A Multitude of Purposes

Anytime God does anything, it is usually for a multitude of purposes and reasons. This is why the wisdom of God is referred to as manifold wisdom.

"His intent is that now through the church, the manifold wisdom of God be made known to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." Ephesians 3:10,11

The Greek word used for "manifold" is polupoikilos. It means something that has many and diverse characteristics. Now Remember, wisdom itself in simple terms is clear direction (James 1 and Proverbs 2,3,4). And in that clear direction their is a lot going in the Lord. In other words....he is doing a lot of things all at once. When God gives us a simple direction, he accomplishes a lot of things through our simple act of obedience.

When the Lord moved me to Albuquerque in 1997 he was doing many things in my life:

• Furthering my doctrinal foundation and continuing to teach my how to hear his voice.
• Cleansing my soul through further discipline.
• Preparing me to be married.
• Leading others to the Lord through my ministry and then discipling them.
• Giving me a greater heart of servitude at my job.
• Preparing me for management and showing me how servant-leadership really worked within his Kingdom.

When the Lord led me back to Texas with my wife and two kids he was doing many things in our lives:

• Furthering our character in him.
• Using us in a body of believers to establish, strengthen and settle them in the foundational aspects of Christ.
• Raising our boys in the Lord.
• Drawing me close to my natural family before my mother's death.
• Continuing to teach me how to manage a business according to his leading.  

When the Lord moved us to Merida, MX he did so for a multitude of reasons:

• He showed us that the American model of church, when exported, doesn't always bring forth life in those who God is calling.
• He furthered our character in him.
• He showed us what socialism really does to nations of men and how it affects the Body of Christ.
• He used us to plant a church.
• He removed the stench and familiarity of American sins from our spiritual nostrils for a time so that when we returned it stood out to us more clearly, therefore enabling us to more readily speak and preach against sin and the selfish ambitions of men.

When he moved us back to Texas he did so for many reasons:

• To look after my grandmother who is in her twilight years and set her estate in order.
• To get a look at the American church from a new perspective.
• To start our ministries.
• To fulfill various prophetic words that we had received in previous years.
• To walk both of my sons through key stages in their development with the proper resources at our disposal.

One of the positions that Cessationist Theology takes is that once Jew and Gentile were reconciled during the time of the first generation of apostles, the need for a subsequent baptism of the Spirit with the evidence of signs and wonders was no longer needed by God. Their argument is simply that this was to kick-start the flow of reconciliation between Jew and the entire Gentile world and that once this was accomplished, things reverted to a new order and flow in the Spirit. Cessationists now argue that God would no longer do things the same way as he did in the book of Acts. 

Let's take a look at that position.

Just as their is a multitude of purposes for everything God does in our lives at the giving of wisdom, so their was a multitude of purposes in the book of Acts for the baptism of water and subsequent baptism of the Spirit with signs following.

• Power for each individual believer to endure the process of circumcision that we might each overcome the world, the flesh and the devil and, in the process, be fully reconciled to God.
• Power to be reconciled to our fellow man. Jew and Gentile reconciliation as an example.
• Continuing with the process of subsequent baptism of both Water and Spirit. This set the doctrine of subsequence as a pattern for churches to follow in the order of baptisms. This was first displayed in the lives of the Israelites as they emerged from Egyptian Bondage (See 1 Cor 10), Elisha the prophet in 2 Kings 2, and Jesus in all four gospels.

When signs, wonders and miracles are displayed in the life of an individual, it overpowers the natural senses of man to judge falsely and gives outward evidence of the internal workings of the Spirit. The Jew needed to witness such events in Acts 8 and Acts 10 to begin destroying their long standing prejudices against everything and everyone that was Non-Jew.

However, this same tendency towards prejudice exists in the heart of every man.

"Man is born to sin as surely as sparks fly upward." Job 5:7

While we were in Yucatan, Mexico doing missions work the one thing that we took notice of the most within the Body of Christ was the deep prejudice that often existed between Spaniards and Mayans in the city of Merida. They simply didn't intermingle in the secular culture and this always carried over into the Body of Christ. I had a pastor at a church we attended tell me on more than one occasion that he simply could not get the Body to break through into reconciliation with regards to these two groups of Mexican nationals. They refused to eat together, sit together, socialize.......It was really bad.

It reminded me of the deep root prejudices we have long seen in our nation between those of African-American descent and Anglo Saxon descent. When God really began to address this issue of reconciliation in our nation and specifically within the Body of Christ was at the outpouring of the Spirit at the Azusa Street revival in 1906. The Power of God was present in signs, wonders, miracles and tongues to reconcile men to one another. The same power that was made manifest at Pentecost and later in Acts 8 and 10 was also being made known in Southern California during the early part of the last century.

God's approach was no different between Azusa St. and Jerusalem. Only the outpouring of Power was able to help in the breakthrough. The problem my pastor friend had in his church was rooted primarily in his theology. He simply didn't believe in a subsequent outpouring of the Spirit with signs and wonders. This power is given that we might be first be reconciled to God and, in the process, be reconciled to on another.

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.. And he has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5:18,19

My friend doesn't believe in the Power that is made manifest at a subsequent outpouring of the Spirit. He believes that when you put your faith in Christ and are water baptized that Jesus automatically baptizes every believer in the Spirit. Yet some of the fruit of his ministry says otherwise. Why?

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him." 1 John 1:9-11

He doesn't consistently minister in the level of Power that breaks the everyday prejudices that every man holds towards someone or some group of people. My friends wants it to happen but he refuses to subscribe to the spiritual remedy that would cause the reconciliation to occur.

And not only is it Spanish Yucatecos and Mayan Yucatecos that hate each other. Both of those groups only get along when they are opposing a greater threat.....Mexicans from outside the state of Yucatan.

"The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends - before this they had been enemies." Luke 23:10-12

Spanish and Mayan Yucatecos have discovered a common enemy: Mexican nationals that are non-Yucatecos. So in the Body of Christ in the Yucatan you have three groups of people primarily. Most of our friends within the Body of Christ were composed of this third group of people. Many of them are from Mexico City. These outsiders are mostly of Aztec descent and comprise the majority of Mexican citizens from Mexico City all the way up through the northern part of their country.

Mexico is a nation of roughly 100 million people. Over 20% of their total population lives in that one city so it is not uncommon to know someone from that area when you live in Mexico.

My wife and I had many Non-Yucateco Christians friends in Merida that would tell us that the Yucatecos refused to eat with them or have them over for dinner. Most Yucatecos refused to socialize with Mexicans of Aztec descent. Now what does this all sound like? And why does their seem to be little to no breakthrough on an ongoing basis?

"When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, 'You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?" Acts 2:11-14

Even if you have a dispensation of power such as recorded in Acts, people retrace from time to time. The dross of sin that God burns from our hearts comes out in layers and different measures over the course of time. Peter was no different than any of us. He was a man just like us. And he needed what we need: Faith, Grace, Forgiveness and an ongoing dispensation of Power.

Do we really think it was just a Jew to Gentile issue? Isn't it a male to female, slave to free, black to white, American to Mexican, Spaniard to Mayan, Yucateco to Non-Yucateco issue?

JEB

Finally

I took a trip back to the U.S. in July/August that lasted almost 4 weeks. I got back on Aug 4th. My wife told me that it rained almost every day that I was gone. This kept her and one of my sons from having to water the yard by hand throughout the time I was gone. This was a blessing. In Mexico most homes don't have enough water pressure to even run a water sprinkler effectively. Instead you either, 1) pray for rain, or 2) water by hand. In our case, we take a kid's swimming pool and fill it up with a water hose and dump it on the backyard. Primitive? Yes. Less Time consuming? Absolutely. It just requires more effort than enjoying the ongoing rains we get this time of year.

We'll, as the story goes, when I got back on August 4th the rains suddenly stopped. It rained practically  everyday when I was gone and when I get back the daily rains cease for 2 weeks. Everyday I prayed and waited for it to rain and nothing happened. In the silence of my heart I finally said to the Lord, "Lord, I always ask you to make it rain when I need to water the yard and you have answered several times. This is my final day of asking. If you don't make it rain today I am going to have to start watering on my own. I have turned to you for this Lord. This is my last day of waiting. The grass is dying. It needs water today."

Well, that same day, the very day I felt that my time of waiting had to finally end, the rains started and it has rained at least an hour almost everyday for the past week. The grass has been restored and is filling back out again.

When I see things like this happening I have learned to ask the Lord, "Lord, what it going on? Is there something you are trying to teach me spiritually through natural things? What is it? Is this just nothing or is there something to this?"

This is the response I believe I received from the Lord. Take a look at Acts 16.

"Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, 'These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.' She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, 'In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!' At that moment the spirit left her." Acts 16:16-18

It's pretty straight forward. Before God could set things in order he had to wait for Paul to get fed up with the status-quo. When he finally got troubled to the point that he would take action, the Kingdom of God came forth and the will of God was fulfilled. Let's look at another example of this spiritual dynamic: Jesus and the clearing of the temple.

"When it was almost time of the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" John 2:13-16

Let's put this into perspective. Most present-day historians and theologians believe that Jesus was crucified and buried at age 33 simply because Jesus began his ministry at age 30 and the Gospel of John accounts for 3 yearly Passover feasts (John 2:12-16, John 6:4, John 11:55). Whether this is true and can be proved is subject to debate. But let's just say for a minute it is true, that the cruxificion of our Lord took place at age 33. Per the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the clearing of the temple occurred just after Jesus made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the shouts of "Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest." This occurred just prior to his cruxificion. This tells us that Jesus had attended Passovers before and obviously had witnessed the obvious mismanagement of the things of God. This wasn't the first time he had witnessed "merchandising" going on in his Father's House. 

Joseph and Mary had attended Passover with Jesus ever since he was a little boy. When they returned from Egypt they settled in Nazareth, a roughly 70 mile trip from Jerusalem.

"Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom." Luke 2:41

Jesus was in Jerusalem with his parents every year for Passover. In fact, the law required that they appear at the Temple in Jerusalem three times a year, not just once.

"Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacle. No man should appear before the Lord empty-handed: Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you." Deut 16:16,17

I am assuming Joseph attended all three feasts on an annual basis. That means Jesus was in the temple three times a year. Let's just assume they had moved back to Nazareth from Egypt by the time Jesus was 10 years old. 33-10=23. That means from age to 10 to age 33, a period of 23 years, Jesus was in Jerusalem for the three aforementioned feasts at least 69 total times. That means he had witnessed merchandising in the temple dozens of times in his life. Yet he didn't clear out the money changers until close to the end of his life, just prior to his cruxificion. Why? Why the wait?

I think he finally got fed up. I think he had come to the end of his rope with this situation and responded in kind. I think he was finally boiling over. I think Paul finally got fed up with the demon in the slave girl and took authority and walked by a greater measure of faith. He had finally had enough. Jesus had also finally had enough. 

Over the past months I have been coming to the place where I have finally gotten tired in an area. I am finally tired of spiritual fellowship that is devoid of power and prophecy. The only reason anyone listened to Jesus' teaching and doctrine was because he was both prophetic and powerful with regards to signs, wonders and miracles. The beginning of his ministry was marked by such things as turning water into wine and prophesying to the woman at the well. These types of experiences are what should mark the church. Today in most fellowship circles these are uncommon occurrences.

Our faith is to rest in the power of God (1 Cor 2:5) and our lives should be marked by the power of God (1 Cor 4:20). Scripture is clear about it. We have to find our way in this. The power of God manifests with greater ease when the body is allowed to be the body. That means people are allowed to function in their gifts. What I have learned over the past 17 years is that quite a number of bodies of fellowship don't permit the body to be the body, to allow fellowship to center around everyone being equipped for and participating in ministry as God moves among us.

"...so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." Romans 12:5-8

The scriptures say, "let him, let him, let him." "Let him do it, let him do it."  It's repetitious in the above verse. This is very applicable with both the gift of the teacher and the gift of the prophetic. The scriptures say.....

"...if it is teaching, let him teach." Romans 12:7

"...by this time you ought to be teachers." Hebrews 5:12

If someone is a teacher they should be allowed to teach as long as their doctrine is accurate. Why? Because most often the best teachings are the ones that come unplanned, straight out of the heart, off-the-cuff by shooting-from-the-hip at a moment's notice. Depending on the size of a body of believers in a meeting you may have anywhere from 2 to 10 teachers in a room, maybe more. There has to be a liberty in the Lord for anyone to teach at a moment's notice as long as it fits with the order and flow of what the Lord is doing in the meeting.

What about prophecy? I am not talking about the office of the Prophet. I am just talking about the general flow of prophecy in the body. Do you every wonder about this, about why you see so little if any of it in the church today?

"Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged." 1 Cor 14:29-31

"...be eager to prophesy..." 1 Cor 14:39

First, we should be eager to prophesy. And secondly, we should experience seasons of prophecy. If we are not, something is wrong. It's one thing to believe in prophecy for today. It is another thing altogether to emphasize, equip and watch people actively grow in it. Yet it is very rare for church bodies today. Very rare. Yes, your church may have had a prophet come in for prophetic ministry. But God wants more than the Prophet prophesying. He wants the Prophets to equip the people to prophesy. The gift of the Prophet is an equipping gift. Everyone is to prophesy. God wants us all prophesying.

This only comes as apostles and prophets equip the church foundationaly for the work of the ministry. Read 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 2:20, Ephesians 4 and the entire book of Acts. The scriptures are stunningly clear on this dynamic.

I think I have come to a point in time where I have realized the "spiritual grass" has to be watered today. We are the grass and we need to be watered by the washing of the water of his word.

"A voice says, 'Cry out.' And I said, 'What shall I cry?'
'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are as grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:6-8

"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the the word." Ephesians 5:25,26

Things have to change. I have got to pursue this. And I believe the Lord is trying to bring his entire body to this point, a place of finally wanting things more and more as they should be.

Be Blessed,
JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/

The Black Swan

A new metaphor called The Black Swan Event was coined in the realm of macroeconomics by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in 2007. A Black Swan Event is simply an occurrence of a highly unpredictable event that has a major impact on nations and/or the worlds socio-economic structure. It is a high-impact, hard to predict event that has life-changing influence on every phase of our lives.

The rise of new technologies like the personal computer and the Internet, major world wars, natural disasters like earthquakes, terrorist events like 9-11...they all fit within the definition of the Black Swan Theory. These are all types of Black Swans. And each one has a high-degree of probability of influencing entire economies, overall social structure, politics on every level and all aspects of daily living.  

We live in the hour of the Black Swan. She has been laying her eggs and they are now starting to hatch with greater frequency and intensity. The dynamic of the Black Swan has taken over.

On March 10th my wife asked me to fix a default setting on our spreadsheet that we use to keep track of  our business orders for our company. The program was giving her a hard time so when I went to fix the problem on Microsoft Windows I found that I couldn't get the cell that she was typing in to accept the "Date" setting in part of one column. Every time we typed in the date 3/9/2011 and hit the [Enter] button on the laptop it would change the date to "9-11". I tried it over and over and it simply wouldn't take my commands as I tried to fix the problem. 

I finally looked at Christine and said, "9-11 was a Black Swan Event. Maybe the Lord is showing us that a Black Swan Event is about to occur." Later in the day I took the boys out to run some errands and while in one store a man came and stood in front of me with a dark-blue soccer jersey on. On the back of his jersey was the word, "JAPAN." Below the word across the back of his shirt was the #9. Without going into all the details, the #9 has always signified "change" to me.

In retrospect, when I connect the dots, what the Lord was showing me that day was that a Black Swan Event was about to occur in Japan that would bring inevitable change. I'm not making any of this up. I was actually seeing this, albeit at the time I was so caught up with our daily routine that I didn't stop and really identify it at the time. It wasn't until the next morning when we clicked on the news that we saw what had happened in Japan with the earthquake and the subsequent Tsunami that I then realized the Lord was showing this to us the day before.

Why do I share all of this with you? .....I guess for the following reason. The happenings in Japan are actually a part of a greater series of events that, when taken as a whole, symbolize a bigger picture that God is wanting to paint for us right now. Click on the following link and read the following blogpost by Joseph Herrin if you want to understand what I am referring to: The Ring of Fire.

Did you read it? If not go back and do so.

These things are the beginnings of birth pains. And the Japanese quake and the subsequent and ongoing fallout is not the last one we can expect. Read the following prophetic word to see what I am referring to:
A Big Earthquake.

Did you read it? I know I did....for about the 10th time. On March 24th, 2006, about 7 weeks after Michael came forth with that word, I walked out to my mailbox on that particular day to get the mail. On lo-and-behold the magazine pictured to the right was sitting in my mailbox. It was a brand new edition of the National Geographic still inside the plastic sealed bag, completely unopened. And the really strange thing was that it had no mailing address on it. It wasn't a neighbors piece of mail that was "accidentally" stuck in my mailbox. It had no mailing or forwarding address on it. Nothing. It just "showed up" in my mailbox. Confirmation? Absolutely.

Why do I bring all this up?......Expect more Black Swans. Quit worrying about petty things. The trivial things we allow to consume us today are going to pale in comparison to what we are about to see unfolding on the earth.

"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1,2

We need to endure with JOY right now knowing that God has a plan for us and our children in spite of the sufferings of the world. God has a plan for us in this hour and we must pursue it with all manner of diligence. Pray and talk to the Lord about everything right now. Everything. Everything. Talk to the Lord. Pursue Him. Ask for Wisdom. Let us find our hearts swelling with God's voice on a level that we have never known. God is faithful. He will never leave us nor forsake us.

God is faithful.

Be Blessed
JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/

Taking a Break

I didn't plan on doing so but it just worked out in a way where I couldn't write much in February. I had planned on writing at least four posts but I just couldn't get it together. I had to take a business/ministry trip out of the country in the second week of February and now my mother-in-law Merrilee is here in Merida with us visiting for 10 days.

Merrilee called us on Thursday night before she flew in and asked us if there was anything special she needed to bring. We jokingly told her a bullet-proof vest could prove useful since this was Mexico. Fortunately she saw the humor in it. She flew in last Friday night and we threw her a party with some of our friends on Saturday night. Below are some pictures.





Joel and Reina. Their daughter Helena is pictured right.



These were three of the couples that we invited over. More were supposed to show up but some couldn't make it. 

I would add more captions onto the pictures but everytime I try, the format on the page changes. Ricardo (white shirt) and his wife Adreana are pictured left. Ricard is both a helicopter pilot and airline pilot (Mexicanna Airlines). Andreana has experience in business management.

Beto and his wife Marina are pictured above with their son Andrew. Beto makes all types of iron work (fences, doors, bedframes, ....) He is amazingly gifted. Marina is finishing up her Doctoral Thesis on traditional Mayan herbal remedies.  The thing I appreciate about the Mexican culture is that people like to talk and spend time together. If two of these three couples hadn't had small children they would have all stayed until 2 am......or maybe 5 am..........seriously.

This was our Saturday night party. Beto cooked an authentic Mexican dish of cactus stuffed with cheese and covered with a spicy tomato sauce. It was very good. The dish is common in Mexico City where Beto is from. Adriana made Tres Leches cake (Three Milk). Tres Leches is my personal favorite after Tiramisu.

Sunday morning we went to the annual Chili cook-off at the home (Mansion) of the head of the American Consulate here in Merida. Our friend Yuri won the contest for the second year in a row. There were about 30 contestants in all with around 500 people in attendance. I would post pics but they are on Grandma's camera. Two of the local authentic Yucatecan restaurants were there giving out free food as well. One of them was Rosas & Xocolate. The head Chef there is my former next door neighbor. He cooked octopus for everyone. It was actually very good.

Sunday night we took a horse drawn carriage ride up and down Paseo Montejo for $30 USD. We went at night so everything was lit up beautifully. The boys really enjoyed the ride. The entire avenue is extremely picturesque and very popular with both the locals and the tourists.

Yesterday we went to Progresso beach to experience the cooler weather. It is already starting to get hot here (90 F) almost every day. Progresso beach is about 10 or 15 degrees cooler because of prevailing southerly winds from the Gulf of Mexico. The boys swam and the rest of us people watched and fed the seagulls.

Lord willing we will get over to Uxmal today to see one of the Pyramids. We will also try to hit Celestun this weekend to see the Flamingos.

The Lord has been showing me a great deal over the past month, specifically about the hearts of his people. Once "mom" leaves next week I look forward to getting my prayer life back along with some time to write about what I believe I am seeing.

God Bless

JEB
jayblackshear@yahoo.com
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/.

True to God

Roughly 5 years ago my wife and I were members of a Spirit-filled church in McKinney, TX. While there I ended up befriending some wonderful brothers in the Lord. One of them was a man whom we will call John.  He and his wife were citizens of countries in West Africa. They were a really sweet couple whom Christine and I really enjoyed spending time with. This brother and I were in the beginning stages of a friendship and so we started sharing our hearts with each other on various things. He was a lay-minister who traveled and preached in various churches.

During the spring of 2006 he asked me to go with him to a church in Irving, TX and minister with him to a group of African brothers and sisters, a few of whom went to Christ for the Nations. I gladly obliged and we scheduled a trip over to this church on March 3, 2006. While I was waiting for John to pick me up at my house that Friday evening I found myself going outside to check the mail. When I did I found that I had received a ministry newsletter from a long-time friend and spiritual father in the Lord. I opened the letter and found the following message: Don't worry about the spectacular, just get the routine. Relax and be the person you are.

That was the basic theme, some of it word-for-word. I took this as a word of instruction from the Lord in regards to how he wanted me to conduct myself amongst the brethren that evening. The Lord was just telling me to stick to the basics and be the person he had made me to be. Years before in 1997 I received a prophetic word from a prophet in Big Spring, TX. His word to me was, "Do not conform yourself to other men's patterns. You will have your own style of ministry that is unique to you." Those words have always hung with me and here the Lord was, some 9 years later, telling me the same thing through another brother, albeit in slightly different words: Just be who you are and relax. Stick to the basics.

As John and I were driving to Irving that evening he told me that he wanted me to preach to the brothers at the meeting for about 20 minutes. He told me I had the latitude to minister whatever and however I wanted to. As I prayed about what I was supposed to teach on I just felt that I was to cover the subject of Faith and particularly the topic of Song. I covered this topic in the blog Here in October, 2010.

We arrived at the church and as we got out of the car I found my eyes fixing a on sippy-cup that was left sitting on a windowsill on the exterior of the building near where we parked. As I looked at the cup I felt the Lord impress the following thought on me: That is the cumulative maturity level of whom you will be speaking too tonight.

So we walk into the building and now I have my message to give and I know my audience. The meeting starts and the time arrives for me to speak. I stand up, thank everyone for having me, pray and start ministering from the scriptures on a very simple concept: Hearing God's voice in Song. I use Job 33:14, Colossians 3:16, Ephesians 5:19 and 2 Kings 3:15 just like we did in our previous post in October. As I was teaching I noticed something about the people I was ministering to: They looked almost sedated. Everyone was very calm, very still, almost like they were watching a movie. At first I was concerned that I wasn't making sense but I just kept speaking. I finished my teaching and then I sat down. Later I realized that they were just "absorbing" what I was saying like a sponge absorbs water. They were just soaking it in.

John took the pulpit after I finished. When he did he must have seen the after-effects on their faces. But instead of realizing that they were spiritual babies with tummies full of milk that needed to be rocked and burped, he interpreted the atmosphere in the wrong way. After he preached for a few minutes and found that he wasn't getting the level of emotional response from them that he wanted, he simply looked at everyone in the room and said that the enemy had come into the room and was lulling everyone into passivity through a spirit of witchcraft. So he made everyone stand up and start rebuking the devil. All of the sudden the entire room was whipped into a frenzy. Everyone started standing on their feet and screaming at the devil and rebuking everything in sight. While all of this was going on I yawned about 3 or 4 times. I couldn't stop yawning, literally. I tried but I couldn't stop. I kept trying to hide it as I was sitting in the front row right in front of where John was standing just rebuking the devil. I didn't want him to see me because I didn't want him to think I was under the sway of the devil.

While I am standing there yawning the Lord spoke to me just as clear-as-day and said: This is Charismatic Chaos. When I heard that I paused and thought back on the book John MacArthur Jr. had written years before in condemnation of the gifts of the Spirit (tongues, prophecy, healing ....). His book was entitled Charismatic Chaos. That was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard this. While the book did point out many deficiencies in Charismatic ministries, Mr. MacArthur in effect threw out the proverbial 'baby with the bath-water' by preaching Cessationism. Cessationists teach that tongues, prophecy and various gifts of the Spirit stopped years ago and are no longer for today. That is not true. Just for the record I do not endorse that theology.

As I sat and meditated on the words the Lord spoke to me and as I watched the room around me, my mind quickly began to adjust to the Lord's line of thinking. All of the sudden I began to realize that the emotional frenzy that everyone was being whipped into was nothing more than a manifestation of the flesh. I realized that I was being true to the style that the Lord had given me by keeping it basic, by being calm and preaching foundational fundamentals (Fundare). And the Lord was subsequently bringing people in the room to a place of rest and stillness. This rest and stillness before the Lord does not always appeal to that extreme end of the spectrum of hyper-Charismatic ministry of which my good friend, as I learned that night, was obviously a proponent. (Note: I still love him as a brother. We just had some wrinkles to iron out.)

The next morning I got up to pray. I went into the living room and felt led to grab the dictionary and look up the word Chaos. I found this definition: empty, void, disorder, to yawn.

To yawn. Chaos can be loosely defined as yawning. Did you read the post on Water? At times the things that happen to us physically are similitudes. A prophetic similitude is something that is happening to us physically that represents the spiritual message that the Lord is trying to convey. When a prophetic similitude occurs in our lives it becomes a sign in the natural realm of how God is thinking, speaking, and/or acting in the moment. What was happening to me in the meeting was a prophetic similitude. I was yawning in an uncontrollable manner as a sign that God saw all of the carnal activity in the room as nothing more than charismatic chaos. It was empty and void of life. It was disorderly. It was one big spiritual yawn in his eyes.

I want to say this. I am not against people being expressive in worship and in times of fellowship. I am not against strange things happening. Speaking in the tongues of angels can seem odd to some (Acts 2). Walking around in your underwear prophesying to foreign countries can seem odd at times (Isaiah 20). God speaking through donkeys is odd to me (Numbers 22). The prophet's vision in Ezekiel 1 is mind-boggling. These things are odd, demonstrative, expressive and strange to some. But those things are God. They are in line with obedience. They produce good fruit to those those who heed the call of God. We are for those things, not against them.

But the point of this writing is this: We have to be true to the message of God, even if the content or the manner of delivery is not what people are expecting. We have to be true to the word and who God is in us. We have to be true to the calling of God on our lives whether others like it or not.  Sometimes truth is expressive, odd, quirky and out of the mainstream. And sometimes it can be real basic, real plain, real foundational. We have to understand that what the Lord has us do, what he has us say and how he has us say it might not fulfill the expectations of others.

"...For some say, 'His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.'" 2 Cor 10:10

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words..." 1 Cor 2:4

"By setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." 2 Cor 4:2

"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." 2 Timothy 4:3

"They say to the seers, 'See no more visions!', and to the prophets, 'Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions." Isaiah 30:10

Many people caught up in main stream Christian religion have already made up their minds as to what they want to believe and how they want their paradigms reinforced to them. Most people already have their minds made up before the the Lord has had a chance to confirm or deny what they believe. But regardless, the remnant, the very elect of God has a responsibility to abide in the vine by obedience.

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." John 15:4

That means that we have a responsibility to not only pursue and study out the revelation of God (Spoudaza and Qara) but then to set that truth before others plainly as the Spirit of God leads us.

"For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it....So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." John 12:49,50

First we seek God with intensity. Then we act and speak in obedience as we are led. And with that said, to put it all in context, the message of God's judgment is a part of that in our hour. We need to know the times and how to respond to it. A few days ago I heard the following verse in my heart as I was praying:

"...men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do..." 1 Chronicles 12:32

The men of Issachar understood what the times where all about and they knew what to do about it. The monarchy in Israel was in a state of flux in their hour. They understood that it was a time of extraordinary transition and they knew how to respond to it. And because of it they were rewarded. The name Issachar means, "He will reward." If we want to be rewarded in our time we have to know what time it is and what we should be doing about it. Now is the time to respond. Now is the time to be true to God. 

JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/.

The Reason Why

The Lord blessed my wife and I with a daughter on December 18th, 2001. Her name was Elizabeth. She was born with Downs Syndrome and was also born missing part of her heart. Because of this she only lived 23 days. In that time she had 4 surgeries, the last of which was an open-heart operation. During that time of trial and difficulty the Lord showed me a deeper level of who He is as he dwells in us. One, he desires to speak to us to prepare us for things that are before us. Two, his level of power and grace is always sufficient for the trial we are in. Three, when the Body of Christ pulls together and bears one anothers burdens and prays for one another this measure of Grace I am referring to will always be there for us.

Some months before Elizabeth was born the Lord spoke to me about her specifically. I was off of work just laying on the couch at home attempting to take a nap one afternoon. The Lord spoke to me as I was staring at the ceiling and told me that the baby we were going to have would be born a mongoloid. For those of you that are not familiar with what I am referring to, mongolism is an antiquated term for Downs Syndrome. When I heard this I just kept it to myself as I was really hoping that I had not heard what I thought I had in fact heard. I never told my wife or anyone else for that matter.

As time went forward and we were close to our delivery date I had an encounter with the presence of the Lord while in prayer one morning. It was December 7th, 11 days before Elizabeth was born. I went into the dining room at 5AM to spend some time in prayer and as soon as I sat down at the table the presence of the Lord filled the room. His presence was so thick and so powerful that the only way I could describe it was that I was being pressed on and squeezed by an unseen force. It caught me off guard and scared me because it happened right as I sat down in the chair. I sat very still and just scanned the room with my eyes expecting to see something or someone appear in front of me. His presence lasted for a few minutes and then everything just dissipated and went back to normal, myself included.

After this occurred I simply asked the Lord if that was in fact him. Well, that same day I noticed that two things had occurred in our home. One, our dog George stopped acting weird. When I say "weird," I am referring to the fact that every time Christine would be pregnant George would always get "under foot" as we say. He just acted weird while she was pregnant, like he was disturbed about something, and he would not leave her side. Well, after that day he never acted that way again. Also another thing occurred. Up to that point we were having a hard time getting our youngest son to sleep through the night in his own bed. From that day forward we never had an issue with it again. There was a greater level of peace over our home from that time onward.

As some of you know the story, Elizabeth went to be with the Lord almost three weeks later. But what I learned in the whole process on a much deeper level is that the Lord prepares his people for things in advance by speaking of things to come.

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what it yet to come." John 16:13

He tells us about things in advance and then he prepares us for those things by bringing forth his refreshing presence and gracing us for the task at hand.

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 3:19

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor 12:9

So the Lord tells us about things in advance and then he empowers us for the task at hand and the trials that come with it. During those 23 days and in the days afterwards we felt power. We felt fresh.

Also during that time the Lord showed us great love through the Body of Christ. It was probably the one time in our lives that we could feel the lasting tangible presence of the Lord carrying us through hardship simply because so many people prayed for us over a protracted period of time. I know of at least three church bodies that were diligently interceding for us in that time. And the feeling of it was very tangible in the physical realm. Our hearts were strengthened with grace because others were bearing our burdens in prayer.

"Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Gal 6:2

"...always keep on praying for all the saints." Eph 6:18

We are grateful for who the Lord was for us through the Body in that time. The experience taught us another level of the need for corporate intercession in times of great need.

I write all of this to say the following. The reason why we are covering the topics we are at this time is not because I am engaging in what I refer to as shock-preaching. I have seen ministers in the past (I am sure I have done it before to) try to preach from their souls and shock people emotionally to get some type of response from them. This type of ministry is different from the kind of ministry we are called to in the Lord. Shock-preaching is soulish, manipulative and doesn't cultivate righteousness in a man's heart. That is not what we are called to as we minister to one another.

But people within the Body of Christ need to have revelation of that which is in front of them, both in America and in the rest of the world. We need to have revelation in advance of what is coming. If we will acknowledge truth and turn towards the Lord, his presence will strengthen us for the tasks at hand. He will equip us for things to come. He will give us sufficient grace to endure all things if we will only ask of him. We need to know things in advance. We need to ask of Him. We need to be empowered in the Spirit and pray for one another. America is falling off a cliff and the rest of the world will go with it. We need to be spiritually prepared for that.

I have had several conversations in past months with Mexican businessmen about what would happen to Mexico if the U.S. economy collapsed. Their response to me every time is that Mexico would go down with America because Mexico is heavily dependant on American consumption of goods manufactured in Mexico. The Mexican economy is also supplemented a great deal by Mexican nationals working in the United States sending huge sums of money back home. It is currently estimated that Mexican citizens receive roughly $23 billion per year in wire transfers from family members who are currently migrant workers inside the United States. That is alot of money for the Mexican economy each year that will be lost in the future.

We need to ask the Lord for revelation of what is in front of us, ask him to strengthen us and prepare us both physically and spiritually, and then we need to engage in prayer for each other so that we can feel the exponential effects of corporate intercession. Remember the following words:

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." Ecc 4:9,10,12

"How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless the Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up?" Deut 32:30

That is the reason why we have covered these topics. Be aware and prepare in his grace with corporate unity. That is the reason why we discuss these things. That is the reason why.

In Christ,

JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/.

God's Plans

I think one of the things that I struggled with the most in the early years of my walk was to believe that the Father had a day to day, season to season plan for my life. This was difficult for me to learn. It was at times hard for me to comprehend that God has a vested interest in my development. It was hard for me to believe that he wanted to speak with me about very specific things and be involved in the intimate details of my life. It has been a process for me. This is something that I have had to learn, sometimes with difficulty. But I can now testify, with satisfaction, that I understand that there is a plan. There is a plan.

Over the course of time, as we journey with the Lord, we should come to understand that God created us with very specific intentions. We are not just born by happenstance with the purpose of living a random existence. No. We are to live with a specific purpose. Each and every one of us. God creates men and women with a specific purpose in mind as to how he wants them to live out their lives. Consider the following scriptures.

"The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:4,5

"We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

We should learn that before we are even in our mother's womb, God knows us. We exist in his mind and thoughts even before we come forth into this world physically. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for very specific works which are prepared in advance for each one of us. All of our lives, all of God's purpose for us, all of our steps are intended to be ordered of Him even before we begin to take on human form. All of our workmanship and all of God's purpose for us is set in order from eternity, even before time began.


With this in mind we can rest in the assurance that he has our lives planned out in context of the workings of all things. God foreknows us and God predestines us for a specific path with a specific purpose.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:28

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,..." Ephesians 1:11

Our part in this is to choose that which God has chosen for us. Yes, we are predestined. But that path of predestination in Christ must be chosen by us if we are to see the will of God fully manifest in our lives. Let me say that again. We must choose the path that God predestined for us. And as we choose his path he wants us to learn that he is very strategic in his approach to us. The Lord is incredibly strategic. He is a master administrator. God by his very nature is a strategic administrator. This includes how he approaches every detail of our lives from day to day and season to season. Now with that in mind consider the following verse.

"I wisdom dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion." Proverbs 8:12

Consider this verse. Memorize it because we are going to come back to it alot today and I don't want to bore you with having to type it over and over again. Take a look at it again. Wisdom dwells with prudence and it possesses knowledge and discretion. Let's break it down.

In Proverbs chapters 2,3,4, and 8, wisdom is referred to as a way, a path or a direction. Read through all four chapters if you need to. Don't just take my word for it. Read it for yourself. Wisdom is a way, a path and a direction that Christ has for us in every situation. Now let's couple this with the meaning of the Greek word used for "wisdom" in James 1:5. Do you remember the verse?

"If any man lacks wisdom he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him." James 1:5

The Greek word used for wisdom in this verse is Sophia. Sophia comes from the Greek word Saphes which means "clarity." So when we couple Proverbs 2,3,4, and 8 with James 1:5, what we can see is that when a man or woman asks for wisdom, what they are in essence asking for is clear direction from God. Wisdom, simply put, is clear direction from God. For you it may be asking for direction on your job situation, where to move to, or some situation where a simple "yes" or "no" is required. Wisdom is a clear way, a clear path, or clear direction that comes from God in a given situation.

And with that understanding we need to remember that Proverbs 8:12 says that Wisdom is accompanied by prudence, discretion and knowledge. When the Lord gives us that clear path, way, or direction he will always allow the other three to accompany it. So what is prudence? What is discretion? And what knowledge is the Lord talking about here? Let's take a look.

Prudence as spoken of in Proverbs 8:12 comes from the Hebrew word Ormah. Ormah comes from the Hebrew word Orem. The word Orem means strategy. So the word Prudence actually means strategy.

The word "Discretion" as mentioned in Proverbs 8:12 comes from the Hebrew word Mezzimah. The word Mezzimah means "plans." So the word "Discretion" actually means "plans."

So if we put Proverbs 8:12 into layman's terms what it really is saying is that clear direction from God always comes with a set of plans and strategies. God speaks to us about his will for our lives through clear direction with sets of plans and strategies.

Now this principle, this truth, is established all through the scriptures. Wisdom is talked about over and over again in both the old testament and the new testament. And quite often, when the word wisdom is mentioned, it is also coupled with either the word "understanding" and/or the word "prudence." I won't bore you with all of the details but know that the word "understanding" and the word "prudence" usually comes from the same root words in both Hebrew and Greek. In both languages they are synonyms of each other. Both words mean the same thing. With that in mind take a look at the following verses.

"Who endowed the heart with wisdom (clear direction) or gave understanding (plans and strategies) to the mind." Job 38:36

"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom (clear direction). Though it cost all you have, get understanding (plans and strategies)." Proverbs 4:7

"Say to wisdom (clear direction) , "You are my sister," and call understanding (plans and strategies) your kinsman." Proverbs 7:4

"He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers." Proverbs 19:8

"Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding." Proverbs 23:23

"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - The Spirit of wisdom and understanding....." Isaiah 11:1,2

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:8

"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding." Colossians 1:9

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by words done in the humility that comes from wisdom." James 1:13

Do you see how the scriptures are replete with passage after passage that refers to God's voice unfolding in clear direction with plans and strategies? Their everywhere. The Lord has plans for his people. The Lord has plans and strategies for our lives that unfold for us as we move in clear direction, down a clear path. God is a God of direction with plans and strategies.

This is not complicated. It's simple. Yet human nature has a tendency to neglect fundamental truth. The Lord knows this. So in His sovereignty he reminds us of simple things over and over again. The Lord will teaches us simple things and then reminds us of them. He has always done this.

"So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you know have." 2 Peter 1:12

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard to you." Philippians 3:1

It's good that we allow the Lord to teach us all things and then remind us of them. That we are being reminded of things is a sign of ongoing discipleship in the Lord.

"But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." John 14:26

The Spirit teaches us about all things and then reminds us of them at a later point in time. Here, for us today, it is to understand and be reminded of the fact that the Lord has every intention of shepherding us through each day, in every detail if we will allow him to do so. We are his workmanship. We were created in Christ Jesus to do certain works. The works he has for us were planned in advance by him. And the way he communicates to us is through Wisdom and Understanding. Wisdom and Understanding is another way of saying direction with plans and strategies.

God speaks to our hearts. And when he does, he does so in direction with plans and strategies. Rest in this. God has a predestined plan. But it must be chosen. Choose it. Ask for it.

"If any man lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

"Pray to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things that you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3

In Christ,

JEB
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com