Book review: "The Panoramic Seer"

"The Panoramic Seer-Bringing the Prophetic into the Healing Anointing" by James Maloney is a very balanced approach to a topic many Evangelicals have been afraid to look at honestly and biblically.

In a recent article, an African Pastor was criticizing the American Church for losing its power.  It has become a huge eunuch, large but incapable of reproducing.  Why?  Because they have lost the power.

We have let the professional churchman and the professional statesman (though I hesitate to use that term with today's politicians) lull us into accepting an academic Christianity, or shall I, once again use the term churchianity, because the model that is followed is the model of heirarchal church of programs and traditions exempting the church model of the book of Acts.

We have been lullyabyed into accepting a "nice" Christianity, tolerant of everyone and everything, a "nice" Jesus that gets angry at no one, not even the money changers in the temple.

Jesus modeled for us where his strength came from, and ours should be, as well.  In the garden, on our knees, away from the crowds, alone.  Yes, usually alone.  Although we do have the example of the disciples in the upper room "waiting on the Lord"...waiting for the power, the anointing to come upon them.  He who would be the greatest, must serve.  He who is weakest will become strong.  Credentials?  Few disciples had them.

James Maloney give us experiences and clues to releasing the prophetic gifting: inheritance, humility, compassion, righteousness and faith, subjects rarely discussed in discipleship today.  He talks about the secret place.  Though we receive power in that secret place, we  can only go there by letting go of all that we are, or think we are. We can only go there on our knees, not in our credentialed bonnets.

Maloney helps us discern that Jesus is not in the girations of  "agitated frenzy" activity that some groups hope will manifest the Spirit..."In reality it is a catharsis that caters to the flesh."  Because the gift of discernment has not been in operation in many evangelical circles, the operation of the Spirit was quenched in the corporate church setting in an effort to control those 'agitated frenzies' not of the Lord.

A Prayer about Things We Cannot Change" — Daily Heartlight for 01/25/2013
Written by Rubel Shelly
Many things about your life boil down to the hand you have been dealt. You can't change the fact that you were born in that place and
with certain givens for your appearance, IQ, or physical skills. Education and training can open some doors for you, but they cannot
change your past, make you taller and more athletic, or alter the fact that some people are unfair in the way they treat you.
In spite of the fact that most of our life circumstances are beyond our control, we are all still tempted to fret and complain about things
that cannot be changed. Of course they cause distress. They certainly put us at a disadvantage in certain contexts. They mustn't be
allowed to define or defeat us.
The people who do best with life move beyond the temptation to whine and feel sorry for themselves. They face their disappointments
and move beyond them. They acknowledge life's bad breaks and look for ways to turn them into growth moments. They work from a
half-full rather than half-empty glass mindset.
These people have a different attitude than the defeatist and whiner. They have found a way to make lemonade from their lemons.
There is a section in John Baillie's "A Diary of Private Prayer" that reads...
Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather
than the fruits of sin.
Let me use disappointment as material for patience;
Let me use success as material for thankfulness;
Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;
Let me use danger as material for courage;
Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;
Let me use praise as material for humility;
Let me use pleasures as material for temperance;
Let me use pains as material for endurance.
When a given day begins, countless things are headed your way over which you have no control. It may be bad weather or someone's bad temper, a
deadline that won't budge or a client equally resistant to change. The one factor you can control through it all is your attitude toward them.
Your attitude today will make all the difference in everything that matters.
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's
right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory (Colossians 3:1-4 NLT).
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Rubel Shelly preached for the Woodmont Hills Church in Nashville for thirty years.

Near to the Heart by Linda Lee

Near to the Heart

By Linda Lee Duncan

September 21, 2011

Props: One Rocking Chair

Costumes: One white robe or white clothes

Characters:

Dad: White-Clothed Gentle Father

Little Girl: 10 year old little girl

Group: 10-15 kids 5-10 years old

Scene I

10 Kids: Loudly Thunder from stage left to stage right, pushing, yelling, shoving, teasing each other.

Little Girl: Following the crowd she sees her Daddy out of the corner of her eye—she turns back to kiss him on the cheek. Starts to run and rejoin the group, but Daddy gently holds her hand. She turns toward him.

Dad: Gently pulls his daughter toward him with both hands now.

Little Girl: She sits on Daddy's lap a moment then starts to get down.

Dad: Gently, but insistently says: “ No, you just sit still a minute.”

Girl: Waits impatiently, then leans her head onto his chest.

Girl: “Daddy?”

Dad: “Yes, Honey?”

Girl: “Daddy, I can hear your heart.”

Dad: “Oh, what do you hear?”

Girl: “Thump Thump, Thump Thump”

Dad: Smiles.

LONG PAUSE.

Girl: “Daddy?”

Dad: “Yes, the Apple of my Eye?”

Girl: “You don't want me to push and shove like the other kids, do you?”

Dad: Shakes his head “no”

Girl: “I'm just gonna stay here close to your heart.”

Narrator: Isn't that what God wants for all of his children? --For us to be close enough to hear his heart, close enough to “feel” HIS Presence? It's possible. We just have to pull away from the “others” and sit quietly with Dad until we can hear His heart beat.

Scene II:

Children: Noise of the children playing in the distance.

Dad: Rocking little girl to sleep. Both look content.

Children; Noise fades, then stops altogether.

Author Unknown

The Knots Prayer

Dear God,

Please untie the knots

that are in my mind,

my heart and my life.

Remove the have nots

that I have in my mind.

Erase the will nots,

may nots,

might nots that may find

a home in my heart.

Release me from the could nots,

would nots and

should nots that obstruct my life.

And most of all,

Dear God,

I ask that you remove from my mind,

my heart and my life all of the 'am nots'

that I have allowed to hold me back,

especially the thought

that I am not good enough.

Amen.

Justice by Linda Lee/Grandma Duncan's Doodles

Justice

By Linda Lee

There's a lot of buzz about justice on the internet, with the nations of Arabs and Jews, inner city gang lingo, on the news. All the time I hear people say, “I hope he rots in hell”, “our family needs justice to have closure”, “we seek justice for this heinous crime”, or an attorney might say, “this family deserves justice”.

It sounds very close to getting even. In fact, in some religions, justice “an eye for an eye” is their mantra. Christianity of the New Testament, the New Covenant recognized that God is the only just judge. We know that if we do not forgive others their sin (injustices) God cannot forgive us ours.

We know that if I demand that my brother gets justice, then I, too deserve justice, not just for my deeds, but as Jesus said, even he who thinks evil in his heart against his brother is a murder. Really? Do you want complete justice for every thought and deed YOU have committed?

Do we know that the day is soon coming when God, the complete Sovereign Judge will mete out justice on the world. This will not be pretty. Those of us who have been “covered” completely by the blood of the substitutionary lamb/sacrifice will be “saved”. I have heard people ask, “Saved from what?” Saved from ourselves, saved from eternal judgment, saved from the effects of our sin and the consequences of our immature, selfish actions.

Along with this time of justice, God says that He will also “pour out His Spirit on all flesh”. That is very interesting. Is this the universalism view of the Gospels? Did Christ die for all? Isn't he unwilling that any should perish? What about the “son of perdition”--what will happen to him and all his comrades (murderers, adulterers, liars, thieves?) And who are they according to Jesus words? If we have entrusted our lives and will to the only Savior of the world, then we are “free”. If not, then the label and weight of sin is still upon us. And EVEN if we were completely innocent (who is that?) but could not forgive those who sin against us, then our Father in heaven cannot look upon us or our sin. Jesus is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth and the ONLY light. Some might say that is narrow minded. Well, yes, that is the point. --Straight is the gate and narrow is the way to life everlasting and wide is the way to destruction.

I am not saying we throw out our criminal justice system in favor of grace. But our motives need to be pure. If we lock someone up, is it to protect society at large or to “get even”? Is it for their benefit, is it for protection of innocents or is it to mete out our own justice? Do we offer opportunities for those who have grievously sinned to be redeemed? Do we recognize that no one has the ability to redeem themselves? Again, there is only ONE who can do that. But, we, can work in tandem with the Holy Spirit, giving up our “self-righteousness” and relinquishing it to the Judge, trusting in HIS divine Sovereignty, and freeing our own soul from the penalty of murderous sin. We need to recognize “but for the grace of God, go I”. My life has been “spared” by grace, and we need to readily be willing to offer that same grace to others. Can we do that when our child has been hurt, killed, raped, or evil has been deliberate? Forgiveness, then, is a process which requires much prayer, many helpers, time and grace as we pass through the grief and forgiveness process. Not on our own strength. We cannot be just, we cannot be forgiving, we cannot be Holy but for the strength afforded us by Christ on the Cross. We cannot be just without a personal indwelling of the only one who CAN judge rightly.

It's quite alright to be angry at sin. But we are told in our anger, do not sin.

Again, who can do that? Christ in me. Only Christ in Me. I cannot be angry in complete righteousness without the power of Christ within me.

And, for those enemies of the Cross? Leave them to the Judge. That end times judgment is coming soon, and I don't want to be caught with my bones all dried up in bitterness, but flowing freely in the oil and power of the Holy Spirit.  

September 9, 2011 in Culture,Education,Human Nature with 38 Comments
As a homeschooling family, my wife and I occasionally get the predictable, worn-out question, “But what about their social life?”
First of all, the question is utterly bizarre to me, given how much social interaction our kids get between several homeschool groups with tons of activities and outings, and myriad other activities, such as art classes, dance classes, cooking classes, Judo, flag football, etc., not to mention how much they play with neighborhood kids.
The idea that homeschoolers don’t get healthy social interaction is such a backwards, 20-years-ago perception.
Secondly, it makes me laugh when I think back to my public school experience.
Here’s what public school taught me about socialization:

• It’s okay — encouraged, even — to make fun of anyone “different” than you and your core group of friends, particularly the weak, weird, mentally and physically disabled, and poor.
  

• Within an “acceptable” range, everyone should dress, act, and think like everyone else, and those in any way and to the slightest degree outside of the norm should expect to be mocked mercilessly.
  

• Appearances are everything.
  

• You should only interact with those in your grade. Those in higher grades are cooler than you (and are therefore entitled to bully you and everyone else younger than them), and those in lower grades are less than you.
  

• You should compare yourself to and militantly compete with others.
  

• What your peers think of you is far more important than what you think of yourself, or what God thinks of you. Sacrifice everything for popularity.
  

• Don’t question authority; teachers and other authority figures know besWhat are We Socializing Them For? t. Stay in line. There’s an established, “right” way for everything — don’t deviate.
  

“The idea of learning acceptable social skills in a school is as absurd to me as learning nutrition from a grocery store.” -Lisa Russell

Based on most accounts I’ve heard, this is quite typical public school “socialization,” which is interesting in and of itself.
But here’s where it gets really interesting: Nowhere outside of high school have any of these been my experience, at least not nearly to the degree felt in high school.
Sure, I’ve experienced the very typical (and relatively benign) perceptions and comments regarding our non-traditional views on things like education, homebirthing, politics, etc.
But nothing even close to the overt and extremely aggressive ostracization, mocking, competitiveness, and bullying I witnessed in high school.
Rather than attending high school my junior and senior years, I attended a community college through a program called Running Start.
Not a single person in college ever cared about what clothes I wore, who I hung out with, what my interests were, how old I was, etc.
It was a completely different world than high school.
In fact, in college diversity was appreciated and encouraged much more than conformity. Everyone I interacted with was respectful and accepting.
It was encouraged to question commonly-accepted truths, habits, societal arrangements, etc.
Since leaving high school, I’ve never had a single friend who cared one whit about my fashion sense (or lack thereof, as the case may be).
I’ve yet to interact with an adult who thinks it’s really cool to make fun of those less privileged than them.
I’m still waiting for an adult to bully me because they’re a year older than me, or an adult to fear me because they’re younger than me.
If socialization outside of public school is nothing like, or is at least substantially different from socialization in public school, then what in the name of John Dewey are we socializing our kids for?
For those who disagree with my experience with and perception of public school socialization, who really value socialization and worry that your kids won’t get it outside of public school, I have a sincere question for you:
What do you want your kids to get from public school socialization (or socialization in general)?
I imagine your responses would include:

• You want them to be confident, emotionally mature, well-adapted, respectful, and considerate.
• You want them to be able to interact with, relate to, and positively influence anyone, regardless of age, race, culture, or any differences of opinions or perceptions.
• You want them to have the courage to stand up for what’s right, even and especially when it’s not popular.
• You want them to be a leader, not a follower.
• You want them to learn to strive for excellence, but without feeling the need to “beat” or denigrate others in the process.
• You want them to develop the maturity to respect authority for the right reasons without accepting it unquestioningly, and, as needed, to learn to question and change things wisely and effectively.
  

Right?
Well, we share those desires.
I’m not trying to convince anyone that homeschooling is better than public schooling — as a well-adjusted, socialized adult who believes in freedom, tolerance, and diversity, I wholeheartedly respect and embrace you, no matter your opinions on the subject.
But I am inviting those who advocate public school for the sake of socialization to question what your children are actually getting in the way of socialization.
As Manfred Zysk wrote in his thought-provoking article “Homeschooling and the Myth of Socialization,”

“A family member asked my wife, ‘Aren’t you concerned about his (our son’s) socialization with other kids?’. My wife gave this response: ‘Go to your local middle school, junior high, or high school, walk down the hallways, and tell me which behavior you see that you think our son should emulate.’”

And for those concerned that our homeschooled children aren’t getting enough or appropriate socialization, I’m inviting you to consider that there are other ways to achieve healthy socialization, and we’re not raising our kids to be cloistered, introverted misfits.
We’re not opting them out of society.
We’re just opting them out of the strange public school bubble that, in our experience, doesn’t even represent normal, healthy society.
In other words, we’re socializing them for what they’ll actually experience beyond high school.

Recommended Reading:

• “Socialization: Homeschooling Vs. Schools” by Michael Haverluck
• “Homeschooling and the Myth of Socialization” by Manfred Zysk
• “Public School vs. Homeschool Socialization” by Joan Vasquez
  

Related Articles:

• I hardly know where to begin…
• Weekly Link Love: Cheering Death, Glenn Beck, Obamaism, & Empire
• If You Could Have It, Would You Really Want It?
• My Test of Character
  

Poems I love:

Dancing with God By: Elaine L. Guercio

When I meditated on the word “Guidance”,
I kept seeing “dance” at the end of the word.

I remember reading that doing God’s will is a lot like dancing.
When two people try to lead, nothing feels right.
The movement doesn’t flow with the music, and everything is quite
uncomfortable and jerky.

When one person realizes that and lets the other lead, both bodies begin to
flow with the music.

One gives gentle cues, perhaps with a nudge to the back or by pressing
lightly in one direction or another.

It’s as if two become one body, moving beautifully.
The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person
and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

My eyes drew back to the word “guidance”.
When I saw “G”, I thought of God, followed by “U” and “I”.
“God”, “U” and “I” “dance”.
God, you and I dance.

As I lowered my head, I became willing to trust that I would get guidance
about my life.

Once again, I became willing to let God lead.
My prayer for you today is that God’s Blessings and mercies be upon you on
this day and every day.

May you abide in God as God abides in you.
Dance together with God, trusting God to lead and guide you through each
season of your life.

This prayer is powerful, and there is nothing attached.
If God has done anything for you in your life, please share this message
with someone else.

For prayer is one of the best gifts we can receive.
There is no cost but a lot of rewards.

So let’s continue to pray for one another.
And I hope you DANCE!!!

Grandma Duncan's Doodles

Faith Growing Like Wildfire

By Linda Lee

The Word teaches that it is impossible to please God without faith. (Hebrews 11:6). Fear is the opposite of faith.

I had accepted Jesus as a child, but somewhere along the line I took up a performance orientation. Though I loathed tradition for tradition's sake, I had set up 'my' standards for being a godly person… I tried to be a good girl, a good mother, a good Pastor's wife...I was a righteous woman, just as Job was a righteous man.

It took me many years battling fear before I could say I had a relative degree of freedom. --Somewhere along the line, I got the idea that I could take my fear to Jesus. That is a good thing, right? But speaking the negative was actually reinforcing it in my mind

Of course, we can take anything to God and he hears our prayer. ( ) But, he is honored when we pray IN FAITH...not fear.

Job was a righteous man. Yet, he says, "The thing that I feared has come upon me..." There are laws of nature in operation in our world that God put in place. Gravity. We can pray to be able to fly all day long, and barring a true miracle, we won't fly--it would invalidate the law of gravity that God instituted. When we pray fear prayers, we are violating God's plan that we act, pray and "live by faith"...

Example: Instead of praying, "please, please God, don't let me get a flat tire (victim prayers) when I go into the city; Go into the city with God, thanking Him for his grace, power, provision, blessing...and if a flat tire happens, we praise God for how this will work to our good because of His law in operation: "all things work together for good to those who love God AND are THE CALLED according to HIS purposes. “I am called to HIS purposes, so I look for HIS hand in the process of getting the tire fixed. Is there someone to bless, to speak to, is He allowing me to develop patience?--Am I looking for and praising Him in the midst of the situation because I am "praying without ceasing"? The Word further teaches me that I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD...I don't just bear His name, He is in me.

God was taking Job to a deeper place. Job was a righteous man, yet God says to him in Job 40:8 " Will you also annul (set aside and render void) My judgment? Will you condemn me your God, that you may (appear) righteous and justified?" In the Old Testament we see many instances where God is foreshadowing His grace, moving from the law which brings death to The Spirit which brings LIFE.

After such strenuous wrestling with God, Job says this: “I know now that You can do all things, and that no thought or purpose of Yours can be restrained or thwarted." Job now believes in his heart, not just in his head, that God is Sovereign. “Verse 3: "Therefore, I now see I have rashly uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." Verse 5-6, “I had heard of You (only) by the hearing of the ear, but now my [spiritual] eye sees you, Therefore I loathe (my words) and abhor and repent in the dust and ashes." Then the Lord speaks in verse 8 of accepting Job's prayer, as opposed to the offerings of his friends...Why did the Lord accept Job's prayer? Because… Job had learned to be "in" a relationship with God not just in duty and sacrifice, not in form and ritual. Job had learned "not my will, but yours be done.” "After this" (after Job's trial, testing, wrestling with God, the Word says that he lived 140 years) "the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning." The Spirit brings life. Our words of faith rather than fear bring life.

We form our own world with the words that we speak. We are created in the image of God. When God formed the world, He did it with His words, (And here's an aside: God said that Job was righteous man...was he a righteous man at the point God said it? Or, did God see and declare what Job would be?)We form our world, our situations, our family patterns with the words that we speak...whether to God, to others or in prayer...that is why Job repented of his words...Life and death are in the power of the tongue and that is especially true as we consider how we pray...Before we carelessly utter words to God, (thank God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us), ask of the Father, what is HIS will concerning this matter, what would HIS desire be?. Is there some lesson someone may be learning in the midst of their trial? Would we by our prayers deny them that lesson?

It is hard to watch our kids struggle to learn to tie their shoes, but it is a skill necessary for life...(well, at least before Velcro) and there are times as good parents, we wait, watch and let them struggle for a reason...Job, struggled, not because he was evil, but because God wanted relationship with Job. He wanted Job to live by faith. God knew what struggle would develop in Job’s life. Life and death are in the power of the tongue as much or more rather, than in the deeds we methodically perform, however righteous, noble, needed those deeds might be to the church system.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Lord, thank you for the sunshine outside today.  Thank you for rest and food and friends.  Thank you for your unspeakable gift to us--forgiveness of sins by your outrageous sacrifice.

We invite your Holy Spirit to direct us this day, in all we do and say.  Let us bask in the Shekinah Glory, if that is possible.  Let us see, hear, sense and feel your power.  Prepare us for the week ahead.  Protect us from the temptation of the enemy and our own fleshly desires.Create in us a clean heart, renew a right spirit within.

Bless our marriage.  Bless our family unto a thousand generations, not because we are good, but because YOU are good.  Destroy every plot of the enemy against our family.  but also, teach us to reach out and include in Your circle of love those that you send to us.

Good Afternoon.  My son's girlfriend just graciously set me up  with a new blog account.

I am looking forward to posting articles that I have written priviously, along with thoughts that provoke my thinking, current events, issues of life and love and spirituality.  Heart issues.  We live in a society focused on materialism, education, me-ism, success and empty mindless media activities.  Like ancient Rome, or older Russia,  America has forgotten its heart, its foundation.  And we are this very moment reaping what we have sown.  It is a biblical principle, a Law of Nature that we cannot change.  When God set the world in motion with a word, he set in motion the laws of the universe like gravity, like reaping and sowing.

We look for the enemy but the enemy is us.  Just today, I bought my grandaughter a barbie for her birthday...why?  Why did I succumb to that pressure?  What does Barbie teach?  What does she contribute to the developing mind and values of my young granddaughter?  Do I want her to grow up with skin deep values?

We will take her to a ballet (culture) and hopefully enjoy a nice age appropriate conversation at lunch.   Hopefully, we will be teaching her to listen and to discuss.  Hopefully we will instill the value that her Creator made her unique and she is valuable to HIM.   But also, may she never get the idea the world revolves around her--expecting and demanding from others.

I see three kinds of people:  those who had and continue to expect and demand, those who never had therefore they expect and demand and those who have learned to give and expect only what God gives freely and lovingly to His precious children, what is good for their development and inner growth and strength.

So, we will suggest that our grandaughter give one of her Barbie's to a little girl that has no Barbie, and we will see how willing she can let loose of that she values for the benefit of others.  At 6, we expect only what she can freely give...and we will praise her every moment so that she learns the joy in giving.  Just as Grandpa and Grandma have so much joy in giving to her.  One day, one fraction of a lesson...and 7 grandchildren.  LORD help us.  Help us give graciously and generously as you do to us, but help us to wisely know what lessons may need to be learned and our part in that lesson.