Devotionals, Letters

What Covenant are They Under?

Old or New?

You can tell a whole lot about whether someone is walking in the New Covenant, or if their thinking is still grounded on the old. It's especially important that we understand which covenant prophets and other declarers of truth are working from.

The Old Covenant was all about blessings & curses (Deuteronomy 28). So Old Covenant prophets speak a lot about blessings and curses, or people who are blessed and people who are under judgement. That’s why Jeremiah & the others were declaring judgments and curses and such over the nations and the peoples who had defied what they knew about God.

That was the Old. That’s dead and gone (Hebrews 8:13 & others). If you have trouble with that, you might want to stop here and work this out before going further in this; the rest will just make you stumble.

The New Covenant is all about blessings and forgiveness (1Corinthians 14:3 and others). Therefore, that's what New Covenant prophets speak about: it’s the work of the New Covenant prophet to declare God’s blessing, God’s forgiveness, God’s Kingdom, to declare that they way to God is open!

You can tell a whole lot about what covenant someone is operating in by the words they speak (or write).

·         If someone regularly talks about needing to avoid this activity or that place or those people, or if they talk about needing to honor this festival, that holiday, they’re working under the Covenant that’s about works and whose end-game is about blessings and curses. They’re under the Old Covenant. Don’t go with them, unless you want to walk away from what Jesus has already done for you.

·         If someone regularly talks about how this preacher is wrong, about how that doctrine is heretical, or about how this country or that people-group deserves judgment, then that person is working under the Covenant that’s about works and whose end-game is about blessings and curses. They’re under the Old Covenant. Don’t go with them, unless you want to walk away from what Jesus has already done for you.

·         If their message is more about “Change how you think about God so that you can participate in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is right here among us!” (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15) then they’re working under the New Covenant where the Kingdom of God is “at hand” (or “within reach”) of all of us, and where the King of this Kingdom literally “became a curse” (Galatians 3:13) in order to remove curses from us, and from our words.

Here’s the short version: generally, if someone is preaching about “you need to change!” they’re preaching the Old Covenant. If they’re preaching about “Come to Jesus and be changed!” then they’re preaching the New Covenant.

Come to Jesus and have your mind renewed.
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Prophecy

Dealing With Bible Thumpers

Someone asked me how I respond to Bible Thumpers. Boy did that make me think.
Yeah, that’s a big issue. It’s big enough that Wikipedia has a definition of a Bible thumper (aka “bible basher”):
“Someone perceived as aggressively imposing their Christian beliefs upon others. The term derives from preachers thumping their hands down on the Bible, or thumping the Bible itself, to emphasize a point during a sermon.”

In my experience, this very often manifests as people blindly quoting scripture in conversation, mistakenly believing that this proves their point. Most people can tell when they’ve entered a conversation. And unfortunately, it seems to happen at holiday gatherings more and more.
I used to be a bible thumper. I’m in recovery now. Here’s how I try to respond to bible thumpers. I hope it helps bring freedom to you. It’s a tough one.
I can’t say “Here’s how to do it.” I can only say, “Here are some things I’m trying.” Some are working better than others.
* Make peace with myself about not needing to have all the answers. This one was huge for me.
* When I give answers, I try to speak from experience, including my experience with the Book and my experience with what went wrong, rather than just quote a platitude from the Book.
* If I have to quote a verse as if it were a platitude, I explain quickly how this applies in my world.
* I do not look to thumpers for help; I do not expect them to minister to the real issues of my heart, and I do not let down my defenses to let their religious spirit have access to my soul.
* If someone quotes verses at me, I sidestep the verse. “I’m not interested in your skills with copy and paste [or with quoting verses]. I want to know what you actually think.” Thumpers find this confusing, but a few get it, some sooner than others.
* Occasionally, if I sense it might do some good, I’ll try to bring some sense into the conversation, asking them to support the doctrine they’re proclaiming. Very often, just looking at the context of (verses immediately before and after) the verse they’re wielding is enough to take some of the wind out of their sails.
* If the thumper gives me permission, or if the topic is a big deal, and there are lots of people by the thumpage, I’ll attempt to correct their abuse, either by addressing the topic with more than verses and stale doctrine, or by talking about what actual conversation is like. I hate doing this because I don’t love confrontation, but some situations call for it.
* Then afterwards, I try to go out of my way to make conversation with the thumpers whose thumpage I have just upset. My goal is to hear what they actually think on the topic, and to engage them on why they hold that so strongly, but I’ll take small talk if that’s all I can get.
Note that I am absolutely NOT trying to minimize the effect of the Scriptures in my life, as some thumpers have accused me. Not at all. But I want the Scriptures to work in me, guided by Father’s hand as the living and active scalpel that they are (see Hebrews 4:12).
I’m not willing to submit to someone – anyone, really – wielding scriptures as a bludgeon on me, any more. And as far as I can make a difference, I’m not willing to let others bludgeon those around me either.

So. How do YOU respond to bible thumpers?

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Devotionals, Letters

Dealing With Bible Thumpers

Someone asked me how I respond to Bible Thumpers. Boy did that make me think.

Yeah, that’s a big issue. It’s big enough that Wikipedia has a definition of a Bible thumper (aka “bible basher”):

“Someone perceived as aggressively imposing their Christian beliefs upon others. The term derives from preachers thumping their hands down on the Bible, or thumping the Bible itself, to emphasize a point during a sermon.”

In my experience, this very often manifests as people blindly quoting scripture in conversation, mistakenly believing that this proves their point. Most people can tell when they’ve entered a conversation. And unfortunately, it seems to happen at holiday gatherings more and more.

I used to be a bible thumper. I’m in recovery now. Here’s how I try to respond to bible thumpers. I hope it helps bring freedom to you. It’s a tough one.

I can’t say “Here’s how to do it.” I can only say, “Here are some things I’m trying.” Some are working better than others.

* Make peace with myself about not needing to have all the answers. This one was huge for me.

* When I give answers, I try to speak from experience, including my experience with the Book and my experience with what went wrong, rather than just quote a platitude from the Book.

* If I have to quote a verse as if it were a platitude, I explain quickly how this applies in my world.

* I do not look to thumpers for help; I do not expect them to minister to the real issues of my heart, and I do not let down my defenses to let their religious spirit have access to my soul.

* If someone quotes verses at me, I sidestep the verse. “I’m not interested in your skills with copy and paste [or with quoting verses]. I want to know what you actually think.” Thumpers find this confusing, but a few get it, some sooner than others.

* Occasionally, if I sense it might do some good, I’ll try to bring some sense into the conversation, asking them to support the doctrine they’re proclaiming. Very often, just looking at the context of (verses immediately before and after) the verse they’re wielding is enough to take some of the wind out of their sails.

* If the thumper gives me permission, or if the topic is a big deal, and there are lots of people by the thumpage, I’ll attempt to correct their abuse, either by addressing the topic with more than verses and stale doctrine, or by talking about what actual conversation is like. I hate doing this because I don’t love confrontation, but some situations call for it.

* Then afterwards, I try to go out of my way to make conversation with the thumpers whose thumpage I have just upset. My goal is to hear what they actually think on the topic, and to engage them on why they hold that so strongly, but I’ll take small talk if that’s all I can get.

Note that I am absolutely NOT trying to minimize the effect of the Scriptures in my life, as some thumpers have accused me. Not at all. But I want the Scriptures to work in me, guided by Father’s hand as the living and active scalpel that they are (see Hebrews 4:12).

I’m not willing to submit to someone – anyone, really – wielding scriptures as a bludgeon on me, any more. And as far as I can make a difference, I’m not willing to let others bludgeon those around me either.


So. How do YOU respond to bible thumpers?


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Devotionals, Letters

Dealing With Bible Thumpers

Someone asked me how I respond to Bible Thumpers. Boy did that make me think.

Yeah, that’s a big issue. It’s big enough that Wikipedia has a definition of a Bible thumper (aka “bible basher”):

“Someone perceived as aggressively imposing their Christian beliefs upon others. The term derives from preachers thumping their hands down on the Bible, or thumping the Bible itself, to emphasize a point during a sermon.”

In my experience, this very often manifests as people blindly quoting scripture in conversation, mistakenly believing that this proves their point. Most people can tell when they’ve entered a conversation. And unfortunately, it seems to happen at holiday gatherings more and more.

I used to be a bible thumper. I’m in recovery now. Here’s how I try to respond to bible thumpers. I hope it helps bring freedom to you. It’s a tough one.

I can’t say “Here’s how to do it.” I can only say, “Here are some things I’m trying.” Some are working better than others.

* Make peace with myself about not needing to have all the answers. This one was huge for me.

* When I give answers, I try to speak from experience, including my experience with the Book and my experience with what went wrong, rather than just quote a platitude from the Book.

* If I have to quote a verse as if it were a platitude, I explain quickly how this applies in my world.

* I do not look to thumpers for help; I do not expect them to minister to the real issues of my heart, and I do not let down my defenses to let their religious spirit have access to my soul.

* If someone quotes verses at me, I sidestep the verse. “I’m not interested in your skills with copy and paste [or with quoting verses]. I want to know what you actually think.” Thumpers find this confusing, but a few get it, some sooner than others.

* Occasionally, if I sense it might do some good, I’ll try to bring some sense into the conversation, asking them to support the doctrine they’re proclaiming. Very often, just looking at the context of (verses immediately before and after) the verse they’re wielding is enough to take some of the wind out of their sails.

* If the thumper gives me permission, or if the topic is a big deal, and there are lots of people by the thumpage, I’ll attempt to correct their abuse, either by addressing the topic with more than verses and stale doctrine, or by talking about what actual conversation is like. I hate doing this because I don’t love confrontation, but some situations call for it.

* Then afterwards, I try to go out of my way to make conversation with the thumpers whose thumpage I have just upset. My goal is to hear what they actually think on the topic, and to engage them on why they hold that so strongly, but I’ll take small talk if that’s all I can get.

Note that I am absolutely NOT trying to minimize the effect of the Scriptures in my life, as some thumpers have accused me. Not at all. But I want the Scriptures to work in me, guided by Father’s hand as the living and active scalpel that they are (see Hebrews 4:12).

I’m not willing to submit to someone – anyone, really – wielding scriptures as a bludgeon on me, any more. And as far as I can make a difference, I’m not willing to let others bludgeon those around me either.


So. How do YOU respond to bible thumpers?


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Columns, Devotionals

Grant us Repentance, Lord!

I had been spending the afternoon with the Lord a few weeks ago, reading, praying, worshiping and listening. The Lord had been telling me lately, "Just be yourself" although 'just being myself (in Christ) has gotten me in a lot of trouble over the years!  lol

Later that evening, I decided to watch the movie, "Tomorrowland,"  It's the story about a young girl who picks up a button and is immediately transported to a future world where everything is bright and modern.  As the story continues, she meets George Clooney, who tells her that something has happened and Tomorrowland is never going to come!  She immediately begins to declare and come against that and when she does, George gets a glimpse of Tomorrowland.

Her words bring him new hope and he begins to fight again for Tomorrowland.

As I'm watching this movie, God is speaking to me that I (we) are the girl and as we speak the Truth of God and come against the enemy's plans to stop what God is bringing, we bring the Kingdom into the earth. The presence of God was all over me as I watched this movie and then I hear God say again to me, "Just be yourself."

Then George says to the girl, "Just be yourself!"  I about fell off the couch!

I was reading in Luke 11:37-54 this morning and a Pharisee asks Jesus to have lunch with him.  Jesus sits down at the table without ceremonially washing His hands (Fence Laws) and this offends the Pharisee right off the bat.  Then Jesus begins to attack the Pharisees for their impure hearts.  A lawyer who is present says, "Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too," and Jesus begins to attack the lawyer.

I laughed out loud!  How many of us have imagined how amazing it would be to sit down with Jesus! But I wonder...would we be Mary, who sat at His feet and Jesus defends us saying we have chosen the righteous thing?  Or would we find out we were a Pharisee who had presented the world a Christian facade but in reality, we were dead inside?

And I'm also amazed that Jesus didn't worry about offending these men!  Jesus never sinned. His intent was not to offend but to share the Truth of God.  These men chose to become offended instead of repenting of their sin. How many times have I wondered if I did something wrong when I have shared the Truth of God with other Christians and they have become offended?  God help me.

The Word says in John 8: 32 that you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free and I always want to add 'but first it might make you really mad!' Ha!  Jesus said, "Blessed is he who is not offended by Me." (Matthew 11:6)

Are you hearing God today?  Have you chosen to hear with an open heart and are you willing to ask God, "Judge me and correct me"?  If someone corrected you today would you receive it with humility, seeking God, and repent of sin?  Or would you become offended?  Have you remained teachable?

Pride is the throne where all our sin resides.  Pride will cause us to defend our sin instead of repenting.  We need to ask God to grant us humility and repentance, for all of us have fallen short of the Glory of God.

Love and blessings~




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Columns, Devotionals

Grant us Repentance, Lord!

I had been spending the afternoon with the Lord a few weeks ago, reading, praying, worshiping and listening. The Lord had been telling me lately, "Just be yourself" although 'just being myself (in Christ) has gotten me in a lot of trouble over the years!  lol

Later that evening, I decided to watch the movie, "Tomorrowland,"  It's the story about a young girl who picks up a button and is immediately transported to a future world where everything is bright and modern.  As the story continues, she meets George Clooney, who tells her that something has happened and Tomorrowland is never going to come!  She immediately begins to declare and come against that and when she does, George gets a glimpse of Tomorrowland.

Her words bring him new hope and he begins to fight again for Tomorrowland.

As I'm watching this movie, God is speaking to me that I (we) are the girl and as we speak the Truth of God and come against the enemy's plans to stop what God is bringing, we bring the Kingdom into the earth. The presence of God was all over me as I watched this movie and then I hear God say again to me, "Just be yourself."

Then George says to the girl, "Just be yourself!"  I about fell off the couch!

I was reading in Luke 11:37-54 this morning and a Pharisee asks Jesus to have lunch with him.  Jesus sits down at the table without ceremonially washing His hands (Fence Laws) and this offends the Pharisee right off the bat.  Then Jesus begins to attack the Pharisees for their impure hearts.  A lawyer who is present says, "Teacher, when you say this, you insult us too," and Jesus begins to attack the lawyer.

I laughed out loud!  How many of us have imagined how amazing it would be to sit down with Jesus! But I wonder...would we be Mary, who sat at His feet and Jesus defends us saying we have chosen the righteous thing?  Or would we find out we were a Pharisee who had presented the world a Christian facade but in reality, we were dead inside?

And I'm also amazed that Jesus didn't worry about offending these men!  Jesus never sinned. His intent was not to offend but to share the Truth of God.  These men chose to become offended instead of repenting of their sin. How many times have I wondered if I did something wrong when I have shared the Truth of God with other Christians and they have become offended?  God help me.

The Word says in John 8: 32 that you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free and I always want to add 'but first it might make you really mad!' Ha!  Jesus said, "Blessed is he who is not offended by Me." (Matthew 11:6)

Are you hearing God today?  Have you chosen to hear with an open heart and are you willing to ask God, "Judge me and correct me"?  If someone corrected you today would you receive it with humility, seeking God, and repent of sin?  Or would you become offended?  Have you remained teachable?

Pride is the throne where all our sin resides.  Pride will cause us to defend our sin instead of repenting.  We need to ask God to grant us humility and repentance, for all of us have fallen short of the Glory of God.

Love and blessings~




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Devotionals, Letters

Who Is Your Comforter?

I have it on good authority that someone very competent already occupies the position of “Comforter” in your life (John 14:26). Holy Spirit is a remarkably competent comforter, and he is capable of doing a magnificent job of it.
Now, if you try to bring someone else in to fill that position in your life, there’ll be trouble. You will have invoked the threat of Exodus 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
If I go to a prophet, or to a pastor, or to a friend with the intent of getting from them what I should have received from “The Comforter,” then I’ve caused a real problem. I have endangered that prophet, that pastor, that friend. I have set them up “before God” in my life, and God himself promises that he will not permit that. 
If you look at how God handled “other gods” in scripture, you’ll see it wasn’t pretty, not ever. You might review the story of Dagon in 1 Samuel 5. Men set gods up; God knocks them down. 
I do not wish to ever be put in that place, where I am “before God” in someone’s life. Frankly, I’ve had to learn this the hard way.
If you come to me asking for comfort, I may pat your hand, and say, “There, there!” or if you ask for advice, I may offer some (typically, too much, but that’s a guy thing). I’m figuring out how to mourn with those who mourn.
But if I feel that I’m being asked to provide for you what Holy Spirit should be providing, to speak into your life instead of your listening for Holy Spirit to speak, then I will probably point you back to him.
(It’s ironic that people are so often offended at me for pointing them to God. I haven’t figured that one out.)
And if you come to me and say, “God’s not talking to me. Would you give me a word?” you may see me run screaming.
You might be thinking, “If I can’t get it from God, I’ll go somewhere that I can get the word I want.” But I hear it as, “The God I’ve had isn’t living up to my expectations; I’m going to replace him with you.”
Nuh-uh! No you’re not. I’m sorry (on multiple levels) if this offends you, but I will not take the place of God in your life. I’ve seen what happens to other gods in the lives of God’s people. No thank you!
The job of the pastor, and the prophet (and the rest of the ascension gifts!) is to equip the saints! If you’re a saint, then pastors should be equipping you for works of ministry, teachers should be equipping you or works of ministry, prophets should be equipping you for works of ministry, etc.
If ever we ask them to do for us what God should be doing for us, we have seriously erred, and we have tempted them towards something that (in my opinion) should scare the daylights out of them.
Let’s not go there, m’kay?  

Come join the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/northwestprophetic. 

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Devotionals, Letters

The Vision of the Wooden Spoon

The vision began with a quiet stream, in a quiet, green meadow; it reminded me of Narnia for some reason: that peaceful. The stream was wider than one could jump across, and deeper than you’d want to wade across, and its flow was smooth and fairly fast. All in all, it was a very peaceful environment. The birds were singing.
Then a giant hand appeared in the sky, holding a giant wooden spoon, the kind of spoon that people use in the kitchen to mix cookie dough. The spoon dipped into the stream and stirred.
For a while, nothing much happened, except the stream became more turbulent from the spoon’s motion. After a minute or two, the stream darkened, and soon I could see things in the muddy stream: old tires, boots, cans, bottles, sticks and stones, jars, bags of rubbish. The hand with the spoon withdrew into the heavens.
I was kind of appalled. This had been a peaceful stream, in a beautiful meadow, and now it was full of trash and garbage and muck and mess. Well, actually, the peaceful stream had always had the trash and muck and garbage and muck and mess, but it had been lying hidden in the mud on the bottom of the stream. Now the stuff was out in the open.
The vision continued, and the stream kept flowing, and then I saw it: the garbage was flowing downstream with the flow of stream. Some of what had been stirred up came to the top of the stream, and was carried far downstream, out of the picture. Other things, heavier things, were carried a little ways downstream but they settled back to the bottom of the stream. Soon the stream was clear and peaceful again, but I knew that old tires, discarded shoes, bottles and cans were still there, lying on the bottom of the stream.
The hand with the spoon appeared again, and stirred the water again, and again the stream darkened with mud, again tires, discarded shoes, bottles, cans, and other detritus were stirred up, and again they floated various distances downstream.
The cycle was repeated several times, until eventually, the stirring from the almighty spoon did not bring up muck and garbage.
The stream returned to peace, but it flowed smoother, faster, than it had before, and I realized that it flowed cleaner than it had before. The garbage on the stream bed had settled under so much mud that the stream flowed smoothly over it, but still the garbage had polluted the stream.
Now the stream was actually clean.
I believe that this is what Father is doing in some of our lives. He’s stirring things up in our lives, and it’s uncomfortable. It’s easy to be appalled or offended at what he’s doing, because he’s good at what he does. Things are being stirred up, memories, habits, relationships that have been in our lives are being stirred up from the dark depths of our lives, and brought into the light.
And the reality is that much of what he’s stirring up is garbage: shame, embarrassment, memories of foolishness, of sin, histories of unwise choices, character weaknesses. It’s easy to resent these coming to the surface after how many years of being hidden in history.
But he’s bringing them up in order to wash them away, in order to remedy the issues. Trust him. Have hope, rest in the confident assurance that he does know what he’s doing, and that he’s working for good in you, for the purity that we really have wanted. He’s answering our prayers.
We can trust the spoon. More specifically, we can trust the hand wielding the spoon.

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