Spiritual Renewal

Covenant with Death

September 16, 2015

The Lord is restoring the biblical foundations of our faith that have been masked and replaced with paganistic precepts of men. From the days of the early Church the battle lines were fiercely deployed around issues empowering the Body, matters that kept its efforts connected to the flow of the Spirit. Systematically, the power of the Spirit once ascribed to the early church has been replaced by an anemic institutional power that has resulted in a church history rife in corruption and politics. Even today, the precepts that encourage a weak institution rather than a vibrant Spirit-led organism that changes cultures are only exceeded by those who ridicule people of faith who have sought to emulate the power of the early church, only to fall. The deception is in treating the reach as sin rather than the fall. The glory that has consistently manifested from the days of the patriarchs is being restored. From the forgotten covenants, to the foundations laid out by Moses, to the tabernacle of David, all significant elements of the vibrant dynamic of the early church, are being rediscovered and restored.

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When Honor Is Restored

August 24, 2015

Jesus indicated that His message of abiding would bring great joy. From that would come the heart of the warrior that would love as Jesus loved and be willing to lay down their lives for their friends. Peter once bragged that he would be of that heart, but braggadocio fails. He did. Similarly, when he tried to respond in his own strength in the Garden of Gethsemane with a sword, he again failed. Peter had to get past himself. For Peter to assume the mantle of fire and authority that he was called to operate with took a level of humility and honor that accompanies the heart of a seasoned and tested warrior. There is a righteous remnant that has been prepared. These are ones who have been tested, who have emerged from the fires without the smell of smoke. It is why humility and honor are the brandmarks of true warriors. It is these who will be the catalysts for revival who will wield the mantle of fire that brings the change and restoration being orchestrated by God in this hour.

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Glory Manifested

August 7, 2015

Jesus came to raise the standard. He raised the bar. He reset the spiritual default to conform to God’s heart and priorities. Resetting priorities in this way releases the mantle of fire of God’s glory to bring change and restoration. With the glory Jesus imparted to His followers came the authority to reestablish God’s order in the midst of a world masked and ruled by disorder. The fire that Jesus had kindled manifested significantly following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Scripture describes it as a time when great fear (of God) came upon all the church and to as many who were exposed to and were hearing about the supernatural manifestations happening. It was a time marked by the consciousness of His presence in everyday life.

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The Mantle of Fire

July 20, 2015

True spiritual maturity leads. It is evidenced by those who take responsibility beyond their selves, face the fire, and penetrate the veil to reverse the bondages. The full knowledge of the Lord (Eph 4) is not a head-thing or the resolution of all our soulish issues; but rather an operational application of the mantle of fire. That doesn’t come from a Sunday-go-to-meeting, adapted to-the-world orientation. It demands a pure Kingdom mind-set and identity; by which we live by dying, our weaknesses become the seedbed for His strength, we advance by yielding and lead by serving, we bless our enemies, wisdom comes from simplicity, our purpose in life comes from giving it up, honor flows from humility and growth results from proactive generosity. Jesus raised the bar. We are in a time in which the wisdom and power that flowed in the early church is not just being restored. It will become the launch-pad for even greater levels of the release of His power and glory. Those wielding the mantle of pure fire will pierce the extremes of darkness with God’s glory and power. The pure fire has always been tied to God’s presence and the consumption of darkness in its wake. The word to the church for this day is to reach for the fire, the pure fire.

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The Religious Spirit

April 28, 2015

Christian groups, from churches, to ministries, to marketplace organizations seeking to overcome the world, too often measure their success — and approach their goals as an issue driven by money. In the Kingdom, that is the cart before the horse. In reality it is a matter of stewardship. The loss of this focus leads to the influence of mammon, whereby the love or quest of money rules. Jesus said: “he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). Good stewardship will prevail in its mastery over whatever resource is truly managed. However, when the religious spirit is compounded with the love or quest of money, then the gates are opened for disorder, division, critical distrust and an array of controlling, manipulating spirits. Given free reign it digresses into sorcery and the misuse of the anointing by what some refer to as Charismatic witchcraft.

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The Ancient Challenge

April 8, 2015

At the crux of this age-old drama have been game-changers, leaders with alliances both from within and outside the community of God’s people, whose righteous response to His standard would advance His purposes. This advance has been demonstrated with strategies impacting the infrastructures of culture, economies and power. Yet, the most important elements for historians: God and His chosen people Zion have largely been ignored in recording the story of man. Understanding the times and knowing what to do rest on a realistic grasp of the historic strategies employed by God and His chosen. Abraham established the community model for God’s people to live in self-sufficiency, as a people of God. Isaac gleaned the secret of God’s economy and supernaturally prospered through God, despite the impact of famine. Joseph demonstrated how stewardship that abides in God’s presence can influence the spiritual climate of a society and release God’s authority within its infrastructures, to overcome impending evil and to accomplish God’s purposes. Moses provided the framework for the Abrahamic model to inoculate itself from the subtle wickedness of the surrounding world and become a society of the righteous, living for God. David demonstrated the leadership response to God’s guidance needed to shape a society of diverse factions into a Kingdom of God’s people, that would prompt awe for God and His people from all those around them. Jesus raised the bar to the ancient challenge and opened the gates to the authority that governs cultures, economies and power. In so doing He set the Kingdom standard for applying righteous power in a corrupt world.

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The Creative Path

February 19, 2015

These dimensions of God are beyond the ordinary thresholds of how most people are wired to think and act. Paul described these unlimited facets of His presence as the riches of God’s glory. Jesus advanced this reality by admonishing His followers to seek the oneness of abiding — in Him. In His presence is a glory to be partaken when our interactions with Him are pure. The heart of God desires a people willing to transcend the boundaries of human limitations and in truth, meekness and righteousness (Ps 45:4), to share in these dimensions with Him. In approaching these boundless dimensions of His nature, there is a pathway that uncovers, engenders and releases the creative. Discerning the voice of the Lord is the gateway. This gateway leads to the discovery of much more.

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Doing Good

November 30, 2014

The Apostle James strongly emphasizes holding to the standard as DOERS of the word. The admonition is to make it a lifestyle. Jesus points to the big-picture with the priority He calls on to be given to the stewardship of preparation and doing. The big picture purpose will become clearer as we get our interim priorities aligned. Then God’s judgment against evil will trigger the gates to His glory being manifested within the household of faith. The world sees beyond the press releases and promotional spins given by the household of faith. The world is looking for the reality of God. The process, as a people — not the end — is our witness. That’s why revival is so significant. God’s presence is a consuming fire. It’s the irresistible draw that cuts past the superficial and phony and gives focus to what matters and what is real. For those awash in the evil and turbulence taking place in the world today, we — the household of faith — are the signposts and lifeboats. People will be drawn by what they see operating within our ranks. When we get the “doing good” right, THEN the reality of God is demonstrated, which draws the world like a magnet. The big picture is in doing good, but getting it right first within the household of faith.
“So, let your light shine before men, that they may see your GOOD WORKS and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matt 5:16

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Response to Evil

November 23, 2014

At the core of the way of the Kingdom is how we respond to evil. Our mind-sets play a significant role in this response. The first premise is that we cannot hope for much by responding in our own strength or cleverness, no matter how much we verbalize it. It takes a great deal more, even for the most talented. Psalm 60 describes a people who have strayed and lost the power and protection of God against evil. It outlines the need to be restored and highlights what is required to maintain that place in which God intervenes on their behalf. Over the centuries, the Lord has imparted banners and standards for the good of His people. They serve an initial function to help us avoid the subtleties of evil. When ignored, they still provide the means of deliverance, although at a higher cost when evil inroads can only be met by judgment. The banner displayed gives first priority to embracing the unequivocal fear of the Lord. That calls for a choice. The standard then sets the stage to unveil the truth and the reality of God that empowers deliverance. It is the foundation from which we can cry out to the Lord and expect the manifestation of His power. Bondages result when God’s supernatural standards are watered down with the natural. Within the Body are many who enjoy God’s blessings yet are constrained from crossing the boundaries into what is represented by the fullness of their callings. The constraints typically are self-imposed, driven by precepts of men, with the standards influenced by both individual and cultural mind-sets and predispositions. The response to evil draws a line in the sand. Not recklessly or arbitrarily, but rather as a choice and a priority to uphold the standard. That choice is contrary to the way the world responds. That sometimes means sacrifice. Yet, that choice is the very foundation that Jesus imparted to His followers during His three year earthly ministry.

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Hidden Wisdom

November 5, 2014

There is a threshold that has been sought by cultures and generations. It is the threshold that taps the resources of God’s glory. It is the chasm that is bridged when the limitations of the natural are superseded by the supernatural. When released, dramatic change results. No power on earth can stand against it. Yet, not unlike the time of the tower of Babel, cultures and generations possess a power, blinded against God, that transcends the sum of it parts. This power ties into the dynamic of the tree of knowledge that was perverted in the garden. Counterfeits have abounded. It is why God told Abraham to leave his family and the country of Ur, the land of the Chaldeans where sorcery had its roots. God’s glory and the release of His hidden wisdom will not abide or compromise with either the occult or pop wisdom. It operates on a spiritual level far beyond the counterfeits and illusions of a watered-down status quo. This threshold must be overcome in God to see the true reality of God operating. When this takes place, it releases what we call revival or the ongoing manifest Presence of God among a people.

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