God is on the move…always! If you look to long at what God did yesterday, you will miss what He is doing today. Should we celebrate what we saw Him do, what He let us experience? Absolutely, but stand your stone of remembrance and look for what He is up to today.
Think about the followers of John the Baptist. These were exciting times…God had been quiet for 400 years and now here is this locust eating, camel hair wearing, nut job speaking the truth of God out in the wilderness. He didn’t look like the religious leaders of the day, that’s for sure, but he had the Holy Spirit all over him, since birth in fact. His mission…prepare the way for the One, point to the One, and get out of the way of the One once He came.
John recognized his call, his purpose very clearly, but more importantly he recognized when his mission was complete.
When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" John 1:36
He encouraged his followers to leave him and follow the current move of God. Okay, this may be an extreme example, after all I am talking about when Jesus came in the flesh.
How about this one? One of my favorite OT stories is the bronze snake on the pole in Moses’ time that brought healing to the Israelites in the desert (Numbers chapter 21 I believe). It was an amazing God event. However, too much attention for too long turned it into an idol.
He (Hezekiah) removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. 2Kings 18:4
I’ve heard people say, “Be careful…you don’t want to get ahead of God”. Yeah, good luck with that! I’d be thrilled to grab a hold of God’s shirt tail and try to hang on for awhile. I don’t think “careful” or “fear” is part of the vocabulary of heaven. As soon as you have more to loose, or maintain, than you have opportunities to gain, you may be working for a Kingdom other than God’s.
These are exciting times my friends…let’s head for the biggest, highest roller coaster there is! When a bigger one is built…let’s head there.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
The Purple Flame Vision
I just returned from a long weekend in Atlanta, GA where we (Marg, Josh, Mom, and I) went to a couple of different “Mountain of Worship” (MOW) events. Great experience…fun three nights, but the point of this writing is the vision I received while there.
I am not much of a vision person, not meaning that I don’t believe in them…I do, but rather I have not experienced much in that area personally. Maybe that’s changing...I hope it is. I actually had two separate visions very closely related, as well as close in time. We were about an hour into the current worship time when the first one came…
While worshiping, the bongo drums just seemed to stand out to me very powerfully. As I was listening I could sense Jesus dancing. I didn’t “see” anything, not even in my “minds eye” (whatever that is), but I could sense Him and His movements. I’m not going to try to explain this so that it makes sense, I’m just going to tell the story. I knew the WHOLE point of His dancing was to simply have fun, and He was (I learned Jesus dances a lot like I would if I had enough courage). He invited me to join him, which I did, briefly. I opened my eyes for a moment to reengage this world (not sure why) to discover I was still safe and ready for more. It now seemed the first vision was simply a warm up for what was to come.
This time, when I closed my eyes someone was in my vision PLAYING the bongos. It didn’t take me too long to discover it was Jesus doing the playing. He sat off to the left in front of me. I was then aware that I was in the midst of a very large crowd…all christians. There was a “performance” of sorts going on in front of us that we had gathered to watch. It was the Holy Spirit dancing before us in a beautiful display that only God could put on.
All of the sudden, He grew to a tremendous size and filled the sky. I could sense Him saying, “You like fireworks…watch this!” This was followed by amazing blasts of color and feelings to the awe of the crowd…all of this to the rhythm of Jesus’ Bongos. The color show finalized with a large purple “cloud” above us. The cloud then fell down to us as handful size purple flames! A few of us couldn’t wait to catch them, but most fell to the ground and went out. It was clear that everyone in the crowd who wanted to catch the flames did. While it was exciting to have two handfuls of purple flames personally, it was much sadder to see the vast majority fizzle on the ground.
Those of us with the flames started to rub the hands of those who became willing, who then also had the purple flames. After awhile the entire crowd had two hands full. I noticed the individual flames became one huge purple flame over the whole crowd. Some how, we joined with other groups who were also ablaze and became a mountain of purple flame. From the mountain I was a part of, I could see other mountains also ablaze in the distance.
I was then given a perspective from space, and could see the entire Earth ablaze in purple flame. Finally, one person shot up from the Earth and flew past me. It looked a little like the final scene from the only good Matrix movie. It was Jesus! I had a sense of Him saying, “There you go Papa…what do you think of that!”
I don’t want to try to interpret this vision, but only share what I saw. I will tell you this however…the point in time of the vision when there where only a few holding the purple flames did not feel special, but sad. The only desire at that time was to give it away as quickly as possible and see everyone have the same thing.
I am not much of a vision person, not meaning that I don’t believe in them…I do, but rather I have not experienced much in that area personally. Maybe that’s changing...I hope it is. I actually had two separate visions very closely related, as well as close in time. We were about an hour into the current worship time when the first one came…
While worshiping, the bongo drums just seemed to stand out to me very powerfully. As I was listening I could sense Jesus dancing. I didn’t “see” anything, not even in my “minds eye” (whatever that is), but I could sense Him and His movements. I’m not going to try to explain this so that it makes sense, I’m just going to tell the story. I knew the WHOLE point of His dancing was to simply have fun, and He was (I learned Jesus dances a lot like I would if I had enough courage). He invited me to join him, which I did, briefly. I opened my eyes for a moment to reengage this world (not sure why) to discover I was still safe and ready for more. It now seemed the first vision was simply a warm up for what was to come.
This time, when I closed my eyes someone was in my vision PLAYING the bongos. It didn’t take me too long to discover it was Jesus doing the playing. He sat off to the left in front of me. I was then aware that I was in the midst of a very large crowd…all christians. There was a “performance” of sorts going on in front of us that we had gathered to watch. It was the Holy Spirit dancing before us in a beautiful display that only God could put on.
All of the sudden, He grew to a tremendous size and filled the sky. I could sense Him saying, “You like fireworks…watch this!” This was followed by amazing blasts of color and feelings to the awe of the crowd…all of this to the rhythm of Jesus’ Bongos. The color show finalized with a large purple “cloud” above us. The cloud then fell down to us as handful size purple flames! A few of us couldn’t wait to catch them, but most fell to the ground and went out. It was clear that everyone in the crowd who wanted to catch the flames did. While it was exciting to have two handfuls of purple flames personally, it was much sadder to see the vast majority fizzle on the ground.
Those of us with the flames started to rub the hands of those who became willing, who then also had the purple flames. After awhile the entire crowd had two hands full. I noticed the individual flames became one huge purple flame over the whole crowd. Some how, we joined with other groups who were also ablaze and became a mountain of purple flame. From the mountain I was a part of, I could see other mountains also ablaze in the distance.
I was then given a perspective from space, and could see the entire Earth ablaze in purple flame. Finally, one person shot up from the Earth and flew past me. It looked a little like the final scene from the only good Matrix movie. It was Jesus! I had a sense of Him saying, “There you go Papa…what do you think of that!”
I don’t want to try to interpret this vision, but only share what I saw. I will tell you this however…the point in time of the vision when there where only a few holding the purple flames did not feel special, but sad. The only desire at that time was to give it away as quickly as possible and see everyone have the same thing.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
March Encounter
BREAKTHROUGH! That is all I heard. Shortly after last month’s Encounter I started asking the Lord, “What’s next?” “Breakthrough!”. My reaction was one of disappointment (out of ignorance of course), I said, “But Lord, we just did “addictions” isn’t that about the same thing…?” He said nothing more.
I sought the council of a friend who I trust to hear clearly from the Lord and he said, “Yes, I believe that breakthrough is to be the subject for your next Encounter”. While this didn’t shed a whole lot of light on the topic, I at least felt confirmation that I heard correctly…now I just needed to understand.
I have known God long enough to know that when we are not on the same page it is my bookmark that needs to move, so I started asking around looking for a definition of Breakthrough. One friend painted a picture of standing at a starting line, leaning over, listening for and even hearing the starting pistol, but still being held back by some unknown force. Another said, “Coming out of the darkness and the things that have bound you up and stepping into the freedom to being healed”.
I was on my way back from praying over someone with a friend and God gave me a glimpse of another definition. I didn’t hear or see anything at all, but all of the sudden I had an understanding that my personal “breakthrough” could come in the form of the people that I pray over for their cancer to be gone actually starting to be healed. I believe it was at this same time that I was told not to define it, but just put it out there as “breakthrough”…people will define if for themselves.
So that is where we are…Encounter is going to be about BREAKTHROUGH! You can define it…I’m sure I’ll talk about it…but I believe God is going to PROVIDE it!
Come get yours...
\o/ Don
Wednesday March 4th 7:00 PM
3420 Glenmore Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45211
I sought the council of a friend who I trust to hear clearly from the Lord and he said, “Yes, I believe that breakthrough is to be the subject for your next Encounter”. While this didn’t shed a whole lot of light on the topic, I at least felt confirmation that I heard correctly…now I just needed to understand.
I have known God long enough to know that when we are not on the same page it is my bookmark that needs to move, so I started asking around looking for a definition of Breakthrough. One friend painted a picture of standing at a starting line, leaning over, listening for and even hearing the starting pistol, but still being held back by some unknown force. Another said, “Coming out of the darkness and the things that have bound you up and stepping into the freedom to being healed”.
I was on my way back from praying over someone with a friend and God gave me a glimpse of another definition. I didn’t hear or see anything at all, but all of the sudden I had an understanding that my personal “breakthrough” could come in the form of the people that I pray over for their cancer to be gone actually starting to be healed. I believe it was at this same time that I was told not to define it, but just put it out there as “breakthrough”…people will define if for themselves.
So that is where we are…Encounter is going to be about BREAKTHROUGH! You can define it…I’m sure I’ll talk about it…but I believe God is going to PROVIDE it!
Come get yours...
\o/ Don
Wednesday March 4th 7:00 PM
3420 Glenmore Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45211
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
What Headache?
For several years now I have been praying for other’s headaches with great success. I don’t keep track, but if I had to guess, I would say that 95%-99% of those I pray for with headaches are completely relieved within three minutes.
This all started while doing emotional healing ministry years ago. While helping others receive healing from Jesus you sometimes “bump into” demons that don’t like restoration for their hosts. Quit often these pests will try to disrupt or distract the progress by causing pain, most often…headaches.
This behavior of our enemy pissed me off, because in the early days progress was not as quick coming as it is today, so disruptions were a pain (pun intended). I learned to stop momentarily to deal with the pest and then return immediately to whatever I was doing that caused it enough discomfort to act out. In this “ministry” setting, it was very easy to force the pain to leave and replace it with “peace and calm” because I knew the source was the enemy.
It didn’t take long for me to apply what I learned in the ministry setting to every other setting in life as well. Now, if we can avoid a medical and or theological debate, here is what I learned…if you assume that a headache is caused by “a spirit of darkness”…you can make it go away! You don’t have to learn its name, function, purpose, or when it got there. You don’t even have to hold your right hand in the air with two fingers and a thumb extended with a very serious look on your face, and you especially do not have to raise your voice (people with headaches don’t like when you yell…at that point you become the demon causing them pain).
Very simply, this is what I do…first I ask where their pain is specifically located. Next, very gently (I can’t stress this part too strongly, remember they have a headache and you are probably excited) very gently place your hands on their head where the pain is focused. Then say something to the effect of, “Whatever is causing this pain and pressure, I command you to leave right now in Jesus name”. I will often continue with, “You can’t shrink, you can’t move, you can’t hide…you have to leave completely in Jesus name right now”.
At this point I am done talking to the demon. You have to understand that your authority is perfect, because it is Jesus’ authority you are using! It is kind of like a General talking to a Private…he does not say, “Private, dig that hole…no really, start digging that hole now! I mean it, I command you to pick up that shovel and start digging…pick up that shovel now…okay then, right after lunch you get on digging that hole soldier”. How ridiculous! The General says, “Private dig that hole” and if the Private dares to question him at all it would only be to say, “How deep Sir” and he better be digging while he asks that question.
Now after commanding the to demon to leave, this is when you start praying, “Lord Jesus come, come by Your Holy Spirit and fill my friends head with your presence. Please Lord, push out this pain and pressure and replace it with peace and calm.” This can go on for a minute or so. At this point check in with your friend to see how they are doing.
Usually, by this point something is happening. If it moved…GREAT! You’ve got it on the run and it’s almost finished. Move your hands to the new location and pray, “Lord Jesus, I commanded this thing to not move and it moved, would you please come punish this disobedient thing and make it leave completely at this time?” They know they are in trouble when they are disobedient to Jesus’ authority…even if you are the one expressing it. Two things happen at this point…this one is in trouble and anyone else present is now paying close attention.
If their pain did not move, and is better, but not completely gone, continue praying for another minute, maybe mentioning to Jesus (but more for the hearing benefit of the demon) that you commanded this thing to not shrink, but to leave completely…again disobedience can be punished.
If nothing has changed with their pain at this point, ask Jesus to send an angel to enforce His authority that you spoke. We do not command angels, but they are available for our service…
Hebrew 1:14 “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
The answer is yes they are if you are wondering. I was once told by a wonderful lady (who has a unique perspective because she lives inside of someone else) that there is nothing better to watch than a human sized angel, pick up by the collar, a demon the size of a battleship, and through it around like it’s nothing. Angels are good help!
After your friend’s pain is all gone, be sure to pray over them to be filled up with the Holy Spirit…we don’t want to leave any of their house empty for something else to come pestering.
I write all of this because this is not a gift for Don, but a power and authority that Jesus intended for all who follow Him. I believe every follower of Christ can have the exact same success I have praying for headaches…and who knows what else!
Now go get ‘em…kick some headache causing demon butt in the name of Jesus! And let us know how it goes after you do.
\o/ Don
This all started while doing emotional healing ministry years ago. While helping others receive healing from Jesus you sometimes “bump into” demons that don’t like restoration for their hosts. Quit often these pests will try to disrupt or distract the progress by causing pain, most often…headaches.
This behavior of our enemy pissed me off, because in the early days progress was not as quick coming as it is today, so disruptions were a pain (pun intended). I learned to stop momentarily to deal with the pest and then return immediately to whatever I was doing that caused it enough discomfort to act out. In this “ministry” setting, it was very easy to force the pain to leave and replace it with “peace and calm” because I knew the source was the enemy.
It didn’t take long for me to apply what I learned in the ministry setting to every other setting in life as well. Now, if we can avoid a medical and or theological debate, here is what I learned…if you assume that a headache is caused by “a spirit of darkness”…you can make it go away! You don’t have to learn its name, function, purpose, or when it got there. You don’t even have to hold your right hand in the air with two fingers and a thumb extended with a very serious look on your face, and you especially do not have to raise your voice (people with headaches don’t like when you yell…at that point you become the demon causing them pain).
Very simply, this is what I do…first I ask where their pain is specifically located. Next, very gently (I can’t stress this part too strongly, remember they have a headache and you are probably excited) very gently place your hands on their head where the pain is focused. Then say something to the effect of, “Whatever is causing this pain and pressure, I command you to leave right now in Jesus name”. I will often continue with, “You can’t shrink, you can’t move, you can’t hide…you have to leave completely in Jesus name right now”.
At this point I am done talking to the demon. You have to understand that your authority is perfect, because it is Jesus’ authority you are using! It is kind of like a General talking to a Private…he does not say, “Private, dig that hole…no really, start digging that hole now! I mean it, I command you to pick up that shovel and start digging…pick up that shovel now…okay then, right after lunch you get on digging that hole soldier”. How ridiculous! The General says, “Private dig that hole” and if the Private dares to question him at all it would only be to say, “How deep Sir” and he better be digging while he asks that question.
Now after commanding the to demon to leave, this is when you start praying, “Lord Jesus come, come by Your Holy Spirit and fill my friends head with your presence. Please Lord, push out this pain and pressure and replace it with peace and calm.” This can go on for a minute or so. At this point check in with your friend to see how they are doing.
Usually, by this point something is happening. If it moved…GREAT! You’ve got it on the run and it’s almost finished. Move your hands to the new location and pray, “Lord Jesus, I commanded this thing to not move and it moved, would you please come punish this disobedient thing and make it leave completely at this time?” They know they are in trouble when they are disobedient to Jesus’ authority…even if you are the one expressing it. Two things happen at this point…this one is in trouble and anyone else present is now paying close attention.
If their pain did not move, and is better, but not completely gone, continue praying for another minute, maybe mentioning to Jesus (but more for the hearing benefit of the demon) that you commanded this thing to not shrink, but to leave completely…again disobedience can be punished.
If nothing has changed with their pain at this point, ask Jesus to send an angel to enforce His authority that you spoke. We do not command angels, but they are available for our service…
Hebrew 1:14 “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
The answer is yes they are if you are wondering. I was once told by a wonderful lady (who has a unique perspective because she lives inside of someone else) that there is nothing better to watch than a human sized angel, pick up by the collar, a demon the size of a battleship, and through it around like it’s nothing. Angels are good help!
After your friend’s pain is all gone, be sure to pray over them to be filled up with the Holy Spirit…we don’t want to leave any of their house empty for something else to come pestering.
I write all of this because this is not a gift for Don, but a power and authority that Jesus intended for all who follow Him. I believe every follower of Christ can have the exact same success I have praying for headaches…and who knows what else!
Now go get ‘em…kick some headache causing demon butt in the name of Jesus! And let us know how it goes after you do.
\o/ Don
Monday, February 2, 2009
Encounter Update...
I don’t have a new story to tell, but with Encounter just two days away I had to write with an update. I feel like God has been downloading early this month. He usually keeps me in suspense until the afternoon of Encounter, but lately I feel I have been getting more revelation around this every time I ask for it.
I drove to Columbus today with my wife-partner to deliver checks to my jobsite, so we had four hours to talk, and pray, and read. I’m seeing addiction busting stuff in scripture that I have never understood before. Reading through Romans 6&7 was simply enlightening. As I've shared before, I believe God wants to set people free from their addictions this month. That may not be the whole plan, but definitely part of it.
I can’t wait for Wednesday! There is so much going on in the spiritual realm right now that I am not even allowed to share all of it (because it personally involves others, not because I have secret revelation). Just in the last half hour God gave me another picture that I haven’t even prayed about yet. However, if it is from Him…this is going to be the greatest Encounter yet…and last month is going to be tough to beat!
Hope to see you there!
\o/ Don
I drove to Columbus today with my wife-partner to deliver checks to my jobsite, so we had four hours to talk, and pray, and read. I’m seeing addiction busting stuff in scripture that I have never understood before. Reading through Romans 6&7 was simply enlightening. As I've shared before, I believe God wants to set people free from their addictions this month. That may not be the whole plan, but definitely part of it.
I can’t wait for Wednesday! There is so much going on in the spiritual realm right now that I am not even allowed to share all of it (because it personally involves others, not because I have secret revelation). Just in the last half hour God gave me another picture that I haven’t even prayed about yet. However, if it is from Him…this is going to be the greatest Encounter yet…and last month is going to be tough to beat!
Hope to see you there!
\o/ Don
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Carol's Encounter
(For an understanding of "Encounter", please see the post "Introduction to Encounter")
My Encounter was a wonderful "next chapter" to all that has been happening in my life since joining VWS!
First, during worship music, I prayed for the Lord to fill the room! I also prayed that He would cast out any and all gloom and doom that the news broadcasts had been filling my head with. He has always had birds sing and fly around me whenever I was in a parking lot, to remind me of His care and that I need never worry. I asked Him to please do the same with my restless thoughts of crime, the economy, etc. He did!
I experienced being a cat, a horse, a petal on a white daisy, and a bird flying high in the clouds. When I was the horse running though the fields, I had picture upon picture of where I was going and seeing, one on top of the other, sometimes in mono vision and sometimes with the depth of binocular vision (two eyes working together to see one vision). It was confusing! I asked the Lord if this contributed to horse and rider accidents, where the rider wants the horse to jump over a fence and the horse comes to a dead stop instead. He said yes. I confirmed what I experienced with information about what horses see from experts.
Amazing as it was, this was just the beginning. We were asked to come to the front if we felt we had family curses, pestering demons, and/or suicidal thoughts. So I came up and prayed for release. As I did, and when I said out loud that I command all demons to leave me and my dreams and stay away, I suddenly fell to my knees. I had been leaning on a demon's lie as a crutch to stand on--without even knowing it! When the demon and his lies left I fell into a kneeling posture before the Throne of God, with angels keeping me from hurting myself when I went down. I saw this ugly black, streaky thing leave me as I fell, too.
I rose up to praise the Lord, and He lifted me up under my arms and placed me on a high precipice. It was glorious! I felt 20 feet tall! When the prayer was over and I opened my eyes, I still saw the earth far below me and stars right beside me. I was frightened I would fall at first, but then I realized I was safe and well.
I continue to feel lighter and happier! I wish I could share this feeling and these blessings with everyone! That is why I am humbled to be a part of the Sozo and prayer team. God bless you all!
Carol Whetstone
My Encounter was a wonderful "next chapter" to all that has been happening in my life since joining VWS!
First, during worship music, I prayed for the Lord to fill the room! I also prayed that He would cast out any and all gloom and doom that the news broadcasts had been filling my head with. He has always had birds sing and fly around me whenever I was in a parking lot, to remind me of His care and that I need never worry. I asked Him to please do the same with my restless thoughts of crime, the economy, etc. He did!
I experienced being a cat, a horse, a petal on a white daisy, and a bird flying high in the clouds. When I was the horse running though the fields, I had picture upon picture of where I was going and seeing, one on top of the other, sometimes in mono vision and sometimes with the depth of binocular vision (two eyes working together to see one vision). It was confusing! I asked the Lord if this contributed to horse and rider accidents, where the rider wants the horse to jump over a fence and the horse comes to a dead stop instead. He said yes. I confirmed what I experienced with information about what horses see from experts.
Amazing as it was, this was just the beginning. We were asked to come to the front if we felt we had family curses, pestering demons, and/or suicidal thoughts. So I came up and prayed for release. As I did, and when I said out loud that I command all demons to leave me and my dreams and stay away, I suddenly fell to my knees. I had been leaning on a demon's lie as a crutch to stand on--without even knowing it! When the demon and his lies left I fell into a kneeling posture before the Throne of God, with angels keeping me from hurting myself when I went down. I saw this ugly black, streaky thing leave me as I fell, too.
I rose up to praise the Lord, and He lifted me up under my arms and placed me on a high precipice. It was glorious! I felt 20 feet tall! When the prayer was over and I opened my eyes, I still saw the earth far below me and stars right beside me. I was frightened I would fall at first, but then I realized I was safe and well.
I continue to feel lighter and happier! I wish I could share this feeling and these blessings with everyone! That is why I am humbled to be a part of the Sozo and prayer team. God bless you all!
Carol Whetstone
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Next Encounter!
Every time Encounter is over for the month I get nervous...I feel like, "Okay, I've shared everything I know, what in the world will we do next month?" God let's me sweat it out for a little while, until I remember that part is His job! I usually don't have a very good picture of how I want to approach the evening until that afternoon, but He has been giving me clues along the way.
One of the things I believe He is telling me to go after on Feb 4th is addictions. I don't know what that will look like yet, but I believe Jesus is going to set some people free from junk they don't want (and maybe even some they do). We will likely do some more focused physical healing this time also since that was put on the back burner in January. I'll try to let you know some of the plan as I learn it myself (no promise of full disclosure implied there...I still like surprises).
If you are in the Cincinnati area, please join us for Encounter, Wednesday evening, February 4th, 7 PM, at the Vineyard Westside church on Glenmore Ave...I can't remember the address (maybe someone could comment with it).
One of the things I believe He is telling me to go after on Feb 4th is addictions. I don't know what that will look like yet, but I believe Jesus is going to set some people free from junk they don't want (and maybe even some they do). We will likely do some more focused physical healing this time also since that was put on the back burner in January. I'll try to let you know some of the plan as I learn it myself (no promise of full disclosure implied there...I still like surprises).
If you are in the Cincinnati area, please join us for Encounter, Wednesday evening, February 4th, 7 PM, at the Vineyard Westside church on Glenmore Ave...I can't remember the address (maybe someone could comment with it).
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