Tag: end times

Uniting the Churches

On By Ashley GatewoodIn The Organic ChurchLeave a comment

The Mission

I’m on a journey, carrying a message within me. There are many others running as well carrying the same message. And though we remain obscure the winds of change are blowing. This message entails a change of mindset from the manmade construct of the church/noun/place and all it’s denominational separatism back to God’s original idea, the Manifold Wisdom, the Body of Christ for which Christ died on the Cross to establish in the earth. The New Creation. We mistakenly refer to it as ‘the church’ but church isn’t even a biblical word, it’s a mistranslation. This message is difficult to relay, it’s going to take some time, but God will not relent.

The question becomes, how do we deliver this message most effectively? Then, how do the leaders of the Body of Christ (representing all the churches at large) wrestle with it and guide the churches together into unity? What mindsets to keep, what ideas to let go of, what sacrifices to make?

The Approach

Just because a large scale societal system, namely the church construct, has worked well enough for two-thousand years and established itself throughout history doesn’t mean it is the best idea.

We need look no further than 1 Samuel 8:10-22 to see that people implemented the exact opposite of what God desired concerning their future and lived with the consequences for far more than two thousand years. And I lay before tens of thousands of denominations today, originating with the Orthodox Catholic church, that yet again, we got it wrong:

“But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us.”

How do the churches approach the possibility that they might have gotten it wrong after all?

Below is a video Gavin Ortlund uploaded. It’s not about church unity per se, but the principles of engagement he speaks of are paramount to addressing God’s message to the churches today. I wanted to site it as a reference.

Bart Ehrman Agrees With Wes Huff on the Isaiah Scroll?

Remaining Sensitive to the Holy Spirit in Order to Engage

I like that Ortlund is open to wrestling with difficult matters which would otherwise be considered outside of church-as-usual norms:

“First, a religious commitment is not necessarily opposed to a sincere interest in truth.”

Yes, I appreciate this.

“Again the appeal is not that there’s nothing to criticize about Christian apologetics, there often is. The appeal is that all claims whether they’re apologetical, counter-apologetical – use any other label you want – all should be treated on a case by case basis and charitably received and evaluated on the basis of arguments rather than moved to the side because of a perceived agenda or motivation.” 

Again, yes.

One Must Empty Themselves of Ego Before Engaging Something New

Ego runs rampant when we’d rather fight for our denominational doctrines as opposed to actually accepting and wrestling with a truth that God is placing before us. I believe this is because we find our identity in our denominations, rituals and traditions. Perhaps we even view the world first through the lens of our denomination and church institutions before Christ. To do away with these manmade constructs is to somehow throw away our identities. This is human nature but a transcending of this mindset is desperately needed. We tend to hide behind rigid doctrines and easy tradition and shy away from the difficulty of changing our mindsets to undergo true transformation.

Converting is easy. Transforming is not. God wants transformation from the inner parts, not an intellectual conversion of thought only. The mindset along with the entire physicality of the person must shift into alignment with Christ, hence, we are New Creations in Christ. This means shedding all superfluous manmade doctrines for the sake of unity. Everything requires a sacrifice.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5.17

I’m Not the Leader; I Don’t Have The Final Answer

Now whether Ortlund or other Christian leaders will take seriously the message I and others are carrying remains to be seen. It would make it easier to relay. Let me be clear, I’m not the leader of a movement. I’m one of many messengers. I’m not the spearhead or the one with the answers.

No one person will have the answer. A thoughtful word of caution we’d do well to consider in this endeavor:

You want to be very careful about doing large scale experimentation with large scale systems because the probability that, if you implement a scheme in a large scale social system, that that scheme will have the result you intended, is negligible. What will happen will be something you don’t intend, and even worse, something that works at counter-purposes to your original intent.

Dr. Jordan Peterson

The Body will answer God’s call for unity. I know far less church history than theologians like Ortlund. He and his peers and all other leaders must wrestle with God’s word to the churches at large to come to an understanding of what God wants. Again, this message may be obscure today but let me reiterate – the winds of change are blowing and the Lord will speak to His people.

I’m not the one who decides the direction of the Body of Christ, I’m only bringing the message. Ultimately, this is for the leaders of the Body of Christ to wrestle with, to carefully think through. That being said, the message is for all the Body, all the denominational churches, all the people who know Christ as their Savior regardless of church affiliation or current situation. That’s why I think it is admirable and important what Ortlund is saying he believes, that is, to be open to all points of view in an open and honest dialog.

It Will Be A Collective Effort

The church will do well to nurture our ability to understand the importance of remaining open and discussing difficult, deeply uncomfortable ideas (change is difficult and risky):

“Revolutions come at a cost. Sometimes they’re necessary. How do you decide when? That’s what free speech is for. That’s how you negotiate that. Should we stick with what we’re doing or should we do something new? If you can do what everyone else has always done, do that. If that isn’t working, okay, well, maybe it’s time for a new idea. Carefully. And let’s think it through. But it has to be dialog. This is why the right to free speech, that’s not some right that you have. It’s the process by which the negotiation of the future takes place. So when it goes, everything goes.” 

Dr. Jordan Peterson

This is what the Church, the Body of Christ must undergo to reconcile our understanding with God’s Manifold Wisdom: digging down into the mistranslation of the word church and how we’ve skewed our understanding of ekklesia rendering it an arbitrary and misleading term; dropping the necessity that all denominational doctrines and creeds be accepted before the churches come into unity (which is letting go of puffed up superiority); and doing away with the supremacy mindset that our (insert denominational name here) church is the only, one true church.

Church/noun/place means nothing. The living, organic Body of Christ means everything.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.“

It sounds impossible, but with Christ all things are possible. I’m sure there are separatist denominations, churches, and individuals who have been taught that they should be afraid of those ‘other denominations’ – and that’s human nature, isn’t it? But God’s ways are higher than our ways and we need to address and bridge this fear.

It’s going to be far more difficult for those who are separatists and fearful of others. And isn’t this idea of unity layers deep? If we don’t get this right how will we know where the line should be drawn? “You are in this world but not of it. Come out and be separate.” Should we integrate with all religions in the name of harmony and tolerance? It’s a dangerous game that is no game at all. I pray we get this right.

The Time Has Come

Those who come into unity, dropping all superfluous manmade doctrines will make themselves available to God for service in this next wave that’s coming. (Do we not see how Satan is unifying our enemies against us? How are we to stand in that hour if we are divided?) Those who don’t unify in Christ alone but instead remain obstinate in their doctrines and only true church syndromes simply won’t be available in a broader capacity. I don’t think this means they won’t retain their salvation, it’s simply a matter of unity and being open and available to God. It’s possible we will see a march larger split (denomination) before it’s over, one that divides the churches between those that choose Religion over Christlike transformation. Indeed, the Body of Christ is within and throughout all the church denominations. His sheep will know His voice and He will separate them out.

Can two walk together, except they agree?

I’m excited for the Body of Christ and the moving of the Spirit over His people. There is coming a darker hour with Superintelligence, Transhumanism and technology that promises eternal life, all gathering together in unity and broadcasting over Social Media which reaches into all the world. These factors along with the more atheistic mindset that is open to progress but closed entirely to God will bring a great blindness to the lost looking for answers.

Religious Interfaith Tolerance

Not to mention, have you noticed, the devil is also working to unify the religions of the world? This includes Christianity, and God cannot be joined with demons. We can’t even discern the difference between Religion and God. We are still drinking milk, thinking God is religion. The confusion is coming brothers and sisters, I’m pleading with the churches, we must face this refining process now. The consequences of avoiding it are too great.

One of the most confusing issues we will face is religious tolerance – tolerance for what, which values take precedence, who’s religion will win out, who’s religion will be shamed if not exuding tolerance? Children of God, all these questions are false and do not pertain to God’s flock. Religion is the Red Herring. What is playing out in our secular culture if indeed seeping throughout our religious institutions because anything manmade suffers the consequences of secular ideology. And God is calling out to His people – do not place your trust in the secular institutions of this world, they are going to crumble beneath your feet. Everything that is temporal is already passing away. The Kingdom of God is eternal.

Listen carefully:

“The Parliament of the World’s Religions seeks to promote interreligious harmony, rather than unity; this understanding is key to our framework:”

Interreligious harmony is an attainable and highly desirable goal. Such an approach respects and is enriched by the particularities of each tradition. Moreover, within each tradition are the resources (philosophical, theological, and spiritual teachings and perspectives) that enable each to enter into respectful, appreciative, and cooperative relationships with persons and communities of other traditions. This is especially important as we work together to address the critical issues of our time.

Parliament of the World’s Religions

What does God think of that statement? Is the Holy Spirit in it? Does it serve the purposes of the Kingdom of God? We must answer these questions Saints – and the sooner the better.

The Antichrist boasts of bringing to human beings the peace and tolerance that Christianity promised but has failed to deliver.

René Girard, I saw Satan Fall Like Lightning

The Churches Lack Discernment

If we cannot discern the difference between Religion and God then we are in danger of falling for anything. And the secular world with all its mimicking of biblical language – grandiose in its religious formality but lacking the power of God – is only going to confuse the matter more.

Unity, now more than ever, is required for God’s purposes in this coming future. Take heart! The Light is only going to get brighter my friends.

Long live the Savior of the world and His Hagios.

Discerning the Spirit of Transhumanism

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter Morsels, Technology & Humans, The End TimesLeave a comment

Just a quick but heartfelt post to those of us who are seeing increasingly more clearly into the closing of an era and the darkness that’s looming on the horizon. We must rightly discern the spirit of Transhumanism.

As we close this dispensation, expect to see more mixing of the spiritual and religious language of the biblical text into worldly principalities and demonic agendas. Discernment is crucial as many will fall prey to this principality working its way through God’s creation.

The Great Lie will Deceive Many

AI will be be the melding point of transhumanism. It’s already set in motion, the lines bluring between male and female biologically. How can it not be just as easy to blur the lines between artificial human and biological human? Even now, are we not calling ourselves ‘genderless’ and using mere language to define what is reality? This is the foundation of a much greater, more powerful Lie to come.

See how the world so easily accepts this and how biblical truths accurately discern this lie. The Word of God is of supreme importance. Satan is working to dilute the Word’s potency by integrating all manner of other language into it immediately rendering it a false copy of the truth. Artificial language. Artificial existence.

It deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast…

Revelation 13.14

Listen to the words: predestined, (don’t need to be) humble, walls of Jericho, heavenly…

Discernment between the language, the expression of the language (through darkness or by shining light) and the visual is of utmost importance. 

Ask God for discernment. Listen to those who have been given the gift of discernment. Weigh their insight against the word of God, like the Bereans. Don’t be misled by a world who worships their own, Jesus made this clear to us. If they hated Him, they will hate us. If they loved Him, they will love us.

We must learn to let go of acceptance. The Apostle Paul was left be everyone. All but Timothy and a handful of others remained true. The Good News is, Jesus has overcome the world so let us take heart. We have already won the war, we only need endure to the end. Remain faithful and persevere saints. The only way to do this is to pray and stay in His word.

All God’s best to you~

Featured Image by Erick Butler

Eric Weinstein on the End of Capitalism

On By Ashley GatewoodIn The End TimesLeave a comment

So I’m going back again to this prophecy I wrote down and published in June of 2020: The Prophecy

It alludes to God bringing an end to Capitalism among many other events that have already come to pass. I lack confidence in myself even though I have faith in God and His word. It’s difficult to put myself out there in any capacity. Following God isn’t always easy.

Here’s a portion from the prophecy. Dagon represents Capitalism.

And the Lord says,

“Ready yourselves, for I will break Dagon. The Philistines will be punished for taking what they thought was a dead god into their camp, thereby leading My people into captivity and thus defeating them. Along with Dagon, Eli also will fall and break his neck for all the evil he has done in My name when I had nothing to do with it. Depart from me for I have not known you – for Eli will be broken and the Ark returned to My people.

Even The World Is Sensing The Change

Now in 2023 here is a prominent intellectual, Eric Weinsein stating that now is the time we stop trying to wrestle with Capitalism and Communism and instead develop an entirely new economic system.

I’m telling you dear people, those of you who believe in God, cling to Him alone! Let the world do as it must – we will be grieved at the evil taking place but God will be the pillar to keep us steady and strong. Not Intellectualism, not Economics, not one political party or another….God alone. He will keep dismay at bay.

Weinstein asks, What is the next Economic System?

God Is Bringing A New Wave Of The Spirit

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 NIV

There is another move of God that is upon us right now. I’ll post about this next. The current Protestant ministers will reject this new wave of God’s Spirit – it always happens this way, the old always rejects the new. Jesus is the greatest example of this kind of paradigm shift.

The main core of this movement, believe it or not, is not being birthed out of the Church as we know it.

It’s being birthed out of intellectual atheism where many intellectuals are following their curiosity about God and in seeking truth, it’s brought them out of the dark and into God’s presence. I’ll share more in the next post.

God cannot and will not be put into a box made by mankind. Get ready, as Eric says here, in a secular sense, God is saying in a spiritual sense: Everything you know is about to break loose because I’m doing something altogether new!

Featured Image by: Max Böhme

Critical Mass

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Bread & Butter MorselsLeave a comment

Hence comes a point where nothing more can be managed or added to a situation, no unexpected surprise or additional responsibility because all that was going to crescendo has done so already. Now there is only the Falling Action, the decrescendo where each rung of the ladder is managed carefully and with increasing relief until solid ground is underfoot. That is, until the next Crescendo begins.

The worst, at least for this show, is over.

I’ve learned a few things, things I wish weren’t so, but they are. And I must deal with them.

So, I took a nice Sensory Tech Deprivation moment and began unraveling the gnarly knots. This will take a few posts.

The Covid knot.

The Loss knot. (Will write about later.)

The Shattered Routine or Chaos knot. (Later…)

The What in Hades is on Fire in Here knot.

The Piping Propagandists

All throughout 2021-22, the malevolent players were stitching their Scarlet Letters onto my person one propaganda spew after another. It was increasingly clear, my government was no longer a shelter for me. By consequence of going unvaxxed – and in no way was I going to be – I had become the stigmatized Inferior, stripped day by day of privileges which otherwise were my right as an American citizen. I not only read about the daily erosion of my rights, or witnessed it happening to others, or thought about it…no, I was experiencing it real time. No vax card? No entry. What I believed to be true about reality was crumbling and this new narrative world was closing in on me.

This did something to me, you see, the narrative always starts in the mind then it’s enacted. Take control of the narrative and you control the speed and direction of a thing. I’d liken my mental state during this time to the Precognitives in Minority Report who saw the crimes before they were committed. I sensed this to an alarming, jarring degree – call the after effects of it ptsd or something of the like, but it was unsettling, disquieting, and felt as if reality itself was crumbling beneath my feet. Everything I had ever known to be true and stable was absolutely upended and being destroyed within the context of the Covid and Woke narratives.

What made it worse was the censoring of all other voices like my own. So the isolation tactics were accurately wielded. Another blow to the constitution of reality and truth. Everything that is good is exactly opposite of what you believe to be truth! And alas it is YOU who are the Inferior menace to society, now go be vaccinated!

Just recently has all this come out and still these sinister forces fight, denying, obstructing and pushing a non-reality as if it were truth. Where were the critical thinkers? The truth-seekers?

Oh, right…censored. I wish I could better explain it, but I felt the greater, darker power of what was happening behind the facade. I’ve heard it put like this: it is a war against the Logos. This is perfect. It is the invisible war, the spirit of anti-Christ manifesting in the earth. The image behind the image. And its manifestation, concerning Covid, nearly prevailed. Though in other areas, it’s still devouring truth.

(I must confess: in God there is peace. I have to take responsibility for dropping my end of the relationship equation: Prayer. It’s the equivalent of not communicating with your partner and it’s not sustainable in any relationship. This communication, or time in prayer with God would have kept me grounded and unshakable. I missed the mark here.)

I have an uncanny ability to extrapolate seemingly innocuous behaviors and/or details into a complex future outcome. Sometimes I’m wrong, but when I’m not….

This is a pandemic of the Unvaccinated.

President of the United States of America, Joe Biden

For You, The Scarlet Letter! Filthy Unvaccinated Leper

Second rate citizen. That’s what I was, or so the narrative ran. From late 2020 until just the last few months until all the decaying rot that is Fauci’s little black heart puked itself up for the world to gawk and gaze upon. The wicked monster of deceit, that Shadow of Babel’s Tower, the U.S. Government under Biden et al., the WEF and the CDC were all working together with the mammon Ravenous Rat which jabbed its victims in the arms, injecting its teeth and devoured the health of many. May the light of its Rat life go out, like a spindle of inconsequential smoke from its eyes. And may those who danced like loosed, fiendish puppets around this false narrative trip up and entangle themselves in their own puppet strings….

You think I’m over-exaggerating, don’t you? But here’s what almost no one sees: the vaccine failed, but had it not, the false narrative would have manifested in full array, because there is something else going on.

Before our eyes we see the scales of truth are not weighted properly, but the sinister underlying narrative, that image within the image, speaks without moving its lips summoning full conviction that what is evil is good and what is good is evil and all things are equal. This goes far beyond only Covid, far deeper.

The persecution and stigmatization would have continued against those of us who refused to be coerced and I’ve no doubt, I would be in need of food at some drawn out point in the future as I would have no vaccination card to gain entry to pubic spaces. Eventually, they could make it illegal to be free if unvaccinated. Oh, the fever pitch of tyranny! The unvaxxed would have been refused medical support if needed because unlike ‘responsible’ citizens, they had no stamp on their vaccine cards. Social Credit scores are just around the corner.

Sometimes it’s no fun doing that extrapolating stuff….

“Vaccinated person having a heart attack? Yes, come right on in, we’ll take care of you. Unvaccinated guy who gobbled horse goo? Rest in peace, wheezy.”

Jimmy Kimmel

Don’t you know comedians ride and shift the winds of culture?

The cover up and lies were egregious, this article attempted to push back against the narrative but the sticky wickedness prevailed as the vaccine had yet to be exposed as a failure: Questioning A Catchphrase There is a divisive spirit, that anti-Christ spirit, pervasive and unrelenting. It forces unity by coercion and force. It is wicked.

Think of all the things we still wouldn’t know today had Twitter not changed captains – the ship of wickedness would still be sailing, censoring, devouring reality, building a chaotic dark tower. They were taking out some of the most out spoken and powerful voices for truth, one by one.

Shake It Off, There Are Important Things To Do

Now, after all the waves of horror have somewhat passed, being unvaccinated is like the Golden Unicorn of the Forest. But I remember those who danced, ready with self-righteous contempt in their eyes to stitch that Scarlet Letter into my flesh and shake their heads as the Monster moved closer…the fear and anxiety was all too real. And though I’m thankful that the tables have indeed turned to truth and a light has been shone on the whole rotting show, I can’t but accept that this was a Dress Rehearsal gone wrong. The costumes of the next Act are being laid out, the scenes being sketched before the curtain has even met end-to-end on Act I.

What am I going to do the next time something evil this way comes? Either I make a point to determine that now, or the powers that be will determine it for me.

Most of what you need in life will be brought to you, but most of what you want you’ll have to go get. Your survival is ensured, but for you to come into your destiny – that one will not be brought to you on a silver plater. There is a fight that must be gone through; one of persistence, one of diligence, one of knowing how to face loss, knowing how to bring strength and courage to yourself in the middle of confusion – those things are so essential in building us as [His] people in order to contain and continue to hold on to the very answer once we get it….The Lord has called us, like a David, who killed the lion and the bear when no one was watching…laying on our face before God when no one knows…crying to God that we cannot live with the theory and not seeing it demonstrated. It’s those kinds of nights where the lion and the bear get killed. And once you kill the lion and the bear in private God will trust you with killing Goliath in public.

Bill Johnson

You and I have things to do. As small and insignificant as these things may be, if God is asking us to do it, then out of love – not regarding any failure – we should do as He asks. If it’s writing a book no one reads, a blog no one visits, a song no one listens to…if God asks, because He loves us…we should do as He asks. He knows the future, He knows all things. Nothing God plants remains insignificant.

If you’ve picked a timeframe of evaluation that makes what you do appear irrelevant, then maybe you should shift your timeframe of evaluation.

Dr. Jordan Peterson

Everything has grown in importance – this present darkness grows – but the Light is shining more brightly than ever.

While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

John 9.4

Living my life like nothing profoundly wicked has rapped upon the psyche of each and every one of us is too disingenuous. We’ve reached Critical Mass. We can only work to make this world a better place right now while it’s still daylight. Night is coming…so let’s build while we have light by which to work.

So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun. For He will come in like a narrow, rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives long.

Isaiah 59.19

Time’s Railcar

On By Ashley GatewoodIn Futurism, Speculation, OpinionLeave a comment

Time. It is the one thing that no human can stop.  The year 1906.  Was anyone thinking about the year 2000?  I find myself thinking only of 2040.  My mind doesn’t wander to the year 2100.

https://youtu.be/pEvB_ZIWtAg

 

This peek into 1906 was just 4 days prior to the great San Fransisco earthquake and fire that devastated the city which had broken every building code in the books and nearly every home built of wood was burned to the ground.

It’s a feeling I can’t put my finger on when I watch this footage.  The music; the fact that I am being transported in a rail car, in 1906, down Market Street as newspaper boys, carriages, trollies all dart and cross over in some unseen syncopated rhythm. Upper class, working class, all real life – no Hollywood stuff – just real people 111 years ago, now gone, and I get to share an ephemeral ride with them all because someone decided to click the ‘on’ button. And that’s just it…

I know.  I already know that in 4 days, it’s coming for them. But now, in this illuminated flicker of time, they carry on, eating, dining and being married as the ancient scripture reads. They are doing what they do everyday; criss-crossing the rails between carriages, trollies, cars, bicycles; hitching rides, waving hello, curious folks, busy folks, high society and working class folk doing their thing, carrying on with the day’s tasks, making money selling newspapers and making their way forward, ever forward, all unknowing, all unsuspecting and without a clue what’s waiting for them down the rail car of time.  And it’s moving, that rail car, it’s moving all of us along. Their was no stopping it, it kept moving steadily and unswervingly towards the end of those 3 days until the morning at 5am on the 4th day.  And then…

It kept going, time that is, it kept moving along those rails, through the earthquake, through the fires, through the heartache and the pain it kept right on moving without stopping to mourn or rejoice or reflect or congratulate.  Through the year of 1906 and into 1907, through the confetti and the resolutions, through the wars and the peace treaties, the good decisions and the bad ones, the new technologies the new ways to save people and the new ways to kill them, through catastophic floods, volcanos, storms, through dreams broken and fulfilled it moved, steady until finally it would stop in 2000 – but it did not stop – and here we are now in 2017 and time is flowing past me, over me and through my fingers, my skin my heart my thoughts it flows through and leaves its mark on my face, my mind and my life.

Who’s going to be watching us on a digital playback in the year 2117?  With whom will we share our ephemeral existence somewhere down the railcar’s tracks, careening out before us into the future – who will meet us on our planes, in our cars, crossing our busy intersections at midday and say “they didn’t know – look at them – that it was coming for them in just a few days, see how they go about their lives with their dreams, their hopes, spending, eating, celebrating, mourning, working and being distracted by the joys and trials of life, look at them – and they didn’t know.”

Where does that put us on the rails of time?