A long recovery from illness has kept me relatively quiet in the music world for some years now.
But there’s a stirring in my soul and a rumblin’ in the veins that run between my heart and my hands and my voice.
An obvious comeback might be to record Romantica versions of songs like “Hurricane” and “Rescue Me” and other musical treasures mined from the fertile pit of suffering and despair (and not to worry, those will come in good time). But there is something more profound that I need to do first.
Who and where would I be
without the life
that has loved before me
carving the path of possibility
singing neath the wings of destiny
My father is in his 71st circle around the sun.
When I was 7 years old, he taught me to play the guitar and write songs from my heart.
I have always continued in that tradition.
As a young man, I cut my teeth (and maybe a few other things) in the family band.
We traveled the world together singing, side by side, my fathers songs, and most of what I know about singing, playing, harmonizing and storytelling, I learned from doing alongside my father.
A sort of forced apprenticeship, that I don’t regret.
His songs are still in my bones.
And the memories of that harmony will linger to eternity.
When I was 27 I wrote about my father in the song The National Side….
“Daddy was a preacher in a ship-building town / Momma cooked the meals and wore a crown / because of it, Oh lord because of it”
Well before Daddy was a preacher, he was a young doctor in Northern Ireland, with a professional career in psychiatry and a dream of living a quiet bachelor life in a little white-washed cottage in the foothills of the Mountains of Mourne.
But as fate, or faith, would have it, he surrendered his life to the mystery, and the young bachelor doctor married my Irish hockey playing mother (who also happened to be his High School History teacher!) and by the time I was born, number 3 of what would be 7, he had given up the security of his career in medicine to shepherd a young church community (formerly a Presbyterian youth group) who had been excommunicated from their own mother church for, of all things, being too viscerally passionate about God.
It was the roaring 70’s and the spirit of God was moving like wildfire through the hearts of young people across the globe too vigorously and unpredictably for the institution to contain.
I remember Dad once preached a sermon to Bono and his band in our strange little community where catholics and protestants would sing side by side – on both sides – of a fractured Belfast. And the rattle and hum was making its way into many hearts.
So he never went back to biological medicine, but has always continued his healing work in the spiritual tradition. He and my mother both, have devoted their lives, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to this wave and way of the spirit.
When I was thirteen, they moved our family of nine from Northern Ireland to the United States of America and they had no ‘real’ job waiting for them in the Promised Land.
I remember cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors with my reverend doctor Dad in the wee hours of the morning, in the big block department stores, just to make ends meet.
He later started a church service in an Irish Pub, where our family band would mix Irish drinking songs with Irish Hymns and tell stories about the Celtic saints and how passionately they followed the Wild Goose (their symbol for the Spirit of God). Bloody Mary’s and Fish n Chips were communion. And to be honest, it did feel like a bit of a wild goose chase at times… but beautiful community and rich and wonderful friendships were born out of it.
Over the years, my mother and father would open our family home to people they knew that needed some stability, often downcast or outcast. And seek to nurture them back to peace and belonging in the context of family.
The passion of their lives has always been seeking to communicate more deeply, the love of the maker, into the awareness of every human heart that they have connection with.
They’ve never been perfect in this of course. But their desire has always been clear.
One of Dad’s more beautiful songs, still never released on a recording, says it well…
the whole of creation
cries with one voice
your maker loves you
rejoice, oh man rejoice
As kids, we weren’t always in alignment with how they’ve lived their lives.
I remember writing this Rilke poem in a birthday card I gave my father as a young man.
Sometimes a man stands up during supper
And walks outdoors, and keeps on walking,
Because of a church that stands somewhere in the east
And his children say blessings on him as if he were dead.
And another man, who remains inside his own house,
Dies there, inside the dishes and in the glasses,
So that his children have to go far out into the world
Toward that same church, which he forgot.
There’s always a give and take.
As children, I think his spirit quest was something we both hated and admired about him.
Hated, I suppose, because we wanted more attention, and admired, because of the unusual conviction and passion we saw him live with.
In the end, the conviction, passion, provision, integrity and intention we witnessed surpassed the sacrifice. And on the scales of eternity, they have surely blessed more than they have burdened.
10 years ago, I began working on a project to honor my fathers legacy.
Singing, playing and producing his best songs.
Some of the most beautiful have never been recorded.
My plans were interrupted by illness, and perhaps providence, God only knows.
But I’ve been listening to these early recordings and weeping as they move through me.
And I’ve been having, what you might call, a Mary Oliver moment.
One day you finally knew
What you had to do, and began
So I’m beginning now, to sing, play and produce this BEST OF album, of sorts. I’ve curated 10 songs. Among them are ballads that will break your heart, hymns that will ground your soul, and anthems that will give wings to your spirit.
I want this to be the pinnacle of my life’s work (so far). The best and most beautiful album that I’ve made. I know that’s setting the bar high. But where else is there to set it.
Dad, you have loved me well. And I want to love you with this.
I want to make this Album as a THANK YOU, for all that you have blessed, enriched, equipped, and graced my life with.
~
Through years spent in the wilderness, the little flame on my back burner never lost its flicker.
And that flame is growing bigger now in my heart.
My prayer to you all is… would you help me fan this flame into a beautiful and mysterious fire.
….as in Parting Shots, as Hilary and I set out for Ireland on the second of our three Laps proffering the Lord’s Victory!
1. More Crazy Golf Balls.
You might recall how in my blog of 7/7 I shared how God spoke to me through 4 golf balls that I found while walking. Well the other day it happened again!
Walking again the trails near our home by the golf course, I was listening to the book of Joshua in preparation for my weekly meeting with three of our grandsons. I noticed 2 golf balls and picking them up discovered they were a number 3 and a number 1.
I had just got to chapter 12 of Joshua where it lists one by one the kings that the Israelites under Joshua’s leadership conquered. The final verse reads, “31 in all”
A few minutes later I spotted a third gold ball embedded in the path. It took some digging out, but when (eventually prized it loose, I discovered it was another number 3.
I had just been listening to Johnny Enlow Unfiltered episode 118. Johnny’s focus was on how valor (as exhibited by Joshua) is necessary for breakthrough……….the courage, to fulfill our assignment in the spiritual battle in which we are engaged…..as represented by the 31 enemy kings who must be conquered.
It is then after this victory that we can experience the blessing of brother’s dwelling in unity as Psalm.1+ 3+ 3 promises, in holding the ground we have won.
I would encourage you if you have not done so already to listen to this episode and the next ones which are also most inspiring for where we are and what is required from us in these monumental days of transition. Click below to watch 119
I told the story of our Laurie’s urgency in getting the ‘meaningless’ ring cut off after 30 years.
Then the amazing Kings-town/Queens-town//‘meaningful’ Claddagh ring encounter.
I had also blogged on 6/25 of the 3 Carolyns and marriage
Carolyn meaning ……strong, womanly, King.
The Carolyn, whose wedding we attended in Toronto, told us this remarkable story.
She was walking along the beach one day asking Father specifically his intention in relation to Muroslav. Immediately she noticed something glittering in the sand in the sunlight. She stooped down and picked up a ring…….not just ‘any old ring’, but a gold Cartier wedding ring!!! She got her answer!
‘Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage supper of the Lamb.”(Rev. 19:9)
Carolyn’s granddaughter,Grace, who was to be part of the bridal party was reluctant. ‘I’ll only do it with a lion.” She protested.
She walked down the aisle with her cuddly lion she had named……
‘Kingston’!
I trust these ‘prophetic’ musings are an encouragement to you.
On a more pastoral note, we will be hosting two Your Smiling Face events over the next few months. One will be in Belfast in September and one in Minneapolis in October. You can click below for details and registration.
Beyond that you may not hear from us for some time while we are engaged ‘on the ground’ in Ireland. This is by way of reassurance for cousin Barry in England who wondered where we had disappeared to when we ‘went silent’ for quite a while during our last trip😀
On this date, (8/22) 30 years ago, our family took a leap of faith when the 9 of us flew into Minneapolis airport, our worldly goods contained in 2 suitcases each.
It was a New Beginning
I defined the ‘Adventure’ as “What God will ADs when we are willing to VENTURE out in faith in him”
When in faith Hilary and I started out again on our recent road trip I glanced down at the mileage. It was 19537.
I said to Hilary, “Hey that’s my birth year. Pity the last number wasn’t 9 and that would have been my birth month!”
‘Now don’t go trying to make things fit.” Hilary cautioned.
‘OK’ I chuckled….but half an hour later smiled as Father reminded me that the number 7 was even more personalized than would have been the 9, for my mother told me that I was born at 7.07a.m. weighing in at 7lb 7oz!!
God knows our names and knows our numbers and every detail of our lives, and he wants to communicate with us in a more personal way than we could ever imagine that he is with us guiding our every step.
On our first stop in Michigan we picked up with friends we hadn’t seen for 10 years. As Leah commented it gave,’in the twinkling of an eye’ a new meaning as if no time had passed at all between us!
As we worshipped and prayed and shared together on our final morning we noticed a heron descending on the pool outside…….and then another, and another and another and another! Most unusual! Heaven was bearing witness to what we were experiencing on earth.
The heron is a symbol of resurrection life. The number 5 represents favor.
On the morning of nephew Tom’s wedding I was wakened early by the cooing of a dove. I got up and set out for a walk only to spy not just one, but 5turtle doves on the wire outside our bedroom.
A symbol of both the Spirit and the Bride and another sign of favor.
Our final stop on this first of the three Victory Laps was again with old friends we hadn’t seen for many years. The dear sisters of the Servants of God’s Love in Ann Arbor Michigan welcomed us with open arms.
We joined them for evening prayer. Laura was assigned to help me follow the simple liturgy.
I smiled that once again it was that name, “Lady of Victory’ ……like Laurie our daughter in New York and Laurel Road where we were given hospitality in Massachusetts.
The next morning we were home and as I went to our front porch to welcome the dawn another ‘out of the blue’ bird experience as two young hawks playfully swooped into the tree in front of me…..a powerful symbol of strength, grace, freedom and connection to the divine.
I thought of the trip the two of us had just joyfully completed.
I couldn’t quite remember where I was in my reading of the psalms. So thought I would follow on from the lead of the previous evening with the sisters in Michigan. We had read together Psalm 123 about the servant and handmaiden waiting and watching for the slightest request from their master and mistress so that they could instantly and eagerly respond.
So I turned to the next psalm 124 …….about our breaking free ….like a bird escaping out of the fowlers snare!
I went upstairs, only to find Hilary listening to this beautiful rendering of the very same psalm!
The impetus for our road trip east, was a wedding. Our nephew Tom was getting married in Toronto on Sunday 11th August.
We thought this would be a good opportunity to visit our friend Carolyn who also lived in the Toronto area and she was delighted at the prospect. A few days later we got a message from her.…..
‘I’m getting married to Muroslav and the only date that works for us is Saturday 10th August!”
What are the chances of two of our friends both getting married in Toronto one day after the other???
Then there was a third wedding that signaled to us this was a strong and timely message from the Lord.
One morning our daughter Laurie announced at breakfast.
‘I woke during the night and had an urgent sense I needed to have this ring cut off.” She told of this ‘meaningless’ ring she had worn for 30 years that was now irritating her finger and she was unable to take off!
So we headed in to Kingston i.e. the King’s Town where after a kindly old jeweler surgically removed the ‘meaningless ring’ we went next door for coffee.
The conversation shifted to our both recounting our experiences in Ireland where we had separately visited the month before.
We told of almost getting to Galway. Laurie told of their making it to the city.
Turning around she recognized another local friend and introduced her Irish parents.
‘Oh! My family are from Cork’ (once called Queenstown) she said. ‘In fact next week I’m going over there for a family wedding in Galway.’
I began piecing this second amazing set of ‘Godincidences’ together..
The claddagh ring originates from a fishing village in Galway.
Unlike Laurie’s old discarded ring It is full of meaning……the hands of friendship, and heart of love, under a crown. The motif is captured in the phrase, “Let love and friendship reign.”
The story goes….”Once upon a time,, a young Irish sailor was captured and sold into slavery. Far from his native land, he held the memory of his sweetheart deep in his heart. He never forgot her. Years later, on his safe return to Galway his gift to her was a Claddagh ring.”
Is this not reminiscent of our Bridegroom King’s return to wed his Queen?
It was our nephew’ Tom’s second wedding. His previous marriage which had ended sadly had been the first of 8 weddings we attended in the summer of 2008. Father showed us how each of those weddings represented one of the 8 days of Tabernacles as reflected in the 8 miracle signs in John’s gospel. (Dr Stephen Jones has written extensively about this at Godskingdom.org )
The first of the signs was the turning of water into wine at the wedding in Cana. This prophecies of how at the first resurrection we will like the water be changed in our atomic structure (Gk.’atomos’) as described in 1Cor.15:52.
Our first wedding that summer was Tom’s in Cana-da. In the city of St.John.
On this occasion it was my brother – St. John who was lead to speak about Cana once again!
‘The amount of wine Jesus created.” John announced, “….would have filled 1000 bottles!”
He was unaware that 1000 is the number for ‘glory’ this again pointing to our ‘glorification’ and the manifestation of the ‘sons of God’
6 (‘stone water jar’) years ago we had helped Carolyn move back ‘home’ to Canada. We often talked about how we could get a clock to her that had been left behind. At the same time she had made for us the beautiful wooden slab pictured above on which is embossed Patrick’s breastplate around the ‘tree of life’.
We knew this was the God appointed time for the exchange.
I noticed the clock was stopped at 2.20.
22 is the number for, ‘Sons of Light’
The exchange again presented a double witness to our coming into complete unity with Christ who is ‘thetree of life’ we now feed on.
I shared with the couple our sense of 3 Victory Laps. Carolyn smiled.
‘Look what Miroslav had me make and put up on our wall yesterday.”
On July 17 I was wakened at 1.07 and prompted to read Luke 17.
It is the story of Jesus healing the 10 lepers. It begins, “As Jesus was going…..” and continues with his instruction to the ten, “Go and show yourselves to the priest.”
The number 17 represents victory, and we had just concluded we were being told to “Go” on 3 assignments over the next three months…… to the east coast of the US in August, then to Ireland in September and then to South Korea in October. We have made these 3 journeys a number of times over the years, however this time Father said,
‘This time they are to be 3 Victory laps.”
We read of the 10 lepers ‘As they went they were healed.” In their going there was a degree of faith in obeying Jesus before there was any physical evidence. However in the only one who returned to give thanks there was a higher level of faith that resulted not just on his outward physical healing but in an inner healing.
Jesus commends him saying, (while the nine received a physical healing)….”Your (higher levelof)faith has made you whole.” (Gk. sozo).
It was CS Lewis who said, “Thankfulness is inner health made audible.”
Only this one completed the Victory Lap.
I had a dream just before we went on our 17 day, 7 stop, 4000 mile trip in which my ‘sports car’ had been taken away and I had been given a new ‘top of the line’ model. As we headed east our friend Pastor Collins in Great Barrington sent me this photo of a bag of cherries with the message…….
‘Just saw these in our local grocery store :)’
The sweet memory that came back to me from a previous visit there was of my friend Eugene and I tearing round the New England country roads in winter with the roof down in our Ford Mustang sports car. They said there was no economy rental available and they would have to upgrade us🙂
Father said to me, “I’m offering my people at this time an upgrade of faith“
As Hilary and I took this first substantial roadtrip in many years and the first in our new Subaru Crosstrek, he began speaking to me about the I.T. changes over the 30 years since we moved to the US that had manifested in our driving experience.
In Ireland in 1994 we drove a ‘shift stick’ We discovered in the US ‘automatic was the norm.i.e. The gears were sorted! Then over the years ‘cruise control’ arrived. The accelerator was sorted. Now on this trip I discovered that when the car in front slowed so did we……the brakes were sorted!
Father showed me this was the natural proclaiming the spiritual. The first level of faith is Passover faith where we rejoice that our sins are forgiven and we have been delivered from bondage to sin. (Justification) The second level of faith is developed as we journey through Pentecost and learn to hear and obey the voice of God.(Sanctification) The third level of faith is where we come into agreement with God as he removes our ‘heart of stone’ and replaces it with a ‘heart of flesh’ on which he can write his law. (Glorification)
This ‘seeing’ by the vehicle was also manifested in the warning sign that would appear,”Lane departure’
The scripture came to mind from Is.30, “Your teachers will be hidden no more……Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way walk in it.”
I remember recently on my way to share at a Men’s retreat I asked my friend Mike what I should speak about. He replied,”Whatever is in your heart.”
My thoughts immediately turned to Jer.17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” Father then reminded me of the scripture further on in Jeremiah, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” (Jer. 31:33)
This is this new covenant promise God is fulfilling in our lives in our day.
As we enter into the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles we are to expect to walk with God as Enoch walked and in the step by step of everyday life expect that like him who ‘was not’, we too will disappear as we become one with the one from whom we’ve come and to whom we go.
The I.T. that is our salvation is not the counterfeit man made Information Technology but rather an Inspiration Theology that is not a knowledge about God but a knowing of God mediated by the fullness of His Spirit in our lives.
I shared these thoughts at Living God Fellowship in Great Barrington MA. it occurred to me to conclude with the song ‘On The Day You Were Born.’ which ends with the exhortation,
‘You’ve come this far now step father out
Out of the vale of tears (and fears)
You’ve come this far now move farther in while all of heaven cheers
‘Freedom! Freedom!’ Let all creation sing
As we take the hand of our Father as we take the hand of our King”
We sang the song again, this time with the nation of America in mind,
On the day you were born I danced over you……
And as we came to proclaim, Freedom!Freedom!
………Creation did indeed sing, as the rain from heaven began pounding on the roof above for all to hear.
You can sing the song again here…..
When we returned to our daughter Laurie’s house we discovered this new purchase in her fridge
It had the same PLU number as was on Collins bag of cherries but with a 9 in front….the number for ‘visitation’
Later we went to the grandkid’s favorite ice cream place 🙂
I had referenced in the last post how our two house numbers involved in the local drama when matched with the Greek Strong’s numbers painted a picture of what was happening to us. It connected with the story in Acts chapter 18 concerning the opposition Paul faced in Corinth.
2721 is our house number. In Strong’s, 2721 (as distinct from 2721a and 2721b) is the Greek word katephistemi, used only once in scripture in the context of the attack on Paul. That is Acts 18:12.
As I listened on Newsmax to the report of the assassination attempt the time the bullet struck Trump, struck me! It was reported as 18.14 hrs.
I turned to Acts 18 again and read the rest of the story involving Paul’s assault.
Verse 14 speaks about ‘hearing’. It was Trump’s ear that had been struck by the bullet.
Paul had been brought to court…….. as has Trump.
Gallio the judge says, “If this involved some major crime or fraud I would be responsible to hear the case.”
However he decides it is not a major crime or fraud, and so we read, “He drove them (the accusers) away from the judgement seat.” (Amp)
On my way home from Costco last Monday, I turned on the radio and immediately heard the report that in Florida Judge Cannon had just dismissed the classified documents case against Donald Trump. She said the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was violating the Constitution.
As in Acts 18, Trump’s accusers (specifically Jack Smith funded by the DOJ ) were ‘driven from the judgement seat.‘
Subsequent to our own ‘accusers’ having been driven off in our local situation, as we have continued to dwell under the shadow of the Almighty’s protective wings, we have indeed experienced increasingly that central meaning of our house number 2721a…..
…..and beenblessed……… fervently!
Continuing home from Costco, I turned the radio off knowing that this was all I had needed to hear.
At that very moment a dove (not a pigeon!) representing the Holy Spirit appeared in front of my windshield and amazingly began to chart a course right in front of me as I circled upwards on the ramp to join Highway100 above.
Stephen Jones writes, “There are three measures of the Holy Spirit. We are given the first measure (omer) of the Spirit through Passover when we are begotten by the Spirit. We are given a second measure (ephah) of the Spirit through Pentecost, when we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The final measure (homer) is given through Tabernacles, when we receive the Holy Spirit without measure.An ephah is ten omers, but a homer is 100 omers.
100 represents the fullness of the Spirit ….as we circle upwards to this third and highest level of faith.
You’ve come this far now step further out
Out of the vale of tears
You’ve come this far now move farther in
While all of heaven cheers
‘Freedom! Freedom!’
Let all creation sing
As we take the hand of our Father as we take the hand of our King
As Romans 8 tells us, all creation is, “standing on tip toe to see the sons of God come into their own.” …..knowing the time is near for its own liberation from it’s bondage to corruption.
‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’(Eph.6:12)
July 13th 2024 will go down in history because of what happened that evening.
That morning, our Psalm for the day was the classic one assuring us of God’s protection, number 91 It begins,
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].”(Psalms 91:1 AMP)
It reminded us of the ‘close shave’ Hilary had when she was hit by a car crossing a street in Melbourne, Australia and miraculously was pulled back rather than being dragged under the car.
The next day we flew to New Zealand. As we read Psalm 91together Hilary began weeping. I could see people looking wondering, “What did that cruel man just say to her?’ But her tears were a mixture of gratitude and delayed shock as we read together then,
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;”
After ministering at Taupo a few days later, a lady told us, “I saw a tall green angel standing behind you on the platform.’
So last Saturday, on the 13th, after reading this psalm, Father prompted me to dig deeper into another experience of divine protection we shared about more recently.
I blogged extensively about our coming under attack from our nextdoor neighbor.
Her name was Gina Cernhaus. This translates to “The queen from the house of CERN.’
CERN is the European centre for nuclear research. It takes very little research to discover the dark powers behind this are seeking to open a portal to enable “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places’ to access earth.
We knew it was an assignment of the enemy to try and shut down the heavenly portal that has been opening at 2721 Parkview……where we continually ‘stand still and see the salvation of our God.’
So I looked again at how the house numbers involved corresponded to Strong’s numbers.
Our neighbor lived at 2725. This is the Strong’s number for the word for ‘accuser’ as used in Revelation 12 of Satan, ‘the accuser of the brethren’
It was this lady’s accusations brought to the city authorities that began our prolonged battle that ended with our addressing the City Council at a public meeting. My testimony ended with a declaration of God’s sovereignty in the song ‘All Will Be Well.’
Our house number is 2721. In Strong’s there are three entries under this number.
2721 occurs only once in scripture… in the story of Paul. When in Corinth the Jewish leaders, ‘committed insurrection’ against Paul. It means to rise up against, to rush upon, to assault or attack.
The number 2721b has a similar meaning.
Then to my amazement I discovered that between 2721 and 2721b was 2721a. Its meaning is……
To bless fervently
Immediately I pictured 2721a between 2721 and 2721b……..
…..like the one securely resting beneath those protective wings of El Shaddai
In Part 2 I will link our story to what has just happened to Donald Trump.
The other morning I woke and Father said,”Let’s go rucking’
So I donned my weighted back pack and headed out to the trails on Theodore Wirth Parkway.
It has been a number of years since I had run on these biking/walking trails bordering the golf course. I remember writing a number of blogs about messages I received through the stray balls I came across.
Well sure enough there was a golf ball, and another, and a third, and a fourth. I picked them and pocketed them to bring home.
This was the same day I wrote the recent blog, ‘From Whore to Holy’
You might remember the P.S. where the message was confirmed by a letter that had lain unopened for several weeks that I discovered that day. It was from a young lady who wanted to thank me for the songs that had surrounded her as a young girl, and had been instrumental in her falling in love with Jesus. She was now taking her vows as a sister who was dedicating her life to Jesus, as his Bride, as part of, “The Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus.”
The letter had been written on the first day of May, – May Day.
I posted a few weeks ago the song about the Father’s search for a bride fit for his son, When All the Sons of Heaven. The song’s dialogue between ‘the sons of heaven’ and God the Father begins,
When all the sons of heaven came before the Lord one day
From going to and from upon the earth.
They were all intoxicated with the flowering buds of May
And danced around the throne in joy and mirth
It depicts their delight in the pristine creation, but as the story unfolds the rotting buds of May represent the devastating effect of sin on the creation and the sons cry out in desperation for one to redeem ‘that broken ground’.
The song lifts as thebuds of May flower again as the dying redeemer rises from the grave, breaking the power of sin and death.
Now the quest, is for a Bride……. worthy of such a Christ!
I began to examine the 4 golf balls.
A brightly colored one had the name Kirkland on it. The natural eyes sees merely a Costco purchase. However the name brought back to me my Father’s Sunday evening question to my mother, “ So shall we go to Kirk this evening?’ It is the Scottish word for church.
Kirkland is ‘The land of the Ekklesia‘….ultimately the whole earth the inheritance over which Christ and his bride will rule and reign.
Then I looked at the numbers on the above balls, a 4, a 2, a 1, and a 1.
It was then that the message from Father through Sister Angelica came into focus
At the end of the letter she gave two address to which I could reply, as they were moving to a new house
From 421 Daly Street…………../to 1142 Summit Avenue.
Those were the numbers on those golf balls!
Together we have 4211142.
Could the three ones between the double 42 represent the feasts of Passover, and Pentecost which were fulfilled 2,000 years ago and the third feast of Tabernacles which is being fulfilled in our day?
The land we are to inherit as God’s Ekklesia, was lost by the first Adam but restored through the second Adam, “the redemption of our bodies….for in this hope we were saved.“
What’s more, just that week at my grandson’s Bible study, subject had been the significance of the number 42 as the number of encampments before the children of Israel arrived at the promised land (Num.33) and the 42 generations before arriving at the fullness of the Christ (Matt.1) The number 42 represents ‘Arrival.’
I then looked at the names ……..Daly.
Could that be ‘delay’ ……no more.
It is time to arrive at the Summit?
Interestingly today’s blog by Stephen Jones was entitled,
Being honest, over the last few crazy years I have been tempted to be disappointed and saddened by some of my Christian friends. Where I had hoped for a greater openness to investigate and dig more deeply to find out ‘What is the truth here?’ there was what seemed to me a nieve acceptance of a manifestly false ‘mainstream narrative’.
Yet asI have come to believe,
‘He gives us each a role to play.’
So this leaves absolutely no room for judging other people.
It’s all in God’s hands
On the other hand I have been so glad to discover others who do not necessarily profess to be ‘Christian’ but in whom I have witnessed the virtues of Christ through whom came both ‘grace and truth’ (Jn.1:14)
In this recent segment I thought Neil Oliver exhibited these two virtues in a wonderful way.
He humbly recognized his gullibility over much of his life and then the process of ‘waking up’ in recent years to the truth about how he and we have been ‘hoodwinked’. He now seems to acknowledge what the Bible says about the reality of ‘the world the flesh and the devil’
However he then took the opportunity to encourage those who had been ‘red pilled’ not to berate others but to be less condemnatory and more patient if they seem to be lagging behind’ on this journey we are all destined to go on.
I recall someone else saying, ‘There but for the grace of God go I’
I felt Neil expressed the perfect balance of uncompromising truth and magnanimous grace.
He doesn’t talk much theology but I have come to admire his Christ-like character.
The challenge came to me……When friends (and celebrities, like Dr John Campbell) get ‘red-pilled’ will I greet them self righteously with an,’I told you so!’ …or come alongside them joyfully with an affirming,’Yes! I know! Isn’t God good!’
I am still walking and talking with Jesus on ‘the Way’ discovering not only what is ‘Truth’ but also what is ‘Life’ for myself and for others.
………..as God continues to change my heart, to incarnate ‘the Christ’’ who is ‘full of truth and grace.’’
Please check out the short clip below of someone else who I think also exhibits beautifully these two qualities
Those of you who follow Johnny Enlow Unfiltered will know that in his last episode, ‘Staying afloat as Celebrity Christianity capsizes” he addresses the ‘shake down’ in the church’ in recent years as ‘big name’ ministers have been exposed for exploiting members of their congregation, often sexually, often from a young age.
Johnny shockingly estimates through his extensive personal experience that upward of 80% 0f the ‘mega churches’ have serious sin taking place at the highest level. It is fairly well accepted that 1 in 5 pastors in churches in general have taken advantage sexually of their flock.
I mentioned this to a leader when in Ireland and he said, ‘Yes that’s America but that sort of thing wouldn’t be happening in Northern Ireland.”
Well yesterday I was speaking to a doctor in Northern Ireland who told me that the largest group seeking medical help for sexually transmitted disease is no longer drug addicts, but ministers!
There is a need everywhere for genuine repentance and deep healing as it has become clear that the Whore of Babylon has deeply infiltrated the mountain of Religion in the establishment institution of ‘the church’
Yet the time has come, as spoken of in Revelation 18, for ‘Babylon’ to fall, and for the true Bride of Christ to arise.
Father gave me yet another threefold witness on the theme we have been lead to focus on……..that He is preparing a bride ‘without spot or wrinkle’ fit for his son..
This summer Hilary and I will be doing a road trip to our daughter in New York State, and to my nephew’s wedding in Toronto. We thought it would be an opportunity to look up some old friends along the way, including one in Toronto.
The other day this dear friend let us know that she too was going to get married…….and at the same time we had planned to visit!
‘Just a small simple affair. We’d be honored if you.would join us.’ She said.
So we now have a double wedding date 10th and 11th August.
Father then pointed out to me that he had given us three very close friends, all called by her name…Carolyn. One is to be married, one is already married, and one is recently widowed.
All three are beautiful ladies who have and are in different ways still, ‘’walking through the fire.” Like the three Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego they too have devoted themselves to serving with integrity and courage their ‘true king’ and have consequently experienced his intimacy in the fiery furnace of their lives.
So I looked up the meaning of the name Carolyn, and found these various meanings……
Strong and powerful
Womanly
King
The final definition offered, ‘God’s song’ reminded me of the above song about ‘the bridegroom’ ‘bathed in heaven, born of the earth’ – Yeshua.
It is amongst beautiful women (and men) like these, far from the fakery of a ‘show business’ church that a bride ‘without spot or wrinkle’ is being preparing as an Ezer Kenegdo for Yeshua Hamashiach…….Jesus the Anointed King.
Ezer and Kenegdo arethe Hebrew words used in Gen.2:18.
They translated in KJV rather limply as a ‘help meet’ However a more full and robust translation would be,
‘A strength and power equal and corresponding to.’
Sounds to me like a Carolyn!
The 3G network has been the downfall of many Church leaders, corrupted by the Girls the Gold, and the Glory, as they have taken credit for their ‘achievements’
The Reprise of Yeshua on the Trekof the Bright Hostage album speaks to this, for it is amongst those who may lack beauty or wealth, in ‘worldly’ terms and who may not be considered winners’ by it’s standards, that this bride, treasured by heaven, is being formed, in harmony with her Bridegroom.
P.S. Again as with Lydia’s message last blog, just this morning as I am about to post this, I opened a letter that had sat unnoticed in my study for 6 weeks !
I was moved to tears as this pure hearted young woman described how from childhood she had been surrounded by the songs God has given me and how they have played a part in her finding her vocation as a ‘single for the Lord’ sister joyfully serving her Lord in nearby St Paul. Her beautifully handwritten perfectly timed letter contained the following about the songs,
‘I am so grateful for this gift from you, which led me to fall in love with the Lord from a young age and I’m sure has lead me to my present vocation as His Bride.’
