A Question of Mixture Part II –What are we chasing?

From the Archives.

A great deal of the writing that the Lord has allowed me to do in these articles is a result of revelation that has come through dreams and visions. I have had these ever since I was a small child and have thought that everyone experienced them to the same degree. I now realize that is not true. When the Lord said to Aaron and Miriam:

Num 12:6 KJV

6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

He was seeking to make a point about “revelation”. He went on to say that His servant Moses had a higher “revelation” than dreams and visions.

Num 12:7-8 KJV

7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
The ultimate goal of the Lord is to be able to speak to us “face to face”, and that should be our goal as well. Still, we have much to learn through the ministry of dreams and visions.

I often tell others a of a very important truth regarding supernatural manifestations that the Lord gives us, and this is what I say, “Do not seek after a supernatural guidance with the Lord because, the clearer the “revelation” the more accountable we become to obedience, and that the Lord gives us these experiences because we are going to need them!” By that I mean, the battle is going to become so intense that we will need very clear and precise words to move through to victory.

Nevertheless we need and must have “revelation”. The Church has always moved forward through “the spirit of revelation”.

Rev 19:10 KJV

…worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And:

Matt 16:17-18 KJV

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It is through ever increasing knowledge of who Jesus Christ is that the Church becomes triumphant. And I tell you this: only “revelation” can help us to “see Jesus”. The Holy Spirit is now revealing to the Church the absolute necessity to be “without mixture” in these last days. He will no longer accept the mixed ministry that is now being offered Him through His Church. Purity always precedes power and He is purifying His bride to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

I would now like us to take a look together at a dream the Lord gave me some time ago that speaks to the present situation the Church finds itself in, and what we must do to change it.

The dream begins with me watching – A full grown dog and four puppies are chasing a cat. The puppies are having a great time following the mature dog . They are barking and running, their little tongues are hanging out and they are having a great time running behind the full grown dog. They eventually catch up to the cat, but instead of it being a cat it is a “skunk”, and it sprays all over them. I walk over, pick up two of the puppies, and, somehow I know that they represent the “prophets and apostles” and that it is my job to clean them up.

I have written some on this revelation yet, the Lord asked me another question that has clarified what needs to be further addressed and what speaks of “a question of mixture”. The Lord asked these two questions: “Why were the puppies chasing a skunk?” And, “Why did the mature dog not know the difference?”

One of the first notes of clarification that we must make here is that I somehow knew that these four puppies and the mature dog represented the “five-fold ministry” of Ephesians 4. Now, let’s begin to examine this portion of the dream based on the questions the Lord asked.

1. Who is the mature dog? The mature dog represents those who the young ministers are looking to to train and guide them. Young animals learn what to eat and what not to eat by watching their mothers and fathers. They learn what to chase and what not to chase as well, from “grown-ups”.

Can you see the serious implications from this simple dream? If those who are training our young ministers are chasing the wrong thing, the “puppies” will grow up imitating them. Because we are pursuing the wrong things, we now have a stench that causes those we are called to reach to want nothing to do with us. Many of the present day ministers have not only a poor reputation in the world, but a stinking one.

2. The second question we ask is, “Why doesn’t the grown up dog know the difference?”
The answer to this is even more frightening. He doesn’t know, because he was taught to “chase the wrong thing”. We are now at least two generations down the road from knowing what the Lord values. This is exactly what the Lord said would happen to the end-time Church.

Rev 3:16-18 NIV

I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

If the Lord Himself is sick of us, can we blame the world for wanting nothing to do with our self-seeking and extravagant religion?

Still, there is great hope. The Lord would not be speaking to us with such clarity if He were not about to do something wonderful to cleanse us from our “stench”. He said as many as I love I chasten.

Rev 3:19-20 KJV

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Deut 8:5 KJV

5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

2 Sam 7:14 KJV

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

This last verse says, He will use “the world to chasten us”. Surely that is where we are.

Dear ones, we have a very delicate task before us. We must acknowledge that our “spiritual fathers” have taught us to pursue the wrong thing. And yet, at the same time we must honor the good things they have accomplished and taught us. We cannot throw the baby out with the wash as the old saying goes.

Somehow our spiritual fathers have tried to dress in linen and wool at the same time. They have had some very carnal goals and have flowed in some great anointing at the same time. Because these anointings have brought them into wealth, fame and success, we have been blinded to the “mixture”, and very few are able to discern the difference.

The present day Church is now being called into the Holy of Holies where no mixture is allowed. God is raising up a “priesthood” that will be without “mixture”. This will result in a bride without, “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing”. The three things the Lord calls us too, are the following:

I counsel thee to buy of me
(1) gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and
(2) white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and
(3) anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:18 (KJV)

We are being called to ask the Lord for His fire to burn the dross out of our lives. To burn every carnal goal we have been seeking from our heart. To repent for wanting to be well known and travel having others clamor after our gift and anointing. What kind of fire will it take to burn out the mixture of wanting to impress men and have the approval of the Lord at the same time?

I am looking forward to hearing what kind of mixture you might see in your own heart and the Church that the Lord will no longer accept – please respond with your insights.

Prayer – Oh, Lord, You have told us to “buy gold tried in the fire”. Please send the kind of fire that will expose the dross of my heart. Uncover and burn out whatever mixture you find. Please help me not to draw back from the fire until your work of purification is finished, and until you have a generation without mixture. I repent of goals that have a mixture of selfish-ambition and holy zeal for the Lord. Please, Lord, do not cease to let the fire burn because I cry from the heat. I truly want the purity that only You can produce in me and the Church.

MORE TO FOLLOW –
Dear ones – it is crucial that the word of the Lord get to as many as He desires. If you know of someone who will profit from these writings please direct them to our blog: onemillionvoices. May the Lord raise up His “One Million Voices”.

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A Question of Mixture

From the archives. The Lord is very clear about those who carry His word and minister His truth. There is to be no mixture in our lives. Can we say there is no mixture in my life, Lord? Are there any selfish ambitions or personal goals that do not reflect the humble and sacrificial heart of Jesus? I have set nothing before my eyes that is impure and nothing has come out of my lips except that which glorifies you? This set of articles will seek to deal with the Lord’s requirement that their be no mixture in our lives. As our Lord was revealing to Ezekiel the glorious temple, He made this statement for those who were to minister for Him.

Ezek 44:16-19 NKJV

“They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. 17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister
within the gates of the inner court or within the house. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19

One of the reasons the Lord cannot fully sanction our ministries with anointing and power is the question of mixture. For Him to completely stand with some of us He would have to deny His absolute purity and approve whatever mixture of flesh and spirit that we walk in. What is amazing to me is how little we understand this. We seek to improve the fruitfulness of ministry with so many different kinds of efforts, but rarely look to this issue of “mixture”. We have spent hundreds of millions of the Lord’s money on conferences and schools with some, but very limited results.

The farmer who develops high-bred seeds, more powerful tractors, and constantly fertilizes, but does not look to the weeds, is feeding the weeds as much as he is the crop he hopes to reap. It seems to me that we have somehow come to ignore the weeds. Have we ignored them for so long that we no longer even see them? Can we look as a field with such limited focus that we only see the crop but not the weeds? Is this what the Lord was saying to the last day Church in Rev. 3?

Rev 3:17-19 KJV

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

For all the preaching that we do as the holiness crowd, it is astonishing how little practical holiness we emulate. I wonder if we really believe that, “without holiness no one will see the Lord”? I know that it is only through the precious shed blood of Jesus that we are made positionally holy before the throne. Yet this verse is clear about who will “see” the Lord. This seeing is the ability to fully gaze upon and appreciate what we are “seeing”.

There are countless ways in which we are presently guilty of the mixture of the flesh and the sprit. In this article however, I would like to deal with the mixture of being a respecter of persons. We do not hear very much about this requirement of our Lord yet, it is one that the Lord sees as a extremely important issue. So much so He devotes a great deal of His word in denouncing those who participate in this detestable practice. The problem for us is, it is just too easy to be a respecter of persons. There are just too many worldly rewards if we will mix just a little of this error into our lives for most to resist.

15 “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.

Deut 1:17 NKJV

17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence,

2 Chron 19:7 KJV

7 Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

Prov 28:21 KJV

21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.

This sin has now become so common in the Church that it is almost never recognized. It hides under the cloak of “making the smart choice” or being “practical”.

I have been watching the outrage of the American people as the corporations that have been designated “too big to fail” have been given the most blatant and egregious preferential treatment imaginable. While agreeing with all that was being said and becoming a little out-raged myself, the Holy Spirit whispered into my heart, “The Church has been doing this for years”. I was quite shocked to hear this, but when I stopped to think about it I had to say “yes Lord, you are right”.

My mind went back to the nearly countless situations that I know of where the leaders of the Church have thought “to reveal what this minister has done will do more damage than if we just move him someplace else. We cannot afford to lose the Church”. This is exactly where the thinking behind “too big to fail” finds it roots. I have watched as the Church has often rewarded men of God who committed what amounted too outright lies and misappropriation of funds because they were “too important to lose”.

I understand some of the thinking behind these choices yet, it has now become so common we hardly take notice of it. The American people finally were faced with the last straw as executives were about to be given huge bonuses paid for with tax-payer bail out money. These were the same executives who led our nation to our knees financially and if there would not have been an outrage, they would have taken the millions with no thought of wrong doing.
Why does the Lord speak out so strongly against being a respecter of persons? Clearly, there is an iniquity here that is far greater than any of us can imagine. Is this not the root behind racism, prejudice and the elitist thinking that arises from time to time behind the demonized Hitler’s? Let us search our hearts to see where we have allowed this sin to find root and ask the Lord to purge us completely.

I wish I could write some of these things without sounding pious or as someone who is above such actions. I hope too that these articles are not being written out of bitterness or judgmentalism. I believe they are coming from a holy frustration that believes the Lord has a better and more fruitful way if we are willing to pay the price of our forefathers. The kind of frustration that births a fresh move of God often sounds like rebellion or pride. I take my pattern once again from scripture and pray I have the same heart as the Apostle Paul who said:

Rom 7:24-25 KJV

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Thank goodness the Apostle Paul did not stop here and forever doom us to the mastery of the flesh over the spirit. He went on to say:

Rom 8:9 KJV

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.

During the fifties and sixties the Pentecostal Churches were the golden child of Church growth. Yet today we are in such decline in the U.S. that almost none of us have posted an increase in many years. This is despite the emergence of mega-churches and countless creative ways to reach new people. As I grieve over these truths I remember the Lords words, “You are my dear children, and I will not lift my discipline off of you until you change”. I cannot tell you what peace that brings to my soul. I also cannot tell you how much courage that statement gave me to speak out louder and clearer than ever before. Dear ones, “Daddy” is home and He is ready to take care of our misbehavior. He will correct us in love but do not be mistaken, He will correct us. He will not lift His hand until we return to the humble and obedient child He is after.

Can you think of ways that we have been a respecter of persons for so long that we barely know we are doing it any longer? I will be looking forward to hearing your insights.

PRAYER – Dear Father – we come to ask you to heal our blind eyes that we might begin to see as you see. Please forgive us of the sin of being a “respecter of persons”. We do and have shown favortism, and it is a sin of great proportion in Your eyes. Because of this sin we have given strength to racism and prejudice, we have perpetuated the iniquity of elitism and strengthened the ego of our own flesh. We are blind please send the word in such power that it will cut us to the quick and cause brokenness and repentance.

Father, we have lost the ability to be discerning, and the deception and darkness of the last days is growing all around us. Please grant discernment to your Church once again so that we might see your glorious purity and power in these last days. Help us to see and understand the following scriptures:

Isa 60:1-11

60 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.

7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day.

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A Question of Mixture VI Woundedness and Our High Calling

Woundedness will cause us to do some strange things. Ultimately, it will keep us from walking in the highest things the Lord has for us regardless of how anointed we might be. The first nine years of ministry for me were truly years of “from glory to glory”. It seemed that the Lord graced everything I did with His hand of blessing. Then everything changed. My wife and I began the dark night of our souls. We were asked by the Lord to go to a Church that not only rejected us, but cruelly so. The pain was so intense I did not think we would survive it. Finally, my wonderful wife said, “Honey, I will always love you, but I will not stay here and watch this church destroy you. I am going to my Mothers. When the Lord releases you I will be waiting for you there.”

Little did I know that I had only been walking in the first level of my calling. The painful and excruciating years that followed began to bring us into the second level of our calling and anointing. As a result of what my wife said, I got down to business with the Lord to release me from this Church. He did, but only to bring us into a worse situation. More pain and rejection than I thought was possible. Just before I got to this next Church they had driven off about forty people who they thought were trouble makers.

My first Sunday at this new Church the group they called trouble makers showed up. After service I was confronted by leaders who said, “The group of people who were here today are severe troublemakers, the former Pastor finally got rid of them, and you must do the same.” Well, my wife and I had just come from a season of such pain that I knew I could not endure anymore conflict and division. So the next morning (Monday), I began to go to the houses of these “troublemakers”, and in as kind a way as possible I told them it would be best if they did not try to return to the Church. The rest of the week I felt pretty good about having dealt with a possibly very divisive situation and I was thinking things would finally begin to change for us. Until – Saturday morning rolled around!

I was sitting at our kitchen table beginning to think about Sunday’s message when the Lord invaded the kitchen with these words.
Jer 23:1-2 KJV

23 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

The impact of these scriptures caused me to literally fall off of my chair. While laying there on the kitchen floor, my heart breaking from the thought that I had displeased the Lord, I repented. I wept and told the Lord I was sorry. I told Him I thought I was doing what was right and protecting His church from division, but that I would get up and go to the ones I asked not to return to the Church and ask their forgiveness, and although I knew we would again go through a season of division and upheaval, I would invite them back. Thus ushered in another year and a-half of even greater pain.

Woundedness will cause us to do some very strange things. It will cause us to develop actions and thoughts that are contrary to our calling and gifting, and it will certainly keep us from our high calling. My actions to this group of people, called “troublemakers”, is an example of how “woundedness” can cause us to react in a way that is both contrary to our calling as well as to our nature. If we are to serve the Lord in greater measures, we must be healed and delivered from woundedness. Perhaps these words of the Apostle Paul now take on new meaning to us.

Phil 3:13-14 KJV

but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

What does all of this have to do with “A Question of Mixture”? Just this: When we are wounded we will develop many ways to protect ourselves and insulate ourselves from those who have and can hurt us. We begin to develop a “mixture” of reason and justification for actions that are less than Christ-like. We might even develop a deception that our actions are Christ-like. All of this hinders us from our calling. Here is how the Lord explained it to me in the book “The Journey”.

“Empty your pockets,” He said. I searched my pockets but did not find anything. Judah said, “Not those pockets, the pockets of your heart!”

I found that when I was in the presence of Judah I could see into my heart; and no matter what I saw there a sense of hope remained. As I looked more closely I did see that their were indeed many thousands of pockets in my heart and something was deposited in each pocket. With Judah’s help I was guided to a special section of my heart called “values.” As I looked at this part of my heart a great pride rose up in me, even though I could see that part of my heart was very dark. Judah said, “That is the place where the measuring systems are stored, you must now be very thorough as you reach into these pockets and remove all false measuring systems. But understand this,” Judah said, “Every time you remove a false system you must replace it with truth. The heart is like a type of magnet that wherever there is an empty space it will draw in something to fill it – it will draw almost anything as long as that empty space is filled. I call these empty spaces ‘pockets’ for a very special reason. No one can see what is in your pockets. Only you know what is there. Further, only you have the authority to go into your pockets or to grant authority for another to go there and make deposits.”

I was so excited to get started. I thought ,“Finally, I will quit going in empty circles and begin to become fruitful.” “But where should I start?” I wondered. Then, deep inside me I heard a familiar voice say, “ Start where you think you have the most light”. I wanted to argue with this tender voice and say, “ Why would I start where I have the most light? I’m o.k. there. I should start where my heart is the darkest”. But I knew this wonderful voice always spoke truth. So I obeyed the voice of truth and went to that part of my heart where I thought I had the most light.

I liked this place. I felt comfortable here. I could see here very clearly. Then Judah handed me a special flashlight. I said, “A flashlight, why do I need a flashlight? It’s bright in here!” Still, I knew Judah never lied or did things without reason. So I took the special flashlight, and as I did I saw some instructions written on it with gold lettering. They said, “This special light will distinguish between false light and true light. Point this light at any point of your heart and it will reveal where your heart refuses to be tested or examined; it is their that falsehood, lies. Truth is never afraid to be questioned or examined!”

I then took the special flashlight and pointing to that part of my heart that I thought was the brightest and contained the most truth; I pushed the button titled “Trust Me”. I was shocked by the surge of energy that shook my whole being. A beam of light burst from the flashlight that was so bright it caused that part of my heart called “motives” to be clearly seen. In the hidden part of this pocket of my heart called “motives”, were the words, inferiority, shame, fear, insecurity and woundedness.

Will you allow the Lord to enter your heart and deliver you from those actions that you and I have developed to protect our area of woundedness? He is even now standing at the door and knocking. Invite Him in and allow Him access to those areas you have not allowed anyone to touch.

Prayer – Father, I thank You that the Holy Spirit is coming to Your Church in these last days to purge us from all “mixture”. We now understand that there are mixtures of which we have responsibility to repent of and be delivered from, and there are mixtures that only You can point out, and through Your gentle hand of love, heal us. I pray for all who are reading these words that they may have the ability to see You in a new way. That they may allow You to minister to them on a daily basis. Bring healing and deliverance so that we may serve You in our high calling. Amen.

I realize we are beginning to deal with some very sensitive issues. I pray you will trust the Holy Spirit in ways you have never trusted Him before. He has come to reveal and to heal.

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A Question of Mixture Part V — The Problem of Woundedness

It is one thing for a man of God, through the Holy Spirit, to point out a need or a problem in our lives, It is quite another for him to have the anointing, experience, and desire to see us healed. I would like to share an amusing story with you that will illustrate what I am saying.

When I was pastoring in the City of Milwaukee, Wis. we were praying for the sick in a Sunday morning service. A precious young woman was standing before me, and as I got ready to pray for her the Holy Spirit said, “Water.” I stepped back and asked myself the question, “What was that?” The Holy Spirit then again spoke to my heart, “Water”. As I stepped forward to lay my hands upon her I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Tell her she needs to drink more water (this was during the 70’s when drinking water was not as popular as it is today).

In obedience to the Holy Spirit I said, “Jackie, I believe the Lord is telling me to tell you to drink more water and you will receive your healing”. You would have thought that I had prodded her with electricity because her response was so sudden and demonstrative. That afternoon she called my wife and asked, “Has Bro. Rogers spoken to my doctor”? My wife said, “No, he does not even know your doctor.” She responded, “Well, I came to the altar for prayer this morning because I have a kidney infection. I went to the doctor and he said to quit drinking all that pop and drink more water. I did not want to stop drinking the pop and thought I would just get healed and still be able to drink my pop”. That may sound humorous, and it was, yet it spoke volumes.

The Lord later spoke to me and said, “If my ministers would be more discerning and bolder when they pray for the people their would be far less people coming for prayer and many more healings because the success rate would soar.” The point is, we need men and women of God that can not only tell us what is wrong, but help us to find healing, even if it is painful.

The main text we are using for this series of articles on “mixture” is Rev. 3:15-22. This is one of the passages the Lord gave me when He first called me as my “life message”. I was meditating on the following verse from that passage some time ago when the Lord began to give me a powerful revelation.

Rev 3:20 KJV

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

After reading this text I decided I would take the Lord at His word and go to the door and let Him in. I was not prepared for what began to happen. For many months I chose to practice this truth, and as I did the Lord began to give me a daily “visitation and vision” of Himself, and of His resulting actions. As a result of these visions I wrote a book entitled, “The Journey”. I will be using this book as a resource to illustrate what the Lord wants to do through these articles. The book primarily deals with our inordinate need for the praise of men, and how and what the Lord wants to do to free us from this invasive sickness.

Let us remember that the Lord asked the question, “How can we have faith if we are receiving the praise of men more than the honor that comes form God alone?” If we are so needy when it comes to the recognition and praise that comes from others, is it any wonder that we have so little faith? Yet, how can we be free when what others think when it means so much to us?

What the Lord showed me was this: “No matter how badly many of my children want to be free from the praise of men, because of their woundedness they cannot. They must yield themselves to Me and become open and vulnerable for Me to bring healing.”

The Lord began to take me on a long journey of healing that day by day began to deliver me from the inordinate need of the praise of men. Let me tell you a story that will begin to illustrate how we begin to be bound by our need for the praise and acceptance of others.

For most of my life, when I would shake hands with someone, I would feel insecure and drop my eyes. When I would say my name I would feel a spirit of shame. This continued will into my 50’s when the Lord began to help me to see the problem. You see the name I carry, “Rogers”, is not the name of my real father. George Rogers was married to my mother, but she had an affair while he was fighting in the Philippines during WWII. One day I was thinking to myself, “Why do I feel this way? I am an anointed man of God, the Holy Spirit uses me at times in a powerful way, I pastor a wonderful Church. Why do I always feel shame and inferiority when I speak my name?” The Lord is His grace began to take me on a long journey of healing of not only this problem, but many others that were keeping me in bondage to the need of the “praise of men”.

In my mind I would allow myself to go to the door daily during my devotions, and I would see Jesus standing there waiting to be let in. I would welcome Him in, and then He would begin to take me back to these many experiences that I needed healing from (isn’t this what counselors do? I saved a ton of money – (smile)). Nevertheless, He took me back to the mid 40’s when I was born and showed me my mother in the hospital. In the mid 40’s it was a great shame to have a child out of wed lock. There was my mother, laying in the hospital going through all of that pain delivering a child she did not want. That is when the spirit of shame came upon her and ultimately upon me.

When I was five or six years old Dad Rogers would come and take my older brother and sister on a vacation and leave me behind. Of course, I could not understand why, and this is when I developed a great need to be accepted by father figures. Yet, like so many others, my need only brought me more rejection as is so often these cases. The Lord latter spoke to my heart saying, “ You will never be able to fulfill your calling with this need for acceptance of father figures. I want to use you at times to confront those who are considered fathers in My kingdom but at this time you cannot do this. You will retreat when they wound you.”

Perhaps you are seeing something in yourself that is hindering you from fulfilling your high calling? We are able to walk in some of our calling without this healing, yet, until we experience deliverance from the need of acceptance and the praise of men, we are very limited in what God can do through us.

If a man has a hand that has been terribly hurt, with broken bones, severe cuts, and torn ligaments, it does not matter how badly he wants to use that hand, he just will not be able to do it. He may try but the pain will cause him to pull back every time. This is what the Lord showed me is wrong with many of His children. Again, the book “The Journey” became God’s tool to bring healing into my heart. Here are a few words from the book.

I wondered how these things were able to stay hidden for so long when there was obviously a great deal of damage. It was then that I remembered why we had started this journey of examination. Judah had warned me of the false measurement system of the city of despair. I saw that whenever I sought for the praise of man a type of drug was administered to that part of my heart where the creatures fed. It rendered that part of my heart unable to feel the pain they were inflicting. That enabled the creatures to feed freely and spread their deadly disease. All the time they were destroying that part of my heart I was thinking and feeling euphoric. I found that secretly I was looking for opportunities to receive the praise of man.

Here is another portion —

It was at this point that a type of despair began to set in. I realized that the very thing I was sent to rescue people from, was secretly growing in my own heart. The words of Judah began to come back to my remembrance. ….”the power of deception is so great in the valley that you will experience days , weeks, and months where you will believe the lie that I have left you and that you are alone with no one to help you against the staggering hordes of darkness that we will encounter. You will be tempted at times to give up the fight ; you will be tried so severely that you will forget for a season why we came to this Valley – you will think that even your closest friends have abandoned you.” I was beginning to think, “Truly, Judah saw everything I would encounter. I must treasure His words with all my heart. It is the only way I will get through this despair. Instantly I could sense the presence of Judah and He was speaking to my heart. He said:

“You were very wise to remember My words. When they are received with a pure heart, they are the only things that cannot be distorted by the powerful lies coming from the City of Deception. Remember, I will always be with you I will never leave you – you are the apple of My eye – My love for you is greater than any other power you will ever encounter. Focus on how much I love you and the ‘praise of men’ will lose it’s power over you.”

I believe it is time for the Lord to use this book in a powerful way and I am having many copies printed up in expectancy of the need. I would encourage you to order it . Penny will give you details at the end of this article. If you cannot afford it, let us know and we will do our best to get it to you. Many times someone will see the need, catch the vision, and send us extra so that all who need these tools can receive them. The book continues by saying:

Judah continued to teach me by saying, “Throughout history those who I have ordained to build my bridge have fallen into a strange type of deception. To be busy brings a certain fulfillment to it. I created all mankind to receive fulfillment by finding themselves active and useful. The deception of the City of Despair has used that truth out of balance. So that as long as people are busy they think they are moving forward, when in truth they are but going in circles. They remain in this deception by bragging on each others accomplishments and measuring how far they have moved. Every once in a while they will stop and say, ‘What am I accomplishing – why am I spending so much energy but getting nowhere?’ But then someone in the City of Despair will come up with a new type of measurement and My children will get all excited about using it and will forget how unfruitful they are. They will enter another season of busy activity and think very highly of themselves until frustration sets in again. Sadly, many of the ones I sent to build the bridge will think there is nothing that can be done to change things and will give up. The dark prince of the city has used this method of deception for thousands of years and it has been so effective very little of the bridge is presently built.”

“What is to be done?” I cried out. “The team you gave me to work with is doing exactly the same thing! Will we too spend our lives going in circles and congratulating each other from a false system of measurements while those trapped in the City perish?” “Ah,” Judah said, “Only you can answer that question.” “Me?” I shouted, “Why me?”

You and I are called to build a bridge that millions can cross. Will you help me to build this bridge? Will you begin to send these articles out to as many as the Lord leads? I am getting e-mails nearly everyday from someone who is being helped. They are coming for all over the United States, Germany and Australia. May the Lord bless that which is of Him.

Penny will now tell you how you can order the book “The Journey”. The book opens with me seeing a great Lion who, of course, turns out to be the Lord Himself. He then asks if I will go with Him to the “City of Despair” and build a bridge that will enable them to come out of this City.

Blessings upon you and what God has called you to be and to do. There is an answer to our woundedness and it is to see Jesus like we have never seen Him before. He is the Bridge we are called to build for others to cross.

To order “The Journey” send a check made out to “Foundational Ministries Center” for $10.00 plus $3.00 for shipping per book. As Bro. Rogers stated above, if you cannot afford the book but feel strongly that it would be a great benefit to you, please let us know either by mail or email.

Attn: Penny Johnson
Foundational Ministries Center
444 Irwin St.
Muskegon, MI. 49442

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A Question of Mixture Part IV — The Fear of Man

Prov 29:25-26

25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

26 Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the Lord.　

Our Lord made a statement that if properly understood and practiced could revolutionize the Kingdom of God and most of our ministries. If we would walk in this word of His, our frustration would be nearly non existent and we would burn red hot for the Lord and His work. This statement too, was regarding the subject of mixture. We found in the Old Testament that the Lord would not allow His ministers to wear “wool” and “linen” at the same time. There was to be no mixture among those who served Him even in their clothing.

We also found the problem of Luke-warmness and it’s resulting rejection from the Lord is a result of mixture. No matter how hot something is, if we add enough warm water it will cool down until it is no longer desirable. That is mixture. It is the goal of these articles to identify and purge the things that have created this devastating Luke-warmness in the Body of Christ.

When our Lord said:

John 5:44

44 How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

John 5:41

41 I receive not honour from men.

Matt 23:5

5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men:

John 8:54

if I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me;

He was identifying one of the most pervasive and accepted mixtures the Church delights in. It seems that we almost never tire of both seeking after and receiving the praise of men. If it isn’t the praise of men then it seems we want to boast on ourselves. (ouch)

Dear ones, to some degree I understand how frustrated, discouraged and defeated you might be. The truth is, a great deal of these things have been brought on by our inordinate desire for the praise of men. Does not most of our discouragement come from the fact that we feel forgotten, neglected or used by others? To rid ourselves of this burden however, is not as simple as we might imagine. Most of the discipline the Old Testament men and women of God received was to bring them to a place of “freedom from the fear of man.” The Apostle Paul too recognized the seriousness of this challenge when he cried out:

Rom 7:24 KJV

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

The Apostle Paul, like you and I, wanted to be totally free, but found his flesh loved these things and that they had a terrible hold on him. You see what we have been guilty of is mixture. How much of the honor and praise of men can I have and at the same time have the approval of God? How many times can I draw attention to my own accomplishments and still walk in the presence of the Lord?

The above question can perhaps best be answered by the following. How long do we want to walk in frustration, discouragement, depression and fruitlessness? To the degree we depend on the honor of man is the degree that we will experience these things.

The life of Joseph is a series of constant tests and trials meant to purge him from the belief that he could be promoted, helped or delivered by a man. When the Lord was finished with him he could face a Pharaoh and declare ——-

KJV
16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

As long as our focus is on some man who can help us we are very limited as to how God can use us. I will say this as plainly as I can, as long as we find the need to draw attention to ourselves, brag and boast on our accomplishments, and complain because someone has forgotten us or let us down, we will not be used of God to any great degree. We are our own worst enemy when it comes to moving forward with God.

Many of us know how to speak the right spiritual words about humility and how it is all of God, but at the same time we find a way to let others know how spiritual we are or how much we have given or sacrificed. We do not recognize it but dear ones, this is mixture. This is why we have so little power and anointing. Again, I am not speaking as one who is free from these things. Still, it is good to begin to identify some of the problems so that the Holy Spirit can begin to work on our hearts, is it not?

Matt 6:1 TLB

6 “Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, for then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”

You might say, “Bro. Rogers, you have painted a dismal picture of the Church. What are we going to do”? The answer to this most important question is found in the book of Isaiah the sixth chapter. This is where the prophet, through the loss of his last confidence in the man who could “promote” him began to truly see for the first time. The result was, he could both see and hear the Lord in a new way. The result was, he was called into his “high calling”.

Isa 6:1-8 KJV

6 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Dear one your high calling is awaiting you. The end of frustration and fruitlessness is before us. All it will cost is an end to the “mixture” in our life. As soon as we end the need for the praise and honor of men, we will begin to walk in our high calling!

We will deal with the subject of woundedness and the need of the praise of men in our next article.

Rev 3:18-21 NKJV

18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

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A Question of Mixture Part III — What are we chasing?

Tommy Tenney came out with a book some time ago that swept the hearts of many in the Church into a new desire for God. He called it “God Chasers”. He was able to provide a beach-head for the truth the Lord is after in this hour. Yet for all that the book accomplished there is still a stronghold in the Church that has not yielded. That stronghold is the idea that we can continue to chase those things that are not the character and nature of Jesus Christ and continue to have His divine favor and anointing at the same time. In other words, we still believe the Lord will accept a faith that has “mixture”.

The challenge of being a prophetic or apostolic voice is to present the truth in such a way that we can clearly see what is wrong, and at the same time never forget what is right. We must both sound the alarm without fear or favor and still declare the goodness and faithfulness of God. The rebuke to the Laodicean Church could not have been stronger. Paraphrased – “You make me sick”, yet, the word goes on to say, “I am still standing at the door ready to come in”. What is the difference between the term “mixture” and the twin truths of scripture is of the utmost importance, and it will take great wisdom and discernment to know the difference. The clearest way to detect mixture is to look for “motive”. The motive of why we do something will clearly reveal whether we are operating in “mixture” or presenting the twin truths of scripture in power and balance. To know who we are trying to please will reveal the motive. To please myself or to impress others will always bring an unholy mixture. The scripture says it like this: God said the end-time Church would be so filled with this “mixture” that He was about to spew it out of His mouth. Mixture creates Luke warmness. If we start with something that is piping hot and continue to add tap water to it, that drink will become “lukewarm”. Our faith can never be lukewarm. It cost the Father and His Son to much to ever be allowed to be tepid. The Father, through His Holy Spirit, will not permit it. Yet it seems the attitude of much of the Church today is how much mixture of things that are not Christ-like can I have, and still walk in the anointing?
Oh, we would never consciously think or say that yet, our actions and words confess it nearly every day. Perhaps someone needs to put it into the kind of clear words that reveal just how carnal we can be without ever realizing it.

One of the ways that the quality of gold is determined is the application of acid. This acid will reveal what kind of mixture is in the gold and just how pure it is. We need some teaching that is not afraid to apply a little acid to reveal just what we are practicing. Once revealed, we then need to cry out for the fire that will burn out any mixture in our faith. We need to cry out until the pure nature and character of Jesus Christ is all that is left. Our Lord said we would have to buy this gold —-

Rev 3:18-19 NKJV

18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

The question remains, “With what currency will we buy this gold”? We may all have different ideas as what is required and I am sure there would be some truth in all of our thoughts. Yet, the one pattern I see in the word of God is “holy desire”. Passionate, constant, burning, red hot desire will always gain the ear of the Father.

Jer 29:13 KJV

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

We find when young David cried out, “Is there not a cause”, when Isaiah said, “Here am I send me”, when Elijah said, “The zeal of the Lord has eaten me up”, when Nehemiah said:

Neh 1:2-11 KJV

2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. 4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,

5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments: 6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. 8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. 10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.

Nehemiah was broken and crushed when he heard an accurate report of the condition of God’s house and His children. He was so moved he could barely function. He fell on his face in prayer and fasting for several days.

What we need, perhaps more than anything else in the Church today, is someone who can give an accurate report. That might sound a little strange to you, yet, I see that the failure to declare in clear terms the situation we are in has led us into a blinding deception. The truth is, 1,600 ministers a month are quitting ministry in the United States. The ministry has become a graveyard for gifted, talented and loving men and women of God. We are closing more Churches than we are starting. Everywhere we look there are wounded bruised and bleeding Church members. The fastest growing churches are often those with the most hospital beds.

The sooner we can give an accurate report the sooner we will have men with the Nehemiah anointing pouring out their broken heart to God. And because of their persistent passion the Lord will both anoint and send them into the humanly impossible task of rebuilding the Kingdom.

I heard a man of God that I both love and admire say that the way to promotion in the movement is “not to rock the boat. Don’t stir up anything and don’t ever send in a report that shows declining numbers.” The sad thing was that this formula worked for him. Over a forty year period he was consistently promoted to ever higher positions of influence. Of course, this course of action was passed down to all the young ministers he led. The result was, lukewarm young leaders who neither had the desire nor the courage to be bold or creative. To exaggerate, slant, or bend is still deception and God cannot bless deception.

What he said made a certain kind of sense. After all, are we not men and women of faith? Are we not supposed to always give the best “slant” on things? Would it not be disloyal too disagree? As these thoughts began to go through my mind the word of the Lord came with clarity and power and said, “Son, what this man told you is the perfect formula for “Lukewarmness”. We have an example of this when all the prophets were giving good reports and Jehosophat asked this question:

1 Kings 22:6-8 NKJV

6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain?”

So they said, “Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

7 And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”

8 So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.”

And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say such things!”

We need to ask God, “Are there any other prophets we can inquire from”? The question is will we hear them?

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A Question of Mixture Part II –What are we chasing?

A great deal of the writing that the Lord has allowed me to do in these articles is a result of revelation that has come through dreams and visions. I have had these ever since I was a small child and have thought that everyone experienced them to the same degree. I now realize that is not true. When the Lord said to Aaron and Miriam:

Num 12:6 KJV

6 And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.

He was seeking to make a point about “revelation”. He went on to say that His servant Moses had a higher “revelation” than dreams and visions.

Num 12:7-8 KJV

7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.

8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
The ultimate goal of the Lord is to be able to speak to us “face to face”, and that should be our goal as well. Still, we have much to learn through the ministry of dreams and visions.

I often tell others a of a very important truth regarding supernatural manifestations that the Lord gives us, and this is what I say, “Do not seek after a supernatural guidance with the Lord because, the clearer the “revelation” the more accountable we become to obedience, and that the Lord gives us these experiences because we are going to need them!” By that I mean, the battle is going to become so intense that we will need very clear and precise words to move through to victory.

Nevertheless we need and must have “revelation”. The Church has always moved forward through “the spirit of revelation”.

Rev 19:10 KJV

…worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

And:

Matt 16:17-18 KJV

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It is through ever increasing knowledge of who Jesus Christ is that the Church becomes triumphant. And I tell you this: only “revelation” can help us to “see Jesus”. The Holy Spirit is now revealing to the Church the absolute necessity to be “without mixture” in these last days. He will no longer accept the mixed ministry that is now being offered Him through His Church. Purity always precedes power and He is purifying His bride to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

I would now like us to take a look together at a dream the Lord gave me some time ago that speaks to the present situation the Church finds itself in, and what we must do to change it.

The dream begins with me watching – A full grown dog and four puppies are chasing a cat. The puppies are having a great time following the mature dog . They are barking and running, their little tongues are hanging out and they are having a great time running behind the full grown dog. They eventually catch up to the cat, but instead of it being a cat it is a “skunk”, and it sprays all over them. I walk over, pick up two of the puppies, and, somehow I know that they represent the “prophets and apostles” and that it is my job to clean them up.

I have written some on this revelation yet, the Lord asked me another question that has clarified what needs to be further addressed and what speaks of “a question of mixture”. The Lord asked these two questions: “Why were the puppies chasing a skunk?” And, “Why did the mature dog not know the difference?”

One of the first notes of clarification that we must make here is that I somehow knew that these four puppies and the mature dog represented the “five-fold ministry” of Ephesians 4. Now, let’s begin to examine this portion of the dream based on the questions the Lord asked.

1. Who is the mature dog? The mature dog represents those who the young ministers are looking to to train and guide them. Young animals learn what to eat and what not to eat by watching their mothers and fathers. They learn what to chase and what not to chase as well, from “grown-ups”.

Can you see the serious implications from this simple dream? If those who are training our young ministers are chasing the wrong thing, the “puppies” will grow up imitating them. Because we are pursuing the wrong things, we now have a stench that causes those we are called to reach to want nothing to do with us. Many of the present day ministers have not only a poor reputation in the world, but a stinking one.

2. The second question we ask is, “Why doesn’t the grown up dog know the difference?”
The answer to this is even more frightening. He doesn’t know, because he was taught to “chase the wrong thing”. We are now at least two generations down the road from knowing what the Lord values. This is exactly what the Lord said would happen to the end-time Church.
　
Rev 3:16-18 NIV

I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

If the Lord Himself is sick of us, can we blame the world for wanting nothing to do with our self-seeking and extravagant religion?

Still, there is great hope. The Lord would not be speaking to us with such clarity if He were not about to do something wonderful to cleanse us from our “stench”. He said as many as I love I chasten.

Rev 3:19-20 KJV

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Deut 8:5 KJV

5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee.

2 Sam 7:14 KJV

14 I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

This last verse says, He will use “the world to chasten us”. Surely that is where we are.

Dear ones, we have a very delicate task before us. We must acknowledge that our “spiritual fathers” have taught us to pursue the wrong thing. And yet, at the same time we must honor the good things they have accomplished and taught us. We cannot throw the baby out with the wash as the old saying goes.

Somehow our spiritual fathers have tried to dress in linen and wool at the same time. They have had some very carnal goals and have flowed in some great anointing at the same time. Because these anointings have brought them into wealth, fame and success, we have been blinded to the “mixture”, and very few are able to discern the difference.

The present day Church is now being called into the Holy of Holies where no mixture is allowed. God is raising up a “priesthood” that will be without “mixture”. This will result in a bride without, “spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing”. The three things the Lord calls us too, are the following:

I counsel thee to buy of me
(1) gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and
(2) white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and
(3) anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:18 (KJV)

We are being called to ask the Lord for His fire to burn the dross out of our lives. To burn every carnal goal we have been seeking from our heart. To repent for wanting to be well known and travel having others clamor after our gift and anointing. What kind of fire will it take to burn out the mixture of wanting to impress men and have the approval of the Lord at the same time?

I am looking forward to hearing what kind of mixture you might see in your own heart and the Church that the Lord will no longer accept – please respond with your insights.

Prayer – Oh, Lord, You have told us to “buy gold tried in the fire”. Please send the kind of fire that will expose the dross of my heart. Uncover and burn out whatever mixture you find. Please help me not to draw back from the fire until your work of purification is finished, and until you have a generation without mixture. I repent of goals that have a mixture of selfish-ambition and holy zeal for the Lord. Please, Lord, do not cease to let the fire burn because I cry from the heat. I truly want the purity that only You can produce in me and the Church.

MORE TO FOLLOW –
Dear ones – it is crucial that the word of the Lord get to as many as He desires. If you know of someone who will profit from these writings please direct them to our blog: onemillionvoices. May the Lord raise up His “One Million Voices”.

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A Question of Mixture

The Lord is very clear about those who carry His word and minister His truth. There is to be no mixture in our lives. Can we say there is no mixture in my life, Lord? Are there any selfish ambitions or personal goals that do not reflect the humble and sacrificial heart of Jesus? I have set nothing before my eyes that is impure and nothing has come out of my lips except that which glorifies you? This set of articles will seek to deal with the Lord’s requirement that their be no mixture in our lives. As our Lord was revealing to Ezekiel the glorious temple, He made this statement for those who were to minister for Him.

Ezek 44:16-19 NKJV

“They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. 17 And it shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister
within the gates of the inner court or within the house. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with anything that causes sweat. 19

One of the reasons the Lord cannot fully sanction our ministries with anointing and power is the question of mixture. For Him to completely stand with some of us He would have to deny His absolute purity and approve whatever mixture of flesh and spirit that we walk in. What is amazing to me is how little we understand this. We seek to improve the fruitfulness of ministry with so many different kinds of efforts, but rarely look to this issue of “mixture”. We have spent hundreds of millions of the Lord’s money on conferences and schools with some, but very limited results.

The farmer who develops high-bred seeds, more powerful tractors, and constantly fertilizes, but does not look to the weeds, is feeding the weeds as much as he is the crop he hopes to reap. It seems to me that we have somehow come to ignore the weeds. Have we ignored them for so long that we no longer even see them? Can we look as a field with such limited focus that we only see the crop but not the weeds? Is this what the Lord was saying to the last day Church in Rev. 3?

Rev 3:17-19 KJV

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

For all the preaching that we do as the holiness crowd, it is astonishing how little practical holiness we emulate. I wonder if we really believe that, “without holiness no one will see the Lord”? I know that it is only through the precious shed blood of Jesus that we are made positionally holy before the throne. Yet this verse is clear about who will “see” the Lord. This seeing is the ability to fully gaze upon and appreciate what we are “seeing”.

There are countless ways in which we are presently guilty of the mixture of the flesh and the sprit. In this article however, I would like to deal with the mixture of being a respecter of persons. We do not hear very much about this requirement of our Lord yet, it is one that the Lord sees as a extremely important issue. So much so He devotes a great deal of His word in denouncing those who participate in this detestable practice. The problem for us is, it is just too easy to be a respecter of persons. There are just too many worldly rewards if we will mix just a little of this error into our lives for most to resist.

15 “Don’t pervert justice. Don’t show favoritism to either the poor or the great. Judge on the basis of what is right.

Deut 1:17 NKJV

17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence,

2 Chron 19:7 KJV

7 Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

Prov 28:21 KJV

21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.　

This sin has now become so common in the Church that it is almost never recognized. It hides under the cloak of “making the smart choice” or being “practical”.

I have been watching the outrage of the American people as the corporations that have been designated “too big to fail” have been given the most blatant and egregious preferential treatment imaginable. While agreeing with all that was being said and becoming a little out-raged myself, the Holy Spirit whispered into my heart, “The Church has been doing this for years”. I was quite shocked to hear this, but when I stopped to think about it I had to say “yes Lord, you are right”.

My mind went back to the nearly countless situations that I know of where the leaders of the Church have thought “to reveal what this minister has done will do more damage than if we just move him someplace else. We cannot afford to lose the Church”. This is exactly where the thinking behind “too big to fail” finds it roots. I have watched as the Church has often rewarded men of God who committed what amounted too outright lies and misappropriation of funds because they were “too important to lose”.

I understand some of the thinking behind these choices yet, it has now become so common we hardly take notice of it. The American people finally were faced with the last straw as executives were about to be given huge bonuses paid for with tax-payer bail out money. These were the same executives who led our nation to our knees financially and if there would not have been an outrage, they would have taken the millions with no thought of wrong doing.
Why does the Lord speak out so strongly against being a respecter of persons? Clearly, there is an iniquity here that is far greater than any of us can imagine. Is this not the root behind racism, prejudice and the elitist thinking that arises from time to time behind the demonized Hitler’s? Let us search our hearts to see where we have allowed this sin to find root and ask the Lord to purge us completely.

I wish I could write some of these things without sounding pious or as someone who is above such actions. I hope too that these articles are not being written out of bitterness or judgmentalism. I believe they are coming from a holy frustration that believes the Lord has a better and more fruitful way if we are willing to pay the price of our forefathers. The kind of frustration that births a fresh move of God often sounds like rebellion or pride. I take my pattern once again from scripture and pray I have the same heart as the Apostle Paul who said:

Rom 7:24-25 KJV

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Thank goodness the Apostle Paul did not stop here and forever doom us to the mastery of the flesh over the spirit. He went on to say:

Rom 8:9 KJV

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.

During the fifties and sixties the Pentecostal Churches were the golden child of Church growth. Yet today we are in such decline in the U.S. that almost none of us have posted an increase in many years. This is despite the emergence of mega-churches and countless creative ways to reach new people. As I grieve over these truths I remember the Lords words, “You are my dear children, and I will not lift my discipline off of you until you change”. I cannot tell you what peace that brings to my soul. I also cannot tell you how much courage that statement gave me to speak out louder and clearer than ever before. Dear ones, “Daddy” is home and He is ready to take care of our misbehavior. He will correct us in love but do not be mistaken, He will correct us. He will not lift His hand until we return to the humble and obedient child He is after.

Can you think of ways that we have been a respecter of persons for so long that we barely know we are doing it any longer? I will be looking forward to hearing your insights.
　
PRAYER – Dear Father – we come to ask you to heal our blind eyes that we might begin to see as you see. Please forgive us of the sin of being a “respecter of persons”. We do and have shown favortism, and it is a sin of great proportion in Your eyes. Because of this sin we have given strength to racism and prejudice, we have perpetuated the iniquity of elitism and strengthened the ego of our own flesh. We are blind please send the word in such power that it will cut us to the quick and cause brokenness and repentance.

Father, we have lost the ability to be discerning, and the deception and darkness of the last days is growing all around us. Please grant discernment to your Church once again so that we might see your glorious purity and power in these last days. Help us to see and understand the following scriptures:

Isa 60:1-11

60 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.

5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

6 The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord.

7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.

8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?

9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.

10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.

11 Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day.

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