The Begininning Of A Beginning

In 1998 just outside of Belfast Ireland there was a revival, and in the midst of it I fell in love.  I had been involved in music for my whole life, but there was an expression that I had never really heard that was featured, that of the drums.
The drums were playing as one of the speakers commissioned me as a warrior, and as I fell to the floor, I opened my heart and asked God for the drums, and He gave them to me.
I didn’t have any idea what that was going to mean, only that I would have a new weapon in my little arsenal (and I really didn't actually know that  I had n arsenal).  I went out and bought an Irish bodhran (boe-run) and began to fiddle with it and eventually got the sounds out of it, now to get the rhythms out.
The challenge was to playing in 4/4 time when it is designed to play in 6/8 rhythm, but the ingenuity of someone who plays intuitively can overcome pretty much anything. 

Having been a musician most of my life I had certain sensibilities to overcome, and there was a bit of a struggle; including the pastor not feelin’ it, so to speak.  In those times you hope for an intervention.  Someone who has the vote of confidence from those whom you see yourselves under and someone who has you respect as well.
Enter Georgian Banov of a band called Silverwind back in the 1970’s.  And he had his eye on my drum…  that I was having trouble playing in 4/4 time.  He asked if he could play and then should me how to play within the worship setting.  He handed it back to me and I was set free.  Before long it was congas, udu, djembe, quika, ocean drum and so many others- each has a sound, a voice to speak into the atmosphere and change things.

So that was me, breaking loose.  Then on line I ran across a group called Psalm Drummers.  Powerful concept, drum intercession.  Founded by Teryl Bryant, a studio musician from London.  He put together a drum circle that as held at Penn State that had over 400 drummers participating made up of Christian drummers from across the nations that chartered local psalm drummer groups.  I never belonged to one of them, but I saw the strength in the concept.

I have played since that time, breaking through brass heavens and hard hearts and closed minds.

Find Your Voice

I was talking with an old friend the other day and he again talked with me about my need, as I have no progeny, to write a book to hand down the knowledge that I have gathered in my lifetime.
The important knowledge that needs to be be furthered in research and in deed, so I am tasked with writing yet another book (add to two) and the topic is about finding a voice in the world. And what a voice is for. And what difference it makes where you find it. And whether or not you can use someone else voice as your own.
There has been subtle revelation about this topic throughout my life as I have been on spiritual junkets for the visions of others as well as for myself, freeing angels, cutting off Jezebel powers from resources and cracking brass heavens.
I have been both tourist and warrior, assaulting formally and covertly affecting nations, regions and individuals toward freedom and in truth beyond what most Christians perceive as being part of the Great Commission, and I have watched the decline and fall of a major move of God. I live with my eyes open watching for revelation of my Father as well as revelation the effects of the hand of man in the affairs of the heavens and the world.
So finding a voice, your own or borrowing from the land that you find yourself in affects it all. Knowing which to use is a calling that divines the level of success you will have in your task.
Let's walk this path together while we can.

A Catchers Frame of Mind

The guests have arrived.

The party's begun.

The Bride and the Groom are about to meet.

The servant of the groom looks around the room confidently knowing that he has had his master's best interest at heart in dealing with the bride.

The Servant enters the room and quietly takes his place behind the bride to keep her safe from being overwhelmed by the majesty of his Master. The Master comes and takes his Bride’s chin in his hand and lifts her head to gaze deeply into her eyes, a look of passion and gentleness, kindness and purpose,

Adoration and compassion

and pure purpose of love.

She is intoxicated. Her hands begin to shake, her knees begin to buckle, she begins to faint, falling to the floor and the servant catches her carefully, skillfully, gracefully and supports her as she falls to the floor.

The servants see that no harm comes to the bride of his master. That no offense is given to her on this auspicious occasion.

This scenario happens over and over again in churches around the world. Call it Revival. 

Call it renewal.

Call it Reformation, 

but understand it is an overwhelming occasion and great care must be taken to keep the bride’s mind stayed on the groom without unnecessary distraction. 

The Yoke's on Us

I'm not very good at listening to podcast and I'm not very good at reading blogs or writing blogs I'm far too inconsistent, but yesterday I happened to listen to Praying Medics podcast with Matthew Payne and I was convicted on a number of levels.
Another funny thing is PM had told me about this guy on podcast before, and on his radio show, and his ability to hear from God. Actually on the radio show they had people calling in and he was giving accurate words for people who called in and I became jealous for a word from him.
I wanted one because it had been a while (which is not true) since God has spoken to me through someone else. I listen to this podcast and he was banging away on me like an alarm clocks hammer on those two little bells bouncing back and forth, but I'm not going to share all of that. This is about a particular thing that he mentioned in passing.
"when Jesus spoke of a yoke as in 'take my yoke upon you' he was speaking of his teaching".
I always thought that this meant "my burden is light"
I always thought that this had to do with preaching his message.
I thought it had to do with the work of True Religion.
In fact it had to do with the message of his kingdom "at hand"
It had to do with the message of Grace it had to do with the message of forgiving people of their sins. That was his yoke. That was the Yoke of Christ. To forgive people of their sins.
The teaching of the rabbi's, the teaching of the Pharisees was the law straight forward and every time that came at Jesus it was the law they used. They used it to try to get him stoned eventually used it to crucify Him.
They used it for its purpose which is to bring about death. 
Jesus said don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. So it comes to my attention that unequally yoked can still be two Christians very easily. One Christian who assigns the law and one Christian who assigns Grace. The Pharisees could not function in the Kingdom that Christ was speaking of because they found comfort and solace in the "milk" of the law.
I say the milk of the law because one purpose of the law is to teach us how to live.
The Ten Commandments were 10 very basic rules to live by, the Pharisees extrapolated the very edge of the law to be sure that you didn't go over the edge and find yourself in line for judgement. They lined out just how far you could go, thus inspiring the words of Jesus who said that they strain at a gnat.
So as I listened to Matthew talk about a great many things many of which convicted me because I'm not very mature for my age (I have a very good view of what I expected to look like at this juncture), but when he mentioned the yoke in this context  my ears really perked up.
Peter who was accused of being double-minded was finding it difficult to marry the teaching that he grew up with, the teaching of the vast majority of his Nation, with the teaching of the Christ. At one point the disciples said these teachings are hard and the reason that they were hard is because Jesus would preach in the synagogue "you have heard it said this scripture means this but I'm telling you it means something else, it means THIS"
Peter was yoked to two masters and it was his passions fault-
But you can't have two. You will love the one and hate the other you will cleave to one and hate the other and look around us look around and see there are people who cleave with great desire to be snatched out of the grasp of the devil. To be snatched out of out of the jaws of hell and for others to be snatched from the jaws of hell rather than to preach the Kingdom at hand they would rather preach to people that they're going to hell if they continue doing what they're doing rather than do what Jesus did which was show people a better way.
I believe this is a thing they were speaking of when they spoke of being unequally yoked. For two people to be married and be unequally yoked there would be nothing but strife and a household where one partner believed in Grace and the other partner believed in the law is the stuff of the book of proverbs.
Like Peter I grew up under the law. I grew up under some strict rules and it has taken me a very long time to get out from under the law.
 Matthew has a very interesting and I believe very likely understanding of Peter that I won't go into but it gives me great comfort to hear Peter spoken of in such a way because I have identified with Peter for so long.
So there are two trees one tree is the knowledge of Good and Evil let's call that tree the law. And the other tree is the Tree of Life for the fruit is sweet but like any other sweet fruit if you make it your complete diet you will not be healthy. You must use common sense. Common Sense doesn't grow on trees and to be equally yoked means to be yoked with someone who Cleaves to what you cleave to. So be wise in your choosing for you will be known in the context of your associations. I choose to love Love

A Model Coming Out of the Pacific North West

So you hang around with the "prophetic" crowd and you hear all kinds of things. You SEE all kinds of things.  And you pray that you might get to be involved in what's coming...
Nearing 20 years ago I heard someone say that there was going to be a movement that would originate in the PNW and go around the world.
I got excited.
Then I got involved in worship, each team showing a higher skill level as well as a higher tolerance for...  the out of the ordinary, which was good for me, because I detest the ordinary.
Even in high school, if my choir director handed us a sheet of music that wasn't hand written I was kind of miffed.
Through the years I began to find myself in positions where I was invited as a guest, of sorts, to play at a few native american reconciliation events, a party  collecting bicycles to give to a village in Africa so that the kids could get to school safer and quicker.
I began to see the value of rhythmic intercession and was mc at a few drum circles that gathered folks together for purposes of intercession for unity in our city, evangelism, some were initiated to explore the possibilities.
We started a circle of musicians, meeting in a barn for the express purpose of stretching ourselves into playing for an audience of one, although we all played together and fought to protect the sanctity of our offering. (It's hard to get people on board with "No Agenda" when they have always been part of the machine and can't find the clasps holding their garments on)
Now let me tell you about this region- hang onto your hats...
New Age. Not just New Age, but a 300 year old warrior spirit who channeled (until recently) through a woman in a small town that had the world come to visit... and just New Age.  Mountains will do that to you.

Buddhism- Buddhist monks aren't all sunshine and goodness, nor do they all respect YOUR belief systems when they are engaging in their own satisfactions.
Islam- They aren't militant, but they are represented.
Progressives- they don't do anything remarkable except fix things that aren't broken... and sometimes break things so they have something to fix.
Wicca, Pagan, Animism- Hindu's, well, why not, everyone else is here.
All that to say that all the world is here.
And why does that make a difference?
How else do you reach every tribe and tongue- you must become relevant to them. You make room for the sound of their voices.
I have not learned to play tabla with any skill whatsoever, but I am ready for someone who has- I have room for them.
I HAVE learned to play a native american flute on a very basic level.
I am LEARNING to throat sing.
I have some proficiency on a djembe
I keep a watchful eye out for those who are proficient where I lack, and I make room for those whose sounds are beyond my scope.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear mixtures of cultural melodies, rhythms and instruments that are proving unity in the earth, making room for a unity that goes beyond doctrines and fears.
This region begat Jimi Hendrix, Quincy Jones and Nirvana, it is fraught with diversity (there is actually a band from Vancouver Canada called Delhi to Dublin- can you guess what they are mixing?)
Why would it not come from here?
Why would just such a movement be born here?
And why would it not be borne from where ever you are sitting?
Let's DO this!!!!!!!!

Gethsemane

Much of what I am invited to do is a novelty for those around around it. My driving abilities are less than stellar until the anointing is on them. My abilities as a flautistare seriously in question from the standpoint of brilliant musicianship but I do what I hear to do I try to repeat what I'm hearing in spirit.

On this particular evening I had been invited as a drummer and hopefully to attract other drummers to the venue but that didn't happen. The man who led continued to lead that night and as he ventured chasing what ever was leading him he began to sing a song from Willy want to and the chocolate factory. The lyrics of the song are something to the effect that,"we don't know where we are going". 

As he saying this I heard the lyrics to be we don't know when we are going and I saw you in my minds eye a clock and the hour hand and the minute hand we're going in opposite directions and I could sense the boat that Willy Wonka was riding on. 

Then I heard the words "will you not sit with me for one hour?"

I recognized the plea Jesus had with Peter and the plea to come and spend an hour with him and his moment of need that of the greatest trial. It was at this point that I realize that I had an invitation to spend that hour with Jesus at Gethsemane. 

I myself didn't trust what I was seeing I didn't throw myself into it like I might if that experience or to be offered to me now but I knew the devil was there he stepped out from behind a tree I couldn't hear his words I couldn't hear his voice but I knew that he was taunting Jesus my friend. 

At this point I was very near Jesus and I told him that what he was hearing your lies and I I wanted to encourage him and I told him that I was a result of his death on the cross that my life the blessing in my life the blessing in the lives of many many others all came from the death and resurrection.

I have shared the story with a few people and the only one that I know of took the story and ran with it and they were extremely intentional about how their experience. Just a teeny weeny bit of jealousy here

Separation isn't always sheep and goats

I spent a wild weekend  in a place where the soil is good, should be good, yet yields little from new seed.  Its' hardness comes from wild fire even though there is something like a layer of magma hiding just below the surface, building quietly for a release that they will be ready for when they finally allow it to rise, but they won't be ready for the force of it as it has been squeezed down for so long, and the release point will quite likely be squeezed down like a bent garden hose.
There is a level of desire that hasn't quite overcome their need for "decent and in order"...
That's really the rub.  "Decent and in order"...
I have a story and I have a scripture.

Scritpure first-
I heard this preached  by Mike Pilavachi one time on my way to a worship weekend on the Colville Nations land in Eastern Washington. The following scriptural text

Solomon Anointed King
21On the next day they made sacrifices to the LORD and offered burnt offerings to the LORD, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22So they ate and drank that day before the LORD with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and they anointed him as ruler for the LORD and Zadok as priest.…

was used to illustrate this concept we have of "decent and in order" is much more strict than God's.
Imagine the cacophony of 1000 bulls, Rams and male Lambs as they were being led to slaughter- each aware of what was happening to the animal in front of it, the blood, the smell of entrails and excrement, that's 3,000 animals slain in the space of a day. 
Add to that the "drinking with gladness" which you likely can't convince yourself didn't have at least an element of "buzz" to it. For these actions to be taken within what we consider the parameters of decent and in order to be the nation would have had to be sedated.

Now my story-
It was my first time at one of those drunk churches where people were laughing and I had no understanding of what was going on except that it was a "move of God".
The man in the front was taking an offering (a forty five minute offering, but I won't address that here) and every time he said the words "contrary winds" the place exploded with laughter.
He was preaching on Jesus in the boat and stilling the tempest. 
Things would quiet down and then again he would mention contrary winds, and by quiet down I mean had just gotten quiet enough that I began to hear the speaker, I said "GOD!! What EVER happened to DECENT and in ORDER!??!"
And He calmly replied, "Do you remember when you were a child and you wondered what it would be like to sit in my throne room where thousands of prayers arose before me in a hundred languages all the time? Welcome to the throne room."
"You see, your view of decent and in order looks nothing like mine."
And so I have remembered that every time I wanted to judge someone else's expression, He reminds me. Decent and in order doesn't rule out dancing naked before Him...  or mooing in worship.

Worship is NOT the Opening Act

                      Worship is coming is going to be so intimate that people will begin to understand the emotion David felt when he danced out of his britches as the ark of the covenant ws carried into his city.
Up to now there have been many reasons why we don't worship to this depth and it's a shame.   We
I once heard some guys on the radio speaking about the plight of worship music and it not meeting the standards of Bach or Mozart- beautiful and from a different era.  Just as the melodies of Handel caused the king to rise from his throne during the Messiah, creating a tradition observed today,  are time specific and culturally relevant within their era, we have the same mandate to be culturally relevant today, in this day of country, rock and rap.  Each has it's place.
The opening of the gates of heaven in this day and age, the revelation of what the Kingdom of heaven of heaven being at hand actually means-
This was David's vision.  This was the revelation that made him unaware as his clothing fell from him in worship, the realization that he could look in to the very eyes of the lover of his soul.
He wrote psalms that exposed that he had been to Golgotha and seen the Christ hanging from the cross.  He had revelation that spoke to his soul about the depths of the sacrifice he was witnessing while he danced,
it's no wonder he didn't know where his clothes had abandoned him having drunk fully of that revelation...
And it seems to me that this- this is what the church needs.  This is the worship that bids the Father to come in His fullness.
But our program requires that we sing three songs and take an offering. greet one another with a holy kiss. Take our eyes from where they have rested and find your check book and after all that effort, "move along" as if the day's agenda didn't have time to stop and hungrily sit at the table set before us.
The feast, as it were, that sits laying open before us.
A time when we could learn from one another how to sup, how to soak, how to linger in the abiding open heaven that has been reached. How to look into the eyes of the Beloved who, in turn, seeks our gaze.
It won't be long now until worship will carry us headlong into a stupor that requires us to give up our sensibilities and be lost to love.
It is here, when we look at one another through the eyes of a dove, soft and without guile, that we will begin to learn what the promise, "they will know that we are Christians by our love, one for another" means, what it looks like and we will become so addicted that others will be curious.
Those who have known us to be sour and judgemental.
get so caught up in form and, for some reason, dignity, that we can't seem to get past the fear that there is a judgement from a peer or participant that matters.  There is not!
The day is coming.  bring a hankie, a pillow and a blanket, and prepare to occupy the Kingdom.

Last night I was on this new fangledy thing called periscope and I ran across a girl who was crying and said that she and her friend were tired of trying to go out and have a good time- that somehow, some rejection had removed any hope of a good life that she had hoped for... She went on to describe horrible things that she was wishing upon herself.
This generation carries survivors guilt for making it out of the womb. This generation is looking for hope far beyond the things I looked forward to as a child.
As a culture, it's possible that they may experience all of their firsts (you know what I mean) in a single night.
They need the hope of a family.
They need the hope of success, but not the success they expect, their hopes are about achieving end game goals in microwave timing.
Give them room and teach them how to set goals. Teach them to cook on a stove, in an oven. Bless them with time...

It Was Supposed to be the Perfect Crime

When I was a kid my friends mom made the best peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I have ever had.  I haven't tried them all (and I still have hopes of recreating the experience).
Anyway, we would be hanging out in the basement and I would get a hanker (That's right... sometimes I hanker) for a couple of cookies.
The jar was a ceramic horned owl. I still remember stealthily climbing the stairs, sliding my fingers stealthily between the horns and wrapping my two outside fingers around them, lifting the lid soundlessly only to hear Florence yell "You boys get out of that cookie jar!"
I was caught. EVERY TIME.  Caught.But Florence never said that she didn't want me coming over any more. Would still call us up for dinner.
If this widowed mom of three could put up with my thievery (only place thievery ever happened)
And then from the pulpit I hear that God can't look upon sin.
One of two things has to be true, now. This thieving isn't sin, OR I have lost my salvation.
The only rational conclusion that you can come to, if God can't look upon sin, if that is what makes Him holy then when He comes into my heart to live He must keep a bag packed by the door so that He can get out before the stench of sin permeates my body when I reach for those cookies, reacting like some form of  gama radiation and causing Him to hulk out and kill me right there.
Or maybe Habbakuk was being all poetical and saying that he was amazed that someone from such a vast reality could take notice on him.
The love of the Father for His creation is IMMENSE. It is elegant and vast and neither to be hoarded nor dismissed. Love Him with all that is in you and you can't imagine the results- give it a try, I dare you

be a voice not an echo

As I have grown older, I have suffered some loss of hearing due to headphone use, extraneous noise at work, being in a band... And my job working with older folks who have loss of hearing has taught me that using hearing aids can cause sounds to be confused and imaginary. You hear stories and on TV see stories where someone is lost in a canyon and can't be found because the echoes are coming from many directions, muffled and decaying over time. Muffled and decaying over time... They shorten and little or no meaning but just being noise after a while.
The church is like that. Jesus said, "You believe the scripture says (this), but I'm telling you it means (this)." What He was saying is, "You heard the words and you believe that you have heard them correctly, but you are only hearing echoes of what was meant when they were said."
"The words you are following once had life but they have bounced around the walls of history and their meaning is now distorted beyond recognition" Consider that each denomination is a canyon and the echo has moved up and down that canyon and suffered decay, and each generation repeats it but leaves out the who or the why and the words begin to be powerless...
I did not say that they are powerless- they have the power of conviction because people still heed them despite not being sure how or why to fulfill the directive.
 Get the revelation. Who was being instructed and what was their circumstance.
One of my favorite stories didn't happen in my family, but it happened in a family during preparation for a holiday feast.
Marilyn (we'll call her) was getting ready to bake the ham for the family's Easter feast and she had a daughter about to be wed so she was teaching her to cook the feast and the daughter (called Emma, today) was paying close attention and asking questions-
"Momma, why did you cut the end of the ham off before you put it in the pan?"
"I don't know, exactly, it's what my Momma always did, it's how I learned to do it. I'll call your Grandma and ask her."
So Marylin called her mother and asked, "Momma, I'm teaching Emma how to cook the Easter feast and we have begun to wonder why did we always cut the end off of the ham before we cooked it?" Grandma said, "Because my pan was too small"
This is an illustration of how mindless traditions get started. It could have been an illustration of hearing a noise made by the wind in the canyon and following it because one ascribed hope and meaning to it and began following it blindly into who knows what.
My point is be the voice. Get the revelation of the thing. Don't follow because you hear from someone in authority because if you aren't in relationship with the author there is no checking back with them about the purpose.
Be in relationship with the man who had the revelation and you can ask for clarification or BE the man who had the revelation and you own it because it was a gift to you and your
Father gives good gifts

One of the things that I have noticed through the years is that the established tribe wants to keep what they have and they don’t look favorably on anything that might upset their apple cart. The missionary has for centuries tried to make people become who the missionary is, for fear of being led astray by the traditions of the missioned peoples. They have been fearful enough to forbid drums, vocal styles, even meeting locations for fear of demonic intervention, rather than “taking on all comers”. I will speak of the native American, but with the caveat that they aren’t the only aboriginal peoples who feel this way. The path of reconciliation is well worn and bears little fruit. The modern church researchers have begun to recognize that people groups have sounds associated with both them and the ground that they inhabit. The Aborigine in Australia incorporates the sounds of their surroundings into the music of the didgeridoo. The Hawaiian dances in expression of the sea that gives them sustenance. The Native American calls out thanks to the animals that share the land and life with them. The Native American actually has a Trinitarian god who manifested in the earth because he was too great for man to comprehend as a spirit being… Sound familiar just a little bit? Their complaint is that the modern church (since it’s arrival) has judged them simple heathens and turned back their honest expressions of worship. The drum, the flute, their dance has all been judged as an expression of a baser faith which includes animism and reverence of dark spirits (all of which can be discovered to some degree in our church today. We MUST accept their identity in it’s full expression, which includes tobacco, sage and cedar which mirror elements of the jewish worship with what is indigenous to the region. All are used as incense. Their use of the drums communicates Gods heartbeat and they consider each time their foot touches the ground to be a prayer, especially when they are wearing a “jingle dress” which adds the texture of a tambourine to their dance. The sound of breath filling the air around the flute so easily represents the breath of the Holy Spirit being breathed over a group of people, and yet people have feared these exhortations, these expressions of the spirit and in the Spirit may have been used for a dark purpose or by the unordained and therefore insulting to the deity who, in fact, said, (New International Version) Mt 28:15&16 He (Jesus) said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.” Rev7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. He receives them. Who are we to be so bold and so proud as to “protect” Him from them. It is a lie that God cannot look on sin. A lie, pure and simple. Jesus was not abandoned by His Father on the cross, He was fully man in that moment, experiencing death crying out as any man would. Adam is proof and did what man has done ever since, until that moment on the cross. God came looking for Him. In His ability to shut off His omniscience so that Adam could hide from Him in His shame? I believe that He wanted Adam to come out and trust the friend that he had always walked with in the cool of the afternoon. Enough with the rabbits and their trails, Jesus is certain to redeem every tribe and tongue, and every means eery just like all means all. There is no “skiming the till”, He will get everything that He has paid for. All of it.

Drum

In 1998 just outside of Belfast Ireland there was a revival, and in the midst of it I fell in love. I had been involved in music for my whole life, but there was an expression that I had never really heard that was featured, that of the drums. The drums were playing as one of the speakers commissioned me as a warrior, and as I fell to the floor, I opened my heart and asked God for the drums, and He gave them to me. I didn’t have any idea what that was going to mean, only that I would have a new weapon in my little arsenal. I went out and bought an Irish bodhran (boe-run) and began to fiddle with it and eventually got the sounds out of it, now to get the rhythms out. The challenge was to playing in 4/4 time when it is built to play in 6/8, but the ingenuity of someone who plays intuitively an overcome pretty much anything. Having been a musician most of my life I had certain sensibilities to overcome, and there was a bit of a struggle; including the pastor not feelin’ it, so to speak. In those times you hope for an intervention. Someone who has the vote of confidence from those whom you see yourselves under and someone who has you respect as well. Enter Georgian Banov of a band called Silverwind back in the 1970’s. And he had his eye on my drum… that I was having trouble playing in 4/4 time. He asked if he could play and then should me how to play within the worship setting. He handed it back to me and I was set free. Before long it was congas, djembe, quika, ocean drum- each has a sound, a voice to speak into the atmosphere and change things. So that was me, breaking loose. Then on line I ran across a group called Psalm Drummers. Powerful concept, drum intercession. Founded by Teryl Bryant, a studio musician from London. He put together a drum circle that as held at Penn State that had over 400 drummers participating made up of Christian drummers from across the nations that chartered local psalm drummer groups. I never belonged to one of them, but I saw the strength in the concept. I have played since that time, breaking through brass heavens and hearts and minds.

Ever heard of a "bio-filter"? It's an interesting illustration. I think I heard that 3/4 of the word doesn't have clean water to drink that is easily accessible. 3/4. We're smart. We have technology and we can manufacture so many things- how do people go without water? A man is collecting bikes to send to Togo so that children don't have to walk for miles and miles to get to school... Someone else is digging wells so that children can skip the walk to get water and can go to school instead. Bio-filters can be built anywhere. Can be built with a little bit of knowledge and a small amount of materials. Here's the thing that I'm looking fr the lesson in- The "bio" aspect of this is that the top layer of this type of filter encourages bacteria and other ugly looking stuff- you would not look at it and think, "Yeah- that's packing something that I want to drink," but beneath that thin layer is where the sweet water is. The layer over the top will disqualify the water if you look without knowledge of how these things work... Judgement based on the knowledge common to a man will disqualify receiving from this well. but there is a knowledge that we don't have until we have been brought into that knowledge... It has to be gained before it is useful. Seek to understand the rules of the realm so that the blessings will not pass you by because you think that what you see on the surface is present at the core. Don't be fooled by your weak stomach. Don't be disuaded by your understanding- Get it in you. See the sheet and hear His voice as He says "don't call unclean what I have called clean"

Moses on the banks of the wide red sea

I've been hearing about Moses and that he did miracles. Some of the understanding is that HE did the miracles. God gave him the power and he did what God said to do and the miracle happened. "I haven't got anything to show Pharoah to make him bend to your will God" "Throw down your staff..." Did God infuse the stick with mystical miracle power? I don't think so. He spoke to Moses, Moses followed His direction and Moses did the miracle. "Pick it up..." It was a snake until He grabbed it's tail and then it became the staff once again. "God, we're trapped" "You hold out your staff, Moses, and see what happens" Moses held out his staff and the water parted. It parted. IT PARTED... "Everybody is thirsty and there is no water..." "Take your staff and strike the rock" Water comes from the rock. "We're losing this battle" "Raise your staff" "WE'RE WINNING!" "But my arms are getting tired" Joshua, "Holding them up Boss" Battle won as long as the staff is up... pretty special staff... You missed it. "God, we are out of water!" "Tell the stone to give you water" "I'll go get my magic staff and-" "Speak to the rock" "Let me just-" "Moses- MO-ses - MOSES!!!" "moses, I told you to speak to the stone" "But God I lost my-" "I told YOU to SPEAK to the stone" Moses was responsible. God told him to do it and he was fine up until God took the crutch and Moses had been using and told him to do it a different way. Speak it, the power is in your words and your intent. The power is in your will. You speak the words that are in your heart and see the miracle happen. You love the people who the miracle is for and the power for the miracle is mined. Moses went back to the formula. He did what he did because it worked before, not because he had faith in what God was doing today. Have faith in what God is doing today. There is life in that. Anything else is vain repetition.

Forerunners

Forerunners need to remember that they are “out front” and therefore need to keep their expectations of others in that perspective. If they were all out there with you, you would not be a forerunner.

I believe that the purpose of a forerunner must be to find the land of their calling and set up a homestead or a weigh station there until they are met by those who follow, having found the safety of definition and a knowledge base for those coming after.

They know the pitfalls because they have been exploring the land close in to this place that has become home to them and may well be where they hear Him call, “Well done, my good and faithful friend”. They have seen the dangers, dangers that the next generation will have an answer to, while they may not.

Forerunners past have taken shortcuts and banned perceived dangers unable to bare the risk and not yet knowing the full benefit of a God-given design or dream. They are sometimes talked down to and succumb to someone who speaks with authority, someone who finally seems understand the quest that they have been on- but followed the a contented trail where the snow melted around footprints first and looked worn by the time that they got on it, but as the trail becomes less obvious, their walking staff becomes the length of their confidence.

Often these are the trails where generation next jumps from, beginning their adventure in bravado of unknown consequence, reckless in the eye of the forerunner past.

As a forerunner I look at those forerunners behind me and wonder how they could possibly be content with the meager ration that they have foraged of God’s goodness and grace. I can’t settle for that! I MUST have MORE!! There HAS TO BE MORE!!!

But I must to remember that was the cry of every forerunner before me, and if the Lord should tarry, I will be remembered in this very same way. The shadow cast by those whose floor is what was once my ceiling will overwhelm the great pinnacles that I reach, and rightly so, but I pray they will remember me with grace.

Amazing grace will be my rising ceiling
Amazing grace will be my tower floor
Amazing grace will be my bread of life
Amazing grace will be mine forevermore

Sankofa

To go back and retrieve what was left behind and bring it forward for redemption.
In Gods economy nothing is without purpose. There is nothing that He cannot find value in.
Those things in your past that shames you need to be brought forward and used to fuel the fires of your both your passion and your crucible.
Nothing is wasted.
Nothing is without purpose in your redemption story.
Romans 8:28 says that ALL things are work together for the benefit of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
Those things of no future benefit are meant to be burned in the crucible and you are then made free of them.
Those things that withstand the heat are meant to be building blocks structuring your prosperity and your testimony.

Last night I was privileged to go to Silverdale and play with some friends and just reach up into heaven and see if we could reach the throne. Not in a haughty kind of way to see if God was there as some others have done in the natural, but see if we could touch His heart. Of course we are the type to believe that we can and He is a loving God who pays attention to our hearts and hunger for the best in our environment.
So off we go, spiraling ever heavenward and occasionally looking around at the room that we are in to take stock of what's going on with the others on this great adventure.
So we began to recognize the spirit of revelation had come to play with us. A beautiful song came out of it. Beautiful enough that Yvette and I both still remember much of it. Revelation. Of His love for a community that had been listening to their own hearts lying about a God they did not know.
He wanted to tell them that there was no humiliation for them in the cross. That He took all of the humiliation and shame there. ALL of it. There is none to share. He was humiliated once, for all and He is never ashamed of any who come to Him. Never ashamed.
And then the revelation was that shame is the point of entry for fear, and in this current generation, and with their No Fear motto plastered everywhere, it could be achieved when we begin to realize and believe that there is no shame for us. None!
Freedom from shame is the beginning of having no fear.
In the natural I could have some arguments for this, but I'm not supposed to. That's a truth that stands on it's own and there is no valid argument about it. It is shame that separates us from the love of God. Down deep it is shame. There is a wisdom that comes with tempering the fear factor, but that is between you and God.
At this point, the Munchkins made an appearance in my spirit and performed the following- "Come out of the woods- la-da-da-da-dah" and I lost 'em. the following are the words to that song.

Optimistic Voices

You're out of the woods, you're out of the dark, you're out of the night. Step into the sun, step into the light. Keep straight ahead for the most glorious place on the face of the earth or the sky. Hold onto your breath, hold onto your heart, hold onto your hope. March up to the gate and bid it open...

this morning there was a drive in our worship to have the doors open- Dan was singing doors and I was singing gates and we were in harmony. It was a beautiful thing if I say so myself.
So we began to sing to the region around us- come out and be free. Once and for all- humiliation was dealt with- anything else is a lie!
And all the while, a light on the east (I think) wall was strobing like it was trying to impress a disco ball. And when we stopped- it stopped. Amazing.
As I remember more of the revelation I will try to remember to post it here.
Much breakthrough personal, and for the region, as well as the joy that we all experienced being a part of it. It was incredible. God is good.

Sorry- departure from where we have been- AAAHHHHHHahhhhhhhhhhhh- What can I do to get the music that is in me out of me? there is just too much and I don't have the time or the knowledge to get it out. I can't even find on outlet to get it on line so I can share it. I may explode

This is Ravi "Jojo" Landge, one of the young international mover and shaker types that came to the Kaleijscope (I never have really looked at the spelling of that, in Polaish or otherwise). He has a band in India called "Wild Fire Tribe'' and they have permission to worship in a chain of coffee shops and find other places to call God's love into the room.

He is one of many young minds that were there to receive a passed baton of creative ministry, passion and to

be recognized as a young lion being turned loose in his region.

He spoke with passion when he had something to say, challenging the older generation to keep their focus and rekindle the boldness of their youth. And he made new friends everywhere his path took him.

Here at lunch we began to play, as we became a band when Annika,here seated next to Jojo, brought instruments enough to share.

Music happened every where. And Nuno, on the other side of Annika played a kazoo in a way that I had never heard before. I had never heard an anointed kazoo, but Nuno played the shofar on his kazoo and it was amazing.

After our bout at the Black Madonna, the weather became volatile. I don't know if it's always like that in Poland in July, but you can

see here how nice it looks (even though Jojo is wearing a

sweatshirt) and the day looked to be beautiful, we began to seek out a venue to play in and found the hallway, entryway, it was the gate by which a horse drawn carriage might enter the courtyard of the site- and we began to play on the steps.

Before long, Jojo was leading all of these people, who came in to join a jam session, in some choruses that they all knew.

Props to you my friend! You know how to fire up your generation! I hope to see you again soon!