By Tim Shey
Copyright 2006 Tim Shey
All Bible quotations taken from The King James Version or the New Oxford Annotated Bible (Revised Standard Version).
272 pages (Part I & Part II)
272 pages (Part I & Part II)
9 September 2003
Jeremiah 23: 19 & 20: “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.”
Jeremiah 30: 23 & 24: “Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goes forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it. And until He has performed the intents of His heart. In the latter days you will consider it.”
30 October 2003
Isaiah 9: 18 & 19: “For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.”
7 November 2003
Jeremiah 1: 12: “Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.”
9 December 2003
Somewhere in August or September of 2000 I had a dream where George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were sitting and I was standing behind them. I was crouching down a little with my arms out-stretched, embracing them. We were all smiling. I knew that George W. Bush would be President after that dream.
In the year 2003, I had two dreams where I saw George W. Bush and myself. In one of the dreams, I was sitting at a table with George W. Bush and some other people and we were talking to each other.
I started having dreams from the Lord in 1990. Around 7 September of that year, I had a dream of a miscarriage of a young lady I knew in Ames, Iowa. [Her name was Dawn Lehmann (now Dawn Harris)]. The miscarriage happened on 7 January 1991. I had several dreams concerning this woman while I was living in Ames. I thought that the reason why I had several dreams concerning this young lady was that she would be my wife someday. But now I look back and I believe the Lord was telling me that the reason she had the miscarriage was because of the dead church that she belonged to [Great Commission Church; now called Stonebrook Community Church]—they rejected the Holy Ghost, they did not live by faith and they were conformed to the world.
10 December 2003
On 7 September 1990, I saw a woman that I knew in a dream. She was pregnant with two babies. I could see the two babies in her womb and then both turned black. I saw myself vomit and the name of this woman passed before my eyes. When I woke up, I was very disturbed. She had the miscarriage on 7 January 1991.
On 22 January 1992, I saw a man that I knew walking with a little boy—they were both holding hands. The little boy was about two years old and his head was overlarge, ugly and grotesque. This man pointed to his son and laughed at me. The next scene was a funeral: I saw a casket and I believe the little boy was in the casket. In another scene, I saw someone lifting up an infant boy and his face was shining—light was coming out of him and somebody said, “Oh, what a beautiful baby!” or “What a handsome baby!” In my spirit, I believe that he was my son. I was weeping in the dream (because of the funeral scene); when I awoke, a tear was rolling down my cheek. I was very disturbed.
I was sleeping once—maybe around 1993—and a voice said, “The devil got Dawn Lehmann and Gary Harris together”. They were married in December of 1989. She had the miscarriage in January of 1991.
When I was living in Ames, I typed up all the significant dreams that I had (that was in the fall of 1995), but I no longer have a copy of this typescript.
I was fellowshipping with a couple of Christian women in Ames in December 2000 or January 2001, and the one lady said she had a vision of my wife dressed in a wedding dress. She had blond hair. She had a little hat on her head and there were suitcases and baggage in the scene. In my spirit, I thought the wedding took place in Washington, D.C. A few weeks later, this same lady had a vision of me flying in jet airplanes—passenger planes.
I have had two or three dreams concerning Harold Pike Construction Company of Ames, Iowa. Pike Construction hired me ten times from 1996 to 2001. The dreams happened somewhere in 1997 to 2000. They happened when I was hitchhiking—the Lord was showing me that I would go back to work at Pike Construction—at least temporarily.
Since 2001, I have had two or three dreams where I saw money. I am guessing that in September of 2001, when I was hitchhiking through Topeka, Kansas (I slept outside someplace), I had a dream where I saw a wad of money—it looked like thousands and thousands of dollars. Once or twice in 2003, I had a dream where I saw money.
I was hitchhiking in Oregon—I believe it was 26 March 2001— I stayed in a motel in a small town west of Corvallis (it might have been Philomath). I had a dream where I saw my dad, Jerry Shey, in a casket.
When I was hitchhiking in Maryland in 1997, I was sleeping in the woods and in the dream I saw my German grandparents (Herb and Lena Balgeman) and they were smiling at me.
In August of 2003, I had a dream and I told a Christian brother, “You finally have your house now.” That was the day before I rebuked someone in the house for unrepented sin—he later left the house permanently—in October.
I was living in Casper, Wyoming in October of 2002. In the dream, I was fighting Arnold Schwarzenegger in a fistfight. I attacked him three times. Arnold was much bigger than me in the dream—he seemed like he was seven feet tall. In my spirit, I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger symbolized a satanic stronghold, which represented my dad, Jerry Shey. I believe the dream meant that I would have to hitchhike back to my parents’ home at least three more times and deal with the satanic stronghold in the Shey family. If I remember right, I think I hitchhiked back to my parents’ home four more times between November 1st of 2002 and the end of February 2003. February 2003 was the last time I saw my parents.
In August of 2003, the same night that I had the dream concerning a certain Christian brother, I had another short dream. In the dream, I saw my dad, Jerry Shey, and I said something like, “So how does it feel like to burn in hell for an eternity?” or “Soon you will be burning in hell for an eternity.” My dad took a swing at me and missed my nose by half an inch.
27 December 2003
I don’t know if this dream was from the Lord, but last night I saw President George W. Bush take a handgun and shoot Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the head. Does this mean that Rumsfeld will be fired or forced to resign? This morning I looked at my roommate’s TIME magazine and there is a lengthy article on Donald Rumsfeld—29 December 2003/5 January 2004 issue. The article is titled: “Secretary of War” by Michael Duffy and Mark Thompson. I just glanced at the article. I did read the article on Paul Wolfowitz called “The Godfather of the Iraq War”. I was for the Gulf War in 1991 and I am for the Iraq War in 2003. Dictators are meant for the doghouse or the grave; we should never, never negotiate with dictators. Presidents and Prime Ministers are voted into power; dictators kill people to get into power. I think Donald Rumsfeld has done a good job at Defense, so if this dream is from the Lord, then I don’t know what it means.
This added 6 March 2005: maybe this dream means that Secretary Rumsfeld will be under fire because of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. When President Bush shoots Rumsfeld in the head, I did not see Rumsfeld fall down and die.
**********
Yesterday, while I was listening to the Christian radio station (Moody Bible Institute), I had my eyes closed and the Presence of God was very strong. I saw lots and lots of hundred-dollar bills—like they were straight off the press.
31 December 2003
Last night, I dreamed that I was Vice President of the United States. There were two scenes to the dream. I was walking around with a couple of Secret Service men. I felt like such a greenhorn.
10 January 2004
The only time that I heard an audible voice was in December of 1989. I was in bed, sleeping, when I heard a strong, stern, masculine voice say, “Prepare thyself!” Immediately, I woke up and looked down at my roommate’s digital alarm clock and it was 5:09 AM. My roommate was fast asleep.
13 January 2004
Last night, I had a dream where I was sitting at a table talking with Dan Quayle and another man.
16 March 2004
Last night, I had a dream where I was talking with my mom and her sister, Irene. I told my mom that she should read the Bible. She had a look of conviction on her face and of fear. She said that she and her husband made a decision years ago not to read the Bible. I said something like, “Why, are you afraid it might convict you of sin?” I remember reading some scriptures to my aunt (my mom’s sister Irene) and she got convicted and I told my mom about this. Then I told my mom that her dad, Herbert Balgeman, was a strong, Bible-believing Christian and what would he think? My mom didn’t say anything, but my Aunt Irene smiled at me. (My dad is an unbelieving, unsaved, Roman Catholic—he rejects Christ and hates the Word of God).
25 March 2004
The night before The Passion of the Christ was shown at the theater (25 February), I had a dream where Mel Gibson was looking up at me. I had another dream, maybe two or three months ago, where I was talking with Mel Gibson about something. I have now seen The Passion five times here in Jackson, Wyoming. It is a powerful, beautiful, disturbing film—it disturbs people because it is the truth—and the truth always hurts. The Lord wounds us so that He can heal us. Tomorrow will be my forty-fourth birthday.
29 March 2004
Last night, in a dream I saw my mom talking with Laura Bush, President Bush’s wife.
13 April 2004
Last night, I had a dream where I spoke with my late grandfather, Herbert Balgeman, about some scriptures. He passed away to be with the Lord on 7 July 1977. I was a pallbearer at his funeral; I was seventeen years old.
15 April 2004
Last night, I dreamed I was reading a thick business magazine and I saw a picture of my dad. Then I saw the words “obituary” and “D.J. Shey” and “10 October 2004”. Maybe my dad will pass away in October; he was born in 1927.
This added 22 January 2005: Maybe this dream means that a curse will be broken on 10 October 2004--a curse that I inherited from Jerry Shey and his ancestors. Unbroken curses can pass down through many generations. Curses are broken through the Blood of Jesus, having the Word of God engrafted into your spirit and obeying the Holy Ghost.
8 June 2004
Ezekiel 24: 24: “Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord God.”
13 June 2004
Ezekiel 33: 33: “And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.”
1 July 2004
Last night, I had a dream where I was talking candidly with President George W. Bush. He was smiling. President Bush left the house we were in and I stayed behind. It seemed like I was the caretaker of the house. Then it was nighttime and German terrorists attacked the house. I saw people running around the grounds of the house I was living in. The grounds of the house were extensive. They (the German terrorists) had a fancy jet fighter and they were strafing the house. The jet fighter was red and black and it crashed close to the house. Then this well-dressed, blond-haired German, who was a secret agent, walked up to me with a wicked smile on his face and said that he was here to kill me. He had a syringe in his hand with a long needle—the syringe contained some highly lethal poison. I told him that no poison could kill me. I bared my arm and told him to inject me with the poison. He injected the poison into my arm and you could see the green poison go into my veins, but nothing happened—I did not die*.
****************************************
3 July 2004
Job 33:15-17:
“In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.”
Matthew 2:12:
“And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.”
****************************************
*Later in the month of July, the Lord had me watch the movie Die Hard starring Bruce Willis. That movie confirmed the dream of 1 July 2004. Bruce Willis’ character, John McClane, took out some German terrorists/thieves and saved the day. While President Bush was in Europe, I interceded against the principalities and powers of Europe (Germany?). Germany opposed us (the United States) in the Iraq War.
In June, the Lord had me watch the movie Behind Enemy Lines at a motel in Ohio about three days after I hitchhiked out of Washington, D.C. President Bush was behind enemy lines in Europe in June of 2004.
In 1990, the Lord began revealing things to me through movies. In the summer of 1990, the Lord had me see Die Hard II starring Bruce Willis at the theater near where I lived in Ames, Iowa. Since that time, the Lord has had me see many films where He wanted to show me something or teach me something. High Plains Drifter starring Clint Eastwood (1973) is a classic example. High Plains Drifter is my biography; that film reminds me of Jeremiah 51:20 and Isaiah 63:1-6.
6 July 2004
Revelation 3: 5: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment: and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
**********
Acts 3: 23: (Deuteronomy 18: 19) “And it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”
16 September 2004
Last night I had a dream where I saw President George W. Bush sitting in a chair and his eyes were red because he had been weeping. I walked up to him, he stood up and smiled at me and we shook hands. We spoke to each other for a short while and then I walked into another room in the house where we were in. This room had many windows. I was alone in this room and I began to weep bitter tears because President Bush’s wife had passed away. I saw the number 67 and I believe it meant that she (Laura Bush) died at the age of sixty-seven. When I awoke, I was very agitated in my spirit.
On the morning of 17 September 2004 I saw a movie at a motel in Clarkston, Washington that the Lord wanted me to see. It was Minority Report starring Tom Cruise, directed by Steven Spielberg. That movie was confirmation that these dreams from the Lord will come true in God’s time and in God’s way. The Lord’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
22 September 2004
Last night I had a dream where I saw Benny Hinn. I saw him in three scenes. He was smiling at me in all three scenes. One scene, he was walking up the aisle of a church where there were a lot of people and he turned and smiled at me.
I have met many people who do not like Benny Hinn. Benny Hinn is greatly anointed with the Holy Ghost. The more you are anointed with the Holy Ghost, the more you convict people of sin. And there are Christians who don’t believe in healing and the power of the Holy Spirit. Look at the parable of the ten virgins: five lamps were burning and five were not. If you don’t want the Holy Ghost Fire, the Lord won’t give it to you. Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you. If you don’t want to be intimate with the Lord, you will pay the price because of your lukewarmness. Benny Hinn is not lukewarm; he has the Holy Ghost Fire.
27 September 2004
Last night I had a dream where I saw the Jerry Shey farm back in Iowa. I saw all the buildings: the barn, the sheds, everything that makes up your basic farm and it was all falling apart. There was this ice storm and the buildings would be covered with ice and then they would collapse under the weight of the ice. Everything was falling apart.
22 October 2004
Last night I had a dream where I was walking with my backpack up a corridor—like in a football stadium—the walls were made of concrete. Then behind me came President George W. Bush. He was walking a little faster than I was. He passed me, turned his head and smiled at me. I waved my left hand in acknowledgement. President Bush walked ahead of me and then opened a door to his left and walked into a room. I continued walking up the corridor.
29 October 2004
Last night I had a dream where I was walking and this car pulled up beside me. In the front seat of the car were three, young women. They looked like they were in their twenties; they were beautiful and dressed very sexy. They smiled at me and looked like they were very interested in getting to know me. They talked to me, but I don’t remember what they said. The next scene I was in a room and this beautiful, young woman dressed in a tight-fitting black dress walked up to me and put her arms around my shoulders and looked like she greatly desired me. She said that she wanted to have sex with me. Then these two or three beautiful women came from another room and walked past and smiled at me. They walked out of the house. Then I heard this man’s voice coming from another room. I told the woman that there was another man in the house. In my spirit I thought that the man’s voice was the voice of Satan. I told the woman that I could not have sex with her because I was a Christian. She looked very disappointed and told me that God wants us to love each other. I then walked out the door and out of the house.
30 October 2004
In mid-October I had enough money to get a motel in Clarkston, Washington. While there I saw Die Hard and Behind Enemy Lines in the afternoon; I saw Paths of Glory (1957; starring Kirk Douglas, directed by Stanley Kubrick), and Sergeant York (1940; starring Gary Cooper), in the evening. These films bore witness with my spirit. Something akin to these films is going to happen in my future, e.g. spiritual warfare, taking out satanic strongholds.
**********
1 November 2004
Numbers 12: 6:
“And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.”
Acts 2: 16 & 17:
“But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”
Genesis 37: 5-11
Matthew 2: 13; 2: 19; 2: 22
Matthew 27: 19
**********
3 November 2004
Last night I had two dreams. The first dream was longer than the second. In the first dream, I was chasing a fugitive: I was trying to capture a criminal and bring him back to prison. I was tracking him over rocky, hilly terrain. Coach Dan McCarney (Iowa State University head football coach) was on higher ground with a concerned look on his face—it was as if he was telling me to be careful because this could be a dangerous situation. When I finally caught up to the fugitive, he turned around and pointed a handgun at me (it looked like a 9 mm.) and fired six times from twenty feet away. Nothing happened: I did not die.
In the second dream, this man was sitting next to me and we were having a conversation. Suddenly he pulled out a .44 magnum handgun, stuck it into my ribs and fired. There was a loud bang, but I did not die. I grabbed the gun and pointed it at him. He had a surprised look on his face.
5 November 2004
A few days ago, I was hitchhiking south of Grangeville, Idaho and this guy named Charlie picked me up. He was a Christian and he was going all the way to Arizona.
We were somewhere south a number of miles when he said, “We’ve been here before.”
I said, “Oh, déjà vu?”
“No,” he said. “I had a dream a while back. In the dream I picked you up and gave you a ride. It was as if the Lord was telling me that it would be a good trip.”
“Wow. Really?” I said. “That’s pretty incredible.” I was flabbergasted.
Charlie bought me something to eat in New Meadows. He took me all the way to Fruitland, Idaho where we had a powerful prayer meeting. I told him that the Lord was bringing him to a new place so that he could start over again—a new beginning. I knew he would have a very blessed trip.
6 November 2004
Last night I had a dream where I was in a place where these people were being killed—a death camp. I was standing in line with the rest of these people that were waiting to be killed. There were many tractor-trailers (with open trailers like a dump truck) filled with dead bodies and they were going to some place in the country. I escaped the camp and had to crawl and walk on this tractor-trailer/dump truck with dead bodies wrapped in burlap bags; they were stacked neatly in rows—like sardines. There were some bodies that were still alive. I made my way through this empty, dingy town. These three men in a small car were chasing me. I helped this woman and her daughter escape. It was a long dream; I don’t remember all the details.
23 November 2004
Last night I had a dream where I was talking with Mel Gibson and Rene Russo, who was a co-star in the Ransom film. It was a long dream. I believe I know the meaning of this dream.
**********
In September or October of 2003 this young Christian that I knew in Jackson, Wyoming rebuked me because I didn’t have a job (he used the Scripture “If you don’t work, you don’t eat”), I didn’t go to church on Sunday and I didn’t preach salvation. I listened to him for a while and then I said rather forcibly, “This is my work!” What is my work? Obeying the Holy Spirit, being a prayer walker (intercessory prayer), preaching the Kingdom. Salvation is nice, but it is the beginning, it is the Door to the Gospel. The Lord does not merely want us to be born-again, but to be conformed to Him—mature, Holy Spirit-obeying Christians.
So as I hitchhiked out of Jackson and into Idaho, I told the Lord that He must reveal to these shallow, baby Christians the work that I am doing. Talking to them is like talking to a pile of dead wood. I hitchhiked for a week or two and then came back to Jackson. The young man who rebuked me told me that he had a dream and that I was in it.
In the dream he was in a house. He opened the door to the house and there I was at the doorstep. I was wearing a white robe. I had big rings under my eyes and had this tired, worn-out, haggard look on my face. I opened my robe and I was naked. Between my knees was some contraption that held a bucket that collected my piss. This young man knelt down, took the bucket and poured the piss outside onto the ground.
That dream was answered prayer. That dream was a rebuke from the Lord to that young Christian. A month or two later that young Christian apologized to me in so many words for not believing me when I told him that I hear from God and that I obey the Holy Spirit. Maybe now he knows that he is worthy to take out my piss.
Touch not my anointed; do my prophets no harm.
30 November 2004
Last night I had a dream where I was in a house filled with a lot of people. It may have been a restaurant. I saw President George W. Bush and his wife and we had a pleasant, friendly conversation. President Bush asked me if he could buy me something to eat and join them for dinner. I said that that would be fine with me. He asked me about my hitchhiking experiences and I told them that I had a short story published (“High Plains Drifter”; Ethos magazine, May 1995) and two poems published (“A Prophet’s Eyes”, “Shiloh”; Ethos magazine, February/March 1997) and that I wrote a book about my hitchhiking throughout the United States. They said that they were interested in reading them. I left that room to get a copy of my short story and two poems and, as I walked to where President and Mrs. Bush were sitting, I had to walk through a room of powerful, important people. Among those people I saw Dan Quayle, the former Vice President of the United States under President George H. W. Bush.
18 December 2004
Somewhere in December of 1991 some friends of mine invited me to some Pentecostal church in Marshalltown, Iowa. That Sunday a prophetess from Minnesota gave the sermon. She was originally from Greece. After the sermon, she walked through the people gathered in the church and prophesied over every one of them. When she came to me she said, “You have a message to give.” I didn’t think about it much at the time: if it (the prophecy) was from the Lord, fine; if it wasn’t from the Lord, fine.
It wasn’t until 1998 that the Lord told me that her prophecy came to pass in 1997 when my two poems “A Prophet’s Eyes” and “Shiloh” were published in Ethos magazine. I believe “Shiloh” disturbed a lot of people. “Shiloh” was absolutely inspired by (dictated to me by) the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would wake me up in the middle of the night and I would have to write down several more verses—that happened for three nights. The great miracle about the whole thing is that the Lord told me to submit these two poems to Ethos, which is a secular magazine, and they were published. Ethos is published by the Journalism Department at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
24 December 2004
Last night I stayed in a motel in Blanco, Texas. I watched part of the film Godfather II; I have seen this film several times. The scene the Lord wanted me to see was where the young Vito Corleone took a handgun, wrapped it in a towel (probably to hide the gun and to muffle the sound) and murdered Don Fanucci, who was the local Mafia strongman. Don Fanucci was a member of The Black Hand.
Last night I had a dream where I was at the Jerry Shey farm in Iowa. I was standing outside the Shey house with a machine gun in my hand. The machine gun was wrapped in a towel. I fired many rounds into the house—I could see bullet holes in the windows.
The Lord showed me that I was taking out a satanic stronghold (Jerry Shey/the Shey family) just like Vito Corleone took out Don Fanucci. Don Fanucci was very oppressive; the Shey family was very oppressive. The machine gun in my hand was the power of the Holy Ghost in my life. When you are anointed with the power of the Holy Ghost, you become a battleaxe in the Lord’s hand. I am a battleaxe. Jeremiah 51: 20.
I was hitchhiking in Wyoming a couple of years ago and I saw the jawbone of a deer or an antelope lying on the side of the road. The Lord showed me the jawbone and told me that I was the jawbone of an ass. At first, I said jokingly, Thanks a lot, Lord—but as time went on, I began to realize that in the Old Testament the sword was an object; in the New Testament the sword is a subject. If you are in Christ, the sword is in you: the Word of God, the Holy Ghost, the Blood of Jesus. If I abide in Christ, I am a weapon, a sword, a battleaxe—I am the jawbone of an ass in the Lord’s hand. Samson slew his thousand; David his ten thousands; I will slay my hundred thousands. No weapon formed against me shall prosper.
29 December 2004
When the Lord healed me of manic-depression in January of 1986, I came home and told my parents. Their reaction was very unfavorable. My dad began to mock me and make fun of me because I told him that I was going off my medication. I had been on lithium and some anti-psychotic, which didn’t do me much good because manic-depression is a spiritual problem (demonic bondage) and not a chemical problem or chemical imbalance. Depression is a sin problem: repent of the sin and the Lord will heal you.
The rejection and cruel mocking of my dad was constant till on Easter week of 1986—Thursday, Friday and Saturday—I had the wounds of Christ in my hands, my feet, my side and around my head. You could not see the wounds, but there was constant, hot, searing pain in my hands, feet, side and there was a circle of pain around the top of my head. On Easter Sunday, the pain ceased. In April 1986, I left the Shey farm permanently.
9 January 2005
Last night I stayed at the shelter in Riverton, Wyoming. This morning, just as I walked out of the bathroom, the movie The Fifth Element, starring Bruce Willis, was on TV. The most important scene of the movie was playing as I stopped to watch. It is where Bruce Willis is holding the Fifth Element in his arms and this planet/asteroid is heading towards the Earth to destroy it. Just then Bruce Willis tells the Fifth Element that he loves her. Then the Fifth Element throws back her head and this powerful stream of light shoots skyward from her mouth and it stops the planet/asteroid from destroying the Earth. The Lord has shown me this scene several times. It is intercessory prayer—exactly what I am doing. I am interceding for President George W. Bush to protect him from Satan.
Isn’t it great how the Lord shows me His will for my life and how He teaches me and reveals to me things through movies. Not just movies, but through newspapers, magazines, billboards, license plates, conversations with people, birds flying south, the weather (weather changes), earthquakes, tsunamis—anything in God’s creation to get my attention to show me what He is doing in the Earth and what He is doing in my life.
Back in September of 2001, the Lord had me watch The Pelican Brief starring Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts to show me that someone wanted to assassinate President George W. Bush. The Lord told me to phone the White House on the morning of 7 September 2001 to warn them of an assassination plot. At noon that same day, the Lord told me, “the assassin shall be assassinated”—just like in that scene from The Pelican Brief where that guy named Rupert (hired by the CIA) kills the assassin who wants to kill Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts). Four days later on 11 September 2001 that plane crashed in western PA—the plane thought to be targeting the White House. The assassin was assassinated. Praise the Lord!
I do believe that the SARS epidemic (or pandemic) that hit China and Canada a year or two ago was because they (China and Canada) opposed the United States in the Iraq War. The deaths in Germany and France that resulted from heat exhaustion happened because they opposed the United States in the Iraq War. The tsunami that hit Indonesia was because the Muslims in those countries are actively fighting against the United States and Israel.
You can’t kick against the pricks. God shall not be mocked. I believe the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was a result of sin. I just read an article in today’s Billings Gazette that John Wesley thought the 1755 Lisbon, Portugal Earthquake/Tsunami was a result of sin. Amen to that, brother. Jesus Christ is Lord: things happen for a reason; there are no accidents. It was absolute perfect timing when I saw The Fifth Element this morning. Perfect timing. Thank you, Lord.
11 January 2005
I have been reading the Prophets Hosea, Joel and Amos this afternoon. Then I came to Chapter 7 in Amos. I believe the Lord is telling me something in Chapter 7: “And the Lord said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the Lord, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more.” I will not again pass by them any more. Amos 7: 8. I believe the Lord is showing me something in this verse.
12 January 2005
Just some thoughts on the Iraq War: The Lord has blessed America and will continue to bless America because the United States has taken Saddam Hussein out of power. Saddam Hussein is a weapon of mass destruction. Guns don’t kill people; people kill people. Weapons of mass destruction don’t kill people; Saddam Hussein kills (did use weapons of mass destruction to kill) people. Saddam Hussein hates Israel. Since the United States is actively trying to protect Israel, the Lord will continue to bless America. He who blesses Israel shall be blessed; He who curses Israel shall be cursed. Historically, nations that oppose Israel, Great Britain and the United States are taken out and brought down by the Lord. Why? Because historically Israel, Great Britain and the United States have been actively propagating the Law, the Prophets and the New Testament—the Word of God—throughout the world. No weapon formed against thee shall prosper.
**********
Obadiah 10-15.
Obadiah 1.
Obadiah 4.
Amos 8: 1-3: “I will not again pass by them any more.”
Micah 7:6: “…a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”
14 January 2005
It was on 2 January 2005 that the Lord gave me a vision of a woman who may be my wife someday. I had just visited with a Christian woman that I knew in Riverton and was walking back to the shelter where I was staying; it was in the afternoon.
In the vision I saw a woman wearing a blue dress with white flecks in it. She had blond hair and had wide hips. Her back was turned toward me; I did not see her face. I wonder if the Lord will have me meet my future wife in 2005.
21 January 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was walking through this town with my backpack. I saw four or five men working on a vehicle and I walked up to them. There was Mel Gibson working with them. I approached Mel Gibson and said, “Thanks a lot for making The Passion. It was a great movie.” I shook his hand and he smiled at me. I then said, “God bless you,” and Mel Gibson said, “He already has.” I then walked on down the road.
26 January 2005
Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
27 January 2005
Ezekiel 22:30: “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it.”
28 January 2005
Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago. Copyright 1964.
Pages 462 and 463: General George Patton says, "'Now, gentlemen, doubtless from time to time there will be some complaints that we are pushing people too hard. I don't give a good Goddamn about such complaints. I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat is worth a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we'll kill, and gentlemen, the more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing means fewer casualties. I want you to remember that.
'There's another thing I want you to remember. Forget this Goddamn business of worrying about our flanks. We must guard our flanks, but not to the extent that we don't do anything else. Some Goddamned fool once said that flanks must be secured, and since then sons of bitches all over the world have been going crazy guarding their flanks. We don't want any of that in the Third Army. Flanks are something for the enemy to worry about, not us.
'Also, I don't want to get any messages saying, "I'm holding my position." We're not holding anything! Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and are not interested in holding anything, except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him and kick the hell out of him all the time.
'Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We have one motto, L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace! Remember that, gentlemen. From here on out, until we win or die in the attempt, we will always be audacious.'"
Page 501: "One of the reporters confided to him that General Marshall, in a candid review of the command situation in Normandy, had said:
'Bradley will lead the invasion. But he is just a limited-objective general. When we get moving, Patton is the man with the drive and imagination to do the dangerous things fast.'"
****
I Samuel 25: 14-17: "But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him."
Verses 21 and 22: "Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall."
Verses 36-39: "And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. And it came to pass about ten days after, that the Lord smote Nabal, that he died. And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the Lord, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife."
1 February 2005
Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago.
Page 259 and 260: “Once during the Battle of the Bulge, in December, 1944, he called Rosevich to his office in Luxembourg at 4 A.M. His secretary found him partly dressed, wearing a combination of his swank uniform and pajamas, indicating that he must have jumped straight from bed for his dictation. Rosevich was used to such summonses at all hours of the day and night, to act immediately upon whatever inspiration his mercurial boss might have had, often, it seemed, in his dreams.
“It developed then that Patton was expecting the Germans to mount an attack at a certain spot on Christmas Day. Acting apparently on hunch, he had decided to anticipate the move by mounting an attack of his own. He called Joe in to dictate the order for the operation.
“When it was out of the way and the transcript was given to the staff, Patton relaxed again and went back to bed. ‘In the morning we attacked, almost at the very moment the Germans were jumping off,’ Rosevich recalled. ‘They were stopped cold in their frozen tracks. Patton thus averted what could have become a serious threat to his flank.’
“A day or two later, during another one of his sessions with Rosevich, Patton recalled his nocturnal inspiration and said with a smug smile: ‘To tell you the truth, I didn’t know at all that the German attack was coming. In the future some people will call it luck and some will call it genius.’
“’What would you call it, General?’ Rosevich asked. Patton looked at him, as if astonished by the question. He paused, then said:
’Determination.’”
Page 556: “It was true that Leclerc was becoming unruly and restless. Gallant, skilled and recklessly brave, he was a whole man, a compleat soldier, and a thoroughbred tanker after Patton’s heart. He had paid with blood and sweat for his impending honor. The Germans had captured him in 1940. He escaped, changed his name to protect his family in occupied France, made his way to de Gaulle, and led a desert striking force across the Sahara from Fort Lamy to Tripoli to join Montgomery’s Eighth Army. This was his fifth year at war, four of them hard and humiliating. Now the sweat scent of France, the native soil under his feet, the heady summer of the Calvados, the proximity of Paris, and the excitement of his historic mission had made him drunk with impatience.”
2 February 2005
Last night I had a dream where I saw Mel Gibson.
**********
About five nights ago I was staying at the Good Samaritan Mission in Jackson, Wyoming. I stayed there for three nights and met up with a few friends that I hadn’t seen since the spring of 2004. The last night I was at the mission, I had a dream concerning a young man who lives in Jackson. It was a negative dream. I had another negative dream concerning this same man back in December of 2003. I had to rebuke this man for unrepented sin back in 2003. Everybody who knows this guy thinks he is a Christian; I don’t. I believe he is a counterfeit Christian. Just because you go to church on Sunday and own a Bible and give lip-service prayers once in a while doesn’t make you a Christian. Since I met this guy, he has not shown any interest in the Gospel of Jesus Christ whatsoever. If you are chasing the world or chasing yourself (self–will, the soul life) then you are not chasing God—the Will of our heavenly Father. The love of the world is enmity with the Father.
3 February 2005
About a week ago I had a dream where I saw a woman that I met in Washington State in the fall of 2004. She is a Christian, is married to a Christian and has children. In the dream she was sitting, had her arms crossed across her chest and had this defiant, independent look on her face. It was as if she were saying, “I don’t have to.” Or maybe it was “I don’t have to submit.”
The Lord showed me months ago that she had a mild Jezebel spirit and that her husband had a mild Ahab spirit. One time I was at their supper table preaching in the power of the Holy Ghost and she got really convicted and nervous.
Women need to submit to their husbands (and men in general) and husbands need to be strong, spiritual coverings for their wives. Women are the weaker vessels. Satan loves to work through women to hinder the work of men—especially the work of Christian men. Both men and women need to be vigilant in this regard. Satan worked through Eve to bring the downfall of Adam and all mankind. I really believe that if Adam had not eaten of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that he would have been able to restore Eve. But Adam was passive and Eve was curious, so Satan was able to work his iniquity into the race of man. Curiosity killed the cat.
Look at the movie Alien (1979) starring Sigourney Weaver. The crew of the freighter Nostromo was curious about those alien eggs. One of the crew got infected (became a host for the alien fetus) which led to the death of the whole crew except Ripley (Weaver). Let us not study sin, or be curious about sin, but let us eschew evil and remain engrafted into the Tree of Life—the Lord Jesus Christ.
**********
I think it is interesting to note that the great enemy of Elijah was Jezebel—probably the most wicked queen in the history of Israel. She wanted to kill Elijah, who was the great man of God for that time. So Jezebel opposed God. Herodias (another type of Jezebel) had John the Baptist’s head chopped off when King Herod was in a drunken stupor (state of passivity and weakness). John the Baptist was God’s man till Jesus arrived on the scene. The spirit of Jezebel (Herodias) opposed God again.
The power of the Holy Ghost began to be poured out in the early 1900s in places like Topeka, Kansas; Wales in Great Britain (1904); Azusa Street in Los Angeles (1906-1909); the Latter Rain Revival in the 1940s and 1950s. The rise of feminism (the Jezebel spirit) began in the 1960s and is still with us today. Why? Because God is moving, the Holy Ghost Christians are getting stronger and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is getting closer and closer. Satan needs the Jezebel spirit to oppose any move of God: like in the Garden of Eden, in the time of Elijah, in the time of John the Baptist and Jesus and now before Shiloh comes and rules with a rod of iron and restores all things. Genesis 49:10: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come: and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
5 February 2005
Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”
Genesis 3:6: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
The beginning of the Jezebel spirit.
In the summer of 2004 I prayed with a youth pastor in Montana to break the power of a Jezebel spirit in a woman that went to his church. After we finished praying, he saw me in the spirit with a sword in my hand slicing through the air—it was as if the Lord was showing us that the Jezebel curse over that woman was broken and destroyed. A few days later, the Lord showed me “ripple effect”.
If we are faithful in small things, we will be faithful in big things. Before David killed Goliath, he had killed the bear and the lion. If we are men of faith, we must continue our warfare from smaller battles (victories) to larger battles (victories). If a lieutenant is successful on the battlefield, he is then promoted to a captain. If a captain is successful, he becomes a major; a major to a colonel, a colonel to a general. Look at the life of Four Star General George S. Patton, Jr.: if he had not been faithful on the battlefields of northern France in World War I, the Lord would not have entrusted him with the greater riches and responsibilities to command any armies in North Africa, Sicily, France and Germany in World War II. We must constantly move forward engaging the enemy wherever the Lord puts us. We must not dig in or move backward. We live by faith, so as not to trample the Precious Blood of Jesus underfoot. It is only by faith that we are able to please God. So in faith we move on from smaller victories (tactical) over sin to larger victories (strategic) over sin.
I believe the key to overall, strategic, worldwide victory over Satan is to destroy all Jezebel strongholds. In the past few weeks, the Lord has been showing me the origins of sin in the Earth and the Jezebel spirit. Sin came through the woman, but Adam in his passivity allowed it to happen. Adam, if you love (cover) Eve, then why do you let her even think of talking with this subtle, evil creature named Satan? Our conversation is with God, not the Devil; we do not study sin--we kill it before it turns into an uncontrollable monster.
If Christian men would truly love (cover) their wives, they would aggressively pray for them and be submitted to the authority of our Heavenly Father. I believe that if a man is truly submitted to the will of our Heavenly Father, that this alone is the most powerful covering for a woman. If Adam had been truly submitted (obedient) to our Heavenly Father, Satan would not have been able to even speak to Eve, because Adam would have put himself between Satan and his wife.
I get sick of being around these pukish, spineless men who are not aggressively seeking God. They are just setting themselves up for disaster: they make themselves targets for Satan and make themselves pawns to be dominated by wicked men and women. As Christians, we are supposed to dominate and subdue the Earth through our Christ-imputed righteousness. Deuteronomy 28: 1-2: “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.”
How do we break the strongholds of Jezebel? Through obedience to the Lord. Whatever the Lord tells us to do, we must do it—even if it seems absolutely crazy and ridiculous. Take my hitchhiking all over the United States, for example. It is not my will to hitchhike. The Lord told me to do it. In the past nine years of my hitchhiking, the Lord has broken all kinds of curses in my life. These can come out only through prayer and fasting. Hitchhiking is a type of prayer and fasting. I am fasting from self-will. Self-will is Satanic and anti-God. To break the selfish desires in our life, we must obey the Lord and do HIS will. Not my will, but thine be done.
Going back to “ripple effect”. If I have been faithful in obeying the Lord in taking out a Jezebel spirit on a personal level, then I believe in my spirit that the Lord wants me to continue to take out Jezebel strongholds at the tactical and strategic levels. In faith I say this: there will be more victories on the horizon as long as I continue to abide in and obey the Lord.
6 February 2005
Last night the Presence of God was very strong as I watched Matrix Revolutions starring Keanu Reaves and Lawrence Fishburne. I first saw the last half of this movie back in 2004. I first saw Matrix Reloaded in 2003. These two films are outstanding. I have only seen maybe fifteen minutes of The Matrix—the rock and roll music in that film was too satanic—it was as if my whole body, soul and spirit were rejecting it.
Whoever wrote Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions had to have been a Christian. These two films are classics in spiritual warfare: Christ versus Satan. Neo (Keanu Reaves) is Jesus, the Superman, the God-Man, the New Man. Smith is Satan. Zion is a great name for that underground city that Neo saves when he dies at the end of Matrix Revolutions.
Neo became Smith so as to destroy Smith; Jesus became sin to destroy the power of Satan in the Earth. In the Old Testament, Moses set up the bronze serpent in the wilderness so that the Israelites who were bitten by snakes could be healed if they looked upon the bronze serpent. Neo became a scapegoat, a bronze serpent, a sacrificial offering to free the people of Zion from the internal tyranny of Smith and the external warfare of the Machines. It was a vicarious sacrifice.
In the movie, Neo and Lawrence Fishburne’s character were always living by faith, revelation, spiritual (Holy Spirit) leadings. The commander of Zion’s military forces made the comment that Lawrence Fishburne’s character believed in miracles—he believed what the Oracle said and he believed in Neo. The Oracle was a type of John the Baptist or Elijah. The Oracle was always pointing to Neo. Neo had to complete his work—his sacrificial death—in the City of the Machines to save Zion. The City of the Machines is the world and crass, unconscious materialism. The world was externally trying to destroy Zion; Smith was internally trying to destroy Zion. The only hope for Zion was through Neo’s heroic death.
One Godly, righteous man can effect incredible change in the Earth. The prayer (the spiritual warfare, intercession) of a righteous man availeth much. The death of Jesus Christ forever changed the order of things in this world because Satan was overthrown and his power destroyed. If we believe in his death and resurrection, we will pass from death to life and have overcoming power (through the shed Blood and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost) over Satan. John Wesley is said to have single-handedly (along with help from his brother Charles Wesley and George Whitefield and others) saved Great Britain from the evil influence of the French Revolution (1789) through his preaching on horseback to many towns and villages in England. The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a Christian revolution; the French Revolution was a satanic revolution. The Bolshevik Revolution (1917) was a satanic revolution. The leaders of the American Revolution gave the Thirteen Colonies (the United States) its freedom. The United States has helped to free Europe from Nazism (World War II), Eastern Europe from Communism (thanks much to the leadership of President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s) and now, under the leadership of President George W. Bush, the United States has freed Afghanistan and Iraq from oppressive dictatorships.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer and others have powerful television ministries that help effect change throughout the world. One single, solitary life that is dead to self and filled with the power of the Holy Ghost can move mountains in this life and after they have died. Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest is still influencing millions upon millions of people today; Chambers died in 1917. John Milton (especially his essays “Areopagitica”, “A Second Defense of the English People” and “Of Christian Doctrine”), John Locke (considered the philosopher of the American Revolution) and George Whitefield (through his preaching) had powerful influences on the American Revolution and enduring influences on American society to this day. The United States of America probably has less than five per cent of the land mass and population of the rest of the world, but it has incredible power and influence in the world. Why? Because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is still being freely preached in this country. The Gospel is not shackled. Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
Gospel. Liberty. Ripple effect. Eventually all Satanic strongholds will fall and the freedom and life and light of the Lord Jesus Christ will reach every nation and tribe in the Earth.
The death of Neo in Matrix Revolutions was the single, solitary, great revolutionary act in that film. Neo’s death destroyed Smith, turned the world upside down and brought peace and freedom to Zion. The New Man died so that the people of Zion could become born-again and live as New Men.
Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission for sin.
**********
The past few days I have been thinking a lot about the number 12. In Biblical numerology, 12 means government. The two most influential nations in the world since the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 by England and the hand of God have been Great Britain and the United States. Great Britain had a powerful influence on the world since at least the 1600s till 1945, when the United States emerged from World War II as a superpower. Why? Because there was enough salt (Christianity) in Great Britain and the United States to preserve these nations and the Lord blessed these nations with the wealth and the resources to send missionaries all over the world. Why is it that an American like me of German-Irish stock speaks English? Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Lord used Great Britain to spread the Gospel all over the world via its large navy—military and civilian. English is the worldwide language of diplomacy, business and computerspeak. England is a small country, but has much influence in the world because the English were faithful in propagating the Gospel. The English translated the Bible from Latin into English; the names of Wycliffe and Tyndale are known all over the world for their translations.
Samson took a jawbone of an ass and slew a thousand Philistines. This is a principle of faith in the Word of God. The Lord took a seeming minority like Samson and in the power of the Holy Ghost dominated and destroyed a thousand men. We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus our Lord. At the height of the British Empire, Great Britain had a quarter of the Earth’s landmass and I would imagine that Great Britain is less than one per cent of the world’s landmass. In the secular domain, I am sure that the banks in London have much influence, as do British Intelligence, the British Parliament, Britain’s industry and so on.
“Great Britain” has twelve letters in it and “United States” has twelve letters in it. The Lord still rules in the affairs of men and is using Great Britain and the United States to govern the world. Also, “England” has seven letters and “America” has seven letters. 7 is God’s number. I know that the Lord has used and will continue to use Great Britain and the United States to effect His will in the Earth as long as they remain faithful to Him. A little salt can preserve a whole nation. It would be great if the Lord raised up another John Wesley or George Whitefield so as to re-awaken the British people; I have heard that Great Britain has a low percentage (maybe seven per cent—no pun intended) of born-again Christians. I have read from two or three sources that the United States may have around thirty to thirty-five percent that are born-again.
Israel is a tiny country and has a lot of influence in the world today. That shows you the enduring power of the Law and the Prophets and of God’s faithfulness to Israel through the Abrahamic Covenant and the Davidic Covenant. “Israel” has 6 letters; six is half of twelve. Israel signifies the Old Testament. Great Britain and the United States signify the Old and New Testaments: I hope that this is not a stretch, but Old Testament (6) plus New Testament (6) equals Government (12). We know that 6 is the number of man. The Bible has 66 books. The Lord inspired the Bible for man. The Old Testament is for man and the New Testament is for man. The Bible gives us strength, wisdom, God’s plan for man’s redemption from sin, the Judaeo-Christian view of history; the Bible has good health tips and has great guidelines for government. If the Word of God and the Holy Ghost can help govern a man and keep him from sin, then several Godly men should govern a city and more Godly men should be able to govern a state or a nation. A Godly nation should be able to govern the world and negate the satanic influence of the United Nations. Israel had twelve tribes and there were twelve apostles that came out of Israel to preach the Gospel after Jesus died and rose from the dead. 12 plus 12 equals 24 (a double portion of 12; a double portion of government): Spiritual Israel, Spiritual Zion, New Jerusalem is governing the world today.
7 February 2005
Back in August 1989 while I was living in Ames, Iowa, I was taking a nap and this intense light shown through my body like an X-ray. I screamed in excruciating pain when it happened. It may have lasted only a few seconds, but what I saw was significant. As the intense light shown through my body, I could see a big, black blob on my right side—from my upper right chest down into my right leg. Immediately, I realized that the Lord was showing me the demonic stronghold (the strongman?) in my body.
Around February of 1997 while I was working at Harold Pike Construction Company, I was at the warehouse checking the oil in a truck parked outside. Just then a couple of Pike employees drove by in a truck, and since there was some good, wet snow on the ground, I decided to grab a handful and throw a snowball at their vehicle as a little distraction. Just as I threw the snowball, a shot of pain went through my right ribcage. I thought I had pulled a muscle. I was very sore. The next morning I was so sore I could barely breathe and I had to call in to Pike Construction and tell them that I wouldn’t make it to work that day. The next day I came to work, but was greatly hindered by my “injured” ribcage. It healed up in about four days and I have had no problem since.
The Lord showed me that I had been delivered from a demon. Sometimes when demons come out, they rip and tear and cause temporary soreness. This soreness sometimes feels like a bone is broken. The soreness can last any where from twenty-four hours to three weeks (in my experience). The demon that came out of me, I believe, was a soul tie with my mom.
Why did the demon come out? Because a week before the deliverance, the Lord woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to write a letter to my mom rebuking her and her husband for the way they had treated me for so many years because of my Christian faith and other things. Example: dad put me in four mental hospitals and had me pay roughly $5000.00 in hospital bills and then he later told me that he paid for it. I also spent nine and a half months in Ireland back in 1981 and 1982 using my own hard-earned money (between the ages of eleven and sixteen, I earned several thousand dollars raising 4-H cattle, baling hay, walking beans, working for farmers, etc.) and he later took credit for paying for it. Also, my dad usually ignored me and my accomplishments or else took credit for them. I told my mom in the letter that I did not trust or respect her or her husband. They had never acknowledged the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ healed me of manic-depression back in 1986. Since they rejected me, they rejected Christ. In the letter, I ripped into them pretty good. Satan runs that family and I had been dreaming of getting away from that family since I was seven years old.
When my mom received and read that scathing letter, I believe that a soul tie between her and myself was broken. A curse was broken, and the demon could no longer stay in my body. What a relief that was. When we obey the Lord, bondage is broken. The anointing breaks the yoke of sin.
Something interesting happened last night that is related to the preceding several paragraphs. I was watching Batman (the second movie), starring Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfeiffer, and watched it for maybe a half hour. During that half hour, the Lord showed me a scene that was very significant. Batman got in a fight with Catwoman, and during the fight, Catwoman was able to claw his right ribcage and draw blood. Later, at the Batcave, Batman pulled a broken claw from his right side and proceeded to bandage up his wound. Very interesting.
In Genesis 2: 21-22, the Lord God put Adam to sleep and took a rib from his side, and from this rib, created Eve. I wonder if the rib came from Adam’s right side. The rib could be literal or the rib could be DNA.
In God’s plan, the woman would be a helpmate to the man. After the Fall, the woman became a hindrance to man because of her sin and man hindered creation because of his sin. Creation still groans under the heavy burden of Adamic sin, and awaits the manifestation of the sons of God to liberate it from bondage. The sons of God are blood-bought believers who have conquered sin in their own flesh through obeying the Word of God and the Holy Ghost. Those who are led by the Spirit shall be called sons.
This is just speculation, but if God took a rib from Adam’s side to create Eve, wouldn’t it make sense that, after the Fall, Satan would totally pervert things and put a demon in the side of the man to hinder his walk with God. This demon would be an evil soul tie with a woman: a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a girlfriend. There is no doubt that before the Fall, Adam was filled and glowing with the Glory of God because he had no sin; after the Fall, the Glory of God left, he became naked (no covering) and became infested with demons—and this is how sickness and death came into the world.
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, a Roman soldier pierced his side with a lance. I wonder if it was his right side.
9 February 2005
Genesis 49: 10.
Ezekiel 21: 27.
Haggai 2: 7.
Haggai 2: 22.
Jeremiah 51: 20-24.
Luke 1: 32-33.
John 1: 49.
10 February 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was lying on the ground of some battlefield. It was a scene right out of World War I. I was wearing a soldier’s uniform and helmet. I was crawling towards a trench lined with barbed wire; the trench was on a little higher ground than where I was. I ran into the trench and had to kill a German soldier. I took a grenade and stuck it into the German soldier’s belly and let it explode while the grenade was still in my hand: the German soldier died, but nothing happened to me. Then I was gripped with a very deep anguish because I had been killing people during the battle. I lifted my head up towards the sky and cried out, “Papa! Papa!” I began to pray in tongues and then the dream ended.
12 February 2005
Earlier today I was at a friend’s place and we watched The Matrix. Not only is this film a classic, but also it was confirmation on a few things that the Lord has been showing me for a while now. I am glad that I have finally seen all three films. Powerful Christian symbolism. Spiritual warfare is throughout the film.
Life is war; war is life. The Christian life, that is. Never give up; never quit. What can’t kill you will only make you stronger. You learn warfare by being in it and engaging the enemy wherever the Lord puts you. You become stronger by rejecting and overcoming temptation through obedience—the full counsel of God.
**********
Genesis 49: 10: “Shiloh”.
Ezekiel 21: 27: “overturn”.
Haggai 2: 7: “I will shake all nations”.
Haggai 2: 22: “I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms”.
Jeremiah 51: 20-24: “battle axe”; “I will break in pieces the nations”.
Luke 1: 32-33: “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David”.
John 1: 49: “thou art the King of Israel”.
14 February 2005
Psalm 18: 34: “He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.”
Psalm 18: 37-40: “I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed. I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.”
Psalm 18: 50: “Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.”
**********
Matthew 1: 1: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Matthew 1: 17: “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.”
7 is God’s number; 6 is man’s number. 7 + 7 = 14. 14 x 3 = 42 = the Lord Jesus Christ—the Godman; God in the flesh of man; very God and very man. 3 = Trinity. Adding two numbers is one thing; multiplying two numbers is like going into another dimension. The Law and the Prophets embodied in Jesus expanded and multiplied into the New Testament after his death and resurrection. The Blood of Jesus is absolutely more powerful and superior to the blood of lambs, goats and turtledoves—it is multiplied (70 x 7) forgiveness and expiation of sin. The Gospel of Abraham, David and the Lord Jesus Christ expanded (multiplied) from Israel into all the Earth.
If we become broken bread and poured out wine, if we have a broken and contrite heart, if we truly die to self, the Lord Jesus will reign (multiply) in our life and multiply into the lives of others. A New Testament definition for multiplication: a revolutionary expansion on the process of addition; a revolutionary transformation from the inside out, to pass from death to life and reach out in faith and turn the world upside down—the catalyst being the Lord Jesus Christ.
If 6 x 7 = 42, then “x” is the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus and “42” is God’s plan for the redemption of mankind.
16 February 2005
Proverbs 20: 2: “The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: whoso provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul.”
Proverbs 20: 8: “A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.”
**********
II Samuel 23: 14-17: “And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem
Lesson 11. The Second Coming of Christ. Israel, Key to the Endtime (Assembly of God). Page 2:
“The British Mandate over the Holy Land was terminated on May 14, 1948, and on that same day the new State of Israel was proclaimed. As soon as the United Nations recognized Israel, war started between Arabs and Jews. Sensing an impending attack of great magnitude, Israel put her planes in the air on June 5, 1967, and wrecked 400 planes of the surrounding Arab armies in the first few hours of fighting. Two days later Israel’s soldiers broke through the gates of the old city of Jerusalem and ran through sniper fire to the Western Wall, the last remaining remnant of their temple. Gen. Moshe Dayan said, ‘We have returned to the holiest of our holy places and I give you my word, we shall never be parted from it again.’ It was in the possession of Israel for the first time in over 1,900 years. With the taking of the entire city, hope began to rise that the Messiah would soon appear.”
Matthew 16: 13-19: “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
“And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
“Israel’s soldiers broke through the gates of the old city of Jerusalem and ran through sniper fire to the Western Wall.”
“And upon this rock I will build my church; and gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
David longed for the water of the well in Bethlehem. He was pointing towards Bethlehem; he was pointing towards Jesus. Remember when Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well and he told her that he would give her water and that she would never thirst again? Out of our belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Water. The water of Bethlehem
Now that we have the overcoming, revelatory Power of the Holy Ghost in our lives, we can more aggressively attack and destroy satanic strongholds in our lives and in the lives of others (intercession). “Upon this rock (revelation knowledge—what the Father reveals to us) I will build my church.”
“And the gates (the plans, the strategies) of hell shall not prevail against it.” Satan can defeat old revelation, but he cannot defeat fresh, new revelation. If a general gives an order to attack an enemy position within twenty-four hours, the enemy may intercept the message and defeat the attack. If the general gives an order to attack in ten minutes, it would be more difficult to intercept, analyze and decode (battlefield orders are encrypted) and prepare for an attack. That is why when the Lord tells me to jump, I ask how high. His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I have some tactical and strategic understanding of things, but the Lord is the Great Strategist and I must obey Him when he tells me to move or to do this or to do that. Timing is absolutely everything in the Kingdom of Heaven. Perfect timing happens when we obey the Lord.
“Israel’s soldiers broke through the gates of the old city of Jerusalem.” They broke through the gates of the enemy because they obeyed the Lord. When encountering the strongholds of Satan, we must not act in our own fleshly wisdom or strength; we must obey the Lord and operate in His wisdom and strength—and in His perfect timing. It must be done in the anointing of the Holy Ghost.
“And the three mighty men broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David.” The three mighty men were successful in breaking through the host of the Philistines because they were obeying an anointed man of God, David. David was anointed because he was submitted to and obedient to the Lord God of Israel. If you obey a man that is not anointed of God, you will get into trouble real fast. The blind lead the blind into a ditch.
An anointed man’s words have great power even after death. The words of Moses, David, Isaiah, Elijah, Nahum, Zechariah, John the Baptist. . . . . John Wesley, Oswald Chambers, Smith Wigglesworth are always pointing towards Jesus. Their words are continually inspiring countless believers to engage and destroy the gates of the enemy, so that they too can partake of the living water of Bethlehem.
Oh, how I long for the water of Bethlehem.
17 February 2005
Genesis 32: 28: "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed."
I Timothy 2: 5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
When the Lord changed Jacob's name to Israel, I always thought of it as a foreshadowing of the born-again experience. But as I look at the two preceding scriptures, we can see that Jacob/Israel foreshadows or symbolizes Jesus. All scripture points towards Jesus. Israel is Jesus. Jacob wrestled with God and became a mediator between God and men. His immediate son, Joseph, helped save the world from famine when Pharaoh raised Joseph up into a position of power. Jacob's distant son, Jesus, saved the world from sin (if we believe in Him).
I have always revered Abraham because he is the father of faith, but there is more written on Jacob than anybody else in the Book of Genesis. The Twelve Patriarchs came from Jacob (12 means "to rule"), so in Jacob you have a more enduring foundation for Moses, the Prophets and the New Testament. It is true that the Lord changed Abram's name to Abraham, but when Jacob became Israel, I believe there was a deeper transformation--from death to life--or maybe a deeper meaning (you can't pass from death to life without the Blood of Jesus). Jacob came from Padan-aram (a strange land, death) to Canaan (the Promised Land, life). Jacob had to change to Israel because now he had to live by faith in God and not faith in himself. Jacob means "deceiver"; Israel means "prince". The Lord now wants a prince to rule Israel, not a deceiver.
Jacob's words hold much power even to this day: look at Jacob's Prophecy regarding his twelve sons in Genesis Chapter 49. Verses 1 and 2: "And Jacob called his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father." If we abide in Christ, we hearken unto Israel. Jacob's Prophecy over Judah was definitely Messianic, but Jacob also gave Joseph a powerful blessing that also points towards some future ruler: "But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)."(Genesis 49: 24).
Before Jacob could pass into Canaan (the Promised Land), he had to confront Esau. Before Jesus could proceed to accomplish his work on the Cross, die and rise from the dead, he had to confront Herod. Herod was half Edomite (Herod was a descendant of Esau). There was enmity between Jacob and Esau and there was enmity between Jesus and Herod. Jacob was a true son of Isaac and Abraham; Esau was a real heathen--he married two daughters of Heth (hence the term "heathen"). Jesus was truly Jewish--he fulfilled the Law and the Prophets; Herod was not truly Jewish because he was half Edomite. Jesus was a son of Jacob; Herod was a son of Esau. You can't mix heaven with hell or heaven with the world: the love of the world is enmity with the Father. Jacob/Israel ultimately overcame and defeated Esau (the world) when Jesus died and rose from the dead. Esau is a term of derision; Israel is a term of endearment. During King David's reign (1000 B.C.) there was a nation called Israel; in the year 2005 A.D. there is a nation called Israel.
Jacob came, Jacob saw, Jacob wrestled, Jacob conquered. Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever. Jacob still endures and Genesis Chapter 49 is just as alive today as it was when it was first uttered from Jacob's mouth: "Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob and hearken unto Israel your father."
19 February 2005
About five days ago, I hitchhiked from Bozeman to Billings and then into Wyoming. At Wyola, Wyoming two construction workers picked me up and took me to Buffalo. It was nighttime and I walked south on I-25 a few miles and then found a shed at a ranch to sleep in. I covered myself up with straw and went to sleep. I believe it got down to ten degrees F that night, but the straw kept me nice and warm.
That night I had a dream where I was sleeping in a shed and just a few feet from me was a yellow-colored cow. The next scene I saw the cow give birth to twin calves. The next scene the two calves—one black, one yellow—were practically on top of me, playing with me, nudging me with their noses. I took my hands and gently moved them in the direction of their mother. The final scene: the two calves were aggressively sucking from their mother’s tits.
At first glance, I wasn’t sure if the preceding dream was from the Lord. Now I believe it was. I believe the Lord is showing me the principle of multiplication. If a rancher has a cow-calf herd and every cow produced twins, the rancher’s herd would multiply greatly. Reminds me of Jacob when he worked for his father-in-law Laban: Jacob’s herd increased greatly while Laban’s herd did not.
If a Christian abides in Christ, his life (the Gospel) will multiply in other people’s lives. If we follow our self-will, there is no increase, no multiplication. We must do the will of our Heavenly Father if we want the Gospel of Jesus Christ to continue to multiply throughout the world.
20 February 2005
Ezekiel Chapter 21.
Ezekiel 21: 27: “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it him.”
Ezekiel 21: 3-5: “And say to the land of Israel: Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Seeing then I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.”
Ezekiel 21: 9-11: “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, a sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree. And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.”
Ezekiel 21: 14-15: “Thou therefore, son of man, prophesy, and smite thine hands together, and let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain, which entereth into their privy chambers. I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may faint, and their ruins be multiplied: ah! it is made bright, it is wrapped up for the slaughter.”
Ezekiel 21: 28: “The sword, the sword is drawn: for the slaughter it is furbished, to consume because of the glittering.”
Ezekiel 21: 30-32: “Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity. And I will pour out mine indignation upon thee, I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath, and deliver thee into the hand of brutish men, and skilful to destroy. Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire; thy blood shall be in the midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remembered: for I the Lord have spoken it.”
“I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it.”
“Therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north.”
“A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter, it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth?”
“Furbish: to rub or scour to brightness; burnish; renovate. Syn. See polish.”
--Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
“Let the sword be doubled the third time, the sword of the slain: it is the sword of the great men that are slain.”
“I have set the point of the sword against all their gates.”
“The sword is drawn.”
“It is furbished, to consume because of the glittering.”
“I will blow against thee in the fire of my wrath.”
“Thou shalt be for fuel to the fire.”
“Thou shalt be no more remembered.”
“And it shall be no more.”
Looks like a lot of good, old-fashioned judgment against the wicked in Ezekiel Chapter 21. The term “sword” is repeated many times. It is a sword that glitters; it is unsheathed and furbished (polished) and ready for battle. This sword shall be used against the gates (the strategies) of the wicked in “the fire of my wrath”. Holy anger; righteous anger; Holy Ghost anger; Holy Ghost power. The wicked and the evil works of hay, straw and stubble shall be consumed in the Holy Ghost Fire of the Lord’s wrath: “thou shalt be for fuel to the fire”.
Isaiah 63: 3: “for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.”
Isaiah 63: 6: “And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.”
“And it shall be no more.”
21 February 2005
Genesis 49: 11: “he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.”
This verse has the First and the Second Coming of Christ in it. The blood of grapes; the grapes of wrath. Reminds me of the movie High Plains Drifter (1973). The whole town (except the one woman) was consenting unto the death of Marshall Jim Duncan. Marshall Duncan was whipped to death (like Jesus) and then came back as the stranger (No Name, Clint Eastwood) and kills the three bad guys and burns the town to the ground. There was a good scene where the stranger kicks out all these people from the local hotel and the preacher protests and says something to the stranger and then the stranger says something like, “I mean, especially the church.” When Marshall Duncan was being whipped to death, the preacher was standing in the distance watching these bad guys whip, taunt and laugh at Duncan. It was a powerful scene.
**********
Hand on the Helm by Katherine Pollard Carter.
Copyright 1977
Chapter 5.
"Ninety-First Psalm Became Their Impenetrable Shield”
“For four long years, in the front line warfare of World War I, the British regiment commanded by Colonel Whittlesey had not one single battle casualty. They did not lose a single man! They could only give one explanation for this incredible record.
“During those interminable years of danger and valor, every officer and every enlisted man in the regiment daily affirmed his faith in God’s protection by repeating the Ninety-First Psalm.”
“Each officer and soldier in the regiment carried a complete copy of the psalm and either read it or recited it from memory daily.”
“He Stood Untouched By 35 Firing Machine Guns”
Alvin York: “On October 6th, 1918, he was in a reconnaissance group of sixteen men sent to locate the German division responsible for the deadly machine gun fire that was pinning down his American unit.
“Stepping out of a thicket in the Argonne Forest, all sixteen men walked unknowingly right into the fire from thirty-five machine guns. Ten of the mountaineer’s followers were killed instantly and two others were wounded but dashed back into the thicket. So did the three other men in the group. But red-headed Alvin York was angry. He stood his ground.
“Every time a gunner peeped over the rim of his machine gun nest, York sent a rifle bullet through his head. Oblivious to the German bullets, he stood erect and downed the enemy with deadly accuracy. When the German officer sent a bayonet squad after him, York picked off each of the men, beginning with the last one and finally dropping the leader.
“Amazed at his prowess, the German Major called out that he would surrender his entire force if York would cease firing. York agreed, and marched 132 prisoners, including three officers back to his own lines.
“General Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force, acclaimed Alvin York ‘the greatest soldier of the war.’
“Alvin York absolutely believed that God supernaturally shielded him from those machine gun bullets.
“‘It was a higher power that shielded us,’ York said years later. ‘The man on my right and the man on my left were shot to pieces. I never got so much as a scratch or a cut on my uniform.’”
**********
Psalm 91: 7: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”
Isaiah 54: 17: “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”
Psalm 34: 7: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
Psalm 34: 21: “Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.”
22 February 2005
II Timothy 2: 4: “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.”
23 February 2005
Isaiah 41: 11: “Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing: and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.”
Isaiah 43: 2: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
24 February 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was riding in a car with two other men. We were driving to an airport. They were criticizing me because I didn’t go to church on Sunday. I forget what I told them. When we got to the airport, the dream ended.
Some people really get bent out of shape when I tell them I don’t go to church on Sunday. Do people go to church to meet God, or do they go to church to fulfill some social function? I quit going to church regularly back in 1991 for various reasons. The main reason was that the Lord led me out and I was so grateful and relieved.
I don’t miss church at all. I have work to do–like obeying my Father–and if going to church hinders my walk with God, then I won’t go to church. The Lord has been showing me for the past year that I am in the Delta Force doing spiritual warfare. The Lord had me watch Blackhawk Down starring Josh Hartnett about a year ago; I watched it many times while I was staying with some Christians in Jackson, Wyoming. It is a great film. The Delta Force is an elite military unit that takes orders from the President of the United States. The Delta Force is highly trained and is not a part of the military mainstream. I am most definitely not a part of the Christian mainstream. I tell people I am on the other side of the Jordan River like John the Baptist.
So many of the churches are horribly conformed to the world. There are just as many divorces in the church as there are in the world; there are just as many abortions in the church as in the world. We are called to be a peculiar people–when you obey the Holy Ghost you most definitely will be peculiar in the eyes of the world and the church.
I went to a church in Jackson last Sunday for the first time in a year or so. Same old, dead Churchianity. There was no anointing; the pastor preached from his head and not in the power of the Holy Ghost; it was just another social gathering on the face of the earth. What good is the Word of God if it is all in your head? The Word of God needs to be engrafted into your Spirit Man–this is where it will bear much fruit. The Pharisees who opposed Jesus had the Word of God in their head, not their heart (their spirit). The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life.
I meet so many deadbeats who call themselves Christians: they memorize and memorize and memorize the Word of God into their heads and reject Christ in their hearts. They miss the forest for the trees. Why do they go to church? To reject and kill Christ so that they can better blend in with society, a perverse generation, and so society can call them “church goers” or “upstanding citizens”. Satan is a master deceiver, a master liar: Satan is the lip-service king. The fear of man is a snare. So many people go to church because they fear what people will say.
I know there are good churches out there. Church is good structure for baby Christians and those involved in evangelism, teaching and pastoring. I am not an evangelist, teacher or pastor; I am a prophet who takes out satanic strongholds. I don’t blend in with the world, I don’t entertain the troops, I don’t organize ice cream socials or ski trips or Bible verses for some satanic construct. I obey the Lord and infiltrate enemy strongholds and take them down (like Joshua and the walls of Jericho).
It is lonely at the top.
27 February 2005
I hitchhiked from Billings, Montana to Riverton, Wyoming today. I got a ride with a guy named Rick—he gave me a ride from Shoshoni to Riverton. We had a good talk. He gave me a Scripture: Genesis 26: 4: “And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
1 March 2005
Last night I was staying at the Good Samaritan Mission here in Jackson and I had a dream where I was playing basketball with somebody in an indoor gym. The guy threw the basketball to me, but my arms were paralyzed. I tried to dribble the basketball, but I couldn’t. I tried to throw the basketball towards the hoop, but couldn’t. I looked up at the hoop and there was no backboard—that was the end of the dream.
It was obvious to me what the dream meant. I had planned on staying at the mission for three nights, but because of the dream, I won’t. I didn’t get much sleep last night—it was as if the mission was sucking the life right out of my spirit. It is a Christian mission, but the leadership rejects the Holy Spirit, so I had to get out. I can’t be around Christians very long who reject and are not submitted to the Holy Spirit because I get lethargic, “paralyzed”; I get extremely tired. The Holy Ghost empowers me, gives me strength, enables me to leap over tall buildings in a single bound; without the power of the Holy Ghost in my life, I become just another dud Christian on the face of the earth.
This has happened several times in my life now: I may stay with a Christian family for a night or two, but since they reject the power of the Holy Ghost, it saps the strength right out of me and I have to leave. It’s like kryptonite to Superman.
It happened again a few days ago up in Montana. I stayed in a Christian household overnight. The next day as I hitchhiked south out of Laurel, Montana, I was absolutely bone-tired. By the time I got to Cody, Wyoming, I had regained my strength.
If I am baptized in the Holy Ghost and with Fire, then I can’t hang out with baby, lukewarm Christians for very long. I am responsible for the Light that the Lord has given me. It’s like feeding an All-Pro running back milk and crackers one week straight before a game: he will lose his strength and will not be able to run with the football come game day. Running backs need steak and potatoes and vegetables to keep their strength up. Real Christians need the meat of the Word, not the milk to keep their strength up to fight their battles with Satan.
Give me the Word of God preached in the power of the Holy Ghost or give me death.
**********
Lesson 11. The Second Coming of Christ. Israel, Key to the Endtime. (Assembly of God)
“Palestine and World War I”
“At the beginning of the 20th Century there was not a single all-Jewish village in all of Palestine, and only about 25,000 Jews were scattered through the land. When W.W. I began in 1914 the Holy Land was held by the Turks. Out of Egypt marched a British column toward the city of Jerusalem. These troops were led by Gen. Edmund Henry Allenby, a Christian military man who had been taught to close his daily prayer with a plea for Israel: ‘Forget not Thine ancient people. Hasten the day when they shall be restored to Thy favor and to their land.’ During the night, as he was preparing to take his troops into the city, he read his Bible and prayed earnestly, and God gave him a verse of Scripture . . . . .Isaiah 31: 5: ‘As birds flying so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem . . .and passing over he will preserve it.’ The next day, December 11, 1917, Gen. Allenby sent wave after wave of planes low over the city. No bombs were dropped and not a shot was fired. The city easily fell to the British troops. The Allenby Bridge, spanning the Jordan River, was built in commemoration of this victory, and at a reception in London the general remarked, ‘I never knew that God would give me the privilege of helping to answer my own childhood prayer.’”
**********
Going back to the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost isn’t merely a concept that one learns about in some dead Bible college. The Holy Ghost is living Fire—it breaks the yoke of sin. The Holy Ghost teaches us the Word of God--the brain does not. The Holy Ghost uses the brain to read the Word of God, but the Holy Ghost engrafts the Word into our spirit so that it will bear much fruit. The Holy Ghost convicts us of sin; the Holy Ghost casts out demons; the Holy Ghost heals us of diseases and raises people from the dead.
When the Word of God is preached or taught solely from the brain, it is nothing but idolatry. If the traditions and rituals of men dominate a church, it is an idolatrous church. John Milton once wrote of the “idolatrous multitude.” Idolatry is everywhere. Put God first in your life and see how God changes your life. Get into the Holy Ghost Fire and there will be no room in your life for the traditions of men and idolatry.
The Word of God and the Holy Ghost Fire will purify (sanctify) us and strengthen us and polish us as swords (Ezekiel Chapter 21) in the Lord’s hand and then the Lord through us shall take out and destroy all satanic strongholds. Glory to God in the Highest!
**********
This from today’s Jackson Hole Daily, page 18: “Liberty lies in the heart of men and women; when it dies, there no constitution, no law, no court can save it. --Learned Hand , U.S.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
**********
Back in 2002 this guy picked me up while I was hitchhiking through Humboldt, Iowa. A few months later he saw me walking through Estherville , Iowa
Armstrong writes: “On the night of November 23, 1654, Blaise himself had an experience which lasted ‘from about half-past ten in the evening till about half an hour after midnight’ (November 24) and which showed him that his faith had been too remote and academic. After his death, his ‘Memorial’ of this revelation was found stitched into his doublet:
FIRE
‘God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob’
Not of philosophers and scholars.
Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ.
God of Jesus Christ.
My God and your God.
‘Thy God shall be my God.’
The world forgotten and everything except God.
He can only be found by the ways taught in the Gospels.
“This was not the God of the philosophers, but the God of revelation.”
Armstrong later writes: “Faith, he insisted was not a rational assent based on common sense. It was a gamble. It was impossible to prove God exists, but equally impossible for reason to disprove His existence . . . This gamble is not entirely irrational, however. To opt for God is a win-win solution. In choosing to believe in God, Pascal continued, the risk is finite, but the gain is infinite. As the Christian progresses in the faith, he or she will become aware of a continuous enlightenment, an awareness of God’s presence that is a sure sign of salvation. It is no good relying on external authority; each Christian is on his own . . . Faith is not intellectual certainty, but a leap into the dark and an experience that brings a moral enlightenment.”
3 March 2005
Back in the spring of 1987 I was staying with Dr. Louis Marder and his wife in Evanston, Illinois. I had hitchhiked from Ellensburg, Washington to Chicago to see a young lady that I was attracted to. I met her and slept on the floor of her living room for three nights and then I stayed with the Marders for about four weeks. Lou was a Shakespeare scholar who published The Shakespeare Newsletter. I used to be a Shakespeare addict years ago and I got to meet Lou through The Shakespeare Newsletter.
One morning as I was eating breakfast with Lou and Mrs. Marder, Lou told me that he had had a dream the night before. He said something like this: “Tim, I had a dream last night. I saw God up in the sky (or up in the clouds) and there was somebody on His right hand. The man on his right hand was you.”
I quickly said something like: “No way. Come on, you’re kidding me.”
Lou said, “I swear to God, that’s exactly what I saw. I swear to God.” Lou said “I swear to God” three or four times.
If this dream was from the Lord, fine; if it is not from the Lord, fine. I still don’t know what to think, but I thought I would record it in my Journal anyway.
Lou and Mrs. Marder weren’t Christians, but they were Jews. Lou taught Old Testament history at the local synagogue for seven years. He would probably be considered a secular Jew, not an Orthodox Jew. I wonder if Orthodox Jew and Hasidic Jew mean the same thing. I believe that there are quite a few Hasidic Jews in New York City.
I worked for Lou shuffling papers for his newsletter and then I hitchhiked back to the state of Washington. The young lady that I saw in Chicago got married in the fall of 1987; I originally met her at a monastery in New Mexico in the summer of 1986.
Lou and Mrs. Marder were originally from New York—maybe Brooklyn; he got his Ph.D. in English Literature at Columbia University. He said that he used to throw the football with Sid Luckman when he was growing up in New York. Sid Luckman later played quarterback for the Chicago Bears in the 1940s when George Halas was coach. Lou was around 71 years old back in 1987; I’m not sure if he is still alive. He had two children.
**********
There must be some very powerful and wicked principalities over Germany that I am interceding against. Look at the dream of 1 July 2004: I was fighting against Germans. Look at the dream of 10 February 2005: I was killing Germans. Look at 30 October 2004: in the movie Die Hard, Bruce Willis is killing German thieves/terrorists; in Behind Enemy Lines, the Americans are fighting Europeans (Serbs? The Serbs were allied with the Nazis in World War II); in Paths of Glory, the French are fighting Germans in World War I; in Sergeant York, Alvin York is killing and capturing Germans in World War I.
Last night I was in a motel in Jackson, Wyoming and I was channel-surfing the TV and there was this film made in 1944 with Claude Rains and some other famous people in it and the film took place during World War I. They were showing a newsreel of Britain and Germany and when the newsreel showed some German soldiers goose-stepping about on some parade ground, the first thing I said was, “kill those bastards” or “kill those heathen bastards.”
I am half Irish and half German. My German ancestors came from Hanover in 1870 (as far as I know). I have always said that the smart Germans came to America before 1900. Why? Because Kaiser Wilhelm was a son-of-a-bitch and, after World War I, Adolf Hitler came into power and everybody knows that Adolf Hitler was demon-possessed—he may have been possessed by Satan himself. Hitler exterminated 6 million Jews in the concentration camps. If someone attacks a Jew—especially an Orthodox Jew—he is attacking the Law and the Prophets and he is attacking God. Not a good idea.
If the Lord is using me to intercede against the powers and principalities over German, then it must mean that the demons that governed the Kaiser and Hitler are still governing Germany (maybe in a more subtle way). I believe that the demons that governed the Czars of Russia and later the Communists (like Lenin and Stalin) of the Soviet Union are still governing Russia through the Mafia and through Vladimir Putin. Putin may be coming too powerful; he has been clamping down on the freedom of speech in Russia.
I believe the Lord wants the United States to be more wary of Germany and Russia.
Ezekiel Chapter 38.
“The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him . . . Persia, Cush, and Put are with them . . . Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah . . .”
Ezekiel Chapter 39.
“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel; then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand.”
“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let my holy name be profaned any more; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.”
The principalities that rule Germany and Russia hate the United States because there are so many Christian ministries in America that propagate the Gospel throughout the world. TBN, CBN and other TV networks are broadcasting all over the world. The Lord is using the United States to promote democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq and the United States is protecting Israel. I have heard that there is much anti-Semitism in France and Germany. Satan hates Israel because Israel (the Law, the Prophets and the New Testament) exposes him, and the son of Israel (Jesus) destroyed Satan’s power with His Precious Blood at Calvary.
I believe that most of the Christians left Germany before 1900 and went to America because it was a place where they could worship God in freedom. The Pilgrims left England and later Holland to come to America for the same reason—they were seeking God, not gold.
I believe that the rise of Nazism in Germany and Communism in Russia were because those nations were not preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If the Lord is using me to intercede against the German principalities, could it be that someday a Holy Ghost Revival will break out in Germany and many Germans will get saved? There was this prophet, Rick Joyner, who said that the Lord is going to use England and Germany in a mighty way to influence Europe for the Gospel. I hope so. Until then we must continue to fight against and destroy the German principalities. General George Patton: “The harder we push, the more Germans we’ll kill, and gentlemen, the more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed.”
Psalm 18: 34: “He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.”
Psalm 18: 40: “Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.”
Revelation Chapter 1.
“ . . . I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man . . . his eyes were like a flame of fire . . . from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword . . .”
Revelation 5: 5: “’Weep not; lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.’”
Revelation 12: 7-8: “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.”
“L’audace, l’audace, toujours l’audace!”
Ich verstehe Deutsch nicht so gut.
“No weapon formed against thee shall prosper.”
“A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter.”
“ . . . With the jawbone of an ass . . . have I slain a thousand men.”
“ . . . And that place was called Ramath-lehi.”
Remember Belleau Wood. Remember the Meuse-Argonne. Remember the Battle of Britain. Remember Normandy. Remember Ramath-lehi.
4 March 2005
Joshua 6: 20: “So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before, and they took the city.”
Hebrews 11: 30: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days.”
Why did the walls of Jericho fall? Because Joshua obeyed the Lord and the Israelites obeyed Joshua. If a worldly army—like the Romans or the Greeks or the Babylonians—had surrounded Jericho
Wouldn’t the world think it crazy to take a city just by marching around it for seven days and then shouting and blowing trumpets? Absolutely. I’m sure that the world thinks it crazy that in my hitchhiking I am interceding against and taking out satanic strongholds. Intercessory prayer is my main ministry. I don’t pray with words (sometimes I pray in tongues); I am in constant communion with my Heavenly Father, so when I obey the Father, demonic bondage is broken in me and satanic strongholds are taken down elsewhere.
Jericho was a satanic stronghold. Adolf Hitler and Nazism was a satanic stronghold. Josef Stalin and Communism was a satanic stronghold. Saddam Hussein and his followers was a satanic stronghold. How were these strongholds taken out? Because people obeyed the Lord and prayed against these strongholds and bore arms and killed those that opposed freedom.
“The Lord strikes through kings in the day of his wrath.”
It is no accident that the United States is a military superpower. The Lord is using our military to punish the wicked and project liberty throughout the world. If the wicked are not punished, the wicked grow from little monsters into big monsters: e.g. Hitler and Stalin.
In faith, my hitchhiking (obedience, intercessory prayer) is protecting President George W. Bush from Satan and taking out satanic strongholds in various parts of the world. I have always thought that if I gave my work a name I would call it Jericho Ministries. “By faith (obedience) the walls of Jericho fell down . . .”
I remember well the day and night before Saddam Hussein was captured (December 2003), the Presence of God was so strong I thought I was going to burn up. Sometimes the Holy Ghost is so intense you have to lie down somewhere till it lets up a little. The night before Hussein was captured I didn’t sleep at all because the Holy Ghost was so powerful. The next morning I was listening to the Moody Bible Institute radio station and they reported that Saddam Hussein had been captured. Kim Clement prophesied of his capture a month or two before it happened.
“The prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Sometimes I pray for people one-on-one when I am hitchhiking: I may pray in English or I may pray in tongues. On a strategic level, my communion and obedience to God is what takes out the strongholds. It is not my words; it is a lifestyle of obedience. If I don’t obey the Lord, a certain amount of dryness comes into my life and then the Lord begins to chasten me. When I obey the Lord, my life is overflowing in the Holy Ghost, my life is wonderfully blessed and I become a blessing to others.
Obedience is everything.
**********
Christian History & Biography. Summer 2004.
Page 11: “The Spark that lit the Welsh revival.”
By Jennifer Trafton
“Thursday, September 29, 1904. The stirrings of a spiritual awakening had already begun among the youth in several towns of South Wales when Evan Roberts, a 26-year-old ex-coalminer training for the Calvinistic Methodist ministry, attended a mission conference led by the evangelist Seth Joshua. For years, Roberts had been longing for the Holy Spirit to set his heart on fire. Joshua, meanwhile, had been praying that God would raise up a man from the coal mines or fields to bring revival to the churches. Both men found answers to their prayers that morning in Blaenannerch.
“In the months that followed this dramatic 'baptism of the Holy Spirit,' Evan Roberts carried his message throughout Wales with a youthful, unconventional zeal that vaulted him to celebrity status. He soon became the controversial hero of a rapidly spreading revival characterized by spontaneity rather than liturgical order, open prayer and confession rather than formal preaching, and obedience to the promptings of the Spirit rather than human direction. The revival brought an estimated 100,000 new converts into the churches and sent shock waves throughout Britain and beyond—even as far as Los Angeles, where reports of the Welsh awakening contributed to the birth of Pentecostalism in 1906. Evan Roberts’ simple prayer, ‘Oh, Lord, bend me,’ blossomed into the theme of the revival: ‘Bend the Church and save the world.’”
I was born-again in July of 1982. I was baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues on 12 September 1988. I was lying in bed praising the Lord when I began to pray in another tongue. The Baptism in the Holy Ghost really changed my life. It puts Fire in your belly.
I love reading about those old-time Pentecostals like Evan Roberts of Wales; Frank Bartleman and Brother Seymour of Azusa Street, Los Angeles fame; Smith Wigglesworth of England. They really inspire me. Evan Roberts would have to be one of the fathers of the American Pentecostal Movement.
5 March 2005
Matrix.
6 March 2005
I have often wondered why I couldn’t watch The Matrix back in 2002 when I first had the chance. Maybe it wasn’t the rock and roll music at all. Maybe it was because the Lord didn’t want me to watch The Matrix until 2005. With the Lord, timing is everything.
7 March 2005
Last night Wes stopped over to my motel room and we watched Matrix Reloaded. We had excellent fellowship; Wes is really in tune with the Holy Ghost.
It seems like the more I work on my Dreams from the Lord and Journal the more God blesses me. It is simple obedience. There are some things in this journal that the Lord wants people to read. This past week while I was hitchhiking, this one guy gave me one hundred dollars and, just a few days ago, this other guy who picked me up outside of Billings, Montana gave me a hundred twenty dollars. Last night Wes bought me a Quarter Pounder and Cheese Meal at McDonald’s and kicked me down forty bucks—the Lord told him to give me some money. Thank you, Lord.
I had been planning on leaving Jackson this morning, but the Lord told me before I got the motel room to stay in Jackson for three nights. So I told the Lord that if He wanted me to stay another night, that I needed a little more money--the money came last night. The Lord really provides; all we need to do is activate our faith in Him and cast our cares onto Him and He will always deliver—especially if we are in His perfect will. Working on this journal is His perfect will for my life.
I have also been burning my High Plains Drifter: A Hitchhiking Journey Across America and Dreams from the Lord and Journal onto these mini-CDs (210 MB). When I am hitchhiking around the country, somebody invariably says something like: “Hey, Tim, you should write a book about your travels.” So if they have access to a computer, I can give them a copy of my book on a CD. The typescript of High Plains Drifter (160 pages) weighed about one pound, so it is nice not to carry any extra weight in my backpack.
Last night Wes and myself were talking about obedience and we were talking about tithing. Back in 1989 I began to tithe—I gave ten percent of my income to the local church I was going to. When the Lord led me out of the church in 1991, I began to give my tithes to David Wilkerson’s Times Square Church at 51st and Broadway in Manhattan. I have always enjoyed reading David Wilkerson’s pulpit series. In the spring of 1997, the Lord told me to stop giving my tithes to churches because I was a free man. In my hitchhiking throughout the United States, several people have given me their tithes. One guy up in Montana tithed a five thousand dollar check and gave me five hundred dollars. Five hundred dollars goes a long way when you are hitchhiking.
If you are tithing your income to some ministry, you must absolutely positively give your money to an anointed ministry. Giving your money (your life) to some dead church doesn’t do anybody any good. I tell people that want to help homeless people not give them money, but to give them food and something to drink and give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If a homeless guy is an alcoholic or a drug addict, he will probably use any money he gets on his addiction. Money isn’t just a bunch of coins or greenbacks in your pocket. Money is blood, sweat and labor; money is an expression of your life. Don’t give your life away to any Tom, Dick or Harry. Spend your money wisely. Remember: money is not evil—the love of money is the root of all evil. If you give your money to some dead church, you are only encouraging and supporting a dead work, an irresponsible ministry. Give your money to a ministry that preaches the word of God in the Holy Ghost and with Fire and watch how God blesses your life and the life of others around you.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t just a spiritual thing. We are tripartite: body, soul and spirit. The Gospel is eternal life, paying the rent, putting food on the table, being a good worker at your job and other practical things. Wes and I have excellent Holy Ghost fellowship. He lets me use his laptop computer, he gave me a pair of real nice long underwear and buys me food and drives me around Jackson if I need to run an errand. Wes even said that if he leaves Jackson, that he would give me his laptop so that I can keep working on my journal.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is washing the dishes, plowing the north forty in a responsible manner, listening to someone who needs to be listened to, patting somebody on the back for a job well done: it is day-to-day living. The Gospel is being rightly related to God and rightly related to others; it is about building relationships or else severing relationships. There are some relationships that the Lord does not want me to even think about building up—so we must rightly divide the Word of God and get to know the voice of God. Jacob I loved; Esau I hated. If I know certain Christians who reject the Holy Ghost, then it is impossible for me to spend much time with them. If there are Christians who are actively chasing the pleasures of this world and not chasing God, you will see me avoid them like the plague. Who you associate with and whom you don’t associate with is a very powerful sermon—a very powerful witness to those who see your life. Birds of a feather flock together. Demons of a feather flock together. You can’t be a son of God and live like the devil. Godly friends and Godly counsel will always lead you on the straight and narrow path. A jackass with a Ph.D. is still a jackass; a sloppy Christian is a sloppy witness. Yes, read the Word and live for God, but also clean the house, rake the lawn, paint the house, wash the windows, repair your car, pay your bills and quit sucking the life out of other people.
Being a Christian is to overcome the besetting sins in your life and then standing on your own two feet and looking up to Heaven and asking, “Okay, Lord, now what do you want me to do?” I have come to do Thy will, Oh, God. Not my will, but thine be done.
When you have been faithful in washing (governing) your own dishes maybe then the Lord will call you his son and entrust you with washing (governing) the dishes of a nation. I believe that when Ronald Reagan was a kid that he was faithful in washing the dishes. Reagan was faithful in saving the lives of seventy-seven people in his teenage years while he was a lifeguard at a local swimming hole back in Illinois. The Lord later put Ronald Reagan in a position of power and authority (the Presidency) to save the life and soul of the greatest nation on the face of this Earth: the United States of America.
I’m not sure if this counts for anything, but I once worked as a dishwasher at the Hawkeye Truck Stop in Coralville, Iowa for a week back in 1979. As we all know, washing the dishes is the building block for every powerful and influential nation that has ever existed in the history of mankind. Without properly washed dishes, we will be a people no more.
I have come; I have seen; I have washed the dishes.
**********
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620
October, 1620
“The reason for our journey is our religion. You see, we are not the Pope’s people, nor the King’s really, but God’s people. We are Saints of the Holy Discipline. ‘Saints’—for short. That is what all of us English who went to Holland are called. And if we go to this New World, free from old King James and all the fancy church rituals that are not to our way, we can worship as we want. You see, we believe that the church is in our heart and not in a building. So tis our hearts that lead us.”
**********
Hebron Ministries
Marvin Byers
Israel
October 17, 1996
Page 1: “I do not believe that the Jewish people of God were tested in a more severe way than the way in which the Gentile people of God will be tested. I am convinced that the great falling away that has already occurred in many hearts will be manifested in the attitudes and reactions seen in the Body of Christ very, very soon. One of the manifestations of the falling away that has already taken place in the hearts will be that most Christians will not recognize Him when He visits their area. Flesh and Blood could not reveal Him in His First Coming and flesh and blood (the natural abilities and what can be observed with the natural eyes) will not reveal Him in His Second Coming! Consider what the spiritual leaders of God’s people (the Pharisees) asked the King concerning when the Kingdom would come during the events of the First Coming. The King was standing right in front of them, and the King had been telling them that the Kingdom had already come, and yet they asked Him when the Kingdom would come! Could that be repeated today? Note what Luke 17: 19 says: 'And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.' Was this true only for the first time that the Kingdom was manifested in the earth, or could this also be true for this last manifestation as well (at least until He comes physically)?”
Page 2: “Israel did not know the time of her visitation, and few of God’s people today know it. I can assure you, reader, that the outpouring has begun, but that it did not, and will not begin with a mighty worldwide, observable manifestation that will be so evident that even the flesh and blood of the lukewarm, carnal, Christians will be able to recognize Him.”
Page 4: “May we be found among that group of unlearned fishermen, so to speak, with whom the Lord first met, instead of being among the Pharisees who are so sure of their own doctrine, and who continue to lead people toward a life of spiritual pride and a love of this present world.”
Page 6: “Let’s not be like the Pharisees who witnessed the first coming of Christ with their own eyes. Yet, in spite of His glory that was being revealed to so many others, they continued to declare that the Messiah had not yet come. This was their declaration throughout Christ’s entire ministry on earth. Most of them continued to believe this even after His resurrection and ascension. They believed it until the day they died and ended up losing the blessing of His coming for all eternity. May we not end up being like the Pharisees! If you don’t see anything happening that indicates to you that we are living in the last years, instead of reacting like the Pharisees, let’s ask the Lord to open our understanding. Instead of saying, 'Nothing is happening,' as so many have, let’s cry out, 'Lord, let it happen in me!' While the Pharisees were accusing John the Baptist of being a false prophet for saying that the Messiah was at hand, hungry hearts like blind Bartimaeus were crying out, 'Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me!' He was not nearly as blind as the Pharisees! He knew that the Messiah was passing his way, while the Pharisees didn’t even think He had come or that anything was happening. Lord, give us understanding of the day we live in, and give us a heart that pants after you as the hart pants after the water brooks.”
**********
Mel Gibson's: The Passion of the Christ.
National Review
March 8, 2004
“A MOVIE AND ITS MEANING”
"Mel Gibson's Passion is for all time"
By Ramesh Ponnuru
Page 30: “Leaving an advance screening of the movie, I ran into a college classmate I had not seen in years. She works for a mass-market pop-culture magazine. ‘It’s hard to get beyond the ultraviolence,’ she said. ‘It’s obscene.’ I nodded. She was right. That’s the point: What we did to Christ was obscene.
“If your reactions are like mine, you will be outraged when Christ is mocked and spat on. You will tear up when He looks upon Peter denying Him and when Mary runs to comfort Him when He falls on the way to the cross. You will find it hard to watch the scourging of His flesh, His blood spattering His tormenters. You will want to close your eyes as the stakes are driven in. For Christians, it is triply painful: seeing such brutality inflicted on any man; seeing it inflicted on the only sinless man, our precious Lord; knowing that we are responsible for it. But we also know that He can redeem even that awful scene, even the scene of the worst crime ever committed. It is a bloody movie. But His blood is life. Lest we forget, the movie has Him tell us so in a flashback to the Last Supper.”
Page 31: “The movie is not at all anti-Semitic. In the film, some Jewish leaders want Christ killed and some do not. Some are decent and some indecent, as is also true of the Romans. Some followers of Christ betray the Lord—chiefly the men, as in the Gospels. Some, chiefly the women but also John, stay by His side.
“A central message of the movie, with which all its other truths are bound up, is that we are all of us guilty for the crucifixion: Every sinful act of man—including every act of hatred against the Jews—pounds the nail deeper.”
Page 32: “People always want to know whether the movie is faithful to the book, or in this case the Book. The answer is yes. There are some elements of pious Catholic tradition that appear in the movie—notably Veronica’s veil. I doubt most Protestants will object, since these elements contradict neither the letter nor spirit of Scripture (which is why it can be in the pious tradition).
“What I hope is that the movie will help to effect a deeper conversion of the already converted. I walked out of the theater into the cold sunlight and pot smoke of a Manhattan sidewalk. If we leave this film reminded that this world is not our home but only a way station, then Gibson will have done a mighty work for the Lord. We will remember that He is being crucified, and doing His saving work, every day, every moment, as I write, as you read.”
On the cover of the National Review, there is a photograph of James Caviezel (who plays Jesus) carrying the cross and these words:
"Father, forgive them . . ."
RAMESH PONNURU
ON MEL GIBSON'S
MASTERPIECE
I believe that The Passion of the Christ and Ben Hur have to be the most important and most influential Christian films of all time. The Seventh Seal is also outstanding. There is also The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Matrix trilogy. That is all I can think of at this time.
Isaiah 52: 14: “As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.”
Psalm 22: 1 & 2: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why are thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.”
Psalm 22: 6-8: “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him”
Psalm 22: 11-19: “Be not far from me; for trouble is near, for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me.”
Isaiah 53: 3-5: “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
SHILOH
By Tim Shey
Brutal deathdance;
My eyes weep blood.
Pharisees smile like vipers,
They laugh and mock their venom:
Blind snakes leading
The deaf and dumb multitude.
Where are my friends?
The landscape is dry and desolate.
They have stretched my shredded body
On this humiliating tree.
The hands that healed
And the feet that brought good news
They have pierced
With their fierce hatred.
The man-made whip
That opened up my back
Preaches from a proper pulpit.
They sit in comfort:
That vacant-eyed congregation.
The respected, demon-possessed reverend
Forks his tongue
Scratching itchy ears
While Cain bludgeons
Abel into silence.
My flesh in tattered pieces
Clots red and cold and sticks
To the rough-hewn timber
That props up my limp, vertical carcase
Between Heaven and earth.
My life drips and puddles
Below my feet,
As I gaze down dizzily
On merciless eyes and dagger teeth.
The chapter-and-versed wolves
Jeer and taunt me.
Their sheepwool clothing
Is stained black with the furious violence
Of their heart of stone.
They worship me in lip service,
But I confess,
I never knew them
(Though they are my creation).
My tongue tastes like ashes:
It sticks to the roof of my mouth.
I am so thirsty.
This famine is too much for me.
The bulls of Bashan have bled me white.
Papa, into your hands
I commend my Spirit.
Ethos
February/March 1997
Iowa State University
Genesis 49: 10: “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
Around noon today, Wes stopped by and we watched The Matrix Revolutions again on his laptop. The death of Neo was a very powerful scene. There was such incredible, violent enmity between Zion and Smith and between Zion and the City of the Machines. After Neo died, Smith was destroyed and there was peace between Zion and the City of the Machines. I believe the spokesman for the City of the Machines said something like: “It is done.” I think it would have been better if he had said, “It is finished.”
Psalm 22: “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.”
“Shiloh”: “They have stretched my shredded body/ On this humiliating tree.”
Psalm 22: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws.”
“Shiloh”: “My tongue tastes like ashes:/ It sticks to the roof of my mouth. / I am so thirsty. / This famine is too much for me.”
Psalm 22: “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.”
“Shiloh”: “The hands that healed/ And the feet that brought good news/ They have pierced/ With their fierce hatred.”
Psalm 22: “Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.”
“Shiloh”: “The bulls of Bashan have bled me white.”
Psalm 22: “All they that see me laugh me to scorn.”
“Shiloh”: “The chapter-and-versed wolves/ Jeer and taunt me.”
“Pharisees smile like vipers/ They laugh and mock their venom.”
Psalm 22: “Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”
“Shiloh”: “Where are my friends? / The landscape is dry and desolate.”
Isaiah 52: “As many were atonied at thee; his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.”
Isaiah 53: “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him . . . But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities.”
“Shiloh”: “My flesh in tattered pieces/ Clots red and cold and sticks/ To the rough-hewn timber/ That props up my limp, vertical carcase/ Between and Heaven and earth.”
The Holy Ghost dictated "Shiloh" to me for three days back in the fall of 1996.
8 March 2005
Broken bread and poured-out wine. I first heard of this phrase while reading Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest. The Lord cannot work through prideful, self-willed Christians. We must be broken of self-will. Before a man can eat a loaf of bread, he must break it (or slice it) first--especially if he is going to feed others. A broken and contrite heart, Oh, Lord, thou shalt not despise. The Holy Ghost flows much more freely through a broken vessel than a vessel that is all blocked-up because of self-will.
Poured-out wine. If the Lord Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for us, then we must sacrifice our lives for others. Wine was never meant to stay in the cup. Take this and drink. Partake of My Blood. Partake of His Life. The life is in the blood. Leviticus 17: 11: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life." Luke 22: 20: "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
When we obey the Lord, self-will can only die. It doesn't die overnight--it is gradual, it takes time. Reno, Nevada wasn't built in one day. We are conceived in sin, and before we are born-again, we are raised in the world system (The Matrix) and by the world system to be conformed to the world system. It is a type of brainwashing. When we decide to follow Christ, we must continue to abide in Him to fight against the desire to be what we once were--conformed to this world and dead in our trespasses and sins. If a Christian has been saved for a number of years and is still conformed to this world, then I have a real problem with his salvation. If Jesus was whipped to shreds and then hung out to dry and bleed to death on the cross, then why should we treat His blood and His grace so cheaply? Hebrews 10: 26-29: "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. A man who has violated the Law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?"
Life is precious; blood is precious. The life is in the blood. Jesus is precious; His blood is absolutely precious. We should be about our Father's business or go home and go back to bed. We must be about our Father's business and quit chasing our selfish desires and then calling it Christianity. We who are born-again are vessels created for our Father's service. When we obey Him, our lives are poured-out wine for others who are thirsting for something eternal and substantial.
John 15: 1-2: "'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.'"
John 15: 4-8: "'Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.'"
"'Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away.'" "'If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.'" Sounds like that branch lost his salvation. What are we to think of a Christian who bears dead fruit, who is conformed to the world and resists the Holy Ghost? "For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment."
"Abide in me": this could also mean, "obey me" or "remain under my covering". Having knowledge in your head about the Gospel doesn't cut it. Jesus didn't die on the Cross so that we could become worthless aesthetes or hair-splitting theologians. He doesn't want us to treat Him like an object of idolatry or an object of man-made religion. The Lord wants us to abide in Him, the True Vine, so that His Holy Sap will flow into us and sustain us, so we can grow stronger and bear much fruit. We do not abide in Him in thought (through dead reason); we abide in Him in revelation through faith.
Faith is what moves mountains in the spiritual realm; faith is what keeps the sap flowing from the True Vine into the branches. When we act in faith, our lives are blessed and the Lord gives us fresh revelation. Do you want to live on the shores of the Dead Sea or do you want to live by a fresh, fast-moving, clear mountain stream? Abide in Christ everyday in faith, obey what He reveals to you and see how refreshed you are and how refreshing your life is to others.
Reason by itself is idolatry; reason inspired by the Holy Ghost can only be beautiful. What good is an IQ of 200 if you are not born-again? What good are multiple college degrees and you reject Christ? What good is a forest of trees without rain or a field of wheat without irrigation? It will all wither and become chaff for the fire. I have heard more wisdom come out of the mouths of children who abide in Christ than from university professors who abide in nothing.
"Abiding in" separates the men from the boys. "Abiding in" separates the living from the dead. There is living, "abiding in" fruit and there is fruit that lies on the ground, rotten and stinking. Did Jesus die on the Cross so that we could become a stench that rises up to Heaven or did He die so that we could die to self and be a sweet-smelling savour of life unto life. Our lives should be a sweet-smelling sacrifice unto the Lord.
Genesis 4: 4: "and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering." Abel's offering points towards the First-born-among-many: the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
"And the Lord had regard for Abel."
"This is my Son in whom I am well pleased."
"Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you."
"A savour of life unto life."
"Abide in me."
**********
John 10: 1-5: "'Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.'"
"The sheep hear his voice."
"And the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."
"A stranger they will not follow."
I have met some strange Christians in my life. They attend strange churches that reject the Holy Ghost and worship the precepts and traditions of men--these traditions make void the Word of God. Strange, blind and deaf: the blind lead the blind into a ditch because they do not hear His voice.
10 March 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was in a big house. Mel Gibson and myself were remodeling the house. He gave me a book to read; I gave him a copy of my High Plains Drifter. There was more to this dream, but I do not remember it all.
**********
A PROPHET'S EYES
By Tim Shey
I piped to you,
But you did not dance;
I mourned to you,
But you did not weep.
I abide
In the furnace of God.
My breath
Is the fire of Heaven.
A writer once said,
You look
Like Leo Tolstoy.
It's your eyes,
He said.
Your eyes . . .
. . . like Leo Tolstoy.
A circle of fire
Surrounds me
Protecting me
From Satan's arm,
Warning me
Of Satan's charm,
Keeping me
From Satan's harm.
An intense burning
Within me
Is stoked by
The Word of God.
A deeply felt yearning
Within me
To warn them
Of the wrath of God.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah,
I know you well,
Because I am baptized
With the same
Holy Ghost Fire
That empowered you
And kept you from Hell.
Jesus died
So that
I can see
Events
Before they are born.
I was birthed--
Not of flesh,
Nor of the will of man--
I was birthed
In violence
By the Precious Blood of God.
His body was pierced
So that my eyes
Could pierce
The dark night of Adam
And help unblind the blind.
The white-hot heat of Heaven
Is the color
Of my sight
That leads us upward and onward,
Spirit-filled warriors of mankind.
Ethos
February/March 1997
Iowa State University
Amos 3: 7: "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but, he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
Hosea 12: 13: "And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved."
**********
Hosea 6: 1-3: "Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth."
"After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."
One day is as a thousand years; a thousand years is as one day. The year is 2005, so we are most definitely living in the Third Day. The times and the seasons are in our Father's hands. Slowly, but surely, satanic strongholds are being taken out and democracy is spreading throughout the world. The Lord has definitely used President George W. Bush to promote freedom and democracy in the Middle East. The men and women who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq have laid down their lives for other people's freedom. And the profits from oil revenues will be spent on paying for the war and for the people of Iraq--it will not be used to fund international terrorism and Saddam Hussein's government of thugs anymore.
Those who really abide in Christ will continue to grow stronger now that we are in the Third Day. It is a Day that the works of the devil will be overturned and done away with. "I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." (Ezekiel 21: 27)
**********
We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young
By Lt. General Harold Moore (Retired) and Joe Galloway
Chapter 1
You cannot choose your battlefield,
God does that for you;
But you can plant a standard
Where a standard never flew.
--Stephen Crane
"The Colors"
**********
Signs of the Times
February 2005
"Religion in the News"
Page 4: "9/11 church still ministers"
"St. Paul's Episcopal Church, in the shadow of New York's Twin Towers, escaped serious damage on September 11, 2001. Built in 1766, the church is right across the street from the trade center. Windows broke all over lower Manhattan when the towers collapsed, but St. Paul's' windows weren't even cracked. The major damage was to the backs of the pews, which were scratched when police and fire fighters, who had to keep their equipment packs on their backs, slept on the 250-year-old wooden benches." --Christian Century
**********
HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER
By Timothy Michael Shey
The big Kenworth roared west through Wyoming.
"So how long've ya been on the road?" the truck driver asked.
"A day or two," the young man replied.
"Where'd ya start out?"
"Western Nebraska. I was working on a ranch for a couple of days and got sick of it. I have a friend in California I want to see."
"California?"
"Yeah."
The truck driver was heavy-set and wore a short-cropped beard and baseball cap. The young man was slender and wore glasses. His only possessions: a backpack and sleeping bag.
"Ya got a long ways to go," the truck driver said. "I'll get ya to Salt Lake. Then I'm headin' north."
"Thanks for picking me up. It was cold standing out there."
"No problem."
The rugged, rolling terrain of Wyoming. The sagebrush. The dry air.
"So what'd ya do before the ranch?" the truck driver asked.
"I was in school in Manhattan."
"New York?"
"No. Kansas."
"Where ya from?"
"Garden City."
"I see."
The young man looked over the horizon to his right. There was silence for ten minutes except for the noise of the engine and the bounce of the tractor-trailer.
"So who's this friend of yours in California?" the truck driver asked.
"She's a poet."
"She?" The truck driver smiled and looked at the young man.
"I've never met her before. I've read a couple of her books and we've exchanged a few letters, that's all."
"I see."
"She has a daughter going to school in Santa Cruz that I thought I might like to visit, also."
"I don't know much about poetry. Is it like drivin' a truck?" the truck driver asked jokingly.
"Exactly." Exactly. Poetry is breath and fire and pain. Poetry is getting drunk or stacking hay on a ranch in western Nebraska. It is holding a beautiful woman in your arms; it is holding a baby in your lap. It is dropping out of high school because of the shallowness and stupidity. Exactly. Poetry is hitchhiking all the way to California to see a brilliant woman who loves the letters you write.
"So where'd ya stay last night? It got pretty cold out there."
"A rancher picked me up outside of Laramie. He drove me to Rock Springs where his parents live. They let me stay overnight. Wonderful people. Gave me supper and breakfast."
"No kiddin'?"
"It was pretty incredible."
"I'll say. All a person hears about are people gettin' robbed or killed on the road."
"Yeah. Really."
The big Kenworth was going 80 miles per hour, passing cars and trucks. The speed and the power, the stress of steel and bolt, piston and axle and 18 wheels. Going west. Going west.
"So where you going after Salt Lake City?" the young man asked.
"Headin' north to Pocatello. Then I'll head back to Denver with another load."
Fire and breath and pain and heading north to Pocatello. Pocatello of your dreams. Pocatello of your nightmares. Six men die in gun battle with federal marshals at the Pocatello Corral. Southern Idaho desert. Dry heat, dry grass, dry blood on dry earth. Exactly. The breath of the moment, the heat of the battle--firefight in the Pocatello Corral. One federal marshal wounded. Dry sun on another horizon. This is not Kansas. This is not Nebraska. This is Pocatello. Pocatello of your nightmares.
"This sure is wide open country," the young man said.
"It's a wasteland. Desert."
"I like wide open spaces."
"Then ya won't like California. Ever been to L.A. or Frisco?" the truck driver asked.
"No."
"Where does your poet friend live?"
"Big Sur."
"Never been there."
California of your nightmares. Big Sur of your dreams. Fire out of Kansas. Wheatfields and golden landscapes and dry air and blue sky and. Words, ink on paper, meter and fire. The anvil and the hammer and the fireblood of a wounded heart. Laceration and pain. Fire. The wordsmith labors and sweats and bleeds and brings forth new life. Anvil and hammer. The hot steel is shaped. Blow after blow. Sparks fly in the hot and dry air of Kansas.
"So how old are ya?" the truck driver asked.
"Twenty-three."
"So what do ya want to do with your life?"
"I want to be a bounty hunter or President of the United States."
The truck driver smiled and chuckled. "Sounds good to me. Ever see High Plains Drifter with Clint Eastwood?"
"I am the High Plains Drifter."
Flame out of Kansas. Riding west to the gold rush of your dreams. Desperate, unshaven, sunburned and hungry. Big Sur on your mind. Leather boots, leather skin, the stink of horse sweat. Shot six men in Pocatello just to watch them die. The bullet wounds of your heart, the anguish of the moment. Six men in Pocatello. Just to watch them die. You cinch the saddle down tight and ride west with the hot wind of Idaho at your back. You will ride west where the Pacific meets the edge of the Universe. There you will grow new muscle and ride a horse of a different color.
West. Flame out of Kansas. Exactly.
The big Kenworth rolled west through Wyoming and eternity.
Ethos
May 1995
Iowa State University
Isaiah 53: 3-4: "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted."
Isaiah 63: 1-6: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth."
**********
Ethos
February 2001
"The Poor in Ames"
By Bethany Kohoutek
Page 19: "Tim, who is one of the younger men in the shelter's living room, graduated from Iowa State with a degree in English. He actually had two religious poems and a short story published in Ethos. He said that in the future he plans to settle down, get married and have a family.
'I'm a Christian. I hitchhike by faith,' he says. 'I am being led by the Holy Spirit wherever I go. I share my faith with other people. I've met a lot of great people, and I've learned a lot from them. In fact, these pants were given to me by a family in Texas. My coat was given to me by a guy in Wyoming. Things like that. You meet so many neat people. I can't complain.'"
11 March 2005
The rapture. The common definition for rapture among most Christians is that when a man is raptured, he is taken bodily out of this planet to be with Jesus. This is never ever going to happen.
Rapture is to be enraptured spiritually with God's Presence*; it is to be caught up in God's Love. I was raptured in September of 1986. From September of 1986 until now, I have been caught up in the Presence of God--it is a constant burning sensation or anointing of the Holy Ghost in my forehead.
*"Shekinah, n. [Heb. shekhinah the earthly presence (dwelling) of God, fr. shakhan to dwell.] Jewish Theol. The Divine Manifestation, through which God's presence is felt by man." (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
The carnal, baby, unspiritual Christians enjoy believing bodily rapture doctrine because it makes them feel good: "Oh, no! There's the Anti-Christ! Hurry, Lord, rapture me out of this planet!" Good, old escapist foolishness.
The Lord doesn't save us from things: He saves us in things. How does God get the glory if He raptures His Saints bodily out of the planet? We won't overcome sin and evil people by running away from them; we will overcome sin and evil people by abiding in Christ on the battlefield where He puts us. There is a wall of Holy Ghost Fire that surrounds me: who cares about the Anti-Christ (the world has been full of anti-Christs since the days of Abel and Cain) and the United Nations and liberal politicians? The Lord raises up the wicked so that they can be destroyed forever. In time the United Nations and the shallow, wicked people that support the United Nations will fall. I don't want to sound like I don't care about certain issues. If the Lord raises you up into a position of political power to fight against wicked politicians, then so be it. But I really don't need to study the strategies and plans of the Anti-Christ, the United Nations and liberal politicians; all I need to do is to abide in the Tree of Life and the Holy Ghost will guide me on what I must do in the battlefield where the Lord puts me. If the Lord gives me a jawbone of an ass or a slingshot and five stones from a nearby brook, then so be it. If the Lord wants me to be a submitted vessel where the Holy Ghost can flow through, then so be it. The Lord will always be victorious in the end. We just need to be submitted to His will.
I like to tell people that I was raptured in 1986 and that I haven't left the planet yet. The Lord definitely raptured me right out of the dead churches. So if you don't go to a dead church, that must mean you have been raptured to be forever with Christ.
When carnal, unspiritual, inexperienced men are put in positions of authority, that is when false doctrines and traditions of men creep into the churches. Paul warned the church that after his death grievous wolves would come into the flock and spread false teachings. Vigilance is the price of freedom. If a man is spiritual, and that man begins to go down a path that is not grounded in Scripture and the Holy Ghost, then the Lord will chasten him and then he will quickly turn back to his Father's will. An unspiritual Christian cannot perceive the Holy Ghost because of his inexperience and so he can easily go down an unrighteous path and then run into a brick wall and temporarily ruin his life. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Carnal, baby Christians can't discern spiritual things: Satanic things or Holy Ghost things. Being baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues definitely gives you better discernment concerning good and evil. It is fairly easy to say that Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin were evil, but to call a man evil that reads the Bible, goes to church on Sunday and talks the talk takes discernment. Satan loves to work through certain church people--Pharisees, whitewashed walls-- because the idolatrous multitude can't discern their wickedness. That is why Satan hates the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost Fire exposes his strategies against the Body of Christ and then the Holy Ghost Fire destroys his strategies. The anointing breaks the yoke of sin.
The Holy Ghost is powerful, penetrating light. Take a dark room with no windows and let's say the room is full of cockroaches. Turn on the light and the cockroaches will scatter. Take a man full of the Holy Ghost and see how many people are convicted of sin because of his Godly life. Some people may even run away from him. That is the penetrating power of the Holy Ghost.
13 March 2005
Gladiator: starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.
The Protector of Rome.
15 March 2005
Hebrews 13: 11-13: “For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”
“Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”
If a man is truly led by the Holy Ghost—a life of obedience to the Holy Ghost—then his life will be lived outside the camp—outside the box—bearing His reproach. Too many Christians put God in a box—which is idolatry. I like to tell people that I am like John the Baptist—I am living on the other side of the Jordan River. John the Baptist’s living on the other side of the Jordan River was a powerful testimony against the Phariseeism that had infected the temple in Jerusalem. Phariseeism has also infected many Christian churches; I am sure that this has been a problem since the first century.
Phariseeism is a way to control people through the traditions of men. It rejects the leadings and spontaneity of the Holy Ghost. Phariseeism is a man-made religion that has a form, but no power and no life. Jesus said that He came to bring life and life in abundance. A lot of the time, the abundant life is lived outside the camp.
This is part of the reason that the Lord has had me hitchhike. Even if I did not have the ability to speak, my life would be a powerful sermon that glorifies God. Simply put: I am living for God and not for man; I am doing the will of my Father and not the will of myself. My Father works and I work. My food is to do the will of my Father who sent me. My Father’s will is for me to live outside the confines and constraints of the box—the traditions of men and any other satanic construct.
If we follow Christ, we die daily. Our plans are in submission to His plans. Take up your cross and follow Me. Many times I have thought that all this hitchhiking is foolishness—it is definitely foolishness to the world. But the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of the world. There was a book written about Francis of Assisi called God’s Fool. It is very good. Francis lived the life of a beggar, but his life was a powerful sermon that still influences Christians today. I believe it was Francis who once said, “Preach the Gospel and sometimes use words.” I would rather walk the walk than talk the talk.
Walk the walk outside the camp.
16 March 2005
I was walking north of Sugar City, Idaho on U.S. 20 and this deputy sheriff stopped me and told me to sit on my backpack. He then called for some backup and, within a few minutes, there were two police cars and a sheriff's department pickup. The deputy sheriff told me that a masked man wearing a blue coat had just robbed a bank in Rexburg; I was wearing a blue coat.
So they frisked me for weapons and two guys showed up with body armor and Kevlar helmets—one of them carried an M-16. They went through my backpack and then they let me go. I have been frisked for weapons before, but not with a guy in body armor, helmet and an M-16. I hope they catch the guy who robbed the bank.
Looks like I will be heading to Billings tomorrow. I believe the Lord wants me to switch my mailing address from Jackson to Billings. My days passing through Jackson may be done.
**********
I John 1: 6: “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and we do not live according to the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.’
“ . . . but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light.”
Abiding in Christ. Obedience. Walking in the light. Light is revelation. When we live a life of obedience, the Lord is always giving us fresh revelation from the Word of God, the Holy Ghost, dreams, visions, having fellowship with like-minded brothers and sisters. The Lord has us on a fast-moving battlefield: things can change very quickly. We must be submitted to the Holy Ghost so that we can adjust and counter any move that Satan makes.
I don’t believe the Lord wants us to react to Satan, but to act when the Lord tells us to act. We must be proactive and not reactive. To be reactionary sounds like we are on the defensive. We are not on the defensive; we are on the offensive. We are continually moving forward: after we are done defeating one satanic stronghold, we go on to the next. We are continually engaging the enemy and defeating his tactics and strategies wherever the Lord puts us. There is no stagnation or stasis in the Body of Christ: we engage, defeat; engage, defeat.
General George Patton: “We are advancing constantly and are not interested in holding anything, except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him and kick the hell out of him all the time.”
If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we will only defeat the enemy and kick the hell out of him all the time.
**********
I John 4: 6: “We are of God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and he who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”
17 March 2005
Vicarious. Vicarious sacrifice. Vicarious intercession.
“Vicarious adj. [Lat. vicarius—see VICAR.] 1. Endured or done by one person substituting for another 2. Acting in place of someone or something else. 3. Felt or experienced as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another.” (Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary)
I hope that this isn’t a stretch, but when I prayed with that youth pastor last summer against a Jezebel spirit, I believe it was a vicarious intercession. A few days later, the Lord showed me “ripple effect.” I believe that that prayer is rippling outward in the spiritual realm taking out Jezebel strongholds. They (the Jezebel strongholds) are falling like dominoes all over the world. The prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Since 2001, the Lord has shown me “Bush”, “George Bush”, “1600”, “White House”, “Washington, D.C.” and anything else that pertains to George W. Bush’s presidency. My life is a vicarious intercession for President Bush to keep Satan off of his back. President Bush’s decision to take out satanic strongholds in Afghanistan and Iraq is having a ripple effect in the Middle East and eventually throughout the world.
Before Joshua could take the Promised Land, he had to take out Jericho first. Before the Allies could take Europe away from the Nazis, they needed to take Normandy first. Before freedom can be established throughout the world, the Taliban and Saddam Hussein have to be taken out first. A mustard seed of faith is all that is required to get the ball rolling. Before Samson slew the thousandth and final Philistine, he started by slaying one Philistine and then two Philistines and then ten Philistines and then one hundred Philistines and so on and so on.
One man with absolute faith in God can move mountains and gain liberty for millions of people. Look at the life of William Wallace in Mel Gibson’s movie Braveheart. First William Wallace (with the help of several men—Wallace’s actions inspired other men to fight for their freedom) took out a local garrison, then another garrison and then eventually invaded northern England. His life inspired Robert the Bruce to fight and win against the English at Bannockburn in 1314. Wallace did not fight for money, land or titles; Wallace fought to make Scotland free from the yoke of tyranny.
19 March 2005
I was hitchhiking somewhere in southeastern Kansas a few years ago when I looked to my right and saw a big house out in the country. I told the driver of the car, "That's a nice house."
He said, "Yeah. Some people live in houses and some people live in homes."
I was most definitely raised in a house, not a home. The house that I was raised in was used to entertain hundreds and hundreds of people. It seems like most parents put their kids in public, private or parochial schools so that the teachers can baby-sit their kids. Parents are the primary teachers and caregivers. Parenting is a full-time job. Why would I want someone else to raise my kids?
Some people live in houses and some people live in homes. Some people spend more time taking care of their houses than they do with their wives or children. We are here to maintain and strengthen our relationships with God, our family and our friends than with our houses, our cars, our bank accounts, etc. If your life is cluttered with many things, then you will have to spend time maintaining these things. If you keep your life simple and uncluttered from things, you can spend your time maintaining your marriage and your family.
I was hitchhiking in Missouri a few years ago and this guy wanted me to meet his pastor. All that pastor could talk about was his new Volvo car. I wanted to ask him what the Lord was doing in his life, but since his relationship with God wasn't as important as his relationship with his Volvo, we talked about absolutely nothing.
Your treasure is where your heart is. You are what you eat; you are what you read. If all you think about is making money, then eventually you will make money. If all you think about is having a real nice car, eventually you will have a real nice car. If you continually chase God, then God will fill your cup to overflowing. Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you.
I have been in some very nice, expensive houses throughout the United States, but most of the time, there was no peace in these houses. I have been in old, broken down cars and have had excellent Christian fellowship. When you die, you can't take your house or your car with you, but you will take your character with you. Either you have integrity or you don't. Integrity is your signature; integrity is who you are. Is your life gold, silver and precious stones or is it hay, wood and stubble?
You can tell a man by the house he lives in. Is it clean? Is it a mess? What books are in his library? Does he have a library? Is his house filled with beer cans and whisky bottles? Is he in debt up to his ears so that he can live in an expensive house? Is his house paid off? If a man cannot govern his own house, then why should he govern a city, a state or a nation?
I have been in some warm, wonderful homes in my journeys. These homes are built on a Rock and that Rock is Christ. The children are submitted to their parents, the wives are submitted to their husbands and the husbands are in submission to our Heavenly Father. These homes are peaceful and secure and a blessing to others. A Christian home is a powerful sermon and a powerful ministry.
Even though I do not own a house, I really don't feel homeless. I abide in Christ, so I can feel at home sleeping out in a pasture, under a bridge, in an abandoned vehicle or a haystack. Home is an attitude, a state of mind. Houses are for robots; homes are for Sons of the Most High God.
I am a Son of God.
Sans teeth, sans taste, sans house, sans everything.
20 March 2005
Isaiah Chapter 49.
Verses 1 & 2: "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me."
Verse 6: "And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth."
Verses 25 & 26: "But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweat wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am they Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob."
"And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword."
21 March 2005
Here at the Fremont County Good Samaritan Center in Riverton they have a small library and they have a book that I have been reading for several months now. It is The American Heritage Book of the Revolution by Bruce Lancaster and J.H. Plumb, Introduction by Bruce Catton. It is a very well written book. The Thirteen Colonies did not have a professional army like the British or the German mercenaries, but they had will and resolve and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to pull them through. With a mustard seed of faith, you can change the course of the whole world. The American Revolution is still having a ripple effect in the world today.
Here is an interesting sentence on page 168: "This whole new script, ad-libbed so outrageously by the Americans, seemed to throw the shadows of Breed's Hill deeper and deeper over Howe and Clinton." "This whole new script, ad-libbed so outrageously by the Americans": sounds like things were not very well planned; sounds like certain people were living by faith. Faith by its very nature is unplanned. My life is absolutely unplanned. I go when the Lord tells me to go; I stop when the Lord tells me to stop. There is no doubt that George Washington's faith in God was what carried the Revolution to its successful conclusion. Did Samson plan on using the jawbone of an ass to slay a thousand Philistines? No. Unplanned, ad-libbed lives tend to be very interesting. Take no thought for the morrow. We do prepare ourselves and go about our daily work believing the Lord is using us even when we think we are not being used. The horse is prepared for battle, but the Lord gives the victory.
At the time of Jesus Christ's death at Calvary, did anyone in his wildest dreams believe that it would be the most revolutionary death in the history of this planet? His death and resurrection have left nothing but powerful ripple effects throughout the nations of this world. One man, one death: worldwide revolution--changing people from the inside out and turning the world upside down . . . all done in the power of the Holy Ghost. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.
Looking at the American Revolution: the ad-libbing probably wasn't so much by the Americans, but by the Lord they followed. The Lord sees the battlefield much more clearly than we do. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Pure reason does not win battles, but revelation. I believe that my single, solitary life of hitchhiking around the United States is having a revolutionary ripple effect in the heavenly realm and in the earth. Revelation from heaven, to some people, is revolutionary in and by itself. In a world where pure reason, evolution, humanism and immorality are the norm, then I am sure that my life really hurts a lot of people's feelings because my life is based on revelation from heaven. I know that the Lord wants me to hit the road again tomorrow and head towards Montana. He did not tell me to go yesterday or today, but tomorrow. Why? Probably because tomorrow the Lord wants me to meet someone or maybe a few people and share my life in Christ with them. Maybe the Lord will reveal something new to me tomorrow. Unplanned, unplanned, unplanned. So many times in my life have my own plans been dashed against the Rocks of my heavenly Father's will.
My life is outrageously ad-libbed.
**********
Ephesians 2: 10: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
We are his workmanship. We cannot effect change in ourselves or in the world around us by our self-willed "good works". We abide in Christ and He leads us into the good works that He has already prepared and ordained for us. A good work is a God work--a Father's will work. There are many, many works in the earth, but most of these are self-will works, works of the flesh, works of pure reason. A good work is something that the Lord wants us to do, not what we want to do. God is always glorified in a good work; He is never glorified in a self-will work.
When I finished my college degree in May of 1995, I had no idea that the Lord would have me hitchhike around the United States so much. This is just a wild guess, but I believe I have hitchhiked coast-to-coast at least forty times (total hitchhiking mileage). If this is what the Lord wants, then so be it.
I look back to 1996 (when I began my hitchhiking after a nine-year hiatus) and I can see the Lord's workmanship in my life. So many things have died out in my life, so that the life of Christ can be exalted in me. Curses have been broken in my life: these things (demons) can only come out through prayer and fasting. I am physically, mentally and spiritually stronger because of these past nine years of hitchhiking and obeying the Lord. It is the power of that revolutionary act--the Resurrection--that has made me into the New Man.
"That we should walk in them." I know I have done a lot of hitchhiking, but I am curious how many miles I have walked. I bet I average seven to twelve miles per day. But then it is not necessarily the physical act of walking, but walking in the Light as He is in the Light. He lightens our path, our unique path--a path-with-a-purpose. Every man and woman is special and specially designed to walk that unique path that God has ordained. It may be a peculiar path. It may not bring fame, wealth or notoriety, but it will glorify Him and his workmanship. And whatever He works into us shall never go void.
22 March 2005
Today I hitchhiked from Riverton to Meeteetse, Wyoming. This one guy picked me up north of Shoshoni near the Boysen Reservoir and gave me a ride to Thermopolis; he kicked me down a few bucks and gave me two TV dinners and a couple of Hot Pockets to eat. I walked out of Thermopolis and this Christian picked me up and took me all the way to Meeteetse. He gave me two bananas, some tortilla chips and ten bucks. I walked across the street from the gas station and into the local museum. There I met a Christian lady named Linda and we had excellent Holy Ghost fellowship. She and her husband, Del, run the Vision Quest motel up the hill from the museum and Linda said I could stay here as long as I wanted to—or as long as the Lord wanted me to. I believe the Lord wants me to stay here till Friday morning and then I’ll head towards Montana.
While I was at the museum, I read my poem “Shiloh” to Linda and she liked it a lot. I told her that “Shiloh” disturbed some people back in Ames, Iowa (where it was published). Linda said that it was published to disturb certain people. If people are living in sin, the Holy Ghost will definitely disturb them. “Shiloh” was absolutely inspired by the Holy Ghost. Too many Christians reject the power of the Holy Ghost and so they stumble and bumble along in life and don’t know why they don’t overcome their besetting sins. They have got to stop listening to demon-possessed reverends and start listening to God.
For a week or two now the Lord has been showing me the number 27. The 27th of March is Easter Sunday. The 26th of March is my 45th birthday. Maybe the Lord will reveal to me something on the 27th; maybe some bondage will be broken on the 27th. Something is going to happen: the Lord doesn’t repeat things for nothing.
I am looking at some snow-covered mountains from the window of my second-story motel room. Meeteetse is a really beautiful place: lots of hills, desert and semi-desert ranchland. I have hitchhiked through Meeteetse many times and have met a lot of warm and friendly people here. I once slept overnight at the rodeo grounds just outside of town—that was two or three years ago. The Pitchfork Ranch is close to Meeteetse—it is a very well known ranch in Wyoming. The museum has a lot of photographs of cattle drives and cowboys hanging on the walls. I was hitchhiking through Wyoming a couple of years ago and this guy picked me up and said that he thought that Meeteetse was the most beautiful place in Wyoming.
**********
Mark 1: 12: “And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness.” This verse reminds me so much of what happened in my life back in 1986. I had been working on an apple farm near Embudo, New Mexico for two months. The people I was working for were unbelievers and it was fairly oppressive being around them. Then early one morning, the Lord told me to hit the road—the Spirit drove me from the apple farm to the highway and I hitchhiked all the way to Ellensburg, Washington.
It was all such a relief to get away from those dead, pagan people. I tried to talk to them about the Gospel, but it was like talking to a brick wall. The Lord blessed me so much for leaving that place. I eventually got into a small Pentecostal church in Ellensburg and it was a very good experience; I later got baptized in water by the pastor of that church—Pastor Coussart. That was the first Holy Ghost church I ever attended. It was called Bethel Gospel Church.
When the Holy Ghost drives you into the wilderness, or onto the highway, or into the city—let me tell you: you got to go NOW! Timing is everything. If the Lord wants you to go someplace immediately, then there is a good reason. It may not be your reason, but it will be His reason and that’s all you need to know.
Why did the spirit drive Jesus into the wilderness? Because Jesus obeyed His Father, came to John the Baptist and asked John to baptize Him in the Jordan River. Then when Jesus came up out of the water a voice from heaven said, “Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” All these things happened because Jesus obeyed His Father.
If you don’t obey the Father, then the spirit won’t drive you anywhere. You will go nowhere fast. You will go backwards and trample on His Precious Blood: Hebrews 10: 38-39: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
Mark 1: 22: “And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” No doubt the Presence of God was so powerful in Jesus (the anointing) that His doctrine ran over their karma, which ran over their dogma. So many cars, so many dogs—so little time. When you abide in the Presence of God, it can really discombobulate (I think that is a word) some people. When you live and drive outside the box, you can only run over the karmas and dogmas that love to stay inside the box. The Scribes were inside the box. The Pharisees are inside the box. The box makers have built mansions—or tombs—with whitewashed walls inside the box. So many boxes, so little time.
Box teeth, box taste, box eyes, box everything.
If I hear the word “box” again, I think I am going to vomit.
23 March 2005
Mark 3: 7-8: “But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.” These two verses are very interesting. It says a great multitude followed Him—from Israel and outside of Israel. How many Scribes and Pharisees were among this multitude? How many theologians? How many of those who indulge in the knowledge of good and evil? The common man could see that Jesus was special. Some came to the conclusion right away that He was the Messiah. Some were curious and eventually called Him a teacher or a prophet.
Where were the temple types, the box makers, and the people in authority who told people what to do but did not do it themselves? I believe the word “hypocrite” means actor. Don’t act it; be it, live it. But as we know, the carnal, unsaved mind loves a power trip. The people in power—the temple priests—absolutely resented the life and work of Jesus. He was the real deal. He preached and taught with authority. He did not have a Ph.D. from Hebrew University. He lived by faith and revelation: His university was constant communion with His heavenly Father. Don’t get me wrong: there are a lot of inspired books that will feed your spirit, but we must be connected to the Source of all wisdom first and then indulge in the great books second. First things first. No doubt Hebrew University and Moody Bible Institute and Iowa State University have some very learned people who are totally dedicated to God. But without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no wisdom—just dead knowledge, information, hot air and glorified nonsense. With the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
This multitude that followed Jesus were hungry for something—bread from heaven. Jesus’ words were spirit and they were life. Jesus Himself was bread that fed men’s souls. Why is it that from the age of fifteen through the age of eighteen I wanted to commit suicide? I had plenty of food, shelter and clothing. I was an atheist at that time and my life was exceedingly miserable because my spiritual life was dead. I needed the bread from heaven to sustain me. I began to pray to God when I was eighteen and I could feel grace come into my life. I was twenty-two when I became born-again and then I became engrafted into the Tree of Life. Even though I struggled with various sins in my early Christian walk, I at least knew where my food came from and, if I prayed for wisdom, He would give it to me.
Jesus withdrew himself to the sea, yet the multitude still followed Him. I would rather be a poor man in America than a rich man anywhere else. Why? Because a poor man in Christ still has the freedom to worship God in America than a rich man in China or Europe. Technically, I am poor, but in Christ, I am very rich. In America I still have the freedom to follow Jesus. Why are so many people still trying to emigrate or illegally immigrate to America? Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the powerful influence of the Gospel in this nation, America would be just another third-world country. The economy, the social mores, the structure of our government is built on the Rock of the Lord Jesus Christ. An unbeliever who immigrates to this country may say that he came here for a good-paying job. How did that good-paying job come about? From thin air? No. There is a freedom in this country that lets believers and unbelievers be very creative and inventive—which help to create jobs. As a hitchhiker that lives by faith, I bet I live better than 90% of the people on this planet. Why? Because I am with the multitude that follow Jesus. The Lord feeds me, He heals me, He casts demons out of my body, He gives me wisdom—He is my economy, my social mores and my government.
And from beyond Jordan
When they heard what great things he did. Look at their reaction to the work of Jesus. They ran after Him. Look at the reaction of the Pharisees: they wanted to kill Him. They eventually did kill Him and they are still trying to kill Him. A Christian Pharisee is probably the most wicked man on this earth. They are so sure of their doctrine, they are very self-righteous and they prevent others from entering into the Kingdom of Heaven. “You call yourself a prayer walker? You hitchhike because the Lord told you to hitchhike? You don’t preach salvation? Where in Scripture does it say that?” The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Scripture interpreted by dead, Pharisaical, spiritless reason can only kill; Scripture interpreted by a childlike, Spirit-led heart can only give life. Some people miss Christ for the Bible verses: John 5: 39-40: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”
Do we follow Jesus, or do we follow man? Do we follow revelation or uninspired reason?
And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him. A great multitude. Followed Him. They did not study or analyze Him--they followed Him.
24 March 2005
I woke up this morning and looked out the window and there were three to four inches of snow on the ground. What a welcome sight that was. Wyoming and Montana can use a ton of snow. Without water we are dead.
Linda and Dell had me over for supper last night. Just before supper Linda showed me a tape of a Benny Hinn Crusade in Denver where she was delivered from a demon of witchcraft. Benny Hinn was really operating in the power of the Holy Ghost. When Benny Hinn comes to town, the devil flees in terror.
**********
John 4: 23-24: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship. God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
The true worshippers. The full Gospel. The Holy Ghost and Scripture. Shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. There is a powerful balance when you have the power of the Holy Ghost and the knowledge of Scripture engrafted into your Spirit man. The Holy Ghost and Scripture is a two-edged sword that Satan hates. Satan can find ways to inflict damage on someone who is only in the Holy Ghost or who is only into Scripture. I think it is interesting to note that the word “spirit” precedes the word “truth”. We can’t get the cart before the horse. We need the Holy Ghost to teach us the Scripture. How can you understand Scripture if you are not born again? Then when you get baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues, the Bible becomes an even more living, breathing document.
When Adam was in the Garden of Eden (before he sinned), he did not have the Law, the Prophets or the New Testament, but he did have the unbroken Presence of God (the Holy Ghost) to guide him and sustain him. The Lord did not have to give him a written book to tell Adam what to do, the Lord spoke to Adam in his spirit: Spirit to spirit: perfect communion.
And they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. It doesn’t say you must worship Him in a building. If a building has a pastor in it that is submitted to the Holy Ghost, then the congregation is in good hands. The congregation is in the building not because of the building, but because of the Holy Ghost.
When I meet people on the road, I don’t care if they are Pentecostal, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Baptist or non-churchgoers. I tell them about Jesus, the Word of God and the Holy Ghost. Let’s get the horse before the cart. Without a horse, the cart is dead in its tracks; without the cart, you can still ride the horse. John Wesley rode on horseback all over England: he didn’t need a cart. Wouldn’t it be beautiful if the Lord told some Holy Ghost believer to buy a horse and go on horseback and preach the Gospel in England? Or maybe it would be easier to hitchhike. America owes so much to England and the rest of Great Britain—a lot of powerful saints came out of Scotland and Wales. Get on your horse and ride in the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost Riders.
I Kings 18: 46: “And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” In the back of my Bible I have a map of Israel and the distance between Mt. Carmel and Jezreel is about 25 miles. This old man named Elijah outran the king’s chariots in the power of the Holy Ghost. Some people hitchhike in the Holy Ghost, some people ride horses in the Holy Ghost and some people run in the Holy Ghost.
Sans teeth, sans taste, sans horse, sans everything.
I was working for Pike Construction back in Ames, Iowa and I was doing demolition work: I would use a sledgehammer and break down these brick and mortar walls, shovel it up into a garbage can and haul it out to this dump truck. One morning we got this new guy and he worked with me his first day. He was built like a brick house: he was around 5’ 9”, 235 pounds, had 19-inch biceps (that’s what he told me—maybe he only had 18-inch biceps)—he was a body builder. The second day he came to the job site, he said that he couldn’t keep up with me, so he would do carpenter work. That was okay with me because he had more experience than me in carpenter work. After about a week, this guy said to me, “Tim, how do you do it? You’re swinging that sledgehammer all day long and you don’t let up. Look at me; look at the size of my arms. Now look at you; look at the size of your arms (at the time I was 5’11” and 175 pounds). How do you do it? You never get tired.”
I looked at him and said, “Because I am baptized in the Holy Ghost and with Fire!”
The guy about had a heart attack. He didn’t know what to think. From that time on he would ask me questions about the Bible and spiritual things. So the moral of the story is: if you swing your sledgehammer in a responsible, Holy Ghost manner, someone eventually may enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Elijah . . . ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel in a responsible, Holy Ghost manner.
I came, I saw, I swung my sledgehammer in the power of the Holy Ghost. With the sledge of a hammer, heaps upon heaps, with the sledge of a hammer, have I slain a thousand men. And he cast the sledgehammer out of his hand and called that place Ramath-sledgehammer.
Judges 13: 25: “And the spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.”
One thing about Samson: at least he slew the Philistines in a responsible, Holy Ghost manner.
26 March 2005
Today I am forty-five years old. Looks like it will be warmer than usual this weekend. Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.
**********
Last night the Presence of God was very strong. It was a light sleep—if you called it sleep at all. When the Holy Ghost is burning you up all night long, you don’t sleep much. Today I am not tired at all. I believe something significant could happen tomorrow—the 27th of March.
**********
In the past week I had a dream about somebody I met in Jackson, Wyoming back in 2003. It was a negative dream. No details in my mind, but in my spirit it is definitely there. The guy is under horrible bondage to his dad who is a pastor that rejects the power of the Holy Ghost. A lot of witchcraft in that family. A lot of Gospel in his head (the father and the son), but not enough Gospel in his spirit.
**********
I sometimes say things like: why do the wicked prosper? Why did the Israelites have to be in bondage to Pharaoh for so many years? When the Lord destroyed the army and the economy of Egypt, it was probably the most powerful nation in the world at the time. The Lord was greatly glorified when the Israelites were miraculously freed from Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. The times and seasons are in God’s hands. If a wicked man is in power, then we should be resolved to grow stronger in Christ. Maybe we are not yet strong enough in Christ to pray that wicked man out of power. Whatever reason there is for that wicked man to be in power, God will ultimately be glorified in the end.
Why did the Jewish people suffer so greatly in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s? I think one reason was that after World War II, the world realized it was time that the Jewish people had to have their own homeland. From the hell and ashes of the concentration camps was birthed a new nation, Israel. And Israel continues to glorify God to this day. I have heard of the miracles of the 1967 War (the Six Day War) and the 1973 War (the Yom Kippur War). It never ceases to amaze me why people attack Israel verbally and militarily. If a man is dead is his trespasses and sins, he has no understanding. In the Book of Daniel it is written, the wise shall understand, but the wicked shall not understand. If a man places no value in the Law, the Prophets and the New Testament, then he has no appreciation for the Judaeo-Christian view of history and has no appreciation for nations like Israel, Great Britain or the United States of America. He has a reprobate mind and his thoughts are wicked, selfish and in constant turmoil. There is no rest for the wicked.
Our heavenly Father puts people in power. If a nation is wicked, He will put a wicked man in power. If a nation is righteous, then He will put a righteous man in power. I believe the reason the Lord put Hitler and Stalin in power was because Germany and Russia were not preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Dictators thrive where the Gospel is not preached, or where the Gospel is being persecuted. Occasionally I will meet someone who will say that God doesn’t put everybody in power. That’s like saying Jesus Christ is not Lord.
Ezra 1: 1-2: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house of Jerusalem, which is in Judah.” This verse has the sovereignty of God written all over it. Cyrus was not a Jew, but he was put in power by God to do God’s will.
Jesus saw the Father and did the will of His Father. Cyrus didn’t know the Father and probably knew little or none of Mosaic Law, but he did the will of the Father. There have been some presidents who were put in the White House without my help or consent, but the Lord put them there for some reason. I believe the worst presidents America ever had were in the White House from 1961 to 1981. I liked some of the things that Nixon did, but he abused his power, so it was good that he resigned.
God is not mocked: your sin shall find you out.
27 March 2005
Psalm 49: 20: “Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.”
Daniel 12: 10: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
What good is all the money and power and influence in the world if you don’t know God? Knowledge is not necessarily wisdom; money is not necessarily wealth; rubbing shoulders with presidents, senators and governors doesn’t necessarily mean that you have power and influence. I once wrote that a jackass with a Ph.D. is still a jackass. A jackass with a billion dollars in the bank is still a jackass. A wicked man in a position of power can drive a nation into the ground.
What is the precious life? Is it accumulating things and possessions? The precious life is maintaining a relationship with God and the people in your life. You can have material things, but do not let them have power over you. If you spend more time working on your car than with your wife, then something is terribly wrong. Give your children time, not things. Who or what do you bond with? Sure, I really enjoy watching college football, but I better spend more time with my wife and kids than with college football on TV.
If a man has accumulated millions of dollars or gained high political office or collected all kinds of trophies and his wife becomes an alcoholic and his kids become juvenile delinquents, then he must be living in abject poverty. Don’t let the world define wealth, power and influence. Don’t let the world define love, wisdom and happiness. Build your life on the Rock; seek the Kingdom of Heaven first. I am one of the wealthiest men I know and I have four dollars in a bank somewhere. Maybe someday the Lord will let me have a job where I can make some money, but my wealth is based on my intimate relationship with my Father, not by my bank account.
**********
Daniel 12: 10: “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried.”
Zechariah 13: 8-9: “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die: but the third part shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.”
I have read from two or three sources that between 30% and 35% of the people in the United States are born again. 30% of any population is a lot of salt. Maybe 30% is God’s magic number.
I believe “the land” in Zechariah 13: 8 is the United States of America. The Gospel has been preached here since at least 1620. There were some Huguenots from France that tried to settle in Florida in 1585, but the Spanish killed most of them, so they could not be established. Where the Gospel has been preached and engrafted into the population, there is greater light and greater responsibility—and greater judgment. If the Lord does not judge aspects of our American culture (abortion, homosexuality, pagan environmentalism, liberalism, humanism, evolution), then He better start apologizing to Sodom and Gomorrah.
The Holy Ghost Fire is what breaks the yoke of sin; it burns up the chaff of worthless desires in our lives. If we are called to be soldiers, we cannot be entangled with the things of the world. A soldier goes into combat with his rifle and whatever he can carry on his back. He is not burdened with the things and desires of the world, or else he will get bogged down on the field of battle and perish.
We must be lean, so to speak. We are not born again lean. We go through years of purification and trials so that the Lord can take the fat out of our lives. There are certain doctrines of demons that must be purged from our beliefs: bodily rapture, eternal security, name-it-claim-it prosperity, possibility thinking. It is amazing the burdens we put upon ourselves—we shoot ourselves in the foot. May the Lord uncripple us so that we can march forward, engage the enemy and be victorious.
**********
Zechariah 13: 4: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed everyone of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive.”
People can easily become self-deceived. Remember when the Israelites murmured against God in the wilderness and asked for meat instead of manna? Well, the Lord gave them what they asked for and many Israelites died from eating the quail that came into the camp. If a Christian is seeking something or desiring something that is out of God’s will, then the Lord will allow the devil to give that Christian a false vision, or a false prophecy or a false dream. You may seek something or pray for something that is not God’s will, but the Lord will allow it to come to pass and send leanness into your heart. You may get what you want, but your spiritual life will dry up and you will bear no fruit.
“But I’m a Christian and she is a Christian, so it must be God’s will for us to get married!” Not necessarily. I knew a young man and a young woman who were in our prayer group back in Ames, Iowa. The first time I met her I could tell she was looking for a husband. To make a long story short, this young man and young woman got married in December of 1989. The wedding was totally unblessed: it was twenty degrees below zero, the candles in the sanctuary would not stay lit, the public address system didn’t work and when I went to sign the guest book, there was no pen. It was as if the Lord wanted to make sure that there was no record of my being at their wedding. He was young and inexperienced in the Lord and she was very manipulative and controlling (Jezebel), so it was absolutely, positively HER WILL that they get married. I later learned that she had to take fertility drugs for several years before she could get pregnant. I later met them at a fast food restaurant in Ames back in 2000 and it was not edifying. Outward appearances are very deceiving. If a man’s spiritual life is dead, then God is not blessing his life. A man can smile for the camera all he wants, but the image on the photograph is not necessarily a representation of his spiritual life. All is not what it appears. Judge not according to appearance (the flesh), but judge righteous (spiritual) judgment.
“The prophets shall be ashamed everyone of his vision, when he hath prophesied.” Our false visions shall find us out. Our sins shall find us out. The chickens always come home to roost. What goes around comes around. I once told someone that I thought Kim Clement was a false prophet because one of his prophecies that he gave on TBN I did not fully understand at the time—maybe it was for someone else’s understanding, not mine. (Please forgive me, Kim Clement. I know that you are a prophet of God.) Within a year or so, two people accused me of being a false prophet. What goes around comes around.
It may not be the words out of a man’s mouth that will accuse him. It will be a man’s life that will accuse him. If you say you are a prophet, an apostle or some man of God and your life is a shambles and people can see that your life is not blessed by God, then people can see that you are not a man of God. People can see for themselves that you have shot yourself in the foot; you don’t have to tell them. Talk is cheap. Working out your salvation and walking the crucified life is a horse of a different color. Your words and your life will either honor you (and honor God) or haunt you: look at the false prophet Hananiah. He told Israel that the yoke of the king of Babylon would be broken within two years (Jeremiah 28: 1-4). Jeremiah 28: 15-17: “Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; the Lord hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month.”
Itchy ears love to be scratched by the soothing words of false prophets.
**********
Galatians 5: 18: “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”
The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The law is our schoolmaster until Christ be formed in us. The law and the letter came at Mt. Sinai. The Spirit was available after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To be led by the Holy Spirit is where the Lord wants us—not to be constantly thinking about the letter of the law. The Lord doesn’t want us to be governed by the letter of the law, but to be governed by the Holy Ghost. The Law and the Prophets and the New Testament should be engraved in our hearts—it should be engrafted into our Spirit man. We should be a law unto ourselves.
The law is death. The letter is death. The flesh is death. The Spirit is life, peace, spontaneity, childlikeness, light, freedom, fresh revelation, wisdom and strength. My life of obedience to the Holy Ghost really disturbs Christians who are in bondage to legalism. They really get rattled. I am sure that when I was younger I had some legalism in me, but because I wanted the power of the Holy Ghost in my life, legalism eventually died out. The more you kick the demons out of your body and your soul, the freer you become. To be a bond slave of Christ is to be a free man; to be a bond slave of self will is slavery and sin and death. When a vessel willingly submits to the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost gives that vessel overcoming power over sin. The law is the box; the Holy Ghost is outside the box. Let us suffer His reproach without the box. We are not lawless, but a law unto ourselves: the “law” of the Holy Ghost.
30 March 2005
I think I should write a little about my backpack. I carry it everywhere I go; it has been invaluable in my hitchhiking journeys.
Back in September of 1999 I was hitchhiking in northern California—somewhere on U.S. 395 north of Susanville—and this guy picked me up and asked me if I would help him do some carpenter work. I agreed and worked for him for about three hours. After we were finished, he said he would give me his backpack because he didn’t have any money to give me. I gave him my bag that I carried on my shoulder, took his backpack and put my stuff in it and have had it ever since. It was a real blessing because the backpack’s weight is better distributed on your shoulders and back and hips than the bag that I carried on my shoulder—and I can carry heavier loads. I think my backpack has weighed up to forty pounds.
The things that I carry in my backpack are: a U.S. Army sleeping bag; a water bottle; a zippered folder that holds my manuscripts, CDs, a floppy disc, pens, address book, an atlas of North America and other papers; clothing; a shaving kit; batteries for my flashlight; a little all-purpose tool; toilet paper; moist towelettes; a little Gideon's New Testament; a pocket atlas of the United States; a King James Compact Reference Bible; some disposable Gillette razors; a plastic carrying case for six mini-CDs; two stocking caps; a small roll of duct tape.
My backpack has shown a lot of wear and tear over the years. There are rips in it; it is somewhat dirty. There are places where I sewed it up with monofilament fishing line and there is a piece of duct tape on the bottom of the pack. Without duct tape, we would be a people no more.
I believe the weight of my backpack averages around thirty-five pounds, so I get some good exercise everyday when I have to walk several miles on the highway. The guy who gave me the backpack told me that he spent $200.00 for it back in 1979. It is still hanging in there pretty tough. It is an interior frame backpack. I don’t know the brand name.
It has been through rain, snow, dirt, mud, sand (e.g. I slept on the beach at Cambria, California), crude oil (in the back of a pickup in New Mexico), hundred-degree heat, and twenty-below-zero cold. I use it as a pillow when I sleep outside. I use it as body armor when somebody drives by and sprays me with submachine gun bullets (just joking). My body armor is a wall of fire that surrounds me—the Holy Ghost Fire.
My backpack and myself have hitchhiked countless thousands upon thousands of miles throughout the United States
When I die, it doesn’t look like I will be able to take it to heaven with me—I guess this is something that I will just have to accept.
A backpack, a backpack, my kingdom for a backpack.
Without a backpack, I would be a hitchhiker no more—or just another hitchhiker without a backpack.
The first backpack was probably invented somewhere between Cain and Abel and the time of Noah. The first hitchhikers probably came about just after the Tower of Babel: the Lord confused the languages of the people and the people were forced to migrate to the four corners of the known world, so there must’ve been a lot of people looking for rides on oxen-driven carts and on camel caravans.
I have heard that U.S. Marines carry eighty-pound backpacks in boot camp and that British S.A.S. (Special Air Services) men carried two hundred-pound packs in Operation Desert Storm (1991). Thirty-five pounds doesn’t feel so bad. It’s my backpack and it doesn’t complain: I’ll keep it as long as it holds up.
31 March 2005
James 4: 4: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
Whenever I think of the word adulterer or adulteress or adultery, I think of sexual sin. But if a man loves the world, chases after the things of the world, is conformed to the world, he is an adulterer pure and simple. Pure adultery is absolute impurity pure and simple. The world is always bombarding us with lies and images: temptations through the media (visual, audio, print), public education systems or through the mouth of an unbeliever. It is a daily struggle to keep us unspotted from the world, to be unadulterated from the dirt of the world. As long as we have a submitted heart to the Lord, He will protect us. James 4: 7: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
I have always loved this verse: James 4: 8: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” There should be a daily yearning for God, a daily abiding in God. I meet people who say, “I was saved thirty years ago” and they are still baby Christians. So you have been a baby Christian for thirty years: how does that glorify God? Someone graduates from the first grade: does that mean he is educated? No. Graduating from the first grade is part of that lifelong process called education. I have met people with college degrees who I thought were semi-illiterate idiots. Just because you have a college degree does not mean that you are educated; it probably means that you are indoctrinated with liberal (satanic) ideology.
Being born again is important, but staying at a first grade conversion level of spirituality for thirty or forty or fifty years really does not glorify God. Throw away the milk bottle—draw nigh to God—and begin partaking of the meat of the Word. Christians who are not drawing nigh to God every day are lazy and complacent. We are to grow deeper in Christ: we are not to make a tomb or a whitewashed wall out of salvation. To some people, salvation is another excuse for idolatry or putting God in a box. Get out of the box and get into New Jerusalem.
3 April 2005
Mark 7: 1-8: “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.”
If the Pharisees spent so much time washing external things—hands, cups, pots, tables, etc.—I guess they were really trying to show people that they were good, clean, upstanding citizens. Maybe they should have had a broken and contrite heart and repented of their sin, then they wouldn’t spend so much time with external things. Get rid of the internal issues (sin) and the external issues will take care of themselves.
When Adam and Eve sinned, they immediately hid themselves because they were naked—the glory of God had departed from them. Some people think that they covered themselves with leaves to hide their nakedness. The Pharisees were constantly washing themselves and their possessions to show people that they were cleansing themselves from their “dirt”.
Remember in Shakespeare’s Macbeth when Lady Macbeth was always saying, “Out, out, damn spot!” She was always washing her hands trying to cleanse herself from the guilt of murder. Hidden, unconfessed sin always comes back to haunt you. Trying to hide yourself or clean yourself through the traditions of men does not cleanse away sin. Confessing sin gets rid of sin. Unconfessed sin can lead to mental and physical illness. Your sin shall find you out.
This past week, the well-known defense attorney, Johnny Cochran, died of a brain tumor at the age of sixty-seven. There is no doubt in my mind that the legal prowess of Johnny Cochran, and the other high-priced lawyers that defended O.J. Simpson, got a murderer off the hook. I believe four or five lawyers defended O.J. Simpson when he was being prosecuted for the murder of his ex-wife and her boyfriend. There is no doubt in my spirit that O.J. Simpson murdered those two people. Of those lawyers who defended Simpson, F. Lee Bailey was later disbarred, one other lawyer died of cancer and Johnny Cochran just passed away. In a TV interview last summer marking the tenth anniversary of the O.J. Simpson murder trial, an interviewer asked Johnny Cochran about the trial. Johnny Cochran said, “The color of justice in America is green.” Money always perverts justice. When I saw Johnny Cochran on TV, he looked like absolute hell. I wonder if he spent the last ten years washing and rewashing his hands while saying, “Out, out, damn spot!”
Another Pharisaical tactic is giving money (or a lot of money) to a church or a charitable organization so that people will hear about it and then come to the conclusion that so-and-so is a good man. These men spend so much of their time and money white-washing their lives, yet in the end people will see them as they are: dead walls that imprison themselves and others, open graves, clouds without rain, dead men’s bones, lip-service kings.
I have no problem with a clean and tidy house, but if a person is obsessed with external cleanliness, then there is definitely a sin problem that is not being addressed. The internal man is superior to the external man. The external man cannot hide the internal man, the internal sin, the internal demons. Cleanse the internal man with the Precious Blood of Jesus and in time the external will follow. We are cleansed, changed from the inside out. Covering yourself with a fig leaf (the traditions of men) isn’t going to cut it.
Mark 7: 15: “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.” The Lord is much more concerned with the dirt inside of a man than with the dirt on his hands and face—or the dirt that enters into his mouth and belly and then passes out of him.
Mark 7: 20-23: “That which cometh out of a man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of man, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within and defile the man.” Listen to a man speak for five or ten minutes and you can begin to see where he is coming from: what work he does, what he likes and dislikes, if he has any interest in the things of God, if he is demon-possessed or demon-oppressed.
Last night I saw The Silence of the Lambs starring Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. I think I have seen that movie two or three times now. Clarice Starling (Foster) asks Dr. Hannibal Lector (Hopkins) about Buffalo Bill (a serial killer). Lector tells Starling that Buffalo Bill’s problem is not his transexuality or his “garden variety’ manic-depression, but his covetousness. Buffalo Bill covets something—something right before his eyes—and that is how Clarice Starling is able to track him down, confront him and kill him. A sick, demon-possessed, brilliant psychiatrist named Hannibal Lector helped Clarice Starling apprehend a serial killer.
As Christians, we don’t need a psychiatrist to show us our besetting sins. We have Scripture and the Holy Ghost: our sin is right before our eyes. But sometimes we are in such bondage to sin that it blinds us. That is where a faithful brother or sister in Christ can give us a loving rebuke to show us where we are missing the mark. Open rebuke is better than hidden love.
The Lord has had me rebuke many Christians for sin since 1989. Most of these people never take heed to the Lord’s warnings and I later see how their lives are ruined by their unrepented sin. Unrepented sin will ruin your life and lead to absolute death.
What do we covet in our hearts? Murder comes from within, not without. Before Buffalo Bill coveted and murdered those women in act, he coveted and murdered those women in his heart. What is inside us? What is in my heart? Come broken and humble before the Lord and the Holy Ghost will expose what is in your heart.
**********
I have been watching a two-hour program on the History Channel about the life of Alexander the Great. It is a fascinating story of one man who takes forty thousand soldiers (most of whom were probably Macedonians) and conquers the known world in twelve years. I didn’t see the entire program, but I did see how Alexander laid siege to the Island of Tyre and defeated it in seven months. I also saw the Battle of Gaugamela in Asia (Persia).
Just before the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander was worried about the vast number of Persians that he was up against. The Persians also had a new weapon: chariots fitted with swords on their wheels so as to slice through Alexander’s foot soldiers. The night before the battle, Alexander slept very peacefully—a peace that surpasses understanding. The next day Alexander and the Macedonians defeated a much larger force of Persians. The casualties: the Macedonians lost one hundred infantry and one thousand cavalry; the Persians lost three hundred thousand soldiers. That is absolutely incredible! Miraculous! Biblically miraculous! From the victory at Gaugamela, Alexander defeats Asia and is pretty much considered the ruler of the world. Why the great victory over the Persians? Why did Alexander sleep so peacefully the night before the battle? Because it was the Lord’s will for Alexander to defeat the Persians. To me, this is added proof that the Lord governs in the affairs of men—believers and unbelievers. The Lord puts people in positions of power—it is not luck or chance. There are no accidents in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Daniel 4: 34-37: “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of he earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counselors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.”
Alexander and Nebuchadnezzar were not Jews or Christians, but the Lord used them for His purposes. This is a shot in the dark, but maybe the Lord wanted Alexander (and the Greek culture) to conquer Asia and the world because, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, most or all of the New Testament would be written in Greek. Maybe the Greek language is easier to learn than certain Asian or Middle Eastern languages. Alexander the Great conquering the world was a foreshadowing of the Greek New Testament conquering the world for Christ.
Look at the Romans. The Romans probably had the greatest empire until the British Empire came along in the 1600s. The Romans were known to have copied much of Greek culture. The Romans were also known for their feats of building and engineering. The Romans built outstanding roads throughout their empire. And on these roads traveled Christian missionaries with their Greek New Testaments. You have heard of Greco-Roman wrestling. Maybe we should call the first few centuries after Christ the Greco-Roman Christian period. The Greek New Testament is still being taught to Christians to this day and Hebrew is still being taught to Jews and Christians to this day. Shows you the power and the enduring influence of the Law, the Prophets and the New Testament.
Let us go to the British Empire. The Romans had their roads, but the British had the greatest navy--especially after the Battle of Trafalgar--till World War II, when the United States became a superpower. Look at all the Christian missionaries that traveled all over the world on British ships. English is the international language. The King James Bible is probably the best-known version of any Bible ever produced. There are more people learning English in China than there are people in the United States. By the age of fifteen, students in China have to have a nine thousand-word vocabulary in English.
The United States also has a large navy, but it also has a powerful Air Force and civilian air transportation. Also, the United States still has the cutting edge when it comes to computer/internet/communications technology. Once, it was all roads led to Rome, then all roads led to London; now (because of technology—light technology—created light and Uncreated Light (the Gospel of Jesus Christ)) all roads lead to the United States of America.
The United States is not an accident of evolution. The British Empire was no accident, neither was the Roman Empire. Alexander the Great was no accident. Jesus Christ is Lord and rules in the affairs of men. Alexander the Great prepared his men for battle, but the Lord gave him the victory. I once met a Catholic priest who could read the New Testament in Greek. He loved Greek so much he told me that reading the New Testament in the English was like kissing your bride through the veil. I wonder if Greek is a simpler language than English. Alexander the Great still has a powerful influence in the world to this day.
I met a professor from Japan who told me that it was much easier for him to learn English than it would be for me to learn Japanese. Could it also be true for Latin? Would it be easier to learn Latin than Japanese, Chinese, Swahili or other languages? The principle languages of the Bible are: Hebrew, Greek, Latin and English.
The language of the Bible is very simple: a first-grader can read it. The biggest, polysyllable word that Paul uses is “superfluous”. And this is the great wisdom of God: that the Lord would give us a book that a seven-year-old or a ninety-seven-year-old could read—because of its simplicity. I believe there will be a day when there will be two languages in every man’s life: his native tongue and English.
Who knows: if Alexander the Great had come along after the first century A.D., and if he had been converted to Christianity and lived a long life, maybe the international language in 2005 A.D. would be Greek.
**********
Pope John Paul II passed away yesterday. From what I have heard, he was a Christian. He was definitely anti-Communist. Look at the hand of God: in 1978 Pope John Paul II comes into power; in 1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain; in 1981 Ronald Reagan becomes President of the United States. These three individuals spoke out against Communism. The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991.
It will be very interesting to see whom the Lord installs as the next pope.
5 April 2005
My Utmost for His Highest
By Oswald Chambers
August 4
“The Brave Comradeship of God”
“As Christians we are not out for our own cause at all, we are out for the cause of God, which can never be our cause. We do not know what God is after, but we have to maintain our relationship with Him whatever happens. We must never allow anything to injure our relationship with God; if it does get injured we must take time and get it put right. The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is being continually assailed.”
“We do not know what God is after . . .” We don’t know everything because God doesn’t tell us everything. We are on a need-to-know basis: when we need to know something, the Lord will reveal it to us in HIS TIME, not in our time.
I am here in Jackson, Wyoming because the Lord told me to hitchhike here from Bozeman. Looks like I will stay here at a friend’s house and do some writing and typing and then head back to Montana. This is all I need to know at this time. Where is the humility in trying to know everything or in trying to figure out something that is none of our business? I know what the Lord wants me to know. Sometimes He reveals things to me about the distant future, but mostly my relationship with my heavenly Father is this: give me this day my daily bread, my daily revelation.
“We have to maintain our relationship with Him whatever happens.” Adam was in the most beautiful paradise with the most beautiful woman ever created. Adam lost the Garden of Eden because he did not maintain his relationship with the Tree of Life. Without a rightly maintained relationship with the Tree of Life our works can only be dead works because our life is dead. When a man is truly engrafted into the Tree of Life, his life can only be a good work, a living sermon.
My Utmost for His Highest
March 12
“Abandonment”
“Our Lord replies in effect, that abandonment is for Himself, and not for what the disciples themselves will get from it.”
“When we come up against the barriers of natural relationship, where is Jesus Christ? Most of us desert Him—‘Yes, Lord, I did hear Thy call; but my mother is in the road, my wife, my self-interest, and I can go no further.’ ‘Then,’ Jesus says, ‘you cannot be My disciple.’
“The test of abandonment is always over the neck of natural devotion. Go over it and God’s own abandonment will embrace all things you had to hurt in abandoning. Beware of stopping short of abandonment to God. Most of us know abandonment in vision only.”
My Utmost for His Highest
December 4
“The Law of Antagonism”
“Life without war is impossible in nature or in grace. The basis of physical, mental, moral, and spiritual life is antagonism. This is the open fact of life.”
My Utmost for His Highest
June 18
“Don’t Think Now, Take the Road”
“The wind was actually boisterous, the waves were actually high, but Peter did not see them at first. He did not reckon with them, he simply recognized his Lord and stepped out in recognition of Him, and walked on the water.”
“If you debate for a second when God has spoken, it is all up. Never begin to say—‘Well, I wonder if He did speak?’ Be reckless immediately, fling it all out on Him. You do not know when His voice will come, but whenever the realization of God comes in the faintest way imaginable, recklessly abandon. It is only by abandon that you recognize Him. You will only realize His voice more clearly by recklessness.”
Once in a while, especially in bad weather--rain, snow, bitter cold—people will ask me why I am hitchhiking (because to them it doesn’t make any sense that I am hitchhiking in such inclement weather), so I tell them that the Lord told me to. It doesn’t matter about the weather or what people think or say or what I want or don’t want: the will of our heavenly Father cuts through everything in heaven and earth like a hot knife through butter. Sure it seems crazy what the Lord tells you to do, but we are called to be a peculiar people. I love the way Oswald Chambers says it: “recklessly abandon”: recklessly walk across the water; recklessly hitchhike where people don’t think you should hitchhike; recklessly obey the Lord and ask questions later. Live a recklessly abandoned obedient life or die. Live free or die.
Reckless teeth, reckless taste, reckless eyes, reckless everything.
If I am ever on a desert island, there are two books that I would have to have with me: the King James Bible and Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest.
Hitchhike recklessly or don’t hitchhike.
Without reckless hitchhikers we would be a people no more.
Reckless obedience. Reckless faith.
**********
I believe that a curse was broken in my life on the 27th of March. Even a few days before the 27th, the Presence of God has been very strong since that time. The more the curses are broken in your life, the more the demons are kicked out of your body and your soul, the more the Holy Ghost can flow through you—and the more effectively you can take out and destroy satanic strongholds. Sometimes it is hard to get to sleep because the Holy Ghost is burning you up—but then I don’t need that much sleep because the Holy Ghost is restoring my body.
Reckless Holy Ghost Fire.
**********
My Utmost for His Highest
November 7
“The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances”
“The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say—I am going to be my own providence here, I must watch this, and guard that. All your circumstances are in the hand of God, therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession, but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you amongst by His providence, to bring them before God’s throne and give the Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep the whole world with His saints.
“Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being indefinite, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with. I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Ghost, then as I bring the different ones before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.
“Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Ghost makes intercession in our particular lives, without which intercession someone will be impoverished.”
My Utmost for His Highest
November 8
“The Unrivaled Power of Prayer”
“We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” Romans 8: 26.
“We realize that we are energized by the Holy Spirit for prayer; we know what it is to pray in the Spirit; but we do not so often realize that the Holy Spirit Himself prays in us prayers which we cannot utter. When we are born again of God and are indwelt by the Spirit of God, He expresses for us the unutterable.”
“The Spirit of God needs the nature of the believer as a shrine in which to offer His intercession. “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.” When Jesus Christ cleansed the temple, He “would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.” The Spirit of God will not allow you to use your body for your own convenience. Jesus ruthlessly cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and said—‘My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.’
“Have we recognized that our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, though it is only a tiny bit of our personality, is to be regarded by us as a shrine of the Holy Ghost. He will look after the unconscious part that we know nothing of; but we must see that we guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.”
6 April 2005
Psalm 50: 2-3: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.”
Zion is the Presence of God. Zion is our home; Zion is where the Lord wants His saints. It is not: well, I’m saved, and when I die, then I’ll go to heaven. We are called to bring heaven to earth: to bring Zion (the Presence of God) to earth to tame it and civilize it. What demon can stand in the Presence of God? The Holy Ghost Fire burns up the wood, hay and stubble of Satan.
Out of the Presence of God, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. The world defines beauty probably as physical, fleshly perfection; the Lord defines beauty and perfection as abiding in the Presence of God. When we abide in the Presence of God, this is where God shines through us. In the Presence of God, our life becomes effortless: when we obey the Lord, the world can see the Lord working through us. They see God, not us. It is a God-work, not a man-work. My Father works and I work. God working and breathing through us because we are abiding in Zion Zion
“Our God shall come and not keep silence.” The Lord doesn’t have to use words to speak: it is His Presence that speaks, and if we abide in His Presence, He will speak volumes through our lives. People will say: I perceive that thou hast been with Jesus, when they see your life.
“A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” What will the fire devour? The flesh, the world and the devil: these three cannot stand before the Presence of God and live: they will fight to the death to preserve their lives, especially in unbelievers and lukewarm Christians. “It shall be very tempestuous round about him.” Satan does not lamely lie down when he sees the Holy Ghost believers come his way: he will fight against you with every weapon that he’s got. Satan will lie, tempt, assassinate your character; he will try to kill you. Our greatest weapon: a sword with two sharp edges: the Holy Ghost and the Word of God. When we abide in Zion, no weapon from hell can touch us. When we abide in Zion, the Lord will shine through our lives and conquer sin because we are the perfection of beauty, the apple of His eye.
Zion is my home.
**********
“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.”
--Abraham Lincoln
**********
My Utmost for His Highest
July 22
“Sanctification”
“There is always a battle royal before sanctification, always something that tugs with resentment against the demands of Jesus Christ. Immediately the Spirit of God begins to show us what sanctification means, the struggle begins. ‘If any man come to Me and hate not . . . his own life, he cannot be My disciple.’
“The Spirit of God in the process of sanctification will strip me until I am nothing but ‘myself,’ that is the place of death. Am I willing to be ‘myself,’ and nothing more—no friends, no father, no brother, no self-interest—simply ready for death? That is the condition of sanctification. No wonder Jesus said: ‘I came not to send peace, but a sword.’ This is where the battle comes, and where so many of us faint. We refuse to be identified with the death of Jesus on this point. ‘But it is so stern,’ we say; ‘He cannot wish me to do that.’ Our Lord is stern; and He does wish us to do that.”
“Sanctification is not something Jesus Christ puts into me: it is Himself in me (1 Cor. 1: 30).”
9 April 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was with some people in a house and they told me that I should go and visit Ashton Kutcher. Somehow Demi Moore was involved in this dream, but I don't remember all the details. Demi Moore was smiling at me--it was a glowing smile. These people gave me a letter introducing myself to Ashton Kutcher. So I took my backpack and walked up the street to this house and I knocked on the door. Ashton Kutcher opened the door and invited me inside. I gave him the letter the other people gave me. There were some people sitting at the dinner table. I told Ashton my name and he told me that he had seen me before walking around with my backpack. I met some other people in his house and then Ashton walked back into another room and told these people that a guy named Tim Shey was here. He kept repeating "Tim Shey" and then the dream ended.
When I woke up this morning, I reflected on the dream that I had: so many of the details were clear as a bell. At first, I didn't think this dream was from the Lord, but now I do. I have seen one movie with Ashton Kutcher in it and I have seen the TV series That 70s Show maybe five times. Ashton Kutcher has a lot of talent and is a well-known TV personality, but I wouldn't say that I am a fan of his. He is also from the state of Iowa, so maybe that is supposed to mean something. I believe the key thing in the dream is that he kept repeating my name to his friends in his house. Repetition in the Bible and in dreams does have meaning.
11 April 2005
I Samuel 15: 22-23: "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry."
Last week I was in Jackson and I was with a couple of Christian brothers. One of the brothers is into "the desires of his heart" (self-will); he is very young in the Lord and he has no respect for his elders. The poor guy is around twenty-six years old and he is as blind as a bat. If he continues to reject the warnings around him (I don't know how many times I have warned him), he is really going to crash and burn. I don't know how many times I have told him about obedience. Obedience is better than sacrifice. Since I have known him, he only does his own thing; he chases himself, not God. I keep telling him about dying to self, but he never listens. "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry." He is in the Lord's hands. I have warned him like the Lord told me to.
Self-willed Christians are everywhere. Dying to self is no fun, but it has to happen so that the Lord can use us more powerfully. The Lord cannot work through a self-willed vessel. Self-will kills the work of God. Not my will, but thine be done.
**********
There are times when I really get sick of hitchhiking around the country. But it is the will of my heavenly Father, so that is why I do it. I don't know who I will meet on the road: maybe we will have a conversation about the things of God, maybe we will have a prayer meeting, maybe they will let me stay overnight so that I can get a meal and a shower and a shave. We see through a glass darkly. The Lord sees the path ahead of us: He knows where we need to go much better than we do. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Just yesterday as I was hitchhiking from Riverton to Billings, I was really getting tired of the hitchhiking, but I am here to please my Father, not myself.
**********
Mark 10: 42-45: "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be the servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
If Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many people, shouldn't we do the same? Time and again I think that walking all over the place with a backpack and hitchhiking and never staying in one place for very long seems so foolish. How long do I have to do this? When can I settle down and have a basic job and have a place to live? If being a ransom for many means that the Lord wants me to travel the highways and the byways and follow Him, then there is nothing I can do about it. I have been bought with a price: salvation is not cheap, grace is not cheap: it was the price of the Son of God when He was flogged half to death and then died on the Cross--with nails pounded through his hands and feet. We don't have to understand all that the Lord tells us. Yes, the Lord gives me understanding in some things, not all things. If we understood all things, then where would be the humility, the living by faith and revelation? Prideful people don't need to live by faith--they live by self-reliance, not God-reliance. The humble man has a broken and contrite heart and is seeking God daily: he obeys the Lord even though he does not understand what the outcome will be: he is living by faith and not by sight.
It looks like the Lord wants me to hitchhike west towards Bozeman and then back to Jackson. In my flesh I ask, why does the Lord want me to hitchhike so much through Bozeman and Jackson? I really get sick of it. It is so repetitious. At least I have a healthy hatred for sin and for the world system. Maybe that is God's ulterior motive: I really do hate the world with a perfect hatred. The love of the world is enmity with the Father.
**********
Concerning the Christian brother who likes to do his own thing: Obadiah 3 & 4: "The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set they nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord."
Proverbs 16: 18: "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 16: 25: "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
**********
I John 2: 15-17: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." Let us look at the origins of sin in the earth and go back to Genesis 3: 6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant (Hebrew: "a desire") to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her: and he did eat."
"The lust of the flesh": "the tree was good for food." "The lust of the eyes": "it was pleasant to the eyes." "The pride of life": "a tree to be desired to make one wise." Look at the word "desire": it is a snare unto itself. Just because you are a Christian and you desire something doesn't mean that it is God's will that you have it. "But I have my needs!" Maybe your needs and your desires need to be put to death. Maybe the Lord wants you to be content with Him and Him alone before He deems it necessary to give you anything else.
Before I got saved, my desire in life was to be a writer. I wrote a novella at the age of twenty-one, but it never got published. I wrote several short stories and some poetry, but was never published. I got saved at the age of twenty-two. At the age of twenty-five, I burned all of my manuscripts--somewhere between ten to fifteen legal pads and notebooks--because I wanted God and God alone (seek the kingdom of Heaven first).
When I was twenty-eight, the Lord told me to go back to college. At Iowa State University, I majored in English Literature with a supporting field in Journalism and Mass Communications--I wrote a lot of papers and had a lot of essay tests. During college and just after college, I had a short story and two poems published (because it was God's will) by Ethos magazine. When I was thirty-nine, the Lord told me to write a book about hitchhiking. Now, at the age of forty-five, I am working on a journal. I may be writing this journal for the rest of my life. I don't see how it will ever be published, but there may be a few Christians out there who might appreciate it. If I get married and have children, then hopefully my children and descendents might get something out of it. If my journal glorifies God, then that is all that matters: the Lord will multiply my work and it will bear much fruit.
The key thing is this: I was desperate for God, not my writing. When the Lord could see that I was wholly dedicated to Him and absolutely locked into Him, then He told me to start writing. Don't get the cart before the horse: put God first. Then the Lord will provide the road and then the horse and then the cart and the destination where the goods need to be transported. Without God there is no road, there is no horse, there is no cart, there are no goods and there is no destination. Without God there is nothing.
My desire is to know God and to know Him more perfectly. The word "know" isn't having knowledge of God, but to experience God, to abide in God, to have the Presence of God invade and permeate my body, soul and spirit. Without intimacy with God, I can do nothing for my fellow man. I cannot turn the world upside down for Christ.
If a light bulb has no electricity running through it, it cannot give light in a dark place. If a light bulb is broken, it is useless. If a light bulb is not screwed into the socket, it is useless. If a Christian is busy chasing the world and is not abiding in Christ, He is useless. If our light is darkness, then how great is that darkness?
One of my heroes of the Christian faith is John Milton (1608-1674). Why did his life and writings affect so many millions in England, America and the rest of the world? Because his desire was to know God and to know Him more perfectly.
12 April 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was at the Jerry Shey farm back in Iowa. I was escaping the farm. I had my backpack and I was dragging it with me. I was crawling through the corral and past farm buildings and fences. There were a lot more details to the dream, but they are gone from me now.
It is obvious to me what the dream means. Satan ran the Shey family. Jerry Shey built his wealth on Satan--deception. You have probably heard of the phrase: oh, the wicked web that we weave. There is so much witchcraft, deception and lies in the Shey family. The corral, the buildings, the fences of the Shey farm were all the webs of deceit that Jerry Shey used to control his wife, his kids, his friends at the local Catholic Church and his relatives. I saw through this years and years ago--before I was saved--but I did not have the power to overcome till the curses (that I inherited from the Shey family) were broken off of my life. The big curse was broken back in July of 1999. What a relief that was.
I know that a curse was broken off of my life on 27 March 2005. It was probably a curse passed down to me from the Shey family. So many people don't realize the depths of Satan in their lives. They think, well, I'm saved, that is all I need. No. We need to go through years of sanctification, years of being cleaned up, so as to be conformed to Christ. People need to press more deeply into God and the Scriptures to break the curses off of their lives. Generational curses hinder our walk with God. Curses cripple us, hamstring us, enslave us. The Lord wants us to be free men.
13 April 2005
Psalm 51: 6: "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden parts thou shalt make me to know wisdom."
The Lord doesn't want the truth in your head or on your tongue (lip service)--He wants truth in the inner man. If truth is in your heart, then people will eventually hear it come out of your mouth; they will see it in your life.
The Lord is very subtle. Sometimes, when He speaks to you, you don't catch it the first time. But if your heart is right with God, He will most definitely make His will known to you in various ways. It must bear witness with your spirit, "the inward parts"--"the hidden parts." He will use circumstances to get your attention, but it all must line up with the inner man. Sometimes this is my biggest complaint with the Lord: He is so subtle. Time and again I say, "You are too subtle, Lord!" He will keep repeating Himself, and if I don't get it, He will chasten me. He chastens those whom He loves--that's how we learn obedience. If the Lord does not chasten you, you are a bastard and not a son. Of course, I perceive the subtleties of the Lord much better than I did twenty years ago. The more we abide and learn of the Lord, the more He develops our inner man.
I suppose Satan can counterfeit this. Satan tries to counterfeit anything the Lord does. If you believe you are hearing from God, and there is confusion in your life, then there is a good chance that you are not hearing from God. With the Lord there is a peace that surpasses all understanding. Of course, if you are young in the Lord and your inner man is not very well developed, then you are not going to hear from God. If you are living in sin, you are not going to hear from God. If you are in sin, Satan can speak to you in circumstances, dreams and visions--Satan can probably give you certain Scriptures to keep leading you away from God. Satan can twist and turn Scriptures to fit his own agenda.
There are so many benefits and checks and balances when we are seeking a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ. I was hitchhiking somewhere near Manhattan, Kansas a few years ago and this young lady picked me up. She said, "The Lord told me to pick you up." I said, "Praise the Lord. I'm a believer, too." She then told me that two years before she was driving down the road and saw this older man hitchhiking, so in the goodness of her heart she wanted to stop and give him a ride. But the Lord said, No! So she drove on by. Two nights later, that same man was on the local nightly news and he had robbed and killed an older couple in the next town. It really pays to abide in Christ. If she had been a nominal Christian, maybe she would not have heard the Lord's voice telling her not to pick up that hitchhiker.
Truth in the inward parts, wisdom in the hidden parts: sounds like the Holy of Holies. Satan can attack our outer man, our mind (brain), our flesh, but Satan cannot penetrate the Holy of Holies of a man who is really abiding in Christ. There is a wall of fire surrounding him, protecting him. When a man is dead in his trespasses and sins, his Holy of Holies is dead and can possibly be demon possessed. When a man is born again, his Holy of Holies is revived and cannot become demon possessed. His Inner Court and Outer Court can be demon oppressed, but not his Holy of Holies. If a man turns his back on Christ and lives a reprobate life of sin (has lost his salvation), then I do believe that his Holy of Holies can become demon possessed. When a man is born again, Christ invades the Holy of Holies, and if we continue to abide in Christ (the full counsel of God), Christ invades and revives and redeems the Inner Court (the mind, the soul) and the Outer Court (the body). The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just for the spirit--it is for the body, soul and spirit. I Thessalonians 5: 23: "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
14 April 2005
II Samuel 7: 3: "And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee." The key phrase in the preceding sentence is: "for the Lord is with thee." If the Lord is not with you, if you are not in God's will, then you can't do all that is in your heart because your heart is not submitted to your Father's will.
15 April 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was with some people and they were setting me up with this woman. It seemed like the woman was older than me. Maybe the Lord is telling me that I will meet my future wife very soon.
I am staying at the Vision Quest Motel here in Meeteetse, Wyoming. I turned on the TV to TBN and Paula White was on and she was talking with three other people about dating and soul mates. If the Lord wants you to meet someone and get married, then it is definitely going to happen.
Back in 1987 the Lord told me not to seek a wife. I am still not seeking a wife, but if the Lord gives me a wife, that is fine with me. I believe that it is a good idea for Christians not to date. A Christian should put God first in his life and everything else will follow.
From the dream that I had on 9 April, maybe the Lord is telling me that my future wife will be older than I am. Demi Moore is ten to fifteen years older than Ashton Kutcher. I always thought that my wife would be younger than myself. We will see what the future brings.
16 April 2005
I John 2: 27: “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
**********
Christianity Today
December 2004
“Baptism + Fire”
By Mark Galli
Page 38: “God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life.”
“Now this Spirit drives the beloved Son into the desert. Literally, in the Greek, Jesus was ‘cast out’ from the warmth of home and friends, from comforts of town and village. He was denied even moral and spiritual support—The Torah, the synagogue, the wisdom of the town elders, even, it seems, the comfort of the heavenly Father’s presence. He is driven into the wilderness, deserted by love, to face a hostile adversary alone.”
Page 39: “This temptation was severe—40 days and 40 nights of fasting, that is, a thorough and complete period of rigorous self-denial. On top of that, there were those beasts. But what exactly were they? They could have been physical—boars, snakes, or whatever. But it could be that the beasts were not merely outside Jesus’ body but also inside Jesus’ head, like the experience of Antony of the Desert.”
Page 42: “Suffering is our preparation for ministry in a world of suffering—all manner of suffering: from the trivial irritations of daily life to paralyzing accidents, from family squabbles to church splits, from the ravages of sexual slavery to the countless deaths of innocents at the hands of cruel dictators. This is not a world for shallow people with soft character. It needs tested, toughened disciples who are prepared, like their Lord, to descend into hell to redeem the lost.”
“This is part of what it means to become holy, to be refined by fire. Difficulties and sufferings are God’s form of hazing. Sometimes it gets so bad, we think Him cruel. But he’s only looking for men and women who will keep their cool when things go horribly wrong, a people prepared to dash into burning rooms to rescue those about to be engulfed in flames.”
17 April 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was walking down the street of the town where I was raised back in Iowa. I then walked to the west side of town and entered this house that I thought was empty. I turned on the TV and watched some program for a short while. Then this woman, who lived in the house, came down the stairs and talked to me. I then left the house and walked north of town toward a wooded area.
I believe the preceding dream means that something significant has happened in my family back in Iowa.
**********
I am here in Billings at Shel’s repair shop. I hitchhiked to Billings from Meeteetse at around 1 PM yesterday. I will stay another night and then hitchhike to Livingston tomorrow morning. Shel gave me a key to his repair shop, so that if he is not here, I can stay overnight and sleep on a cot.
I met Shel’s daughter, Angela, yesterday. She just came up from Texas a few days ago. Shel drives a truck four days a week and then does some carpenter work on the side. I first met Shel in September or October of 2003 when I was hitchhiking west of Shoshoni, Wyoming. He picked me up again north of Cody about two months ago. Shel and I have had some good discussions about Scripture and the things of God. His dad was a pastor of a Baptist church in Shoshoni years ago.
**********
While I was in Meeteetse, I phoned Wes back in Jackson. He told me that he perceived something in his spirit concerning my family back in Iowa. It bore witness with my spirit and confirmed what the Lord has been showing me for a few years now. In the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established.
When two or three vessels are really submitted to the Holy Ghost, they can really confirm and bear witness with each other concerning what the Lord is doing in their lives. I hadn’t spoken to Wes for a week or ten days and the Lord had been reminding me for two or three days to get in contact with him. When I phoned Wes, he said that he had been thinking of me. The Lord’s timing is perfect.
Concerning the dream I had last night. At first I didn’t think much of it, but I finally decided to record it in my journal. A dream may have only a few details (or maybe only one detail) that are significant, but the Lord will use a certain detail to get our attention as to what He is doing in your life.
In the dream I had last night, I was in the town where I was raised back in Iowa and I turned on the TV in somebody else’s house. I believe it means that there will be news (the TV) concerning my family back in Iowa.
In some of these dreams, the Lord doesn’t reveal the whole message right away. Sometimes the Lord will reveal something about the dream after a period of weeks and maybe months. One of the great fringe benefits of being intimate with God is that He reveals things to you before they happen.
18 April 2005
Today I hitchhiked from Billings to Bozeman. Just outside Laurel, this guy named Cal picked me up and gave me a ride to Livingston. He was going all the way to Missoula. We had a good conversation.
I made the comment, “Most people will probably think that since I am a hitchhiker that I am living on the fringes of society.” Cal said, “No. You’re not living on the fringes. Most of the people out there live on the fringes.” I think I know what he meant by this. Most people are so conformed to the world system that they aren’t really living—they only exist. My life is very rich: I’m growing stronger in my faith in God; I have met some great people on the road and I have seen a lot of beautiful territory throughout the United States.
I told Cal that he should write a book about his life. Cal told me that he was 51 years old, had been in the Navy Seals for several years, spent a couple of years at Harvard and was involved in the banking industry. He had been married and had some kids and wanted to move to Bolivia. Cal had a brain injury back in 2001 and was slowly recovering. I told him that he had experienced quite a bit for one life.
19 April 2005
Today I was hitchhiking south out of Bozeman and I got a ride to the Exxon Station at Gallatin Gateway. I walked into the Exxon Station and bought something to drink and I noticed that Fox News was on the TV and they had just announced that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named Pope Benedict XVI.
I then got a ride to Big Sky and then walked for a while and then got a ride with a young man from Bozeman who was going all the way to West Yellowstone. His name was Casey and he was a Christian. He worked as a carpenter and as a smokejumper. We stopped at the West Yellowstone Smokejumper place and Casey showed me around the main building. We then drove into West Yellowstone and he bought me a cheeseburger at a place called Bullwinkle’s.
Just before he dropped me off, we had a little prayer and then I headed south. I arrived in Jackson at around 9 PM. I’m not sure how long I will stay in Jackson.
20 April 2005
Jonah 1: 4: “But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.”
Jonah: 1: 15: “So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.”
If people don’t think that God is sovereign or that Jesus Christ is Lord over all creation, then they should meditate on the previous two verses for a while. If my plans don’t line up with the Lord’s plans, then He will chasten me. In my experience, the more light that He gives you, the quicker He will chasten you because you should know better. Pain is an excellent teacher. If there is physical or mental pain in your life, then one should examine his life and see where he went astray. I believe all physical and mental illness stems from sin—either my sin or the sins of my fathers. Get rid of the sin (the demon) and you will get rid of the pain.
I know in my own life, the reason I suffered from mental illness (manic depression) was because I quit praying to God when I was eleven years old. Later on, in junior high school, I became more rebellious and, by the age of fifteen, I was an atheist. My connection with God was cut off (because of my decision) and I became infested with demons and my life became more and more miserable. I shot myself in my own foot by turning my back on God. And when I turned back to God, it took a long time to kick those demons out of my body and soul. The Lord is still kicking demons out of me. It is called sanctification.
For every action there is a reaction. For every sin there is a consequence for that sin. Sin and consequences. Pain is a harsh schoolmaster and running into brick walls is sometimes the only way we learn.
Hebrews 2: 10: “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.”
Hebrews 12: 5-6: “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
Hebrews 12: 11: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Hebrews 5: 8: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.”
Proverbs 19: 18: “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”
Proverbs 19: 25: “Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.”
Proverbs 13: 24: “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”
21 April 2005
Micah 7: 6: “a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”
**********
Hebrews 5: 13-14: “For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Hebrews 6: 1-3: “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.”
I wish more Christians would read and reread and meditate on the above verses so that they would realize that Christianity isn’t just about getting saved. Salvation is beautiful; passing from death to life is essential, but it is not the only thing that matters in our Christian walk. Too many Christians suck on the milk bottle their entire lives and never get into the meat of the Word. Preaching salvation is a ministry; faith healing is a ministry; deliverance from demons is a ministry: there are many ministries in the Body of Christ. We can’t say that we have the only ministry or that our ministry is more important than other ministries. The head is not the foot, the foot is not the hand, the hand is not the heart, the heart is not the eye—but these are all a part of the body that the Lord created to glorify God. It took me at least a few years to realize that my hitchhiking was a ministry. I know that the Lord has blessed my life in my years of hitchhiking (obedience), and I believe, because I am abiding in Christ, that my life has been a blessing to others.
“Let us go on unto perfection.” The writer of Hebrews is not talking about physical perfection or intellectual perfection, but spiritual perfection or spiritual maturity. Do our lives line up with our Father’s will? Are we intimate with Him? When He tells us to jump, do we ask how high? Are we dead to self-will? I believe a good sign of spiritual growth is that the things that were important to us five or ten years ago are nowhere to be found in our lives. For us to bear much fruit, we must allow the Holy Ghost to have absolute reign in our lives so that the Lord can prune our vine and cut out the branches that will not bear fruit—the self-life. When the self-life is completely dead, and the Holy Ghost dominates our life, then we can safely say: when you see me, you see the Father.
For those of us who have been living in the meat of the Word for years and years, we have to be careful not to force the meat on those who are still using milk. You don’t feed a T-bone steak to an infant that is three months old. Experience and the leadings of the Holy Ghost will always provide the wisdom on what we should say or what we should not say. In my experience, the Lord has rebuked me several times for casting pearls before swine. Guess who the swine were. Not unbelievers, but young believers. Especially in the area of casting demons out of Christians: not everyone is able to receive this. If we ask the Lord for wisdom, He will give it to us. We should not be a stumbling block for unbelievers who are not ready to receive what the Lord has revealed to us.
In my hitchhiking, every so often someone will ask, “So how many people have you seen get saved?” I tell them that I don’t preach salvation, but the Kingdom. In the Lord’s Prayer there is a phrase that says, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done.” That is pretty much my life in a nutshell. A young believer may not receive this. A young believer is not intimate with God and is not able to hear His voice or to discern between good and evil. My life is preaching the Kingdom of Heaven; my life is preaching, “Thy will be done”—and sometimes I use words. Tomorrow, I believe the Lord wants me to head back up into Montana. That is all I really need to know. In my past experience, I know that I will meet a person or persons and we will have a conversation about the things of God. The Lord puts us on His pre-ordained path for us and we go in faith. On that path, the Lord will give us people to minister to or else they will minister to us. If I minister to people spiritual things, usually they will minister to me carnal things: food, shelter, clothing, and money. Do not muzzle the ox that treads out the corn. My Father works and I work. If we are faithful, the Lord will most definitely provide for his Sons. Those who are led by the Spirit shall be called Sons.
Looking back on the Old Testament, the Word says that Lot was righteous. Even though Lot was righteous, he made a poor choice of where to live when he chose Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot was unskillful in the word of righteousness. Abraham on the other hand was intimate with God—he was considered a friend of God. The Lord warned him of the coming destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and I believe, through Abraham’s intercession, Lot was saved from destruction. The Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, was a descendant of Abraham, not Lot. Abraham is the father of faith, not Lot. By faith, I am a son of Abraham, not Lot. Abraham is one of the most well known names in the history of this planet—especially among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Why? Because he was intimate with God, he was into the meat of the Word, not the milk. He went through great suffering to become that intimate with God. The Lord told him to leave his home of Ur of the Chaldees; Abraham waited many years before the Lord gave him the son of promise, Isaac; and of course, the Lord told Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah. There is a price to be paid if you want to be intimate with God and to feed on the meat of the Word. Family, friends and church people will reject you. People will assassinate your character; put you in mental hospitals and have you pay the bill; they will treat you as if you had a skin disease; you may wander the face of the earth till you die so that the Lord can show people that your home is not of this world. But at least you are intimate, close friends with the God of the Universe, the Ancient of Days, and you will have sweet communion with Him for an eternity.
If God is with me, then who can be against me? I don’t need a thousand men to take out a thousand Philistines. All I need is the jawbone of a young ass, and turn the world upside down for Christ and help save a multitude from destruction. The prayer of a righteous man (an intimate friend of God) availeth much.
With the jawbone of an ass, I have slain a thousand men.
**********
My Utmost for His Highest
By Oswald Chambers
February 13
“The Devotion of Hearing”
“If I love my friend, I intuitively detect what he wants, and Jesus says, ‘Ye are my friends.’”
“The destiny of my spiritual life is such identification with Jesus Christ that I always hear God, and I know that God always hears me (John 11: 41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God, by the devotion of hearing all the time. A lily, or a tree, or a servant of God, may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is that I am taken up with other things. It is not that I will not hear God, but I am not devoted in the right place. I am devoted to things, to service, to convictions, and God may say what He likes but I do not hear Him. The child attitude is always, ‘Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.’ If I have not cultivated this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times; at other times I am taken up with things—things which I say I must do, and I become deaf to Him, I am not living the life of a child. Have I heard God’s voice today?”
February 15
“Am I My Brother’s Keeper”
“Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible for other souls spiritually before God?”
“’Ye shall be My witnesses.’ How many of us are willing to spend every ounce of nervous energy, of mental, moral and spiritual energy we have for Jesus Christ? That is the meaning of a witness in God’s sense of the word. It takes time, be patient with yourself. God has left us on the earth—what for? to be saved and sanctified? No, to be at it for Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured out wine for Him?”
February 16
“The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative”
“All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you—‘Buck up, take your disinclination by the throat, throw it overboard, and walk out into the thing!’ That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, ‘Buck up,’ we find that the initiative is inspired.
“We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to the visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say—‘Arise from the dead.’ When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life comes after we do the ‘bucking up.’ God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says—‘Arise from the dead,’ we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand—‘Stretch forth thy hand,’ and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because He gives life immediately.”
I absolutely positively love reading Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. It is like drinking new life into your spirit. Broken bread and poured out wine. Oswald Chambers’ life was and still is broken bread and poured out wine for millions upon millions of people throughout the world. One single, solitary life has been broken bread to so many hungry people. If you had John Wesley preaching and Oswald Chambers teaching, you could transform a whole nation in one generation. With the jawbone of an ass. I have slain a thousand men.
“When the inspiration does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing.” Inspiration can come from the mind or the flesh or the devil, but when inspiration comes from God and God alone, you know that you know that you know that God has spoken, and you better do what the Lord wants you to do, or else He will chasten you and some opportunity to advance the Kingdom may be lost forever. The Lord knows the times and the seasons and the windows of opportunity. We see through a glass darkly; the Lord sees everything absolutely crystal and absolutely clear. When I obey the Lord in something that I do not understand, then some part of my self life dies and is buried—and that is part of what God wants, but there is something else that we can’t see: maybe we will meet somebody at the perfect place and at the perfect time (because we obeyed the Lord) and speak a few words of life into their spirit. We may not have to preach for half an hour on some Biblical truth—we may only have to be at the right place at the right time to prevent somebody from killing themselves, or to pray with someone about something that we think is absolutely inconsequential, or to drink a beer with someone at a bar because they just wanted someone to talk to. The Lord may want us to be there in their time of trial. We don’t need to give people things: we need to give people our lives and our time.
22 April 2005
Jude 4: “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This verse sounds like cheap grace or easy-believism. But if these “ungodly men” crept into certain churches, then maybe they weren’t saved in the first place. They were planted there by Satan to bring in false doctrines or to try and break up or deaden the church in some other way.
In Jude 3 it is written, “ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” Earnestly contend. We don’t just get saved and then sit on our butts for the rest of our lives. We can’t sit idly by and let some Christian speak things that don’t line up with the Holy Ghost and Scripture. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We must fight against the sin in our lives, the church and the world. The carnal Christian is usually blinded by his sin, but the spiritual Christian should be able to discern and help the carnal Christian fight against his sin. When we cease to fight against sin and cease to contend for the faith that is when Satan can come in and overwhelm our complacency and destroy our lives.
I have heard of so many stories of churches that were on fire for ten or twenty years, and then the devil got in there and it became a dead church. Vigilance is the price of liberty. Those of us who have eyes must warn those who have been blinded by sin.
I remember back in Ames we had a prayer group made up of mostly Iowa State University students. The Lord told me to kick this one guy out of the group because he was always screwing around and was not serious about the prayer meetings. He had a demon or demons in him and he did not want to repent of his sin. It was the sin of Achan all over again. I warned one of his friend’s about his demon possession, but he never took heed and lost his anointing. When the guy left our prayer group, things improved quite a bit.
If someone has a broken and contrite heart, the Lord can work with him. If someone has unrepented sin, the Lord cannot work with him: he may have to run into a brick wall before he can see the light.
Jude 5-6: “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
These two verses present a good case against eternal security. The people that were saved from Egypt were later destroyed because they did not live by faith in God. The angels which fell lost their first estate in heaven because they craved the flesh of women: Genesis 6: 1-4: “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
Sin came into the earth through Adam’s complacency. Then the fallen angels began breeding half-men-half-angel hybrids, and the earth became so corrupt with sin, that the Lord destroyed it by a great flood during Noah’s time. One man sinned and everybody died but eight people who were saved in the God-designed Ark. One disobedient man helped to corrupt the whole earth. Adam lost his estate in the Garden of Eden and had to live somewhere else—a much lesser estate. In the Garden, when Adam obeyed the Lord, he lived in freedom. When Adam disobeyed the Lord, he was driven out of the Garden and lived in his prison of sin.
If a born-again believer continually lives in a state of ungrace, a state of disobedience to the Lord, trampling the blood of Jesus underfoot, how can he live with his conscience? No doubt the Lord will warn him through other Christians and circumstances, but finally God’s mercy will run out and he will lose his salvation. You don’t have to reject Christ with your mouth--you reject Christ with your life, your actions. Actions always speak louder than words.
Hebrews 10: 26-27: “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.”
Hebrews 10: 29: “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?”
A man of faith is not someone who says, “I was saved fifty years ago” and still sucks on a milk bottle. A man of faith is someone who abides in Christ (in faith) everyday. If we are not constantly growing in Christ everyday, how can God be pleased with us? It is only through faith that we are able to please God. Jesus had to live by faith every day during His ministry when He walked the earth. His food was to do the will of His Father. We don’t just eat food once and then cease from eating food for the rest of our lives. Give us this day our daily bread, our daily revelation, our daily orders from our Father. If we disobey the Lord, we are not living by faith. My body needs daily food, my soul (mind) needs daily food and my spirit needs daily food. If we remain humble before our God, He will give us this day our daily manna of revelation.
Hebrews 10: 38-39: “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”
**********
Tonight I saw a program on the History Channel called April 1865--The Month that Saved America. It was very good. One of the interesting things on this program was the death of Abraham Lincoln. A few days before he was assassinated, he had a dream concerning his own death. The Lord raised up Lincoln to be President of the United States during a bloody civil war. Just after Lee surrendered to Grant, Lincoln died. Lincoln’s work was done and the Lord brought him home via an assassin’s bullet.
The sovereignty of God is absolutely clear in the American Civil War. The war started near the McClain farmhouse at Manassas, Virginia; the war ended at the McClain farmhouse near Appomattox Court House. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega of war and peace.
Isaiah 66: 15-16: “For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.”
Between 1861 and 1865, 620,000 men died during the American Civil War.
Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission for sin.
24 April 2005
II Samuel 11: 1: “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.”
II Samuel 11: 8-11: “And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all his servants of his Lord, and went not down to his house. And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? And Uriah said unto David, the ark, and Israel , and Judah
“As thou livest and as my soul liveth, I will not do this thing.” “But David tarried still at Jerusalem.” Uriah was the noble man in this chapter—he was doing the will of his heavenly Father. Uriah was about his Father’s business. David should have been in the field with his army, but he stayed in Jerusalem—which was a sin. This sin of staying in Jerusalem instead of being in the field with his army, led to two more sins: adultery and murder. Unchecked and unrepented sin usually multiplies and leads to other sins.
As King of Israel, David’s main job was to protect the borders of Israel from foreign adversaries. When a nation has a strong, righteous king, that nation lives in security. When a nation has a weak, unrighteous king, that nation lives in fear and insecurity. Kings (Presidents and Prime Ministers) are put in power to punish the wicked, e.g. President Bush punishing and taking out the Taliban (Afghanistan) and Saddam Hussein (Iraq) from power. I Peter 2: 13: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”
Uriah, refusing to visit and sleep with his wife was disobeying King David, but he was obeying and honoring the Lord God of Israel. This ultimately led to his death in battle, but at least he died a courageous and honorable man. Better to do the right thing and obey the Lord and die once, than to be a coward and die a thousand deaths. We live and die by the choices we make.
I was talking with a friend back in Iowa several years ago, and he likes to read a lot of military history as I do. He said that in World War II there was one big difference between the German officers and the American officers. The German colonels would be in the field with the troops; the American colonels would be in Paris having a good time. Because of this, the average German soldier would die for his colonel because he had respect and admiration for his colonel. Absentee officers make bad leaders in the field. The good officer leads his men by example, and when he says, “follow me," they follow.
Look at Douglas MacArthur in World War I. He was leading his men over the top into no man’s land while he was a colonel (usually lieutenants and captains would lead their men over the top). He never wore a helmet or a sidearm. Douglas MacArthur led his men to victory because his strength of will and character inspired his men to be strong and valiant in fight. MacArthur was promoted to general at the end of World War I.
When the Lord tells you to do a thing, you must not tarry. You must go now; you must do it now. Hesitation after hearing the voice of God will only lead to sin and destruction. King David eventually repented of the sin of adultery and murder, but the sword (destruction) remained in his family for many generations. I believe that David’s sin ultimately led to the division of Israel into two nations: Judah in the south and Israel in the north. A house divided against itself cannot stand. David sinned against God, against Uriah and against himself and it eventually weakened the House of David. If Israel had been united during the Assyrian and the Babylonian invasions, maybe they would have been able to defeat the invaders and never be taken into captivity.
Eschewing sin isn’t just good policy in the short run, but in the long run also. Your sin may come back to haunt you. Sins of the fathers, sins of the fathers, sins of the fathers: read Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamozov. Old man Karamozov’s sin (he raped a woman) came back and killed him. The Brothers Karamozov is probably the greatest novel ever written. Just for the record: I believe the greatest American novel was Melville’s Moby Dick or F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
**********
I have just been on the Internet reading some of the prophetic words on The Elijah List. I have been reading some of Kim Clement’s prophecies concerning President George W. Bush. President Bush is a gift from God to the United States of America.
PERCEPTIONS by Kim Clement
April 14, 1995
Detroit, Michigan
(A New President)
“But God says . . . this nation is mine . . . and I will reinstate, even in the White House prayer. Prayer that will come forth from Christian believers, prayer that will come forth from spiritual believers and I will raise up a man that will bring righteousness into the White House . . .”
July 22, 1996
Detroit, Michigan
(A Burning Bush)
“The Spirit of the Lord says, I am listening to your cries. I am listening to your voice . . . Will not the soil of America be cleansed by the fire of the Burning Bush? For this hour, I am sanctifying, the soil of America . . . I am about to invade the territories of political power . . . I am not finished with America and your cries are coming to my ears, says the Lord. America shall be saved!”
August 8, 2000
Tampa, Florida
(Florida Recount)
“ . . . The Spirit of the Lord says watch what I’m going to do in the political arena. You’re going to have favor from the White House. You’re going to have favor from the highest office . . .For God says next year you will see a change in the political powers and suddenly Florida will be invaded with righteousness . . .”
October 24, 2004
Humble, Texas
President Bush in Prophecy
“ . . . I am looking and have searched for a man who would pray in the house called White, and I have found that man. He shall pray. He shall pray sturdily, powerfully, until the year 2006 . . . and a great storm shall rise upon America. But because of the prayer of George W. Bush, I will save this country from a damage and a destruction upon your economy and upon your children.
“Yes, you may look at this prophet and say, What would he know about American politics? But I have taken the mantle that rested upon Ronald Reagan in the heart and have placed it upon this man—President Bush. For what purpose? To bring again honor and dignity to the office of the President of the United States of America
October 15, 2004
Dallas, Texas
“A burning Bush shall burn brightly again and shall raise up the anthem of righteousness and shall declare My Word to this Nation, says the Spirit of the Lord . . .”
Luke 1: 16-17: “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Isaiah 40: 3: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
Luke 1: 41: “And it came to pass, that, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost.”
Luke 1: 66: “And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.”
Luke 1: 76: “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways.”
**********
I have just been rereading the dream that I had on 16 September 2004. In that dream, after I had spoken to President Bush, I walked into another room. This room had many windows. Last night, Wes and I saw the last half of The Matrix Reloaded. There is a scene where Neo walks into this room with many TV monitors and he talks to the architect of the Matrix. This room with many TV monitors could also be called a room with many windows—windows open to the world, the Matrix. When you look out a window, you see landscapes, people, buildings, etc. When you see a TV monitor, you see landscapes, people, buildings—whatever the TV is monitoring.
Surveillance is a form of power and control. Aspects of our American culture would be called a surveillance culture. England has many surveillance cameras in its cities: cameras to monitor street traffic, cameras inside buildings for security reasons, cameras everywhere—more so than the United States. We have satellites orbiting the earth monitoring weather patterns, troop movements, using GPS for mapping different parts of the world.
Back to The Matrix Reloaded. The architect was in a position of power because he could see through these many windows (TV monitors) and see what was happening all over the Matrix. The architect was in a position of control. Before Neo could save Zion, he had to confront the architect and the architect would answer the questions that Neo had concerning the Matrix and why Neo was created. Neo was created to save Zion.
Back to the dream of 16 September 2004. The room with many windows was a room of power and authority. You might be right in calling it the war room—the room where the big, strategic decisions are made. I was the only one in that room. If a room has many windows—windows looking in every direction—a man could see in all directions (a man could see all things).
In a field of battle, if a soldier can see the enemy before the enemy can see him—this would be an advantage. If a general of an army has certain intelligence about the enemy and the enemy does not know this—this would be an advantage. If the President of the United States knows that a certain foreign government is going to be toppled before it happens, he won’t be caught off guard.
To see through a glass darkly is one thing; to see through a window clearly is quite another. To see five hundred miles ahead of everybody else on the planet would appear to be an advantage to somebody. Either people would call you a prophet or people would call you nuts.
A room with many windows. I once visited a lighthouse on the coast of Oregon back in 2000. When you climbed the spiral staircase and reached the top of the lighthouse, you could see in all directions. The Lord is my light and my high tower.
II Kings 6: 11-12: “Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel , telleth the king of Israel
27 April 2005
I just got back from a hitchhiking trip that went very fast. I left Jackson yesterday and got a good ride to Shoshoni. This guy’s name was Richards and he used to play college and pro football in the sixties and seventies. He was an attorney in Hawaii and had retired to Jackson, but his wife doesn’t like the cold weather so they may go back to Hawaii. I told him that I took my LSAT back in 1994, but did poorly. I applied to three law schools, but did not get in. It didn’t break my heart. I had enough of the liberal dominated academic establishment and I’m sure that the United States has plenty of lawyers, so I guess I’ll be that living sacrifice and not go to law school. I did like the Drake University Law School in Des Moines; it had a brand new law library. I thought maybe I would like to study constitutional law, but as we can see, the Lord had different plans.
I then got a ride to Cody from a guy from Nebraska. From Cody I got a few rides to I-90 in Montana. And my last ride that evening was from a Christian who knew a couple of people that I knew in Absarokee.
I slept in a cab of a truck last night in Columbus. Then I walked at least a few miles west on I-90 and this Christian driving a tractor-trailer fuel truck picked me up and took me all the way to Livingston where I checked my mail. There was no mail (I don’t get much mail anyway) and the Lord told me to change my mailing address to Jackson.
I got a ride from Livingston to Bozeman and then to Big Sky. From Big Sky I got a ride to Sugar City, Idaho. It took me two rides to get to Tetonia when this young lady named April picked me up. She told me that she had broken her arm a while back—a compound fracture—and that the rehabilitation had been painful. I told her that I would like to pray for her so that her arm would heal up good. We drove to Driggs and parked at the grocery store parking lot and I prayed in the Holy Ghost so that her arm would heal up faster. She was grateful.
I got a short ride to Victor, and at Victor, I got a ride with a young man from British Columbia, Canada all the way to Jackson. We had a great talk. He graduated from Denison College in Ohio with a degree in geology. I would love to see British Columbia someday. I hear it is very beautiful.
Why the fast trip? The Lord works in strange ways. It somewhat confounds me why the Lord wants me to change my mailing address so much. What is the reason? What is the significance? Does the Lord do it just so that He can see that I am obeying Him? Well, anyway, I did meet some interesting people and I was able to pass out my book and journal (which is copied on a mini CD) to five or six people.
I was walking around Columbus, Montana last night looking for a place to sleep. I walked over to this building with stacks of lumber in it. I have slept there before, but there just wasn’t any place to sleep (they had rearranged the lifts of lumber from the last time I had slept there). So I walked on past the Timberweld place and found a truck—a dump truck—and slept there last night. It rained off and on through the night. It was cozy sleeping in the cab of the truck.
I had a real good talk with the Christian who drove the tractor-trailer. He told me about some of the dreams that the Lord had given him. In one dream he saw some nuclear explosions going off somewhere. He told me that he had lived a totally different life, until the Lord had got a hold of him. The Lord really stripped him of everything he had and of everything that he thought was important to him (which is what the Lord did with me) and began to rebuild his life.
It was such a fast, crazy trip. Sometimes it takes forever to get a ride. Whether I get some place fast or get some place slow—it is always perfect timing with the Lord.
28 April 2005
The closest that Satan ever got to killing me was back in January 1985. At the time, I was living in Washington, D.C. and I had just been admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The doctor diagnosed me as manic-depressive—which is another way of saying that my head was infested with demons. My head was infested with demons because I turned my back on God at the age of eleven.
At the hospital, they put me on a low dosage of some anti-psychotic. Within a few hours, my brain began to shut down and that night I slept a very sound sleep (for the first time in months) until about three o’clock in the morning.
I felt this evil presence come into the room. My body became frozen, paralyzed and I could barely breathe. Then for the next hour this powerful, malevolent being was on top of me trying to electrocute me to death. It was absolute torture; it was very painful. The electric shocks were coursing through my body. It reminded me of that scene in the first Star Wars Trilogy: The Return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader and the Emperor were at the battle station at the end of the movie. Luke refuses to turn to the dark side and join the Emperor, so the Emperor proceeds to torture/electrocute Luke to death. This is exactly what it felt like.
For the next hour, my body was being electrocuted and I was trying to say the Lord’s Prayer, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. After an hour, the electrocution stopped, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I believe the reason that Satan attacked me was that he knew that I would soon realize that my manic-depression was a spiritual problem, not a chemical problem, and that I would soon come to the conclusion that the medication they gave me was only a temporary solution. Satan could see (Satan can see some things in the future—look at his children, the psychics—they can see some things—but it is inspired by Satan and not by the Holy Ghost) that I would ultimately turn to the Lord in faith and be healed and Satan would begin to lose control over my life. Satan is the ultimate control freak.
The few years before I got saved, I was attacked quite a bit in my sleep by demons, and of course, I did not know how to fight against these attacks because I was not yet born again. After I got saved, I continued to be attacked by demons in my sleep. It wasn’t until 1986 that I began to use the Name of Jesus to keep the demons away from me. When an evil presence would come into my room (usually when I was trying to sleep), I would say, “in the Name of Jesus, be gone, Satan!” Eventually, the demon would leave. Later, I began to use the Blood of Jesus and it was much more effective. If I felt an evil presence come into my room, I would say, “Blood of Jesus!” The demon would leave in a split second. In my experience, the Blood of Jesus is more powerful than the Name of Jesus. It was the Precious Shed Blood of Jesus that defeated Satan over two thousand years ago. There is power, power, wonderworking power in the Blood of the Lamb.
A few years ago, I was hitchhiking east out of Colorado and I ended up in central Missouri at midnight. I needed a place to sleep and I found a junkyard near this gas station. I walked over to the junkyard and climbed into this junked trailer home. Immediately I could feel an evil presence in the trailer home. I jumped out of the trailer home and walked around the junkyard till I found a back seat of a car to sleep in. Before I went to sleep, I said, “I plead the Blood of Jesus over this junkyard!” I was never attacked by demons and I slept like a baby that night.
As I have grown stronger in Christ, I have been attacked less and less by demons in my sleep. The last time I got attacked in my sleep was back in February 2005. Before that it was March 2001.
What can’t kill you will only make you stronger.
I don’t like to entertain demons unawares.
**********
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”
--Abraham Lincoln
**********
Luke 2: 25-26: “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”
I believe it was back in April of 1998, that the Lord told me to hitchhike from Ames, Iowa to New York City to visit David Wilkerson’s church at 51st and Broadway—Times Square Church. It took me several days to get there. I hitchhiked down the Hudson Valley to New Hamburg, New York where I got on a train heading towards Manhattan. On the train platform, I met this older man who was also going down into Manhattan. He was a Christian, he was seventy-two years old (he looked like he was fifty) and he used to work for IBM. We had a great conversation. He told me that his wife was greatly anointed with the Holy Ghost. He said that Jesus never did anything until He saw His Father in it (the work) first: my Father works and I work.
We were talking and then he said that the Lord told him that he would live to meet the Messiah. The guy was in great physical shape, so I can see him living another twenty or thirty years. I guess you could say that he has a twenty or thirty year window of opportunity to meet the Messiah. Maybe he has already met the Messiah. He spoke with much wisdom and grace. When he first met me, I told him that I hitchhiked all the way from Iowa. He was somewhat surprised and asked me why. So I told him that I wanted to visit David Wilkerson’s church. He said that he had heard of David Wilkerson. He told me that his wife cast a demon out of a severely retarded woman (I believe she had Down’s syndrome—which is another term for demon possession), and now that woman is completely normal and is learning how to read and write. Praise the Lord! Sometimes you just got to kick the demons out of your life before you can start to rebuild your life in Christ.
I once heard Benny Hinn say that the Lord told him that he would meet the Messiah before he died. We won’t know the day or the hour, but we will know the season. I believe we are in the season. When Israel became a nation back on 14 May 1948 that is when the ball got rolling. When Israel regained Jerusalem in 1967, I believe things started to speed up. The United States kicked out Saddam Hussein and is now controlling the oil fields of Iraq (better to have us control the oil fields than a demon-possessed dictator). This could lead to a later confrontation with Russia and some European states, which may usher in another dictator (Anti-Christ).
It is not merely that we need oil—we are taking possession of the gates of the enemy. Oil is a gate of power. Computer/information technology is a gate of power. Business and banking is a gate of power. Military technology is a gate of power. The nation that yields the most to the Lord Jesus Christ will have the greatest influence in the world. Look at Great Britain and the United States. Look at the English language—it is the language of power and influence in the world. The most powerful man in the world, President George W. Bush, is a strong Christian, and his influence will be felt for generations. The ripple effect of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia back in 1787 is still being felt all over the world. When the Lord does a work in the earth, it is gold, silver and precious stones—which means it will last forever—or a very long time. Look at what happened at Runnymede in England in 1215: the Magna Carta. A king allowing representatives from the people to help run the government? Revolutionary! But then the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real revolution that ever happened on this planet.
The American Revolution was a true revolution. The French and Bolshevik Revolutions were just a bunch of heathen idiots with their heads up their asses trying to change things for the worse. Was Napoleon an improvement over King Louis? Was communism an improvement over the czars? Napoleon was a military genius, but absolute dictators corrupt themselves dictatorially. The Bolsheviks killed more people in two months than the czars did in the previous one hundred years. And of course, Lenin opened the door to the worst dictator of all time: Joseph Stalin. Ronald Reagan was right when he called the Soviet Union the Evil Empire. Thank God I was born in the United States. I would rather be a poor man in America than a rich man any place else.
Possessing the gates of the enemy. The violent take the kingdom by force. If you see a satanic stronghold, don’t negotiate with it, don’t try to understand it: take it down and destroy it. Don’t try to understand Saddam Hussein; take him out. Don’t try to negotiate with the United Nations Satanic Complex; destroy it. The Lord is laying a trap for the wicked nations of the world who reject Him as King of kings. The bait is probably the Middle East. The Lord is using the United States to liberate certain nations from dictatorships. Will the nations that reject Jesus Christ let us go on liberating these nations? No, because Satan is a control freak: he wants every man a slave to him. So eventually there will have to be a war—or I should say there is a war and there will always be a war until Satan is taken out of the way. Since Jesus died and rose from the dead, we Christians have been at war with Satan invading and taking his territory. I call it the Two Thousand Year War. War is life; life is war.
Judges 14: 4: “But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel.” Samson would incite the Philistines to attack him, and then Samson would have reason to attack and destroy them. Satan always takes the bait and ultimately he will be destroyed. The Lord showed me a few years ago that my life is bait. Will people accept my life submitted to Christ or will they reject it? If people attack me verbally, or reject me in any way, I later see their lives ruined by their sin. There is a Scripture that says that Christ is a stone of stumbling for those who do not believe, and if someone falls on (attacks) that stone or rock, he will be crushed.
**********
“Men return again and again to the few who have mastered the spiritual secret, whose life has been hid with Christ in God. These are of the old time religion, hung to the nails of the Cross.”
--Robert Murray McCheyne, from the Foreword to My Utmost for His Highest
When a man becomes utterly dead to self, then and only then will others see Christ and not the man. We need old time religion, not good time religion, not feel-good psychology, not instant gratification. The seed that the Lord has sown into us will bear the great fruit the Lord requires after years of dying to self.
My Utmost for His Highest
By Oswald Chambers
January 2
“Will You Go Out Without Knowing?”
“He went out, not knowing whither he went.” Hebrews 11: 8
“Have you been ‘out’ in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question—‘What do you expect to do?’ You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder—you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a ‘going out,’ building in confidence on God. ‘Take no thought for your life, . . . nor yet for your body’—take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you ‘went out.’”
A few weeks ago, this guy picked me up outside of Jackson and we talked for a little while and then he asked me, “Do you have any goals?” I forget what I told him. I don’t make plans: the Lord tells me when to go and where to go (the general direction) and then I go. Yes, I wouldn’t mind getting married, if the Lord gives me a wife. Yes, I wouldn’t mind hitchhiking no more forever, if it were God’s will. No, I don’t have any goals: I am obeying my Father. He knows how to keep your nose to the grindstone. My job description: I have come to do the will of my Father who sent me or I have come to destroy the works of the devil.
“The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing.” Amen. When I do the will of my Father, things go smoothly, and if I suffer for the Gospel’s sake, there is always peace in my spirit. Whenever I do my own will--thinking it is God’s will--things go badly and there is no peace in my spirit. It is such a comfort to know that the Lord has something good set up just around the corner even though I may not be able to see around the corner.
29 April 2005
Last night I had a dream where I was riding on this bus and we were driving all over this rough terrain. We stopped at this bus station. I walked into the bus station and saw my dad. I walked up to him and said, “Hi, dad.” He looked at me with a frightened look on his face and ran away. When I left the bus station, I didn’t take the bus, I walked or hitchhiked out.
**********
Last night Shelby and Micah stopped by and they watched the last part of The Incredibles with Wes and myself. The Incredibles is a great movie. I hadn’t seen Micah in over a year; we had good fellowship. When the Incredible family was doing their super hero thing, their lives were full and blessed; when they weren’t doing their super hero thing, their lives were miserable. Lesson from the movie: when you are in the will of God, your life is blessed; when you are not in the will of God, your life is not blessed.
Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006 (Part II)
Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
Dreams from the LORD 2011-2020
Dreams from the LORD 2003-2006 (Part II)
Dreams from the LORD 2007-2010
Dreams from the LORD 2011-2020
Great site filled with dreams and visions. Thank you for the link and I'll be stopping by to read more..Many, many blessings to you...Robin @ Christian CoffeeShop.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Robin. I am glad that I discovered your blog. It is great how the Lord warns us and instructs us and confirms certain things through dreams and visions.
ReplyDelete