Make Sure Your Service is True Worship

The events recorded in 2 Kings 23 recently caught my attention. It is the story of what King Josiah did during his reign.

2 Kings 22:1-2 tells us:

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; ... He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.

From this we know that Josiah not only loved God, but he "did right" in God's sight. May we all have that same report recorded about our lives!

Let me summarize the story of his reign...

1. Josiah ordered that the house of the Lord be repaired and restored. During that process, "the book of the law" (Deuteronomy 28) was found. The high priest sent it with one of the scribes to be read to Josiah.

2. Josiah listened to the word of the Lord concerning His covenant with the people of Israel - what they were and were not supposed to do. He realized they were doing the things that were forbidden and not doing the things they were supposed to do.

3. Josiah responds to the situation immediately with both repentance and action to correct the situation. He calls the people together, reads the book of the law to them, and publicly recommits to the conditions of the covenant; the people join him in that commitment.

4. Then Josiah sets out immediately "righting the wrongs." He removes all the places set up for worship to false gods and destroys things that have been made for or dedicated to them, including the horses and chariots dedicated to the sun god. He also got rid of at least some of the priests for these gods as well as the mediums and spiritists.

5. Then, he reinstituted the Passover celebration.

2 Kings 23:25 says this about King Josiah:

Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

Josiah kept his commitment to live by the laws of the covenant that God had made with their forefathers at Gerizim.

But here's what caught my attention ...

In the long list of all that Josiah had destroyed (2 Kings 23:4-21), we find one rather interesting item. He torn down "the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made."To understand this, we have to look back at 1 Kings 12.

When Jeroboam came to power it was at the cost of splitting the nation of Israel into two nations - Judah, over which Rehoboam reigned as king, and Israel, over which Jeroboam reigned. [It might be noted that the door was opened for this split because of the excessively high taxes that Rehoboam was levying against the people. Unfair tax burdens placed on the people will always cause them to look for a change in leadership!] Since Jerusalem was in Judah, Jeroboam was concerned that if the people had to go to Jerusalem to keep the feasts, they may not remain loyal to him. So, he had two gold calves built and put one in Bethel and one in Dan. He instructed the people to come to those locations and offer their sacrifices on these false altars instead of going to the temple in Jerusalem and allowing the true priests to offer their sacrifices on the true altar of God. Hence, he "made Israel sin" by providing them false altars at these locations and instituting substitute days of celebration to worship and offer sacrifices in these locations rather than at the place required by God - all under the guise of "making it better for the people."

In the midst of tearing down the Asherahs and other places of sacrifice and worship to false gods and destroying anything dedicated to them, Josiah makes sure to also tear down the false altar erected by King Jeroboam for the people to make substitute sacrifice offerings to the true God.

Here's the point ...

We must not only deal with the altars and worship of false gods, we must also deal with the false altars and false worship of the true God.

What am I saying?

Those of us who are truly born-again Christians, believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, would not go and offer a sacrifice or worship at the altar of a false god. We would not offer incense to Baal; burn our babies in the arms of an image of Molech; or even worship the sun, moon, or stars.

Yet, I began to ponder how many false altars we have set up where we are offering substitute sacrifices of worship, believing that to be service to the true God that we claim to worship and serve.

What do I mean? I'm talking about any "act of worship" that we are doing out of ritual or out or pressure instead of truly out of our heart. You know, things like ...

· those Sunday mornings when we "sing the songs" but our spirit really never enters into a communion and worship of our Lord.

· those responsibilities we take on "at the church" or "for the pastor" or some other spiritual leader or authority in our lives "because someone needs to do them" and, after all, we have to "prove" our servanthood.

· the meetings we attend (be they regular, weekly meetings or special events) not because we have the heart (or maybe even the time!) to go, but because we know "how it will look" if we don't.

· molding ourselves into a form that is just not us - not our gifting, not our call, not what God has asked us to be or do - in order to meet the expectations of leadership or to try to "fit in" and "find our place."

Let me quickly bring the balance point. I am not against Sunday morning services or the worship time within our services. I am not against taking on responsibilities within a local congregation or other ministry. I am not against meeting together. Nor am I against becoming "all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22) All of these have their rightful place. I am for all of them – in that rightful place.

What I am trying to point out is not the action as much as the attitude or motivation behind it. In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus "ups the ante." Sin is no longer just about our action, but now it is a matter of our heart.

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Under the new covenant with Jesus as our sacrificial Lamb and grace and mercy abounding towards us, we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices for our sin. However, sin is also no longer judged simply by what we act out (our actions); it is now judged by our thoughts and attitudes.

When we go to a worship service out of some sense of duty or the fear of man (what they will say if we don't go) or we serve in a certain capacity or assignment for the same reason, we need to do a heart check. Are you doing this activity in true worship of our Lord - or to please (or appease) someone else.

I know there are times that all of us do things that are not the things that would be our first choice. There are times we teach a class or lead a group that is not our ultimate call or the thing at which we are most gifted, but it is part of training and service to the Lord as we grow. That is appropriate. But, the key is: “service to the Lord.”

Nor am I talking about refusing to help clean the ministry building. I've vacuumed, mopped and waxed the floors, cleaned the toilets (cleaned up from over-flowing toilets, even repaired the toilets), and more. I'm not talking about an excuse to be too holy to do anything practical.

What I am talking about is either bowing to fear of man and doing things because of "how it will look" if you say "no" or allowing ourselves to be manipulated into doing something that is not coming freely from our heart. Neither of those if proper motivation for doing anything - even if it is an act of service in some way.

We don't want to find ourselves like those Jesus rebuked in Matthew 15:7-9:

"You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

Let's be careful that we do what we do out of a pure heart of worship - and that we know why we do it. Some leaders have done as Jeroboam did and provided a "place" for our "service to God" that is not the place God ordained for us. There were those in Jeroboam's day who recognized the substitute and would not succumb to the "convenience." They paid the price to do what was required by God. May we be as astute and as committed to serving God whole heartedly.

May we not be like Amaziah who “did right in the sight of the LORD, yet not with a whole heart” (2 Chronicles 25:2). Instead, may we heed David’s admonition to his son and soon successor, Solomon, in 1 Chronicles 28:9 (emphasis added):

As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.

May we seek and find Him. And may always remember Paul’s admonition to us in Colossians 3:23-24.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Regardless of what you do, make sure you are doing it for Him!

Live Life Excessively!

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10, NASB)

Yesterday as I was participating in a webcast for Destiny Gateway, the host, Jess Bielby, referenced the above verse. When he did, I immediately heard the following in my spirit:

Satan comes to steal your purpose, kill your vision, and destroy your destiny.

Though the point that was being made and the teaching for the session went a different direction, this revelation had my attention. Last night, I began delving into understanding what this statement really meant.

First, I looked up the key words in the verse in their original language, per information in a Strong’s Concordance. Then I turned to “Merriam-Webster Unabridged” online dictionary for meanings of the English words. All definitions here are from those sources.

The word “steal” comes from the Greek word “kelpto” which means “to filch.” “Filch” is not a word that most of us use on a regular basis. It means “to steal furtively” or “to pilfer.” These are more words we don’t use every day. “Furtive” means “done by stealth.” “Pilfer” means “to steal in small quantities.” So, the phrase “the thief comes only to steal” really means that the ultimate thief, Satan, comes to pilfer from us, to steal from us a little bit at a time.

Adding the nugget that was dropped into my spirit today, it is our purpose that he seeks to pilfer. “Purpose” means “something that one sets before himself as an object to be attained : an end or aim to be kept in view in any plan, measure, exertion, or operation.”

Putting the two together, the demonic forces come by stealth to steal, a little at a time, gradually, so that we do not notice, that thing that we set before ourselves as the object we are to attain. Solomon warned us that it was “the little foxes that spoil the vines.” (Song of Solomon 2:15) It’s usually not the one, big blow that gets us; it’s the constant wearing away, little by little. The enemy whittles away at our purpose, until we lose sight of it; it is no longer “kept in view.”

As enemy forces whittle away on our purpose, they begin to move in to kill our vision. The word translated as “kill” is the Greek word “thuo” which means “to immolate [slaughter for any purpose].” “Immolate” means “to offer in sacrifice (as to a deity); especially to kill as a sacrificial victim.” It also means “to sacrifice or abnegate (as oneself) usually in the interests of some cause or objective.” To “abnegate” means “to surrender or relinquish (as a right, belief, or idea).”

What I had heard in my spirit was that the enemy comes to kill our vision. “Vision” is “something seen otherwise than by the ordinary sight : an imaginary, supernatural, or prophetic sight … especially: one that conveys a revelation.” It also means, “unusual discernment or foresight.”

What we have then is that the enemy forces come to take our vision, the imagine we hold through “unusual discernment or foresight” of what is to be, and offer it as a sacrifice to Satan – and we surrender our beliefs and ideas and allow them to be killed.

Having stolen our purpose and killed our vision, the result is the destruction of our destiny. The word used for destroy is “apollumi” and means “to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.” Satan is not out to simply thwart the fullness of our destiny; he wants “to destroy [it] fully.” Since Satan, formerly known as Lucifer, failed to fulfill his destiny, he wants to destroy the destiny of as many others as possible. As the old saying goes, “misery loves company.”

The term “destiny” has become a very common one in Christian circles that walk in present truth. The webcast I mentioned as the beginning is called Destiny Gateway. I attended a church for a couple of years which is part of a ministry called Destiny Ministries. This has become a common term. But what are we really saying when we talk about our destiny?

Strictly speaking, it is “that to which any person or thing is destined.” It speaks of our final destination. One meaning offered for “destination” is the “predetermined end, object, or use.” When we allow our purpose to be stolen and our vision to be killed, we will not reach our “predetermined end.”

If you are a strict Calvinist and believe that the end of all our lives is predetermined and that we have no control over the outcome, then you will not believe what I am saying. If, however, you believe that God has given us the ability to make decisions along the way that effect the course our life takes and its eventual outcome, then ponder this new way of viewing a very familiar verse. Satan is out to steal our purpose, little by little, until he can cause us to relinquish our vision, ultimately destroying our destiny – causing us to never fulfill that which we were created to be and do.

Fortunately, the verse does not end there.

The first portion of the verse is a warning of what can happen; the second half of the verse is a promise of a better end. Let’s look at this verse again.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

After stating the enemy’s plan for our life, Jesus states part of His own purpose. Jesus came – was born as a human being, lived a sinless life, was brutally killed as a sacrifice for all of our sins, died, spent three nights in the heart of the earth, was resurrected, and now makes intercession for us at the right hand of the Father, God – that we may “have life, and have it abundantly.”

The word used here is “perissos” and it comes from a word meaning “superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality)” The Greek word carries the implication of being excessive. Jesus’ plan for us is that we live a quality life, one that is superabundant to the point of seeming excessive.

All too often within Christian circles we have heard people chided or spoken of in less than flattering terms if they were prosperous and seemed to be “living in excess.” Yet, Jesus said that He came to provide us with a life that was overflowing in both quantity and quality, to the point of being excessive.

All of that is available to us, if we will heed His warning and remain vigilant to guard that which is of value to us – so that the thief cannot come and steal it all away from us, little by little, killing our vision and destroying our desire to attain that which we set out to do.

Peter exhorts us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because [our] adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV)

But, Praise God, we know that “… in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Let us guard against the thief, so that we can live in the second portion of the verse: that we may “have life, and have it abundantly.”

Live life excessively!

Selah.

Glory Advance Conference - Wichita, KS - Part 4

For the purpose behind the Glory Advance Conference held September 24-26 in Wichita, see my previous post about it at Glory Advance Conference - Wichita, KS. The square brackets ([ ]) indicate my thoughts or additions to what was said. This final portion contains additional snippets from Chuck Pierce from the Friday evening service.

Chuck started by talking about how we entered a transition season in September 2007. He quoted, "Spring up, O well," and noted that the war was for Life and Water. He later commented that there will be wars over water in these 10 years. We are in a place these next 10 years of bringing change.

A well is [represents]:
- a spring
- a fountain
- a living fountain fed by a spring
- a pit or prison (dry cistern)

Spiritually:
- something contended for
- a difficult process that eventually release a life source
- something longed for
- a meeting place
- a place of feeding
- a place of prosperity
- salvation
- your heard
- life everlasting

Chuck exhorted us to Look Again! Some are still warring against things that are no longer there. Look Again at the atmosphere around you. [As for Kansas, the atmosphere here has shifted. We aren't totally where we need to be yet, but we have definitely made significant progress. I know the same is true in other areas/states. Unfortunately, there are still may states for which that is not yet true.] Now [because of the change in the spiritual atmosphere], Freedom Outposts will be established.

************
The Vision

Chuck then shared about the vision that he had in 2007 while at a meeting on Ellis Island. It started with the Lord showing him his only family seed that had come through that very gate into this country and some of what had transpired in his family line. Then, the vision expanded beyond "him" to the nation.

The Holy Spirit showed him 153 nations that have the opportunity to become sheep nations. [Reference Matthew 25:32. Realize that a nation being a "sheep" nation does not mean that all the people in that nation will be believers; but the majority will be and the government structure will operate righteously. Likewise, there will be true believers in every nation, even the goat nations.]

The Holy Spirit showed him each state in the United States of America. Each and every state had a gold, fiery river running through it. For some states, the river was larger and for some it was smaller. But every state had one of these rivers.

He was told that the river was God's "Triumphant Reserve for the Future." The river of people would go through a furnace or fire pot of power. When the people come out of the furnace, they were seven times stronger and purified. These empowered and purified people created "Freedom Outposts."

Not all states had a Freedom Outpost. Some states and several. Those who made up the Freedom Outposts know when to play the trump card. [By this he meant that you have to know when to hold your hand and not reveal what you have "up your sleeve" and when to lay the cards on the table, call the enemy's bluff, or play your trump card, if necessary. But the trump card should not be played frivolously. It must be saved for the right time. This goes with all that was said about "hearing" our way through this season.]

Chuck indicated that this troop of purified, empowered believers who make up these Freedom Outposts will "totally understand" the war they are going into. [They will know their God and do great exploits!]

The Triumphant Reserve in states that did not have Freedom Outposts will have to connect to those in other states. (He did note that just because there was not a Freedom Outpost in the state as he was shown it did not mean they could not develop one. There just isn't one there now. More work needs to be done in those states to shift them.)

Chuck indicated that he had seen that Obama would be elected [I believe he said] three years before the election. He has also seen that the American government would only remain in its current state for three years after he took office. In 2012, it will morph into something else.

Summary of what he saw about the states:
- Every state had a Triumphant Reserve.
- Not every state had a freedom outpost.
- Covenant root in some states did not exist.
- Covenant root in some states is producing fruit.
- Covenant root in some states had been overlayed with layers of darkness - so much so that the root, itself, has become dark. In these cases, there is a form of religion totally deceiving those in that state. They do not see it.
- There was a movement of God in every state.

Chuck defined a "Covenant State" in the following way:
- One which welcomes the Jews and recognizes Israel's role in the earth.
- One which has determined to reconcile issues with the First Peoples of the land [Native Americans].
- One where an altar of worship has been established (night watches, 24x7 prayer & praise, first fruit gatherings, prayer watches, etc.).
- One where the Holy Spirit has been welcomed and been free to move.
- One where the apostolic leadership recognizes and wars with prophetic revelation. [I interpreted this to mean one in which the apostolic and prophetic are connected and working together governmentally within the state or region.]
- One which has been staked and dedicated to the Lord for His glory to come.

He said the Lord told him, "My people are misjudging the way I see this nation."

Chuck indicated that Florida [my home state] has a glory root. However, there is "a black highway" that runs through it up into Georgia. He believed this is probably Muslim traffic that is going back and forth between those states.

He saw that in Kansas God is raising a tent toward heaven over the state. It is higher on the east side of the state. (He indicated that is because that is where the entrance is.)

Kansas has LOTS of Freedom Outposts. [Hallelujah!] These indicate new wineskins for the future. When people come into the Freedom Outposts, their cellular structure will change. The atmosphere in the Freedom Outposts will melt apathy off those who enter.

But, there was a black root in Kansas. It is a Religious spirit and has captured all the other roots. The Church in Kansas is not making the root come back alive. We are not functioning as Kingdom people. This root is the most evil religious root of any state. Kansas has the potential of being the glory hub of the nation, but it must deal with this evil root. Chuck saw the glory being contained (held captive) in something that looked like a brass casing or tarnished cooper. It encased the glory and was held shut by a lock and key.

[This was particularly interesting to me. I can remember back more than a decade ago expressing to people both here in Kansas and elsewhere about the strength of two spirits here - Jezebel and the Religious spirit. When I would talk to others elsewhere, most had the attitude of "yeah, here too." But having lived or worked in various states, I KNEW this was much stronger than anything I had encountered in those. Since we are a prophet state, there is no wonder that the Jezebel spirit contended so hard against us; but the Religious spirit seemed even stronger here. So, Chuck's comments here encouraged me that I "had seen what I had seen" and knew what I knew. Obviously, we still have some work to do to dethrone this demonic structure.]

Every state had thrones contending for the land. [We must contend, if we want to possess it.]

************

The vision Chuck saw showed things through 2012. He warned that if we do not handle these issues correctly, the nation will shift incorrectly.

"Reformed Judaism" was brought to Kansas by settlers who founded Beersheba, KS. Their beliefs were a departure from traditional Jewish beliefs and customs.

[About Beersheba, KS: "In 1882 the first Jewish agricultural colony in Kansas was established when some 60 recently arrived Jewish immigrants from Russia, sponsored by the Hebrew Union Agricultural Society. They settled northeast Beersheba along Pawnee Creek. Named for the ancient city of Beersheba, the colony stretched over several sections of land, each family homesteading 150 acres. ... A decade after the colony was established, none of the colonists remained and the land reverted to prairie." (Link to Source)]

[About Reformed Judaism: "Reform Judaism affirms 'the fundamental principle of Liberalism: that the individual will approach this body of 'mitzvot' and 'minhagim' in the spirit of freedom and choice. Traditionally Israel started with 'harut', the commandment engraved upon the Tablets, which then became freedom. The Reform Jew starts with 'herut', the freedom to decide what will be 'harut' - engraved upon the personal Tablets of his life.'" (Link to Source)]

Final Comments

We cannot win the war we are entering by trying to change the Church. We will have to do it from the outside [from outside the "four walls" of the traditional "church" as we have known and called it].

The Spirit of God is hovering, brooding over Kansas. This spills over into Missouri, particularly around St. Joe. God is going to deal with Kansas.

The next two years, God will confront the religious structures of this state.

Chuck mention, specifically, the cities of Liberal, Salina, Topeka, Garden City and Dodge City. He indicated there would be a meeting in the center of Topeka [Kansas state capitol] that will shake the state. He said there was a hidden, evil structure between Garden City and Dodge City. He warned that evil would rise up in Dodge City to content with His purpose for that city (area) and that the issues would be in the national news. He indicated that Kansas City has now fallen behind.

Chuck concluded with a word of prophecy for Kansas. God said, "You have reconciled the land. Now I will deal with the root."

During the time following the message, Chuck saw an angel up over the platform area. He had a turban around his head. He said, "I will cause you to change your way of thinking."


[There was MUCH more. To get it "all" you will need to get the messages on DVD/CD/MP3 and listen to them repeatedly. I have just capture some of the highlights & key points.]

Glory Advance Conference - Wichita, KS - Part 3

For the purpose behind the Glory Advance Conference held September 24-26 in Wichita, see my previous post about it at Glory Advance Conference - Wichita, KS. These notes are from three different sessions in which Dutch Sheets continued on a single message - "New." Again, the square brackets ([ ]) indicate my thoughts or additions to what was said.

New

In the passage in Matthew 9:17, the Greek word "neos" means numerically new. [It also means "fresh" or "regenerated." The wineskin had to be either new or "fresh."] Dutch noted that the Wine [God] isn't going to change; the skin that holds it [we] must. He also noted that we will be stretched in amazing ways. If there is anything that locks us into the past, then we are an old wineskin.

When Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 and she referred to the water in the well, the word she used was the word for cistern [phrear]. Yet Jesus was talking about water that bubbles up, like an artesian well [pege]. The water in the cistern is old water. It is good when we need it and sometimes we need to drink from the there [the old truths]. But we need to begin to drink from the artesian well.


New Glory

There is a new level of glory being poured out in Kansas that will go to the nations. That is more than a cloud or a mist in a room. The Hebrew word means "weighty" or "heavy." [God's glory is a weighty presence.] The Greek word means "the appearance of something that causes it to be recognized for what it is."

There is a very weighty government of God about to descend in this region. When it does, nothing can withstand it.

It is a fearful thing when God releases His glory. The glory of God is like a magnet - people are either attracted to it or repelled by it.

The passage in Acts 5:15 that talks about people bringing the sick so that Peter's shadow could fall on them actually refers to them being overshadowed [episkiazo - "to cast a shadow upon, to envelope in a haze of brilliancy"]. The word that is used in this passage is the same word used in Luke 1:35 when the power of God "overshadowed" Mary and she conceived the Son of God. [It was the tangible presence of God that enveloped him that touched people and caused them to made well or whole.]

Dutch prophesied that the presence of God would so hover in Wichita that people will drive in the city limits and get healed. They will also get born again and spirit filled just by coming into that weighty presence of the Lord. Some of them will not even know what has happened to them; someone will have to explain it to them [after it has occurred].


New Wells

The discussion of wells and re-digging wells is in Genesis 21 & 26. The name used for God is a name that means "forever in both directions" [past & future] or "everlasting." [God is the God of our past as well as of the present and future.]

In Genesis 26, God takes Isaac back to the same situation faced by his father, Abraham. Like Abraham, Isaac claims that Rebekah is his sister, rather than his wife, fearing they would kill him to have her. Both were more interested in saving themselves than in what might happen to their wives. God had to get that root of iniquity out of Isaac before taking him forward.

After dealing with that root, Isaac then returned to re-dig wells that had been dug by his father, plus some new wells. God had to take Isaac back to deal with the old issues before He could bring him into a new, broader place.


New Places in the Spirit

The meaning of the word "Hebrew" is "crossover." God called Abram a Hebrew because he was willing to go out and cross over to a new place. This is the same word [abar] that is used in Genesis 15 when God descended as a smoking oven and flaming torch and "passed between" the pieces of the sacrifice to make covenant with Abraham.

It's a Caleb season. God has a new place of inheritance, a new place of experience [in Him]. Caleb didn't want the mountain because he liked the city at the top. He wanted the mountain because he hated the giant who ruled it. He knew it did not belong under his rule and he wanted him out. He took the mountain and renamed it Hebron - "the place of frienship" [with God]. It became a city of refuge. Wichita will become the same.


New Generation

A new generation is arising; the most prophetic generaion ever. They will write new songs and new laws. They will not just do signs & wonders; they will be signs & wonders. They will be the first 5-fold generation. They will understand worship & warfare. They do not yet know who they are (prophets & apostles), but God will blow a wind and gather them. They know they are unhappy, unfulfilled and have not yet tapped into their purpose. They will release a new sound we have never heard. Very soon, the sound will become a roar. It will be the call of the wild - wild worshipping warriors. God says, "I will call them to the wilderness."

This is a season of fulfillment of many visions. Be careful. Do not try to think your way through this season. We must "hear" our way through it.


New Level of Revelation

A Spirit of Revelation is coming to those who will break out of the old and get ready for the new. We are coming into a new season of open heavens.


* * * * * *
"I am going to build new places for My glory."

David was allowed "to break the rules" when it came to building a tent for the ark of the covenant. It was no longer housed in the tent of the tabernacle built by Moses, but was made more accessible. However, David did not get away with breaking the protocol of how to carry it [how to carry the presence of God]. The ark [the presence of God] had to be carried by people (the priests). [His presence still has to be carried by His people - those who are priests unto Him.]
* * * * * *


New Season

The new season brings new vision and new messages. Usually, a new season [of release] is preceded by a wilderness experience.

God had given Dutch a word that said, "Marry the mantles of the past to today ... and don't be afraid to strike the waters." [When you move into the new, you do not throw away all the things of the past. Some are there to be built upon and expanded.]


New Structures

New structures are coming. Quit trying to "go to church," "build the church," "do church," etc. We are the Church and we need to just "be" the Church. This revelation will create a war in the Church. Quit going to an event called "church" that isn't doing anything.

Pastors and heads of ministries need to move from "mine" to "ours," from "I" to "we," and from both of those to "His"!

We need to build around the desire of the King, not the needs of the people.


New Level of Harvest

Dream the dream with Him for America [or your nation]. Dream the dream with him for your state [or your region].


New Dreaming Season

It's a new dreaming season. Dream again.

Jacob got the dream at Bethel. But Jacob was conquered at Penuel when he wrestled with God and saw Him face to face. However, three chapters later, God directs Jacob [now Israel] to go back and live at Bethel [the place where he had the dream, the place of the open heaven, and the place where Jacob made his vow to serve God (if God blessed him).]

Dutch ended by exhorting us to dream about an America that is transformed.


[NOTE: Dutch had indicated he had 11 points. Due to time restrictions, he only made it through nine of them, and some of those he only touched on breifly. That is why there are only a couple of sentences on some of these.]

Glory Advance Conference - Wichita, KS - Part 2

For the purpose behind the Glory Advance Conference held September 24-26 in Wichita, see my previous post about it at Glory Advance Conference - Wichita, KS. These notes are from the Friday morning session. Again, the square brackets ([ ]) indicate my thoughts or additions to what was said. Much of what is recorded are snippets (or "nuggets" as we often call them). If you've ever tried to take notes when Chuck Pierce is ministering, you understand why!

NOTE: This conference was, in part, for and about Kansas. However, it was also, in part, about what God is planning for our nation. Reference the quote from the prophetic word that was the catalyst for the conference: "My Glory will overwhelm this state and move this nation into a new role of awakening. … There will be a national gathering in Kansas … words will be spoken that will commission the remnant to make its move." So, please do not discount what was said here just because you do not live in Kansas.

Chuck Pierce started the Friday morning session. He declared that it is "a time for the radiance and brilliance of heaven to enter earth's realm!"

With the transition into a new year on the Jewish calendar last fall, we moved from the year of New Beginnings (5768 - 2008AD) to a time of Tasting, Seeing, Judging, and Bringing Forth (5769 - 2009AD). Now, we are moving into a season of Redigging or Digging New Wells (5770 - 2110). We are shifting from redigging old wells to digging new wells. Sometimes we have to uncover what "has been" (previously) to move to the new.

Now is the time to move:
- from destructive workings and old cycles,
- from emotional instability,
- from the flesh war, (demon forces will inhabit flesh; therefore, flesh is your enemy)
- into the war of the season ahead, and
- into the building plan for the future.

Chuck noted that (in general), the Church did not want to pastor the prophetic; so the world did. [That's why we see the rise in mediums and fortune tellers and so may TV shows and movies that focus on the supernatural from the dark side.]

It is time for our nation to begin again. He reminded us that a nation can come forth in a day. (Isaiah 66:8)

He warned that the next 10 years are not all bright; but they will be the most supernatural we have ever experienced. [Could it be that the supernatural will be more prevalent because we are in situations that require it?]

This year sets [the course for] the next 10 years. We are not going back around the same mountain. We will be extending something you completed in the last season into a testimony.

The Hebrew letter for 70 represents the following:
- Looks like two serpents - represents a double portion occult season in next 10 years.
- Looks like a water witch - will find resources in the ground.
- Single eye - the structure of the free masons will morph; many will be delivered; because the church will quit being "a secret society."
- Hand of man reaching up to God & Him taking hold. God will send new intersections. We will start taking new turns. The ground we couldn't break in the last season will be broken in the new season.

"AYIN" - Hebrew for 70
- Eye - seeing eye to eye, seeing face to face; to look, to look again. When we "look again," we will see things a different way.
- Appearance or Aperture (like a camera lens opening & shutting quickly). There will be flashes of revelation. Chuck exhorted us to keep a paper and pen handy [or you favorite recording device :)]. Trauma works the same way. [The picture of the incident is imprinted in our brains instantly.] God's flashes will dissolve trauma supernaturally. We will see demons - see what has been trailing us or blocking our way. Once we see it, we own it [meaning that we can then effectively deal with getting rid of it].
- To bud
- To sparkle or gleam
- A spring or fountain
- To go into a matter deeply
- To form a ladder and climb
- A time to such or nurture
- To vex - vexation working against us. We must move from understanding to a place of moving by the Spirit. We will become a new threshing instrument to break the ground.

The meeting was then turned over to Dutch Sheets. He started teaching on "New." It took three sessions for him to get through nine of eleven points. I will summarize those in another post.

Glory Advance Conference – Wichita, Kansas

At a conference in Lawrence, Kansas, in November of 2008, Chuck Pierce spoke this word to the state of Kansas, "My Glory will overwhelm this state and move this nation into a new role of awakening. … There will be a national gathering in Kansas … words will be spoken that will commission the remnant to make its move."

Another portion of the word indicated that there was to be a national conference held in Wichita, KS, the following year and that it would be the beginning of the release of God’s glory not just to Kansas, but to our nation. This is that year. And this conference is that conference. Following is a synopsis of what was spoken this evening at the first service of this conference. My personal comments about what was said are included with square brackets ([ ]).

Early in the service, Chuck Pierce saw twelve (12) pieces of a mantle that had been over this nation but had been ripped apart into the 12 pieces “fly” into the auditorium. He said that God was going to reconnect it and remantle us in this nation. He indicated that we needed to pray for the wind from the north, south, east & west to blow upon it and cause it to come back together.

[Of course, 12 is the number of government. My sense was that this spoke of God’s government being restored to the His Church.]

Barbara Wentroble then declared Isaiah 54:2. “’Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.’” She began to prophesy to Kansas from that passage.

[This was a scripture that God gave me when I moved to Kansas. I can remember reading Isaiah 54 over and over when I was first here – even in the hotel before I had moved into my first residence – and particularly this verse, asking what He was trying to tell me. I felt like tonight He said, “Now is the time.” Little did I know when I moved here it would be 24+ years before I got to the “now” part!]

Chuck Pierce then directed the worship team to begin to sing and direct the wind to blow the mantle back together, which they did.

Barbara Wentroble brought the message for the evening. She began by talking briefly about the spiritual history of Kansas. She talked about Charles Parham and how one of his young students asked to receive the Holy Spirit and began speaking in tongues on New Year’s Day, 1901, in Topeka, KS. She mentioned his most well-known student, William Seymour. She talked about the impact of both Parham and Seymour and the birthing of the modern-day Pentecostal movement. But ,she also told about how they had been run out of the state of Kansas. Kansas rejected (aborted) what God wanted to do here. She talked about how, over the years, Wichita had become known as “the pastor’s graveyard” due to the number of failed churches and ministries here. And she touched on the issue against which we had struggled so long here, abortion.

Barbara then called one of the local pastors, Bubby Hudson, up to share something he had shared with her earlier in the day. In a book by Tommy Welchel, he tells the stories told to him by men and women who were children or teenagers that were part of the Azusa Street Revival at Seymour’s church in southern California. Included in the back of the book is a prophecy in which Seymour spoke of a revival to come 100 years later. That prophecy was given in 1908 or 1909. He said that 2008 would be a year of preparation and that a revival would begin in late 2009 and into 2010 that would never end. He indicated that this revival would bring the former rain and that latter rain together.

[In spite of being a student of church history, and particularly of what happened in Topeka & Azusa street, I had never heard about this prophecy. I will be getting a copy of the book, to read it exactly as recorded.
I was reminded of Jon Huss who had prophesied that, though he was martyred, there would arise another in 100 years that could not be stopped. Of course, Martin Luther was the fulfillment of that word, and the Protestant Reformation was started. I had the same sense about this “100 year” prophecy. I felt that the revival God attempted to start in 1901 at Topeka and then in 1906-1910 or so on Azusa Street veered off course in some ways and never reached its full potential. Now, as prophesied, 100 years later a move would start that would not be stopped. As one who has been crying out for Reformation, I grabbed this as encouragement that a second Reformation is beginning. Bill Hamon decreed last fall (end of 2008) and we would look back and mark that time as when it began. That would line up with this word that 2008 was the preparation for the beginning of this revival, awakening, reformation … or whatever term you choose to use.]

Chuck began to prophesy that this meeting would be looked back on as the time when the Former Rain began. He said what would begin to happen would be called the Former Rain because it would be the beginning of a rain that would last for the next 100 years. So the Latter Rains would come much later.

Barbara continued, saying that this is a hour that God is hovering over this state (Kansas). God wants to come and visit this state in a new way. She indicated that by hovering over it, God was overshadowing Kansas, just as His Spirit overshadowed Mary and caused her to conceive. She indicated that conceptions are about to take place and that before we left this evening, God would impart the power and strength to bring it to birth and to deliver it safely. There season of spiritual abortions and miscarriages in Kansas is ended.

She talked about the fact that the Day of the Lord means destruction to God’s enemies, but it means deliverance to God’s friends. She said that God wants to bring His glory cloud into this state. He also wants to release His glory on the inside of us. (Reference Hebrews 3:3, Psalm 104:3 & Isaiah 19:1.) God has come to hover over you to bring His glory to you, individually, as well.

Barbara prophesied that God will raise up Healing Centers all over the state. People will come not only from other states, but other nations to be healed. Even in a time when the medical field will be in great confusion and not have the resources or answers, God will equip us to minister healing. But it will not be the kind of healing ministries we have known before. It will not be based on methods or formulas. It will be based on hearing what the Spirit of God is saying. There will be times when a whole room of people will all be healed without being prayed for individually. God will also use us to heal not only people, but cities. There will also be reports of people being raised from the dead. God released a life-giving spirit to us (to replace the spirit of death that had been entrenched here for so long).

[I received a word from the Lord in November 1997 that indicated basically the same thing about Healing Centers here in Wichita. This expanded them to other places in the state.
Because I have “seen” the raising of the dead happening with my spiritual eye since I was a teenager, I recently worked with a friend on a book that she wrote about raising the dead. (Church, Come Forth! by Diane Morrison) So, I say, “Yes” and “Amen” to hearing those reports … and even being involved in bringing them about.]

Chuck also prophesied that the spirit of fear that had come on many due to the errors or excessive of past moves was being broken off to free people to move into the new thing God is doing.

Then there was time of anointing and impartation by Barbara Wentroble for imparting a breaking anointing and the strength to see that which was conceived brought to birth.
Wow! And this was only the first service!!

Are signs following us ... or are we following after signs?

In a recent conversation with some friends in ministry, we were talking about our desire to see more of the power of God operating through us and others. I think we all want that.

I know I for one want to be like Paul when he states, "my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." (1 Cor 2:4-5)

Notice Paul's emphasis was on delivering the message of the gospel in a way that it would impact.

In Mark 16:15-19 we have another familiar passage to which we commonly refer as "the great commission." It was a final directive from Christ just before he ascended to sit at the right hand of the Father.

"And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.' So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God."

What I want to draw attention to is the following verse:

"And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed." (Mark 16:20)

Did you catch that? They preached & the Lord worked with them to confirm the Word by the signs that followed the preaching of the Word.

Again, I want to see more of the fruit of this in my life - where the Word that is preached is being confirmed by the signs that follow.

While I think most of you are probably in agreement with this - wanting to see more of the same in your own lives and ministries - there is a movement out there that seems to be more focused on the signs than they are on the Word that they are sent to confirm.

I think Matt Sorger really nailed this issue in his article "Just Show Me the 'Stuff'!"

Here are a few excerpts:

• "I love the prophetic. I love the supernatural. But the moment we start wanting signs without the Word of God, we are in trouble. And this is what I have been seeing."
• "Signs follow the preaching of the Word. If you become a sign-seeker apart from the Word of God, you will not be grounded, and if you are in ministry, you will build an unhealthy and weak foundation in other people's lives as well as your own."
• "The sign I am most after these days is the sign of a life transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to see people hungry to truly apply the Word of God to their lives—not desiring simply to hear something new but to put into practice what they already know."
• "I want to see people walking in love. I want to see people living righteously. I want to see people knowing who they are in Christ so the devil can't continually beat them up."
• "A sign without the Word points nowhere."
• "Never neglect God's Word. It has the power to change your life."

If you haven't already read it, go check out the full article ... Just Show Me the 'Stuff'!