“Hey Preacher Man! Paint me saved and I will pay you money!”

Jesus the Messiah (Christ) summed up His Ministry in Luke 4 by quoting from the prophet Isaiah, as a ministry of bringing healing, deliverance and salvation to the needy. The New Testament extensively uses the Greek word “Sozo” (Strongs G4982: to save, i.e. deliver or protect – used 103 times in KJV: heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole ) to encompass and describe the Ministry of Christ.

Unfortunately, today the glorious Gospel of the Kingdom has mostly been reduced to a “sinners prayer” which people are told, repeating it causes them to be saved. Maybe some have made it so easy to be “saved” because in this way they hope to gather more people around themselves and so increase their fame, influence and monthly income (2 Timothy 4:3). They are, of course, involved in the very sacred and righteous work of “saving souls”, so who would dare to challenge them?

Actually when we use the word “saved” we should be referring to the Greek work “Sozo” which actually refers to the deliverance process from the power of satan to God. Jesus used these words to commission the Apostle Paul ‘I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ (Acts 26:18).

Biblical deliverance involves much more than having a positive confession. As the Lord says, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mark 7:6). Biblical Deliverance involves being taken out of one situation of suffering and oppression and then being established in the Kingdom of Christ – in covenant relationship and with a steadfast dedication to serve and worship only the Lord.

One of the greatest and most dramatic biblical deliverances involves Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and concluding with their arrival in the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. I have structured this deliverance process in three phases to assist in understanding the complete process and I have attempted to identify important lessons of deliverance in each phase.

The 3-Phase Deliverance Process

Then said Yahweh, I have, seen, the humiliation of my people, who are in Egypt,––and, their outcry, have I heard, by reason of their task–masters, for I know their pains; therefore have I come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to take them up out of that land, into a land good and large, into a land flowing with milk and honey,––into the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. (Exodus 3: 7 - 8)

I have identified the following three distinct Phases of deliverance that were initiated by God resulting in His deliverance He promised in Exodus 3:

Phase 1 – Israel brought out of Egypt

Phase 2 - Egypt is removed from Israel

Phase 3 – Destroying the giants and taking possession of the Promised Land

This complete deliverance process was “written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10: 11). Let us therefore investigate and understand what the Lord desires to teach us about deliverance.

Phase 1 – Israel brought out of Egypt

The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, working as slaves and serving Pharaoh’s building projects. The Lord heard their cry and sent a Prophet called Moses to deliver them. Moses was to go down to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and lead them into the Promised Land.

Lessons from Phase 1:

• The children of Israel did not have to fight to get out of Egypt; the Lord did this for them with His outstretched Hand, by demonstrating His Power and through the Blood of the Lamb.
• They had to endure persecution. When Moses challenged Pharaoh, things first got much rougher for the Israelites. There was retribution and they got extra burdens placed on them, like having to gather the straw they needed for building that had previously been supplied. 
• This Phase removed them from the Kingdom of Pharaoh. If Moses had come and just healed afflicted Israelites and just cast demons out of them, but had left them in Egypt – their condition of slavery would be unchanged and we could not say that they had been delivered.
• The Israelites had to make a decision to leave Egypt and everything in Egypt, and to follow the Lord. It was their decision to trust and obey the Lord rather than remain as slaves in Egypt.
• The deliverance of Phase 1 was sealed through their baptism into Christ (1 Corinthians 10:2 – Moses being a Type of Christ) whereby they symbolically died to Egypt and were raised into Life through confirming their covenant relationship with the Lord. They were witnesses of the destruction of their enemies.

Phase 2 - Egypt is removed from Israel

In this Phase the children of Israel were brought by Moses to Mount Sinai. They were afraid to enter into a direct relationship and a deeper personal revelation of the Lord because they recognized that this would mean their “death” (Exodus 20:19), that is, of self. Instead they preferred to send Moses up the Mountain to hear what the Lord would say, so that he could come back and tell them.

Lessons from Phase 2:

• Rejecting a deeper walk with the Lord is easily justified and is a refusal to die to self. Entering into this relationship with the Lord could have saved the nation 40 years of desert wandering.
• Because the Israelites had not died to self they entered into idolatry and could not discern the Way of the Lord. They said Moses was not coming back so they created their own idolatrous religious system centered around a golden calf and “they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry“ (Exodus 32: 5 - 6). Their leader (Aaron) had said that this was honoring to the Lord. 
• Because they had not died to self they were fearful when they saw the giants that had to be defeated in the Promised Land – this fear (of man) was the root of their rebellion against the Lord. After a while their hearts longed to return to Egypt.
• The graciousness of the Lord, made manifest in provision, healing and protection, was continually evident. This was not an indication that He was pleased with them, because scripture is explicit that He was displeased with them. (1 Corinthians 10: 5)
• We need to embrace our death with Christ which we publically confessed through our baptism. As Paul explains, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4) The more we embrace this and enter into unity with the Lord, the sooner will the new resurrection Life in us become evident and the shorter the “desert” phase.

This “desert” phase only ended when Egypt was removed from the people. Egypt “died” in the desert, that is, the entire generation that had rebelled against the Lord died in the desert without entering the Promised Land. Basically this was the “stinking” thinking – the carnal mindsets – with which they had grown up in Egypt. Removing Egypt from them was only attained through the dying of the old and embracing the new by renewing their minds with the desire of the Promised Land. The promises of God became an internal reality within the new generation. As Paul later explains, those that maintain their sinful nature will not enter the Kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9) and because we have been raised with Christ, we should “set our minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2).

Phase 3 – Destroying the giants and taking possession of the Promised Land

This Phase starts with a new generation that is completely sold out to the Lord. They are fully obedient and desire strong leadership to lead them into the fulfillment of the promises of God. (Joshua 1: 16 – 18)

Lessons from Phase 3:

• The Lord does not take the side of flesh and blood. He is come to fulfill His Plans and Purposes (Joshua 5: 13-14). We cannot twist the Lord’s arm through confession, fasting or prayer to get what we want. (James 4:3)
• The new generation had internalized the promises of God. The unbelief of the older generation had no more place in them. (Joshua 14: 10-12)
• The Lord expected that the new generation leadership to be bold and courageous and that they would obey all the Lord had commanded. (Joshua 1: 7-9)
• The new generation was expecting bold and courageous leadership that would obey everything which the Lord commanded. (Joshua 1:  16-18)
• Even though there was formidable opposition, for example, from the king of Moab who warred against them and called Balaam to curse them – they had victory as long as they walked in Unity with and obedience to the Lord. (Numbers 25:1-3 & Revelations 2:14)

This Phase of deliverance concludes with Joshua affirming all the Lord has done, how the children of Israel had been able to take hold of their inheritance because the Lord was with them. At the same time he admonishes them, “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. So be very careful to love the Lord your God.” (Joshua 23: 9-11)

They are established on the Promised Land, but this does not mean that they can relax and do what they want. No, there is still work to be done and an enemy that is active that hopes to deceive, distract and defeat them. The Process of Deliverance continues ….

In the words of Paul, the Apostle chosen by God to preach the Message of Divine Deliverance, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 12-14)

Changing the understanding and expression of Christianity

After a turbulent youth as a punk and gang leader, Patrick Fontaine came to know Jesus Christ in 1983. His dedicated Christian lifestyle opened the way for him, twelve years later, to become the pastor of a church in France. He was also a much sought after conference speaker because the Lord had entrusted him with one of the most powerful healing ministries in France. In 2002 he became ill and died, but was then resurrected by the power of God. He afterwards reported on having an encounter with Jesus during his physical death that fundamentally changed his understanding of Christianity. Jesus had told him that he was going to "change the understanding and expression of Christianity within one generation." Since then, he is serving Jesus Christ by preparing the Body for a new reformation. Patrick lives with his wife and three children in Romans, France.

This is his testimony of that encounter with Jesus Christ:

“It was in the midst of the time in which I ministering and healing the sick. I felt that as the big “healer” I couldn't tell the people that I had become ill – therefore, I felt like I was driven into a corner and trapped. Because I didn't take care of the illness, the infection got into my heart, poisoned my whole body, and I fell into shock. As I fell to the floor my whole body shook and jerked with fever shock and I could feel how death entered into me. I didn't even have time to call my family, my wife. I only had time to pray for them, and then I died.

This was on the 1. March, 2002. It was the most critical moment in my life - and then Jesus appeared to me. I saw him as clearly as I would see someone sitting in front of me. For 19 years I had prayed, „Lord, let me see your face“, and now suddenly I was before him. But I had really imagined meeting Him in VERY different circumstances. This was the greatest and at the same time the worst day of my life. As I stood before him I had complete security of my salvation since there was such a wonderful overwhelming love that streamed out of him and enveloped me, greater than I had ever experienced, even during the most wonderful praise and worship. At the same time however, there was an overwhelming holiness that flowed out of him and it was so strong, that it made me feel as if I had, in that very moment, sinned. It had been years since I had really sinned. But on this day I realized that sin is not just what we do or say or think but it is part of our very nature.

Simply put, everything concerning our life as humans is connected to sin. And there is nothing good in us. So I had the ultimate conviction of sin. Since that time I no longer have illusions about myself. It is over! As I stood before Jesus he showed me all of the things that I ever did. Not those things before I was converted, but only those during the time after I had begun to serve him. He showed me all the things I had done for him and then showed me what my heart's motivation was behind those things. I saw all of the things that I did out of pride. And I saw all that I had done out of a sense of competition. I saw all that I had done in order to prove myself to others and all that I had done to make a name for myself and build my own kingdom. In all these things the balance was more than negative.

Jesus also showed me all of the things that I had NOT done, out of disobedience, out of laziness, out of fear of man. Seeing this broke me completely. And then he told me that there were idols in my life. If anyone here on earth had told me that, I would have showed him my fist. But because HE told it to me, I knew it must be true. Then He said something that shocked me deeply: “the first idol in your life, is called ‘Jesus’“. At that moment I felt that I understood nothing, just like everyone who reads this would! So I asked him how it could be possible that I have an idol that is called ‘Jesus’? He said; “the relationship that you attempt to have with me is the same relationship that the idolaters have with their gods. You are always only trying to get something from me but are not interested in knowing Me”.

I felt that my life was over, it was broken. And as I recovered, I understood that there will be people at the end of time who will say to Jesus, “have we not prophesied in your name, have we not done miracles in your name?” But in the presence of Jesus no lie can stand. He will answer them in that day, „Go away from me, I never knew you“ (Matthew 7:23). I was a part of this crowd. The Christian life isn't about performance. It's as if Jesus said, “Ok, you might have done a lot for me, but we have never got to know each other”. He said, “I tried to get to know you the whole time, but you didn't cooperate”. And I discovered that this life on earth is not about being a Christian, it's not about doing things for Christ, but he defined crystal clear what this life is about. It is simply about your relationship with Him, the only true God, who sent his Son Jesus. Life on earth is about learning to know Him. Not learning a mass of facts about him or just doing a whole lot of activities for Him, but it is about knowing Him personally and intimately. That has now become my priority and I don't want to know anything else.

When Jesus had finished dealing with my heart on this matter, He placed me in a vision. I entered into the vision – I want to make it clear that I didn't see a vision, I stepped into the vision. I was in a large city. And Jesus asked me, „Do you know what the city is called?“ One thing I have learned is that when Jesus asks you a question, you DON'T know the answer. This is why I just said, „no“, so that things would go faster. And he said, „It is called Babylon“. Well, this didn't match my conception of Babylon. I remembered that in my Punk years someone had said that the Catholic church is Babylon. Or was that the Pentecostal church? On this day I saw Babylon, full of people who love God, who do things for God. Each had his Bible in the hand. I saw mega-churches. And I saw house churches. I saw revival. And I saw prophetic ministries. I even saw people who had written the books which were in my own library. And I knew then that I understood nothing.

So the Lord gave me a little bible study about what Babylon really is. I'll tell you shortly about it. It is exactly how the tower of Babel was built and that first thing to recognize is that these people had turned their backs on Jesus, they weren't looking to Him. And they said, “Let us build!” - but Jesus had said, „I will build!“ There is a huge difference between the two. They built with brick. Now do you know the characteristics of bricks? They all look alike. They are all conformed in size to each other. But Jesus doesn't build with bricks but with living stones. The builders of Babel also built with bitumen (pitch). Now do you know what the characteristics of bitumen are? (Noah also had a lot of bitumen on the arch, so that the water couldn't seep in). Bitumen or tar makes things dry. In Babylon they laid the stones or bricks one beside the other and that which bound them together (bitumen) was dried out, the relationships are dried out, because there is no exchange or sharing.

After that they had said, „Let us build a city so that we won't be scattered“. So they built a tower which reached up to the sky (into heaven). In Hebrew the word for peak or top the same as for head. And suddenly I understood the Babylonian system. It is a human construction. There is someone at the top who touches the heavens and gets information to bring back down and share with the others. And the motivation for building this construction is so that we won't be scattered across the face of the earth. The motivation of the church of Babylon is to fill the churches because they do not want to be scattered. So we fill the churches. But God said to Adam, “multiply and fill the earth”. Just as Jesus said, “go into every nation”. In Babylon we don't want to be scattered, we want to be gathered in sizable groups. In Babylon the point is to fill our own constructions. But in the church which Jesus builds, the point is not to full the church but for the church to fill the world. Amen? It's all about filling the world, not filling the church! We are actually called to go out to conquer the world! Amen? Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?

After showing me this, He told me that another characteristic of the church of Babylon is that it is built on the foundation of Judaism. There is a specially ordained place to worship; there is a special day for worship, a specific wage for the job, a special staff and a special tribe which does the work. And all of this was developed by man. „This is not my church!“, says Jesus!

Understanding this gave me a huge shock, because I was pastor of such a church and I had not had the impression that I was in anyway in the wrong. I had a very “successful” ministry for which I had sacrificed much, my health and my family. In this craziness I had given everything because I had totally believed in this system. And I was faithful. I was really faithful in my error! But I was truly in deception.

As I went for a walk in the city of Babylon, I saw people walking around with Bibles open. I went up to them and looked into their Bibles. They were the correct Bibles! But in the margins were commentaries and the people paid more attention to read the commentaries than to read the Bible. They read the tradition which had been passed down. They read these in order to know how to understand the Bible rightly. But they were not able to receive any revelation. And as I continued walking a saw in one corner a church which looked just like my own church. And when I saw this, it really began to break me. I'm really just summarizing all of what I experienced; otherwise we would be here until tomorrow morning. But there are so many things that I would like to share.

After we were out of Babylon and back to the place from which we had started, Jesus gave me another horrible shock. He said, „Stop praying for revival!“ I said, „Oh, no!“ because I really thought that in doing that I had been in the right way. But Jesus clearly said, “Stop praying for revival”. I don't know how it is in Germany, but in France from the time of my conversion all through the years, and every few years we would have people prophesying revival. In the 80s they were saying, „Jesus is on the way!“ In the 90s they were saying, „He's at the door!“ In the 2000s they said, „He's got his hand on the door knob!“ Now we are in 2009 and someone said, „Oh dear, he forgot the key and has to go back and fetch it!“ I don't know if you believe in these prophecies. I've stopped believing in them because Jesus said, “Stop praying for revival, because it is not a revival that I have for you, but a reformation”. Amen?

What we really need is a reformation! The very worst thing that could happen is a revival. Jesus is protecting us from a revival, because if we had a revival we would never question if what we are doing is right or not. We would think that we are living in God's favor. We would continue building on the tower of Babel and would draw even more people into living and working in the prison of Babylon. That is why the worst thing that could happen to us is revival. The best thing that could happen is reformation. Nothing else!

Jesus then gave me a very clear word. He said, “I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity within one generation”. He will first change the understanding and then the expression of Christianity. After that he continued telling me about the reformation. He said, “I will bring forth a reformation that has never been experienced on earth, because the reformation will be in 3 dimensions. There will be a reformation in theology”, because we really need that our thinking in what we believe be changed. Then a reformation in Lifestyle (how you live out righteousness), you will live differently because you believe differently. Finally after that, a reformation of the structure will occur, one that won't be of human origin. Amen?

This testimony was later also confirmed in a very real way with Heidi Baker. The two of us did a conference together once. We were on our way back to the hotel and she said to me, „Hey, Patrick, I heard that you were in heaven! Tell me about it!“ And I said, „Do you have time?“ And she said, „Yeah, yeah!“ And I told her my testimony. She has a prophetess who is always with her. And as I said that “He will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in one Generation ”, the prophetess began to yell and ran ahead into her room. We just stood there baffled. 15 minutes later she came back with a small book in which she had written, with dates, what she had received from the Lord. And what the Lord told me on 1st of March, 2002, he had told her on 28th February, 2002! It was exactly in the same word, even the order of the words was the same!

I am convinced that we should not need to hold fast to a form of Christianity that is already beginning to disappear. The big question is: how long does a generation last? Some say 20 years, others 25 years, others 30 years. I don't know if we can stretch it to more than 30! To me it doesn't matter how long a generation lasts. Jesus spoke to me seven years ago (in 2009). And now it is one generation MINUS seven years! So the time is much shorter! And the reformation is coming. And I am amazed that in every country this message is to be heard. There is a cry that is coming from all over the earth.

In the Bible it says, “Come out of Babylon!” (Jeremiah 50:8, Isaiah 48:20, Revelation 18:4). Jesus said it last in the Book of Revelations. He said, “Come out of Babylon my people”. His people are still in Babylon! We don't need any kind of feeling of arrogance because that would prove that we are still there, but unfortunately the Lord still has a large portion of his people in Babylon. It is therefore necessary that the voice of the Lord echoes in Babylon.

This is really important. After Jesus had told me all of this, and I really had the feeling as if whole days had gone by in heaven. As I came back to earth and there was a crowd of people standing around me and it turned out that only between 20 and 30 minutes had gone by. I had really had the sense that I had been in heaven for several days. As I came back I began to cry and was traumatized. The first thing I said was, “I'm not serving God any more”. My friends all said, “No, no, that was from the devil”. I said, “That was not the devil that I saw. I have no confidence in myself any more. Everything is sin in me. I can't believe in myself anymore. I have really decided to give up”. I had great difficulty telling my wife these things. I am not at all the kind of person who cries. I had last cried when I was only 6 or 7 years old. I had decided then that I would not cry anymore. Everything had been blocked from that day – even though my name is Fontaine (Fountain), but there was no fountain in my life! But on this day I couldn't even talk because of all the crying. My wife began to decode my words through the tears and then she began to laugh and laugh. I had expected a slightly different kind of compassion from her.

She had prayed for something like this to happen to me! She said, “You are so thick-skulled that Jesus had to shake you in such a way, because you would never let anyone tell you anything!” I have a word for the men here: humble yourself otherwise when your wife begins to pray for you huge unexpected things could happen! And I tell you, it was 1984 when God first touched me, but really it was 2002 when my true conversion took place. I was a punker when I met him, but I was a pastor, author and conference speaker when my conversion took place. This is no kind of false humility behind what I am sharing with you, really.

The first time it was Christianity to which I was converted. The second time it was to Christ to whom I converted. There's quite a big difference between the two. This reformation, this change in understanding, will come through a conversion in our theological understanding.

When I was up in heaven with Jesus He had asked me another question. This time I had the feeling that I really knew the answer. Jesus asked, „is there a power that is greater than my Word?“ I wanted to score some points with him when I said, „No!“ And I had bible passages ready to back my answer up! Isaiah had said, “Your Word will not return to you empty”. Jeremiah said, “He broods over his word until it happens”. And I thought, “Wow! He is going to pat me on the shoulder in approval”. But he said, „Wrong! There is one power that is stronger than my Word”. It is written in Mark 7:13; „You nullify my Word with your tradition!“ The only power able to annul Jesus’s Word is the tradition. The Greek word for “annul” means, to take the power away, to take the efficiency away. We now have 2000 years of tradition which have been passed down.

Sometimes we leave to live outside of Babylon but want to hold onto our traditions. These are the understandings that we accumulated in Babylon, the definition of the words and doctrines that have been passed down through the years and have become so established in our lives that they are no longer questioned. It is one thing to go out from Babylon, but it is another thing altogether to get Babylon out of us. Amen?

Maybe what I have written has upset you? Maybe you are asking yourself, „Does that mean that I've done everything wrong?“ Well the answer to that is “Yes!”, but this is not a problem. It is better to discover that one has been doing it wrong than to be in the wrong and to believe one is doing everything right! Do you mind if I upset you a little more?

Jesus said, “These signs will follow those who believe: in my Name they will cast out demons, in my Name they will lay hands on and heal the sick”. Jesus said, “I am come that my sheep have life, in abundance!” At least that is our European version of it. In Greek it doesn't say in abundance, but in super abundance! Jesus said that those who believe will do the same works that I do and even greater. I am telling you that this is the normal Christian life. When you don't live it, you aren't living normally! I didn't come to put you under false guilt, but to help you understand the word as it really is.

When our Christianity doesn't produce the promised fruit, when we don't experience the promised Life, then what kind of assurance do we have for the things that are coming? Do you understand?

Imagine that you are a farmer. For 10 years you have been sowing wheat? What do you harvest? Wheat, of course! In the 11th year you say, I don't want wheat anymore, I want corn. But you sow wheat. What will you harvest? Wheat, of course! This farmer needs to be told, “if you want to change your harvest, you have to change the seeds you sow. If you aren't content with what you are harvesting, why do you keep using the same seeds?”

Reformation starts with a changing of the seeds. If we change what we believe, this changes our lifestyle and that results in reformation. The first lesson on reformation is that reformation does not happen when we try to transform others, but when we allow our hearts to be transformed. Jeremiah (7:3) is clear: “Amend your ways and your doings”. Jesus said, you can't get a good fruit from a bad tree, or a bad fruit from a good tree. It's fairly simple. What is a bad tree? Jesus makes it clear; it is a tree with bad roots. The roots are the part that you can't see, but it is also the source from which the tree lives. If your life is not producing the promised fruit, the problem lies with the roots. And what are the roots? It is what you believe. That's why we need a reformation of our theology. We won't live out what is promised with a theology we got from tradition. Nor will we be able to live it with the definitions that have been passed down from tradition. We really need a reformation of our theology first!

God doesn't expect us to have to scratch our heads and try to figure it out. Don't forget what he said: „I will build my church!“ He is the one who will do it and it will not be by our own power. It won't happen by us attempting to be more intelligent. It's not that we think up new things and try them to see if they work. He said, “I will change it, I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in one Generation”.

The audio testimony in French and German can be found here: http://www.befreiungshilfe.de/audio

Lions set free! (Ezekiel 19: 1 - 9)

In a prophetic picture the prophet Ezekiel (19:1-2) explains how the Church has given birth to sons (Revelation 12) and how these sons, who are supposed to be kings upon the earth have been taken captive by the world (Egypt) and the religious system calling itself the church (Babylon - Rev. 17:5).

The story below is about how these kings can again become free!

LIONS SET FREE

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not be entangled with the yoke of slavery again." (Galatians 5:1)

A friend of mine recently told me about a conservation group in Zimbabwe that is taking captive lions and rehabilitating them back into the wild.
This is a difficult, four phase process, but they are having success with it. The rehabilitation process has many snags involved because of the effects of captivity on an African lion. When lions are bred and raised out of their natural habitat, some very abnormal patterns begin to develop. In short, they become domesticated. Yet lions were born to be wild.
In captivity, the lions basically forget that they are lions. The forget how to hunt. They forget how to live in the wild. And they forget how to live in a pride. The "pride" is the name for a community of lions. Lions are by and large social creatures and do not do well as loners.

The Effects of Captivity
You and I were born (again) to be spiritual lions. That's who we are, but we have forgotten our true nature because of our captivity in the religious system. Captivity has conditioned us to believe things that are just not true. We have become something less than our true calling and destiny because of this conditioning. We have become domesticated.
We have become isolated pew warmers; a mutated race that sits and listens instead of participating and functioning. The clergy/laity system has made us passive and spiritually lazy. In other words, we have sold out our birthrights. Just like Esau we have sold out for the comfort of a bowl of lentil stew, that is, our warm and comfy pews. We no longer wanted to bother with functioning as members of the Body of Christ, so we sold out and instituted the clergy/laity system.

We Have Forgotten How to Hunt
This is definitely one of the most important aspects of a lion's life. Without the act of hunting, how will you eat?
How will the pride eat?
We have forgotten how to hunt for our own food. Part of our conditioning has been that everyday (or every Sunday!) someone opens our cage and throws us a piece of meat. This bypasses the whole hunting process.
Who is this person that throws in that piece of meat? Where did he get it? Apparently, he went and hunted for it himself. But that is not my prey! And I never had to hunt for it myself.
Hunting is much more than just killing an animal and then eating it. There is the encounter of the hunt itself: finding the right place and time; having the right equipment; getting very quiet; smelling the prey; stalking the prey; taking aim, etc. Sometimes you come up empty handed, but the actual engagement is the thrilling part.
As believers, our food is Jesus Christ Himself! Not just teaching and doctrine about Christ, but the very Person and experience of Christ. You need to hunt for this "food" yourself. Sharing someone else's food is alright at times. But there is nothing like you going out on your own "hunt" and capturing some new revelation or insight into your Lord. This is exciting. This is discovery. This is how you were born to live!
But then what? What do lions do after they have captured the prey?
They bring it home and share it with the pride.
As I said before, lions are very social creatures and they live in a pride. But in captivity there is no hunt and there is no pride. Lions are thrown their food everyday and they do not live as a pride. They are just individual lions living a mutant life of individualism.
A lion in captivity never has to hunt for his own food. He becomes lazy and complacent. He actually believes that this is normal. He believes that someone else is responsible.

We Have Forgotten How to Live in the Wild
"Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18).
There are two kinds of realms that exist. There is the unseen realm (or the eternals) and there is the seen realm (or the physicals). Both of these reams exist together at the same time.
One realm is spiritual and unseen. That is, it has no physical substance or what we would call matter. It has no size or dimension, and it exists without time or space. You could say that this spiritual realm is totally "other than" the seen, physical realm.
Of course, we know that the seen physical realm does have matter, energy, space, time, and dimension. Science tells us all about electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, and molecules. We seem to know a lot about the seen realm. But the scriptures tell us that this realm is only temporary.
It is the unseen realm which is eternal, and yet, we really don't know much about that realm at all. How do we live in that realm? How do we live in spirit?

The Creature of Two Realms
As lions, we are called to live in two realms at the same time. But we should live mostly in the unseen realm. This is the "wild" for us. And it is mostly unexplored. It really is the "wild." It is our natural habitat. And we can never be fulfilled with anything less. And yet, because we have forgotten who we are, we have become comfortable in captivity. We have become comfortable in the seen realm. We actually start believing that the physical realm is everything and then we start investing our lives into it.
Yet we have a Lord who is both Lion and Lamb. He is definitely gentle. But make no mistake about it, He is not tame! He is as wild as they come and the wild realm that is our home is inside of Him (Eph. 1:3).
But our natural habitat is not lived alone. This is a place of community. This is the place of the pride.

We Have Forgotten How to Live as a Pride
The "pride" is the social unit for the wild lion. They do not live alone. They interact in small groups know as prides.
Dear believer, a very important part of your natural habitat is the spiritual "pride." This has been lost to us as well. Lions in captivity don't live in prides. That is a special feature only found in the wild. When you discover that you are already free and begin living in the other realm, you will see the need of community life. This wild life is a shared life. Shared with your Lord and shared with His people.
But we are not used to sharing our lives with others. We have been isolated (held captive) for so long that we have forgotten that this is just the normal life for wild lions. In a true pride, you all share your food, share your joys, share your sorrows, and share everything in life with one another.
The big question is: how do we get to this place of freedom? How do we remember how to hunt? How do we remember how to live in the wild? How do we remember how to live in a pride?
Our great God has already provided a solution to this situation. And this solution was in force as early as the first century.

God's Solution: Walking with Lions
As I told you in the beginning of this article, there is a conservationist group in Zimbabwe that is successfully rehabilitating lions back into the wild. But how do they do it?
They take the young cubs for walks everyday in the wild. An experienced lion "handler" (not trainer) will take a cub on long walks everyday to introduce the young lion to life in the wild. Eventually, the lion's natural instincts will begin to kick in. They will begin to respond to their natural prey and eventually begin to stalk them. Then, one day, they will learn to hunt for themselves. The lion handlers will also introduce them to a pride in the wild so they can be socially integrated.
God does the same thing with His people. He re-introduces His "lions" back into the wild by the use of "handlers." These are men and women who are called, prepared, and sent by Him for this difficult task. They do not become caretakers of the believers, but their job is to be re-introducers. Then the believers re-discover their spiritual instincts and habitat that has been long forgotten in captivity.
We can see these people at work in the first century. They were sent out by God as itinerant apostolic workers (or church planters) to lay a foundation of Christ for the assemblies of believers. Their job was to work themselves out of a job. Peter, John, Paul, Barnabas, Titus, Silas, Timothy, and others did this work or re-introducing God's people to the wild. Then they would leave them on their own to live as wild lions! Every one of these workers had already experienced true "pride life" for themselves and knew about the hunt, the wild, and the pride by personal experience.
In the Zimbabwe program, the handlers have less and less contact with the lions. The goal is to completely release them to the wild, not to control them and keep them domesticated.
Christians are leaving the religious institutions in droves. They are seeking more reality, a deeper spirituality, and freedom. They are being set free from the captivity of the religious system and it is a beautiful thing to see. But that creates an altogether different problem.
Now that all of these believers are being set free from captivity, what will happen next? How will they now be re-introduced to the wild? How will they remember how to hunt? How will they be introduced to the "pride" life?
God's own rehabilitation program must be the answer. We need to pray that God will raise up many "handlers" who have been called, prepared, and sent to walk with the lions.
You are a lion and you have a divine right to be free in the wild with His pride!
If God has been speaking to you about these things and you would like help finding an organic church, click below:

Source: http://www.therebuilders.org/articles/lionssetfree.html

Escape from Christendom by Robert Burnell

Source: http://www.theinwardjourney.net/blog/2007/04/10/escape-from-christendom/

(Originally Published by Bethany House Publishers in 1980 )

The Journey

In my dream I see the lone figure of a man following a road. As the sun sets beneath the hills, a city comes into view. Nearing it, the traveler sees what appears to be a large group of churches. Spires and crosses pierce the skyline. His pace quickens. Is this his destination? He passes an imposing structure, a neon sign flashing “Cathedral of the Future.” Farther on a floodlit stadium supports a billboard boasting that a fifty thousand people crowd into evangelistic meetings there three nights a week. Beyond this, modest “New Testament” chapels and Hebrew Christian synagogues cluster together on the street front.

“Is this the City of God?” I heard the traveler ask a woman at the information booth in the central square.

“No this is Christian City, “she replies.

“But I thought this road led to the City of God!” He exclaims with great disappointment.

“That’s what we all thought when we arrived,” she answers, her tone sympathetic.

“This road continues up the mountain, doesn’t it?” He asks.

“I wouldn’t know, really,” she answers blankly.

I watch the man turn away from her and trudge on up the mountain in the gathering darkness. Reaching the top, he starts out into the blackness; it looks as though there is nothing, absolutely nothing, beyond. With a shudder he retraces his steps into Christian City and takes a room at a hotel.

Strangely unrefreshed, at dawn he arises and follows the road up the mountain again; in the brightening light of the sun he discovers that what seemed like a void the night before is actually a desert, dry, hot, rolling sand as far as the eye can see. The road narrows to a path which rises over a dune and disappears. “Can this trail lead to the City of God?” He wonders aloud. It appears to be quite deserted and rarely traveled.

Indecision slows his steps, he again returns to Christian City and has lunch in a Christian restaurant. Over the music of a gospel record, I hear him ask a man at the next table, “That path up the mountain, where the desert begins, does it lead to the City of God?”

“Don’t be a fool!” his neighbor replies quickly. “Everyone who has ever taken that path has been lost… swallowed up by the desert! If you want God, there are plenty of good churches in this town. You should pick one and settle down.”

After leaving the restaurant, looking weary and confused, the traveler finds a spot under a tree and sits down. An ancient man approaches and begins pleading with him in urgent tones, “If you stay here in Christian City, you’ll wither away. You must take the path. I belong to the desert you saw earlier. I was sent here to encourage you to press on. You’ll travel many miles. You’ll be hot and thirsty; but angels will walk with you, and there will be springs of water along the way. And at your journeys end you will reach the City of God! you have never seen such beauty! And when you arrive the gates will open for you, for you are expected.”

“What you say sounds wonderful,” the traveler replies. “But I’m afraid I’d never survive that desert. I’m probably better off here in Christian City.”

The ancient one smiles. “Christian City is the place for those who want religion but don’t want to lose their lives. The desert is the territory of those whose hearts are so thirsty for God that they are willing to be lost in Him. My friend, when Peter brought his boat to land, forsook all and followed Jesus, he was being swallowed by the desert. When Matthew left his tax collecting and Paul his Pharisaism, they too were leaving a city much like this to pursue Jesus out over the dunes and be lost in God. So don’t be afraid. Many have gone before you.”

Then I see the traveler look away from the old man’s burning eye to the bustle of Christian City. He sees busy people hurrying hither and yon with their Bibles and shiny attached cases, looking like men and women who know their destiny. But it is clear they lack something which the old man with eyes like a prophet possesses.

In my dream I imagine the traveler turning things over in his mind. “If I do go out there, how can I be sure that I will really be lost in God? In the Middle Ages Christians tried to lose themselves in God by putting the world behind them and entering a monastery. And how disappointed many of them were to find that the world was still there! And the people here in Christian City who are preparing to go to some jungle or a neglected slum, maybe they’re coming closer to what it means to be lost in God. But then, a person can travel to the ends of the earth and not lose himself.”

The traveler turns again to see the old person starting up the road for the narrow path down to the deserts edge. Suddenly, his decision mobilizes him and leaps to his feet, chasing after him. When he catches up, they exchange no words. The ancient man makes an abrupt turn to the right and guides him up still another slope which steepens as it rises toward a peak shrouded in a luminous cloud. The climb upward is very difficult. The traveler appears dizzy and begins to stagger. His guide pauses an offers him a drink from a flask hanging over his shoulder. Panting, he drinks it in great gulps. “No water ever tasted sweeter than this,” he says with great feeling.

“Thank you.”

Now look there.” The old man points beyond them to a vista not nearly as monotonous and desolate as it had seemed earlier. The desert below has taken on many colors and gradation. In the far distance blazing light is throbbing and moving on the surface of the horizon like a living thing. “There is the City of God! But before you reach it, you will have to pass through those four wildernesses you see. Directly below us is the Wilderness of Forgiveness.” The traveler notices small, dim figures making their way slowly in the direction of the city, separated from each other by many miles.

“How can they survive the loneliness?” Asks the traveler. “Wouldn’t they benefit from traveling together?”

“Well, they aren’t really alone. Each one of them is accompanied by the forgiveness of God. They are being swallowed by the desert of the Lord God’s vast mercy. The Holy Spirit is saying to them as they travel, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ They are made whole as they travel.”

Just beyond there is an expanse of blue. “Is it sea?” Inquires the traveler.

“It looks like water, but it’s a sea of sand. That’s the Wilderness of Worship. Here, look through these glasses and you will see that people are walking there, too. Notice how they begin to group themselves here. They are having their first taste of the joy of the City worship. They are discovering how they were made for the worship of God. It is becoming their life, the white-hot source of everything they do.”

“But don’t people also worship back in Christian City? What’s so special about that wilderness?”

“Worship, that is true worship, can begin only when a life has been utterly abandoned to the desert of God’s presence. Out there the heart begins to worship the Father in spirit and truth.”

Looking beyond the blue wilderness to where the desert rises in red and fiery mountains, the old man explains to the traveler that among those reddish mountains is the Wilderness of Prayer.

“Passing through that wilderness travelers find it necessary to turn away from every distraction and concentrate on prayer. They quickly learn that there is no possible way for them to survive but by crying out to God continuously. By the time they reach the outer extremes of that wilderness, prayer is their consuming passion and their supreme joy. It appears at first that the City of God is just beyond the Wilderness of Prayer. But there is one more wilderness hidden by those mountains, which you will pass through before you reach your destination. It is simply called the Harvest. You’ll know it when you reach it. And beyond the Harvest is the City itself. Your name is known there. Your arrival is awaited with eagerness. Come, let’s begin our journey.”

“Nightfall doesn’t seem to be a particularly propitious time to begin a journey like this,” he says.

“Don’t go back to Christian City,” the old man exhorts, gazing at him earnestly.”

“Not even at this hour? That way I could get a good night’s sleep and start first thing in the morning,” the traveler adds hopefully.

“But your rest is out there,” he urges. “Walk on now, into the desert. The Holy Spirit will help you. Don’t be afraid to be lost in God. You’ll find your life nowhere else.”

Read the rest of the dream here: http://www.theinwardjourney.net/blog/2007/04/10/escape-from-christendom/

The Christian Story

For God', who spoke that light would shine out of the darkness, has dawned in our hearts that we would be enlightened with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Yeshua - The Messiah. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, on them has the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

“Come,” Jesus said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:29 - 31)

When we encounter Jesus and are born again, our eyes are opened to the Light of His Glory (in the Face of Christ). We are still living in and surrounded by the Darkness of this World though. Our Christian story, i.e. our Christian experience, is the story of our journey out of Darkness into Light (Acts 26:18).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imagine yourself sitting in darkness. In the distance you see a small circle of light. As you focus on this light the experience with the Light begins to intensify. You start becoming aware only of the Light – as this intensifies it is as though you start to become one with the Light. The Light appears to be coming closer and closer to you - You start to feel how that light begins to enlighten parts on the inside of you. As the Light enters you, it is as though you are rising up out of Darkness into Light - you begin to feel its warmth and healing power at work within you.

Suddenly, something outside distracts your attention away from the Light. A loud scream from the darkness draws your attention. As you turn your focus away from the Light into the Darkness you feel how the comfort of the Light begins to diminish, how once again the fear of Darkness begins to rise in and around you. It is as though you begin to sink back into the mire of Darkness. It threatens to overwhelm you.

You cry out, your eyes searching out the Light once again. Suddenly you see it – you grasp towards it and begin to shut out the Distraction of Darkness once again - then once again the warmth of the Light comforts. It is as though the hand of Grace has reached out to you, caught hold of you as you started to fall and now supports you as you begin to walk in the Light.

This story belongs to those who train and discipline themselves to focus on the Light. These are those who by their Faith in Christ, arise out of Darkness and have learnt to overcome it. These are those who become one with the Light (John 17:22) – they are still surrounded by the Darkness of the World but have no part in it – even as Christ has none (John 17:16). They let their Light shine before men (Matthew 5:16) and glorify the Father of Lights (James 1:17) in this way - the world is not worthy of them! (Hebrews 11:38)

That is why Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Amen!

Testimony: David Yonggi Cho encounters an Agathodemon

As a young preacher, Cho (Dr. David Yonggi Cho) had gone into a small Korean community to pioneer a church. Soon he discovered, as is common throughout much of Korea, a temple dedicated to the city's "guardian god" atop the highest local mountain. When the priests of the shrine learned that he was planning to start a missions outreach, they came to him infuriated, demanding that he leave the village. When he refused, they vowed to return and to put him, and any converts he won in the meantime, to death.

A few days later the priests were back, this time with a mob. The head priest, making sure the crowd was watching, called out, "Cho! Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that he can still work miracles?"

Cho replied, "Yes, I do."

"Then we have a challenge," the priest yelled. "Down in the village is a woman that has been bedridden for seven years. She and her child are dying now of disease. If Jesus can heal this woman in the next thirty days, we will go away and you can have your church. But if she is not healed, you must abandon your work or we will return and kill you and your followers."

Cho explained how in the United States most American's would never respond to such a dare, but that, in those days and in that culture, for him to have failed to do so would have been (in his opinion) to imply that his God was inferior to the temple deity, and would have closed the community's willingness to consider the Gospel message.

As a result, Cho accepted the contest and the following day traveled with his mother-in-law to the village where he found the dying woman. He suggested to the infirmed lady that if she would pray the sinners prayer and accept Jesus as her Savior, the Lord might choose to heal her. Instead, he found the woman to be very angry with any god (including Cho's God) who would have allowed her to suffer in the way that she had. After several unsuccessful visits to convince her otherwise, Cho decided that prayer alone would be his best alternative for her and her child.

Over the next few weeks he prayed earnestly for a miracle. He made regular visits to the village and sent messengers to report back any change. To his disappointment, the woman's condition only seemed to be worsening.

As the weeks passed and the deadline loomed, Cho grew very concerned. Finally, on the evening of the thirtieth day, he entered his prayer room and reminded God that, unless a miracle occurred, people from the temple of the guardian deity would arrive within hours to kill him and his followers. Cho said he prayed throughout that night and into the next morning "with the most passion ever."

Then, at 2:00 A.M., he experienced a powerful vision.

He thought he saw a shadow by the front door, and a strange sound spread along the wall.

Fixing his gaze on the opening, he felt primal fear roll over him, black and mindless.

His intuition screamed. Something dreadful was coming his way.

Another thump, and the front door to his home began slowly opening.

Gooseflesh crawled over his arms as "eerie oriental music" swept in through the entrance, barely discernable at first, then growing in intensity.

Against his better judgment, he turned his body toward the door.

He held his breath, looked harder, squinted.

The shadow slowed, became defined, an enormous silhouette of something alive creeping stealthily toward him.

Remaining very still, a moment past, then it emerged from the darkness, huge, snakelike, an Agathodemon from ancient times bearing the body of a serpent and the head of a man. Swaying to the melodious rhythm, the horrendous archfiend appeared wicked and menacing as it slank along the opening into the room where he was. It made eye contact with him and in heavy modulation that sounded as if each gurgling syllable started somewhere deep underground and passed through boiling magma on its way to his mouth, said, "Cho, if you don't leave this town, you are a dead man. I have been ruling this area all of these years, and who are you to come here and disturb my nest!?"

With that, the being lunged across the room lightning fast, landing on top of Cho, wrapping its body around him like prey, contracting its muscles to quickly constrict the air from his lungs. A baleful laughter, malignant and terrible, tittered from the monster's lips as from pebbled sockets its zenithal eyes glared mockingly down at him.

Grotesque and enraged, the thing opened its mouth wider, exposing a hideously forked tongue inside a nightmarish cavity lined with jagged molars and angled razor fangs. A phlegmy gurgle more dragon-like than reptilian disgorged a sulfurous stench that distilled through the room filling the air all around them.

A chill radiated through Cho as seconds passed and the undulating fiend's hide, crusty and wart covered, tightened around him like a garrote. He could feel his ribs bending toward the breaking point as the sheer force of the brutal creature's strength sent his own tongue curling to the roof of his mouth in pain. His body began reacting to the lack of blood flow, his hands and his feet started going numb, and his thoughts raced, Jesus! I'm dying.

But at that, something caught his attention. The creatures eyes had seemed to dart wildly about the very moment the name of Jesus passed through his mind. He thought it again, Jesus, and this time he was sure. The serpent had cringed and its grip had weakened at the very moment he had imagined that name!

With all the strength he could muster, Cho gasped for a breath of air and opened his mouth in a whisper, "Jesus."

The effect was immediate and dramatic. The sound of the name of Jesus discharged from his lips as tangibly as if a two-edged sword had been thrown into the heart of the being.

He spoke the name again, louder this time, and the demon jerked back, it's expression filling with terror, its grip unwinding from his waist.

Slipping from the coil, Cho quickly jumped to his feet and shouted, "JESUS... JESUS... JESUS!"

Now the creature reeled, first one way then the other, flailing about as if punch-drunk, wailing an otherworldly moan, then abruptly it fell to the floor. Before it could gather its strength and raise up to attack him again, Cho lifted his leg and crushed the human-like head beneath his foot. Studying it to make sure it wasn't moving, he picked the front part of the carcass up and dragged it toward the entry to toss it outside. As he moved toward the opening and pushed the seasoned door fully out of the way, he noticed what appeared to be a large crowd of villagers gathering in front of his home. Cautiously, he surveyed his surroundings, then lifted the Agathodemon's face above him and exclaimed, "This is the god that you have been serving all of these years, but now you must turn and serve the true and living God!"

Thereupon, Cho awoke to find the serpent-man visitation had been a compelling vision or dream. It was 4:00 A.M., time for early morning prayer at his tent church. With the memory of the threats made against him 30 days earlier still fresh in his mind, he rushed out the door and up the path to meet his tiny congregation. He knew the priests from the guardian temple would not be long in coming, and no sooner had he arrived when a Korean layman started shouting, "Pastor! Come quickly!" Glancing out the tent door, he saw over the hill in the rising dawn what appeared to be the entire city marching up the valley walls.

Cho's palms were sweating and his heart was racing as he stepped outside and watched the throng approach. Jesus, he thought, what should we do? Run? Hide? Then he noticed something curious. The people looked happy, as if they were rejoicing about something. A moment of silence past as he considered them, and he thought, It couldn't be! But, it was. Leading the crowd, with her baby in her arms, was the dying woman from the village. She ran up to him and said, "Oh Brother Cho, thank you so much for coming and praying for me last night. The Lord heard your prayer and I am healed!" Cho stared at her in amazement. "I did not come to your house and pray for you last night," he answered. "Oh yes," the woman insisted, "You came at two o'clock this morning and stood outside my window. You said loudly, 'Woman! Be healed in the name of Jesus Christ!' And I arose and found that I was healed, and my baby is healed!"

With that, Cho remembered that it had been at 2:00 A.M. when he had seen the vision and the Agathodemon had been destroyed.

With very few exceptions, the entire community converted to Christianity within 48 hours. Now matter what one thinks of Cho, today he pastors the largest evangelical church in the world with nearly a million members. It all started in a city delivered from demonic siege.

Source: book by Thomas and Nita Horn: FORBIDDEN GATES: How Genetics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Synthetic Biology, Nanotechnology, And Human Enhancement Herald The Dawn Of Techno-Dimensional Spiritual Warfare.