Should the Church be actively engaged in politics? South Africa gives a lead

Posted on Wednesday, 5 June, 2019 by Richard Barker

In view of the on-going political upheaval here, Roger Jervois, who’s been keeping us updated on the political Ulster-Eire front, offers a Southern African perspective based upon his personal experience, on the value of the Church getting directly involved in politics. It is particularly a-propos with my increasing political coverage, albeit from a prophetical stance. Roger writes,

‘I was born in then-Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, in 1963. There, the evangelical church was largely silent, with basically only the Catholics resisting the racist Rhodesian government. The evangelical Church largely stayed out of the political realm, to the great cost of the average person in latter decades.

‘After emigrating to South Africa, in 1986 I (reluctantly, to be honest) joined a very controversial church, Rhema Bible Church, Randburg under a fearless pastor Ray Macauley. The political climate was very difficult still, getting steadily worse – the Apartheid government was ruthless in dealing with criticism.

‘God spoke to Ray’s heart about getting involved in politics and changing the course of the nation. God said it was going to be very costly for him and the church in terms of public opinion, a fact which continues today. God sent many great men and women of God to confirm His word, in front of the congregation, which I personally witnessed.

‘As a church, we rallied around our pastor in obedience to the Holy Spirit. Thus we began to pray for the nation diligently, from 1988 onwards. God opened doors, and even the then-Minister of Finance, Barend Du Plessis, a newly born-again Christian of Afrikaans background, came and spoke briefly to the church, to tumultuous applause. It continued, and God led Ray to reach out further, and he did.

‘The result was a gathering in 1990, after months of intercession, of the extreme left-, centre- and right-wings of the Christian Church in SA at a place of great spiritual significance, Rustenburg – the first capital of the Transvaal Republic and bastion of Afrikaanerdom. It was known as the Rustenburg or Bishop’s Conference where the church leaders wept openly for what they had brought into the nation, asking God’s forgiveness. The result was the miracle turnaround in SA, which continues unto today.

‘Last weekend saw the inauguration of a convert of 20 years, from the very same Rhema Bible Church Randburg, take the oath of office as our State President. The Church in SA continues to be prodded by difficulties into praying for and interacting directly with politicians, to our greater benefit.

‘It is highly recommended that Christians engage with their authorities.’

Roger Jervois, 1st June 2019

PS 3rd June – ‘Just see this story, Richard > Thousands raised for petrol attendant hero (reply: Good to learn of a Godly guy helping a gal)

PPS 4th June – ‘Donations to the petrol attendant have now topped R460,000. Original target was R100,000. (His monthly salary would be around R5,000) > News24.com Shell-has-exciting-plans-for-nkosikho-mbele-the-petrol-attendant-who-went-the-extra-mile

‘This says a lot about race relations in SA, the fruit of the revival perhaps.’

Brexit Party God-incidence via ‘Bridge o’er the Pond’ (GPS #33)

Posted on Wednesday, 29 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

At long, long last another instance of the spiritual bridge over ‘the Pond’ ! (An imaginary supra-natural bridge linking Britain with North America used by Holy Spirit for delivering the same, or similar, teaching, messages or prophetic words on opposite sides of the North Atlantic ocean on the same, or next, day – see earlier posts.)

As told last Thursday in the previous post, it was the day of the EU elections when I emailed Dave Chapman about an intercessor at his church having contacted Nigel Farage. We didn’t proceed further in view of the Bank Holiday weekend and awaiting results of the election. However, on the holiday Monday, Canadian intercessor Maxine Phyllis left this notable comment to the dream about the next Prime Minister, and which warrants separate publication (note; a ‘gremlin’ treated it as ‘spam’!):

Symbolic of Holy Spirit's active power across the Atlantic

Endless Bridge by Evgeni Denev (credit Freedigitalphotos.net)

‘From Atlantic Canada: This brings me to an experience I had with the Lord in which I was given a free air ticket in 2008, to travel to England where I spent two weeks based in Somerset County. I flew out of Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 31, 2008 and spent the Remembrance Day season in Britain. As a descendant of Canadian war veterans it was a huge deal to me, but the LORD – the Holy One of Israel – had something to show me about where the political realms came to an end and the Kingdom of God begins. I saw in the Spirit a great dark veil spread over all of North America and I heard the Lord say “The entire western hemisphere needs to learn the way of the cross for what comes next.”

‘From this perspective, as I read through the text of this spiritual dream above, it speaks volumes to me about what’s to come next for the Judeo-Christian world. From a Kingdom perspective the BREXIT campaign is NOT just about upholding democracy for Britain, but it’s about preserving freedom for Kingdom sons to become all they were created to be for such a time as this. All of creation is waiting to see it, as the fullness of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit takes up residence on earth as He is in heaven (Romans 8:17-21). Therefore, any political leader who promises Brexit in order to support democracy only will not be able to complete the task because, in the fullness of the Kingdom, there comes an end to freedom for individuals to continue promoting the sinful human nature. Whether he knows it or not, a governing authority put in place as a Prime Minister responsible for carrying Brexit to its completion, is one put in place by God to facilitate the separation of goats and sheep (Romans 13, Matthew 25). Unless he understands how God is using him he will be thrown into utter confusion by thinking his highest goal is to ensure financial freedom for a Judeo-Christian nation; even if it means ensuring those who practice rebellion towards God are free to continue doing so.

‘Since I returned to Atlantic Canada I’ve had powerful visions from heaven about the New Jerusalem coming down from God through the UK and over to North America, for the sole purpose of bringing forth the fulfillment of His promises about Israel and the Jewish people. On the day of the Brexit referendum – June 23, 2016 – the Lord led me to go prayer walking on behalf of the UK and I saw in the Spirit an open heaven between Atlantic Canada and the heavenly realms over England. I saw the LORD stand up from His throne and applaud. I asked Him how to pray and He revealed to me that His plans lined up with another 23rd day described in the book of Esther (Esther 8 – 23rd day of Sivan). He led me to pray for the Hamans to be hung on their own gallows. Then He showed me it was a time for the Church to write new decrees, however we see fit. The goal is the same now as it was then: to defend His sovereign purposes for Israel and the Jewish people. The nations are redeemed, or not, through their willingness to line up with His plans accordingly. We need to pray for all our governing authorities to be used as facilitators for this cause: to bring forth new wine and oil related to His coming Kingdom and His will to be done on earth as He is in heaven.

‘In the face of all that, the key word that hits my spirit from this dream described above, is the word ‘SCROLL’. It speaks to me of the Great Scroll of Isaiah which was preserved as one of the most important Dead Sea scrolls and which, when translated into English, proves the veracity of the original King James Bible. The text of Isaiah in the original King James is almost word-for-word identical to the Great Scroll of Isaiah translated directly from Hebrew to English. Also, the word SCROLL in this dream speaks to me of Revelation 10:10. I’ve had literal experiences here in Atlantic Canada with this, hearing the voice of the seven thunders speaking from up over the UK to the free Judeo-Christian world. I’ve had visitations from the Lord as a result of having met Him in a powerful way at the Morning Room of Wesley’s Chapel, Bristol, UK. It’s like an open heaven from there to Atlantic Canada follows me around and I often hear the word “SCROLL”; as if this scroll described in Revelation 10:10 is originating from the ministry begun by the Wesleys in Bristol and London. There is something decidedly English about it all, as the English language was spread far and wide along with the distribution of the King James Bible, and English is now the world’s ‘lingua franca’ – the ‘go-to’ language for people of other tongues to have one common language in order to communicate.

‘I’ve made it a personal mission to pray for Nigel Farage to be transformed into a Kingdom son, so that Brexit will be used to point people to the coming Kingdom of God. Then the freedom that is so desperately being sought will be used to exalt above all else the Name of the Lord and His Word. That the Prime Minister in this dream above placed his head on the author’s shoulder, speaks of him resting his understanding on the Presence of the Kingdom of God in the life of the author, and on the truth that ‘the government will be on His shoulders’. (Isaiah 9:6). The Prime Minister in this dream is asking for understanding and support from the Kingdom of God to sustain our God-given freedom for the Judeo-Christian nations. He needs to be transformed into a Kingdom son to make it happen. He needs to learn what it means to take up the cross and follow Christ – first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. This is an anointing and mantle the Lord has given me to teach to the ‘entire western hemisphere’ but it currently appears that the darkness will get darker still before even Spirit-led, mature believers will agree to meet the Lord at the cross in a personal way.

‘Feel free to connect for the purposes of interceding for the Kingdom’s plans for Brexit to prevail. I have a site – Through Fire and Water – which the Lord continues to prompt me to rename ‘gloryofzioncanada.ca’. He has done a very hidden work from a Canadian perspective related to the cross, for the purpose of standing in the gap for both UK and USA.’

Maxine Phyllis, 27th May.

Personal Footnote:

Norris Point, Newfoundland, April 2008

Maxine’s message evokes strong personal connections for several reasons.

First, I well recall my first sightings of the other end of the ‘bridge’ upon flying over Newfoundland and Nova Scotia en-route to Toronto, as well as down to Florida for the Caribbean and inland to Arizona.

Also, within 10 miles of our home in East Hampshire are three Canadian war memorial sites. Our associated church of St Mary’s in Bramshott has a cemetery of over 300 graves of our Canadian allies fallen in the Great War (Alison Avery’s photos include those of Canadian Memorial planting of maple trees).

My earliest memory, however, is told in my 2,000th post in connection with my writing as well as sketching a short story which my class-teacher commended to the headmistress of my primary school. (Inspired by the motto “The Mountie always gets his man”, the hero received a medal from the young Queen Elizabeth for his bravery.) And what’s more, as I blogged about that we were following the Netflix drama ‘When Calls The Heart’, which features the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Mulling over ‘May-hem’, the Battle for Britain, the EU elections

Posted on Tuesday, 28 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

[Prepared on Thursday 23rd May, the afternoon before PM May’s resignation, and held pending permission for added quotation.]

Such exceptionally historic days for our nation and, as a consequence, for the federal union of European nations. Therefore, I offer a few thoughts jotted at the beginning of April and then on the subsequent launch of the Brexit Party and Friday’s unexpected elections for UK representatives to sit in the European Parliament!

Seven weeks ago today I jotted thoughts percolating in my mind over the demise of democracy, as shown in public reactions to the legitimate result of the largest vote in British history encouraged by our dishonest representatives in Parliament, aided and abetted by grossly muddled and incompetent government. We see the collapse of the Conservative party as its leader Theresa May scythes through its grassroots’ support, on top of the ‘May-hem’ in politics, media and across public and business domains.

AND what an astonishing week it’s been with the whole party now against its leader as Prime Minister, but who steadfastly refuses to resign – yet! I regret to come to no other logical conclusion but that Mrs May has deliberately betrayed the electorate and trying to compromise with every shade of opinion.

Also, I’m reminded how the grave state of national breakdown, not only politically but also spiritually and therefore morally, exactly fits what I saw emerging out of thin air 15 years ago as an open vision of Britain (as here).

Let me stress straight away, as when collating my expanding series of blogs about the EU and the In/Out question: my own politics are non-partisan because the Kingdom of God has priority.

SOME SCRIPTURES

Let’s check a couple of pertinent New Testament scriptures penned by Paul. The first was written about 10 years before Nero persecuted Christians after the great fire of Rome, and then followed by many other persecutions across the Roman Empire. Yet such atrocities did not result in this passage’s ‘redaction’ at the hands of the early Church for they appreciated the essay’s content was inspired by the Holy Spirit; that is, they were words from God Himself. Here’s the basic Christian perspective of worldly, ruling authorities:

Submit to Government

1. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. [Romans 13; courtesy Biblegateway.com]

Another ten years and Paul instructs his protégé Timothy upon responsibilities in caring for souls:

Pray for All Men

1. Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ²for kings and all who are in ^[authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ³For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. [1 Timothy 2, courtesy Biblegateway.com]

MODERN & BIBLICAL PROPHECY

Therefore, much as it is right to weigh, test and question prophetic words that seem to have endorsed Mrs May’s premiership, nevertheless according to scripture her position and authority are God-ordained. So, even if we doubt a prophet’s claims about a word from God saying she’s His person for the UK (and infer they come from the prophet’s opinion only), such a claim is nevertheless accurate in being in accord with scripture.

After all, the Lord used satan and its schemes promulgated through the leaders of the ancient Jews for His purposes in bringing about a plot to crucify His own son, our Lord Jesus Christ, for our own good…!

So, we could say even arch-betrayer Judas Iscariot was God’s man for that time!

Thus the Lord is no doubt using Mrs May and the may-hem she’s created, as well as manipulated within her government, party and Parliament to bring about His purposes and Britain’s End-time destiny in Him. All this unprecedented chaos and confusion fully accords with what some prophets said about the purpose behind these convulsions.

In other words, our fuller prophetical understanding of the mess the nation has fallen into, lies in not only national leaders’ rank rebellion against God and their disavowal of our unique, most ancient Christian heritage, but also in an appreciation that our turmoil and humiliation is precisely what He is permitting for our own eventual good.

Furthermore, let’s remind ourselves of the mechanism of this great apostasy foreseen by Paul and stand in dreadful awe and holy fear of his description of how God will allow and enable those reprobates to empower, yet imperil, themselves. Note how it happens:

‘…The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.‘ [2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, emphases added]

BREXIT PARTY’s STANCE

Since my drafting the above, Nigel Farage has returned to politics with the launch of the Brexit Party and spectacularly overtaking Conservative and Labour support, as shown in pre-election polls (as herein). We’ve now witnessed the electorate’s contempt for her governments’ failure by Nigel thrashing and trashing Theresa’s Tories into fifth place!!! (Slumping to its lowest ever share in European elections.)

Further to his article on Brexit and our Democratic Responsibility, Dave Chapman tells me that “one of our prayer partners in the House of Prayer felt she had to write to some key politicians.” He writes, “Just thought: Old Testament prophets regularly got involved in speaking to kings in Israel, often giving their tacit backing as well as rebuking them.

“The particular prayer partner comments that Nigel Farage’s ancestors were French Huguenots, so like Trump, there is a trace of steely Godly influence somewhere in his DNA. In fact, after the Referendum result she wrote to him – because she believed the Lord prompted her to – commending him and thanking him for all his input.

“She specifically said to him that there was another who was reviled, in fact even more than he, and was crucified for such as us. Some time later she had a reply, apologising for his delay in responding, as he’d decided to write personally to everyone who wrote him.

“From that letter it became clear to her that he understood our heritage in this Nation was of a Judeo-Christian nature and there would be a real battle to maintain it, even though he did not have her kind of faith.”

GOD’S STRATEGY FOR EU ELECTIONS?

Now permit me to speculate: if the Brexit Party wins the European elections in Britain by a landslide then their representation in Brussels will give huge support to other nations’ rejection of the EU’s dominance, thereby assisting in its prophesied downfall. In fact, the one-time Prime Minister of the Czech Republic ended his speech at the Party’s Olympia Rally almost pleading, on behalf of the peoples in Europe who want to be free of the EU’s domination, that Britain lead the way by completing our exit.

Had Mrs May not been so obdurate in delaying implementation of Brexit, then Britain would have left the EU on 29 March and we wouldn’t be eligible for representation in its parliament – and thus unable to rock the EU’s boat, as is likely with the Brexit Party’s expected wins.

So in some mysterious way, maybe the now resigned Prime Minister Theresa May and ‘reignited’ politician Nigel Farage are actually serving the Lord’s purposes!

As Dave closes our correspondence: “Btw, what would Leave voters have done in these EU Elections if there were no Brexit Party? Must have been a ‘God thing’!”

Triple validation of the reality of my encounter with Jesus

Posted on Sunday, 19 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

APPENDIX TO PERSONAL TESTIMONY

A little time was needed to gain a fuller understanding of that awesome visitation – the absolute holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ in contrast to my personal sinful nature. No wonder I expected to die and was simultaneously convicted of my sin!

That encounter used two very personal aspects of my life to grab my attention, thereby validating the experience as real, not an imaginary one. Even more amazingly, both validations are directly related to the 1st and 2nd Advents! Thus, they couldn’t fail to enhance my interest in End-Times and which had been launched a few years earlier by The Invisible Hand (described here).

The First Advent was the time when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea about two thousand years ago. Hence, the four weeks leading into Christmas are designated within the church calendar as Advent, and which start the church year.

The Second Advent is coming soon and is expected to begin in the city of Jerusalem.

FIRST VALIDATION

I inwardly ‘knew’ the heavenly visitor was indeed Jesus, and that the impressive action was a foretaste of his promised return, when He will come in all His power and glory.

The event reminded me of my favourite picture in mother’s Missal, or service book of the Roman Mass. This gave the content of every Sunday service throughout the year with a diagram symbolising the theme for each service. As a boy keen on astronomy I’d been fascinated by the picture for First Sunday in Advent. This depicted Jesus standing on the clouds over a burning earth in the midst of sun, moon and falling stars, indicative of events before his Second Advent!

The confirmation referred to above came almost as unusually. On a healing retreat years later, a minister told me God would show me something after lunch. Indeed, after lunch a stranger who’d been seated at my table confided that the Lord told her to show me something she greatly treasured.

It was a photo taken, it was claimed, from an aircraft over a thunderstorm. When developed, the photo bore an image of Jesus Christ, as though standing within clouds. However, the facial features were hazy, not defined. It was exactly like Jesus in my dream because I’d not seen His face. (I recall dark, hazy clouds at the foot of the image. This one is published by Bible Probe.)

Upon seeing this photo my legs gave way – I couldn’t stand but fell into a nearby chair! My companion said I went so white she thought I was going to faint or fall.

Yet, just how did a stranger know to show me this photo? I’d not divulged such a personal dream – she simply said, “It’s the Lord’s doing”.

SECOND VALIDATION

I was puzzled over the closing element of the dream-event, that is: upon my reaching towards Jesus’ feet to grasp his robe, it turned into the branch of a Christmas tree! So, when I tugged, a Christmas tree toppled over and its fairy fell off and onto the floor.

Weird? Not really, because that spot by the window was where the family Christmas tree used to be erected. It was a corner closely associated with Christmas.

As a devout Catholic, my mother had told me about Jesus from an early age. When I painted pictures I would put a blue stripe at the top of outdoor scenes to represent heaven, as children did. But I’d also draw a Christmas tree in heaven as being Jesus.

Why? Not only had I associated all the wonder of Christmas with his birthday but I also heard an actor on TV mention his name whilst looking at a small fir-tree. So in my childish way I took the actor at his word and would draw Jesus as a Christmas tree. Hence, the dream changed him to match that image.

At its close, therefore, the dream-event signified the time had come to put away not only childish misconceptions but also all false teachings and replace them with absolute truth – the one who is the Truth in person.

Truly, the most fantastic Christmas present ever – one that’s daily an ever-present encouragement and help in every time of need, no matter how dire. Thank you Lord.

These events started in 1989 and culminated in 1995 with its prime confirmation. Yet more was to come! Sixteen years later upon revisiting this story for the purposes of this blog, I was surprised by a couple more insights that dropped unbidden into mind. One was tantalising: could the street number of my childhood home (212) possibly be significant in pointing toward the coming year? That is, to 2012!

Could that notion be true? Such musing would be confirmed in a fascinating numerical manner at 2012’s first Christian conference we were to attend…Upon our arrival at the venue I was curious about distance driven from home. The car’s odometer was ‘212’ miles!

THIRD VALIDATION

Once again, timing proves crucial in presenting another objective confirmation! Again, had I not been writing about the visitation I would have missed the crucial linkage!

Whilst writing installments of My Journey Into Freedom (Sept-Oct 2013) I inserted a report on something pertinent that happened at that time in the USA, as recounted in the previous post. This came as a ‘new revelatory word’ from the Lord to Revd John Kilpatrick and began at 2:22am. This too, is very interesting on two counts. Numerically, because my birthday falls on a 22nd. Orally, because that word is directly relevant to my dream visitation in referring to the angelic host as well as in closing with Luke 21:28, namely:

“But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand.”

My mother’s Missal for the First Sunday of Advent is shown below and notice how the scripture on page 69 links into my personal visitation and what pastor John brought.

[Click to enlarge]

It’s amusing that the number of hits on this blog passed the 212,000 mark within days of the 4th anniversary of its launch on 21st November 2015.

So a huge thank you goes to every subscriber and regular reader, as well as all visitors.

[Note: originally published 12 December 2011 as ‘3 Validations Point to 2012-13: Part 3 of ‘Death or Destiny?’]

Prophecy for appointed nations on ‘The Governing of My Spirit’

Posted on Friday, 17 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

Leisa writes, ‘I am presently in America in…and sensing the discouragement and battles of many of my Prophetic Kin. But God will arise and His enemies be scattered. Please find this prophetic word the Lord gave me yesterday. God will have His Way. Hallelujah!’

THE GOVERNING OF MY SPIRIT PROPHECY

given to Leisa Ebere, 12/05/19, whilst in America:

The Lord would say that “America faces a grave battle, for the hands of the prophets are tired and the battle fierce, and yet My Spirit is doing a mighty thing in the midst of this darkness; as the church learns to redirect its focus from the patterns and directives of man to My ways. The Dry Bones shall receive the watering of My Spirit. And I am imploring My Prophets to arise for such a time as this; and not to let fear and discouragement keep them from speaking forth My Words of Life. I am deposing an old-world government and bringing a governing of My Spirit into My Body,” says the Lord. “And some will step away; but others will embrace the winds of change as I sweep across the nation of America, the UK and other appointed nations, and cause the world to be changed by their ever increasing brightness. Cutting words shall arise from the mouth of the evil one to criticise and condemn the move of My Spirit that I am sending in the next years ahead because it will be like no other that has ever been seen. But trust Me, My People, that the outworking of My Spirit shall cause such things to have little or no effect, as the harvest of My Strength brings about a radical and lasting change to those who are hungry and thirsty and it will deliver healing and peace to the nations. Credibility shall be restored to My Remnant, as the stranglehold of Leviathan no longer polarises and deceives My Church. Rise up Prophets of God and receive your bounty. I am here and empowering you to take the nations by storm and to invoke a lasting change,” says the Lord of Hosts.

Leisa Ebere
Torchlighters International Ministry

Sanctuary: our status and stature in God

Posted on Thursday, 16 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

Today’s devotional reading in Sanctuary: Moments in His Presence by David Strutt, eloquently brings back to life a special revelatory moment in my early years as a believer; after the events told in my testimony.

I was left in awe upon meeting ‘Abba’ at an evening meeting of worship and prayer for healing held by a charismatic, inter-denominational group in the mid-Thames valley region.

I’d had the strong visual and emotional impression of having been lifted up, put upon Father’s knee and seeing His grinning in delight at me.

So in connection with my testimony and that event, David writes for today about one of the greatest changes that God brings to believers: that of ‘Sonship’ and, thus, being heirs with Christ – plus linkage between His Spirit and ours.

Also, we are no longer orphans but legally and spiritually adopted into His family. Each of us may need a complete change in understanding the fullness of Who Father Is. Do read David’s thoughts on this important matter of our true identity:

Bible’s Author brings me ex-New Agers’ testimonies

Posted on Thursday, 16 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

The Father has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. [St Paul’s letter to the Colossians 1:13-14, Amplified Bible.]

(6 of 7) In addition to checking out Christians’ claims of hearing God direct and getting astounding personal evidence for that, I wanted to know lots more not only about Him, but also (to follow-up the revelatory scriptures in part 5) about false teachers and their falsehoods.

In my great wariness of religious folk I’d assumed none would be able to comprehend my story because they’d be ignorant about those things. Doubtless, none would have been through my kind of bad, meditative ‘trips’ – or so I thought!

But direct help was again at hand from the Bible’s Author…Yet first, there’s one little-suspected aspect of His character that amazingly revealed a very personal thought and thus confirmed He knows all about me. Here’s what had happened many years earlier.:

‘FIRST CONTACT’

The mundane event of a dinner party in mid-1980s played an unsuspected, pivotal part in my journey into freedom. It was held by young parents, the father being in training as an Anglican curate, and it included his vicar and a couple from Cheam Baptist Church in Surrey. We got around to chatting about our philosophies of life but those folk were like ‘aliens’ as compared with my highly ‘enlightened’ viewpoint!

I was surprised the vicar was open-minded and seemed to agree with New Age claims that all religions lead to God; like spokes of a wheel are connected to a hub.

The Baptist couple, however, would have absolutely none of that and strongly disputed my views. I was quietly outraged – what closed minds, so ignorant!

I recall thinking, “Baptists are such Biblical bigots – I’ll never touch them with a barge pole!” However, I never expected this was all borrowed! This vow would come to be used against me…twice! That is, I was yet to discover the Lord God has a sense of humour!

Soon after the dinner, the curate invited me to a public meeting with a guest speaker, John Richards. It was a memorable occasion for three reasons; first, his name is mine in reverse order – secondly, for his gently confronting me upon noticing a small pin on my jacket’s lapel displaying a cross within a star of David. He asked, “What does your family say about that?” I retorted “Nothing! What’s it got to do with them?” After all, my family was aware of my search for lost wisdom. But John was referring to a church ‘family’ – which didn’t apply because I wasn’t a churchgoer!

Therefore, I had nothing further to discuss with this speaker and listened warily to his accounts of investigating witchcraft and satanism as secretary to the bishop of Exeter’s study of exorcism, later as advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was all irrelevant in view of my disliking the ‘black stuff’ (including freemasonry) – but who was I kidding? Only myself!

So for many years I gave no more thought to that meeting…BUT the fact it did play a significant part in my long journey has been confirmed by John Richards’ name popping up 47 months after first publication of this post – and ’47 is my birth year!. In September 2017 at conference on healing in Guildford I attended a session by the bishop’s advisor on deliverance. He started by sharing his personal testimony and how it involved his spiritual director, John Richards!

Now, let’s return to events soon after that dream encounter with Jesus…

THE JOKE’S ON ME

Wondering about the sort of church that organised the trip to see Billy Graham, I met with little help from Peter. Yet I wasn’t really bothered because they should all be part of the Lord’s body without making any distinction, in my opinion. I didn’t appreciate Peter’s was undergoing internal upheaval because the leaders wanted to learn more about the Holy Spirit, whereas many were wary of anything other than the straight scriptures. The church had been planted by Reading Baptist Church and was known as Tilehurst Free Church (Baptist), the leaders of which planted house groups west of Reading.

Some time after I joined TFC, one of them outraged me by saying “God has a sense of humour!” – that was against my straight-laced Catholic upbringing!! Years later I realised the truth of that quip, and that I’d forgotten my vow against Baptists but the Lord hadn’t! Therefore, He’d put me in a Baptist church to learn the Truth about Him and get a solid grounding in His Word – as the saying goes: ‘He Who laughs last, laughs longest!’

SUBMISSION AND FIRE

Whenever I went into a local Christian bookshop my long-standing sensitivity to serendipity would kick in! That is, a book would jump off the self at me! The Lord was directing me to biographies of Christians who’d previously been tied into New Age activities – just like me. They’d been rescued from terrifying situations by calling upon Jesus’ name. So, their true stories brought home what had really happened in that stunning dream. As mentioned, St Paul’s insight on satan’s ability, and that of its followers, to masquerade as an angel of light and as servants of righteousness (2 Cor 11:14), confirmed the reality of my dread encounter with devouring darkness. I’m so deeply grateful to the real living God for saving me.

Having been deceived and beguiled, scales were now starting to fall from my eyes – an awesome awakening and a homecoming!

Outline of Tal’s book (click to enlarge)

Riders of the Cosmic Circuit (1986) by Tal Brooke was one of those influential books. The son of American diplomats and a pioneer in meditation with crystals, Tal held a privileged position in the inner circle of the revered Indian guru Sai Baba, of whom he later wrote, “I had discovered an absolutely satanic thing operating behind Baba’s veneer”.

Tal’s own encounter with the darkness behind the ecstatic light and consciousness known as the state of ‘nirvana’, validated my psychic dream experience.

The very first of these autobiographies, however, was by someone who’d also been in the brotherhood I’d been initiated into.

Whilst reading the concluding chapters of Roy Livesey’s account over the lunchtime of 29 March 1990, I prayed the ‘sinner’s prayer’ and gave my life to Lord Jesus as my personal saviour. Driving home later, however, the spiritual enemy tried to get me into a couple of road accidents. And upon arriving home I found it had attempted to burn down my new, wooden-framed house. Thank you Lord for protection through both events – the fire had been put out by throwing water onto flaming fat in an electric oven!!

Jesus tells all who believe in Him what will happen as a result of following His teaching, as noted here and here by John, one of His first and closest disciples,.:

“If you hold fast to and live by My words you are truly my disciples. And you shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free (for) I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one can come to the Father except through Me”.

NOT YET FULLY FREE

From those who’d trodden the very same path as me, I learned the great importance of being completely cut off from my ‘old life’. This meant getting rid of books and objects associated with it, but I’d been slow to so do. Although I’d turned away from that past, yet an unseen bond seemed to remain.

The fact of that subtle influence needed dealing with because I wanted what’s promised in the Word inspired by Father God, the Author of the Holy Bible:

So if the Son liberates you, then you are really and unquestionably free. [John 8:36 Amplified Bible]

Next, learn how I gained my freedom at long last from satan – my chains fell off!!

Other Informative Books – Douglas Groothuis

Confronting The New Age – How to Resist a Growing Religious Movement (1988)
Revealing The New Age Jesus – Challenges to Orthodox Views of Christ (1990)

Continued in part 7 >

[First published as in October 2013 as part 6 (Rescued From Satan By The Lord of Hosts) of my ‘Journey Into Freedom’. Bible quotations courtesy BibleGateway.com]

To read testimony in full click: to read from beginning – to read part 5 – for Appendix.

Bible’s Author opens it to answer my ‘newbie’ questions

Posted on Wednesday, 15 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

(5 of 7) Awesome as my ‘rescue’ was, the dream-vision recounted in part 4 didn’t make me want to rush off to church. That visitation’s effect and the ramifications upon my way of life needed careful consideration. For example, I needed to check out New Age claims of the Bible having been compiled and modified by Church councils in the 4th Century after Christ, as well as learn about its history from authoritative sources. [Prof F.F. Bruce’s The Books and The Parchments (1991) was very helpful, especially about the late 2nd Century ‘Muratorian Fragment’ drawn up in the church at Rome. It lists practically all the canonical New Testament literature.]

So not only did I need to assess those implications, but also as possibly a new believer in Jesus Christ I wanted to find well-informed believers who took Him seriously. I soon did so but needed to put their claims of hearing direct from God to the test. After all, they believe we have a relationship with Him and so we have but to ask…

CULTURE SHOCK

A few months before the dream-visitation, I’d learned some members of the church that had invited me to hear Billy Graham met in the school next door to my house! Later, I heard they’d given young Peter prayer-backing for his discussions with me (as in part 3). That is, they’d targeted me! And God answered their prayers by giving me that ‘dream’.

The first service I attended there in that familiar, small school hall was a culture shock!

Standing before a young man devoid of dog-collar but wearing an acoustic guitar led the meeting in song and spoke without any script or ritual whatsoever – even engaging the congregation in discussion! Some attendees testified to angelic protection in their lives: I’d thought this subject was lost to churchgoers. Starting the ‘sermon’, he said he’s going to look at the shortest gospel, that of Mark, and would continue in the next weeks. In saying, “It’s action packed and full of urgency” he intrigued me, and this fitted in with my intention of checking out the Bible.

Therefore, I thought it might prove useful to come again. At the next session one thing he taught stuck in my mind: “In Mark, who was the first to recognise who Jesus really is?” Answer: an unclean spirit (see Mark 1:24). I was thus reminded of that dream’s events – and of the exceptionally unsettling, very vivid one years earlier of a devouring monster of darkness (as in ‘Reality Revealed’ in part 2).

[I was reminded of that scripture at a school of healing in 2017, when the teacher asked why would Jesus silence a demonic testimony of His identity? The answer: coming from an unclean tainted source, even truth itself gets contaminated! Also, I know that’s been satan’s modus operandi since the Garden of Eden – the father of lies and half-truths. Moreover, this fact points out that being’s pretext for rebellion, and raises questions about the religiously sanctioned practice of ‘taqiya’, as in Islam.]

MOVING TOWARDS FREEDOM

During 1990, therefore, I came into a good place to build upon that dream encounter by learning about the Bible and, more importantly, by listening to God through His written word and to come into a close relationship with Him. As stated above, it was opportunity to test claims about discussing the Bible’s content with its Author without any priest as ‘intermediary’.

The first of many times this happened brought incredibly clear – and shocking! – proof that God really does speak from the Bible, as claimed by many believers in Jesus.

My 1st Question of God

It was important to review my uncharitable views about the clergy. You may understand how difficult it was for me to contemplate attending church, let alone with regularity – not to mention being under the oversight of clergy. I wrongly suspected they couldn’t comprehend the dark situation I’d come from.

And so I put preachers’ claims about the Word of God to the test and asked if God could show me from His book His opinion of clergy and about my attending this church…

My Bible fell open at Hebrews 13:17, giving this most apposite answer and instruction:

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Emphases mine.)

That well and truly put me in my place and enabled me to make my mind up. Thank you Lord for answering and correcting me!

My 2nd Question of God

Later that year I reviewed the occult teaching about Jesus in that brotherhood’s books on His ‘mystical life’ and ‘secret doctrines’. They’d attracted me at 20 years of age, and there were various claims in a massive mound of monographs, as well as teachings of its sister brotherhood based on the dogmatic Kabbalah (Jewish esoteric belief system based upon Creation; eg. the ‘Sepher Yetzirah’).

Initiates of one of that Gnostic initiatory group’s highest degrees were styled as ‘veiled prophets’ on the spurious grounds of using 2 Peter 1:19. Yet the Bible was very rarely discussed throughout my membership. Moreover, not only did this sole reference not quote the subsequent qualifying verse 20 (about the origin of all prophecy being in God’s Holy Spirit) but their practicum also failed to enable such initiates to prophesy! Hardly surprising…YET…

I asked God for His guidance through scripture on my membership and opened my new, pocket-sized Bible. I’ve never been able to repeat what happened next – it immediately fell open at the very same second chapter of Apostle Peter’s second letter. Its first ten verses stood out with startling clarity (the rest were hazily out-of-focus) – they warn about false teachers who:

‘…secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying our sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful way and bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with the stories they have made up. Their condemnation has been long hanging over them and their destruction has not been sleeping. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell…to be held for judgement…then the Lord knows how to…hold the unrighteous for the day of judgement, while continuing their punishment. ‘ (2 Peter 2:1-9 NIV)

The emphases hit ‘bull’s eye’, and the subsequent verses explain that assessment and what happens to such teachers as ‘springs without water and mists driven by storm’. This answer to my question was startlingly exact! It was jaw-dropping and eye-popping, as well as being a chilling condemnation of the teachers I’d known – absolutely awesome!

The Holy Author of the Bible had used it to answer my own personal question (Paul’s letter may be read in full here).

Specifically, that occultic group claimed its information had come from the Essenes and early Christians. Members of that Qumran community by the Dead Sea and across Judea were supposed to have assisted at Jesus’ birth and crucifixion, and as a Roman warrant had supposedly been issued to release Jesus before death, those supporters and ‘secret disciples’ helped to resuscitate Jesus. Also, as God’s Holy Spirit had come upon Jesus during the baptism in the river Jordan and left during the crucifixion this supposedly indicated Jesus was human only, not one with Almighty God.

Furthermore, this group taught the necessity of acquiring initiatory knowledge to enable attainment of illumination and perfection of ourselves through reincarnation, and thus be one of the ‘ascended masters’ or world teachers, as claimed of Jesus the Christ. That is, it had descended from the Gnostics and continued their doctrines, together with many others within the Western esoteric tradition.

The Gnostics and other heretical false doctrines about Jesus had vied for dominance over the early Church, and later greatly influenced the founder of Islam. This is why Apostle John’s first letter speaks so adamantly under direct inspiration of the ‘Author of the Bible’ about the spirit of anti-Christ and its slithering into churches to contend against the One who’d destroyed satan’s authority over humanity:

Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone into the world. By this you may know (perceive and recognise) the Spirit of God; every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God as its source];

And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would annul, destroy, severe, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [non-confession] is the spirit of the antichrist, (of) which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.’ (1 John 4:1-3 Amp Bible)

Therefore, that brotherhood denied the divinity of Jesus Christ and the centrality of His sacrificial death and resurrection – from actual death – for the salvation of human souls, and thereby reconciling us with God and enabling our right of entry – in this life and the next – into His throne-room by the Blood of the Lamb.

Moreover, the Author of the Bible had pointed me to His truth about that group’s motives and its leaders’ dreadful destiny.

Conclusion

Consequently, I wanted to know lots more from the Living Lord God and His Son Jesus Christ. It was a great blessing, therefore, that He soon directed to testimonials like mine (next).

Only upon revisiting this testimony many years later did I realise those passages in Peter’s letter and that to the ‘Hebrews’ starkly contrast both forms of leadership under which I’d served. The first was highly ungodly, and the latter is blessed by Father’s supreme protective cover for all His children.

Continued in part 6 >

To read testimony in full click: to read from beginning – to read part 4 – for Appendix.

Searching for wrong ‘truth’ traps me in a spiritual prison

Posted on Saturday, 11 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

(2nd of 7) We continue our ‘journey’ as I pray it will inform readers who are not-yet Christians about avoiding the pitfalls and dangers of suspect spiritual matters:

1962 in Leicester.

The intellectual freedom of higher education in the ‘swinging 60’s’ enabled me to break loose from the values of my parents and their generation. Even so, I recognised their values had enabled them to come through the destruction and deprivation of the Great Depression, World War and post-war Britain austerity with great fortitude.

As in the previous post about attending the “wrong school”, a formative influence upon this boy of the post-war ‘baby boom’ was the disharmony and hypocrisy between churches. In my mind it tarred all Christians with the same brush and badly reflected upon the God they believed in.

Nevertheless, once whilst in church, I had thought it must have been awesome to have been around Jesus and seen everything He said and did.

Also, two verses noticed in my mother’s Sunday Missal stuck in my mind and, although buried in the unconscious, they never got forgotten. One was Jesus telling his disciples they’d do even greater works than He was doing! The other was by someone who’d seen and been with Jesus, and who wrote: If everything He’d done was written down there wouldn’t be enough room in the world to contain the books! [John 14:12 and closing sentence of that Gospel.]

In view of that eye-witness account and churches’ misrepresentation of their founder, I became convinced a lot of what he’d taught had been lost – or even suppressed – by the early church. Continue reading →

How churches turned me off Christ and onto ‘New Age’!

Posted on Friday, 10 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

(1st of 7) I invite you to join me, especially if new here, in revisiting my ‘dog-legged’ journey into the spiritual and supra-natural reality of our lives. I was heading towards the destination I’d wanted and planned but got forced into a totally unforeseen, unexpected diversion. In fact, my philosophy of life got totally upended! My new goal proved to be a far more exciting and never-ending journey!!

Now, step into my time-machine and I’ll turn back its dial 60 or so years:

STUNNED BY A ‘FRIEND’

Whilst playing alongside my 10-11 year-old pals, one of them suddenly stops, narrows his gaze and eyeballs me hard, “You shouldn’t be at our school – you should be at the one Cat’licks go to!”

I’m shocked and stunned into silence. I can’t recall my response other than being very alarmed and hurt.

Upon reflection, maybe I denied the accusation outright. In retrospect I’d like to have responded, “So what? It’s where my parents want me to be!”

Such a riposte, however, would have plugged into a parental disagreement! Continue reading →

One’s destiny in three ‘Bites’

Posted on Thursday, 9 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

For several months I’ve wanted to republish my personal testimony because the Lord has given a greater appreciation of how He’s been working throughout my life. A few weeks ago our vicar stressed the significance of the Samaritan woman’s meeting with Jesus lies in the power of personal testimony. Then came some Lion Bites, so here we go…

Fresh insights at last year’s conference in Matlock upon my early life revealed a destiny from my childhood to blog about Jesus Christ’s promised return. I was amazed and re-assured that the grace of God which I didn’t deserve did, in fact, cover me even though I’d been dead against Him – and dead to Him! It was as though ‘the hound of heaven’ had tracked me down and cornered me!

And now in the past week, I’m getting an awakening into how my spiritual rebirth and what I was starting to sense supra-naturally during the 1990s, is now coming into play. Moreover, it’s through re-connecting with the local church that the Lord had put me into and which I’d left when marrying Nina and moving to East Hants!

Therefore, these Lion Bites from Glasgow Prophetic Centre are personally poignant:

THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY (3rd May)

“Your testimonies are so powerful! Whether it’s the story of how you came to know me as your Saviour, or of how I provided for a need you had, I want you to share these testimonies. For my testimonies in you will draw others to me, and your stories of how I work in your life will bring wonder to those who hear them. Will you share them?

“And if you can’t think of any to share, then begin to partner with me and ask me to move in the circumstances of your life. Give me space to work miracles. Place your faith and expectation in me and see what I will do! And when I do it, share what I have done. Share me with those around you and allow them to wonder what I could also do for them.”

Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.

UNCAPPED POTENTIAL (7th May)

“I am uncapping your potential today,” says the Lord.

“There has been a brewing frustration inside many; a sense of ‘there’s more in me than I’m seeing right now and I am able to articulate’. Some of you have felt capped through lies you’ve believed about yourself, words that have been spoken over you or situations out of your control. Today, the Lord says repeatedly, “I am uncapping your potential. For I have put more in you than you have an eye to see. My explosive and undefeatable power and might reside within you, as do solutions to unsolvable problems. I have given you the mind of Christ and equipped you with supernatural gifts. Today, I uncap your potential!

“So tear off the lies of limitation, rise above the words of criticism, see beyond the circumstances of chaos, and choose to stand fully in the potential that I have dressed you in. This is your day, (insert your name)!”

Ephesians 3:20 AMP
Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do super-abundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.

A NEW YOU! (8th May)

The Spirit of the Lord says, “It is time to stand in your anointing and calling! I have called you for such a time as this! Do you hear me? It’s time to shake off the grave clothes! It’s time to leave behind the comfortable, the status quo! It’s a new season! Winter is over. Spring has come, and the old won’t fit any more. You need your ‘Now’ outfit, your ‘Now’ thinking, your ‘Now’ anointing and calling. I know you feel inept and even unsure of yourself, but keep looking to me. I won’t lead you off the path that I have set for you, so stay close!

“You are going to love your ‘New You’. I have you made you and shaped you for this; it’s tailor made, fits perfectly, and won’t pinch or rub. Just follow me and see how much fun we’re going to have. There really is no comparison between your old grave clothes or the new wardrobe that I have designed just for you!”

Song of Solomon 2:11 & 13b
For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
Rise up my love, my fair one. And come away!

John 11:43-44
Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

Note: my 7-part personal testimony begins here.

Get ready for a world-wide shifting, turning and radical transformation

Posted on Wednesday, 8 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

Posted this afternoon at Ignite Ireland Ministry:

ARE YOU READY FOR THE RIVERS OF HIS GLORY, OR HAVE YOU BECOME AS THE STIFF-NECKED..?!

Early hours of this morning I was just beginning to wake up when I clearly heard the Spirit of God speak to me saying,

“DAUGHTER TELL MY PEOPLE, MY RIGHTEOUS REMNANT, THAT A GREAT REVEALING HAS NOW BEGUN, FOR MANY NATIONS HAVE BEEN IN THE VALLEY OF DECISION.., WATCH AND PRAY FOR THERE IS A SHIFTING, TURNING AND A RADICAL SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION THAT IS NOW BEGINNING TO TAKE PLACE IN THE EARTH, FOR MANY NATIONS ARE NOW ON A DIVINE COLLISION COURSE WITH THE POWER OF MY GLORY AND JUDGEMENT, SEE! FOR NOW IS THE SEASON OF SUPERNATURAL REALIGNMENT AND A RE-POSITIONING OF THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH, WHO CAN STOP IT??? FOR I TELL YOU THE TRUTH, THE RIVERS OF MY GLORY ARE UNSTOPPABLE AND UNCONTAINABLE, HE WHO DARES TO HINDER THE WORK OF MY SPIRIT SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED, BELOVED ARE YOU READY? HAVE YOU MADE ROOM FOR MY RIVER OR ARE YOU ONE THAT HAS BECOME AS THE STIFF-NECKED?”, says God.

Veronika West, 8th May 2019

Not many people know – more true news about Trump

Posted on Tuesday, 7 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

Here’s three items spotted over weekend and popped onto my personal Fb profile, click Links below photos for source. Be sure to read last one’s reference to President Trump starting all cabinet meetings with prayer!:

Source: Meme

Source: CBN News

Source: Fox News

True news about Trump that ALL Christians need to know re. persecution

Posted on Wednesday, 1 May, 2019 by Richard Barker

This news follows hot on the heels of the the murders of Christians in Sri Lanka whilst celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, 21st April (as covered here). Last Tuesday April 23rd, the Washington Examiner announced:

Trump Privately Urges World Leaders To Take Better Care of Christians…

‘White House acting chief-of-staff Mick Mulvaney said on Tuesday a little known fact about President Trump is that he often brings up Christianity when meeting with foreign leaders.

“What you don’t know about is what goes on behind closed doors. I very rarely talk about my private meetings with the president,” Mulvaney said at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. “I can assure you that I have been sitting with him in the Oval Office, in the Cabinet Room, with leaders from around the world where he will look at them and say, ‘Now, you’re not doing enough to take care of the Christians in your country,’ or, ‘Thank you for helping the Christians in your country’.”

“That is heavy stuff, and it strikes me it’s probably something that hasn’t been articulated in the Oval Office in way too long,” he added.

Addressing a crowd of more than 1,000 Catholics, Mulvaney said the Trump has embraced faith in the White House and encourages Christians and people from all religions who work there to “take their faith and work it into our policies…If you take a look at what the administration has done in the first two and a half years, I think you can see the principles of our faith being manifested,” Mulvaney said.

‘Mulvaney told attendees that too few people across the country are showing their faith and publicly embracing it. “Not enough people are open in their faith, not enough people are comfortable saying, ‘Yeah, you know what? I went to church today”.’

I found this gem buried in Friday’s Koenigs’ Eye-View From The White House, which quotes Western Journal’s article on that news.

You may recall my writing some time ago that the White House has never been as open and welcoming to Christians as it is under President Trump’s administration. Bill opens his latest with this insight,

‘As I continue to report from the White House, moving into my 19th year, we have never had an administration more supportive of Israel and willing to take on Israel’s greatest threat — Iran. Israel’s appreciation was confirmed by members of the Israeli media in my White House conversations on March 25, during Benjamin Netanyahu’s participation in President Trump’s official Golan Heights’ resolution.

‘Vice-President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are evangelicals who fully understand the significance of Israel, both biblically, strategically and practically. Additionally, staunch supporter of Israel National Security Advisor John Bolton’s hardline position persuaded President Trump to eliminate all waivers to countries buying oil from Iran and will impose costly sanctions if they continue to buy oil from Iran.’

What About ‘Touch Not The Lord’s Anointed’?

In view of this important insight into the character of President Trump, and of Dr Lance Wallnau’s hearing from the Lord’s anointing him as a ‘modern-day’ Cyrus, I want to refer briefly to the implicit relevance of ‘touching God’s anointed’. This is succinctly explained at Jesus Alive as follows:

‘We can also see David applying this when he refused to “touch” (or kill) King Saul in (1 Sam 24:4-13) because he was “God’s anointed.” In (1 Sam 24:9-10)(NASB), David says to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks to harm you’? (10) Behold, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord had given you today into my hand in the cave, and some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.'” David repeats something similar to this later in (1 Sam 26:9-11,23-24), when he has a second chance to kill Saul, and repeats it a third time in (2 Sam 1:13-16) when someone later claims to kill Saul.’

THEREFORE, in regards to the official state visit of the President of the United States of America to Britain, the grossly ill-mannered, arch-hypocritical actions of the leader of HM Opposition (Corbyn) and Speaker of the House of Commons (Bercow) in refusing to meet Trump or allow his addressing Parliament will, according to that scripture and the law of sowing and reaping, bode ill for them personally. That is, there are deep personal consequences to their decisions as representatives of the citizens of Great Britain.

Moreover, it makes me wonder if this may have applied to an ordained minister who’d attended, albeit in an unofficial capacity, the anti-Trump demonstrations organised by the Mayor of London. Subsequently, this minister encountered a radical change to his well-known ministry in its becoming peripatetic as a result of its permanent base having to close!

I wonder, therefore, if that change may be connected with his having taken a stance that specifically opposed (ie. to ‘touch not’) the Lord’s anointed leader of America??

Dr Lance Wallnau: Testing the spirits on prophetic words

Posted on Thursday, 25 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

Whilst Nina was happily chirping away last night at her choir’s rehearsal for Sunday at Farnham’s Vineyard church I took time out to watch a few short YouTubes. I spotted the one below featuring Dr Lance Wallnau and, although I’ve referred to him in a few blogs, I’m unfamiliar with him and any ministry he may be in. In fact, this Elijah Streams video describes him as ‘International speaker, business and political strategist’.

Steve Shultz, publisher of The Elijah List, asks him about his rise to fame as a result of the pre-2016 campaigns for electing the next American President. Lance tells about the state-of-play between party politicians and evangelicals’ aspirations, and how he began to prophesy about Donald Trump winning that race.

So the discussion turns to the fine details of his getting the word about Trump being a “wrecking ball to demolish political correctness” and later recognising him as having a ‘Cyrus’ anointing. Among many snippets he tells about meeting Trump and seeing him throw ‘the cat among the pigeons’ during the president’s national prayer breakfast by getting into the middle of the huge gathering and expecting people to come and lay hands on him in true Pentecostal style. No other President’s ever done it that way!

It’s an eye-opening insider’s account, and thus comes with my recommendation.

Moreover, as one moving in a relatively new gifting, Lance explains how he learned to test and enquire whether or not what he was getting was truly of the Lord (perhaps he’s read this blog’s Intro to Prophecy?). In checking Isaiah 45 on king Cyrus as possibly applying to Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States, he tells Steve,

“You know what. The way that we know something’s of the Lord is by way of a multitude of significant coincidences in confirmation – but I’m thinking ‘This is going to go down like a rat sandwich!’ and no-one’s going to want this word!”

So Lance needed to check what his mentor Kim Clement or someone else was hearing, but he wasn’t available and only then did he hear the Lord telling him,

“You’ve got to hear for yourself!”

A post-Resurrection miracle as a ‘mystery’ now revealed – part 2

Posted on Tuesday, 23 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

[First published 2018]

His disciples came to Jesus and said, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” and He replied, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him (and her) more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand…” (Matthew 13:10-13 NKJV)

Definition: ‘Mystery’, Greek musterion (moos-tay-ree-on; Strongs #3466). From mueo, “to initiate into the mysteries”, hence a secret known only to the initiated, something hidden requiring special revelation. In the NT the word denotes something that people could never know by their own understanding and that demands a revelation from God. The secret thoughts, plans and dispensations of God remain hidden from unregenerate mankind, but are revealed to all believers. In non-biblical Greek musterion is knowledge withheld, concealed or silenced. In biblical Greek it is truth revealed (Col 1:26). NT musterion focuses upon Christ’s sinless life, atoning death, powerful resurrection and dynamic ascension.’ [New Spirit-Filled Study Bible]

Prophecy: “2018: I will impart to My Prophets the ability to see clearly My Numbers…” (delivered by Leisa Ebere, read in full here).

The above, ancient meaning of ‘mystery’ is rarely understood and appreciated, even by those solidly grounded in scripture. As told in my testimony, my pre-Christian life got immersed in that esoteric knowledge, and so I’m experienced in this matter and can attest that the difference between that discipline and holy revelations from the Almighty is like the contrast between His Light and the devil’s darkness.

MATHEMATICIANS’ MYSTERIES

Roger Penrose, “The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe”, Knopf (2005)

Therefore, the modern definition of ‘mystery’ as an unsolved puzzle, or something difficult or impossible to explain is comparatively trite!

Even the eminent mathematician-physicist Sir Roger Penrose tends toward a circumscribed perception of reality when using this term, as quoted and discussed in RTU’s Three Worlds, Three Mysteries.

According to its author Joseph, Penrose posits the existence of three “realms” existing around us and “which brings three mysteries” that raise interesting questions on how the world should be viewed. These realms are the physical, mental and Platonic mathematical worlds:

Of course, such hypothetical mysteries cannot equal the much deeper ‘mystery’ of revelatory scripture! Yet in positing that mathematical entities don’t belong in space or time and are eternal and unchanging, Penrose is approaching our understanding of the mathematical aspects of the Bible. His recent thoughts upon consciousness originating at a quantum level may approach ideas I’ve broached in the convergence of science and scripture.

JESUS POINTS TO MATHS

Continuing from Part 1 on Apostle John’s account of the miraculous provision of 153 large fish and the re-blog of New Zealander Joanne Rolston’s posts on it, we learn that she asked Jesus direct on why such specific details are noted. Let me quote some pertinent parts of her highly personal account:

“I asked the Lord about the meaning of the 153 fish in John 21:10, and I was given a maths answer. Amazingly I grasped the explanation. Having to learn statistics in order to get my Diploma of Business helped. I had to overcome a lot to learn the math behind statistics…(including) my loathing for maths. Fortunately, I have a very patient husband who helped me with the mechanics of maths in statistics.

“But I kept complaining to God. “Why do I have to learn this?” I protested, “We’re never going to use it in our business!”

“Make friends with maths” the Lord told me. Not reconcile myself to maths, not become acquainted with maths; He wanted me to believe I could learn maths and take an interest in it! It was a big ask. In a Father’s instruction, He says;

“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7)

So we read that Joanne progressed and mentions Factorial numbers and Venn diagrams as being the first things she learned in statistics. These were the basis of all the wonderful things she was later shown about that ‘action replay’ fishing trip by seven of Jesus’ disciples.

She succinctly explains the unusual significance of the 153 fish by maths of factorials and square root of the third prime number (3), as well as geometrical constructions and proofs in diagrammatic forms, PLUS their relevance to the triune relationship of God, Christ and mankind.

Now examine these facts more closely and delve deeper into the ‘mysteries of the kingdom’:

That historic catch’s mathematical meaning is a surprising shock to we moderns but, in the immense sweep of history, such intellectual knowledge was a relatively ‘recent’ development to those living in the inter-Testamental times of the Graeco-Roman world. The principal propositions, or theories and proofs, of geometry had been compiled by Euclid of Alexandria about 300 years before Jesus’ life. To give us some perspective, this is the same period since the accession of George I (1714) and the appearance of John and Charles Wesley to lead a major evangelical revival, from which was born the fourth largest church denomination in England, Methodism (in Oxford, 1729).

Fascinating Fact: the first proposition of Euclid’s Elements of Geometry is to construct an equilateral (three sides of equal length) triangle by describing a Vesica Piscis (known as ‘Vessel of Fish’!) with a pair of compasses. It’s done by drawing one circle and then a second one exactly the same size, but with its centre on the circumference of the first.

The common, overlapping area looks like a canoe and the ratio of its length to width is 265:153, which closely approximates the square root of 3 as calculated by Archimedes of Syracuse.

All three symbols, triangle and circles with intersecting segment, feature in the ‘mystery’ of the 153 fish – note the use of equilateral triangle as this will be considered another time:

It’s noteworthy that John closes his Gospel account of Jesus’ main post-Resurrection appearances with this most tantalising morsel:

‘And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.’ (John 20:30)

That statement lodged indelibly within my soul when a teenager and I determined to set on a quest to discover the fullness of Jesus’ work. A lifetime later, I learn that ‘seal’ sets the scene for the last chapter’s account of the amazing fishing expedition. That is, it is a clear signpost of the next and final miracle’s deep significance to the early Church.

UNLOCKING THE SIGN MIRACLES OF JOHN – SIGN 8: 153 FISH

Jonathan R Hill, whose above-titled book explains how ‘pi’, the mathematical ratio of circumference and diameter of every circle is found in Genesis 1:1, and that of ‘e‘ (base of natural logarithmic and base rate of growth in all growing processes), are found in John 1:1, devotes a full chapter to ‘Sign 8’, the miraculous catch of 153 fish.

Consider this summary of his main points on Sign 8:

It is the 8th ‘sign’ miracle recorded by John and found in his book only. First and only post-Resurrection sign-miracle and last of the eight, thus reflecting the divinity of Jesus as ‘first and last’ and the ‘alpha and omega’! (I now recall hearing Him tell me during a ministry-team prayer, “I Am Alpha and Omega” – watch for more on this later.)
Time and death represented in this succession by number 7 is followed by 8, the number of resurrection (a new beginning, as blogged in January), underscored by 8 resurrections in scripture other than that of Jesus.
Jesus’ command to cast nets from the other side of the boat, the right, symbolises and prefigures God visiting the Gentiles and taking a people for His name.
The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ translated as ‘church’ means nothing more than ‘called out of’. Thus, the fish being caught out of the sea reflect the characteristic of the Gentile church as those who are ‘called out of’ the world.
153 is of considerable mathematical and typological significance and represents the fullness of the Gentiles.
Key composites of 153 are 7 (spiritual perfection), 10 (numerical completeness) and 9 (finality) because (7+10) x 9 = 153 (= 9 x 17).

Jonathan makes many more deep connections between scriptures and Sign 8 and their importance to the Church and the Consummation of the Age. Building upon the 17-rowed triangle of the number 153 displayed in Jo-Blog’s Go Fish, this is how Jonathan describes this mathematical principle (drag to enlarge, noting number 153 forms an equilateral triangle of sides 17 x 17 x 17):

Triangular Numbers, courtesy Jonathan R Hill

CONCLUSION

From this brief overview of well-researched data we can confidently conclude that the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven include mathematical principles as an important part of its transcendental wisdom. Selah!

A post-Resurrection miracle as a ‘mystery’ now revealed – part 1

Posted on Monday, 22 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

[First published 2018]

Not long after Father God brought Jesus the Messiah back from the dead by His Spirit, the One who’s the radiance of His glory went once again in search of His ex-fisherman friends. Of the two sets of brothers who’d been partners in the fishing trade on the Sea of Galilee before deserting their nets to follow a peripatetic teacher, their boss had an exceptionally severe crisis of self-confidence.

GONE FISHING!

So this ‘son of Jonah’, named Simon, decided to return to the simple life of sitting in a boat with buddies and dragging a net in the hope of getting a catch – but it proved to be an exercise in futility!

A few years earlier on that inland sea, the four fishing partners encountered and had been ‘called’ by The One to follow Him. Jesus amazed the crowds there with His teaching and had asked Simon if He could address them from his moored boat. Jesus knew the men had worked hard all night without having caught anything because, when He’d finished speaking, He told Simon to sail into deep water and lower his nets despite the fruitless night – Simon was overwhelmed by the result! They’d got such a large number of fish that another boat was called for – then both began to sink with their massive weight!!

So Simon changed his tune. Upon hearing Jesus’ instruction he’d objected because of the poor night, yet respectfully referred to Him as “Master” – but in amazement at the fresh catch breaking nets and sinking boats, Simon addressed Him with the superior term of “Lord”; thus suggesting he was beginning to understand the status of this astonishing teacher. In the account by one of those partners, John, they’d previously met Jesus immediately after His baptism in the river Jordan and Andrew had brought his brother Simon to see Jesus, who then spoke of his identity and implicit destiny, “You are Simon son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas,” (which is translated ‘A Stone’, Petros/Peter: John 1:42).

DSCF3120

After that huge catch of unspecified quantity, Jesus called Simon into his destiny: “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men!” That is, a fisher of men. When they’d landed their boats the four foresook all and followed Him (Luke 5:10-11). Continue reading →

HE IS RISEN! – Time and Quantum effects in Jesus’ Resurrection

Posted on Sunday, 21 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

First published on this blog and repeated annually:

In preparation for the Holy-days’ weekend Nina creates a tableau for contemplating Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. She’s inspired about what items to collect and arrange, usually including a rock with a central hole eroded by the sea and which we found on a beach. It serves as both the ‘skull’ and garden tomb of Golgotha. For example, the above display has a scarf as a ‘river of life’ flowing out of the empty cave/tomb below the cross. (In 2012 it gave an insight that I’ll share below.)

Maundy Thursday is celebrated as the night when Jesus and the lead-disciples ate an early Passover Seder, or meal (see video explanation). Following the meal, one disciple betrayed Him by leading Temple guards to capture Him at night for trial by a ‘kangaroo’ court of Jewish leaders. It was a foregone conclusion that they’d demand authorisation of His death from Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect, or governor, of Judea.

If you’re unfamiliar with this true story and how it led to Jesus’ gruesome torture, death and burial followed by his amazing bodily resurrection and appearance to His disciples, read doctor Luke’s investigative account and the personal account of Jesus’ closest disciple John. (Later, a Jewish leader violently opposed to them but who encountered Jesus en-route to Damascus would write He was seen simultaneously by over 500 – read 1 Corinthians 15:6)

HEAVEN & HUMAN HISTORIES’ PIVOTAL TIME

Jesus Christ died so that each of us may be forgiven for our sins. As a result of this new status, we can have direct personal access to Almighty God when we believe in Jesus Christ. As the Son of God, Jesus suffered on our behalf as our ‘scapegoat’. That is, Jesus took the place of death that we deserved because of our sinfulness, for the shedding of a sinless one’s blood was the only way our status could be changed for us to gain personal salvation. Apostle Paul put it thus to the Romans:

⁸But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:8-11, NIV, see whole chapter.)

Now, when I was a new Christian I found that rather hard to understand – but it works! The theological term is ‘atonement’, or ‘substitutionary atonement’. In bringing forgive-ness to the guilty, however, this can cause deep problems for those who’ve been the victim of crimes. After all, why should a killer find forgiveness by God? And what about the victim’s families, or the victim of abuse? They find it very hard if well-nigh impossible to forgive.

In 2012 I heard a Portsmouth prison chaplain address this issue with a concept taken from the criminal justice system: restorative justice. This involves an active dialogue between victim and offender, plus reparation. And it has a sound basis in theology. How?

Jesus was a guiltless victim, directly of those who wanted Him killed, and indirectly of everyone’s ‘fallen state’ of sinfulness, which could only be rectified by His death.

And Almighty God, the Father, is a victim too. How? He’s victim of humanity’s rebellion against Him. For example and especially over the way religious leaders murdered His son – how they seethed with rage when Jesus denounced them! (read Luke 20:9-19). So, every victim can find an identity and affinity in both God and Jesus Christ in their situation. Hence, they can receive God’s own ability to forgive because He will help them choose to forgive those who’ve harmed them. [Lack of forgiveness may be the only thing that hampers God – see Matt 6:14-15]

A TABLEAU IN TIME

During contemplation upon the tableau illustrated above, an insight dropped into mind that the Resurrection created a distinct point in the flow of, or perhaps even a change in, Time itself. That is, the now termed ‘common era’ calendar is the medieval Christian one that counts years from the approximate birth of Christ as ‘anno Domini’. But in fact, a more powerful one would be the point at which things in heaven changed and thus affected our lives on earth and its ultimate role in God’s scheme of creation. This took place at the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, His revival to life from death itself.

That such a concept may be valid can be found in the discoveries about the material of ‘The Shroud of Turin’, the shroud in which Jesus was thought to have been carried and covered during His interment. It is of most astounding significance when examined from the view-point of modern physics.

Apart from the supra-natural or spiritual aspect, that unique, singular event could have naturally happened by means of a ‘singularity’ (a theoretical gravitational effect associated with ‘black holes’, eg. as may have been the starting point of the creation of the universe, or ‘Big Bang’).

Don’t take my word for this but consider that of Dame Isabel Piczek (deceased 2016), famous as a monumental artist and award-winning figurative draughtswoman. Her highly detailed analysis of theories about how the image on the shroud was formed is authoritative, as in the first of several detailed articles here.

Also, as a physicist who may have considered implications from a quantum mechanics standpoint, her conclusions about how the image was formed are most intriguing: it seems that the image of Jesus can only have been created by its hovering equidistantly above and below his reclining bent corpse. Furthermore, this necessitated the body’s levitation – perhaps not an impossible feat during the moment of the Resurrection power-blast? After all, the disciples had witnessed Jesus walking on water and were yet to see His levitating into the clouds!

Dame Isabel succinctly summarises:

We have a piece of cloth and it leads us to a mysterious gate which opens for us, and it lets us see a completely different world, an extraordinary world with extraordinary laws.

Consider these claims by reading those articles and watching this 19 minute of extracts from the DVD The Fabric of Time (with its own lead-in trailer). There’s also a discussion of her scientific opinion at In Case You Missed Isabel Piczek’s Wonderful Paper.

‘Coincidentally”, just after having read the last link and revised the preceding references to science (post published 5 years ago), I’m alerted to theoretical physicist Mehki’s new post on ‘black holes’ and ‘event horizons’ (see Looking to the Horizon). The discussion thread has a valuable contribution from ‘physicalrealityblog’ that’s pertinent to the Shroud site’s discussion of Dame Isabel’s analysis and indirectly reconnects it back into quantum physics!

2017: ‘Coincidentally’ amusing that bloggers ‘hidden’ on opposite sides of the world (Britain and New Zealand) were preparing items on the fabrics that Jesus Christ was buried with – the full-body shroud and the head linen – in Joseph of Arimathea’s private tomb. My post updated on Wed 12 April 2017 was scheduled on Thurs 13th for auto-publication Sun 16 April. On Good Friday 14 April Joanne Rolston published news of the ‘Sudarium’ in AB-solute Proof – The Blood That Speaks.

Read about bizarre anomalies in scientific instruments placed on the slab of stone in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre said to be have been where Jesus’ body lay: Scientists Who Opened Christ’s Tomb Detect Mysterious Readings That Support Shroud Theory.

2019: Am grateful to unknown source of this image:

Link: The Shroud of Turin website

Jesus’ Crucifixion described within the Holy Name of God

Posted on Friday, 19 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

First published on this blog in April 2017 and now continuing yesterday’s Maundy Thursday Musing:

According to Steve Maltz, author of God’s Signature, the only time the sacred, personal Name of God was spoken by the ancient Israelites was during worship in the Temple in Jerusalem, and especially on the Day of Atonement when the High Priest pronounced it ten times.

The Talmud has many warnings about using the most holy Name – it is also regarded as having special powers of healing. Apparently knowledge of its pronunciation was lost after the fall of the Temple in AD70 prophesied by Jesus Christ.

The knock-on effect of that event, together with the Roman Church’s withdrawal in the third Century of financial support for churches in the Holy Land founded by Jesus’ own ‘kith and kin’ (‘desponyni’), was the great loss of a full understanding of the Church’s Hebraic roots. Hence the confusion and doctrinal disagreements over Jesus’ claim, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:10).

Digging deeper we encounter an astonishing revelation of that double-identity!

From translations of Hebrew, the post-Shakespeare English-speaking world referred to God’s Name as ‘Jehovah’ or ‘LORD’ (letter ‘J’ was then starting to replace ‘i’). However, Jews preferred well-known descriptive titles such as ‘Elohim’ – God, in all the fullness of His attributes; ‘El Shaddai’ – Almighty; ‘El Sabaoth’ – Lord of heavenly hosts; or Adonai’ – Lord, and more often than not the reverent term ‘Ha Shem’ (The Name) sufficed.

Scribes, or sopher, needed to take special care in praying before writing the holy name, which must be done without interruption. Were a mistake made, it must not be corrected but the whole page discarded and the page restarted. Numbering had to be carefully handled too because Hebrew characters represented both letters and numbers. So the logical way of writing 15 is to add a yod (ie 10) to a hey (ie 5) and likewise for 16 (a yod to a vav). But this never happened because, as part of the sacred name, they could accidentally be read as this name. The Holy Name is shown below, but read from right to left:

“Yod-Hey-Vav-Hay” first appears in Genesis 2:4 statement that ‘The Book of Beginnings’ is the account of, “When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens”.

This Name was first revealed when Moses encountered God in the burning bush after he’d asked Him whom should he tell the Israelites had sent him to get them out of their slavery in Egypt.

God replied, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’. ” (Exodus 3:14 NKJV)

Steve writes, “Interestingly and contrary to popular belief, the Hebrew word used in this passage…is not YHVY (he shows Hebrew characters). So, what’s going on here? Is it His name or isn’t it? In this Exodus passage, the word used for His name is “Aleph-Hey-Yod-Hey”.

“This takes the meaning of “I will be”…(which) shares a similar three-consonant root with YHVY in Hey-Vav-Hey and Hey-Yod-Hey…and as they’re related are both ways of describing God”. Hence my liking of describing God as “Always” and “Now”, the latter being used by Charlie Shamp too.

HOLY FATHER-SON UNION REVEALED & THE CRUCIFIXION FORETOLD

As in those preceding links, literary Hebrew developed out of pictographic forms that represent gestures and their meanings. We logically surmise both original visual and later written forms were known to and, therefore, used by the Lord in communicating with Abraham and his descendants through Issac and Jacob, and used by Moses and his scribes in compiling the first five books of the Bible.

Comparing the literary and pictorial forms of the name Moses heard and recorded as being from the Lord, we have this graphic (credit Heart To Heart):

Hebrew is read right to left, ie ‘hand-look-nail-look’, but if we read as normal left to right we find not only the Name of God describing who He is, the fullness of His character and abilities, but also its exceptional prophetic nature in it foretelling the pivotal point of His action plan for humanity: the crucifixion of His Son Jesus Christ!

BEHOLD – A NAIL – BEHOLD – A HAND

AND THIS ‘WORD’ SHOWS TWO PERSONS!

Could this indicate that Christ was hidden in the Father when Moses encountered them at the burning bush but manifested as ‘The Angel of the Lord’ or pre-incarnate Christ ? It’s worth reading Exodus 3 carefully again and note Who is speaking to Moses…

Moreover, the pictographs graphically portray God as ‘hands up’ in connection with a nail. Putting all this together into one picture we get a typical image of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary, where long nails or spikes driven through Jesus’ wrists damage the median nerves thus making His hands bend into the ‘claw position’ – just like letter Yod!!

Steve Maltz: A Deep Insight From Hebrew – Holy Treasure of ‘The Open Door’.
With gratitude to Pastor Rhonda’s God’s Heart Is In His Hands
Also (with discussion) Marianne’s YHVH, Behold the Man, Behold the Nail

A Maundy Thursday Musing

Posted on Thursday, 18 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

The Cross at Ffald-y-Brenin, ‘miraculously’ provided and located as directed by the Lord.

[First published 2016]

Reflections upon the events of Jesus’ betrayal and execution whilst we were on a Quiet Day’s ‘Appointment in Jerusalem’, added to my ongoing meditation upon His personal prayer made, not in the garden of Gethsemane, but earlier in the upper room at the close of their Passover meal (John 17). That ‘celebratory remembrance’ proved to be more than a ground-breaking event. It was truly a heaven-breaking-in pivotal time in human history in which Jesus offered up Himself as the Paschal Lamb, not only for His first disciples but also for everyone who would ever believe in Him – eg. you and me! AND enable everyone to come into the full freedom of salvation from their sins and satan’s consequential authority over their lives – should they so choose.

So my thoughts meandered around Jesus’ praying to Father that He’d “manifested Your Name” and for His disciples to see the glory He had with Him before the Beginning, as in my footnote to the prophetic word on Preparation for Enlargement.

The modern concept of ‘name’ fails to convey the depth of meaning and significance as understood in biblical times. I recalled Hebrew and Semitic studies scholar Dr Michael S Heiser’s (bio) referring at Exodus 23:20-23 to the Angel of the LORD as having what’s noted from Gideon’s encounter with Him (Judges 6:11-26); that is,

‘Yahweh’s “Name” in him…which gives a glimpse of the Hebrew Bible’s ‘Name Theology’ in which reference to “the Name” actually refers to Yahweh Himself…Thus, ‘Yahweh indicates He is in the Angel…yet in other passages, Yahweh and the Angel can be simultaneously – but separately – present [Old Testament Godhead Language].

That’s remarkably similar to the principle of quantum entanglement (see On Engaging Time) – yet is in the Bible! Jesus goes on to say that the divine “Name” represents His Presence, which is also God’s ‘Essence’.

So over silent lunch, my mind in ‘neutral’, an insight suddenly occurred and I noted it afterwards as an equation in my Bible’s rear fly-leaf.:

‘GOD’s NAME = HIS GLORY = EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM (KNOWN & UNKNOWN)’

Also, the last part is equivalent to:

‘NOT YET KNOWN BUT BEING REVEALED IN AND ACROSS (ie. A +) TIME’

Now please note: in my mind I was going to write “in and throughout” but actually found myself writing “across”, which doesn’t make as much sense when considering the full continuity of time – BUT this change directly relates it to the Crucifixion.

From my earliest days of being ‘born again’ I’d heard about the Cross being pivotal in, and thus central to, human history. Now, however, I understood it’s existed throughout history from the very Beginning, and connected into the ‘mystery’ of ‘Fathers Own Objective’ that Apostle Paul revealed to the Ephesians, as noted in my intro to God’s Eternal Purpose.

I imagined the Cross’ horizontal beam s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g…r-i- g-h-t…a-c-r-o-s-s…t-i-m-e.

Next, I scribbled a cloud shape with arrows poking out of it to represent different epochs and wrote within its curvy outline, ‘Cloud of Unknowing’ (as in the title of the medieval book of contemplative Christian mysticism on the being and nature of God – see Wikipedia).

THEN right after jotting those notes and awaiting the first session after lunch, this famous Welsh hymn was played and I was transfixed by the chorus line,

“He can never be forgotten throughout heaven’s eternal days.”

Now, as I blog and search on Hebrew name theology I find a very informative article on ‘Ha Shem’ at Hebrew4Christians, to which is added this postscript:

‘The point of all this is to demonstrate that the “Name of the LORD” is none other than Yeshua (or Jesus). Yeshua = YHVH…The idea of “Name” means more than mere phonetics; it has to do with the deeds, acts, power, reputation and glory of God. Those who do not honor the Son do not honor the Father who sent Him (John 5:23). Denigrating Yeshua by even hinting that He is less than God Almighty is to desecrate the Name of God…’ (Divine Names Theology?)

The deep wisdom of that article is worthy of contemplative reflection. Yet it also speaks to me of another aspect of the Lord’s name relating directly to the Crucifixion, about which I mused this time last year and which is republished next… ie. tomorrow, Good Friday.

A prophetic word on the coming ‘bowls of the fury of God’

Posted on Wednesday, 17 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

Now that Facebook can at last connect this blog’s Fb page with my previously unused personal profile, I’ve been pinning a few of its posts and hubs to its ‘wall’ or timeline by way of an intro’ to my writing upon Biblical and contemporary Christian prophecy.

Doing that reminded me of the difference between ancient and modern prophecy, which after due weighing and testing, provides a means of hearing from God before we arrive at the End-times foretold in scripture. Therefore, I mused upon when and how those two modes of hearing Him will converge in the run-up to the Millennium, when Jesus Christ returns bodily to reign and rule on earth.

AND “Lo and Behold!” within a couple of days I get an email on that subject, as in preparing for things to come, which reads as follows: Continue reading →

GPS #32: words and visions on the significance of Notre Dame’s conflagration – and Jerusalem’s!!

Posted on Tuesday, 16 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

A personal thank you to Angus MacKillop for alerting readers of Ignite Ireland Ministries to Newsweek’s report that whilst flames were engulfing Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, there was also a fire in Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque – it cannot be mere coincidence or a ‘God-incidence’, as we’ll learn from the prophetic word of yesterday shown below.

Tom O’Conner writes in yesterday afternoon’s Newsweek, ‘Fire broke out at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem just as flames ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

‘Footage showing smoke and fire emerging from the roof of a structure known as the Marwani Prayer Room, or Solomon’s Stables, could be seen on social media. The Palestine News Agency, the official outlet of the Palestinian National Authority, cited a guard as saying Monday that “the fire broke out in the guard’s room outside the roof of the Marwani Prayer Room, and the fire brigade of the Islamic Waqf handled the matter successfully…Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, director general of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, told Jordan’s Al-Mamlaka TV that the fire broke out in the courtyard and preliminary information suggested that it may have been caused by children tampering in the area.’

Let’s not forget that intriguing ‘coincidence’ of an unusual lightning strike in Mecca on the 14th anniversary of the attack upon New York’s Twin Towers (see Paws-4-Thought: Kingdom-related Events Since Lightning Strike on Mecca’s Grand Mosque).

THREE PROPHETIC WORDS ON NOTRE DAME FIRE

That the above buried news of the Al-Aqsa compound fire is not only synchronous but also is part of what God is doing worldwide, will become clear upon reading the first of two words received in this morning’s email, namely:

1. FIRE IN PARIS PROPHECY

The Lord would say, “The fire of the Paris Cathedral is a signpost of My Spirit and is the beginning of the tearing down of the high places of religion across the nations of the Earth. For surely I am doing a new thing in the midst of you and My Spirit shall burn down the old entrapments and raise up the new places that I have decreed.” For the Lord says, as is written in Jeremiah 23:29 ‘Is not My Word like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock into pieces?’

“Watch and Listen for I am causing both heavenly and earthly signs to identify the changes I am making to re-frame the earth so that My righteousness and glory are at the forefront,” says the Lord of Hosts. “Be vigilant Watchman and make My Signs known to My People,”says the Lord.

Leisa Ebere, 15th April 2019

2. “NOTRE DAME IS ON FIRE…! PRAYING FOR PARIS FRANCE…!!

While watching the FLAMES RISE OVER NOTRE DAME the Holy Spirit quickened to me this powerful word I gave for France last year…!

A WORD FOR THE NATION OF FRANCE; “WATCH! FOR THE FIERY PHOENIX IS RISING, RISING, RISING FROM THE ASHES TO NEW LIFE AND NEW BEGINNINGS”

This afternoon while sitting talking with the Lord in my garden suddenly I saw the Nation of France and as I looked at the Nation I saw a FIERY PHOENIX RISING UP FROM THE ASHES, as I looked again at the Nation the Word of the Lord was quickened to me saying, “Then I thought, ‘I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days like the phoenix’. On hearing these words I immediately inquired of the Holy Spirit and I heard Him say,

“DAUGHTER, I HAVE HEARD THE CRIES OF MY PEOPLE AS THEY HAVE WEPT FOR MERCY, MERCY, MERCY OVER THIS NATION, FOR SURELY IT HAS LOOKED LIKE THEY WOULD DIE IN THEIR NEST, BUT WATCH! FOR A MIGHTY WHIRLWIND OF MY SPIRIT NOW BRINGS FORTH RESURRECTION POWER TO THAT WHICH LIES BENEATH THE ASH HEAP, WATCH! FOR THE NATION OF FRANCE SHALL BE LIKE THE FIERY PHOENIX RISING, RISING, RISING FROM THE ASHES OF DESTRUCTION AND DEATH TO THE BEAUTY OF NEW LIFE AND NEW BEGINNINGS. WATCH! AS MY SPIRIT NOW MOVES ACROSS THIS LAND TO RESURRECT AND RESTORE, TO REFORM AND REVIVE, WATCH! AS MY GOVERNING HAND MOVES MIGHTILY IN THE DAYS AHEAD TO MULTIPLY HER DAYS LIKE THAT OF MY SERVANT JOB,” says the Spirit of God.

I DECLARE AND DECREE; THAT THE NATION OF FRANCE SHALL RISE, RISE, RISE LIKE A FIERY PHOENIX FROM THE ASH HEAP OF DESTRUCTION AND DEATH TO THE BEAUTY OF NEW LIFE AND NEW BEGINNINGS.

Note; PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE NATION OF FRANCE IN THIS HOUR. (click to read vision to Pray for France Arising dated 3rd May 2017)

SEE A SECOND WORD GOD GAVE ME JUST A FEW DAYS LATER; (Click to read France! France! France! Pray for France! dated 7th May 2017)

Note; Job, notwithstanding his present despair of it, was favoured and satisfied with, (Psalms 91:16 ) ( Job 42:16 Job 42:17 Job 29:18) . Some versions render it, “as the phoenix”, a bird of that name, spoken of by many writers as a very long lived one; some say it lived five hundred years, others five hundred forty, others six hundred sixty…!

Veronika West, 15th April 2019

3. BRITISH ISLES/UK and EUROPE: IT’S TIME TO REAP WHAT YOU’VE SOWN

Roger Jervois in South Africa kindly forwarded copy of yesterday’s conversation he had with a sister in UK who moves in the prophetic. They note a specific reference to ‘Fire of God’ in an American’s prophetic word, the title of which I’d noticed a few days ago but for different reasons.

It is published in Elijah List as British Isles/UK and Europe: It’s Time to Reap What You Have Sown, the pertinent part of which reads (emphasis mine)

• ‘We make room for the Holy Spirit in our local church gatherings. It’s impossible to see culture shift without a local church that maintains an open atmosphere to the supernatural movement of the Spirit. I prophesy, Europe and UK – may the fire of God burn strong in your churches! I even see some of the ancient landmarks of faith, the cathedrals and beautiful sanctuaries of old, coming alive again with the fire of God.’

Larry Sparks, Dallas, Texas, 12th April 2019

Footnotes:

God’s ‘GPS’ or Global Prophecy Signals – examples of similar prophetic words being received around the world at about the same time.
‘Digital Globe with Hand’ by Watcharakun, courtesy Freedigitalphotos.net
Thank you Beverley Hall for Jesus Christ’s Crown of Thorns Saved After Firefighters and Police Form Human Chain

Fire in the cathedral – a sign?

Posted on Tuesday, 16 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

Nicholas brings some poignant reflections on the Scriptures and history before we consider three prophecies and a ‘coincidental’ fire in Jerusalem at the Al-Aqsa mosque!

All Along the Watchtower

Many years ago, I had the privilege to visit Notre Dame de Paris. It was an awe-inspiring sight, a triumph of Gothic architecture. Beloved by millions, it stood as an icon of France and France’s Catholic heritage. Now ravaged by fire, it will be rebuilt, ostensibly as a sign of France’s resilience and commitment to cultural excellence.

There is a deeper problem here, symbolised by the fire in the cathedral – France’s anti-religious secularism and ethno-political turmoil. France has turned its back on God. The presence of Christians from a variety of denominations in France does not significantly alter the big picture of apostasy and decay.

Lest the reader think my judgment is harsh, I would say that I hold much the same view of the United Kingdom at present and speak as someone with partially French blood. I love France and the UK, but I do not love what…

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Passion For The Nation: Declarations to shape a nation, day 11

Posted on Thursday, 11 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

Readers will recall the work of Suzanne Ferrett and the many declarations over our nation she publishes at Passion for the Nation, as well as a Spiritual Magna Carta. (Click link for introduction). Today’s declaration appears below:

Click/tap image for link to Passion For The Nation and previous declarations

Declarations to Shape a Nation – Day 11

National Day of Prayer

We thank You for the mantle of prayer resting upon this nation at this time, for the individuals, groups and movements You are raising up, for the diversity of how people pray and the different anointings, callings and strategies being released at this time, orchestrated by Your Spirit. Even as Your word states ‘if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven,’ we declare as the Headship of Jesus is established over Your people, a new ‘oneness’ in prayer will be released, uniting those of different generations, culture groups and streams. We praise You for the work of Your Spirit and for the depth and width of Your purposes at this time. We declare as Your people pray, Your Kingdom will be released in great measure, changing hearts, touching lives and transforming communities.

We decree and declare the Name of Jesus will be lifted over the villages, towns and cities in this nation, that the awakening breath of Jesus will blow in us and through us – until this nation is fully His. We decree and declare God’s people in this land will arise, going through the gates; preparing the way, removing the stones, lifting a banner for the people. We speak to this nation in the Name of Jesus and we declare “surely your salvation is coming.”

Now, as Parliament meets today, we decree and declare the outworking of every emotion, frustration and weariness will serve and facilitate His purposes today.

We declare the Kingdom of God will be established over every other rule and dominion, of power, of greed and of the thoughts of man, that the new season God has planned for this nation will be delivered in full, in order and on time.

We declare the power of God-appointed leadership to bring about Kingdom purpose. We declare this nation will be led throughout this Brexit season by those appointed by Him for this task, those carrying God-given vision, supported and surrounded by the prayers of His people and aided by the Hosts of Heaven.

As the European Leaders meet tonight, we come into agreement with Psalm 29, and we declare “Your Voice shakes the wilderness …and causes the deer to give birth, it strips the forest bare”. We declare God’s Voice will arise, silencing every other voice. We decree and declare the outworking of every emotion, frustration and weariness will serve and facilitate His purposes this day.

Amen, may it be so!

UK Situation Summary #3 – Neil Mackereth on Brexit ‘web’ and call to re-energise prayers

Posted on Wednesday, 10 April, 2019 by Richard Barker

Readers are strongly encouraged to share far and wide this astute overview by Neil Mackereth published below. He’s not only well-versed in Biblical End-times but also one of my first contributors of many articles about the need for Britain to regain its sovereign independence by leaving the Europe’s expanding federation, or Fourth Reich.

A week before submitting his latest, Neil emails me on 2nd April: “Many thanks for the possible May/Merkel collusion bombshell. ‘Tis difficult in these calamitous times to be certain about anything, except our Lord. There is no doubt in my mind that the majority of our MP’s are continuing to pretend that they are working hard to fulfill the will of the people while in reality they are undermining all the principles of democracy…

“I am convinced that God’s hand is controlling the whole revealing process and, as always, His ways are not our ways. I do hope and pray that this is not a Joshua and Caleb moment where the 10 prophets of doom got their way and caused 40 years in the wilderness, rather than immediate entry to the promised land! On balance, I think that is unlikely and pray that we will achieve a clean break.

“Thought this (illustration is) a good summary of the present position:”

Since then, Neil has participated in local prayer meetings whilst drafting and circulating the following and notes “I feel an urgent need to press on with focused, sincere and informed prayer” Continue reading →

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Personal Footnote:

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Submit to Government

Pray for All Men

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FIRST VALIDATION

SECOND VALIDATION

THIRD VALIDATION

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Other Informative Books – Douglas Groothuis

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My 1st Question of God

My 2nd Question of God

Conclusion

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CONCLUSION

Further Reading:

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More:

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Footnotes:

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