Working Dates: Thursday, April 22, 2021 to Monday, April 26, 2021
[25 pages of reflective dialogue anchored in the lectionary readings from 1 John 3:16-24 and John 10:11-18 for 4 Easter 25 Apr 21]
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): You are so loved and cherished by the Lord. I know because I’ve seen His heart for you! Your transactions with God in prayer are holy; even angels wonder at the intimate relationship you cultivate with your Father! [1]
Brat prayer journal (21 Apr 21): Lord, I don’t really know what You want me to do. I don’t have peace about what You really want me to say. I have peace about trying to contact CAC (Richard Rohr), but I have no confidence that they’ll do anything. I don’t know what to say. I feel like no matter what I try, I’ll get ambushed again anyway.
Lana Vawser (25 Apr 21): In the vision, I saw people who were in deep anguish before the Lord; they were crying out for deliverance from the weight of confusion and despair that was surrounding them. I continued to hear the words, “I just don’t know anymore.” Many of them were feeling so weighed down and taking on this confusion as their own. [2]
Brat: Grrrrrrrr…. This feels like gaslighting! Do you not know how much it hurts to see one’s own prayers in print by someone else when there is no contact to make friendship?
When Light Came In (23 Apr 21): Arguing with a narcissist is like getting arrested. Everything you say can and will be used against you.
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): As every biblical principle is being disregarded by many other Christians, I often feel like I’m losing my sanity.
Steve Shultz: We all have been in such an intense attack, but right now, for many of you, that attack has actually increased even though you have continued to pray that it would break off.
Pastor Kate LePard (23 Apr 21): Ruling Savior, we depend on your will to power us through this difficult time of pandemic. Infuse us with the energy to accomplish the tasks set before us. Help us stay connected with others in your flock by creative ways. Amen.
Fr. Richard Rohr (18 Apr 21): The core message of the incarnation of God in Jesus is that the Divine Presence is here, in us and in all of creation, and not only “over there” in some far-off realm.
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us–and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
Emily Claire Schmitt (19 Apr 21): Hello, Religious Privilege is Good and Here’s Why[3]
John-Paul and Annie Deddens (22 Apr 21): Keep me, guide me, protect me, o safe refuge!
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): “The next time setting a boundary feels terrifying, remember what it felt like the last time you didn’t.”
Helen Calder (23 Apr 21): Without the perspective of the lighthouse ministry, someone with a beacon ministry could lean towards being permissive—lenient towards sin[4]
Anna Blake (16 Apr 21): Maybe your horse is getting into something he shouldn’t. You don’t need to rush to scold. Give him an amiable cluck to move along. Use your voice to help him be safe. Hold to the hard-won tendency of kindness even as you assert boundaries. Learning finesse isn’t a quick fix for either of you. [5]
Lana Vawser (25 Apr 21): I then heard the Lord speak to them, “This confusion is not your own. This is a spirit of witchcraft coming against you to steal the vision, to hinder the birthing, to hinder the movement and to cause such despair to come upon you that you will not move forth into the Promised Land that I have for you by taking hold of that which I have spoken.”
Fr. Richard Rohr (26 Apr 21): There is a giveaway in all of the apocalyptic sections of the three Synoptic Gospels. In Matthew 24:8, hidden there in the middle of the wars and earthquakes it says, “All this is only the beginning of the birth pangs.” Apocalypse is for the sake of birth not death. Yet most of us have heard this reading as a threat. Apparently, it’s not. Anything that upsets our normalcy is a threat to the ego but in the Big Picture, it really isn’t. In Luke 21, Jesus says right in the middle of the catastrophic description: “Your endurance will win you your souls.” Falling apart is for the sake of renewal, not punishment. Again, such a telling line. In Mark 13, Jesus says “Stay awake” four times in the last paragraph (Mark 13:32–37). In other words, “Learn the lesson that this has to teach you.” It points to everything that we take for granted and says, “Don’t take anything for granted.” An apocalyptic event reframes reality in a radical way by flipping our imagination.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (19 Apr 21): Mitzvah (mits-va): An instruction in life from the Giver of Life.
Rick Joyner (20 Apr 21): There is another aspect to gentleness that is often a magnificent demonstration of noble character—good manners. This is why those who have good manners are called “gentlemen” or “gentle ladies.” Good manners are basically a way that we honor and show respect for others. They have become so rare in these times that when they are seen they can stand out even more as those who are of a different spirit. Since the Lord said that as we treat even the least of His people He will regard it as the way that we treat Him; we should be treating everyone with the highest respect and good manners.[6]
Pastor Kate LePard (19 Apr 21): Hope is possible because wild Easter power creates new life in unexpected places. The world’s ways are upended to make room for the Lord’s dream of all people dancing and leaping and praising God.
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): In a time that the pure and clear prophetic has never been needed more there has been an obvious assignment to shut down voices rising up. Often disguised as wisdom, safe-guarding, and protecting purity (which are all necessary) this imposter spirit wants to shut down the prophetic by causing division, fault-finding/critical spirit, and instead of broadcasting hope – broadcasting opinions and agendas. This causes true voices of hope to shut down and hide. [7]
Me to Faith Marie Baczko (20 Apr 21): I wanted to take a moment to expound on my subscription request, so that you’d better understand my intentions. There is a critical spirit that goads periodically to the flock telling the sheep not to just go stalking bloggers to devour their latest words, so as not to spend real time with God to get His own words. It’s the same pedantic spirit that told us not to go church shopping pre-pandemic. But this spirit doesn’t look at the heart. Its only intention is to scold and try to play the upper hand. This spirit doesn’t consider those of us that are SENT.
Bill Yount (12 Sept 2020): I hear the Father saying, “I am breaking the age barrier! Quit saying, “I am getting older.” Christ in you is ageless. Allow His Spirit to quicken your mortal body and soar with the Eagles. And don’t tell Me where I can’t send you this year. Get over yourself and buy some new luggage.” [8]
Rabbi Curt Landry (24 Apr 21): Knowing we need to spend time with God is one thing, but as Believers, do we really understand our need to ABIDE with God?[9]
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): The church that raised me is gaslighting me.
Brat: Me, too.
1 John 3:15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
Quinn Caldwell (24 Apr 21): Jacob, now renamed Israel, meets his grandsons. There’s been so much crossing and double-crossing in this family, so much bad blood, murder and enslavement and cruelty, multiple generations of inherited trauma. Plenty of sin within each lifetime, as well: no doubt when Joseph approached with his sons, Israel was remembering the cruel trick he once played on his own aged father. No doubt that’s why he had to try to play the player, to avoid getting played himself. I wouldn’t have thought he’d be in a very good position to act as a blesser, but he doesn’t even hesitate.
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): Very much the same as what God is building in you but specifically the opposition that comes as a direct result of the noticeable increase you have stepped on and the office/appointment you have before you. The enemy sees the new mantle, your sudden fire and rising authority and has been warring against the appointment with weariness and disappointment. This is where you need wisdom and discernment to know that you aren’t taking on yokes, wrong armor, or people’s stuff, but only what God anoints and mantles you with.
John Edgerton (26 Apr 21): The apostle Peter knew it too. Real authority in the church can belong to anyone. Even you.
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): It is as certain as death and taxes that when you say yes to the Lord, you will face opposition.
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): I wish the evangelical church would wake up and realize how many of us there are out there feeling manipulated and abused. This community of wanderers is dealing with grief both privately and collectively. Together we weep, we rage and we try to rebuild what’s left of our shattered spiritual lives. Healing is slow and it’s painful. I’m working hard to separate the true, worthy parts of Christianity from the bullshit. I do hope to return to church someday, but I will never again be gaslighted by an institution that sells out Jesus for political power. [10]
Me to Pastor Jessica Solórzano Owens (in “Benefit of the Doubt” 06 Apr 21): I am touched that you asked for prayer requests. To respond to that, I first offer this context as a cradle for understanding:
I look to see where the Holy Spirit is leading through our collective voice. Basically, I track the Arc Speak.
‘Arc Speak’ is a political tool used by those in power (from family members to salesmen to Pharisees to governments) to address issues without having to touch the individuals affected by those issues.
Andrew Towe (23 Apr 21): “I say to you, Arise, and take up your bed, and go your way into your house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.” (Mark 2:11-12, emphasis mine) [11]
Helen Calder (23 Apr 21): I’ve been reminded of a time I picked up binoculars, to look at a distant object I’d noticed for three days.
And when I saw it close up, I discovered it was not what I expected!
1 John 3:11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
Casey Cross: The writing found in 1 John serves as a testimony, a witness, to the truth found in Jesus and inexorably bound to the ways we live out our love for one another. Truth, the writer of 1 John posits, is not an idea to consider, but a response to be lived. We know how to live because we know Jesus. As we follow the way of Jesus, believing Jesus, not just a comfortable proof, we respond with our very lives. The purpose of this truth is not about being right or confirming our biases. The purpose of this truth made manifest in Jesus stirs us to action with and for each other. As we live this love for others, we are emboldened by the truth of Christ. The two go together. We must love one another to know the truth. We must know the truth as expressed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to actively love one another.[12]
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): My evangelical church is gaslighting me, but I refuse to fall for it anymore
Kaji Douša (19 Apr 21): On the cross, Jesus couldn’t take it anymore, either! He couldn’t take it, but he did. But, early Sunday morning. He. Got. Up. Somebody almost thought they were gonna get away with walking off with our Jesus.
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): A risen body. An offering of peace. Somehow, it seems, these are connected—two notes of the same song.
Maren Morris: “The Bones” [https://youtu.be/gvPMVKUI9go]
Brat (24 Apr 21): My friend Sophia Buller went through serious narcissistic abuse from the Church, too, and shared some resources for healing on her blog: Some amazing resources Abba Led me to – RoyallyRobed.wordpress.com
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): You have been commissioned by God in the wilderness and now you are coming out of that season with a weighty governmental mantle and call to the nations to see them come to Jesus!
Church of England (21 Apr 21): It also recommends that the new Commission should examine broad questions of how parish life itself could become more inclusive.
1 John 3:17 How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): Caring for the poor, but with conditions
Kaji Douša (19 Apr 21): The lady in green begins her monologue with words that hit in the Year of our Lord 2021: “Somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff.” Something was stolen from her.
Brat: Same here.
Matthew 24:43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): The boldness of the church’s hypocrisy is causing me to question the very foundation of my spiritual beliefs. It’s disorienting. Every biblical principle I hold sacred has been disregarded by many other Christians, and I often feel like I’m losing my sanity while the entire house of cards that is my evangelical upbringing collapses around me.
Maren Morris: When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter
Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter
Let it rain ’cause you and I remain the same
When there ain’t a crack in the foundation
Baby, I know any storm we’re facing
Will blow right over while we stay put
The house don’t fall when the bones are good
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
Fr. Richard Rohr (in “You People ♥” 14 Apr 21): God is not bound by our commonly held presumption that humans are the center of everything. Creation did not actually demand or need Jesus (or us, for that matter) to confer additional sacredness upon it. From the first moment of the Big Bang, nature was revealing the glory and goodness of the Divine Presence; it must be seen as a gratuitous gift. Jesus came to live in its midst, and enjoy life in all its natural variations, and thus be our model and exemplar. Jesus is the gift that honored the gift, we might say.
Pope Francis: Evangelize by Example, Not Pushing Your Faith on Others
Jerame Nelson (18 Apr 21): Jesus came to the earth for a purpose: to seek and save that which was lost (see Luke 19:10). So many of us get confused because we’ve got a lot of evangelists running around saying that Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. That’s not what the Word says. It says Jesus came to seek and save “that which was lost.” In this verse, Jesus was talking about the authority [!] that Adam lost in the Garden when he sinned.
Revelation 12: 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority [!] of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch: To fool the world is one thing,
but to fool yourself is no big deal.
You’re a fool for wanting to fool yourself
—and anyone can fool a fool.
Revelation 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): It takes one to know one.
Jesus knows.
Brat: “It takes one to know one” made me think of Jesus the Thief, and how the rabbis had talked about the fool.
Pastor Kate LePard (21 Apr 21): The saying “walk the talk” demands action, not just words. It’s easier to discuss than to do something about challenges. The writer of this sermon insists God’s love compels us to respond to our neighbor’s needs.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (22 Apr 21): It may seem to some an ordinary light, just another flame. But in truth, you have ignited the darkness of our world and extracted its secret: That it too is light.
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): I believe you are a very special breed of people whose lives are deeper, richer, and more powerful than the world will ever know.
Steve Porter (08 April 21): The wheel within a wheel is a perfect illustration of the relationship we can have with our Lord and Savior. Even though we’ve been given dominion, it shouldn’t be lost on us that we belong to God. The reason the Holy Spirit was sent is so that He can inspire and guide us in everything we do. This is why Paul admonishes us to always walk in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). Just like the wheel in Ezekiel’s vision [Ezek. 1:16], we should ensure that we are actively seeking His will and staying in step with His Spirit.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (19 Apr 21): A stroke of brilliance arising from the innermost will of the Creator of all things, left for you to perform on the stage of His world.
Helen Calder (23 Apr 21): Without the insights of the beacon ministry, someone with a lighthouse ministry could become focused on performance—being primarily about “do’s and don’ts”
Ryan LeStrange (19 April 21): My Monday Word for You…The Treasure of the Scribe Anointing!
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): Dear Readers for Fr. Richard Rohr,
Wanda Alger (22 Apr 21): For you have been commissioned and appointed for this very hour of deliverance!
The nations are looking to you. Do not be silent or hold back.
Today is the day to SPEAK, to ACT, to RISE UP and DISPLAY the sovereign power and authority of the Most High God through your witness and testimony![13]
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (19 Apr 21): An instance, left in your hands, for the true reality to be exposed as what would otherwise be a trivial object—a dollar bill, a candle, a braided loaf of bread, a black leather strap—is suddenly revealed as a divine revelation.
Brat: Or a letter?
Revelation 1:4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): What is the significance of this resurrected body of his, which has conquered death and yet still bears the marks of torture? This body challenges us, for how can any of us look upon the violence and the degradation imprinted upon his flesh—upon all flesh—and yet proclaim, with hope and without irony, “peace be with you?”
Fr. Richard Rohr (26 Apr 21): We would have done history a great favor if we would have understood apocalyptic literature. It’s not meant to strike fear in us as much as a radical rearrangement. It’s not the end of the world. It’s the end of worlds—our worlds that we have created. In the book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse, or Revelation to John), John is trying to describe what it feels like when everything falls apart. It’s not a threat. It’s an invitation to depth. It’s what it takes to wake people up to the real, to the lasting, to what matters. It presents the serious reader with a great “What if?”
Pastor Kate LePard (21 Apr 21): The ultimate demonstration of love was Jesus giving up his power and laying down his life for us. Self-sacrificing love is rare. The way of the world is a self-serving life. Followers of Jesus are soaked with the Spirit. We are given hearts of love that thrive on caring for one another.
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): I’ve been away for a while, caring for a loved one after surgery. It’s amazing how loving someone can be both healing and a challenge to growth.
1 John 3:18 Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
Fr. Richard Rohr (19 Apr 21): Everything in creation is the infinite self-emptying of God, and as such has inherent dignity and deserves respect and appreciation.
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): HONORING THE INTERCESSORS
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): We prayed (21 Apr 21): “… And clear the field to be ready for new seed.”
Lillian Daniel (21 Apr 21): What is dead is gone because it has been transformed into something entirely new. So much so that after the resurrection, when Jesus ran into his closest friends, they did not recognize him. They were looking for the living among the dead. They were massaging their memories, clutching to sacred scrapbooks from a pretend past, the kind that grows more perfect the further we are from it. When Jesus actually showed up on the street where they lived, they almost missed him.
Church of England (21 Apr 21): Rather than attempting to erase the past or rewrite history, the report calls for a “healthy revision of memory and history in a way that will provide scope for education and formation”.
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): The disciples’ bodies trembled, though, when he appeared to them and gave them this greeting; they were “startled and terrified” and “disbelieving.” I can’t say I blame them, for how can our limited imaginations possibly begin to picture deathless life? And what do we know of true, embodied peace? How could we begin to recognize it or comprehend it if it appeared in front of us?
Kaji Douša (19 Apr 21): If God can animate the sinews of death?
Maren Morris: We’re in the homestretch of the hard times
We took a hard left, but we’re alright
Yeah, life sure can try to put love through it, but
We built this right, so nothing’s ever gonna move it
1 John 3:19 And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
Casey Cross: So, “What is truth?” Perhaps the answer my dog would give is, in fact, the answer we find in 1 John. Truth is as we live. Let us live as believers in Jesus and let us love one another in truth and action. As we live in these ways, we abide in the truth that surpasses all understanding. We are freed to love with every fiber of our being, with bold action, and compassionate care.
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): In this particular situation, I’ve been intensively involved in helping them recover. It’s stretched me as I’ve taken on roles I’ve never had: helping an adult with activities of daily living like toiletting, walking, dressing, eating.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (21 Apr 21): Because this is the essence of every mitzvah: To bind your heart, your mind and your action together into a single wholeness, wrapped up inextricably with the One who spoke and the world came into being.
Christine Valters Paintner (21 Apr 21): One of the fruits of contemplative practice is the remembrance of our wholeness; we are able to see past the divisions we create with our egos and minds and to rediscover the truth that we are all one creation.
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): “Why would anyone listen to me?”
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): Moment by moment, day by day, in every situation and sometimes at great cost yourselves, you honor the Lord by holding up the arms of those He’s called you to support.
Steve Porter (08 April 21): May we always remember that we have an inner wheel that actually steers our lives without which we would be able to achieve nothing. Becoming a wheel within a wheel requires unusual obedience and costly submission, but produces a life that flows in such sweet harmony that others will pause to reflect how that’s even possible. And though you may appear mysterious or unique, when your life is hidden in His, you will become a sign and a wonder… a fiery wheel manifesting His glory, and fulfilling His end-time purposes as kings, queens and priests. May your Father guide us as overcomers deeper into the very manifest presence of the Lord, where we will live out His plan for our lives and our very destiny. Roll on precious friends… Roll on!
Faith Marie Baczko (25 March 21): There was a time when I was to share a word from the Lord at a church, but lost my voice. I fervently prayed for God to heal my voice, but he didn’t. Instead, He said to give the word in the voice that I had—that my whisper was to be a sign and a wonder. He said that those who had ears to hear would hear. As it turned out they did hear, and God moved powerfully. How important it is to hear what the Spirit is saying—to understand His movements and hear His warnings. God gives the humble ears to hear, and He gives much time to repent. However, the day does come when He says, I will not pass by any longer!
Lana Vawser (25 Apr 21): Recently, the Lord showed me that there are many people within the Body of Christ who have been assaulted by a very intense spirit of confusion as of late. It has caused them to feel like they have been thrown into a haze, and the clarity which the Lord has given now suddenly feels overshadowed by a strong feeling of, “Did God really say that?”
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): The peace of the wounded, resurrected Jesus be with you.
Lovesick Scribe (22 Apr 21): Personally, I do not want to spend my life chasing spirits that are nonexistent and trying to defeat Jezebel or any other fallacious spirit when the devil and every demon has already been defeated by Christ on the cross. We are to follow Christ. We will face trial and tribulation, but as believers we have great peace in knowing that Jesus has overcome the world, including the ruler of this world. (John 16:33) We need not fear or look for the spirits of men and women that are dead and long gone to their eternal destination. What we need to be doing is repenting of sin and having our minds renewed by the Word of God daily.
1 John 3:20 whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): Then I reminded myself what happened the last time I tucked away a boundary in an important relationship. I lost myself, began to withdraw from the relationship, became depressed. None of those feel better than the discomfort of the boundary I just set.
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): I don’t sleep through the night anymore. I suffer from near daily panic attacks and almost constant anxiety. The source of my joy, my security and my identity has vanished, leaving me with an angry grief that almost no one in my immediate circle understands. I have relationships that were once life-giving but have turned toxic. I feel manipulated, deceived and abused. And why?
Sanjna Mahtab (21 Apr 21): Be Intentional
Steve Porter (08 April 21): Becoming a wheel within a wheel means letting go of all our aspirations, goals, and desires, and allowing the Holy Spirit to be our guide. This is the true essence of what it means to make Christ our Lord. The word ‘lord’ means owner. So, if He is our owner, then we must stop acting like we’re in charge and allow Him to take charge.
Brat: Are you listening to what Elizabeth even said?
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): The peace of love’s tender and deathless power be with you.
Steve Shultz: Don’t give up! Help is on the way and the battle will end soon!
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): The Daily Meditations solicits our stories and I’d like to share ours. You asked for personal stories and not someone else’s. My ministry is taking my story and seeing how it interweaves into the greater collective voice to see where God is leading us. It is the greater conversation that I share, but this doesn’t fit into the guidelines and boxes.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (21 Apr 21): All of Torah is wrapped up in these leather straps and boxes with their finely written parchment scrolls.
Lana Vawser (25 Apr 21): “These encounters with Me in the library of Heaven are going to prepare you to host My glory and a move of My Spirit that is like nothing you have ever seen.
Sanjna Mahtab (21 Apr 21): So, be intentional about it and don’t allow any distractions to hinder you. Be intentional with your time. There is no time to waste time. This time is an opportunity and opportune time to prepare well. During the time of this shaking, God is recalibrating you in every way and realigning you and your heart to His pure frequency. [14]
Pastor Kate LePard (19 Apr 21): Risen One, your power shatters our rigid categories. Open us to be channels of your life-surging possibilities, for ourselves and for others. Amen.
1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God;
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): Even in relationship with this person I trust, I’ve had to remember the importance of boundaries. Yesterday, they crossed a boundary. Regardless of my compassion, love and dedication to care for them, my healing requires I honor my own boundaries. If they get punctured, I weaken and begin to slip away from myself. That’s the last thing they — or I — need right now.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (19 Apr 21): An opportunity to become eternal in a moment, you, your body, and the artifacts of your world.
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): Don’t sit back and allow those lies of fear, doubt and comparison suck the anointing out of you. Remember Paul’s teaching:
“We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” — 2 Cor. 10:4-5 (NLT)
Lovesick Scribe (22 Apr 21): THERE BE FALLACIOUS SPIRITS HERE
Brat journal (21 Apr 21): Now this afternoon, I think about my assignment to share the journey and I feel tinged with a spiritual slime. Something tagged me besides discouragement. I lay it at Your feet, Jesus. Whatever this is, it is not mine. It has no legal right to be here. It is only sent to trip me up and delay me from my next step of sharing. But I won’t share if something I’ve written doesn’t have Your glow on it. I ask for fresh words and a clean heart. How can I ask for justice (the theme of the day) if I don’t know how to proceed?
1 John 3:22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): This is where the enemy very directly hits you in the very area God is really adding favor, anointing, conviction, and vision in. He wants to sabotage it by making you second guess yourself, bring in controlling people and measures to taint it, or cause delays and setbacks/closed doors in the places God has promised.
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): The church told me that God is a God of justice. He says the poor and the persecuted are blessed and will have a great reward in heaven. However, the term “social justice warrior” is a reviled label in conservative Christian circles.
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): You are the indispensable warriors on the front lines who pay a price daily to cultivate the Presence of the Lord in your homes, churches, and nations. Some of you have taken huge “hits” from the enemy and have not been released to explain why; your assignments are often top secret and cannot be shared.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (22 Apr 21): Every mitzvah shines its particular light into our world. And there will come a time when we will see that light with our eyes.
Steve Porter (08 April 21): As Jesus yielded to the Father’s perfect will, He became willing to roll as an outer wheel being directed by the power of the inner wheel. The inner wheel was the Father who was the divine engine steering Christ’s life. Together they flowed in such perfect harmony that it displayed to all mankind the most beautiful coordination men had ever seen. Prefect unity. Perfect movement. Perfect agreement. [15]
1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): As darkness increases on the earth, it sometimes seems to you that you’re on a “night watch” in the Spirit. You know the enemy’s strategy is both to outnumber and surround you in the dark, striking multiple blows. But you are filled with light!
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): My latest piece was about Messiah Watch in: You People ♥ 14 Apr 21 | truthinus (wordpress.com)
Fr. Richard Rohr (19 Apr 21): The Whole Is in the Parts
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts we consider less honorable, we treat with greater honor.
1 Corinthians 12:23
Rev. Kellan Day: Being a sheep also means being a part of a community, a herd. They are safest and happiest as part of a big community of sheep. When one does wander off, it knows it is alone, scared, and in a precarious position. It knows that – out here on this hillside all by itself – it will be an easy and quick dinner for that wolf or other roaming predator. Sometimes, a sheep gets lost, it’s true. But most sheep know to stick together, that their body depends on other bodies forming into one large protective pile. Sheep do not think they should live all alone, independent, and never – ever – reliant upon any other sheep. A life alone would be a sad and crazy life for a sheep. Sheep know that they need other sheep, desperately – because their very lives depend on it. [16]
John Edgerton (26 Apr 21): Whenever the flock would go busting out of the sheepfold to wander into the neighbor’s apple orchard, invariably it was Lucy who was leading the charge. Whenever the guard dogs would sound an alarm over the appearance of coyotes, the flock would look to Lucy for how to find safety. Whatever kind of sway my wife and her shepherd’s crook had over the flock, it paled in comparison to the power of Lucy. As Lucy went, so went the flock.
Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): No wonder I live with crippling anxiety and spiritual trauma. The church that warned me against moral relativism now calls me a heretic when I apply the very principles they taught me to real situations, with real stakes for real people. I don’t know where to turn or whom to trust. Is any of it true? Have I wasted my life on a religion that hurts more than it helps?
Brat: OMG! Thank you!! Thank you for your courage in coming forth and saying this! I have felt the same way and asked the same questions! Your honesty makes room for me to feel less alone. I am most grateful!
Church of England (21 Apr 21): Without these changes the Church risks denying and disregarding the gifts of a significant part of the nation, the Taskforce makes clear.
Andrew Towe (23 Apr 21): Will You Welcome Him in the House?
Rev. Kellan Day: We are sheep, in this metaphorical world, because we can’t be anything but sheep. We are not the ruler of our lives, our herds, nor the masters of our destiny. To be a sheep – and at this point it is glaringly obvious – is remarkably similar to being a human. Creatures who need community and who can’t help but follow – since we often have no idea where we are going in the first place.
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): So today I clarified my boundary with them. Yes, I felt a little bad about it, like “what kind of person must I be, asking them for anything right now?? (A healthier person than I’ve ever been, that’s what.)
1 John 3:24 All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): I was rather amazed at how “You People ♥” evolved.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (19 Apr 21): A connection point in time, at which Heaven meets earth and the two embrace.
Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): Perhaps it is more my heart than the Lord’s that I write this, but I feel compelled to write a thank you to the “hidden ones;” the parts of Christ’s Body that are often forgotten.
Rev. Kellan Day: But, instead, we shall inhabit our metaphor in a simpler manner. We shall imagine where we might find ourselves in this world. And since there are not too many animate options and it seems rather obvious who we’d be, let us imagine ourselves taking on the furry wool of a sheep, nuzzling our noses into the supple earth, and meandering around with our sheep buddies, listening for that one voice who calls us by name.
Me to Faith Marie Baczko (20 Apr 21): You’d also talked about how you’d prayed for God to heal your voice, but he didn’t. Instead, your whisper was to be a sign and a wonder, and that those who had ears would hear. Steve Porter also talked about unusual obedience and the costly submission it takes when we listen to the Holy Spirit and BECOME Ezekiel’s wheel within the wheel. I know I am part of that wheel, too.
Anna Blake (16 Apr 21): Yes, you say, but…
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): How did they react? Poorly. Did I want to poo-poo my boundary, tuck it in, apologize for needing this when they are in pain? Yeah, I wanted to.
Brat: I received SILENCE
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): “There are so many better pastors.”
Andrew Towe (23 Apr 21): God is coming back to His house! The answer for the world is still found in His presence and God’s Word. Notice that “He preached the Word unto them.” He was not sugarcoating His message or filtering His teaching. No, He was preaching the Word of God to them, and there was no room because of the number of people that had gathered. The people came because He was in the house. I am believing for every Church leader to throw out their agenda and welcome Him in the house.
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Rev. Kellan Day: What does this mean, then, to be a sheep?
John Edgerton (26 Apr 21): Shepherding has not changed much since the early church. And the church hasn’t changed that much, either, come to mention it. Churches still look to trusted members to decide which way the church should go and how to navigate danger. Any pastor worth their salt knows that whatever authority they might have in a church, it pales in comparison to the power of example set by a well-respected member.
Pastor Kate LePard (22 Apr 21): The Good Shepherd claims that kind of intimacy with his sheep. The Lord knows us completely and loves us enough to lay down his life for us. Those who are only doing their job don’t have the connection that’s crucial for a deep commitment. A teacher who only loves his paycheck and not the children; a surgeon who only loves her reputation and not her patient; a mayor who only loves his position and not his community. All of them are like a hired hand who won’t protect the sheep from the wolves.
John 10:12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away–and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
Anita Alexander (22 Apr 21): Amidst all of the violent, intimidating pursuits of the enemy, I felt the Lord say, “My people and the cause of the righteous appear to be cornered. It appears that we are hemmed in at the Red Sea and the evil agenda of the antichrist on this earth will wipe out the voice of the righteous. It appears that because unrighteousness is seemingly prevailing, the show is over…But,” God says, “the more they pursue—the further they go—it will be to their utter destruction.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (26 Apr 21): Pesach Sheini פסח שני
pay-sakh shay-nee
lit.: A second Passover.
A holiday on the Jewish calendar, one month after Passover, when those who failed to bring a Passover offering the first time around could come and do it now.[17]
Nancy Taylor Tate (24 Apr 21): Our ministry is more than words; it is a life from which others can glean. How wonderful it is when we can abide in Him, the Prince of Peace, then minister Him to others so that they may experience His peace through our lives! May someone else want to know Jesus because of the way we live. May those who already know Christ as their Savior become hungry for more of the Lord.[18]
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (25 Apr 21): DAILY DOSE: Eating Kosher
Pastor Kate LePard (23 Apr 21): Yet Shepherd was a political role in the world of the Bible. God expected the kings of Israel to shepherd their people but most of them ignored that. What would our world be like if leaders and rulers considered themselves care-taking shepherds? Imagine a campaign with candidates who tried to “out-shepherd” each other.
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): This is my process: As the Holy Spirit prompts, I look to see where God is leading the collective conversation amongst His word(s). I read various sources to harvest and glean and put that into conversations anchored in scriptures that the greater Church follows each week in the lectionary. This is an unusual ministry that is unique (and seems to be ignored.) I use footnotes and references, so a legalistic spirit cannot shut me down.
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): I began to cower and listen to these voices, but our faithful God intervened and silenced those voices with one word: “Fight!”
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): Take higher ground. PURSUE the secret place. FIGHT for it. It says in Hebrews 4:11 “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest” It can be difficult in pressure but it’s the only place you can get free/clear.
Lovesick Scribe (22 Apr 21): Jezebel is one of many spirits mentioned by ministers in the Charismatic church. Others include Leviathan, python, Ahab, Absalom, Delilah, Judas, Saul, religious and orphan spirits. You can typically find the religious spirit assigned to those who would ask questions of senior leadership and test things against Scripture. It is also interesting to note that the orphan spirit is assigned to those who are viewed in a negative light in questioning authority. What is interesting to me is that as believers in Christ, we should have a response to the accusation of an orphan spirit. Jesus Christ told His disciples that He would not leave them as orphans (John 14:18). This applies to us as well because we have been adopted as coheirs with Christ. I would propose that this is problematic for the claim of the orphan spirit. This is extrabiblical teaching and is refutable. Furthermore, why are we assigning demonic spirits to dead people such as Ahab and Absalom? Other than Judas, there is no mention of their actions being driven by demonic possession. Flesh and sin are being taken out of the equation here.[19]
Lillian Daniel (21 Apr 21): The women get the news when they are looking for Jesus’ body in the empty tomb. “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Why do you look backwards for God’s future?
Tony Robinson (23 Apr 21): With this God, there’s more. Hope for the discouraged; challenge to the smug.
Demontae Edmonds (26 Apr 21): Oftentimes, people will say they are waiting on God for their breakthrough or promise to manifest in their lives. However, 2 Chronicles 16:9 reveals the reverse side of this spiritual coin. We are not only waiting on God, but His Spirit is looking for us. God is desirous of those for whom He can “show Himself strong”! There are some interesting points to notice about this Scripture.[20]
Anna Blake (16 Apr 21): Looking for the middle path between extremes?
Rabbi Curt Landry (24 Apr 21): Spending time with God is great, however, that does not necessarily mean it is a lifestyle. Two friends can visit and spend time with one another over a cup of coffee, but even if they set that time aside every month, things slip through the cracks. God does not desire us to merely go on coffee dates with Him, He desires us to abide with Him—to live with Him in the same room—to see His face the first moment we get up, to encounter Him throughout the day, and for His smile to be the last thing we see each night! In many ways, to abide with God is to enter into a marriage with Him…but few marriages on Earth are as deep, personal, and intimate as this is meant to be.
Nancy Taylor Tate (24 Apr 21): Notice it is through our union with Christ that peace dwells in our lives! Christ IN you, the hope of glory! May we make time to receive from the Lord, so that there will be substance within us to share with others.
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): …And even though I am in spiritual direction, I have no pastor or priest. The hired hand runs away and does not care for the sheep. (John 10:13) Please allow me to share with you anyway.
John 10:13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
Anna Blake (16 Apr 21): Sometimes something someone says sticks with you because it’s brilliant. Sometimes it sticks because it’s plain wrong. I was working for a horse rescue a few years ago and a bodyworker came to visit the horses. The bodyworker did noticeably light and sensitive work on banged-up sway back elders and the herd melted in acknowledgment. Shy horses came near. Calming signals were shared and the herd grew silent in that eloquent way that humans never quite manage.
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): Let’s use the weapons of God to destroy our own pride and deceit, to achieve His perfect peace, and to reach others with His Holy Spirit.
John-Paul and Annie Deddens (22 Apr 21): Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exist in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exists in my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot.
Lovesick Scribe (22 Apr 21): Again, I do not deny the demonic realm. I am merely calling into question our understanding of it and whether we are seeing great liberties taken to exploit this area of ministry with conjecture and speculation unfounded in the Word of God. People are falsely accused of having these spirits for invalid reasons, and this should not be so. When people do not cooperate with leadership, they are assigned a spirit or label rather than addressing flesh, sin, or the unwillingness to disregard the Word of God due to corrupt leadership and false teaching. We need to not only read the Word but believe it and obey it, and if we are taught something and it does not line up with Scripture, we can reject it without concern of hurting feelings or offending others. An improper understanding brings spiritual sickness to where we do not even understand Christ as our Redeemer.
Fr. Richard Rohr (25 Apr 21): Meditation: A Time of Unveiling
Quinn Caldwell (24 Apr 21): Rivalry, lying, trickery, jockeying for parental affection: the families in the Bible make for the soapiest of operas.
John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
Rev. Kellan Day: And this shepherd is a particularly good shepherd. One who will lay his life down for you. For me? A mere sheep? Yes, for you. This good shepherd will take you on a long and winding journey. And as you follow this shepherd, there may be days where you wonder to yourself: does this shepherd know what she is doing? She seems to be taking us to a far and strange land. Those pastures back there seemed good enough for us – why, oh why, are we traveling again? It is scary out here.
Pastor Kate LePard (23 Apr 21): As a campaign slogan, “Let me be your Shepherd” would not project the image needed to win an election. These days such subtleties are lost in the news and on social media. Strength and power aren’t evoked by that label.
Brat: A few years ago (in 2011) the 405 Freeway in Southern California was closed and the media called it “Carmageddon”.
Fr. Richard Rohr (25 Apr 21): A quick etymology of the word will help: kaluptein is the Greek word for “to cover” and apo means “un,” so apokaluptein means to uncover or unveil. While we primarily use the word “apocalypse” to mean to destroy or threaten, in its original context, apocalypse simply meant to reveal something new. The key is that in order to reveal something new, we have to get the old out of the way.
John 10:15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
Nancy Taylor Tate (24 Apr 21): My own life was impacted because I felt the presence of God in the life of an elderly lady I knew. I sensed a special relationship she had with the Lord, and it caused me to desire that same kind of relationship. I learned it was available – if I chose to cultivate it!
Bill Yount (12 Sept 2020): I sense the Lord saying, “The older Stars in My Kingdom are going to shine brighter and do greater exploits than ever before!” I sense there is a special anointing coming upon older men and women in the Body of Christ. God is not through using you. Your age is not against you, it is for you. Job 12:12 says, “With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.” You have more wisdom now than ever. With years comes understanding.
Demontae Edmonds (26 Apr 21): Dogs are often described as loyal to their owners. A loyal dog stays by his master’s side, is excited at the sight or sound of the master’s voice, and carefully watches the master’s movements. When we are loyal to God we learn to walk closely with the Lord, hand in hand. We learn to not only obey His voice and leadings but to be excited about them. Obedience no longer becomes burdensome but rather a prized privilege. A loyal dog won’t obey someone else’s voice over its own master. Jesus said, “My sheep know My voice, and the voice of another they will not follow!” (See John 10:27, John 10:5.)
[From “Babe” 1995]:
Old Ewe: We’ve got something here that might be of use to our pig.
Sheep, Sheep, Sheep: Password! Password!
Old Ewe: Before we gives you anything, wolf, you’ll be making us a solemn promise.
Rex: Yes?
Sheep: Treat us civil!
Old Ewe: Yes, you gotta treat us nice-like.
Rex: I’ll try.
Sheep: No biting!
Old Ewe: That’s right, wolf must avoid biting us sheep at all costs.
Rex: All right. I’ll try that too. I’ll try.
Old Ewe: But the most important of all, you must promise never ever to let this password we be about to give to be used against any sheep anywhere.
Rex: I promise you that; I’ll make sure that the pig knows it too.
Old Ewe: We have the promise!
Sheep: ‘Tis for Babe!
Sheep: It’s for his sake!
Sheep: Maa would’ve wanted it.
Old Ewe, Sheep, Sheep, Sheep: Baa-ram-ewe. Baa-ram-ewe. To your breed, your fleece, your clan be true. Sheep be true. Baa-ram-ewe.[21]
Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
Steve Porter (08 April 21): The reason why many Christians struggle with the lordship of Christ is that they have yet to die to self. If we die to the self, we will approach God much differently. We will come to Him, realizing that as dead people, we know nothing (Eccl. 9:5), and as such, we will allow Him to be our teacher and instructor. When we do this, the Holy Spirit will gladly lead us into all truth so that by that truth, we shall be set free. Scripture teaches that if Christ is in us then we must become dead to ourselves:
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Rom. 8:10)
Church of England (21 Apr 21): They add: “Decades of inaction carry consequences and this inaction must be owned by the whole Church.
John-Paul and Annie Deddens (22 Apr 21): I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all. You are my hope.
Fr. Richard Rohr (19 Apr 21): Being fully present to the soul of all things allows us to say, “This is good. This is enough. In fact, this is all I need.” We are now situated in the One Loving Gaze that unites all things in universal attraction and appreciation. This is enlightenment and we do not have to sit on a cushion for forty years to recognize and enjoy it. In fact, I can almost guarantee that we will recognize and enjoy it more as we spend more time in the natural world with slow and quiet realization. And then a leap of deep contentment!
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): Since this is not just my opinion or voice, I wonder what elephant is sitting in our collective living room. My work has been unilaterally dismissed over the course of thirteen years. That in itself is a testimony of God’s love sending in His prophets by His dogged devotion. The Good Shepherd has other sheep that do not belong to this fold, but they will listen to His voice. (John 10:16)
Neale Donald Walsch: Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the old way can do that. You cannot hold onto the old all the while declaring that you want something new. The old will defy the new; the old will deny the new; the old will decry the new. There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make room for it. [1][22]
John 10:16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (26 Apr 21): Opportunities to do even better. To have two Passovers instead of just one.
Faith Marie Baczko (25 March 21): The Lord is calling for a heart change in His people and not an outward show of piety—a true move of brokenness over sin. Rather than attempting to justify our sin nature, its time to get real with God. For many days I have been hearing the words, rend your hearts and not your garments, and later found it in scripture:[23]
“So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him.” Joel 2:13-14
Anna Blake (16 Apr 21): One day your horse will ask (tense poll, jittery hooves) for more steady support when he’s frightened. Reward his vulnerability with a firmer-focused kindness. The elusive middle path, the place of genuine trust, cannot be demanded, only discovered. You’re welcome, (neck stretch, soft eye) says your horse.
Pastor Kate LePard (22 Apr 21): It is good to be known and still loved. There aren’t many people to whom you can reveal your flaws and failures comfortably. It is a gift to have a relationship that is strong enough to bear such honesty.
Helen Calder (23 Apr 21): It takes security in our gifts, along with a Kingdom mindset, to celebrate and embrace those whose ministries are different to ours.
Rabbi Curt Landry (24 Apr 21): Abiding with God is not beyond us, for our God is prepared to help us every step of the way! We can abide with Him DAILY, making it a lifestyle instead of a “coffee date” to catch up. And once abiding with Him becomes that lifestyle, we begin to change—for the better! We begin to take on the characteristics of God. We begin to hear people say, “You are so much like Him!” This is a place of miracles, power, and of course, intimacy…and it is the place God wants us all to be.
Andrew Towe (23 Apr 21): I prophesy, “Delay is broken, and you are moving into your kairos (set time). God’s outpouring will be seen by everyone. Those gathered together said, “We never saw it in this fashion.” Get ready for God to move you out of the confines and limitations of what you have experienced in the past.
Maren Morris: Call it dumb luck, but baby, you and I
Can’t even mess it up, though we both try
No, it don’t always go the way we planned it
But the wolves came and went and we’re still standing
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): The peace that is the inheritance and the destiny of every beloved, broken body be with you.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (20 Apr 21): Because as the world is created and recreated each moment, its details are not yet in place. That is left to us.
Demontae Edmonds (26 Apr 21): When God’s strength shows up in our lives, what was once a struggle becomes a testimony of “overcoming” in our lives. Allow purity to reign in your heart and faith to dominate your life, and watch as the Spirit of God handpicks you to show Himself strong in your life.
Church of England (21 Apr 21): “This is the culture change that is required if the Church is to live up to its mandate of being a body where all the gifts of all its people flourish to the full, for the benefit of the church as a whole, the nation of England and the greater glory of God,” they say.
Rick Joyner (20 Apr 21): It seems like the world was a far gentler and friendlier place when good manners were considered essential behavior. The degrading of manners in America has been in parallel to the way we have allowed God to be removed from our culture, only to be replaced by increasing disrespect and intolerance for others, and has increased into rage and violence.
Dutch Sheets (20 Apr 21): We decree that the Ekklesia is arising in unity, with shields locked and a sound of victory in our mouths. The gates of Hell will not prevail against us and America shall be saved! We will hold the line and advance the Kingdom.[24]
Fr. Richard Rohr (25 Apr 21): That’s what apocalyptic literature does. It helps us make room for something new by clearing out the old—old ideas, old stories, old ways of thinking—especially if we’ve become overly attached to them. The goal of apocalyptic language, as used in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, is to shake people out of their reliance on conventional wisdom and undercut where we all operate on cruise control.
John 10:17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): I see God’s “Day of Reckoning!” in terms of Him reaching out to His children and them listening and responding. The Lord has given much time for repentance and divine intervention is impending, but to no avail if there is no one to hear. In my orbit, the men of Nineveh never rose up. (Mt 12:41) They didn’t care. I lay down my life to take it up yet again. (John 10:17)
Fr. Richard Rohr (23 Apr 21): Through her Work That Reconnects, teacher Joanna Macy invites us to find a wider sense of identity as unique and integral parts of the living body of Earth and to join with others in service to life.
Brat: So, why didn’t your people write me back?
Rick Joyner (20 Apr 21): Our human tendency is toward dualistic thinking that tends to perceive in extremes. So we can consider one type of behavior to always be kindness or severity that can only be rightly discerned when we consider the setting and the timing. As great a prophet as Elijah was, he was not the Son of God, and Jesus was incredibly gracious to those who attacked and insulted Him in comparison.
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): Your story is changing. Your track history is changing.
Brat: I received still more SILENCE!!
Anita Alexander (22 Apr 21): We are seeing the wicked pursue the cause of the righteous in this hour. We are witnessing the plans of Hell being unleashed upon the earth in this hour, and they continue to pursue those who stand for righteousness with the sole purpose of wiping them out and silencing their voices. But I was thinking, as I meditated upon this passage of Scripture here in Hebrews 29:11, that the Egyptians could have saved their lives if they would have just stopped their pursuit at the Red Sea. Even after witnessing the miracles performed by the Israelite God, they, full of conceit and pride, continued to pursue them anyway.[25]
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (26 Apr 21): Because it is G-d’s universe, not ours. And for G-d, there is no failure.
John-Paul and Annie Deddens (22 Apr 21): Dearest Holy Mother, Most Holy Mary, you undo the knots that suffocate your children. Extend your merciful hands to me. I entrust to You today this knot and all the negative consequences that it provokes in my life.
Helen Calder (23 Apr 21): So, if you have been struggling with weariness, insecurity, or with the style of others’ ministries, receive fresh insight to your heart today.
Casey Cross: We seek after truth, but shy away when its double-edge points toward us. And so, truth also means knowing when we have missed the mark. It means admitting when we have relied on our understanding more than the truth lived by Jesus. It means repenting and changing our ways. Loving one another in truth and action means we may need to sit through uncomfortable conversations. We may also need to speak up and create new boundaries with people who have abused our empathy and time. Loving one another does not mean we must serve as someone’s whipping boy. Loving one another also does not mean liking everyone or being everyone’s friend. Loving one another liberates us for autonomy and freedom. We are reborn in the empty tomb and revolutionized by the resurrection of Christ.
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): Look at what GOD is doing! We must keep our eyes on Jesus more than the storm, or than any pandemic. What is God doing and saying over you right now?
Tony Robinson (23 Apr 21): There’s more. God gets the last word. Thanks be to God.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (26 Apr 21): Which means, as the Rebbe Rayatz explained, that in truth there is no such thing as failure. No matter how bad you messed up, no matter how far you’ve fallen, you’ve never lost.
Margaret Bullitt-Jonas (20 Apr 21): Our prayer may be noisy and expressive, or it may be very quiet. It may be the kind of prayer that depends on listening in stillness and silence with complete attention: listening to the crickets as they pulse at night, listening to the rain as it falls, listening to our breath as we breathe God in and breathe God out, listening to the inner voice of love that is always sounding in our heart.
Lillian Daniel (21 Apr 21): If all you want is a sentimental sign of spring, I’m sure you can find a crocus growing in a graveyard somewhere, but the promise of new life is more than that.
Deborah Perkins (in “Benefit of the Doubt” 06 Apr 21): Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people of Israel did not answer him so much as a word.~1 Kings 18:21
[Crickets chirping…]
Steve Shultz: Do you want to walk in this type of faith, where God leads you into the unknown, where your only choice is to believe Him?
Lillian Daniel (21 Apr 21): New life does not mean more of the same. So why settle for some pre-pandemic nostalgic normalcy for your church, your children, your institutions, your society, your schools, or your street? Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): I’ve been thinking a lot about bodies this week—about how inseparable our bodies are from our own particular identity and story. I’ve been thinking about bodies that grow and move through the world, gathering experience and wisdom, and other bodies that are broken, bruised and scarred. Bodies that connect, and bodies that retreat from companionship. Bodies that stand tall and hopeful, and bodies that lie low upon the earth, down where the blood cries out from the ground. Bodies that live. And bodies that die and are laid to rest.
Maren Morris: When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter
Yeah, the paint could peel, the glass could shatter
Let it rain ’cause you and I remain the same
When there ain’t a crack in the foundation
Baby, I know any storm we’re facing
Will blow right over while we stay put
The house don’t fall when the bones are good
When the bones are good
Pastor Kate LePard (22 Apr 21): The Lord is clear that he has the power to take his life up again. That Easter power reveals God’s triumph over death.
Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): His risen body shows us that the life he offers is about entering into the fray, into the heaving heart of the world and saying: Peace be with you. [26]
Expert Wanderlust (24 Apr 21): [New post] Desolation of a wonderful place, Casa Do Professor in Oliveira de Azemeis / Portugal [https://wp.me/pczFHe-4A]
Brat (in “Benefit of the Doubt” 06 Apr 21): …My sharing then becomes more fodder for your sharing to your platform, while my desolation deepens in the abomination. I never doubted his prophetic clarity and truth. My cry along with the anchorites of old is for courtesy.
Fr. Richard Rohr (26 Apr 21): Meditation: This Is an Apocalypse
John 10:18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
When Light Came In (23 Apr 21): Remember when I posted that one about the court-ordered communication platform? Guess which of the messages he looked at?
Church of England (21 Apr 21): The taskforce’s work is rooted in Christian theology, they emphasise, flowing “not from identity politics but from our identity in Christ”.
Pastor Will Coleman (19 Apr 21): “I’m not ready for this!”
Pastor Kate LePard (19 Apr 21): The high priest and other religious leaders feel the stirring of a power they don’t control. Stories about resurrection. Rumors of healing. Their crippling hold on the Jewish people is being threatened. They demand to know by what authority these fishermen, Peter and John, work. The Holy Spirit flows from Peter’s mouth as he claims the power named Jesus Christ.
Rick Joyner (20 Apr 21): To be truly gentle does not mean that we become timid mealy-mouthed pushovers. Jesus was not, but boldly stood up to His accusers, calling them hypocrites, until it was time to go to the cross. Then He stood mute before them. Since His exhortation was to learn from Him we, too, must keep in mind that there is a time for peace and a time for war (see Ecclesiastes 3), there is a time to respond to accusations and opposers, and a time not to. Even when it is time to challenge our opposers we must keep in mind that we are sons and daughters of the King, and must conduct ourselves with the dignity of those of His household.
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): Rebuke the wind and waves. This is your offensive stance. Get out the word and bind up what is coming at you. Clear the atmosphere. Tell the opposition to STOP in Jesus name.
Brat prayer journal (21 Apr 21): Holy Spirit, I need Your help and direction. I keep following Your directions and contacting those You tell me to reach out to, and I STILL receive SILENCE, even though You are the One telling me to reach out. I am terribly discouraged. This BS has got to stop! You know my heart and my intentions. You said You would hold the brutes accountable. It’s not about forgiveness at this point. It’s about courtesy! More sermons on gentleness and kindness just grind into gaslighting wounds (Rick Joyner). I can’t take anymore! There is no one real out there! And I feel like if I write Richard Rohr, it’ll just be more of the same.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (26 Apr 21): And for us? For us, there are only opportunities.
Pastor Kate LePard (23 Apr 21): The Lord had said Godself would take over as Good Shepherd. Jesus did so until he was killed. He had promised to take his life up again and did that, too. Who could have expected such resurrection power? Jesus sent disciples to the ends of the earth with the Easter power to claim people for God’s holy flock.
When Light Came In (21 Apr 21): How will it turn out? Who knows? But I feel ready and strong because I cared for me just as much as I care for them.
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (20 Apr 21): That is what we accomplish when we do a mitzvah: We connect scattered details into place so that the original meaning and purpose of each thing becomes clear and their divine energy can shine through.
Steve Porter (08 April 21): Ezekiel’s Wheel within the Wheel
Pastor Kate LePard (19 Apr 21): Much of life is about power. Who has it. Where it is used. How it is kept. We live as if there is a limited amount of power in the world. It orders how business, politics, and societies function. We forget about Easter power that can disrupt anything.
Joe Joe Dawson (20 Apr 21): In this season, passive and lukewarm Christianity is finished. God is looking for those with a heart like Shammah’s to stand and fight for whatever field God has called them to. Don’t look at the things God has promised you and count it to be too insignificant to fight for. Future generations may very well be depending on you to stand. Now is the time to stand![27]
Nancy Taylor Tate (24 Apr 21): How the world needs this type of ministry today…not mere doctrine, though important, but the experiential Word of God, written in our hearts, visible to others through our daily lives. May that which is sensed, felt, and seen when others look at us draw them to Christ! And may the benefits of peace be with you and bless you as well!
Quinn Caldwell (24 Apr 21): Turns out, blessings don’t depend on the character or history of the person giving them so much as they do on the God who fulfills them.
Fr. Richard Rohr (25 Apr 21): The most common mistake is to confuse apocalyptic literature with prophetic literature. They serve very different functions. Apocalyptic writing deconstructs the “taken-for-granted world” by presenting a completely different universe, similar to what a good novel or even a science fiction movie does for us. As the Buddhist heart sutra says it, “Gone, gone, utterly gone, all has passed over to the other side.” It makes room for the reconstruction of a new vision of peace and justice, which is the job of the prophets. Yes, prophets do plenty of deconstruction too, but it is always to make room inside the mind and soul for vision, expansion, hope, and a future inhabited by God and not by fear.
Brat (26 Apr 21 at 7:10 am): Excuse me. Last week I wrote to you and your crew and this week you are writing about apocalyptic literature and a time of unveiling. I realize you cannot respond to every submission and yet the conversation continues over my head, where it seems that it is being used as a springboard. In the past I would have been honored, but to me now, this feels like more gaslighting, which I’ve experienced from everyone else, because we never were able to establish a real relationship. Please don’t use me like everyone else has done. Please don’t take me for granted! Put flesh on these bones.
John Edgerton (26 Apr 21): I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. – 1 Peter 5:1b-3 (NRSV)
Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): Your once hidden, squashed, silenced, and timid voice is suddenly ROARING from within you and making its way to the surface. You have no agenda, no territory to selfishly protect, and no motives or self-promotion and the earth needs the pure sound of your voice to cut through the noise.
Lana Vawser (25 Apr 21): “Don’t move. Don’t give in. Keep standing on what I said and do not entertain doubt or confusion. Stay ferociously focused on what I have said and put your faith in Me and My goodness, and know that I am leading your every step and My supernatural confirmation will continue to crash in and astound you. In the areas where I have spoken, there will be such a great awakening that will take place by My Spirit…such deep demonstrations of My power and the coming of My glory.
Brat: It doesn’t take “supernatural confirmation” for folks to write me back. It takes courtesy.
Fr. Richard Rohr (26 Apr 21): Our best response is to end our fight with reality-as-it-is. We will benefit from anything that approaches a welcoming prayer—diving into the change positively, preemptively, saying, “Come, what is; teach me your good lessons.” Saying yes to “What is” ironically sets us up for “What if?” Otherwise, we get trapped in the negative past.
Sanjna Mahtab (21 Apr 21): He is looking for those with pure hearts, pure intentions, pure motives, who are aligned purely with the desires of the Father’s heart and with the frequency of His true love. This can only be achieved through the secret place of intimacy with God. It is in this place that you get to know who God is even more, who you are in Him more (your true identity), and a place where He unlocks His mysteries to you at a deeper level.
Me to Fr. Richard Rohr (22 Apr 21): My intention of sharing with you is not to get seen on the Daily Meditations or on social media. I realize you do not respond to every submission. My intention of sharing, however, is to make a connection, as heretofore everyone I share with reciprocates with more grinding Silence and it is impossible to forge an honest relationship without partnership. There is no relationship with Apathy. I am sharing out of a genuine heart cry. Without a “Boaz” I’m perpetually gleaning the fields…
**
[1] Deborah Perkins (18 Apr 21): HONORING THE INTERCESSORS (hisinscriptions.com)
[2] Lana Vawser (25 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25404)
[3] Emily Claire Schmitt (19 Apr 21): Hello, Religious Privilege is Good and Here’s Why | Emily Claire Schmitt (patheos.com)
[4] Helen Calder (23 Apr 21): Prophetic Ministry: Are You a Beacon or a Lighthouse? (enlivenpublishing.com)
[5] Anna Blake (16 Apr 21): Saying Yes to a Horse When You Mean No – Anna Blake
[6] Rick Joyner (20 Apr 21): The Weapon of Gentleness | MorningStar Ministries
[7] Nate Johnston (22 Apr 21): 9 TYPES OF WARFARE YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW – Nate & Christy: Everyday Revivalists (nateandchristy.co)
[8] Bill Yount (12 Sept 2020): Prophetic Alert: “I Am Breaking the Age Barrier!” – A Word by Bill Yount – Spirit Fuel
[9] Rabbi Curt Landry (24 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25402)
[10] Elizabeth Baker (14 Jan 2021): My Evangelical Church Is Gaslighting Me, But I Refuse To Fall For It Anymore | HuffPost
[11] Andrew Towe (23 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25398)
[12] Casey Cross: 4th Sunday of Easter(B): What is Truth? – Modern μετανοια (modernmetanoia.org)
[13] Wanda Alger (22 Apr 21): https://wandaalger.me/2021/04/22/remember-who-you-are-america/
[14] Sanjna Mahtab (21 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25389)
[15] Steve Porter (08 April 21): Steve Porter: “Becoming the Wheel Within a Wheel” (elijahlist.com)
[16] Rev. Kellan Day: To Be a Sheep, Easter 4 (B) – April 25, 2021 – The Episcopal Church
[17] Rabbi Tzvi Freeman (26 Apr 21): Pesach Sheini – Daily Dose of Wisdom (chabad.org)
[18] Nancy Taylor Tate (24 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25403)
[19] Lovesick Scribe (22 Apr 21): There Be Fallacious Spirits Here | (lovesickscribe.com)
[20] Demontae Edmonds (26 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25407)
[21] [From “Babe” 1995]: blob:https://www.facebook.com/c11f2ea5-bcb4-4d7d-8826-3e9957756663
[22] [1] Neale Donald Walsch, Facebook post, July 22, 2014.
[23] Faith Marie Baczko (25 March 21): The Day of Reckoning! – Headstone Ministries
[24] Dutch Sheets and Jane Hamon (20 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25387)
[25] Anita Alexander (22 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25393)
[26] Rev. Phil Hooper (18 Apr 21): This Peaceful Body: A Sermon – By Another Road
[27] Joe Joe Dawson (20 Apr 21): The ElijahList – Prophetic Words and Prophecies (#25388)
truthinus 