Monday, July 21, 2008

Two Thumbs Up!

Happy Monday, bloggers!


I'll be back later today with some good stuff...in the meantime, here are the Beattitudes from the KHABORIS MANUSCRIPT (in Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke) for you to enjoy and discuss...



Matthew 5:2- 10

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those whose home is in Truth; theirs is a heavenly state.
4 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those mourning their wrongs; they shall be comforted.
5 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those with humility; they will gain the earth.
6 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those who hunger and thirst for justness; they shall attain it.
7 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those whose love is without conditions; they will therefore receive unconditional love.
8 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those without fault in their minds; they will see God.
9 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those serving the peace of God; they will be called the children of God (Alaha).
10 A heavenly attitude is theirs, those being scorned because of their justness; theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.




Also, feel free to continue the discussion from yesterday...

Later...

________________


OK, I'm back now (currently 10 comments)...

Yesterday, after the kids got on the road back to NC, I laid down for a little Sunday afternoon nap on the sofa, with AMC playing in the background. A little while later, I was awakened by this scene playing from the 1962 movie The Miracle Worker:

(If the playlist is playing, you'll need to scroll down to it and pause it)



In case you haven't seen this biopic about Helen Keller, here's a synopsis of it:

The Miracle Worker opens with a doctor assuring Captain Keller and his wife, Kate, that their infant daughter, Helen, will recover from a serious fever. Soon after the doctor leaves, however, Kate realizes that Helen is deaf and blind. In the next scene, Helen is about six years old. She is a wild, undisciplined child. Though they try, her parents are unable to help or control her. In desperation they hire a young woman, Annie Sullivan.

From the moment Annie arrives, it is clear that she and Helen will be gripped in a great struggle. But Helen is not the only problem for Annie. Annie must also convince the Kellers, especially the Captain, that she, Annie, needs complete control of Helen if she is to reach the child. Annie is certain that language is the key to gaining access to Helen's mind, and she constantly spells the names of things on Helen's palm.

Although Helen can spell them back on Annie's palm, the understanding that the words represent things eludes her. After spending two weeks together in the garden house, Helen finally obeys Annie, but when the time is up and they return to the family, Helen quickly reverts to her former behavior. The Kellers are indulgent, ready to fall back in their old pattern of behavior, but Annie doesn't let them. When Helen spills a water pitcher on Annie, Annie takes her out to refill it. She spells "water" into Helen's hand, and suddenly the miracle happens. Helen understands.


In the scene above, the reason that Helen finally makes the connection with "water" is that, before she lost her sight and hearing, she could say "wa-wa" when asking for water as a baby. You have to see it to get it, but what stood out to me the most yesterday (I guess I never thought about it before, even though I have seen it many, many times) is when she hands her teacher, Annie Sullivan, the keys that she had taken from her when she locked her in her room earlier in the film.

The "Keys of the Kingdom" are what we use to unlock our knowledge of first, eternal things ("Let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning")...we still know what we knew ("But you have an anointing and you know all things"), but the knowledge is buried beneath the blindness of logic and human reasoning, and the deafness of religious tradition. But somehow, through the washing of the WATER of the word, we make the internal connection, and remember what we knew about God in the now!

Anyway, I laid there and meditated on it, and I dozed off a little more. When I woke back up, West Side story was playing, and Tony was singing Something's Coming!

Just thought I'd share that with you.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOOOO HOOOOO IT'S MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!

Get your motor runnin, head out on the highway. Lookin for a heavenly
attitude, in whatever comes our way...

NTL

Unknown said...

Continuing from yesterday, SOZ: have you seen the YouTube video showing people popping popcorn with cell phones? That's actually the picture that I had in my mind. So, with Erik's waves [I think he saw waves of JOY], I think our minds were "popping" into a new reality--from seed to full blown understanding of the truth!

I LOVE THIS PLACE!

Anonymous said...

Good Morning Holy Spirit!
Good Morning Bishop!
Good Morning Bloggers!

Greetings in the name of the Lord!

It is a Great Day...great truths will be revealed personally, locally, nationally and globally because divinely appointed decrees were spoken into the atmosphere at CITN and elsewhere in recent weeks and days.

...things will be witnessed, spoken, and achieved like nothing we have seen/heard/done before. I celebrate the mere anticipation of it, and endeavor to be a watchful with faithfulness, obedience, truth, and no regrets.

4:15 am Saturday the reverberating word was TRUCE...4am this morning, it was CUSP...

...all I can say is HALLELUJAH! God is TOO COOL!

Anonymous said...

(PS: FYI, I love you and family unconditionally...take it to the bank!)

Anonymous said...

Good morning Bishop and all,

I luuuve the the KHABORIS MANUSCRIPT, I will have to get one. Do you have it in the book store?

Oh, the service was great yesterday I amen every thing SOZ said. Yes I could feel the move of the Spirit in the offering time.....even streaming.

Bishop as SOZ said I know your heart..... and I totally Get what and why you said what you did in the spirit of why you said it - as a pastor and bishop. Carry on Oh under shepherd, through the wilderness, and pleasant pastures and rocky hillsides of controversy and truth. Our eyes and ears are open to your leading because we trust your heart.

Also I think the word you gave about it all being taken care of and done and I don’t have to do anything more was for me.

Peace,
Dennis

Anonymous said...

Continued from yesterday:
Avatar - I've heard of the video where the cell phones pop the popcorn...beyond it just freaking me out...I think about it as invisible energy that you can't see, isn't tangible, until enough of it it aimed at the same space and POP an action happens. Maybe in our service we were all aiming our waves of colorful energy (Eric) and channeled it into the Spirit realm until POP in the brain of Curtis to play that song and break an annointing over the offering. Pop pop pop...bring it on, I think we should hand out popcorn at our next service. Ha.

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Hey Anonymous,

The analogy is a very good one (thanks, Avatar), but just so you know, the actual YouTube video was a hoax. Cell phones don't produce that much energy. Don't freak out.

But there definitely was a lot of (real) power there yesterday...

Bishop Jim Swilley said...

Wow, I didn't mean to sound like the geeky science guy who rains on everyone's parade by correcting them about hoaxes! You all were having a good time with the YouTube popcorn analogy, and then I had to straighten you all out with the "facts". Did I bring the room down? My bad.

And, yes, Iconoclast, I think we have the KM in the media center. I love it, too, I just wish there was more of it. But it's so old that all they have is the fragments from Matthew and John.

Son of Zadok said...

Thinking about yesterday's post and my take on regret.

Driving along a country road, I ignored a Bridge Out sign and continued on. But in a few miles I came to a stop: The road was completely barricaded. So I turned around and retraced my route. That's when I saw this sign on the back of the first: "It was, wasn't it?"


No Regrets ;)

Unknown said...

Good heavens, no Bishop! I had a thanks all typed out and lost it on a preview--so I headed out for some lunch! I usually check those things out myself but only had 2 phones to experiment. I think its really cool that the hoaxers have no idea that their joke gave us a cool analogy, something to actually picture in our minds that IS the truth--the knowledge of God fills the earth--even a hoaxers heart--(smile)

Here's to a whole bowlfull of popped-repented minds at our next service!

Speaking of science geeks, where's Peacemaker???!!

Matthew 5 has an interesting progression in it that I never noticed. From living in Truth through personal growth to serving peace and the sometimes consequences of that service. Interesting.

Son of Zadok said...

My God that was a powerful video/analogy! It made me think of that moment, when in my spirit the revelation that God really is Love was manifest in me. Bursting out into tears of great joy and liberation , so happy that He was not who we've been told. A God who would and has done whatever it takes to restore ALL His children to a right relationship with Him, not just some. A God who truly does have the end worked out from the beginning. A flood of revelation was to follow and still is flowing six months later. But aren't we so like Helen. Blind and deaf to the true love of God. And still we only see in part, like Helen who still had her physical limitations. But praise God He is being revealed more and more within us each day.
Can anyone else relate a moment when God went from the hellfire judge to the loving Father in their own life? Or some other similar epiphany. I'd love to hear about it.

And let us continue to pray that the body will have this same revelation of our Father of Love.

Illuminate our path Lord with the light of Your truth. Give us Your wisdom, insight, and vision. Set us free to love as You love.

-Amen

Iris said...

Bishop, and fam…

I have see Helen Keller many, many times… and each time that scene brings me to tears… As the tears rolled this time… It hit me the same way again… As in Helen, it is in us… what has been in my Spirit for some time now is… it is all there but our perception has to change… and when it does, and see through the eyes of the Kingdom, or as you have taught us… see through the tree of life, and not through the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we will see all that is in us now and has been in us from the beginning….It’s not out there somewhere… it is here now…

Even though Helen had physical limitations… as do all of us in one aspect or another… We are only limited by our perception… Once are perception is changed… ALL things are available to us…and we see the world in a whole new way…

I know for me in so many ways, this last year has been a big paradigm shift…I have begin to see things and notice things differently than I ever have before… Things that were sitting right in front of me for some time… seeming mundane and usual, are now as miraculous as the burning bush Moses saw… My moments are not common anymore… they are now filled with the presence of God… I know God was and is always there… it’s just my perception has changed… now every moment is an encounter with God.

Do I see it all…have I arrived? No, far from it… but as the scales of wrong perception begins to fall… I see Him in a whole new way… Life is so much more fun and exciting this way…. Colors seem to be brighter… Love seems to flow easier… Flowers smell sweeter…Everything is heightened to a new level… Life is more wonderful this way.

Also… Love the song…”Something’s Coming”… Barbara Streisand sings it wonderfully on her album “One Voice”… I do believe we are in the middle of something great… it is coming… it’s actually here… we just have to see it…

For those of you who may not know the Lyrics to the song I have pasted them below…


Could be!
Who knows?
There's something due any day;
I will know right away,
Soon as it shows.
It may come cannon-balling down through the sky,
Gleam in its eye,
Bright as a rose!

Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Under a tree.
I got a feeling there's a miracle due,
Gonna come true,
Coming to me!

Could it be? Yes, it could.
Something's coming, something good,
If I can wait!
Something's coming, I don't know what it is,
But it is
Gonna be great!

With a click, with a shock,
Phone'll jingle, door'll knock,
Open the latch!
Something's coming, don't know when, but it's soon;
Catch the moon,
One-handed catch!

Around the corner,
Or whistling down the river,
Come on, deliver
To me!
Will it be? Yes, it will.
Maybe just by holding still,
It'll be there!

Come on, something, come on in, don't be shy,
Meet a guy,
Pull up a chair!
The air is humming,
And something great is coming!
Who knows?
It's only just out of reach,
Down the block, on a beach,
Maybe tonight . . .

Love all
Iris…
Something’s Coming… With our perception changing we can see it….”Maybe tonight”

SCRIBE said...

Good Evening Family:

I wanted to share a little something that I received from God today during my devotion time, in hope that it will serve as inspiration to someone.
It is the last paragraph of a journal entry from the word written today:

Monday Afternoon
21 July 2008 @ 1210 Hours

"Worry not over feeling like a fish out of water as of late, for until a fish is pulled out of the water, it cannot serve as food to feed my people whom are hungry. It does no good for my people to only see potential for food swimming around in the depths, yet have no nets to cast out in order to draw in the catch. Only after the catch is drawn in, can it be cleaned and prepared for eating. Selah...
One does not get filled from that which they see, but only that which they consume and digest! Selah... Shout Hallelujah, for I- the Lord Almighty provides seed to the sowers and bread unto those who feed my sheep. Rejoice- for your nets are filled beyond capacity with food to feed the multitudes." Selah...Amen

DoubleBack Alley said...

Sahib,

Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke. My God. Those were seminal roles for the time. I have always felt like they dared you to care, or be mad, or not care, or relate to the Kellers. Fascinating juxtaposition of not being able to communicate with someone, even though one has mastered one's own faculties. The receptor must be ready to hear, or touch, or feel, or smell, or taste.

I wonder if Jesus felt like Annie Sullivan when he dealt with the Pharisees. Probably even more so when he interacted with his disciples as he endeavored to make a point.

Great movie, thanks for bringing it to the blog.

I'll bring the popcorn next time.

Ain't God Good?

linda said...

Good Afternoon Bish and bloggers
I had never seen that movie before, although I read Helen Keller's story in school. Very powerful

Let there be light
Linda

Unknown said...

I'm not certain what if anything this means, but many years ago, I heard Bishop retell this Helen Keller scene.

Fortunately I was at home listening to a recording. I could not stand up because of the emotion it released and released at every thought of Annie--I wondered then why I had such a reaction--a "wow, what incredible commitment Annie had in order to invest so much, put up with so much, in order to find the way in."

If anything like the final scene actually happened, I'm sure she thought it was all worth it then.

And, Helen's list of later accomplishments is certainly no small thing either!

If I knew how, I'd sign t-h-a-n-k-y-o-u in your hands Bishop, Pastor Debye and CITN staff.

Anonymous said...

It's raining so hard at my house right now, that I can't see the rain for all the water that is coming down.(for real)

It will soon be reigning so hard ITB that we won't be able to see the reign for all the glory that will be coming down(for real)

NTL

tracy said...

Today I heard from every direction to remember the miracles of past and to recall that God has never let us down. Your story of Helen Keller brought to remembrance the day God healed Bailey's ears. We had been told she had middle ear nerve damage and could not hear phones ringing or dogs barking. She was being fitted for hearing aids, she had been able to hear as an infant but due to monthly ear infections damage had been done. We prayed for her on night and she started crying when she "heard" bath water running, apparently that was so loud to her. She has been able to hear ever since. She doesn;t miss a beat. That was only one of MANY miracles we have witnessed. I am so thankful that this site confirmed and reminded me that we do need to remember that God is still a miracle worker.

Anonymous said...

Bishop,
You know I love the movie the about Helen Keller. Any time I see a Deaf person signinig, I am attracted to them. Having a little boy (Laramie) that was profoundly Deaf grow up as neighbors years ago which started my love for signing to His Hands Ministries at CITN and the lives that have been touched "because of Laramie"...It is just so amazing...
I have been given the opportunity to sign with Deaf and Blind. I have been given the opportunity to teach a little Deaf boy who's parents only spoke spanish and knew no sign language. He had a LIMITED vocabulary...He was 9 years old. For ex: to teach what a leaf was..I showed him the sign, a picture, then took him outside to see the actual leaf. I was able to teach him so much! It is what makes my heart sing.
Keys to the kingdom!!!

Lisa said...

Thank you Scribe. Recieved and understood. Again Thank you

Anonymous said...

You know; a sign is a “picture” of something that gives us a meaning that we can understand. Really all language is “signs” or “pictures” of something. If I say dog, you do not see in your mind a D…O…G. No you see a hairy four legged creature with a head, ears, tail,…..ect you “think” in pictures or signs. And God for the most part through the Bible and everyday life speaks to us in “signs” or “pictures” that have a certain meaning to us personally and many times corporately. God knowing how He made us to think and process information knows this is the best way to speak to us – signs and pictures. You can remember a picture or someone’s face much easier than the thing or persons name. because you can “see” it in your mind

This is where many people get into trouble in reading the bible and trying to take everything literally. When in actuality God was simply showing us a sign, picture or parable to reveal a deeper truth. Because this is how we best assimilate information.

When I read the bible I try to look “into” the passage to see the signs laid out inside the story. Then I back up and look at the “big picture” considering and weighing what I have just seen against other established truth. Put the two together and bingo! There it is clear as a streak free window cleaned with Windex and a Scott towel. And that is just awesome when it all comes together.

Burning Bridges,
Building New Ones,

Iconoclast

PattiL007 said...

I too watched West Side Story today for reasons of my own. As always, it begins with so much hope and ends in so much tragedy caused by lies, hatred, and simple misunderstanding...I like to dream that it all changes for them the moment they step away out of our site and off of that school yard together carrying Tony with respect (shown by how he was carried). I pray they did...I pray we do and continue to change the world for the better.

Speaking of changing the world for the better...take your 15 minutes and do it! Please don't forget to visit www.millionacts.org and add your acts...each act is an entry so please add them in separate boxes...the instructions show you how...one per box so we can get to/over 2000 in no time...at this moment we have 513 acts posted...we are over 1/4 of the way to our goal...the site will also take pics and photos if you have them of your or your family performing the work...please don't forget...your acts are needed and you must record them...we will NOT let down our Bishop and P-Debye who stepped out in faith and said CITN could do 2000 easily...and guess what? YES WE CAN! So get out there and do and then post them!

Blessings Blog Fam!

Larry Usher said...

Just a quick hello...

Hello!

Just in from NY. Got a chance after Yankee game to drive through Manhattan & see some sights...Central Park, Emp St Bldg, U. N. Bldg, Chrysler Bldg, Times Square-was having fun challenging the taxis & "driving with no lanes". First time to the City other than airport or games. Awesome place, felt like on the face of another planet! Drove through Harlem & other interesting places...saw where my g- grandfather lived & worked close to Central Park off Broadway. Definitely a "jungle"!
Parlayed our upper deck seats at the stadium(with the help of an usher) to right behind Yankees dugout! Surrounded by lotsa cool people.
Lord blessed during vaca but CITN was very much missed. Had a chance to do some reading & had some amazing dreams of the power of God...prepare to be stupefied!!
Will check in again soon...too tired now, drove 1200 miles in 2 days & it was 95 degrees in NYC!

Love y'all,

Larry

Anonymous said...

Oh my Elohim! Waterworks! Ugly cry!
Bishop, I really need to wear my waterproof mascara when checking in. Talk about a Jan Crouch mini me! Helen Keller clip was church for sure!!!

Anonymous said...

I love "The Miracle Worker". This version and these actors are the best in my opinion. For you to bring up "West Side Story" also was just astounding. This ageless musical has become a favorite of my eight year old too, oddly enough. I believe about a year ago before I bought a computer with CD burner I copied "Something's Coming" off the original soundtrack album and gave it to you. Its been in my spirit that long. I have had this sense that God was doing great things under the surface. Sometimes in our little battles with Him or wrestling with ourselves, soon we would awake to the truth that despite the struggles God really was with us all along and we didn't perceive it. I had a friend I've not seen in some time that kept a sign on her wall that simply read, "Lord, Amaze Me!" Just the being open to God's interaction and anticipation of desire to show off for His cration whom He loves has stayed with me. Today, I am determined to not whine, to see with spiritual eyes and hear with spiritual ears, to see miracles in unexpected places and God simply being amazing because He is always if we choose to perceive it. Something good is always coming, and its here in the NOW.