It's 2020 - and the Lord Keeps Cycling Me Back to Joash's Arrows.

 

It has happened again. I haven't been keeping a strict count, but this must be at least the fifth time in the past year that the Holy Spirit has led me back to Elisha's final prophecy to Joash, King of Israel. 

[There were two kings named Joash, one in the southern kingdom of Judah, and one in Israel to the north, which is the one referred to here. A few translations use Johoash to refer to this king of Israel.]

The story is recorded in 2 Kings 13.   

Elisha was on his deathbed. Scripture is not specific about his illness, but he was old enough that "natural causes" is a reasonable guess. Joash,  king of Israel, comes to see him.  This is somewhat extraordinary in part because under normal circumstances kings did not visit prophets- they summoned them, and also because Joash wasn't exclusively devout; he had continued the worship of calves alongside the worship of Jehovah in Israel, which definitely counts as "doing evil." Only God knows exactly where the king's heart was.

When Joash saw Elisha, he greeted him with, "My father, my father! The chariots and the horsemen of Israel!" That quote parallels what Elisha had said when Elijah was translated into heaven. At some level, whether it was subtle intuition or a full open vision, scripture is not specific, Joash was aware of the intersection of the physical and the spiritual realms there in the room with Elisha.  At least twice before, the imagery of fiery chariots and horses imagery had manifest in Elisha's life. The first time, Elisha was separated from Elijah, his mentor, by a chariot and horses of fire, and he watched as Elijah was caught up to heaven in a whirlwind. (2 Kings 2:12)  In the other recorded instance, Elisha asked the Lord to open the eyes of his fearful servant; when the servant looked up, the hills were full with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  (2 Kings 6:17) 

So when Joash greeted Elisha using nearly the same words that Elisha had used when Elijah was caught up to heaven, a lot was being communicated, both personally and nationally, both historically and in the moment, both in this earthly realm and the spiritual kingdom of heaven, and between the two roles of both the king and the prophet over Israel.  

In response,  Elisha told Joash to take a bow and arrows. Elisha put his hands on Joash's hand as he held the bow. And after that impartation (so that use of the bow would be of God and not man's strength alone)  Elisha said, "Open the east window." So Joash opened it. Elisha said, "Shoot!" So Joash shot.  Elisha then explains that was the Lord's arrow of victory, and that Joash is to fight until he completely destroys his enemies, the Syrians in Aphek.  

Next, Elisha tells the king to take his remaining arrows and strike the ground with them. Joash strikes the ground three times...and stopped.   And verse 19 continues: The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Syria and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."

AND THAT RIGHT THERE is the reason that the Lord Keeps Cycling Back to Striking the Arrows.  Joash ended with a partial victory when it had been the Lord's will for him to have a complete one. 

And now, in 2020, this story is relevant.  

As I noted, Joash wasn’t exclusively devout.  He showed respect for Elisha, but... his obedience was incomplete.  I think many of us read the story and get hung up on, "How was Joash supposed to know? Elisha never told him how many times to strike the ground!"   

He should have known.  Joash knew enough to obey the prophet, but he lacked the full understanding that a close relationship with the Lord would have given him.  He lacked knowledge of how many strikes it would take to obey God because he lacked intimacy with God.  Three times seemed good to Joash's reasoning. 

To restate:  Joash's lack of a close, personal relationship with God left him vulnerable to not being able to receive ALL that God would have done for him.  Three victories was nice. Total annihilation that extended victory to the next generation would have been better.  Provision was literally in his hand when he stopped it prematurely. 

IT'S A BOOTCAMP PLANET 

As I said at the start, the Lord has brought me back to this incident with King Joash and Elisha's final prophecy several times throughout the year.  Each time, this same basic story has revealed another application to life on this Bootcamp Planet where practically everything that isn't training is a test, and where the rest, recuperation, and refreshing seem distantly spaced.  Sometimes the message has directed me about not giving up too soon, or about how to pray, or as in insight into current events...  I'll list some related scripture in the footnotes.¹  But when the story cycled back this time, it was all about the the role of the Ecclesia-Church.  

The "Ecclesia Church" is defined in 1 Peter 2:9.  We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, who are to proclaim the virtues of Him who called us. 

Here's that verse translated from the Aramaic— 

But you are God’s chosen treasure³—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own. He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.

God chose you for His own so that you would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world. 

 

THE PRACTICAL APPLICATION  

As I repeated in the last section, the Lord has brought me back to the King Joash and Elisha's final prophecy story several times throughout the year.  Sometimes it was for personal direction, other times it was about insight into America's media and its chaotic influence.²  But the main reason that I am putting it into blog form is because this time it has qualities of being a prophetic picture for the Ecclesia of 2020.  

Joash struck his arrows only three times. The prophet said he should have done it six. Three was partial obedience. Halfway was the lukewarm response.  It would win a couple little battles and people would celebrate in their home towns, but Joash did not stay in there to "display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you" (AMPC) so that the world could see God at work.  God gave Joash victory, but Joash stopped before showing God's glory to the world.

Joash could not show the greatness of God consistently because he was compromised. He had not cleared the ceremonial places of idol worship from the hilltops of Israel because he'd never desperately sought or received a personal revelation of God's Holiness.  Judging by the action of going to see Elisha and his partial obedience to the prophets voice of the Lord,  Joash saw God as a divine helper.  He did not fully grasp the Holiness of God.

I'm speculating now, but it seems to me as though Joash thought of God the way people think of government assistance, sort of a mix of appreciation with entitlement. That may stop short of being  grossly disrespectful, but it is still pretty insulting and not the way a Holy God should be treated.  

Life's choices become simplified when we treat God as Holy.  It is a relationship thing. If Joash had been all-in, believing that Elisha was giving him the Word of the Lord, then he'd have beat those arrows on the ground until they were too splintered to stay together. Faith does not stop and question and analyze once it hears. When Faith has come by hearing, you just go with it.  All the way.  You ride that pony home.

 

FOOTNOTES 

¹ Stretch & Stand Scripture 

2 Chronicles 20:12   O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

Nehemiah 4:14   After I made an inspection, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the great and awe-inspiring Lord, and fight for your countrymen, your sons and daughters, your wives and homes."

Jeremiah 12:5    If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? 

Isaiah 40:31   But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.

Galatians 6:9   And we should not grow weary in well-doing. For in due time we will reap a harvest, if we do not lose heart.

James 1:4   Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

² 'chaotic influence' is a rather polite way of referring to intentional lying about the efficacy of wearing masks, about hydroxychloroquine, and about President Trump including lying by omission, and its gross misrepresentation of former VP Biden.  I thought 'chaotic influence' was less off-putting than calling them agents of Baal, although that term is perfectly accurate as well. 

³ This is taken from Ex. 19:5-6 and Mal. 3:17. The Hebrew word is ségulla, which means “a special treasure” (possession). It is used to describe “guarded wealth,” indicating the placement of the king’s jewels, treasures, etc., in a safe, protected place because of their extraordinary value. God says that each believer is a priest and king, his unique and special treasure of great importance—a treasure above all other treasures.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Church Ready to Meet God as Judge of the Wicked?

 

America has entered a season when the Wicked are to be Judged. 

I say Hallelujah!   And if you think I have a "mean" attitude, then you need to shut up now so that you won't look like a fool later.   

I say "Hallelujah!" because I am in full agreement with God. I am not saying it from any sense of of schadenfreude where I am delighting in another human being's failure. I am not saying it to be unkind.   I say "Hallelujah!" because I want God to show Himself strong in Justice!

I'm pretty sure that Judgment isn't going to look anything like what we were led to expect. (I explain that later.)  And I am positive that these unrealistic expectations will cause segments (I said segments;  not all, but some sectors) of the church to be so upset that they will find themselves opposing God.  An opportunistic devil-enemy will take advantage of those who get offended to try and either divide the church, suppress her into silence, or both.  

We Are In A Season When The Wicked Are Being Judged

Notice that the section heading says "The Wicked." It does not say "America."  God is preparing to judge the wicked, not take down the United States. Throughout the past couple decades, and particularly throughout the Obama years, I kept running into people who were convinced that America was doomed. They'd point to abortion. They'd point to homosexuality. They liked to quote Ruth (Mrs. Billy) Graham's 1965 observation, "If God doesn't judge America, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology." And they were ready to line up to get smacked.  I don't think pedophilia among the elite was on their radar or they've have wanted to be smacked even harder. 

I never really got that. America has always had a right-to-life voice that included compassionate resources for healing women who had come to regret their choice. A lot of people had supported DOMA¹ and lost friends and jobs/income over after Obama lit up the White House with a pilfered rainbow. It never settled with me why—if God would spare Sodom for 12, and since America certainly exceeded that ratio—these "church people" were so gun-ho on God judging America AND AT THE SAME TIME, the SAME PEOPLE would be the first to attempt to shame me for calling people who were sinning on purpose "bad."  Perhaps they will find some comfort in knowing that I no longer do that. I have graduated to calling those who intentionally choose to repeat sins "wicked." 

It took a long while, but it now seems that God honored the petitions and repentance of those minority voices:  that Judgment will be selective on the wicked and America will be saved. 

 The Role of The Church

The main role of the church, the role that applies to every individual in the body, is the Exodus 14:13 mandate. That is when  Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord."  There are three dynamic/action verbs in that assignment.  1. Don't fear. Just don't. 2. Stand firm. As opposed to lazy lounging, standing requires use of the backbone. 3. See the Salvation. God wants witnesses. It appears simple, but this third one may be a challenge for intermittent and lukewarm believers who are largely unaware of happenings in the spirit realm. For example, have you *seen* that allowing Joe Biden to be named president-elect without any proof has reduced much of the planned riots?  If an arctic cold front blows through the day that the courts decide that President Trump was reelected, will you *see* that as the Lord's providential hand in slowing the rioters?  On on the other side of the spirit-coin, did you *see* the pictures of Democrats meeting in the Capitol last June to release demons? The news stations probably told you that was a memorial to George Floyd, but it was an occult ritual to those who could see it.  

Additionally, some individuals will be called to report evidence of election fraud—to officials if they witnesses it, but also to share the evidence that the media suppresses so that the people they care about will not remain ignorant. Some Christian soldiers may be called to organize a fast for protection of whistle blowers, inspire others to steadfastness with psalms of worship, lead a communion service with prayer for the justices and officers of the court, or to speak out in some manner, possibly as a witness,  maybe as a teacher,  or any number of ways that God would use a person's talent and position. 

When truth come out, it is often blunt. It tends to rankle people. But the church, God's voice on Earth, must not keep silent; she must speak.  Are the Christians who prefer Jesus as the shepherd who cuddles lambs and goes off to rescue lost sheep going to get offended when the Judge seems uncaring and unkind?  I mean, shouldn't we just show mercy to liars and cheats and all of us try to get along?  No. That would be defiantly opposing God in the name of being nice.  Scripture calls such rebellion against God's intended purpose "witchcraft."  And the arrogance of being offended by the Lord is like the wickedness of idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:23 

To answer the title's question, "is the church ready to meet God as judge of the wicked?" my best-guess answer is, "Not entirely."  

One "Traditional" Problem

Whenever the Lord does a new thing, (and I am maintaining that we are moving into a new season where the Lord will be showing His Judge side) our church traditions become a liability.  It is not that they were bad; it is that over time we gave them lopsided importance, or worse, indifference. Here's an example: 

In my lifetime, I have encountered a disproportionate quantity of preaching, teaching, group studying on Romans 12:18, If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  Commonly, this was taught as: So far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  The "If possible" part was usually treated like an introduction to the rest of the verse. I am certainly not knocking the notion of doing what we can to live in peace with others, but only very rarely was the question of "What would make it impossible to live in peace?" ever addressed. In other words, what things should we NOT be willing to compromise on? What things are worth fighting for? What is worth being ostracized over?
Mostly, I have had to dig out the answer to that part in real life. Meanwhile, another result is that a whole lot of I-save-God-for-Sunday people think that peace is more important than defending biblical principles, and their definition of peace is "absence of outward conflict."  So when I meet these people, they usually think that I am rigid, or too judgmental, or simply strange.  😂   

If the church is going to fulfill her destiny as the voice of God on earth in this new season, then she is going to have to hone up on what is worth fighting for and not allow herself to be gagged.  

A Second  Problem, this time Non-Traditional

I am still talking about the Church and her role as the voice of God on earth.  I am talking about the importance of The Decree.  Roughly 45 years ago, the Lord was doing another then-new thing. In the 1970s, most church prayers fell into one of two categories: thanksgiving or petitions.  When the Holy Spirit began revealing more layers to prayer, one of these, the Decree, took off like a rocket,² and it was quickly attacked by the enemy. Almost as soon as what came to be known as the "Word Church" or the "Word of Faith" movement was born, it was attacked as "Blab it and Grab it" or "Name it and Claim it." Simultaneously, a second front of attack found televangelists often rightly, but sometimes falsely, being accused of greed.  The level of intensity of these attacks probably ought to have been a clue that there is a real nugget of Truth getting buried by all the flak. 

One of the several scripture bases for the Decree is Job 22:27-28.    

You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows. You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways. NASB³

Americans that had grown up in WASP⁴ churches that taught all the miracles had gone away with the death of the apostles had a hard time believing that one could take scripture at face value. Who could believe that simply speaking to a mountain would cause it to be cast into the sea? Mark 11:23. Or was John serious when he said to ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you? John 15:7.  One minute I was told to "be like Jesus" and then the next minute I was told I could not speak to the storm⁵ and expect results.  

The fact is, making a decree is part of the voice that God has given to the Church; at the minimum, believers ought to be able to agree on this decree: "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." It really is a declaration and not a request.

"They" Want the Church to Shut Up and Go Away

Surrendering our voice would be a grave error. We do not need to apologize for agreeing to hate what God hates. A list of seven things God finds despicable⁶ are in the footnotes.  Jesus did not worry about proper manners or about hurting someone's feelings when the offense to His Father was of greater import.
...and for those who don't know, in Luke 13 when they tried to suppress Jesus and told him to leave because Herod wanted to kill him, and when Jesus replied, "Go tell that fox that I will keep on..."   It may not come across in the English, but fox had a double meaning. He wasn't only calling Herod sly; it was also a slur referencing Herod's sexual proclivities. Jesus kept it real.

 ♦ ♦ ♦   America has been in a full-on spiritual battle for some time.  The Church's role is to raise a standard of awareness, clearly delineating between good and evil. The world needs the Church to tell them that fraud is not "just politics," fraud is a commandment-breaker and is evil committed by wicked persons.  We have entered a season when the Wicked are to be Judged and we cannot get mushy now and attempt to remain politically correct, or worse, allow the wicked to muzzle the Church. 

 

Footnotes

¹ Defense Of Marriage Act 

² "took off like a rocket" is true in regard to public perception. When the history of the Word-Church movement is more fully studied, one finds substantial, practical foundation work was laid; it wasn't just a launch pad. 

³ New American Standard Bible

⁴ White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant 

⁵ There was an evil entity behind the storm; it was an unnatural phenomena.

⁶eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
one who spreads strife among brothers   

The Death of the Ostrich

 Yesterday a Facebook friend posted:   

It is extremely sad that I have fear of what is to come after this election. Riots are already planned depending on who wins! This is pathetic.

To which I replied: 

 *Sad* is not my emotion. Since the mid-1990s I have had too many people tell me how *wrong* I was for trying to mix church and state. You would not believe how often I heard that opinion from so many church-goers! They were perfectly fine with the church's voice being silenced in government, compromised in education, compartmentalized when it came to entertainment, and most certainly in staying out of the nasty political stuff. *Pathetic* does fit, however. Pathetic that so many abdicated years ago.

And the friend was adamant:  

this had nothing to do with church/christianity.

And since it would be extremely rude to commandeer and pursue this topic on someone else's wall, I am blogging:

The chaos has everything to do with the Church! What I find sad is the disconnect between the church and what is happening on our streets. How can one miss seeing that spiritual war has come to us?

There is no deep theology going on here. This is how I could explain it to a little kid using a simplified God's Word® Translation of John 10:10.  > A thief (the devil) comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I (Jesus) came so that my sheep (the people who trust Jesus) will have life and so that they will have everything they need.   

The gospel gave us a very simple 3-point checklist for judging the rioters.

1.  Do they steal? Yes, looting is rampant. 
2.  Do they kill? Yes, "Three Trump supporters have been executed, one in Portland, one in Denver, and one Milwaukee," to quote Allen West. 
3.  Do they destroy? Yes, from graffiti to arson, the rioters specialize in destruction. 

The pass the devil-inspired test in spades!  Let's keep going to find out what Jesus has to do with it. Again using God's Word® simplified translation, this time 1 John 3:8.  > The person who lives a sinful life belongs to the devil, because the devil has been committing sin since the beginning. The reason that the Son of God (Jesus) appeared was to destroy what the devil does.

Got that?  Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil!  

That means: THIS IS ABOUT HIS CHURCH! Are we not His body?

The spirit realm is real. Jesus is just as much about destroying the works of the devil as He is about saving souls from the devil. It is two sides of the same coin, and it was the worldview for disciples of Bible times. Our Western Culture Worldview is lopsided in this regard; we are properly all about salvation, which is Jesus the Lamb of God, but too neglectful in balancing other aspects of Jesus, such as the Captain of the Host of warring angels and the King with the government upon His shoulders. 

The pre-covid church that sticks its head in the sand will not survive 2020; its carcass will get left behind.  

Mario Murillo, an evangelist from California where Governor Gavin Newsom has done everything possible to keep the Church in lockdown, says that when he began his ministry in Berkley preaching against drugs, no one ever accused him of being a pharmacist, but when the Lord changed the focus of his evangelistic ministry (roughly around the 2012 election cycle) and he began preaching against things that God calls an abomination, he was accused of being a politician!  For me, that story illustrates how far off the rails society's perception of the Church has become. 

Preaching biblical marriage is called hate-speech. Preaching against abortion is called misogynistic. And Covid19 has been weaponized to force the Church into a false submission to government. So, reverting back to a phrase used in the Jesus People movement of the 1960s, You Bet Your Bippie that the "sad and disappointing riots" are a full-on attack against the Christian Church.  

Political Attacks ARE Spiritual. The are driven by demonic principalities and powers. During the founding of our nation the Black Robed Regiment was the name given to the clergy that recognized the spiritual component of the revolution spoke out for freedom.  They were not deceived by the false teaching that has blinded so many of this era:  Romans 13.  That chapter starts out with verse 1 > "Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. NIV."  

If you stop there, you will be deceived.  Keep reading because there are multiple qualifiers included.  Verse 3: Rulers that are operating in God's authority are not terrorizing people who do what is right. Ergo: Rulers who arrest, jail, and fine worshipers are operating outside of  God's authority. Verse 4: Rulers who punish for no proper reason are operating outside of  God's authority, and perhaps even more obviously, rulers who let criminals go free and fail to deal with the wrongdoers are operating outside of  God's authority.  The Church is not subject to demonic rulers who are operating outside of  God's authority!  Whatever is outside God's authority is demonic.

The Church that survives 2020 and flourishes in 2021 will need godly discernment. Some of our political leaders have unleashed wicked spiritual entities in America. The good news is that we have been given authority over the power of the enemy. Believers are equipped with spiritual armor and have the authority to use the Name of Jesus. Jesus blood is effective in all realms. Training never ends, but we are well supplied. 

 

This half-hour video is well worth listening to if you want to understand more of the battle that has come to the Church.  Jezebel's Daughter & the Post Election War   *

 Of course, it is not as is I am just letting a post-election war happen!  I've been praying for peace in my precinct since last August.  Last Saturday I drove to my polling place and spoke an on-premises prayer. It is important to speak with our voice over places, and cities, and territories, and nations.

 

 

*  If the link does not open, you can copy & paste:  https://youtu.be/OyKBVcsux2E

  

 
 

What would Jesus do about Mask Mandates?

I have researched the efficacy of face masks, the rationale for mandating them in public, and yes, I even asked the Lord what He thought about masks. (Imagine that! I asked Him what was in His heart.)

I got an answer, and I will tell you about it,  but first...

Put "Should a Christian wear a mask?" into your favorite search engine and, while there is no consensus, you will find that there are three major arguments being made. Two are for mask-wearing, the authors sounding fairly adamant that Jesus would wear a mask as he went about his daily business with others, and the other group is against the idea that Jesus would wear a mask in public. All three points-of-view quote scripture for support, but none completely match what the Holy Spirit revealed to me.  So first, here are those three arguments:

#1 Wear-the-Mask Argument

This is the Love Your Neighbor argument in which wearing a mask is "an act of love" that protects others.

But the science is not there to support this. Unless you are around a person whose immune system is already compromised (a person who probably ought not be out in the public marketplace to begin with,) you will not find direct, hard evidence that healthy or asymptomatic persons are protecting others by wearing masks. It is all inference. There are no controlled trials that have shown that the basic cloth face mask can prevent transmission of a virus, however, there are studies that show improper use can be worse than none at all.  Healthy persons increase their own risk of developing health issues when their air flow is restricted as the mask picks up moisture from natural breathing and sweat; you can find the science that supports detrimental risk.  

When healthy people wear masks in a fluid retail environment, they visually reinforce disinformation and project a false sense of security.  How is promotion of deceptive propaganda a "loving" behavior?  It is not. Would Jesus enable a lie? Love rejoices when truth prevails.

#2 Wear-the-Mask Argument

This is the God Sets Authorities argument in which the exegesis for Hebrews 13:17 is misdirected and a legalistic interpretation of Romans 13:1-7 has to be pulled wildly out of context, not allowing verses 3 through 7 to interpret verses 1 and 2.

• Hebrews 13:17 refers to spiritual authority and has limited relevance to mask-wearing unless applied to spiritual forces that drive earthly authorities.

• The passage from Romans opens with, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."  Subsequent verses clearly outline some limits, one being that it applies to moral, competent authority—rulers who are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.  When a couple lawfully defends their home against gun-toting intruders — only to have the "governing authorities" tamper with the evidence, charge the homeowners with felonies, but not arrest the rioters that broke down the gate, then these government officials are not meeting the standard set in verse 4 where they are "to carry out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer."  They are punishing the innocent. Only legalism of Pharisaic proportion could arrive at the conclusion that God wants the innocent punished while the guilty to go free. The verse was never intended to give lawless officials ungodly powers.

Jesus gave his disciples authority too, using the same Greek word ἐξουσία.  Christians are to use authority over the unclean spirits that are obviously working through evil leaders.  I've always said that you don't have to bake brownies for the devil; we do not owe purveyors of deliberate evil our kindness and respect.  The mask mandates originated in darkness, as I show later. 

#3 Never-Wear-the-Mask Argument

There is an expression, Every mile of road has two miles of ditches.  Whereas #1 & #2 ran off into the left hand ditch, #3 veers toward the right, being pushed hard by pride. 

This is the recalcitrant Don't Tread on Me argument. And legally they are correct; neither the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution with its Bill of Rights give mask-mandate power to government. If the Court rules that they can, then it is just as wrong a ruling as Roe v Wade was—there is no legitimate authority to kill babies either.  However, without love, this argument becomes a booming brass and a clanging cymbal, cf 1 Corinthians 13.  A person who wants to 'be like Jesus' will not position him/herself in a place without mercy. "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." James 2:13.
 

None Of The Above

When I discussed masks with the Lord, I found that he doesn't endorse any of those positions. His heart is grieved.

I am going to repeat that so it can sink in: His heart is grieved. Lies have been used to restrict and shutter up the church, His Bride. And Christians, who should have armored up for warfare, are too often preaching a false gospel that Jesus would have worn a mask.  What the Church ought to have done/be doing is standing and praying against the spirits of Control (Jezebel), Chaos, (Leviathan) and Sorcery (Pharmakia) which have been loosed across our nation and the world to steal, to kill, and to destroy.  We have had god-given drugs and treatments for this virus from very early on, but those who submit to powers of darkness have kept them from 'we the people.' The delay is largely our (the Church's) fault; lacking knowledge of this spiritual war and lacking boldness to stand against evil.  Because too few spent time seeking Him first,  many became sucked into lying narratives.   

The mask-wearing grieves Jesus; masks are visible evidence of how far the devil's schemes have invaded the United States.  The mask-mandates are intended to silence the righteous. I always knew this in my intuitive spirit, but now I have the words to express in a blog. For the most part, I will not wear a mask because it grieves the Holy Spirit so deeply.  But He also pointed me to 1 Corinthians 10:28b-29 which says:

for the sake of conscience— the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?…

In context, Paul had been teaching about eating meat sacrificed to idols, but here, it is the underlying principle that matters—not giving the devil a ledge to stand on. So while Paul was personally fine with eating the meat, if it was going to give the devil a hold on someone else, he would not eat it. And that right there is your answer to what would Jesus do about mask mandates: He would not let any glory go to the devil.  He would not give the devil a ledge to stand on. 

A part of me is horrified to see the reasoning that many blogs and articles are using to support their premise that Jesus would wear a mask. They use incredibly submissive argumentation —  If Jesus was willing to experience humiliation, suffering, and death on a cross, surely he would wear a mask, they say. It is as if they missed the entire point of the resurrection: Defeating the devil!     Jesus died on the cross so that he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery, Heb 2:14.

That defeat of the devil changed everything.  The victory of the resurrection changed everything.  Jesus is not going back to the cross.

In fact, this is The Connect to the Unforgivable Sin: If you feel that wearing a mask shows proper submission to government authority, and if you also see that same authority is actively at war against the Church, banning her freedom of peaceable assembly, abridging her freedom of speech, and restricting her free exercise of worship, then you are in the upstream rapids of not considering the work of the Holy Spirit to be Sufficient, and you are headed for the plunge of crucifying Jesus again. (If you are feeling touchy now, please see the footnote; also see the footnote if you think I am being overly dramatic and it is not really all that serious.) 

We can resist the devil because of Jesus’ finished work. We cannot either add to or diminish his finished work without being in error. 

And resisting the devil is exactly the test before the Church in this season.  Jesus wants us to seek Him with unveiled faces.  He wants us to walk in the glory, not in disease.

We must stay/become forward-looking in our pursuit of God's plans for our lives. Focusing too long on the here-and-now lets us get stuck, and if not repented of, eventually left behind. Neither the sticking nor the staying are God's plan for us; He does not desire a derailing but rather our progress from one degree of glory to the next.

Footnotes:

I am not claiming that wearing a mask is a sin and I most certainly am not suggesting it is an unforgivable one! I am saying that mask-mandates are a scheme that did not originate with God to keep you safe and protected from disease.  The mandates are not His plan. They are rooted in evil desires to cripple the Church, and any protection they offer in a public setting is minuscule. Consequently, ministering deliverance from the devil overrules making a stand against a mask.  Poverty is from the devil, so earning your income could overrule refusing a mask. Disease is from the devil, so helping the sick would overrule refusal to wear a mask. Along with poverty and sickness, there are other curses, many are listed in Deuteronomy 28 including drought, insanity, and the politically incorrect one of verse 43 involving the status of illegal aliens. If wearing a mask helps you overcome any curses, then the works that defeat evil overrule making a political statement about it. 

Christ "redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us," Galatians 3:13. Correspondingly, using a mask to assist redemption is not a sin. It has always been this way: surgical masks were developed to minimize contamination during surgery when the body is open and exposed. They were not designed to restrict the healthy.  But to act as if Jesus is not enough, and then to add more rules for the healthy, is submission to an evil controlling spirit.

I am not claiming to have the full and final word of the Lord on this topic either. I am sharing the "one next level" that the Holy Spirit led me to understand. I am neither maliciously nor enviously judging those who are at different mileposts on their journey. Love rejoices when truth prevails.

Posting for the sources & references notes https://www.lewrockwell.com/2020/07/joseph-mercola/masks-the-most-controversial-covid-19-debate/

THIS is our governing authority for the United States, Amendment I →  Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

A paid expert is not a governing authority. Any government official, either elected or appointed,  who violates the Constitution is not a legitimate governing authority because they are lawless. 

UPDATES: 

Facemasks in the COVID-19 era 

By Baruch Vainshelboim, originally published November 2020 - Scroll down to the start of the article. From the conclusion: The data suggest that both medical and non-medical facemasks are ineffective to block human-to-human transmission of viral and infectious disease such SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, supporting against the usage of facemasks. Wearing facemasks has been demonstrated to have substantial adverse physiological and psychological effects.

or copy & paste this>    https://www.scribd.com/document/503573509/Facemasks-in-the-COVID-19-era-A-health-hypothesis-by-Baruch-Vainshelboim 

**This paper is now censored by Twitter.  Facebook cites it as false or misleading because it did not come from Stanford University.  The author, Vainshelboim, is credentialed as "Cardiology Division, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System/Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States" 

 

 

A bit of history on Dr. Fauci -  Anthony Fauci and the CDC: Inspiring Fear Since 1983

By Anne Hendershott, September 29, 2020  "A politician first, Fauci has always played all sides of the equation because he knows that inspiring fear will always drive public policy in the direction he wants it to go. "

 

Kisielinski, Kai, et al. “Is a Mask That Covers the Mouth and Nose Free from Undesirable Side Effects in Everyday Use and Free of Potential Hazards?” MDPI, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 20 Apr. 2021, www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4344/htm.   The described mask-related changes in respiratory physiology can have an adverse effect on the wearer’s blood gases sub-clinically and in some cases also clinically manifest and, therefore, have a negative effect on the basis of all aerobic life, external and internal respiration, with an influence on a wide variety of organ systems and metabolic processes with physical, psychological and social consequences for the individual human being.

 

 

ARCHIVE of Twitter user Ashley Rae Goldenberg's List of "The Companies That Support Antifa, Black Lives Matter, and Want You De@d

Companies defending the rioters:

1. 23andme: https://archive.is/Mjbwk
2. 72andSunny: https://archive.is/B1x7Y
3. Abbey Road Studios: https://archive.is/AJlrg
4. The Academy (the Oscars): https://archive.is/cNRYf
5. Activision Blizzard: https://archive.is/qfRJ1
6. Adidas: https://archive.is/ezQ22
7. Airbnb: https://archive.is/GmMjl
8. Alaska Airlines: https://archive.is/wnICf
9. Amazon: https://archive.is/lBR4u
10. American Airlines: https://archive.is/XBwhw
11. American Express: https://archive.is/kzWXa
12. American Apparel: https://archive.is/ETfYw
13. Apple Music: https://archive.is/cj97E
14. Astro Gaming: https://archive.is/9aWhf
15. AT&T: https://archive.is/OzC04
16. Atlantic Records: https://archive.is/65QQq
17. AWS: https://archive.is/NXNAG
18. AXE: https://archive.is/Xpxhw
19. Barnes & Noble: https://archive.is/PCPKn
20. Bank of America: https://archive.is/FH1O0
21. Bergdorf Goodman: https://archive.is/nQiPA
22. Bethesda: https://archive.is/2xeNE
23. Ben & Jerry’s: https://archive.is/BqHRv
24. Billboard: https://archive.is/Ruuv8
25. BMW: https://archive.is/lRN51
26. Boost Mobile: https://archive.is/pLnAf
27. Bratz: https://archive.is/vOA1d
28. Bungie: https://archive.is/81KHV
29. Burberry: https://archive.is/ha0jP
30. Call of Duty: https://archive.is/DEJA6
31. Capcom: https://archive.is/S1BgN
32. Capitol Records: https://archive.is/jeUpY
33. Canada Goose: https://archive.is/y2nLo
34. Cisco: https://archive.is/fNvdP
35. Citigroup: https://archive.is/36fkF
36. Conde Nast: https://archive.is/ChMdI
37. Converse: https://archive.is//sKjmg
38. Crunchyroll: https://archive.is/q7Ucj
39. CW: https://archive.is/JumZU
40. CVS: https://archive.is/DbBSV
41. Dell: https://archive.is/IeI9j
42. Degree: https://archive.is/SItaW
43. Devolver Digital: https://archive.is/xcaEH
44. DIRECTV: https://archive.is/hhBG4
45. Discord: https://archive.is/hGtDw
46. Disney: https://archive.is/wldfM
47. Doritos: https://archive.is/nLHv0
48. DoorDash: https://archive.is/vhTW2
49. Doulingo: https://archive.is/v9Wpk
50. E! News: https://archive.is/3PJyz
51. EA: https://archive.is/92ALS
52. Eight Sleep: https://archive.is/IiV7n
53. ESPN: https://archive.is/1I5Tf
54. FedEx: https://archive.is/kKVJp
55. Fender: https://archive.is/OGjBM
56. Formula 1: https://archive.is/FCpBG
57. FOX: https://archive.is/p2BvT
58. Frosted Mini Wheats: https://archive.is/vrEYN
59. Funimation: https://archive.is/sfN8E
60. GameSpot: https://archive.is/zEkO3
61. Goldman Sachs: https://archive.is/TA2h0
62. GoFundMe: https://archive.is/Be0fJ
63. Google: https://archive.is/DK2T8
64. Gorilla Glue: https://archive.is/0R9ya
65. Grindr: https://archive.is/Z6KcW
66. Harry’s: https://archive.is/mE4NN
67. HBO: https://archive.is/oiUyY
68. HBO Max: https://archive.is/LGsPt
69. Help Scout: https://archive.is//D8DCs
70. Hershey’s: https://archive.is/ZQ5zD
71. H&M: https://archive.is/A9ONJ
72. HP: https://archive.is/BO2tc
73. Hulu: https://archive.is/4CyO2
74. Humble Bundle: https://archive.is/YXDb6
75. IBM: https://archive.is/ij3Q1
76. Indiegogo: https://archive.is/jrDZk
77. itch.io: https://archive.is/UTsTi
78. Intel: https://archive.is/93D5q
79. IKEA: https://archive.is/piwcs
80. ITV: https://archive.is/yD1pS
81. Kickstarter: https://archive.is/0zwng
82. Levi’s: https://archive.is/KizLO
83. LinkedIn: https://archive.is/sX5zb
84. L’Oreal Paris: https://archive.is/Jfelo
85. Logitech: https://archive.is/vf6J7
86. Lululemon: https://archive.is/rjCRV
87. Louis Vuitton: https://archive.is/nGZe8
88. Lyft: https://archive.is/UXl3k
89. Madden NFL 20: https://archive.is/CTUoi
90. Marvel Entertainment: https://archive.is/Ptup6
91. MATTEL: https://archive.is/bvsqN
92. McAfee: https://archive.is/IGXA1
93. McDonald’s: https://archive.is/jOZ65
94. Mercedes Benz: https://archive.is/bs8y6
95. Metropolitan Opera: https://archive.fo/wecQ2
96. Microsoft: https://archive.is/A7Vjv
97. Napster: https://archive.is/fVY1s
98. NASCAR: https://archive.is/LG2hU
99. Netflix: https://archive.is/UVSEr
100. NFL: https://archive.is/G4yq4
101. NHL: https://archive.is/lYbyG
102. Niantic: https://archive.is/UdKYR
103. Nickelodeon: https://archive.is/JWSPQ
104. Nike: https://archive.is/UXYBy
105. Nintendo: https://archive.is/5UOjp
106. Nordstrom: https://archive.is/A7mUU
107. North Face: https://archive.is/rq1Cb
108. Old Spice: https://archive.is/1UK5d
109. Paramount Pictures: https://archive.is/ixXHd
110. Paramount Network: https://archive.is/BCAX3
111. Patreon: https://archive.is/wzfM5
112. Peloton: https://archive.is/d36k7
113. Playstation: https://archive.is/52Vvl
114. Pokemon: https://archive.is/p9zuP
115. Popeye’s Chicken: https://archive.is/CzlHd
116. Pop-Tarts: https://archive.is/8cMGG
117. Porsche: https://archive.is/VrmlZ
118. Pringles: https://archive.is/1WpA1
119. Procter & Gamble: https://archive.is/JSMO4
120. Reddit: https://archive.is/H09M8
121. Red Lobster: https://archive.is/aIUyy
122. Reebok: https://archive.is/v0nat
123. Reese’s: https://archive.is/Rc4pJ
124. Rice Krispies: https://archive.is/U4Zn9
125. Riot Games: https://archive.is/2XH97
126. Salesforce: https://archive.is/t1qZB
127. Sanofi: https://archive.is//ErmGO
128. Scholastic: https://archive.is/fFmX3
129. Sesame Street: https://archive.is/5he9K
130. Showtime: https://archive.is/YTPVw
131. Slack: https://archive.is/gF9ym
132. Sephora: https://archive.is/Gm7Rc
133. Skillshare: https://archive.is/JX5em
134. Snap: https://archive.is/HcGGQ
135. Snapchat: https://archive.is/5reL4
136. State Street: https://archive.is/gnqt0
137. Sony: https://archive.is/1PtlU
138. Spotify: https://archive.is/ufTeo
139. Square Enix: https://archive.is/qmPIX
140. STARZ: https://archive.is/eQ4YG
141. Starbucks: https://archive.is/EENlS
142. Star Wars: https://archive.is/xnSgt
143. Subway: https://archive.is/D5F8H
144. Taco Bell: https://archive.is/LLY9l
145. Target: https://archive.is/YoIrO
146. TBS: https://archive.is/N0QhU
147. Tesco: https://archive.is/hZS7B
148. Thatgamecompany: https://archive.is/7po1C
149. TikTok: https://archive.is/bt2vy
150. Timberland: https://archive.is/HZtxv
151. Tinder: https://archive.is/YaY2y
152. TMobile: https://archive.is//KB2lG
153. Twitch: https://archive.is/DAmR5
154. Twitter: https://archive.is/auIgi
155. Ubisoft: https://archive.is/0qMff
156. Uber: https://archive.is/RrScn
157. UnitedHealth Group: https://archive.is/rzQXF
158. Vans: https://archive.is/5nYag
159. Verizon: https://archive.is/hPZoJ
160. VERSACE: https://archive.is/wWsxK
161. Vevo: https://archive.is/MVtrR
162. Via: https://archive.is/fFIvU
163. ViacomCBS: https://archive.is/uCGXy
164. Virgin Records: https://archive.is/QiykN
165. Virta: https://archive.is/7e9KT
166. VIZ: https://archive.is/eMuIW
167. Warner Bros https://archive.is/F1Tqn
168. Warner Records: https://archive.is/Mm6qb
169. XBox: https://archive.is/6zdVS
170. YouTube: https://archive.is/5qz6a
171. Zildijian: https://archive.fo/o6Tqi

Why I Am Looking Forward to Pentecost this Year.

History of Pentecost

 The church that I grew up in taught us kids that the "first" Pentecost is found in the Book of Acts, Chapter 2, when 120 believers were praying together in the upper room. One can find support for that position with a standard web search. The problem is that one must smushh the definitions to make it true.

It was the first Pentecost of the Christian era. It was the first time that humans were filled with the Holy Spirit for keeps and not just in a temporary visitation. It was the Pentecost that launched the Church.  So if that's your definition, it was the first.

But under a different name, the first Pentecost followed seven weeks after the first Passover, and for that we must go back to the time of Moses. The Festival of Weeks (7 weeks = 49 days, then the 50th day is the celebration), known on the Jewish calendar as Shavuot, also  the Feast of First Fruits, the beginning of the wheat harvest—the Jews had recognized these feasts since the Exodus, and it partially accounted for why so many foreign-born Jews were in Jerusalem.  
During the exodus, seven weeks after leaving Goshen in Egypt, the Israelites were camped in the shadow of Mt. Sinai where the Spirit of the Living God came down in glory and gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Every year after leaving Egypt, the Israelites celebrated the first fruits and the giving of the law with thanksgiving and remembrance.  Roughly fourteen centuries later, this feast, now called Pentecost in the Greek language, was still celebrated 50 days after Passover.
And so it was that in Acts 2 we find 120 heirs of salvation are in the upper room praying, probably reading scripture, and waiting for the Holy Spirit. But let's back up ten days... 


The Last Thing Jesus Said - Acts 1:8

"But you shall receive power—ability, efficiency and might—when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends—the very bounds—of the earth."

And again, I've discovered that my childhood church was fairly selective over what they emphasized. We got the "begin at Jerusalem and spread over the world" assignment part, but the empowerment part.. well, that was treated like a booster rocket, needed for launch but then falls away. Except that you will be hard-pressed to find scripture that supports that concept; it is just a conclusion drawn by people who didn't experience and haven't seen much power since lift off of the Church.
The point of the Holy Spirit's coming, however, was for believers to receive ability, efficiency, and might. There was no expiration date on the promise.

Back to Pentecost - Acts 2

¹ And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place, ² When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. ³ And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words]. 

No one in my childhood church had a solid revelation of this. That's forgivable—that's some awesomely radical stuff going on. Their explanations deferred to old commentaries; there's nothing sinful about using commentaries either but this resulted in explaining the supernatural appearance more than the actual significance.

I don't remember anyone trying to connect the dots with John 14:26 where Jesus says, "But when the Father sends the Spirit of Holiness, the Redeemer from the curse—the One like me who sets you free, he will teach you all things in my name."

Before you jump up and tell me you've read the Gospel of John many times and never saw 'the Redeemer from the curse' in there, let me interject that that translation is based on an Aramaic manuscript which King James' translators never had access to. English translations of John 14:26 use a variety of words to translate  παράκλητος τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον  and I will list them in a footnote¹ below. I chose this one based on the Passion translation/paraphrase because the Holy Spirit as 'the Redeemer from the curse' is integral to empowering the the Church to take its place as the Standard Bearer in culture and not be reduced to the "optional elective" for individuals that secularists wish it to be. 

I believe that there is a general need for traditional Western Protestant congregations to be more aware of the spiritual battles around us.  Jesus won against spiritual forces throughout his Earth ministry, but we haven't been trained to see it. After Jesus read a messianic prophesy from Isaiah, members of his hometown synagogue tried to push Him off a cliff. The storm that nearly sunk the boat on the Sea of Galilee was not a natural occurrence. These attacks were instigated by malevolent spirits. There are other examples too, and the thing to be aware of is that Jesus addressed them and had victory as the Son of Man,  not as the Son of God. The Holy Spirit is the delivering power for this warfare.

There are three Old-Testament incidents when Evil Spirit-Realm Forces/Entities did a whammy on the human race. My childhood church recognized the first one: the Fall in the Garden of Eden.  It tried to ignore the second one in Genesis 6 when the "sons of god" took the wives they chose from the daughters of men. And it skated over the surface of the third inter-dimensional attack being constructed at the Tower of Babel.  I've found that those were fairly typical responses of the 20th Century Western Christian church; they liked 'scientific' logic and any foray into the mystic made them queasy. In the ancient Near East, however, in the era and region where the Apostle Paul and Jesus' disciples grew up, people saw these assaults as three battles of an on-going war.  Whereas we tend to lay almost all of the blame for mankind's condition on Eve's chatting with the serpent, and see most every foul thing since then as being fallout from that bad decision,  the Jewish weltanschauung (applied worldview) of Jesus day saw a long war against YHWH being responsible for the human condition.

I point that out so that the symmetry of Pentecost's "Undo" is more easily seen. It is not a perfectly mirrored reversal, but some² of the loss of communication at Babel was restored. The Pentecost of Acts 2 was no longer a only a feast-day recitation of Israel's history, but the the birth of the ecclesia moving forward.  The Holy Spirit had come to stay for the next Age. Men could be filled with "power from on high." They could choose to seek and stay in the presence of the Holy Spirit without being dependent upon times of divine impartation.

It was the Pentecost of Acts 2 that began the release of spiritual gifts, spiritual fruits, and the God-ordained³ offices of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher. And with these offices, using these gifts, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, mankind began to realize his authority restored over the devil: the authority to lay hands on the sick and have them recover, to cast out demons and have them leave, to do the works of Jesus and greater works besides.

Pentecost of 2020

By any unit of measure, 2020 has been a unique year, and it is not yet half-over. It may well prove to be a year as monumental for the Church as was 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to to door in Wittenberg, Germany.
Faced with the spread of SARS-CoV2, governments around the world have shuttered church congregations from meeting. Heirs of Salvation have risen to the occasion and used technology to carry on services with electronic media, but...  

At the Acts 2 Pentecost, they were all assembled together in one place.  I believe this is the Lord's perfect will for 2020 too.

Like my blog's name says, we are on a Bootcamp Planet. The church has been tested these past few months and now it is time to graduate. We will see if we hit the mark this coming Pentecost.

The Church has spent years in training, and it is time to deploy.



A Bit of Digging into Language Study

If you like the King James Bible, that's fine, but let me show you something—
In the KJV, Isaiah 59:19b reads like this:
When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in 1949-1956, many of the newer Bible translations move the comma. The original language does not use such punctuation, so the translators reasoned it out as well as they could from the manuscripts available. Comparing with Jeremiah 46:7, the adversary is a flood, so it could be translated that way.  But many scholars today working with additional manuscripts believe that the power of the flood belongs with the Lord, not with the enemy. 
When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

And there's the Berean Study Bible for Isaiah 59:18-19, prophesying the Covenant of the Redeemer.

So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands. So will they fear the name of the LORD from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.

The shifting comma nuances (yes, I'm using 'nuances' as a verb; just go with it) a change from our protection to the Lord facing off with our enemy; both are true. 

Is This a Word for Our Time?

There are some contemporary prophets who think so.  Understand that I am not talking about prophets in the Old Testament sense where the Holy Spirit would come upon them with a word and leave again—where if they missed it they were to be stoned. I am talking about the post-Acts 2 Pentecost office of prophet, one of the five along with apostle, evangelist, pastor, or teacher. These are people that God choses to hear what He is saying and confirm what He is doing in His kingdom. 

Many are saying that as the world deals with SARS-CoV-2, that what the enemy intended for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the spiritual lives of many people, cf Genesis 50:20.

At the first Passover, the Israelites were sheltered in their homes waiting for the plague of death to pass over. It has been pointed out that during Passover 2020, Israel was once again sheltered in their homes waiting for the plague to pass—a literal reenactment. Will Pentecost follow suit? Will we find ourselves now assembled together in one place when the Spirit of Holiness comes with a manifestation of power? Will the breath of God be so strong that it sounds like a tempest? Will we see angelfire?  Will you speak in tongues? Will you be drunk with new wine?  ... That will depend upon your expectation and/or resistance to the Holy Ghost. How far do you really want to go? All things are possible.  The Lord wants us to, even plans for us to walk in His Spirit and His Power.  Will we accept Pentecost as an opportunity to allow the Holy Spirit to reset our congregations and get us back on course with His plans?

What to Expect

The Acts 2 Pentecost had two main functions. (1) It PROVIDED for the church. Believers could receive spiritual gifts. A governmental structure of five offices would soon be revealed. Spiritual fruits of love, joy, peace. patience. kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and temperance would be able to be grown by all who would be led by the Spirit.  (2) It EMPOWERED the church. Miracles, now done in Jesus' name would continue.  Boldness to witness to the ends of the Earth came upon the believers with the revelation of a Kingdom destiny.  Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach us all things, cf  John 14:26 above.  We should expect that a God Who Does Not Change would want us to receive His provision and empowerment to disciple nations in a post-pandemic world where fear-mongers and and censorship of truth had become entrenched in our daily lives.  

The residents of Jerusalem thought the believers from the upper room were drunk that day. They were, but with new wine of the Spirit, not the fermented stuff as the world supposed. God had poured out His Spirit on mankind.  In Pentecost 2020 we will have an opportunity to be refreshed with new wine of the Spirit.  How much we can handle will depend upon how prepared we are with new wine skins.  We will not be given more than we can hold, but we can have as much as we prepared for. 

Footnotes

¹  παράκλητος is translated as Comforter, Advocate, Counselor, Intercessor-Counselor, Strengthener, Standby, Companion, Paraclete, Helper, Helper in Court, Helper - the Ruach ha-Kodesh, and from the Orthodox Jewish Bible, the Melitz Yosher, the one who speaks eloquently in someone else's defense.

² I used "some" because pragmatically, we still "see in a glass darkly."  We are entitled to "all" through our covenant, but that manifests in the light of God's glory.

³ God-ordained offices, as opposed to self-chosen "careers."