Sunday 2 November 2008

Havant,Parchment,Signing the register

Pictures and impressions that have both local and international resonance.
The purpose of this blog as a whole is not to share my own life , nor share details about my local church.

Its specific purpose is to share prophetically and by means of Bible teaching and revelation where the Body is heading. In my first post I said I needed room, more room than Dan's comment section, to systematically explore every thread and basis for a "third level" of growth.
Both corporately and individually.
You have seen that I am building off decades of revelation in the lives of many notable saints and forerunners. The Norman Grubbs, the Ern Baxters, the Ed Millers. You have also seen that from an intellectual, left-brain approach, I have not been that systematic. So, think of this a bit like the gospel of John, or some of St Paul's stuff....where the system is more thematic. Also, please respect that the most systematic description so far has been written down for us already in "Yes,Iam",Norman Grubb's last book.
I neither have permission to copy this out verbatim, nor would I wish to take away from Zerubbabel's bookstore, mentioned in the links section.
Today,however, I want to speak about some more personal and local stuff because I believe at least some of it will be relevant on a larger scale.
I refer to the Key of David meetings.
The church I attend was formed under Peter and Mariette Stott nearly 30 years ago. As they both were used farther afield, in Europe, especially Spain, also South America and America, the day to day church runnings were then managed by a good team ministry under the pastors John and Wendy Wilbraham.
A while ago, Peter felt to run "Key of David" meetings to which anybody could come. These sort of meetings are appearing the world over as the Holy Spirit directs. Locally, they are known as Key of David meetings...but many around the world would use lots of other titles. Peter has been in many. It was in such a meeting in the UK, known as "the Well" that he first met Todd Bentley.
Key of David meetings have no agenda. They come from King David's phrase "One thing I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." The meetings centre on this seeking of God. With or without music,with or without teaching,maybe in total stillness prostrate on the floor, maybe dancing your socks off in violent praise.....in whatever form..waiting on God.

In 1973, when God led a few of us in Amersham into something similar...ostensibly to train up a local prophet...the teaching God used was from Psalm123:32
Behold, as the eyes of (C)servants look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our (D)eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
ie unless you are ready, willing and concentrated on the slightest flick of your master's hand, you will have no clue as to what he wants you to do.
And just as for us in the early 70s during these little meetings God was revealing huge swathes of revelation concerning
The Release of the Spirit
Discipleship
The Vision of the Triumphant Church
which then came out internationally 2-3 years later as taught by people such as Juan Carlos Ortiz and Ern Baxter;
So now, in these Key of David meetings, many of the bigger themes on an international scale are coming first as a "cloud no bigger than a man's hand" in these sessions.
One of these things was the 3-fold nature of Revelation 3:20 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door,
1.I will come in to him and
2.will dine with him,
3.and he with Me. "
I had never noticed this before and certainly not in a 1st level 2nd level 3rd level context.
I felt this applicable to us all in the charismatic movement....but I really felt it for a couple I shall not name. Here was a couple...(incidentally the same man who refused to take the 3rd level message tape into his hand 16 years ago....he reached out for it...then at the last minute withdrew his hand quickly. It was a really odd moment. He'd just prophesied over me that just as I was restoring a grand piano project, I would be a concert instrument before many people. So on the one hand prophecying, on the other, destroying any chance of it taking place. Torture.)
Anyhow this couple is representative of a generation that have asked Jesus in, that have let Him eat them out of house and home, and to whom God was now saying "Right. How would you like to come back to My place?"

This changed in the May Conference to the Father saying it. "Come back to My Place for tea."
And sure enough...that was also the burden of RiverCAMP through Mark Stibbe's messages.
Also through a ministry later in Shaftsbury, John and Wendy told me.
Another two of the Key of David themes , also taken up in Peter and Mariette's recent ministry...for example in Paduka, Kentucky....is one of legitimacy. Peter preached on this in the May Conference here...and more recently "shame" taken from Adam and Eve hiding.
I want to explore this because of last night's Key of David meeting.
It was outwardly quite a subdued meeting, but this was strongly contrasted by the deep sense of the Lord's Presence. And the worship and adoration. And the sense of looking into the face of Jesus.
Just about the time I was getting impressions that were the Kingdom equivalent of Dr Who's tardis....and science fiction portals and worm-holes....
translated, that is the sense of Jacob thinking he was in the middle of nowhere, with a stone for a pillow ...next he is having a dream as inGenesis28:12(S)He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, (T)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.Then in verse 17 "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

And I was feeling all this about our little Havant. Just at that moment...I think at a point of high praise...Peter blurted out verse 17 as above.
And how often is that true of us in our little anonymous places all over the world. Like Ruth, (as in Book of Ruth)we literally sell all in various ways, only to find ourselves being woven into God's history of the world.

This is particularly true of Havant. Only notable as the former centre for Kenwood, Vogue Butterick patterns, Goodmans speakers,Scalextric, and Tam Brands (Tampax).


You know, not many in the Kingdom have Phd's like Mark Stibbe and Brad Jersak. But many move from humble surroundings to achieve doctorate status later. One such local lady pastor researched Havant's history and saw prophetic parallels. Havant's history revolves around it having the largest amount of naturally occurring artesian wells in the UK...22 or so.

The water is old water as in old and deep water so pure that Havant developed into a centre for extremely pure and high quality parchment. Parchment so fine that it was the choice for the writing of the Magna Carta.(1215) and last century for the Treaty of Versailles.

This is all extremely prophetically charged stuff for the nature of the church God is building here. And last night I saw more, which ties these strands together with what God is currently doing worldwide too.
In the more subdued setting of the worship. Subdued in volume...not subdued in Presence..

I felt I was present watching the signing of a wedding Registry Book, in the same way that this generally takes place to a background setting of music.


This registry book was the one officially and legally describing the marriage of Jesus and His Bride. In a local sense, there was an important resonance with it being signed on Havant Parchment....but this is for us locally...and again showing that our little church has a certain position and importance that goes beyond what you would assume for its size.

But opening out in scale....

you can see what the Holy Spirit is doing in the greater Body too right now.

He is setting on parchment for all to see


Our total legitimacy to be heirs of Christ as in Ephesians and Colossians and Romans

Our total legitimacy to be declared a race of co-sons as preached by Rob Rufus, Mark Stibbe, Peter Stott and simultaneous innumerable others

Therefore the total and legal declaration of the Abolition of the Shame we inherited in the Garden

A parchment set out before the principalities and powers, before any other claimants false or real on our lives. (Ruth had to go through this process before legally being able to marry Boaz. Is this not what has been going on with the New Covenant since it began? And it has passed through false claimants hands (the structured man-made church who tried to make it back into an old Covenant concern again)


The Body has never really known its legitimacy. And out of this lack of knowledge has moved in all sorts of falsified versions of legitimacy. But now is the time for this parchment to be brought out, with all the correct signatures, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
saints without number from beyond the grave
angel hosts.


I believe this is the gist of what Lydia Joy is trying to say here. I myself don't have any problem with the phrase "convicted by the Holy Spirit"...but it is more like Rob Rufus described recently when on 080808 Jesus came into his room. The thing is, as Peter shared this morning if shame has been dealt with at our deepest levels....the Holy Spirit's negatives do not have the same sting...in fact they are somehow filled with honour...

because God, the God of the Universe wants to interact with me....He loves me enough to tell me off but also as Lydia would say...point us in the right direction.


If you read the last chapters of Job you can see the same thing going on. God is economical in His acts. He does a whole host of things at many levels simultaneously. With Job, we are often told about how it was the Devil putting up the challenge in the first chapter...totally unseen by the human world...only to be totally proved wrong through Job's refusal to curse God. Actually there was something else going on too. There was some "independent self " thinking going on with Job, and you can read for yourself how God firmly, but graciously, and again in a totally honoring way,

says nevertheless " Job, kid, where were you when I set the whole kit up then!!!"


We need that. We need to know...to really know in our very fibres...that without Him we are nothing..........


But then we need to know as the Parchment tells us

Christ is now our life

Christ in us is the hope of glory

We can now do all things through Christ who strengthens us

It is not I who live , but Christ who lives in me

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.


While we are still hugging our proud and lofty speculations about being

successful or unsuccessful independent "lone " me's in the universe

we are hugging shame to ourselves


the shame, as Peter Stott was sharing, of being either over-projecting selves, to counteract the inner feeling of worthlessness,

or the shame of being the blushing buffoon who lacks confidence in many situations....as Saul first was when Samuel found him hiding in the baggage.


Dan was sharing about his feelings and fighting self-harm.....well if he can also start to withdraw from the fight....and see the Parchment declaration.....he should start to see that it is only

independent thinking that would drive him depressionwards.


Not that depression is not real....it's just that with any of the devil's stuff...(Since by the way, the devil is the Biggest Manic depressive ...he is the one with the biggest Bipolar condition...and really all we are doing is joining him in his condition)

whereas Christ is Hope.

His very Life lived through us is Hope. If by dying, Jesus nailed our manic depressed life to the cross, and plunged us into Him in a real baptism into His death and resurrection....it is accurate that we don't live this independant lie anymore....it's Jesus living His life through me.

Just as believing on Him for forgiveness was a step into the unknown

Just as receiving the Baptism in the Spirit was a step out on scriptures into the unknown, but richly rewarded

So it is into the 3rd Level....


It is cold. It is calculated. From the view of our former manner of life it is brutal. But when we are desperate enough, as I was....we say

OK Jesus. I believe your Word. It was not me that was doing all these things...although it suited my pride to believe that I as an independent being chose it all...like Romans 7 says...it was "never just me".....since I ,as a self-running being, is an impossibility....


I See....at last....it was SIN in me. This god-delusion thing of me running my own life has only led me into darkness, self-hatred and sin.....which is what You wanted me to see


so that now I can choose You. You are my Life. You don't get depressed. You may get aggrieved, as when John the Baptist was beheaded...but You don't drop into depression as a life pattern.

Therefore, coldly, as I chose You for salvation, totally based on Your Word...with not necessarily much feeling, I say now

The life I now live is YOU. And if I am tempted into sin, then it is me slipping back into "Just me" territory, and I will turn around and again begin believing Your Life in me.

I have no independent life, and since the Cross, on the new Marriage Parchment you have legitimately declared that my Life is now You as lived through MY SOUL

as lived through MY BODY.


My soul is OK and being renewed daily by your Spirit battery coming through it.

I do not need to be someone else. I only need to recognise that new SOMEBODY which is Christ living through me. Help me as I learn it, in the same way you taught me how to do Spirit-filled meetings. Do not let me bow to pressure to be someone different. I am me. And what you are currently doing through me is sufficient. As I believe you for more gifting, it is based on your Word, and not on some deluded self-effort thing as "an alone me".


Amen. This stuff works. And later, you may even be allowed to go to meetings and take them over for the glory of God! But for now learn how to pour out muesli into a bowl as Christ as you.

There are many testimonies of people with all manner of psychological stuff making this step in the oldest Intercessor magazines. Unfortunately only Vol 9 is now available - the latest ones containing little or no testimony.


Bring on the Body!

3 comments:

lydia said...

I like the sound of those Key of David meetings .......would love to go to one!!

I appreciate this post and how you mentioned your perspective on the Holy Spirit convicting of sin. I just feel it is so important to clarify that he leads us into truth because of the church culture I came out of. When there is confusion about the very nature and character of God, and one does not have a firm grip on grace and is still trying to live under a right living performance mentality it is not helpful to see the Holy Spirit in this way, it would be more beneficial to use the terms in Scripture such as lead into truth, and not to mention the fact that He is the Comforter.

anyway, great post, I love the constant reminder you bring, it's Christ in me, Christ living as me, in me, through me, for me..........it's so true we need to get a hold of this truth and let Him live the life!!

Chris Welch - 07000INTUNE said...

Lydia Joy,
I've let Jesus live the things I'm good at in me. I find running a business hard for a muzo.
Nicholas and Pam's visit was an eyeopener. First, they were a blessing to the biz while they were here...we sold 3 pianos! And one had been sitting around for a year!
Secondly, they prayed specific prayers about how we can prosper through shrewder use of time and biz wisdom in general.Before halfterm holiday we had little work, but Christine and I went into more proactive mode...going out for the biz, and God blessed us with 3 further sales.
I am being challenged now to go back more into the "faith side of things"...What do I mean...well there's the Jesus who lives His life out in me....
but there's also the crazy Jesus that knows how to get money out of fishes mouths. This is the Jesus that is continually undergirding God Channel...begun by Rory and Wendy on a sofa in their house. South Africans like Rob, Rory and Wendy are notable for moving in this Jesus. We've got an Englishman like it locally who has
believed for running one of the main Bognor Regis hotels as a Christian going concern. I've seen glimpses of this in my life...and also living corporately in my previous church.
Someone said "God always does impossible projects!"
Let's stir ourselves as bloggers to step out...just as David's mighty men used to do with each other!!!

Jamie said...

You are scaring me, my friend! ;)

I will link this if you don't mind???

I want EVERYONE to see this; it's incredible!

Whether it's a prophetic word or a conversation with a friend, you are echoing what God is saying in a small fellowship in NC!! I know what is going on; He tells me and He confirms it through you and others...