and discover and uncover the great mysteries that God is revealing to us in these last days!

Join us Live Tonight! – UCC Show

Hello Friends,

I will be a guest on the UnCommon Christianity Radio Show tonight, July 28, 2015, and want to invite you to join us at 11pm EST/8pm PST. We will be talking about my recent blog post “The End of Revival” (found here: http://wp.me/p4nENC-5n ) and discussing the question “CAN God move in these United States?”

There are instructions on how to listen in as well as a chat function to ask questions while the show is live found on the website. If you missed the broadcast you can catch a replay of it at the link above as well. I hope you can join us tonight!!

Blessings to you all,

-Michael King-

The End of Revival

I have been in the Charismatic Church arena for over a decade, and while that isn’t a long time for some, it’s a third of my life. In that time I have connected with a vast proportion of current “revival” culture, which is, in my opinion, a highly involved process of begging God to do what He has already done–to come to earth and pour out His Spirit upon us. At this time, we have entire church groups who fast and pray regularly, even daily, in a flagellant posture attempting to wrangle a few extra drops of heaven out of God’s grasp. Don’t get me wrong–I believe in fasting and how it changes our own internal state. I can literally feel a change in the energy in my body when I fast, but that changes me, not God.

I have spent a considerable amount of my own time praying for revival as well–literally crying over the state of our nation and this world, and the hopeless condition that we are in if God doesn’t send His Spirit down yet again to bring revival. As I have grown in all things spiritual and become more accustomed to the Charismatic Way of doing things, I have discovered that we Charismatics are especially good at praying in such a way as to ramp up our emotions into a passionate frenzy. We use music to bring everyone else with it, then we grab a microphone and begin screaming super-spiritual catch-phrases into it and eventually we are so worked up that tears are literally streaming down our face as we beg God to do things that, I assure you, He has not only planned to do already, but is far more interested in doing than we are. So why all the fuss?

I’m not trying to just poke fun at people here, but I have been in gatherings where this is exactly what we did. In one of these meetings when the girl was screaming into the microphone, we were in a room with a drop ceiling and everyone was not more than ten feet from her. In other words, she could have talked and prayed at a normal volume or even just spoke a little louder and all of us would have heard her just fine. When I say it was painful, I don’t mean just from an emotional perspective, I mean that it was really uncomfortable on my ears. If you can’t get more anointing, go for volume I guess.

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within me. I AM revival wherever I go because I carry within me the One Who Revives. I have within me the faith of God who makes all things new. I have the power to heal sickness, to cast out demons, to create solutions in every problem. Every word I speak produces life or death depending on what I choose to speak. I am a powerful person because God has made me that way–we ALL are! We don’t really need “another revival” — Revival is over. It is time for a Mystic Awakening.

The Christian mystics were people who fell so deeply in love with God that they become consumed by Him. There is something about facing your gaze toward Him that is overwhelming. As we turn our affection toward God, He turns his affection toward us and pours out new measures of his love. Current worship-culture is, in my opinion, far less attractive to God than unbridled private affection, not because worship culture is bad, but because when we gaze into His face in our hearts there are no other distractions. We can’t be carried along in an act of reverence by other people and nice-sounding instruments in spite of a lack of personal engagement, so when our eyes are affixed on how altogether lovely he is, our whole heart is involved. Again, corporate worship is a good thing, God loves it, and angels flock to corporate worship in droves for healing, refreshing, and warfare against the enemy, but it’s not the same as sitting alone with the King.

One thing the mystics are known for is ridiculous miracles–resurrections, translocation, bilocation, and multiplying food are just the beginning strokes. One monk would occasionally make himself invisible or extremely tiny so that other monks couldn’t find him and interrupt his times of devotion with God. Padre Pio was seen by enemy fighters during the War floating high in the air over his town and planes were literally unable to drop bombs–the bombs would not release from the hangars no matter how many times they tried. There is a story of one mystic who was asking his superior what he should do next as he had done everything else his superior had instructed. “Why not be transformed completely to fire?” he said as he began to glow.

If we want to see Heaven come to earth, we need to spend more time in Heaven and bring it back with us. Those who are the MOST heavenly minded will be of utmost earthly good, as those who are so completely taken by God’s affection cannot do anything but let that life overflow into the earth sphere around them. Revival has become a catch-phrase that leads to more meetings and conferences with speakers, products, and mass marketing to other believers whether it carries the essence of Heaven or not. A Mystical Awakening is simply letting our hearts and our whole bodies be consumed by God’s goodness and letting the ecstasy of His affection transform us into living flames of His glory to revolutionize this world. Revival is at an end–let the Mystics arise!

Her Fair Share of Suffering

I walked into the break room at work recently to find a crime show playing on the break room TV. One of the characters said the line “She’s certainly had her fair share of suffering,” referring to the victim in the drama. As soon as I heard the line it struck me that it’s a nice-sounding line for a TV show, but a horrible idea to actually believe.

I constantly run into other well-meaning people, and most of them followers of Jesus, who say things like this, and the worst part is that they actually believe it. I had a patient once who had a surgery that caused her to have her foot and lower leg in a splint. The surgeon’s instructions were explicit: it was to remain in the splint for two weeks, at which point in time HE would look at it and decide the next step in the treatment plan. About one week in, she took a shower and in spite of the best efforts of the staff, the entire foot was soaking wet. I was horrified, she seemed unconcerned. “Maybe God planned this so that I could get the splint off a week early. I’m sure God has a reason for this happening.”

Ummm, no. Not only do I have to spend an hour of time on a single one of my 26 patients, and am now NOT spending that time taking care of the other 25 patients’ needs, but now I have to call a doctor who will most likely be very angry, and who will need to have her come in for an office visit to see how badly screwed up the situation is, and whether there is significant infection risk or other complications as a result. I’m sorry, but no, that’s not something God put on his to-do list for the day.

While the situation ended up working out okay, as generally things do, I have observed MANY people who have a serious misconception about God’s will and His plans. The Bible has a few things to say about this. Jeremiah 29:11 states “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” James 1:17 states “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.“

Those passages sound pretty clear, mainly because they are. God has good plans for good and to keep us from harm, he gives good and perfect gifts and doesn’t change like the darkness, so he’s not going to start giving bad stuff out later, and that he works all things, even the bad things, in such a way that in the end they will become a good thing. What it does NOT say is “God plans bad things for us so that in the hard times we can realize how dependent we are on Him and turn our hearts toward his.” Nor does it say “Due to the exceedingly insufficient amount of bad stuff in the world, God in His wisdom has seen it fit to cause calamity and heartbreak so that in the midst of the problems He causes, we can turn to him to solve them.”

Only a highly abusive and seriously dysfunctional parent would traumatically injure a child so that the child will rely on that parent during the healing and recovery process. That is known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSP) , and is a psychological disorder. I assure you God doesn’t have MSP. People seem to forget that there are dark entities, usually referred to as demons, who have our personal destruction in mind. THEY actively cause new problems and enhance existing ones, requiring no additional help from God to make this happen.

God doesn’t need to cause problems to have solutions. He doesn’t need to waste our time, cause us stress, or in some cases bodily injury to “work good for us.” It is time we took a bit of a higher view in every situation, instead of instantly jumping to the notion that every unfavorable situation is the will of God. I recommend a much more mature approach to adversity, asking God for solutions to problems instead of instantly assuming God sent the problem. Not only is this the wiser method, but it is the MOST healthy response we can have when faced with adversity. Praising God IN the midst of problems is VERY different than praising and thanking God FOR sending us problems. The former heads toward a solution and inner peace, the latter is just stupidity. I encourage each and every one reading this that as you face life’s difficulties to thank God that He isn’t sending these things upon you, and that in the midst of those difficulties that He will provide the solutions and USE it for good.

When Bunnies Die

Two days ago one of my two rabbits gave birth; the baby was stillborn. I prayed over that baby bunny for over 3 hours, and even my 3-, 5-, and 7-year-old granddaughters and stepdaughter joined me at points. Late that evening, God told me to move on from praying for the bunny, and that while I WOULD raise the dead, it wouldn’t be then, the day after, or the day after that. This really struck me because God didn’t just specify that the bunny wouldn’t come back that day or the next, but he specified three days, the usual length of time that I allot for praying for our animals who have died (we have rabbits and chickens), and for any roadkill that I decide to bring home to pray for.

I was pretty upset after God told me this. I had already named the cute little bunny Miracle, and had already envisioned how cool it would be to have the rabbit grow up to be an adult when it had been born dead. I will be honest–I sobbed in my wife’s arms for about 5 minutes. On the one hand it might seem like “just a dead baby rabbit,” but for me death is something personal. As a nurse who works with a geriatric population, I cry almost every time a patient dies, whether I knew them well or not. Death bothers me. It upsets me. I don’t like it, don’t believe in it, and don’t understand when the reality of abundant life Jesus purchased for us doesn’t manifest like it should.

My point in telling you all this isn’t for you to feel sorry for me or pray for the bunny, but to know that it’s totally normal and okay to have real-life struggles as we go through this process of apprehending what God has laid before us. Reversing death is not something most people talk about or even believe is possible. Resurrection isn’t even all that popular in many Holy-Spirit-filled circles. I mean, anyone would be blessed if they were present for a resurrection, but it’s not something most people are going to actually pray for, much less seek out. As such, there is a risk involved in actually even talking about this topic.

Resurrection is not always an easy topic, and praying for the dead is even harder, not because it’s difficult to actually say a prayer over a body, but for other reasons. Emotionally there is the risk of failure. What happens if I get emotionally invested in this resurrection and it doesn’t happen? I assure you I am emotionally invested in every resurrection I seriously attempt. I’m not sure it’s actually possible to seriously pray for resurrection WITHOUT getting emotionally involved. Maybe it is, but for me resurrection has a lot to do with love and compassion, and compassion has a feeling associated with it. Compassion IS by nature emotionally involved, which can make it difficult in those times when the resurrection effort fails. Lets face it, sometimes we get discouraged, or even others around us actively discourage us. Sometimes we get into doubt or fear; fear that we might die too, fear that we might catch a disease from the body, fear of almost anything else. I believe that all of these things are part of the process of overcoming. We experience these doubts, fears, discouragement, and yet in the midst of them we have the opportunity to make a conscious choice in our hearts and minds that say “I am an overcomer because of He who has overcome.”

I want to encourage you and remind you that YOU are a Deadraiser. YOU are a Resurrectionist!! YOU are the bridge between Heaven and Earth, the delivery system of Divine power and presence. YOU are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Whatever you are facing, whatever sickness or death you are praying over, contending against, dealing with, I exhort you to continue to stand firm in the promises of God. You are strong, you are courageous, you are beautiful. You are steadfast, you are brilliant, and your best moments are even now coming toward you. Greater is He who is in YOU than any life circumstance around you. And remember, it is never “too late.” We serve a God who raises the dead.

Galatians 6 and Immortal Life

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The more I read the scriptures, the more I see God’s provision for our lives that extends beyond healing to an abundant life that is so strong we literally cannot die. Recently I was perusing Galatians 6 when I came across the following verses, ones I have read many times before but saw something very different this time through:

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8

What I observed this time through is that this passage speaks not just of sowing and reaping, but of how we sow and reap either death or immortality. In fact, it makes a mockery of God to think that if we sow to the spirit we will reap anything other than eternal life, and that if we sow to the flesh that we will reap anything other than corruption and degradation of our bodies instead of the abundant life God has promised for us. If we break it down, this passage shows us we have a choice, whether we want to sow to the flesh and die, or sow to the spirit and live forever.

It is quite encouraging to me to come across these “hidden” verses on immortality as I read through the Bible because so much of it is hidden in plain sight. The message of the Good News of Jesus Christ has for so many years been convoluted and sin-focused, but now an upgraded version of the Gospel is appearing — not a NEW gospel, as some might think, but one that is more comprehensive of the fullness of life, blessing, and abundance that Jesus purchased for us on the cross. God’s plan for us is far better than we have imagined, to the point that we almost have to throw out most of what we have learned EVER about Jesus and the cross to start over from the beginning and see it in a brand new light. God’s desire for us is that we should LIVE, and so as John 3:16 says, he sent his son that we might not perish (die), but have everlasting life. Praise be to God for His boundless grace and resurrection life that He extends to us now and always.