And I was taken to city that was far away.

And behold large buildings as bright as the sun.

Large chariots of smoke flashed to and fro all around me.

The chariots had images of their gods held to them.

The messenger brought me to a temple of all temples.

Men from every nation, tribe, and tongue gathered at the temple- more than the eye could count.

Men, women, and their offspring wore garments of the gods.

They brought forth their earthly treasures and sacrificed them to their gods so they may enter into worship.
They ate food sacrificed to their gods: swine, corn, and the fruit of the vine.

Loud music that sounded like the sound of many oceans overpowered the worshippers as they sang and danced to their gods.

I looked and before me was a field within the temple.

It was lined all around with temple prostitutes exposing their flesh for the benefit of their gods and to lead the worshippers in abominable worship.

As the music played louder, the priests of the gods came out from their tents in armor fit for a king in battle.

The worshippers yelled and screamed for their priests to intermediate for them to the gods.

Then behold the flesh of a pig was brought before the priests and the worshippers exclaimed in their perceived glory of the god.

The people of the temple whored after this god made of the flesh of pigs and would readily give their life for it.

The priests carried the god back and forth across the temple, fighting over who would hold this god in their hands.

From time to time the priests would bring their god into its ‘holy of holies’ and as they did, the worshippers fell to their feet and raised their hands and their voices in worship to this false god made from the flesh of pigs.

I was immediately caught up in the Spirit and found myself in a tent.

In front of me was an ark made of wood and precious crystals and stones.

And on the ark was the image of a man, moving and speaking……………………………..

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Dog05Hcog

The Bible says absolutely nothing about/ gives no indication that the supernatural manifestations of God would stop after the completion of the Bible. In fact the Bible is very clear that God is sovereign and can do what He wants, how He wants, when He wants, with whomever He wants. It also says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever- not that He would one day decide not to use supernatural gifts.

Before I continue though, I want to make it clear that I can agree to disagree with Christian brothers and sisters on issues of Spiritual Gifts, Speaking in Tongues, Miracles, Healings etc….That the presence of said gifts is not essential, a marker of spiritual maturity, or an indication of a closer walk with God.

The verse that most people who don’t believe in the fullness of the Scriptural Spiritual gifts today usually use to discredit them is 1 Corinthians 18:8-10.

That verse says’” when perfection comes” that prophecies will cease and that the spiritual gift of tongues will cease. It then says that knowledge will pass away, but goes on to say that we know in part and prophesy in part and when the perfection comes that we will have those things wholly. For Spiritual Gift detractors, this “perfection” is usually referred to as the whole Bible- with the New Testament. But usually in Scripture perfection is referred to as the state that God intended the world to be and intends to restore it to. The New Testament is perfect, but if you use that argument that means that we know longer have need for knowledge because we know everything- which we clearly don’t.

So are those gifts in action today? The Bible says nothing to the contrary.

As for ‘miracles’; the word means an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.

The ability of God to save a totally depraved sinner and to impute to him Christ’s righteousness, indwell him with Holy Spirit, and give him a regenerated heart- that’s the greatest miracle of all! And it’s one that’s happening today. The ability to sustain the creation of the universe and keep everything in perfect balance for the substation of human life on planet earth- that’s a miracle! As for other miracles? If God can do those awesome things; he can do anything!

I believe with all my heart that God still heals people today .The Bible says that every good and perfect gift is from above. If I am sick; and then I get better- God made me better. He healed me. Whether a doctor helped, medicine helped, time helped, or rest helped- God was the one who healed me.

James 5:14-15 is clear that we are to pray for healing when it says,” Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.” And Jesus constantly taught that we could come before God, asking Him anything and He would answer those prayers.

Tongues? Oh man! This is probably the most contested issue in Scripture and I don’t claim to have it all figured out.

It appears that there are two kinds of tongues mentioned in Scripture: tongues of men and tongues of angels.

I believe that ‘tongues of men’ are when someone speaks a human language unknown to them in a location where someone else understands that language and is used for the purpose of bringing that person to faith in Christ (Acts 2).

I believe that ‘tongues of angels’ are when someone prays and possibly speaks in a language unknown to man for the sake of interpretation. (Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 14).

Do those things happen today? There is no Scripture that says that can’t or don’t.

Paul himself said he wished that all people spoke in tongues and to forbid not speaking in tongues. There is no reason to apply this Scripture to only a specific time period, but not the rest of Scripture as well.

If tongues are practiced, the Bible lays strict guidelines on how they are to be used in a church gathering (1 Corinthians 14).

All that being said; I want to clarify that I do not consider myself to be Pentecostal. My Pentecostal brothers and sisters typically believe that Speaking in Tongues is the initial evidence of being baptized in (or filled with) the Holy Spirit.  

I believe that the first incident of Believers speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost was a descriptive portion of Scripture, not prescriptive: Meaning that you can be baptized in (or filled with) the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues. It doesn’t mean that you won’t or can’t speak in tongues when you are baptized in (or filled with) the Holy Spirit; simply that it is not the indicator of said activities of the Holy Spirit.

I believe that one is baptized in the Spirit upon salvation, and that the Holy Spirit dwells within you from that moment forth. I do, however, believe that there are times when the Holy Spirit fills you up beyond what is normal to you; sometimes until you are overflowing. This will always be done by the will of God and for His glory only. The gifts that manifest themselves during these times exist to bring God glory, to point people to Jesus, and to strengthen and encourage the Believer. They are not for the physical or emotional pleasure of the Believer.

I believe that these two things (being baptized in the Spirit, and being filled with the Holy Spirit) are two separate events, but can take place simultaneously.

Sadly, many Christians grossly misuse the Spiritual Gifts for their own pleasure and glory, and turn them into a circus. I am sure that grieves the Holy Spirit.

So, in conclusion, I do believe that all of the Spiritual Gifts mentioned in the Bible are available to the Church today for God’s glory, but are to be used only under the strict regulations set by Scripture and the supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit. Specific Spiritual Gifts do not indicate whether or not someone is saved, whether or not someone has been baptized in the Spirit, whether or not someone has been filled with the Spirit, whether or not someone is spiritually mature, or whether or not someone is closer to God than others. 

 Observation Facts

 Even though there’s plenty to see all around us-

Things that bring fear, despair, and confusion,

There is something happening that we can see,

But not with our eyes:

Something that shows us events happening behind the scenes.

 Even though there’s plenty to hear in this world-

Things that invoke hatred, selfishness, and discrimination,

There are things going on around us that we can hear,

But not with our ears:

Things that tell us a shift is taking place.

 Even though there’s plenty to smell during these times-

Scents of smoke, chemicals, and gun powder,

There is an aroma rising that we can smell,

But not with our noses:

An aroma of things to come.

 Even though there’s plenty to taste in this world-

Tastes of dirty water, dry rice, and dust,

There is something that we can taste,

But not with our tongues:

A taste of expectation and mystery.

 Even though there is much to touch and feel around us-

Skin, metal, earth, plastic, and pain,

There is something that we can touch,

But not with our fingers:

Something that feels so real, yet so unfamiliar.

 War, hurricanes, terrorism, tsunamis, genocide, earthquakes, intolerance, global climate changes, poverty, famine, crime, disease, pollution, extinction, Big Brother, volcanic eruptions, moral confusion-

These are all things that we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.

They are all very real, very now, very felt- to our core.

 These things are happening alright!

But they are only signs,

Only consequences,

Only pains of what’s to come…

 Her-

 I look at her.

She is beautiful.

Every curve of her body peaks with promise!

The way she was taken advantage of-

It was disgusting, it was cruel, and it was- unthinkable.

 So ironic, that the very thing that defiled her-

Now brings her so much hope, so much expectation.

This expectation has grown so much within her that-

That now her abdomen is stretched to its limit.

This hope is so large now- What a lovely Child she will bare!

 Her breasts are swollen with nourishment for her unborn Child.

Every once in a while, I can see her begin to lactate-

Just a small glimpse of what’s to come.

She’s not as active as she used to be for the Child comes soon.

But she still maintains the beauty of her youth- After all that she’s gone through.

 Her labor pains began so soon.

But there are parts of her body, and the child’s, which are not yet ready.

The contractions have always been heavy, always been strong.

But never this strong- never like this.

She is fully dilated now, but her child waits…waits.

 She is in a hospital, filled with doctors.

But each one has misdiagnosed her.

They try to cure her of something that is inevitable.

Not one of them knows that she carries a Child.

There are far too many doctors, but not enough midwives in this hospital.

 Her pain causes her to groan.

So agonizingly, that every part of her longs for relief.

So loud now, that all can hear her.

From the top of her head to the soles of her feet-

She feels, she sees, she knows the pain.

 All that she’s been through-

From her beginning to now:

She is still good in His sight.

She is still beautiful.

She will soon be clothed, once again, in white.

 Waiting

So last night i had an extraordinarily vivid dream.

In the dream I opened up my laptop and went to the Fox News Website. At the same time I was watching tv. On tv was, again, the Fox New Channel. On tv they were reporting some kind of devastating fires in the Los Angeles area.

While I was watching that story on the news, the Fox News Website’s Home Page changed with a breaking news story. The entire Home Page was covered with a picture that looked exactly as the one does that I created for this post.

The television news changed to this story immediately after seeing the image on my computer. And although I didn’t read the story on the internet and I couldn’t hear the story on the television in my dream; I knoew what had happened for some strange reason.

There had been two devastating earthquales in the Los Angeles area. One was somewhere between Downtown Los Angeles and Long Beach. It registered as a 6.1 on the Rictor Scale. The other one was somewhere in the South-Central portion of Orange County South of Irvine and Lake Forest. It registered as a massive 8.1 on the Rictor Scale.

It was unclear if one of the quakes was an aftershock to the other, but it was believed that they were two seperate quakes that happened nearly simultaneiusly. All I know is that they were completely devastating and there was no news feeds coming out the area at the time I was watching. I had this very forboding feeling in the dream that there was a possibillity of part of Southern California breaking off into the Pacific Ocean.

Last week I had a dream that we were near Disneyland, but couldn’t continue our trip there because of massive riots and an enormous fire accompanied by explosions happening near the anaheim area.

I am in no way saying that I am a prophet or that the Lord gave me this dream. Sometimes dreams do have a tendancy to be a warning about a future event though- the story of Joseph anyone? I am just saying that it was a very weird and vivid dream that seemed as if it was something that was going to happen and I woke up fearful both times. I just decided to post it here on my blog in case something really did happen. That way there would be record and proof of it.

But I certainly hope none of these things happen. I guess all I can do is pray- and maybe that’s why I had the dream.