The Problem With The Shack

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In recent days, and I expect there will be more to come, social media has begun to blow up with commentary about the new film The Shack. Based on Paul Young’s (in collaboration with Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings} book of the same name, published in 2007. For those who are unfamiliar with the book, it is a fictional narrative documenting one man’s encounter with God after his young daughter was abducted and murdered. As a result, Mack, the main character, has lost his faith in God, or Papa as his wife refers to Him. The story deals with a wide range of emotions and problems but has recently come under significant fire due to concerns about heresy. It is understandable, I suppose, that a book like this would get flak from the religious community—after all, we do have external standards to maintain for the sake of appearances, and the seemingly heretical nature of this book threatens the spiritual life of people of all ages—or at least that is what opponents would have you believe. While I cannot say The Shack may or may not be the pinnacle of perfect theology, I find the rants of the religious to be tired, bored, and worn out. Thus, we have the problem of The Shack.

I don’t actually care whether you read the book or watch the movie, nor whether you like it or not. I am not the author, nor do I own a movie theater—I don’t get paid regardless of what you do related to the subject. What I would like us all to avoid, however, is hysteria. This book is probably no more nor less accurate than any other book one might write. I say a lot about God and things spiritual in my books, but at the end of the day, He is really the only one who knows how true any of it is. The only thing we can all agree on is that no two people, even of the same denomination, believe the same about everything. We need to learn what to let slide and what to make a big issue over, so let us take a look. The major concerns about this book, summed up as best as I can, fall into a few major categories: The problem of sin, the nature of God, and eternal judgment versus Universalism.

Sin is a subject held very near and dear to most Christians—after all, sin is the measurement we use to keep track of how righteous and godly we are. The Shack challenges our views of sin—not because it actually challenges a single thing about sin itself, but about how God views and deals with it. The book says things like “I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside” (120). People seem to freak out about this sort of thing, but it’s actually true. Romans 6:23a says, “The wages of sin is death. . . .” It literally IS its own punishment—The Bible says it kills you! How much more of a punishment do you need? God’s job has never NEVER been about punishing us for sin, but delivering us from it. Romans 5:7-9 says, “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” Get this—God isn’t worried about our sins because He, God the Father, demonstrated His love through Christ dying for us. Even more scandalous is when we read that along with 2 Corinthians 5:19 which says, “That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” And while verses like Isaiah 59:2 say that our sins separate us from God, that is very different than the idea that God is the one doing the separating. When we sin we pull ourselves away from God, which is why He had to send Jesus to fix the problem and reunite us with Him once and for all. This heretical book which so cavalierly treats sin basically tells us what the Bible says—that God isn’t counting our sins against us, and that He has come to rescue us from them, and from ourselves. Huh—who would have thought it was so . . . scriptural.

Next comes God’s nature. How can we attack that as displayed in the book? That portraying God as three different people sets up some sort of weird cultish ideas that God is other than He really is. But on p.101 the Father says, “We are not three gods, and we are not talking about one god with three attitudes, like a man who is a husband, father, and worker. I am one God and I am three persons, and each of the three is fully and entirely the one.” The concept of the Trinity is confusing enough, but the book seems to do it justice. And to those who are then going to argue that the word “Trinity” isn’t in the Bible, neither is “internet”—but that isn’t stopping it from existing, nor from you using it right now. Next, the attack comes against the hierarchy of God—with people getting upset that the book acts like the Father, Son, and Spirit are all equal. Well, I have to say that there are only a bajillion verses where it says Jesus and God are one and alike and the same—and Holy Spirit is no different. While yes, Holy Spirit reveals Jesus and Jesus points to the Father, the Father delights in His Son and in exalting the Son—so it kind of all works out in a big mess of God revealing Himself in many ways without some sort of hierarchy—after all, they are all the same being. Do you have a pecking order inside your brain, or are you just you?

It gets better. Opponents of The Shack complain that the author even goes so far as to limit the power of the God of the Universe, having the Father-God-character saying, “Mack, for you to forgive this man is for you to release him to me and allow me to redeem him” (224). The funny thing is that Jesus said something similar to this when He walked here on the earth. In John 20:23 Jesus says the following to his disciples, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” While certainly there is more to the story, in that mankind is redeemable (and already has been redeemed) outside of our ability to forgive one another, it doesn’t change the fact that when we do not forgive, there is something it changes in the realm of the spirit that holds and counts sins against others—and that matters whether we like it or not. We really have no right to withhold forgiveness from others in light of what Jesus has forgiven us, but God still lets us make that choice. If you call that limiting God, then so be it—but God limited Himself when He came to earth as a man. God limited Himself of His own choice when He gave us free will. So yes, scripturally, God has limitations—albeit ones He set up to begin with. But please note—it IS scriptural, not heretical.

The next major argument about this book is that it undermines the notion of eternal judgment, and as such is Universalist in nature. Universalism basically ignores the idea of hell and/or eternal torment, saying that everyone gets to go to Heaven, because “Why would a good God sentence people to everlasting judgment?” Well, it doesn’t actually say that at all, nor does it imply that, and unless you already have failed to understand what Jesus did on the cross to begin with, it should be abundantly clear. To illustrate this point, let us look at what the book says about it, via part of a conversation Mack and Jesus have.

“They arrived at the door of the workshop. Again Jesus stopped. ‘Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans, and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some are bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved.”

“’Does that mean,” asked Mack, “that all roads will lead to you?”

“Not at all,” smiled Jesus as he reached for the door handle to the shop. “Most roads don’t lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you” (182).

Opponents have used the above passage to say that because Jesus says that he doesn’t care whether people are Buddhist or Muslim or whatever that it is Universalist because all roads lead to God and anything we do is fine. This section doesn’t say anything of the sort, which an intelligent read would easily show, considering the very last thing Jesus says clarifies the entire rest of the conversation. Jesus, both in the book and in reality, is interested in conforming us into His image—transforming us to be like Him. He isn’t concerned about titles, religions, or anything else because He transcends all of that. I have a friend who meets occasionally with a woman who is in the New Age. She has a spirit guide whose name is Jesus. He has told her, on His own, that His name is also Living Water. She told my friend this about Jesus—but has never read the Bible. She doesn’t know that Jesus has revealed Himself in scriptures the same way. Incidentally, Jesus doesn’t tell her to leave the New Age, but He is discipling her and drawing her closer to Him. She has fallen deeply in love with Jesus, and He hasn’t tried to make her a Christian yet. He is, however, turning her into His beloved bride as part of the church regardless of what label she applies to herself. And yes, in scripture Holy Spirit is revealed as the Guide (John 14:26) —hence, to some He reveals himself as their Spirit Guide because, as Jesus says in The Shack, he meets them on their journey.

The final, and possibly the most lame complaint of them all, is that the book is irreverent. I have to remind everyone at the end of the day this story is a work of fiction, a spiritual allegory right up there with The Chronicles of Narnia, Pilgrim’s Progress, and others. The book expresses spiritual truths, but there are still fictitious elements contained therein—elements we would do well to simply ignore for the sake of theological purposes. Is Holy Spirit a woman? Is Father God a black woman? Is Jesus an Arab? Does it really even matter? No, it doesn’t—and those made-up details aren’t meant to create theological beliefs. Rather, they are literary devices the author uses to make his point.. I’m pretty sure most people are smart enough to figure out the difference between fiction elements and truth, and if they cannot then they probably won’t do a great job of memorizing your theology either. These characters are simple personifications of the matchless God of the Universe who transcends all forms, yet can take any form He chooses. He decided to come to us as a man, and as a lion, and as a lamb. He breaks boxes of limitations and undermines our sense of what is “proper” which, incidentally, was sort of a goal of The Shack. The entire book was written in such a way as to purposefully push against our mental preconceptions to get us to think in new ways. Jesus constantly went against the grain, so having the Godhead portrayed as book characters that do the same is really unsurprising, and actually keeps with His nature as revealed in Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 gives us a guideline of what to do with this book: “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good . . . .” We need to do with this subject what we ought to do with everything—eat the meat and spit out the bones.

We need to learn to be slow to speak in judgment as with the same measure we use it will be measured to us (Matthew 7:2)—and do we really want that? Do we want the kind of treatment people are giving this matter when it comes our turn to have some big event or project? Would we like it if people picked apart every detail of something we wrote or produced with an unforgiving eye and lacking even a modicum of grace? It really is a shame. I think people often don’t understand what goes into writing a book like this. An author has to not only deeply grasp understand spiritual concepts, but we then have to put them in the mouths of characters who will share them, but at the same time make an effort to make the conversation sound natural and not cheesy or forced. Then we have to have relevant plot points to make the book move forward, else we just have a big long conversation that no one really wants to read. Somewhere in there artistic license comes into play, and we really need to start having more grace for that than I have seen some express thus far. Besides—if you want a really good perspective about judgments, read pages 158-163 of the book—you might learn something.

I originally tried to make this post funny when I started writing, but there comes a point to which trying to make religious ranting funny is just impossible. It’s sad that people freak out so badly about things that I really wonder how they even enjoy life. Do they enjoy it? I remember back when the movie The Golden Compass came out, my mom called me, very concerned about both the film and for those who would watch it.

“They kill God in that movie!” she said.

“They tried that once.” I replied. “It only lasted about three days.”

We really need to take a deep breath and relax a little. It is God’s job to keep us out of error thinking, not our job to police one another with fanatical fervor. Yes, we would be wise to watch out for one another, but we need to take it down a few thousand notches and let people have a little more process and a little less control freak. God is not threatened by our failures, nor is He put off by them. He walks through them with us, helping and guiding us. Dead Religion, of any denomination or spiritual belief, lays rules and regulations upon us that no one can possibly meet up with. Jesus railed against it when he walked the earth, and unfortunately it seems not much has changed in that regard since. The more we make rules and regulations trying to act as the Spirit of God for other people, the more we place them under the very bondage Jesus came to deliver us from. It is for the sake of enjoying that freedom itself that Jesus set us free.

While reading back through the book to write this post, I was reminded of just how absolutely revelatory this book is—and how far ahead of its time it is for many. If you cannot see it clearly, let me explain. Right now in the Earth our Heavenly Father is working a Goodness Revolution. We have badly misunderstood His nature partly due to scriptural translation—where verses get translated one way that says God does bad things when they could just as easily and accurately be meant another way. Our Heavenly Father is trying to break through our wrong understandings and re-reveal Himself as the God of Love in the midst of our broken theology. Thus, He uses books like The Shack to reveal His love to us. If you actually let this book speak to you, somewhere between pages 100 and 230 you will find God sharing something of the depths of His nature, and you will learn and grow because of it. This book is far more about revealing the absolute love of God in the midst of brokenness and painful circumstances than it is about anything else, but if you let it speak to you then God will be able to even more than that.

The problem with The Shack is not so much the content of the product itself; rather the problem with The Shack is that it serves as a mirror to reveal what is in our hearts in this hour—and unfortunately for some people what gets revealed is anger, judgment, and oppression. Don’t let those people stop you. If nothing else, this book and movie are a test—one that each of us have the opportunity to pass. Will you let yourself get offended by something that has the potential to touch countless lives, encourage the hurting, and draw people closer to God (and has already been doing for ten years)? Or will you trust God to be big enough, knowing that He alone is the Counselor and Guide—the one who is responsible for transforming us into His likeness?

For those interested in reading the book, you can find it here:

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To Fling A Witch

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Shortly before I got married, my wife and I and a few other people took on a witch coven in spiritual warfare. It was a bit unexpected, and we had no plans for such activity. However, we were worshiping in my wife’s living room in the spirit I saw someone walking up the stairs to her second floor. It took me a moment to realize I was observing someone who had astral-projected into the house, but moments later I sprung into action. Sunshine and I walked upstairs as the others continued to worship and pray below. At the top of the stairs I turned left into the first bedroom, which had a doorway on the far end connecting to a bathroom and another small room.

Stepping into the room I immediately saw this person again, so I reached out and flung them across the room. While this might sound strange to some, astral bodies rarely can interact with physical objects, but nothing is stopping me, a spirit being who lives in a body, from interacting with them. Thus, I threw him. He fell, and I watched him crawl on his hands and knees through the hallway into the other room; we followed. Upon entering that room, I saw a vision of four people standing there, all of whom had projected in. We summarily ejected them from the premises.

That night and the days that followed were an intense time of training for me and my wife, as we had never dealt with anything of this level before–and for the most part hadn’t again until this past year. I discovered just how much our will directs what happens in the spirit realm. I discovered that there were prophets and prophetic people in ministry who were both aware of and able to spirit travel at will, but at that time were hiding it from the Body of Christ. I also discovered what happens when you win a battle but lose a war.

The next few years after this event I found my energy for Christian activities drained away. I still loved God but it was like I just didn’t have any emotional reserve available to actually get involved in anything spiritual. During this time I read a number of books by a range of spiritual authors, some of whom lack the revelation of Jesus Christ but who have done fascinating and informative study into a number of aspects of prayer, faith, miracles, and more. I didn’t understand why I felt so spiritually drained until I read a book by shamanic teacher Ted Andrews titled The Intercession of Spirits. In this book he discussed many things, but one in particular spoke to me at that moment–he shared how at one point he saw himself as a ‘psychic white knight’ and took on a guy who was psychically harassing a friend. What Ted didn’t know at the time was that this guy had an entire cult backing him, whereas Ted was alone. The moment I read this, a light bulb went on and I realized what I was experiencing was the result of fighting against a coven in a spiritual battle without fully understanding what I was involved in.

This is the sort of thing that I find seldom discussed, but it would have been extremely helpful to have learned. It isn’t something anyone I knew could have taught me simply because no one I knew had any experience in this arena to be able to teach–whether regarding spirit travel and astral projection, battling witches in the spirit, or anything else related. Since then I have found myself among others who have had a similar learning curve as myself–difficult but highly educational. I learned that what we oftentimes see as a one-time battle they tend to view as a long-term war. When we think we are finished, they’re just getting started–and we have to be in it for the long-haul.

While this might not seem a super upbeat or encouraging post, I believe it is important that we understand that not only is there a real spiritual battle with demonic forces, but there are humans who have willingly aligned themselves with powers of darkness and who actively seek out those whom they can attack. Over the years I have removed spiritual seals, broken curses, and in other ways dealt with the influence of witchcraft attacks both over myself, my wife, and friends and family. This isn’t a problem that goes away when we ignore it, and we must learn to become aware of the schemes of the enemy. We fight with powerful spiritual weaponry that is able to destroy the works of darkness and release the light of the Kingdom of God into the world, and I’ve read the end of the book: Jesus wins. No matter how difficult or dark things may get, keep fighting, keep your head up, and continue to pursue Heaven–for greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

Re-Engaging The Beloved

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Yesterday was Valentines Day–and on that day I spoke with a friend about a number of things, but one of them was about how it is hard to be single on this day. While I have been married for ten years, I am not a stranger to this struggle. Thirteen years ago I had a fairly devastating breakup with my high-school girlfriend. We had dated for two years straight and I was happing looking toward marrying her, when out of the blue she broke it off. While I am glad today that she did, it was difficult at the time, especially trying to figure out what direction to take with my life without her in it. The short version is that I decided to pursue God above all else, including not to date, expecting that if I sought Him, he would bring the wife along. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I took this at face value, deciding that I would not pray for her, look for her, or date. Three years later after doing just that, I had an unexpected six hour conversation with a friend, at the end of which I proposed to her, and within fourteen hours of beginning that conversation we were married. Fast forward ten years and I have been happily married to my very best friend whom I didn’t search for.

This isn’t the method for everyone, but it is for some of you. However, this word is for everyone—that as we continue to pursue Him, we will receive all else. I shared this word with my friend last night, telling him that God is wooing him, and how He wants to spend time with His love on this special day. I felt the Spirit nudging me even as I was giving this word to my friend, that God wants to draw nearer to me–and likewise wants me to do the same. James 4:8a says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” God is calling each of us to a higher level, to a deeper relationship, so He and we might know one another better.

My friend shared how he used to spend time praying and just enjoying being with God, and that after some funky church-related things happened, he lost that spark–not because God was any different, but because he was, and because life was. We talked about how we have both been in that place–deeply and frequently engaging in that God-relationship, to the point that we have each had our own encounter where Jesus appeared to us. While neither of us actually physically saw Him, Jesus revealed to us at those times that it was Him. And those are the kinds of encounters we both long to experience again.

People sometimes talk about the “gift” of being single. To those who are unmarried it usually doesn’t feel much like a gift, and the married ones are usually the one saying it. I found in my own time as a bachelor that yearning for that “someone” can be just as distracting as having that someone present, and whether married or single the possibility always exists that life can pull us away from the depths of relationship with God. This Valentines Day I have sensed and responded to the call to re-engage God. It’s not that I ever stop, on the one hand. He is in me and I in Him, and I talk to Him often enough. But there is a depth that I sense missing–a level to which I sense His Spirit calling me, saying:

My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
‘The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!’” (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

I encourage you that wherever you are, whatever level of relationship with God, seek Him and everything else will follow. Let Him touch those places of worry and fear, and silence the nagging doubts that spending time with Him simply isn’t enough. Yes, there are things to do, places to go, and people to see, and we will certainly do those things. But is life really richer without love? Is life really better-lived without the conscious presence of His love filling us? How can we expect to transform a world, much less our own families, if we won’t take time to come away and sit awhile with the One Who Is Above All Things, the lover of our souls? Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Take time to engage that relationship. Purpose in your heart to know Him above all else, for even as I have said, if we seek the Kingdom, God has promised that He will give us everything else. Happy Valentines Day, and may God richly bless and touch your life in a new way.

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Faith To Perform Miracles At Will

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Someone once asked me, “Do I have to have faith to be able to experience manifestations such as the gold dust, gemstones, feathers, and other miracles? Is it possible to experience them at will?” I have talked about this before, but I think it is a subject that bears repeating as there seems to be a variety of opinions out there on the subject, many of them in conflict with one another. The example I see from Jesus in the Bible is that faith is a big influencer regarding whether miracles happen (although it is not the only factor), and yes, the goal is to be able to perform miracles “at will.”

The whole at-will thing is usually what trips people up the most. The more religious-leaning start to get their pants in a bunch and complain that God is sovereign and we are supposed to let God do things sovereignly, not try and do them ourselves. After all, that would be witchcraft if we tried to perform miracles ourselves, right? And Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19), and we don’t want to be caught outside of God’s will. Yet if we actually looked at the example Jesus lived, he did things all the time—and quite often simply because someone asked. “Give to those who ask” (Matthew 5:42). The examples we see in the Bible regarding performing miracles are very different than the ones the overly-churched tend to spout off about.
Acts 10:38 says that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” It turns out that the will of God is pretty clear regarding setting anyone free who is under the power of the devil—and if we do that, then God is with us such that we don’t really need to ask “permission”—we already have it. Not only that, but the Bible shows us something I have named “Resident Miracles.”

Resident miracles are those miracles that one performs at-will because God has given him or her the ability to do so, and there are multiple people in the Bible to whom the text actually shows this is true. Off the top of my head I know factually that Moses did them, as did Jesus, Paul, and the Two Witnesses in Revelation. I’m pretty sure Elijah did them as well, but I’d have to double check. The argument that “miracles are to promote the Kingdom” isn’t even entirely true, as Jesus walked on water when no one was watching, no one was getting “fed” by it, and he was even planning to walk past the disciples and would have kept going if they didn’t ask him to stop. Miracles aren’t just about proving that God is real to people–they are about manifesting the power of a higher authority in a higher realm to govern the natural elements in this one. Miracles are about manifesting the Kingdom on earth regardless of the time, place, or reason. I believe one of the major stumbling blocks to experiencing miracles of any kind, whether gold dust appearing from heaven or a limb supernaturally growing out, is the belief that God only wants it for special people at special times in special places, usually for extremely mysterious reasons.

Romans 8:32 says, “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 that passage, the word “all” means “all”. All things. So it doesn’t matter what the religious pinhead sitting next to you says about the subject, God wants to give you all things. Alchemy, best known for trying to turn lead into gold, is just a non-saved person’s revelation that through God, all things are possible. Jesus turned water to wine, and I don’t even see people turning lead into gold by the power of God as being any different. God is not offended by such things, although the religious mind tries to meddle in the process. After all, Matthew 7:7-8 tells us to ask, seek, and knock, telling us that if we ask we will get what we ask for, and if we seek after something, we will certainly find it. We have been taught a lot of things about what God is and is not willing to do, and I believe most of it is nonsense. Our very belief that God doesn’t want to do these things is part of what holds us back. The Bible says that it is God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom–and whether people like it or not, that includes off-the-wall and sometimes offensive miracles such as gold dust, feathers, manna, and oil appearing from heaven. It includes literally anything else our minds can conceive, as God is able to do far more than we can comprehend.

Whether you are struggling with this idea of God performing strange miracles or are on board for God to do whatever He wants (and for us to do them too), God is dedicated to growing each of us from where we are to where He is taking us. I believe that as we open our minds to new possibilities, we will experience wonders and glories from Heaven that we have never considered before. May you be blessed with faith and grace for miracles, and may the Lord astound you today with His good works!

If you are interested in learning to engage the miraculous, consider reading the books in my God Signs series that discuss supernatural signs and shares you how you can engage heaven to live in a miracle flow.

Gemstones From Heaven

Feathers From Heaven

You Were Designed For A Unique Purpose

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A few weeks back my wife and I watched the movie “Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.” For those who haven’t seen it, the movie is essentially an X-men-style movie where varying individuals, known as “peculiars,” each have some sort of unique superpower. While watching, the Lord spoke a number of things to me, and I believe they will speak to you too.

As mentioned above, each of the children had their own superpower, and this meant that each had their own area or sphere of influence based on what their power governed. One child was responsible for helping grow plants–because her power was the ability to grow plants in seconds that would take months or even years in normal time. The Lord spoke a number of things to me during this movie, although “speak” is a relative term. He spoke to me as well as gave me a combination of visions and impressions that together carried a message.

What he shared was that like those children each have their own “special” something, I have been wondering recently if I have been fulfilling what I am designed to do. I have been questioning, “Am I doing what I have been called to do? Should I be doing something different?” You see, I don’t work with the homeless or evangelize people or minister to people in poor countries. I sit in my middle-class home, surf the internet, and write. But what the Lord showed me is that writing is exactly what I am called to do, at least here and now.

He showed me, “When people read the words on the page, words you wrote, something comes alive in them. When they read your books, they begin to hope. Faith is stirred up in them and they start to believe at a new level than they were able to believe before. A fire is alighted inside their hearts to trust me for new things. And that is what you have been called to do.” For me this is reassuring because I do wonder at times if I should be doing something “more meaningful” with my time. And yet, it turns out the thing I love doing (writing) is what God designed me to do!

I believe this is true of many of you–that you wonder and question if you should be doing something else instead of what you are doing now. Well, the word of the Lord to you (and to me) is to “stop should-ing on yourself.” You are designed with a purpose and have passions that cause you to fulfill that purpose.
1 Corinthians 12:15-30 says, “Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.”

If you have been feeling condemned because you haven’t fit into the very small and limited-scope ministry box the church has been telling you for years that “IT” is supposed to look like, be free. God has designed you for something different. You don’t “fit in” the normal way because that’s just not your way. It may be for some people, but you aren’t some people–you are you-niquely made to live your own life and to pursue your own passions. God is in the midst of them, because He has given you the deep longings and desires of your heart anyway. May you be free as you go out and live the way God created YOU to live–and don’t let anyone else hold you back from your purpose simply because it isn’t their’s. And if you are looking at trying to stop someone else, “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you” (Luke 9:50). Be at peace.

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. . . But I Might Miss Something

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Back when I met my wife, she had a friend named Deana (not her real name). Deana was never on time to anything–to the point they had dubbed this “Deana Time.” In addition to showing up for planned events hours late, in what can only be compared to African time, she would never commit to anything.

Anything.

Ever.

She really wouldn’t either. I remember one conversation I had with her where she was talking about not having enough money for things. I asked her why she wasn’t using her skills as a dental hygienist and her answer was, “Well, I might miss something.” “Miss what?” “I don’t know–but I might miss something.” This conversation continued for a while as I tried to help give her some insight on her situation. I discovered after a while that her problem wasn’t that she didn’t have money, or that she might miss something. Her problem was fear.

Deana was afraid she would miss out on something, but what she didn’t realize was that she already WAS missing out on things. Because she didn’t have a steady job, she didn’t have the financial security it would provide, and as a senior citizen, she struggled with income even though she was physically capable of working. Lacking the financial backing, anything that cost money outside of her meager budget was out of reach, and the stress and worry she had over her finances added to the problem. In short, she was already missing things–peace of mind for starters, but also other events and activities she would have enjoyed had she gone with the wisdom-option and gotten a job. Yet, the fear of “missing something” continued to hold her back.

I don’t know where Deana is now, ten years later, and I hope that she is in a better position than she was then, but as old habits die hard, I find it sadly unlikely. This is just one example of many as to why emotional healing is so important. When we don’t deal with our inner hurts and fears, we allow ourselves to be unknowingly guided by those fears in daily decisions. As we step into a new year, I encourage you to look at the habits and patterns in your life that hold you back, and consider how you can work toward healthier patterns in this coming year.

If you would like some assistance with developing new patterns, the following links may help:

Therapies

Freedom Flowers – flower and gem essences that help resolve negative emotional patterns and create healthy ones

Inner Healing Ministries

Freedom Encounters

Elijah House

Alice Briggs – Emotional and Spiritual Healing

Debalm Ministry

The Cognitive Dissonance of Not Raising the Dead

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I like to think of myself as a fairly logical person, so when I witness things that don’t seem to line up, I always find it strange. As followers of Jesus, the one thing that differentiates us from every other belief system isn’t dealing with sin. Lots of belief systems have either ways to deal with sin, don’t believe in sin, or value darkness as part of a balanced duality. The singular notable difference between our beliefs and that of others is resurrection in the here-and-now, so I find there to be cognitive dissonance when raising the dead is not an automatic go-to for believers when people die.

Think about it–even atheists who may not have a particular belief about afterlife will immediately attempt CPR on someone who has just died in an attempt to bring them back. As a nurse, I have been rigorously trained in exactly what to do when someone suddenly dies, and I received this training for one reason and one reason only: to bring them back. And let’s face it–if restarting a dead person’s heart and breathing isn’t a form of resurrection, I don’t know what is because at the point their heart stops, they’re dead. If we do nothing, they will never live again, yet if we do something they may come back.

Medical professionals all across the WORLD follow this as a natural part of their daily work whether EMS, Doctors, Nurses, or other support staff. Many companies also pay to have their employees trained in CPR in case someone dies. So why not the church? Why is it an abnormal thing to teach and train people to raise the dead? Why is it unusual when someone wants to spend a few days praying for the dead to return to life instead of rushing to plan a funeral? Honestly, this boggles my mind.

I suggest the Church needs a new way of doing things. As I see it, we are currently far behind even just modern technology in our ability (or lack thereof) to deal with death, and for those who are empowered by the Creator God of the entire universe this simply shouldn’t be so. How do we correct this then? I suggest it starts by recognizing that we are doing something wrong. This isn’t a shame and blame sort of thing, but we need to understand that we truly don’t grasp God’s plans for our lives. When we acknowledge we are falling short in this area, then we can seek a solution. What is the best solution? Learn about abundant life. Learn about God’s power to raise the dead. Learn about the will of God to destroy the power of death and destruction.

I have included a series of resources below to help you shift your thinking and learn to raise the dead. The Raise the Dead Initiative is a project I started to help grow the Body in this area, and I am in the process of developing teaching curriculum to train believers to pray for and raise the dead. Additionally, Tyler Johnson is an awesome man of God and good friend who regularly teaches Resurrection Schools to help transform our understanding on the subject of resurrection life. He has Dead Raising Teams around the world who are ready to mobilize in their area to release the abundant life of Jesus Christ. If you want to grow quickly in this area, I highly recommend five things:

1. Sign up for our Raise the Dead Initiative mailing list here to receive updates including my upcoming book Faith To Raise The Dead.

2. Join the RDI on Facebook here: Raise the Dead Initiative Group

2. Look at how you can host or attend a Resurrection School in your area. Contact Tyler Johnson via his website at http://www.oneglance.org/ to arrange the event.

3. Buy Tyler’s books How to Raise the Dead and The Dead Are Raised, and Father Hebert’s book Saints Who Raised The Dead

4. Watch/listen to David Hogan’s YouTube Series on the subject of Raising the Dead: Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Session 4

5. Look for and actively engage opportunities to raise the dead in your area.

Ask of Me and I Will Give You Nations

As an author, I have to have time to write. I post a blog article each week, as well as occasional guest articles and writing books. Book writing isn’t necessarily hard, but it is time-consuming. In order to stay current with all the different writing and marketing that I do, I have to make good use of time. God has played a major role in my ability to do that, as He has given me great favor and blessing at work to be able to get paid by my current employer to write.

While at first this might sound unethical, I do not write for my own website and books when there is work to do–I do it when there is nothing else to do and I can either read a book, talk with coworkers, or write. So I write. You see, God is interested in creating more time and ability for me to succeed in life–and the same goes for you. How do I know this? I’m not the only one who has had this happen. If a well-known paramedic friend’s previous employer knew just how much they had paid him over the years to build his career as an author, they would probably be sick–and it’s all due to the favor and blessing of God.

God wants to prosper us in every area of life, and that includes finances. There is nothing spiritual about poverty–it is demonic bondage that brings death, so Jesus naturally opposes it. As such, God will work in our lives to make room to prosper us. We might not rocket to the top of the world in business, but God will provide ideas for ways to either start a business or increase our income–using methods unique to us.

How will God do that? Usually it involves time. I have had times where I had a LOT to do, whether because I was behind on articles and had deadlines to meet, or for some other reason. On my drive into work I would pray, “God, please give me an easy work night so that I will have time to work on the writing-related things I need to get done.” Often when I pray this, God is faithful to free up time during my shift to allow me to work on my website while meeting all the needs of my work position. While this wasn’t true of every job I have had, it has been true of the jobs when I really needed it.

Some people think this is just for the special few, but Psalm 2:7-8 says, “I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.'” God is interested in using US to touch the entire earth. It doesn’t matter how–God will be creative with each of us to work that out. I know campus pastors who don’t have to go to nations because students from all over the world come to them! One person may be a housekeeper, but the presence they bring into the homes where they work helps free others to go make the world a better place as well. Our work has a ripple-effect in this earth, and God will give us wisdom on how to prosper us while making the world a better place. Ask God what plans He has for you and how He plans to prosper you. Take some time to listen, write it down, and then move forward with the plans God has given you. It may take time, but God is faithful and He will walk you through it!

As a side-note, for those of you who feel called to write, I want to invite you to join our merry band of Warrior Scribes. You can find us connecting on Facebook in the group The Time is Write, a group that is made up of almost entirely Christian authors, although not limited to any particular belief set. If you are in need of web services to get yourself started, consider using my affiliate link to Bluehost, a website hosting service I am quite pleased with and who runs all my sites. If you need an email list service to get your business off the ground and to stay connected with others, consider using Mailchimp (contact me and I will send you an affiliate link) another service I use and am quite happy with.

Transforming a Culture on Purpose

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I wrote this article last year, when it first aired as a guest post on PrayingMedic.com (here) and JesseBirkey.com (here). As the new year starts I believe it is important to re-consider our goals and perspectives and how we can make a positive impact on society by transforming a culture on purpose. Read on:

I have had the privilege over the past number of years to become increasingly connected with certain other believers who not only hold similar Kingdom values, but who have a similar goal in mind–to transform our culture by changing both what people think and how they think about it.

While this may sound a bit creepy at first, let me clarify. There is a group of individuals who are already doing this, and have been at it for years. Sometimes called the Illuminati, sometimes given other names, their goal is world-takeover on the highest levels, and they realized a long time ago that the way to do this was through socialization–changing what and how we think, as these two things directly impact how we live. I, too, want to transform our culture, but in a very different way. I believe it is our job to change the way the world thinks in order to see the Kingdom of God manifest on earth as it already is doing so in heaven.

This transformation doesn’t happen overnight, nor does it happen by accident. No, it is the result of an ongoing, purposeful attempt to steer thought and conversation in specific directions. Take, for example, the idea of Spirit Travel. I can remember that ten years ago, no one in Christian circles was talking about this subject. The VERY few people who were said almost nothing about it and the whole thing was very hush-hush. In other words, people were doing it and just not talking about it because the rest of the body would freak out about it.

Three and a half years ago I posted a Facebook note titled “To Project or Not to Project: That IS the Question” talking about spirit travel including terminology on the subject as well as common beliefs on the subject and offering a new perspective on this poorly-understood topic. The conversation thread had over 200 comments, with a number of people who got extremely accusatory toward me, almost as though by discussing the topic I was directly performing witchcraft on them–which is absurd. With a number of other things that went on behind the scenes I ended up having to block a number of people, as some were clearly not ready for this subject. Just a few weeks ago (now this past spring), a close friend posted a thread on Facebook about Spirit Travel and got over 100 comments, only one of which was negative!

What was the difference between three and a half years ago and now? A lot. Over the past few years these friends of mine and I have done a lot of discussion on the subject. We have attempted to educate people on the topic and it seems to be working. I am not saying that my little group of friends and I have been single-handedly responsible for this shift. I should mention that conveniently, in the past three years there has been a significant increase in the number of people who are teaching on this topic, three main ones being Ian Clayton, Mike Parsons, and Justin Abraham. What I am saying, however, is that because we have been purposeful about shifting the conversation, it has opened many people up to the concept so that when these teachings by these other ministers have come along, the soil of their hearts was tilled and ready to receive.

There are a number of things I am pretty purposeful about talking about and sharing, including but not limited to translocation and spirit travel, resurrection from the dead and immortality, miracles, and inner healing and deliverance. I believe each of these areas needs additional attention from the Body of Christ, and that each of these subjects holds keys to transform this world. The point of being purposeful isn’t to bend the world to our will so much as it is to create a platform where a free flow of ideas creates an openness to the topics we find important. There is something about this idea of “collective consciousness” where when enough people get on board with a topic it starts to reach a critical mass. As this happens, the flow of revelation that comes from heaven to earth actually increases based on the demand we are placing on that revelation.

Our methods are pretty simple: open conversation on a subject even if it is poorly regarded, help other people view the subject in a new light, and continue to share new insights as we get them. As this happens, invariably new people with different insights are drawn into the conversation, and the total body of knowledge on the subject increases. As this happens, more and more people begin to get heavenly downloads and jump on board, and like a snowball rolling down a hill, the movement grows. I feel it is safe to say that just based on the response to Spirit Travel three years ago versus now that our methods are working. I should mention that we are very transparent about this, as evidenced by such things as this article you are reading now. Our goal isn’t to manipulate for untoward gain, but rather that as we all grow, we are better able to access Kingdom tools that God designed for us long ago.

I believe this is a method God has given us to help transform the earth, and I encourage you to see how you can put this to good use in your own life! You might begin by identifying key areas that you feel God is leading you to purposefully engage, and take a risk–step out on a limb and share something you might not get good feedback on. I know in my own life I began to talk about things because I believed that many other people were experiencing similar things but were too afraid to talk about them. By stepping out and being the “first one” I broke the silence. It was pretty amazing to me the number of other people who had confirming experiences, some of which were even more radical than my own! The key isn’t to get positive feedback, but rather to start the conversation. By opening up the floor, whether on social media, your own blog, in conversations with family and friends, or all of the above, you are putting a demand on heaven and God is ready and willing to respond! The flow of heaven is far more directed by our desires and expectations than you may think. Things are accelerating and change is breaking through at unprecedented speeds. Get started today and be surprised in a few years what differences you see.

If you would like to read more about the subject of 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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DID Self-Healing: Integrating Fragments and Alters

I have been working with a prayer counselor for over a year now to work on what could be termed soul-healing. While I have discussed in previous articles about what fragments are and why they are important to address, I have not as of yet discussed how to heal them when you don’t have a prayer-partner available to help. The benefit of this for me is that I can accelerate the integration process, using the work I do with my counselor as a base to pursue further prayer work on my own. Thus, I will attempt to explain my own process of fragment self-healing.

When I first learned about and started working in this area, I realized I had already done some self-healing fragment work but didn’t know at the time that I was working with fragments. All I knew was that what I saw in the spirit seemed to be effective so I would do it from time to time with no terminology for it. Since then I have developed a slightly more defined method that works well for me, and hopefully it will work well for you. If not, my hope is that it provides some insight that you can use to develop your own method.

I used to begin by imagining a large space with a platform in the center. On that platform was a pillar of gold or blue light, with a small version of me in the middle. I view this as my “core self”. I would envision lots of people standing outside the pillar–other versions or aspects of myself that needed to be brought into unity and wholeness. I would then mentally intend or will for those fragments to line up and walk up the steps of the platform and into the light. As they would walk into the pillar, they would be sucked inside my image of my core self. One of the things that surprised me when I did this was just how many fragments were milling around outside the light pillar–hundreds, possibly more. Even when I had them line up and integrate, there were usually still many more that wouldn’t get in line and join together.

This was one of the things that showed me I was on to something. Typically, when I daydream and imagine something, I am fully in control of what happens because it is all inside my mind. When I engage spiritual reality, not everything responds according to my will simply because there are other sentient beings involved whose choices I can’t control. In this case, those fragments who chose not to integrate were those who were either not ready or not willing to do so. I would at times try to make them integrate, but that only worked minimally as I could sense them fighting against me.

Fast forward years later, I still use an integration method that is similar, but I have added a few components. First, while I still make use of a “fragment plain”–the open space filled with fragments–I have changed the way I visualize the location. Now I often imagine myself in the throne room of God with the fragments and my core self in front of the Father. Jesus is there and I ask Him and the angels to help me integrate the fragments, which they do. I begin by asking Jesus to separate all the fragments who are ready to integrate at this moment, and to have them come join my core self. Then I ask the angels to minister to all of the fragments who are close to being ready, but who aren’t quite there yet. As I do this, and give it a few minutes, sometimes they will choose to integrate as well. Finally, I ask Jesus to work on the ones who aren’t ready–and most especially to reveal Himself to the fragments that don’t know Him.

The most recent time I did fragment self-healing was while driving to work. For some this may seem dangerous but I have become accustomed to engaging the visionary realm while doing other activities, so it was relatively safe and easy for me. What surprised me was that on this particular occasion as I began to have the fragments integrate, I began to cry. This is significant to me because I have found when working with fragments that crying indicates healing and integration. In the natural our bodies release tears when negative emotional energies are released, and the physical composition of our tears are different from when we have something in our eye. Thus, when I found myself crying it further confirmed to me that this method actually works and isn’t a figment of my imagination.

The main benefit of self-integration is that I don’t have to wait for someone else. Jesus is the Master-healer and if I let Him guide the session it tends to be effective. Previously when I didn’t understand what I was doing I tried to force the fragments to integrate via my will, and while it worked for some, there were others that simply wouldn’t respond and nothing I did could make them. When Jesus loves them into submission, they willingly go where He leads, and as He is the Good Shepherd, they are able to trust Him with their safety and well-being when it comes time to integrate.

The other important thing about being Spirit-led in this process, and letting Jesus run the show, is that He will often do more than I expect. Most recently He took three fragments with Him that He indicated needed special attention–and far more help than I was going to be able to provide them on my own. From what I was able to discern, these particular fragments were under heavy demonic bondage. He assured me that in the right time He would integrate them with me, but that He was going to do a deep work in them and set them free.

If fragment self-healing is something you are interested in or have been seeking, consider trying the method laid out above. If the idea of using the throne room of God doesn’t work for you, try another location. The fragment plain is always a good option, and you can fill it with healing power and glory light in prayer before you assemble your fragments there. The benefit of the light pillar is that it acts as a protective mechanism for your core self–keeping it inside the pillar and having the other fragments come to it is an act of submission and/or subservience, which really just ensures that no other personalities take over during the integration process. While it is not extremely common, it can happen, so the protective screen seems prudent to me.

If you try this out, consider commenting and sharing your experiences below. Share what worked, what didn’t work, and any new things you learn along the way. If you have another method that works well for you, share that as well–because I firmly believe when we share what we know, together we grow. Blessings!

These techniques I used are now available with additional techniques and advice in my new coauthored book Broken to Whole: Inner Healing for the Fragmented Soul . In this book you will learn not only how to identify fragmented parts of your soul and spirit that need healing and integration, but you will uncover why and how they got broken to begin with, as well as what problems they have been causing in your life. I believe that many readers will find a light-bulb goes on in their minds as they read this book. You will begin to uncover contributing spiritual factors behind frustrating life patterns, physical ailments, and more, as well as techniques and solutions on how to fix them. I encourage you to pick up a copy of Broken To Whole today to kick-start and accelerate your healing journey.

For those interested in additional help, you can use the “Fragment Finder” flower essence by Freedom Flowers as an adjunct. alongside the book to help move your emotional healing journey forward even faster.

The Problem With The Shack

To Fling A Witch

Re-Engaging The Beloved

Faith To Perform Miracles At Will

You Were Designed For A Unique Purpose

. . . But I Might Miss Something

The Cognitive Dissonance of Not Raising the Dead

Ask of Me and I Will Give You Nations

Transforming a Culture on Purpose

DID Self-Healing: Integrating Fragments and Alters

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