Peace To You! (Re-post)

This is a picture that I took the first time I went to Israel back in 1981...the morning that we were leaving to return to the U.S., I got up early and walked out on the balcony of my hotel room before I started packing, and saw this beautiful rainbow over the city of Jerusalem...

It had rained during the night, and in the light of dawn this colorful sign in the heavens became visible...I grabbed my camera and snapped this...it's been a favorite of mine for years...very meaningful and symbolic to me at the time, and even more so now...I had lost it for the longest time, but the other day while was looking for something else, I came across it, and posted it on Facebook (for those of you reading this on FB, this is a feed from my blog which can be found at www.bloginthenow.blogspot.com)...

On many levels it was significant to me that I found this 30 year old picture when I did...the pursuit of peace is very important to me right now...the Scriptures say to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and indeed we should, now more than ever before...but this picture means more to me than the obvious...as you look at it, I pray for peace in your life...peace over your troubled circumstances...and I also post it as a reminder to you that God keeps His promises...shalom!

Have a Blessed Resurrection Sunday!

JOHN 20:1-18 - John In The Now

1. Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and was surprised to find that the stone that had been lodged into the entrance had somehow been rolled away.

2. As soon as she assessed the situation, she immediately ran to find Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and when she got to them she blurted out, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put Him!”

3. When Peter and the other disciple heard this, they just took off running to the tomb to see for themselves.

4. The two disciples initially were running together, but then the other disciple picked up speed and outran Peter, arriving at the tomb first.

5. And when he got there, he stooped down to look inside and saw the linen grave clothes lying there, but he didn’t enter the tomb.

6. But when Peter got there, he just went right in and also saw the little pile of linen material lying there.

7. Next to it was the piece of cloth that had been used to cover Jesus’ face, neatly rolled up and in a place by itself.

8. The disciple who got there first then entered the tomb and, when he saw the whole scenario, he believed fully in the resurrection.

9. For as yet the disciples had not made the connection that the Scriptures had said that He would rise from the dead.

10. But even though he believed, the disciple didn’t know what to do about it, so he and Peter both just went back to their homes.

11. Mary Magdalene, on the other hand, remained there and just stood outside the tomb weeping. And at a certain point, while she was still in tears, she stooped down and looked into the interior.

12. Inside she saw two men who appeared to be angels, all dressed in white, sitting where Jesus’ body had been. One was sitting at the head, the other at the foot.

13. They turned and looked right at her and asked, “Why are you crying?” She answered, “Because they have taken away my Lord’s body, and I don’t know where they have put Him.”

14. As soon as Mary said this, she became aware that someone was standing right behind her. So she quickly turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t realize that it was Him.

15. Jesus asked her “Why are you crying, Ma’am? Who are you looking for?” She just assumed He was the gardener and said, “Sir, if you have removed His body, please tell me, so that I can go and get it.”

16. Then Jesus said to her, “Mary!” Suddenly, the sound of His voice penetrated her stupor and, realizing who He was, she cried out, “Teacher!”

17. When she reached out to embrace Him, He told her, “Don’t try to hold on to Me, Mary. I am making the transition into the Father’s dimension, and you can’t keep Me here. I no longer belong in the physical body that you are used to seeing and holding, so don’t touch Me. But tell My disciples that I am going to our Father and to our God.”

18. So Mary Magdalene went immediately to the disciples and declared to them that she had seen the Lord. She also told them what He had said to her.

Coming Soon!

From the Introduction to THE GOSPELS IN THE NOW: The Four Biographies of the God-Man Re-Imagined in Modern Context

Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle. (Ezekiel 1:5, 6, 10 - NKJV)

I LOVE THE GOSPELS:

I love Matthew's Gospel...the Gospel of the Kingdom...the Gospel of the Lion-King...a uniquely important revelation, written for the Jews, from a firsthand, up-close-and-personal viewpoint, portraying Jesus as the Messiah so long awaited after Abraham...the King after David. There is a particular and sometimes palpable tension in Matthew, probably because it was written in the name of a Jew whom the Jews hated, because he was a collector of taxes for the Romans. But it is written with much love, nonetheless. Matthew was apprehended by Jesus, and was not at all like the other disciples, so the writings that bear his name bring a certain richness to the Jesus narrative that is essential to our understanding of the Son of Man. What the other Synoptic Gospel writers call the "Kingdom of God", Matthew calls the "Kingdom of Heaven" (or, better translated: Kingdom of the Heavens"). "Kingdom of God" says Whose and what it is..."Kingdom of Heaven" says Whose it is and where it's from. Perhaps the most significant contribution of Matthew is the attention to detail in the Sermon on the Mount...the blueprint for the "Kingdom of/from the Heavens". Matthew…the Gospel that roars!

I love Mark’s Gospel…you can feel the youth and vitality of the man whose name it bears pulsating in every page of it…the Gospel of passion and fire…the most masculine of the Gospels…a Gospel that gets the job done…the “can do!” Gospel. Matthew is symbolized by the Lion, Luke is personified in the Man, John shows us the Eagle…but Mark’s is the picture of the OX…strong…utilitarian…dependable…effective…the Gospel with muscle. No attention is given to Jesus as a baby…those kind of details are less important here. It’s also the shortest of the Gospels…it does more and says less…gets to the point…emphasizes themes like faith and power. Mark’s Gospel provides a much-needed paradigm to the big picture…an aspect of the earthiness of Jesus, the Carpenter, who personally builds His Kingdom without fear of getting His hands dirty…a concept that is especially appealing to the Romans, to whom it is written. Mark…the Gospel that bears!

I love Luke’s Gospel…the Gospel of the fully evolved Man…sophisticated…elegant…educated…intelligent. Luke is a physician with an excellent bedside manner, who writes a thoughtful and lovingly detailed letter to the young Greek, Theophilus, about the amazing God-Man. But in reality, it is written to all the Greeks, who would, in theory, appreciate the culture and refinement of its author, and the miracles and philosophy of its Main Character. Luke gives the most attention to the Nativity, because it is the most biographical of the four Gospels…it was also originally combined with the Book of Acts. It brings the Synoptic Gospels full circle, showing us the complete spectrum of all that was and is the Son of Man. Luke…the Gospel that cares!

I love the Gospel of John…a living, breathing Word, unlike anything else…so different from the three Synoptic Gospels. Each of them brings something original to the table, but John’s account of the greatest story ever told is in a class all by itself. It is the Gospel written for non-conformists and individualists…for those who can comprehend Jesus outside the box…a flight plan for eagles who exist high above the clouds. Matthew is written for the Jews, Mark is written for the Romans, Luke is written for the Greeks, but John’s writings come from the paradigm of a universalist…he paints his picture in very broad strokes, and writes with the global vision of one who sees the whole earth through a bird’s eye view. Can you imagine the visionary mind of someone who begins his story with , “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”? Matthew and Luke open the Jesus-narrative in the little town of Bethlehem…but John begins IN THE BEGINNING…in eternity…in the cosmos…in the now! You could spend a lifetime just discussing that one wonderful concept and still not be able to fully plumb the depths of its meaning. John’s is the Gospel of the Son of God…John…the Gospel that soars!

Excerpts from THE GOSPELS IN THE NOW (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John)

“But seek out and search for a revelation of the kingdom of God in and through every circumstance, and in every situation. And seek it first (or first thing)...before you strive with the circumstance... before you start to worry about the situation…before you fret over it…before you allow yourself to become overwhelmed by it or let it become exaggerated in your mind. And along with your primary search, look diligently for His righteousness, (or His rightness) to be revealed somewhere in the thing, as well. When you prioritize the kingdom in this way, then you can be sure that everything in your personal world will come into order, and that all you need for your daily provision will just automatically flow into your life and will be added to you as a result of your quest. So don’t worry or be anxious about what may or may not happen tomorrow. Live in the now, because the kingdom is always revealed in the now. Deal with tomorrow and what it may bring when it gets here, knowing that tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. As you live each day as it comes, God will enable you to successfully handle each day’s trouble, whatever it may be.”

(Matthew 6:33, 34 - Matthew In The Now)

“Let Me reveal this truth to you...you're impressed with what happened to the fig tree, but the fact is that you have the power and ability to say to this entire mountain, "Be lifted up and be thrown into the sea!", and see it obey you! You've seen me actually speak to a storm...or command the dead to live again...well, in the same way, if you can connect the God-kind of faith that is in your own heart with the creative ability that is in your own mouth...if you say what you believe, and believe what you say...you can produce these kinds of results! This is why I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer...whatever you decree...BELIEVE...accept the reality that it exists in another, unseen dimension, simply because you say it. Don't suspend or delay belief until you see it manifested in the physical realm, because what is unseen is more real than what is seen. Be confident that your request is granted to you, and you will get it...your own irresistible faith will attract it to you."

(Mark 11:23, 24 – Mark In The Now)

"And while I'm on the subject of the operation of this new world order, I will also tell you not to pronounce judgment on anyone, and you will live beyond the authority of any one's judgment on your life...do not condemn or pronounce guilt on anyone, and you will exist beyond the reach of condemnation and personal guilt...acquit, forgive and release others from your agendas and opinions, and you will never be limited by the agendas and opinions of others. And give...give generously and freely...because if you do, gifts will be lavished upon you...and these gifts will be abundant (to demonstrate the infinite possibilities of the Kingdom), packed down (to make room for more), shaken together (to make sure that you never receive filler), and running all over the place (so that you never have a sense of lack)! People will come into your life just to give to you, and this is the way that they will pour into the pouch formed by the bosom of your robe and used as a bag. You define your own terms in this, for with the same measure you deal out...with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others...it will be measured back to you!"

(Luke 6:37, 38 - Luke In The Now)

"You see, God’s love for the whole world – His paternal affection for the entire cosmos – was so all-encompassing and complete that He freely gave His unique Son to it, so that anyone from that world who believes in Him would not perish, but would awaken to the fact that eternal life is theirs. It certainly was never God’s intention to send His Son into the world to pronounce a sentence of condemnation upon it. Rather, He was perfectly focused on saving it...on redeeming the whole of humanity, everyone and everything on the planet...through the gift of that unique, manifested Son."

(John 3:16, 17 - John In The Now)

PEACE TO YOU!

Hey bloggers...

Thanks so much for the great comments on the last post...your words are very much appreciated...

I'm out of town right now, but I'll be back for Body Builders on Wednesday...still trying to get some writing done...



This is a picture that I took the first time I went to Israel back in 1981...the morning that we were leaving to return to the U.S., I got up early and walked out on the balcony of my hotel room before I started packing, and saw this beautiful rainbow over the city of Jerusalem...

It had rained during the night, and in the light of dawn this colorful sign in the heavens became visible...I grabbed my camera and snapped this...it's been a favorite of mine for years...very meaningful and symbolic to me at the time, and even more so now...I had lost it for the longest time, but the other day while was looking for something else, I came across it, and posted it on Facebook (for those of you reading this on FB, this is a feed from my blog which can be found at www.bloginthenow.blogspot.com)...

On many levels it was significant to me that I found this 28 year old picture when I did...the pursuit of peace is very important to me right now...the Scriptures say to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and indeed we should, now more than ever before...but this picture means more to me than the obvious...as you look at it, I pray for peace in your life...peace over your troubled circumstances...and I also post it as a reminder to you that God keeps His promises...shalom!

“Peace I leave with you; I’m talking about My own, personal sense of peace, wholeness and well-being; I’m actually transferring it to you. You see, My peace is unlike the peace that comes from this realm...the peace that is reactionary and temporal, dependent on outward circumstances to determine its strength and presence. My peace is other-worldly – settled, absolute – causing you to be in harmony with your whole life – past, present, and future – and ultimately with the whole of creation. It will empower you to refuse to let your heart (your inner world) become troubled, agitated, or upset, no matter what is happening around you, and you can be fearless because you will be at peace with the Father, with yourself, and with the universe."
(John 14:27 - John In The Now)

The Gospels In the Now (Status Report)

Matthew In The Now is finished and about to go to the publisher...just posted the foreword below...

Most of Mark In The Now is published here on the blog (up through Chapter 10)...six more chapters to go...

Work on Luke In The Now will begin in a few weeks...

John In The Now is published and available (www.churchinthenow.org)...


















FOREWORD TO MITN: Why write a new paraphrase of the book of Matthew?

1. Because I love Jesus.

I love the real, living Jesus…the outspoken, passionate, confrontational, provocative, liberating, counter-culture, strong and brave and totally secure-within-Himself, fully integrated Jesus…the Word made flesh who became Jesus, the Christ…Jesus in the now…the One who embodies the “I Am,” the God who defies definition and description…the manna or the “what is it?” that came down from heaven…the One whose humanity is every bit as beautiful and intriguing and wonderful as is His divinity…the God-man who cannot be bound or limited in any way by religion or philosophy or doctrines or dogma…the firstborn among many siblings in the family of God who live in the 21st century. I love that real Jesus now more than ever and am in no way offended that He says that I must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have a revelation of Him!






















2. Because I love the Scriptures.

They are a part of me, as absorbed into the fiber of my being as they could possibly be. The words of God vibrate in every cell of my body... they occupy the largest part of my mind…they completely saturate my spirit. The Bible is a miracle – not a book, but a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors over a period of 1,500 years in different languages to different people groups in different generations for different purposes. Therefore, the Scriptures must be rightly divided instead of wrongly connected. In other words, each book must be judged in its own context and on its own terms, whether it confirms any other book or not. In this way, biblical contradictions are not only acknowledged and accepted...they are expected. I celebrate the tension caused by the conflicting viewpoints of the writers who had different paradigms of God; their contradictions make the Bible literally pulsate with life! And amazingly, in spite of the given contention, the confirmation of Jesus, the Christ, is still the glue that holds the whole collection together!


3. Because I love the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew's Gospel...the Gospel of the Kingdom...the Gospel of THE KING...is uniquely important. Matthew writes it for the Jews, from a firsthand, up-close-and-personal viewpoint, portraying Jesus as the Messiah so long awaited after Abraham... the King after David. There is a particular and sometimes palpable tension in Matthew, probably due to the fact that it was written by a Jew whom the Jews hated, because he was a collector of taxes for the Romans. And yet he wrote it with much love, even for those who hated him. Matthew was apprehended by Jesus, and was not at all like the other disciples, so his writing brings a certain richness to the Jesus narrative that is very important. What the other Synoptic Gospel writers call the "Kingdom of God", Matthew calls the "Kingdom of Heaven" (or, better translated: Kingdom of the Heavens". "Kingdom of God" says what and Whose it is..."Kingdom of Heaven" says Who authorized it and where it's from. Perhaps the most significant contribution of Matthew is his attention to detail in the Sermon on the Mount...the radical, out-of-the-box blueprint for the "Kingdom of/from the Heavens", which is at hand for all of us!

4. Because I love the diversity among all the translations and paraphrases of the Bible.

Although I wholeheartedly reject the notion of an official “authorized version,” I do honor the grandeur and loftiness of the Bible that James, the King of England, authorized for his subjects to read in the 17th century (King James Version). That’s why I have memorized vast sections of it. And I love the way James Moffatt could turn a phrase in his translation. I could virtually live in The Amplified Bible with all of its shades of meanings and wordy explanations and parentheses and brackets. It’s like heaven to someone who loves exploring words and their meanings as I do. When I was young, Kenneth Taylor’s beautifully accessible Living Bible changed my life and set the course for my whole ministry. Many years later, Eugene Peterson’s daring paraphrase called The Message affected me nearly as dramatically. In recent years I have grown to respect the Today’s New International Version for its modernity and clarity and lack of religious sexism. In my opinion, it is probably the most accurate mainstream translation of them all*. But I also love the New English Bible and The Jerusalem Bible for other reasons. I am constantly referring to all of these translations for my teaching and writing, along with some other great ones not mentioned here. You may ask then, “If you love all these translations so much, why write a new one?” My only answer is that this writing is my way to pay homage to those who have already blazed this trail of translation before me. I could not do this if they hadn’t done what they did. But this translation is what I hear when I read and teach these chapters and verses. These are the things I have seen...what I have read between the lines...for the last 36 years of ministry, and I simply want to submit them to you, the reader, for your consideration.


5. Because I love communication.

Nothing is more important to the life of relationships than communication, and nothing is more gratifying than knowing that you have effectively communicated your message to someone else. I certainly don’t claim to know everything about Jesus; in fact, the more that I increase in my knowledge of Him throughout the course of my life, the more mysterious He actually becomes to me. For me that’s not a problem. I’m rather glad that, even though I know Him more intimately than I know anyone else, there is always a part of Him that is past my finding out. I know that I will never reach the limits of the breadth and length and depth and height of Him, ever. But, what I do know about Him is the most wonderful knowledge that I possess, and I have a need to share that knowledge with others.


6. Because I love people.

One of the greatest songs ever written contains the words, “If I can help somebody as I pass along…then my living shall not be in vain.” I try to live by the philosophy of that song, so if this book can help someone to rediscover and rethink the Bible – someone who has previously been intimidated or confused or bored by it, regardless of its available translations and paraphrases – then I will have fulfilled at least a part of my destiny. I want to help people know and love Jesus better, but I also want to make them more comfortable with the Bible and with their own interpretations and opinions about it. The Bible is hearty, robust – it is not delicate or fragile – it can withstand a lot of handling by human beings, because it was meant to be people-friendly, and I want to open a door to the house of understanding and let the people in!






















7. Because I love living in the now.

More than anything else, I believe that I was specifically put here on this planet to be a good steward of the concept of living in the now. God is in the now because He is always revealed as the I Am. His word is in the now because people cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds (present tense) out of His mouth. His kingdom is in the now because it can only be discerned one day at a time by those who take no thought for tomorrow. I will proclaim and defend the doctrine of the “now-ness” of God for as long as I live and will aggressively wage war on every religious idea that tries to relegate God to the past or attempts to project Him into the future. God is always now and my prayer is that, as you read Matthew In The Now, you will walk in a fuller revelation of that. Now is all that matters!



*In general, I bestow that honor on The Concordant Literal New Testament

Celebrate Palm Sunday!

The next day, a huge crowd assembled in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming there for the festival, they took palm branches and went out to meet Him, loudly shouting to Him, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in God's name. Blessed is the King of Israel!" But Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, to fulfill what was written: "Don't be afraid people of Israel. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."

At first, His disciples didn't get it at all. But after Jesus was glorified, they remembered all this and realized that everything had happened exactly as the Scriptures had said it would. Those in the crowd who had seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, were talking about it incessantly. And as they kept recounting the story over and over, the excitement from the whole thing just spread like wildfire among the people.

And that's why the crowd was so huge and noisy that day. The whole town was so electrified with the news of Jesus' power and ability, that a kind of mania had set in among them. So when the Pharisees saw what was happening, they said to one another, "This thing is out of control! Look! The entire world has gone after Jesus!"

(John 12:12 - 19 - JITN)

Have You Caught Any Fish?

Hey bloggers,

I don't think that we're through talking about this, yet...here's the passage from yesterday's word...

Chapter 21:1-11

1. After this, Jesus appeared again to His disciples, this time at Lake Tiberias (also known as the Sea of Galilee).

2. And this is how it happened: Simon Peter, Thomas (called “The Twin”), Nathaniel (from Cana in Galilee), and the brother of James and John were all there, together with two other disciples.

3. They were all still in a sort of subdued state of shock over everything that had happened in the last several days, and nobody knew what to do...how to act...how to live. Now that Jesus was gone, should they just go back to doing whatever they were doing before He interrupted their lives? He really hadn’t been that specific in His instructions about what they should do post-resurrection. So Peter looked at all of them just standing around and said, “Well, I’ve got to do something! Life has to go on; I’m going fishing.” And the rest of them, relieved that someone had finally broken the awkward silence and had come up with a plan, said, “We’ll come, too!” So they all piled into the boat and started fishing, finding comfort in the normalcy of a familiar activity. And they fished all night long, but nobody caught a thing.

4. Early the next morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize Him or realize who He was.

5. So Jesus called out to them, “Hey guys, have you caught anything?” And they answered him with a simple, indifferent, “No.”

6. Then He said, “Throw out your net on the right side of the boat and you will catch plenty of fish!” After staring blankly at Him for a minute, they all looked at each other and said, “Why not? What have we got to lose?” So they did what He said and almost immediately began catching so many fish that they couldn’t even draw the net back into the boat.

7. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “You know who that is, don’t you? It is the Lord!” When Peter heard this, he scrambled to put all his clothes back on and spontaneously plunged into the water, swimming as fast as he could to the shore. His immediate response to the thought of seeing Jesus was sheer elation; all he could think about was getting to Him, so much so that he forgot the fact they had not faced each other alone since the three denials.

8. The others stayed with the boat and tried to drag the overloaded net to the shore, for they were only out about three hundred feet.

9. When they got up on the beach, they saw that a charcoal fire was burning and fish was frying over it. There was also bread there to go with it.

10. “Bring up some of the fish that you’ve just caught,” Jesus said.

11. So Simon Peter ran back to the boat and dragged the net to shore. There were one hundred fifty three large fish in it, but somehow the net didn’t rip.

Celebrate Jesus Today!

And the eternal Word morphed into flesh – into a manifested incarnation with human attributes and authority in the natural world – so that He could live with and among us human beings. And He did live with us here in our world, limiting Himself to the constraints of the human condition without reservation, but we could still plainly see His eternal, divine glory. It was obvious that He shined with the glorious light of a unique, firstborn son who was miraculously like His Father who had sent Him. The illumination from that glory revealed that He was literally filled with grace and that He overflowed with absolute truth.

John 1:14, John In The Now

Church On The Nile (And Then Some)

Later that day...











Hey bloggers, Thanks for the great comments today (currently 17)...I prematurely removed the "Happy Yom Kippur" that I had posted on the blog yesterday. I used Debye's computer to do it, and now I can't find the picture of the man blowing the shofar that I used (she's out of town - with her computer - speaking at the Unveiled Conference in Orlando). Anyway, Happy Day of Atonement...Happy Day of Reconciliation...OUR GOD REIGNS!


__________________

Original Post:



This picture is not very clear (if you click on it, the enlarged image is much clearer) but I wanted to post it because it was taken the same day as the BLOGINTHENOW picture, but this shot is at the source of the Nile where Ghandi's ashes were scattered in 1948. I'm standing in front of a monument to him that marks the spot where the ceremony took place.

Thanks for all of the wonderful comments about the GPF. Reading them again enables me to re-live Tuesday night...which is really important, because it nearly seems dream-like to me...as if I imagined it. I'd like to hear from even more of you who were there.

If you weren't ITB or streaming last night, I encourage you to get the CD or DVD of the service. I think that the word that was delivered is important for everyone who hears my voice to hear, especially in light of all that is happening in the financial world right now.

Speaking of the world's current financial situation, here's a couple of passages from John In The Now that might help balance out all that you're hearing on the news:

“Peace I leave with you; I’m talking about My own, personal sense of peace, wholeness and well-being; I’m actually transferring it to you. You see, My peace is unlike the peace that comes from this realm...the peace that is reactionary and temporal, dependent on outward circumstances to determine its strength and presence. My peace is other-worldly – settled, absolute – causing you to be in harmony with your whole life – past, present, and future – and ultimately with the whole of creation. It will empower you to refuse to let your heart (your inner world) become troubled, agitated, or upset, no matter what is happening around you, and you can be fearless because you will be at peace with the Father, with yourself, and with the universe. (John 14:27 - JITN)

“I have told you these things so that in Me you may have real peace and confident serenity. Now don’t be naïve to the fact that, in the world, you will have trouble. It is a given. But, take heart! You can celebrate and live a joyful life, regardless of any circumstances in your life, because I have completely overcome the trouble of the world and have set the example to show how you can overcome it, as well!” (John 16:33 - JITN)

As I said last night, all day Tuesday seemed to be unusually miraculous for us...I'm curious to know if anything out of the ordinary happened to you on Tuesday, whether you experienced the GPF or not.

Let There Be Peace

Hey bloggers,

I know that I've posted this before, but in light of what will be happening tonight at CITN, I want to acknowledge Jesus' prayer of unity from John In The Now once again, if you'll allow me. I hope to see you all tonight (the regular playlist will be back tomorrow)...

Chapter 17

1. After Jesus had finished speaking to his disciples, He looked up toward the infinite sky and said, “Father, the time has come for You to bring glory to Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify You.

2. “You have granted Him full authority over all the people of the earth, and You have given them to Him so that He might give them all eternal life.

3. “And this fulfills the purpose of eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the manifestation of Your physical presence on the earth.

4. “I brought glory to You in this dimension by doing everything that You told Me to do.

5. “And now, Father, bring Me back into the eternal now, so that I may exist in the glory that We shared before the world began.

6. “I have told these men who have followed Me all about You. Their perception was limited, having been shaped by the current world’s system, but You gave them to Me and now they have been freed from the smallness of their previous mindset by obeying Your word.

7. “They know that everything that I have came from You.

8. “I just told them exactly what You told Me, and it convinced them that I came from You and that You sent Me here.

9. “Right now I am not praying for the whole world, but for those whom You have given to be My followers, because they know that they belong to You.

10. “All that I have is Yours, and all that You have is mine, and the glory of that connection has now included them in its manifestation.

11. “I will no longer remain in this dimension or in this physical incarnation, but they are still in the physical realm of space and time. I am returning to the eternal now to be reintegrated with and in You, but I pray, Holy Father, that You keep through Your name those whom You have given Me. I pray that, even though they continue to live and move in the physical world, they will be able to transcend its finite limitations and be one with each other, even as We are.

12. “While I was with them in the physical world, I kept them safe and intact in Your name. I carefully guarded them, and not one of them was lost to My circle of influence, except for that one who just seemed bent on destruction. But his rebellion only served to fulfill the Scriptures.

13. “I am on My way back into the eternal now, but I want to say these things while I am still in this physical incarnation. If I say these things as the Son of Man, it will make it possible for them to also say these kinds of things, so that they can know the joy of being manifested as Sons of God.

14. “I have told them Your message, but they are hated by those mental prisoners of the world-system, because they don’t belong to that system in any way, just as I don’t.

15. “Father, I don’t ask that you take My followers out of the world, because it would defeat the entire purpose of My coming here if You should allow them to become escapists. I only pray that they be kept safe from the phantom menace.

16. “They are misfits in this world – strangers to its present mindset – just like Me.

17. “So let them find shelter in the truth of Your word; it is the only place where they can live now that they have been with Me.

18. “As You sent Me into this dimension, I am sending them into it – into the fullness of it.

19. “I have given Myself completely for their sake – becoming absolutely absorbed into them – so that they may become absolutely absorbed into the truth.

20. “But I do not pray for these alone…these who know Me as I am, here and now. But I pray for those everywhere and in every dimension of time, including those in the future, who will ultimately believe in Me through their witness and their word.

21. “And I pray that they all may be one in the now...all around this world of yours, not just the ones here in this time and place. Make them all one as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You. Integrate them as You and I are integrated – unified, in harmony, inseparable.

22. “I have actually given them the glory that You gave Me, so that it would be possible for them to be one, even as We are.

23. “I have become one with them in the same way that You are one with Me, so that they may become completely one. This unification – this melding and merging of separate entities into a perfect oneness – is the thing that will ultimately show the whole world that You sent Me. They will all see that You love My followers as much as You love Me.

24. “Father, I truly want everyone You have given Me to be with Me…wherever I am…so that they will see, first-hand, the glory that You have given Me because You loved Me in the now…before the world of space and time was created.

25. “Righteous Father, the people of the world at large don’t know the real You, but I know You, and now the ones who have followed Me know that You sent Me.

26. “And I have revealed You to them and will continue to reveal You through the coming manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I am committed to continuing this revelation so that your love for Me may be in them and that I, Myself, may be in them, as well.”

Monday Blast

Later...
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OK, it's later. Thanks for getting started (currently 9 comments)...

BLOGINTHENOW is 6 months old today! Thanks for helping to make this cyber-community so vibrant and cutting-edge for half a year!

And thanks for the comments here and on e-mail about the service yesterday...here's the passage we discussed from John In The Now:

Chapter 3

1. Now there was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2. He secretly approached Jesus under the cover of night and said to Him, “Rabbi, it is obvious to all of us that you are a God-sent, God-ordained teacher, for no one could perform the amazing signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3. Jesus replied, “This is what is important – even more important than the signs – this truth is absolute: No one can perceive the concept of the kingdom of God without experiencing a rebirth of sorts…without having actually revisited the human birth process.”
4. “What are you talking about?” Nicodemus asked. “How could any adult be born again? They obviously couldn’t return to the womb, so how could rebirth possibly happen?
5. Jesus answered, “I’m telling you, unreservedly, that no one can access the kingdom of God unless they are first physically born of water (the natural birth that begins when a pregnant woman’s water breaks) and then have their thought processes reborn by having them washed with the water of the Word, which is the result of the birth of the Spirit.
6. “Every living thing in the physical realm gives birth to, or recreates, a physical manifestation, and everything spiritual gives birth to a spiritual reality. Whatever is birthed from the Spirit is the essence of spirit.
7. “Look, you shouldn’t be so surprised to hear Me say ‘You must be born again.’
8. “Think of it this way…the wind blows wherever it wants to blow. It has a mind of its own. You can hear it, but you can’t locate its place of origin and you can’t predict its destination. This is how it is with everyone who is birthed out of the Spirit-wind.”

I didn't emphasize the word "blast" in JITN as I did in my sermon yesterday, so here's the same passage in the Concordant Literal New Testament (the translation I used)...

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, Nicodemus his name, a chief of the Jews.
2 This one came to Him by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we are aware that Thou art a Teacher come from God, for no one can be doing these signs which Thou art doing, if God should not be with Him."
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If anyone should not be begotten anew, he can not perceive the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus is saying to him, "How can a man, being a veteran, be begotten? He can not be entering into the womb of his mother a second time and be begotten!"
5 Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I am saying to you, If anyone should not be begotten of water and of spirit, he can not be entering into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is begotten by the flesh is flesh, and that which is begotten by the spirit is spirit.
7 You should not be marveling that I said to you, 'You must be begotten anew.'
8 THE BLAST IS BLOWING WHERE IT WILLS, and the sound of it you are hearing, but you are not aware whence it is coming and where it is going. Thus is everyone who is begotten by the water and the spirit."

The Blast is blowing where it wills...

Please spend some time today praying for peace in Russia and Georgia...

Peace Blessing

“Peace I leave with you; I’m talking about My own, personal sense of peace, wholeness and well-being; I’m actually transferring it to you. You see, My peace is unlike the peace that comes from this realm...the peace that is reactionary and temporal, dependent on outward circumstances to determine its strength and presence. My peace is other-worldly – settled, absolute – causing you to be in harmony with your whole life – past, present, and future – and ultimately with the whole of creation. It will empower you to refuse to let your heart (your inner world) become troubled, agitated, or upset, no matter what is happening around you, and you can be fearless because you will be at peace with the Father, with yourself, and with the universe."
(John 14:27 - John In The Now)

Hey bloggers,

We’re in Washington through the weekend for the ACLC Conference and the Global Peace Festival on Saturday (we’re flying out Sunday morning, and will be at church with a great word!)…

I probably won’t be on the blog for the next several days, but I want to speak a blessing of peace over you, and hope that you’ll keep the conversation going while I’m a passenger on the peace train in D.C…


In the name of the Prince of Peace, I release a blessing of peace to your spirit, your soul, your physical body, your family, your household…peace to your past, your present, and your future…peace to everything that you are, and to everything that you are becoming…

…I speak peace of mind to you through the power of the Holy Spirit, and by faith I say, in the same way that Jesus stood up in the boat and commanded “Peace! Be still!” to the storm, that you experience an absolute calmness coming to the stormy waves of your mind, and that everything that is causing unrest in your thoughts will quell down.

…May you embrace and enjoy real peace of mind today…the kind of inner peace which is the companion of the silence of the mind…He will keep you in PERFECT PEACE as you keep your mind stayed on Him…

I pray/say that you manifest peace of mind, not by thinking about it or imagining it, but by finding the entrance to the secret place of the Most High…and that you are fully able to relax the restless mind under the shadow of the Almighty…

You are made in God’s image, so your true nature is actually absolute peace. You are not the mind, but you possess the Mind of Christ. As rivers of living water flow from your innermost being, you will find a way to silence your mind…through concentration and meditation, you will discover the peace of the Spirit that you are, and have always been.

As peace flows like a river through your spirit/heart, you can let your thoughts go, and can close the windows and doors of your mind…“casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God”…

Inner peace creates outer peace…out of the heart are the issues of life...so right now, all the stress has to go, the pressure is released, and you can exhale and deeply relax…

By my words I create the possibility that you can find some quiet time today. The mind is like a room that is always full of stuff...cluttered with unimportant things…there is no free space there. When you get quiet, however, and the room of your mind becomes vacant, peace of mind prevails. It’s a natural flow…

Give your brain some rest…stop over-thinking everything…in fact, you should stop your thoughts, altogether, for a little while, but stay awake…in that state you will become aware that you are filled with the Spirit, and you will experience the great ocean of peace beyond the mind.

True peace of mind is not dependent on circumstances. It comes from the inside.

The wind causes waves to arise on the sea. Restless thoughts are the winds that bring waves and storms into the mind. Learn to calm down the winds of your mind, and you will enjoy great inner peace.

In faith I charge you to calm your storm…worries, fears, desires, restlessness, and nervousness drive peace of mind away.

Negative feelings and negative thoughts keep peace of mind away…truth, beauty, love, grace, forgiveness, surrender, unity…think on these things…

God is good. You are loved. You are blessed. Everything is going to be all right…relax…cast all of your care on Him because He cares for you…let it all go…let go and let God…your kingdom rights are righteousness, PEACE, and joy in the Holy Spirit…

I speak this blessing on you…have a peace-filled day, and enjoy every minute of it…

And wherever you go today, and whatever you do…CREATE PEACE!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God…