Mather Matters

Confessions of a Chicken

2011-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

You mock, but the life of a chicken is ghastly. Imagine pushing out something the size of your head, every day of your life!

You think your life is stressful? Consider the psychological implications of having huge wings that aren’t even strong enough to get you off the ground. As the therapist says, “How does that make you feel?”

With wings, one ought to fly, but no, your life is confined to something called a “coop” that smells like cat pee and is small enough to keep you from roaming free and fulfilling your potential.

Above all, you are afraid of everything. Strange sounds in the night, people, other chickens, so much so that fearful folks are called chickens. How degrading is that?

It sucks being a chicken.

My earliest memories are of being called a chicken by my older brother. At night, I was tortured by specters roaming around my bedroom; in the daylight, apparitions moved throughout my peripherals: places on the edge of eternity were the worst – hospitals, graveyards . . . church. Making a list of my fears, while informative, might bring on a panic attack.

And I’m not alone.

Month after month fear- riddled saints take an enormous risk to make the trek to Portal to perhaps find relief from the onslaught of scary stuff ruling them.

As one might imagine, casting out a spirit of fear is enormously satisfying. Having been set free myself some thirty years ago, I take great pleasure in midwifing a battered saint onto a new path toward freedom and liberty.

Fear is one of the basic emotions often hijacked by the dark side and used to subjugate the saints.

The primary motive of Satan and his troops is to counterfeit anything they see Father doing. Isaiah 14:12-14 spells it out: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

There you have it - I will make myself like the Most High. Satan is trying to take Father’s place, to be Him. And what is Father’s primary desire? Worship.

Worship is being occupied with who He is (as opposed to praise, which is being occupied with what He has done). The key word in the definition is occupied – that is, focus upon or giving rapt attention to Father.

So if Satan is motivated to be Father then what might he assume as his own prime desire?

Fear is one of the easiest things to counterfeit. When afraid, one’s focus is captivated by the object of that fear. After all, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). Conversely, the fear of anything else is the beginning of ignorance.

So, life as a chicken is pretty much just stupidity. A thought for you chickens reading this: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Hitching Post Saints

2009-12-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

I recently received another communiqué – among many over the years –that somebody else is setting about starting house churches. Of course there is some anger in their stuff; it’s sort of a prerequisite for Escapees, at least in the early days. The anger is directed at the institution for the disappointment, disillusionment, or downright spiritual abuse. Hopefully they will recover.
In any case, here we go again watching someone plant churches that are just a microcosm of the macrocosm. Each one will fill with Saints – angry, hurt, and confused – seeking freedom and finding the only solution to what they were doing in the traditional church system is doing it on a smaller scale in a house, and, frankly, not as well.
Why can’t we see the issue for what it is? It isn’t pews or preachers, or pulpits; they are merely symptoms of the greater problem of our thinking. We think institutionally; we think religiously. How can house churches like these do anything but exacerbate the dysfunction from which the Saints escaped in the first place?
The worst thing is when an institutional pastor feels called to plant house churches. His thinking is all about control. He can’t help it; it’s the way of the institution. He will be about nickels and noses; he can’t help it, his training and experience dictates it. He will form networks and demand loyalty; he can’t help it, his paradigm runs in that direction.
I mourn each time I hear of another one of these house church networks starting up. I know I should be more optimistic but I’ve been doing this for a long time and the pattern is always the same. We run naked into the woods (having tunneled out of the prison church) and try to decide what’s next. Invariably someone will advance themselves into a leadership position; after all, someone must take the lead for the good of the sheep, right? Then we do the only thing we know to do – we meet together. Soon those meetings need a little more structure; after all, God is not the author of confusion, right?
And there it is. Someone is now leading the meeting – even if they don’t immediately preach or sing according to the agenda of a worship Nazi – and the sheep are systematically pressed backward as the pastor-daddy (though he would never call himself a pastor) exerts increasing control until, “Dear friends, I believe the Lord is saying we should rent a building to accommodate all our growth.”
The death knell sounded, only not where you might think. The gathering was doomed from the beginning. Why? Because we are default thinkers. When we don’t know what to do, we do the only thing we know – we do the institution.
So, Yoda, what’s the solution?
Once escape has been achieved, do the hardest thing you can think of – WAIT. Even though you have freedom – because you aren’t in the institution anymore – you do not have liberty. What’s more, you probably don’t know that there is an enormous difference between the two.
Have you even watched a cowboy flick where somebody rides his horse into the scene, jumps off, drops the reins to the ground, and walks away? And the horse just stands there! Why? Does it have the freedom to walk or run away? In reality, the horse has freedom; it’s not tied or constrained in any way. But it stands there because he thinks he’s tied up. They trained him by tying the reins to something on the ground for so long that now, he is on autopilot: reins hanging to the ground means he’s tied up.
And the horse never even considers acting on his freedom.
What does he need? He needs a paradigm of liberty. Freedom is being without constraint, while liberty is the thinking required to act upon that freedom.
Escapees have freedom – they’re no longer tied up to the institutional hitching post – but they can’t, as of yet, think free. They are on a pioneer adventure and there are no road signs out here. The only thing they find in their heads are the signs left behind from their institutional experience. And that’s what they do.
Here are some thoughts for those of you who have freedom but no liberty. It’s important to observe how I do this. It requires some adjustment in approach, since, if I tell you what to do and you do it, then you have tied yourself to my doctrinal/theological hitching post and you are no better off. So, I will give the view from my domain as an enticement for you to make up your own mind on the matter. It will necessarily look quite different than it does in my domain, but that’s the point, isn’t it?
Our thinking is our thinking, and no one else’s. Father is infinite, as you well know, so He is big enough to make your journey entirely unique. So why allow yourself to be organized into another structure like a house church network? It’s just another denomination that hasn’t grown up yet. Why organize your meetings? Isn’t it possible that structuring it may bleed the life out of it? It’s just another church meeting that produces little in the way of relationship development, either with Father or with one another.
Why not just invite a few people over for cake? Why not ask them, perhaps over your second cup of coffee, “Mind if I sing a song of worship? It’s been in my head all day.” Why not blurt out, “I had a dream about you, Fred. I think maybe the Lord has something for you in it.” Or instead of your normal, “Thank you, Lord, for the food and save us from it” prayer why not offer it in another language and then ask for the interpretation. Or how about this? You could ask Fred what Father has been teaching him lately and he could share his revelation. (see I Corinthians 14:26 -)
Does being the church really demand structure? Where does it say that? Isn’t being the church translate into real life? We have bought the lie that the two are mutually exclusive, but the sacred and the secular are one and the same – life in the Kingdom.
Are you standing there with a blank look on your face not knowing what to do? Look at the reins. They aren’t even tied to anything! Ask Father which way He is going and follow Him with joy, with hope, and with liberty.
There is no hitching post.

Superman Is Real!

2009-09-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

I am always intrigued by the imagination of man. For example, where did we get the idea of Superman? Stronger, faster, leaps tall buildings, sees through walls, among other things. Who is this guy and how was the concept conceived?

I believe he actually exists.

Let’s go on a search for the real superman.

To review: The human race is a race of natural kings with rulership over the earth and all that it contains, except for other people; Adam and Eve messed up and forfeited their dominion for the sake of pride; the second Adam came – Jesus Christ – and recovered our original dominion . . .

and . . .

imparted a whole new level of rulership.

Hold on to your hat, we’re going for a ride.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18. Last time we looked at the “all authority” part. Now, let’s discover what “in heaven and on earth” means.

Obviously, there are two different origins of authority. Let’s assess the second one first. It is earthly, that is, of the natural realm on this planet. The Genesis 1:26 passage is the job description for the natural king as he/she rules over fish, birds, beasts, creepy things, and the earth itself. From the time of Adam and Eve to the time of Jesus when he was on the earth, human dominion was restricted.

Then Jesus appeared.

Throughout His ministry life, Jesus demonstrated what natural kingship would hereafter look like. While natural kings have been ruling as best they could over constricting natural laws, Jesus expanded the definition to include the reality of ruling the natural realm in a supernatural way. He was not confined by the natural laws as understood until that point in history. He challenged, and therefore, transformed all of life. Here’s a brief sampling:

Ø He multiplied matter, turning a few fish and a few pieces of bread into a feast, once
for over four thousand (Matthew 15) and again for more than five thousand (Mark 6).
Ø He walked on the water (John 6:19).
Ø He ruled the wind and waves (Luke 8).
Ø He killed a tree with a word (Matthew 21).

He showed us that instead of being ruled by the natural realm, we can now rule it.

This promotes us to responsible kings tending the globe for our benefit. I’m reminded of the time when a well-known prophet was urgently asking Father why He didn’t dissipate the forces of hurricane Katrina.

He asked, “Lord, why didn’t you do anything to stop this disaster?”

To which the Holy Spirit countered, “Why didn’t YOU do something?”

The revelation was clear: We, as kings, are responsible for our domains.

Given natural dominion at birth, having been birthed again into the Kingdom of God, thereby receiving the upgrade to supernatural natural kings, we retain all the rights privileges and responsibilities of such authority.

So, take care of your domain.

I have decreed over my domain that there will be no tornadoes. In the years since I took this stand we have watched the weather radar as storms bearing tornadoes split in half and moved right around us only to join back together on the other side.

A couple of years ago, I heard on the news that our area was in a drought. I stepped out on my porch and commanded the wind to go get us some rain, enough rain to bring us out of the drought. I told the wind how much rain I wanted and in how many days. On the day I had chosen, I was watching the Weather Channel and this is what the weather anchor said, “A storm has popped up in the Gulf of Mexico and is headed through Florida in a northerly direction. We’re not really sure where this storm came from; it just sort of appeared.”

We got exactly the amount of rain – to the inch – on the very day I chose.

I’ve spent a bunch of time working on the weather, and now I’m practicing on fire ants. Father must have been in a really bad mood when He created those little monsters.

So what about the heavenly authority? While natural dominion is confined to natural things, heavenly authority opens up an entirely supernatural plane of reality. He gave us a tutorial:

He sent out the twelve to practice this new authority: As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Luke 9:1-2.

Then He expanded the training to seventy or so more: Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ Luke 10:9

Here’s a little something to stretch your vision of what it means to be a follower of the King of kings: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” Mark 16:17-18.

And finally, our mandate: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12.

What just happened?

Dominion was expanded from the natural to the supernatural the moment He got up and beat feet out of the tomb. Not only are we fully kings in the natural but are truly kings in the heavenly realms.

As citizens of this Kingdom, we are authorized rulership over spirit beings, over sicknesses and diseases, over natural things that should kill us, and . . . over death itself (once one is not ruled by the specter of death, what else is there to fear?).

He modeled the supernatural aspect of kingship as brilliantly as the supernatural natural. He revealed what ordinary life in the Kingdom would be, specifically, demonstrating each of the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5, as well as the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in I Corinthians 12. Here is a sampling of the gifts:

Ø Word of Knowledge – Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand
beside him. Luke 9:47
Ø Miracles – Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished.” John 7:21
Ø Discerning of spirits – Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was
healed from that moment. Matthew 17:18

He exhibited each of the gifts of the Holy Spirit except for the gift of tongues and interpretation. These He left for the Day of Pentecost to herald the entrance of the Holy Spirit into open Kingdom activity.

He healed the sick, raised the dead, cured incurable diseases, and drove out demons as the normal course of action in the new Kingdom model.

So, where are we? We argue over the stupidest things, like if the gifts are for today, and whether signs, wonders and miracles real, when these are the hallmark of Kingdom living.

Why not practice being a supernatuiral natural king?

Kindergarten King Things

2009-09-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

To address the issue of the Kingdom it behooves us (I love that word, “behoove”; it makes me think of something one would do with a horse, as in, “Don’t you think it’s time to behoove that horse?”). Anyway, it makes sense to start at the footers and build the building from there.
Consider the implications of this: They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. Revelation 17:14.

It begs the question, “Lord of what lords, King of which kings?” Is He only the King of royalty? Is He just the Lord over the ruling class?

I think not!

Here’s another question to ponder: What is the first gift given to mankind? You might venture “the breath of life” or maybe even “life” itself. But what about after they were created? What was the first gift?

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26 KJV.

Dominion.

What is dominion? It is defined as rulership; power; authority; control; dominance; and command. How’s that for a gift? It seems to me that this is the job description of a king! Mankind was created with the express intent to rule over his environment, over fish, birds, livestock, and over the earth itself, and all those creepy things (maybe like your brother in law?).

That’s a pretty good list. It is significant that there is no mention of rulership over other PEOPLE. Only when the curse was spoken over them did the idea of controlling one another come into existence. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. Genesis 3:16. Now, most guys suffer under this delusion: She wants me! But what’s implicit here is subjugation rather than she wanting your body.

Adam and Eve’s act of pride in thinking they knew more than Father corrupted the very first thing He gave them. Dominion was not wrenched from their hands. Instead, what was intended to be wonderful was warped to include something malevolent: Competition.

From that moment until now, the innate desire to rule has been a double-edged sword. We see the evidence of the natural kings (kings over the natural earth) who have gone before us. They have taken dominion over many things they wanted to change. How about air conditioning? Some king said in his heart, “Man, it’s hot.” And he created air conditioning. If you live in the South like me, that’s some great work! Aren’t you glad there was some king who took dominion over travel and decided the man could indeed fly (even if it is just enduring a seat in coach)? Even all the tree-huggers among us are only exercising their God-given dominion over the earth, over fish, birds, and creepy things.

Dominion is best seen in the work of kings who took it upon themselves to try to negate the effects of the rest of the curse Father spoke over Adam and Eve. I know you are skeptical here, but remember, we have fifteen grandchildren.

What does that mean?

Listen, pain in childbirth doesn’t make an appearance when my girls have kids. The first thing they yell as they are being wheeled to the delivery room is, “Epidural!!!!” Once that needle delivers its potion, they don’t even sweat, and poof! there’s another grandbaby.

And what about the “painful toil” He spoke over Adam? We live in an agrarian area of the country. Have you seen the tractors these guys ride around in? Bose stereo systems, air conditioning, GPS, and seats more comfortable than the Lazy Boy recliner in my living room. Don’t talk to me about painful toil.

We are truly kings over the natural world.

Here’s the next question: What did Jesus make sure to include in His farewell address to us before heading off to the heavenlies to prepare our next home? Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18.

Why “all authority?” Authority over the natural world was given to mankind; Jesus came as 100% man and 100% God, the former qualifying Him to be a natural king, the latter authorizing something more. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6 KJV.

This verse is the confirming word on kingship. First, He made us to be kings, that is, natural kings. A king has dominion over his/her domain. This domain is finite; it has parameters which we have already identified: Animals in the specific, and the planet in general. It may be true that our dominion over the earth lacks some measure of perfection, still, a superior measure of authority in natural things was returned to us in Christ.

Since this is a somewhat unique notion, I think it important to test, to see if it actually works. One day I was in our back yard as a great storm headed our way. The wind had been blowing all morning from the west and was growing in intensity by the hour. To keep it from turning into a huge parasail, I was tasked with disassembling one of those temporary tents we used to cover our boat or often as a place to keep out the sun on a hot summer day. It was a ten by twenty foot long canvas attached to a metal frame.

I unhooked the front corner of the canvas and it whipped out of my hand; this wasn’t going to be easy. I envisioned myself hanging on desperately as the wind picked the whole thing up and flew me across the field behind our house.

Nobody wants to see that!

So I stepped back and thought out loud, “What do I do now?”

The retort came straight away, “Do something about it,” quickly followed by “What would I do if I could do what I wanted to do?”

The answer was easy. I stepped back raised my hands like Moses next the Red Sea and spoke to the wind, “Wind, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I command you to cease until I take care of this cover.”

The wind immediately stopped.

What do you think my reaction was? EXACTLY! I couldn’t believe it. Yep, God’s man of faith and power in action.

I set about uncoupling the cover from the frame and pulled it out onto the lawn to fold it up. After a few frustrating minutes trying to get it to lay flat, the thought came again, “Do something about it.”

I was standing on the east side of the cover; the wind had been blowing from the west all day; I was too lazy to walk the twenty feet it would take to get on the other side; so I spoke to the wind from there. I declared, “Wind, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I command just one puff of wind to come when I say so.”

I stood at the end of the canvas and said, “Ready . . . NOW!”

A puff of wind came from the east and I flipped the cover up and laid it out perfectly flat just like you would do with a sheet on a bed.

Again, my faith (or lack thereof) statement, “I can’t believe it!”

I proceeded to fold it up and just as I hooked the bungee cord around the bundle, the wind resumed and, later that afternoon, blew in the storm that had been forecast.

Now, for those of you who think this is just too weird, read it and let it go.

But there are many of you who will connect with the truth that we are all born kings. You have probably experienced something along these lines. You’ve thought you were actually born into a royal family and switched at birth, and someday the truth would come out and the throne would be yours.

Even the mousiest person among us has at least thought, or even said, “Things would be different if I was in charge of this place.” We hate it when people tell us what to do. We were all born to be natural kings and the world is somehow malfunctioning. We all know it in the deepest recesses of our beings.

Next time, Supernatural Kings.

Raising the Dead

2009-09-18T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here is a vision:

As I looked, I could see the backs of a crowd of people to my left. They were intently looking in the same direction away from me. It was obvious they were engaged in worship--some with hands raised, some with bowed heads, most were singing. I watched myself disappear into the crowd and reappear dragging a dead person by the collar. I dragged the person across the street and laid him on his back with his head against the curb. I continued to enter and reappear with more dead people until there was a long line of bodies lying side by side along the curb.
All at once, I began to weep over them because they were dead. Then, I walked out before them, raised my hands and spoke over them. I could not hear what was said, but immediately, they all sat up. For the next few minutes, they began to recover and make their way, one by one, to a standing position. It took some longer than others, but eventually, they were all standing.
As their recovery process was proceeding, I disappeared once again into the throng and began dragging more dead people out. When those from the first group were able to stand and then walk, they joined me in dragging more and more bodies out of the throng. Each time the area along the curb was full I stepped forward, raised my arms and spoke. The whole line of bodies would sit up alive, work their way to a standing position, and eventually help us in our work.
Before long, my view began to pan back to see the extent of the crowd worshiping off to my left. There were hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, gathered around a circular object in the middle. This object was domed toward its center and was turning very slowly around, much like a merry-go-round. It emanated a bright light that the people worshiped. At the center of the object stood a brilliant angel with his arms outstretched receiving the adoration of the crowd. The people were worshiping the angel in a myriad of worship styles and traditions, from the solemn to the exuberant. As I looked closer, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see that the angel was not an angel of light after all but a dark angel appearing as an angel of light. The people were worshipping this dark angel, not knowing that it was a spirit of false religion.
Then, Father showed me what it meant:
The crowds of people were not the throngs of some cult religion. Rather, they were major portions of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth. They were actively involved in their own methods of worship without regard for the source of the light. They were going about their church business--some vigorously, some lethargically--but all with some level of commitment. Most of the worship and church business was being done out of guilt without a true and intimate relationship with the one honored.
These are the religious lost.
I was sent into the crowd to retrieve those who had died in the middle of worship of the dark angel. They were the ones who KNEW they were dead, not those who thought that their religious activities still held some life. This is a picture of the people and denominations that no longer make any hypocritical pretense of spirituality. They know there is no life and they have become desperate for the return of the Holy Spirit breathing life into their dried bones. It is a mystery how I knew which ones to drag out of the crowd, though it was evident this identification came from the Holy Spirit.
The act of speaking to the dead bodies brought them back to life. This is a picture of the mission statement of Jesus when He read Isaiah 61 for those gathered in the temple. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18-19 KJV). As the people became whole enough to stand, they were immediately put to work dragging more dead out of the crowd and bringing others to wholeness.
A spirit of false religion, that is, witchcraft, has deceived much of the Church. This spirit appears as an angel of light, but its true motivation is binding the worshipers in darkness. I began to understand that the spirit of witchcraft was manifesting in the Church as control and religious spirits, using manipulation and false spiritual authority. Well-meaning leaders had taken control of the sheep in an effort to keep them on the path of righteousness. However, this control and manipulation is what keeps the Church impotent as an army and distanced them from the One with whom an intimate relationship should be developed. The man-made religious system designed to maintain the sheep is the very thing that has drained out the power and intimacy of the Body of Christ.
Our mission is made crystal clear in this vision: To reach into the organized religious system and bring out those who have been made desperate to know the life-giving breath of the Living God in spite of the bondage of their doctrine and in spite of their theological training. The harvesters miraculously find those who are dead and desperate, raise them from the dead, and the Lord of the Harvest sends them into the harvest fields to bring the true light of salvation and wholeness to the multitudes who will otherwise die in their deceptive religious stupor.
This vision is the initial impetus for despising what the organized church has perpetrated upon the people who call upon the Name of the Lord. Since that initial vision, the work has continued and there are many who have made the transition from deadness to life. What must be understood is that this kind of work cannot be done within the structure of the institutional church.
Hence, the glorious dynamic of the open church!
The only reason to go back into the traditional church is to find the dead and drag them out. The comfortable, seemingly safe pews of the structured church are seductive. It is much easier to sit and do nothing in the name of religious pride than it is to be trained to minister in your home. The simplicity of the open church combined with an active deliverance ministry is the only way to freedom. Drag them out, call them to life, heal them in Jesus’ name and send them into the throng.
The dead await . . .

Paradigm Vertigo - 1

2009-08-31T06:12:00.000-07:00

In the pursuit of upside-down thinking – standing on my head trying to focus my spiritual sight enough to actually grasp Kingdom principles – I’m experiencing a sense of vertigo. Everything I know, based upon the fifty-some-odd years of right-side up thinking, is now suspect; it’s all so temporal and worldly that the effort to seize the real deal of Kingdom thinking becomes both terribly alien and disconcerting.

All the blood is rushing to my head.

Maybe that’s the point. Maybe the process of exchanging my thinking for His thinking is as simple as His blood for my blood, and therefore, His blood rushing into my paradigms is the way for me to become brainwashed with Kingdom of Light thinking.

Kinda makes me a little nauseous just trying to wrap my brain around it.

Think about the awful simplicity: This new Kingdom is completely and utterly, every little thing, every big thing, all of it, absolutely opposite of what we know to be the way things are on this planet. Talk about the Matrix! What we think we know as truth is no truth at all. In fact, the laws of this planet are not at all what they seem.

Want to go exploring with me? This isn’t going to be the journey yet, let’s just take time to change into our Dora the Explorer clothes. The journey will begin in the next installment.

When buying into the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of Light, we move from darkness into light in every way: Spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (II Corinthians 5:17). Really? A new creation? What does that mean?

Let’s try to grasp this verse – we’ve heard it and quoted it a million times with only a cursory understanding of the implications. If those who enter into the Kingdom are a new creation there must be an old creation. The old creation is our first incarnation, born in sin, born to start dying, born into spiritual and moral darkness.

However, there was an older creation before that one. Adam and Eve were the first creation. They were perfect in every way, made by the very hand of Father. They were apparently designed to live forever; they were made mentally brilliant, physically flawless, and spiritually connected.

Evidently, perfection had its draw-backs. Eve’s perfect gullibility got her into trouble and she believed a snake – doesn’t it strike you that she didn’t think a talking snake was in the least bit odd? Well, you know how all that ended. As a result, the entire creation was changed, subjected to the dominion of dark thinking . . .

and the snake is still talking to us.

Here’s a thought: Father is omniscient so He knew they were going to blow it, so His plan was not the whole perfect Garden deal; His plan was not the whole kingdom of darkness thinking deal; His plan was obviously the whole new creation thing that will produce a race of kings to hang out with Him forever because we choose Him. Perfection with a twist!

And we will know enough not to talk to the snake.

So with time we have left on this mortal coil, we should expend our energies in worship –morphing our thought processes into Light paradigms.

Hopefully, you, like me, are as dizzy as a blond at the county fair.

What About Them Yankees

2009-07-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

I wonder if you’ve observed the same thing as I: Christians – as a species – are really thin-skinned. Perhaps it’s because we were so victimized by darkness in our previous incarnation and the wounds have never healed; or maybe it’s just because we’re trained to be reactionaries, always obliged to “defend the faith.”

In any case, we are pretty prickly about anything outside our little doctrinal sachet. This phenomenon is revealed in the myriad of denominations, as well as rifts even within one’s own herd. You’ve seen it too: First Baptist Church, Second Baptist Church, and Third Baptist Church, all in one town. I once actually saw a sign proclaiming, “Welcome to the Fifth Methodist Church.”

Clearly, we can’t get along with each other, let alone with someone who attends a home church. As a home church person, I am constantly put in the position to defend what I am doing, or more precisely, what I am NOT doing, i.e. not going to a Sunday morning church service, not submitting to some other person’s covering, or not part of some bloated denominational structure.

When we first left the traditional church system I actually wasted time trying to explain what we were NOT doing to those whose fears made it impossible for them to understand. It caused some pretty violent rifts, most of which have never healed.

So I’ve got a few thoughts for those of you who are struggling with your escape from church.

Most importantly, stop trying to convince anyone else to do what you are doing. This stuff must be left to the Holy Spirit. We are so driven by the perverse “conversion” mentality that we carry it over into house our church goings-on. Making converts is Father’s domain, so let Him give them the revelation. If you give them your revelation, it will always remain yours not theirs. Remain friends (if that’s possible) with those within the structure, make new friends with church folk and leave their revelation to the King.

The next thought is pretty simple: Stop beating up on the institution. All it does is hurt feelings and break relationships. Most of the clergy know church doesn’t work but the rank and file, as a rule, have no idea. They are thrilled to bring their friends to the sheep barn and get them involved in the barnyard fun. Hey, most of us came into the Kingdom through some church meeting or organized religious gathering, so why pitch such a fit about it now? It is what it is; leave it alone.

As I said at the top, church people are generally too wounded to grasp any concept of freedom from the constraints of the institution. They have been bombarded with the control of clergy, “Don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together” and, “All Christians must attend a church and be under someone else’s covering.” Listen, you used to believe the same thing, right? This constant assault of loyalty to the institution like church membership and attendance records creates an incredible sense of guilt not easily shattered. So, the cure for it all is not you assaulting them in the name of freedom, but rather, you letting them be free to do whatever they feel Father is leading them to do.

That’s real freedom!

If you have to convert everyone to your way of thinking, then you are as controlling and manipulative as the system you have escaped. Moreover, you are still wounded, and your wounds control you to the extent that you would sacrifice pure love at the altar of conversion.

Haven’t you discovered that the “promised land” of house church is full of giants? Me, too. So it is trecherous for a healed person let alone one who carries deep and abiding wounds.

If an institutional person takes it upon themselves to convert you, then your course of action is plain: Change the subject. Don’t even talk about it. I know you perfectionists can’t even understand the words in that sentence, but try it anyway. “Father has been taking us through some different paths. Could you pass the pickles?”

Don’t let them bait you into an argument; it solves nothing. The fear they feel for you is based in the control paradigm of the institutional church structure. So thank them for their concern and say this:

"What about them Yankees?"

Spiritual Welfare State

2009-06-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

I was just having a chat with someone about the following verses:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. Hebrews 5:11-6:3.

It often surprises me how needy we church people are. So, here is a rant for you to critique. Why is it the norm in the church structure that everyone must always be a subservient student sitting at the feet of the pastor-daddy or the teacher-mommy? When are we allowed to grow up and not have to sit through sermon after sermon, the substance of which we have heard a million times already?

When do we get to be grown-ups? When can we be trusted to FEED OURSELVES? And how arrogant is it to believe that one person should be responsible for the spiritual diet of the entire group of Saints?

This reminds me of the welfare mentality so pervasive in our country. Designed to provide a temporary leg-up for people in distress, it has morphed into a fulltime “I-don’t-have-to do-anything-for-myself” gravy train. So, able-bodied men and women – generation after generation, mind you – have no sense of responsibility for their own livelihood, relying upon the government to feed them and take care of their needs.

The Scriptures are quite clear on the subject: For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. II Thessalonians 3:10-12.

While these verses apply to people regarding their physical livelihood, it also applies to their spiritual livelihood. People sit dumb-faced week after week, year after year like little birds, their mouths open wide to receive the pre-chewed-food the pastor has already digested for them. Why does the clergy-class perpetuate the anti-biblical welfare state among the Saints? And more astonishing, why do we, the people, allow it to continue?

It’s like we remain little kids for the rest of our lives, relying upon our pastor-daddy to meet all of our spiritual needs. My kids are now in their late twenties to middle thirties. How dysfunctional would it be if they all depended upon me to feed them, meet all their needs, and raise their children? Once they were old enough to get out of house and marry, they were released to make their own family, to guide them, teach them and equip them to face the obstacles of their own lives.

It amuses me to ask people to tell me about their ecclesiastical baggage (church background). What I’ve discovered is almost no one was raised in one denomination and stayed there for life. In generations past, it was a badge of honor to say that was true. But now, we are consumers. We shop from church to church – some trips varying widely from Baptist to Charismatic or some mainline church to house church.

Pastors despise this phenomenon. Many have taken to forcing the Saints to not only join their church but to sign an additional loyalty statement in an effort to exercise control over their wanderings.

But I think it is indicative of good things happening in the Kingdom.

If you have been in one church with the same pastor for seven years you have heard everything he has and you will never hear anything fresh.

Most people can’t wait seven years.

Here is my thought: If you are a church-going person, move from church to church, denomination to denomination at will. Go to the Baptists and glean the good they have on the place of the Bible in life; go to the Presbyterians and find out about predestination; go to the Charismatics and have some fun; Pentecostals are all the Gift of Tongues, so go get what they have. All in all, each of them has a historical piece of the puzzle, so why not go get it from them?

But in the end, there is just you, your family, and Father. Therein lies the reality of pure Kingdom life. Outside of Sunday morning services and Sunday School, there is real life. Why not learn THAT? Just sit around and talk about Father.

THAT’S where the real joy lies!

Stuff I DO Believe In

2009-06-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

In the journey out of the institutional church structure – and the recovery from its effects – I have discovered a few things that I’d like to run past you.

The biggest thing is the realization that my focus has always been askew. We are schooled in the art of “church” by those who have come before us. They, in turn, know what they know as a result of the study of those who came before them. So, here is my question: What if those we revere as “church fathers” were off in their theology or doctrine one half of one degree?

Here’s what I mean. Let’s say you got in a boat in Savannah and set sail for England. And let’s say that your compass – unbeknownst to you – was inaccurate by one half a degree. Where do your think you would land your little boat? I’m not sure either, except, I’m sure it wouldn’t be England.

What if those guys were off just a little bit? What if the course corrections made over the years were not enough to put us back on the course toward sound doctrine?

Of course the answer is pretty clear: We aren’t where we think we are.

My understanding of “church” was attained by the standard course: Study of the old guys and my own experience mirrored against Scripture. But in coming to the brick wall of revelation I hit in 1993, I discovered one excruciatingly simple truth – it’s not about what I thought it was about.

Well, here is the first brick in my new revelation. Christianity – the whole enchilada – is about fellowship. The rest is one tradition of man slathered upon the previous. Anything that kills fellowship is sin. Anything that hinders fellowship is to be shunned. Anything that is about stuff, or programs, or organizations is anti-fellowship and is therefore anathema.

There was an exchange between Jesus and an expert in the Mosaic Law. "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40). There it is: Fellowship with Father and fellowship with one another.

That’s the whole deal.

Some might say, “Yeah, but that was Old Testament stuff.” Jesus answered that question when He made it clear, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17). So, what does it mean when He said He fulfilled the Law and the prophets? Simply this: He pulled it off in our stead; that is, He obeyed every jot and tittle and in Him SO HAVE WE.

Closely scrutinized, the Law motivation behind every law was founded in relationship. Observe the Ten Commandments from this angle. Here is an excerpt from my book, Escaping Church.

To help understand what “sin” is, it must be understood in the context of First John. Anything that is a fellowship breaker is sin. Even the Ten Commandments adhere to this standard (Exodus 20).

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Verse 3)
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image. (Verse 4)
3. Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain. (Verse 7)
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Verse 8)
5. Honor thy father and thy mother. (Verse 12)
6. Thou shalt not kill. (Verse 13)
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Verse 14)
8. Thou shalt not steal. (Verse 15)
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (Verse 16)
10. Thou shalt not covet. (Verse 17)

Every one of these commandments indicates a fellowship killer. The first commandment warns against breaking fellowship with Father. The second warns against replacing fellowship with Father with something created. Using Father’s name in vain is a clear violation of fellowship, as is spending the Sabbath for yourself instead of for Him.
The fifth commandment protects the relationship between parents and children. Killing someone is an obvious fellowship breaker. Committing adultery clearly breaks the intimate relationship between husband and wife. If you steal from someone, then fellowship will surely be destroyed. Fellowship cannot live in an atmosphere of lies. And finally, coveting makes it about their stuff and not about your relationship with them.
All sins are fellowship killers.

So, what are we saying? Followers of Jesus are to be about one thing: Fellowship.

I have not been a great fellowshipper. The damage in my life has hindered me from being the people-lover I was born to be. Oh, sure, I have been a pursuer of fellowship with Father – such as it was – but changing my paradigm to place as much emphasis upon fellowshipping with you has been a difficult alteration. For years I was under the delusion that I hated people. Most pastors understand that, right? But in my journey out of the traditional church system I discovered that I didn’t hate people, I was just afraid of them. Put me in front of thousands and I am right at home. Put me in a room with one guy I don’t know? Yeah, there’s a panic attack right around the corner.

It makes sense that Father would call me into small group ministry!

Anyway, my journey has been about learning to fellowship with people, not to preach at them or teach them something, but just to be at home in their presence. That may not seem like much, but it means the world to me.

So, here’s the first thing I believe in: Fellowship.

Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and Church

2009-06-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

I remember the day that I found out he was a figment of some adult’s warped mind. We had gone shopping in the family station wagon and the groceries were piled high in the back. When I was a kid, there was no such requirement as wearing a seat belt, so we were free to frolic around the car uninhibited. In my travels, I came upon a grocery bag bulging with candy.

My brain exploded.

Why would mom buy candy when the Easter Bunny was about to visit our house in a couple of days? What was happening here? If mom bought the candy, why was it necessary for the Easter Bunny to carry such a heavy load of candy around with him? And why would he have to bother coming to my house at all if the candy had already made its way to my Easter basket without him?

There was a conspiracy afoot!

Mom’s answers to my questions seemed vague and evasive, though at age seven or eight, I had no idea what the words vague and evasive meant. Frankly, she just acted weird.

Then came the moment of truth. It just couldn’t be true. Could it? Here comes the all-important question: You mean there is no such thing as the Easter Bunny? “That’s right, there is no Easter Bunny,” she said in a hushed tone, still keeping the deception in place for my younger brother and sister. It was too much. How could such a thing happen? Why were we not told the truth? What right do these people have to deceive us like this? Who is responsible?

I really want there to be an Easter Bunny!

Life was so much nicer when we knew the bunny would come and give us candy every Easter. It was something we could be rely upon. It was something everyone knew was right and proper and we were all much better people because we all anticipated the yearly event.

And now all that was ruined. Now, I don’t believe in the Easter Bunny.

But wait, if there is no Easter Bunny, then what about Santa Claus? I made the connection and suddenly the awful truth dawned on me. No bunny – no alien being coming miraculously into our house while we slept and leaving behind all sorts of candy and goodies – therefore, Santa might be in jeopardy as well since he is known for sneaking into houses unseen and leaving even better stuff behind.

Indeed, the unthinkable had happened: There is no Santa Claus.

My mother nodded pensively. I was right! They had lied to us about Santa, too.

There it was: A bold faced lie. The whole red suit deal was a farce. No real jolly mister fat guy sneaking into children’s houses. So, where did the presents come from? Dad? What do you mean you buy the presents and hide them in the attic? Is that why you freaked out at my brother and me when we tried to get into the attic and see what was there?

Christmas would never be the same. Somehow, it had lost its magic. How could we ever enjoy it again? It changed everything. But, I didn’t want it to change. I wanted the organized lie to remain the same. Sometimes even now, I wish that horrible day had never happened. How wonderful it had been to watch sugarplums dance in my head, while wondering how reindeer really know how to fly.

It was indeed a full-blown conspiracy.

Everyone was in on it. Old people patted me on the head and asked, “What did Santa bring you?” My friends all had their own visitations. After all, there was evidence fitting the criteria of a visit from Old Saint Nick. The toys were there. The stockings – empty when we went to bed – were now brimming with goodies. That, in and of itself, was impossible without Santa’s visit. And, of course, the most damning evidence of all: The milk and cookies. Eaten! The milk emptied from the glass! Proof!

For me it had gone from proof to poof! Just like that my world came crashing down. I lived the entire year for this day. How could I go on? Everything I had believed in, participated in, dreamed about – even wrote letters about, to Santa of course – was a fairy tale.

Someone had just made it up.

And it was not just one someone; it was lots of someones. What would we know about Rudolph if Johnny Marks hadn’t written a song about his revelation way back in 1949? And who knew all the sacrosanct details of Santa’s life without the extra-revelatory work of Clement Moore’s work entitled The Night Before Christmas? Until he divulged the true inner workings in 1823, people had worshipped Santa improperly and without revelation. They had not known what we know now; maybe that’s the reason they call it the Dark Ages.

And now, it all comes to naught. We must somehow learn to enjoy Christmas without the sacred focus targeted upon Santa, his elves, and the ever-present flying reindeer. What was Christmas about without Santa? We might as well chuck the whole thing since it has lost what we thought was the true meaning of Christmas. You can say that Jesus is the reason for the season all you want, but we all knew the real truth: Santa was the reason for the season – kid or no kid – we all know it is true. We tolerate all that ‘Jesus’ birthday’ stuff so we can get our presents. After all, if it was my birthday and everyone else got the presents instead of me, I’d be pretty mad. So, we know Santa and his jazz are really it. Right?

You see, even though we all discover there is no Santa, we join right into the myth and keep it going for the next generation. After all, it’s tradition. Do I believe in Santa? No. But I still spend the Christmas season acting as if he were real. It’s like being a recovering alcoholic who doesn’t drink anymore but still acts out all of the actions of a drunk. He would be called a dry drunk. We are all dry-Santa-aholics. We are opposed to him and his deception but we don’t know what else to do during that season so we gladly participate in all of the Santa-isms that ruled us before we found the freedom found in the truth that there is no Santa.

Well, you’d better sit down. This isn’t going to be pretty. I have some news with the potential to shake you right down to your fuzzy little Easter Bunny slippers. And here it is:

There is no such thing as church.

It’s a myth – try not to hurl – and please remain seated until the dizziness dissipates. You will be fine in a moment. I think you need to hear it again: There is no such thing as church.

As much as I was devastated when I found out the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus were just someone’s imagination run wild, the truth about church came as an even more disturbing revelation. As it turns out, what I have believed since childhood about church is as much of an aberration as Rudolph and the elves and the big white beard. Someone made up the whole deal. There is no basis in fact for the farce of Sunday worship services, pastors, sermons or any of the other gory details of church.

I don’t believe in church.

Let me help you back up onto the couch and explain myself. I recommend a cool cloth for the forehead and a stiff shot of, well, non-alcoholic eggnog to help revive yourself as you read.

I don’t believe in church.

Notice something right off: I never said that I don’t believe in the Church. Just that I don’t believe in church. By church I mean this specifically: Any organized, institutionalized, denominationalized, pastor-centric-one-guy-upfront-doing-all-the-talking-ized, building worshiping group of people pretending that the Emperor’s new clothes are truly magnificent. I don’t care whether the church has one pastor who has to work a real job on the outside to paid his bills, or if there are three hundred pastors on staff to meet the needs of the thousands who run in and sit for a couple of hours looking at the show up front. Either way, it is an aberration, an illusion counterfeiting the truth and drying up the very bones of the Saints.

I know that you might disagree; I may be wrong, but I doubt it. There is no such thing as church.

Let me begin this discussion with a disclaimer: I don’t bash Santa and the Easter Bunny, or rather, I am not a grinch who hates all the commercialism of Christmas or Easter. Hey, Jesus’ real birthday is probably in either September or October, and Jesus already rose from the dead, these are true and no red-nosed fat guy is going to put my faith in jeopardy. I love to give great gifts and best of all, I love to rise early on Christmas morn and open all the presents under the tree marked “Timmy.” There, I’ve said it, and we can move on.

Let’s make sure are definitions are in place. The Church is that Body of believers in Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation whose sole intent and purpose is twofold. First, their purpose is to develop relationship with Father, and second, to reproduce themselves for the Kingdom of God. This Body is an organism without formal boundaries and is defined entirely by people. Any building associated with the Church is nothing more than a sheep barn hindering the growth and health of people.

Here is a good way to understand it: If one is the Church then one cannot go to church because one is the Church and when one is the Church one cannot go to, participate in, join, or in any way attend church. When one goes out to dinner with another Church, then the gathering is Church because when more than one Church connect it is Church. But if one relies upon a gathering that must meet under the condition of what has been previously defined as church, the confines of a building and a program structure inhabiting it will serve only to strangle the life out of those who are the Church.

You may argue that everyone who attends church knows they are the Church and the building only assists them in their function. I would assert that whenever the Church confines itself to a building deemed a church, the entire gathering becomes corrupted by the very presence of the church building. Everyone in the Western world understands that church is a building. People go into it, sure, but church is a building and one cannot do “God” without a building. This building-worship has so permeated the mindset of the world that the Church has been robbed of its efficacy and replaced by impotent programs, services, and sermons.

Some have argued that this discussion merely concerns semantics and is just a way to coerce people into still another option for the saints to meet together in Jesus’ name. This is not the purpose at all. I feel like we are living in the most exciting time in history. The Saints are about to see a new thing that will make the hair on our heads (such as it is) stand on end. Father has allowed what we have deemed ‘church’ long enough and He is about to revolutionize it into what He intended all along. This means all we know and understand about church must be destroyed and replaced with something entirely revolutionary.

It strikes fear in the best of us to hear such news, yet, when pressed, most of those bolstering church as is will admit at least two things. First, church doesn’t really work. And second, something is about to happen.

Sitting there like a dumb lump of flesh staring intently at the back of the head of the person sitting in front of you, trying with all your might to seem interested in what the person on the platform is saying, cannot be what Jesus meant by being part of His body. Since Constantine did his dirty work on the Church in the 4th century, the Church has slid down a slippery slope into a man-focused, pulpit-centric, money-focused business, building buildings and lining the pockets of the clergy class. What remains is a weak, ineffective self-possessed institution insignificant to its members and to the world at large.

Church advertises itself as the answer to all the problems issues and concerns of the people outside its walls, yet, once one enters and becomes a sheep, the reality of the impotent institution comes clear. This impotence ranges from doctrinal deception to man-centric worship. Everything the church does revolves around the comfort of the people rather than the worship, love and relationship with Father.

Therefore, what we are doing is not attacking the Church, but reporting on the destruction of the institutional, organized church structure. We are not destroying, but observing that Father is causing the collapse of the corrupt structure intending to present to His Son a Bride without spot or wrinkle.

Now, that is a gift to make the stuffiest deacon smile!

Indoor Demons

2009-06-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

One of the basic spiritual warfare tactics necessary for living in liberty is to maintain a clean house, spiritually as well as physically. When friends or family come over, they bring dirt and demons. You don’t make value judgments about the dirt they track in or the lint that falls off onto your clean carpet, you just take out your Dirt Devil and vacuum it up.

The same is true about the spirit realm. Most of the time, someone who comes into your house with a demon will leave with that demon. But from time to time, there will be left behind what may be termed a “familiar spirit.” A familiar spirit is transferred through familiarity – relational contact with a demonized person – and attaching to some area of spiritual darkness you might provide.

Sometimes demons try to remain behind as an act of subterfuge to undermine the peace and tranquility of the home, especially and specifically relationships. We have discovered the presence of a left-behind, not by seeing it, but by our erupting attitudes in the aftermath of a visit by a demonized person.

When we travel, we are careful to take authority over the hotel room – since we have a legal contract for its use, it has become our domain. The same thing is true when we stay in someone else’s house – they have given us legal right to stay there, so that room has temporarily become our domain. My house is my domain – so the demons on our guests can be resisted from attack by a word. What’s the word? Here it is . . . NO. How’s that for simple? If you sense them messing with you, speak to the air – you will not disturb me in my domain. I usually use the Gift of Tongues for this operation, whispered, nearly inaudibly, in the presence of my guests.

This is the Upside-down Kingdom so everything in here opposes the silly, kingdom of darkness “wisdom” that makes so much sense to our dull minds. Within the Kingdom this one thing is true: The greater the wisdom, the simpler it will be.

A couple more things to remember as you take authority over your domicile. First, demons aren’t omnipresent. Hence, if you say something in one room, and the demons are in another room, they can’t hear you and thereby are not compelled to exit. Conversely, demons aren’t deaf. You don’t have to scream like a banshee to get them to go. Speak like a human who isn’t freaked out! In this case, we don’t take the time to name the demons. Just make the general declarations.

The cleaning solution within the Kingdom of Light is the Blood of the Lamb. The abiding presence of the Lord is manifest in the oil of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, these are our upside-down weapons.

Some folks like to put oil on the doorposts of the home as they begin. If you are into prophetic symbols and pictures, knock yourself out. In any event, the process is as simple as casually walking from one room to another loosing the Blood and the Oil.

Start at one end of the house, not forgetting the attic or basement, if you have them. Speak calmly, yet firmly, and make your declarations. Here is what I might say when asked to clean someone’s house (or when we shoo those pesky demonized guests out after an evening of fun) –

“I command anything unclean or foul in this room to leave in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of the Living God. And I loose the Blood of the Lamb to cleanse this place and the Oil of the Holy Spirit to saturate it. This is our house and you have no legal right here.”

Your faith is exercised as you move through with no manifestations. It will be quiet and uneventful. You can do it with about the same emotion as you experience while sucking the dirt out of your carpet.

Now, there are always those who want to make this complicated. “My husband is not in the Kingdom, so can I clean my house in spite of him?” “We rent, we don’t own. Do we have authority over it?” “Our grown children are really demonized. Should we not let them come over?” Here is the simple answer to all potential concerns: Jesus spent His time with gluttons and drunkards, prostitutes and religious freaks and He stayed clean. You must learn to interact with demonized people without being victimized by them. Find out Who Christ is IN YOU, the hope of glory.

Stop reacting like victims! We are kings and priests, anxious for NOTHING!

Demons are as much a part of this creation as are we, so the awareness that they are around shouldn’t freak you out. Looking for a demon under every rock is the very definition of angel worship, or, in this case, demon worship. Don’t spend too much time giving them your attention. That’s the definition of worship. Instead, with the knowledge of their presence in hand, focus your attention on the One. Be Sheriff Andy – meek and calm rather than freaking out like Barney Fife. Meekness is simply authority under control.

Clean that dirty house, Andy, and invite those indoor demons to go outdoors!