Dreams, Visions, and Informed Intercession (Part 1)

A few years ago, I took a friend of mine on a tour through The State House of Pennsylvania. It’s halls and galleries are filled with paintings on the founding of William Penn’s Holy Experiment - Pennsylvania. It is incredible and one of our nation's best treasures.  During this tour we took a break and went to eat lunch in the cafeteria on the lower level.  While there, I noticed a group of intercessors praying in a corner.  I went over and sat down next to them while they prayed and found them engaged in praying that God would restore the vision that William Penn had of our nation. I was quite intrigued.  What on earth would have motivated this group to come to this great gallery of art to pray for a national restoration of William Penn’s vision?   

As I got to know this group, they shared with me that they had heard a “Prophetic Dream or Vision” given by a man named Bob Jones.  According to Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries, in Fort Mill, South Carolina, Bob Jones was a contemporary prophet whose prophetic ministry spanned over three decades. He was, like the Old Testament Daniel, one who functioned and moved with a clear revelatory gifting in dreams and visions; as well as interpreting what God was giving to him and other great leaders of his time.  Often, his prophetic insights were confirmed with gifts of healing and miracles.

Over the years, as I have developed my relationship with this group of intercessors, they shared with me the details of the Bob Jones "vision or dream” - which has been commonly referred to as the “Gulliver Prophecy.” This Prophecy was given at a conference in Ohio in 2005.  Together, the team hearing the word, sensed that God had called them to go and retrace the landmarks of Bob Jones’ vision and intercede for the word to be fulfilled. This is what eventually led them to praying into William Penn’s founding vision for our nation.  I must admit, despite all my own experiences with dreams, visions, and prophetic ministry, I was a bit skeptical about what they were doing.  But as they shared a CD with me of the word Bob Jones gave; the vision began to challenge me.  What did this “vision” mean?   Is God really speaking or is this some weird word from an old man who was moved by his own delusions?  However,  I am cognizant of the scripture that says;  “In the last days, God says, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will speak what God has revealed. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)  I also felt a tug in my own heart to begin exploring what kind of word this was?  Was it really from God?  What did it mean? And if it is from God, what does He want us to do about it?  

I think it’s always important to examine a “prophetic dream, vision, or word” in light of the Scripture.  I Corinthians 14:29 states, “Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others carefully evaluate what is said.”  The King James Bible translated this verse to say, “Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.”  I think this is one of the most important things lacking in modern day “prophetic” circles - judging, or carefully examining a word in order to determine whether it is from the Lord or not.  All prophecy is to be judged.  Years ago I heard someone say, “Dreams?  Are they from God, something within myself or something I ate last night?  All I have to say is, “When someone gets up and proclaims that God is speaking to them about something - It’s a serious matter.  To proclaim you’re speaking for God, is something we all should not enter into lightly.  That’s why “prophecies, dreams, interpretations of dream, and visions need to be evaluated and judged by other mature prophetic leaders; so that the Body of Christ is not led off into some direction by a delusionary word.  I became very concerned as I watched this intercessory prayer team focusing on a “dream” about a satirical story by Jonathan Swift entitled “Gulliver’s Travels.”  Just what kind of word is this?  Here’s the text of the “word” given by Bob Jones.

BOB JONES’ PROPHETIC GULLIVER VISION

“The heavens declare the handy works of God.  Our Daddy spoke them into existence and they are in total obedience to his orbit and they are all speaking a real clear word right now.  They haven’t been lit up like this for two thousand years.  In the heavens is shaking, on the earth is shaking, and under the earth is going to shake.  Now on the Earth was taken place, last June the 6th He’s always told me through the years to mark June 6th.  If you go back you will find the heavens reveal certain things on June the 6th including the eye of God.  This year gives us another message in an awesome way.  

Thirty-eight years ago last June the 6th Jerusalem become a united city.  Jerusalem is Papa’s time clock, not Israel.  Thirty-eight years, the man laid at the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years waiting.   I think the crippled church has waited long enough.  Israel went around in circles, Kadesh Barnea for thirty-eight years.  Kadesh Barnea means they wandered around that mountain. The word now to the church is to get off the mountain, make a beeline for the promises of God and cross that Jordan and come into the Promised Land, for it’s yours.  How long will this journey be?  Two Years.  The next couple of years she’s going to be a real shaking in the world, and you got no business shaking, because you already have things established, that can’t shake. Because everything is shaken under the Earth, you are going to see some awesome shaking, volcanos, earthquakes, but you already have things settled.  For Christ is settled, in your heart. Settle on things above, that can’t be moved or shook, and when this happens your finest hour comes.  

Thirty-eight years, two years, we’re talking about the beginning of His Glory, the returning of our Daddy’s Glory, and Him taking back the Honor on His Name.  I saw a great man had fallen to sleep in the past, and his body was laying on his back and he was halfway buried in dirt.  We could call him Gulliver and little people, from little input, had tied him down, and the only reason he was tied down he’d been asleep for a long time, about thirty-eight years, and he was waking up, you could also call him the Body of Christ coming together.  I saw his head was in Cleveland, Ohio and his head was Jacob.  Jacob was the one that wrestled and met with God and this is the year that the blessings of Jacob on you; you don’t have to be perfect.  You just have to be willing. You have to get yourself started, to be dedicated for His purpose.  Jacob; head is in Cleveland, called Jacobs Field, full of youth, especially college and high school youth.   You need to get a vision for it.  The next thing I saw; I saw a large pole, a tent pole and it was sticking straight up and it come out of Columbus, Ohio.  There is going to be a thing in Columbus, Ohio that is going to raise up anything you’ve seen before and it is going to be like a tent, a canopy, and that’s where his heart is at.  Then I saw Cincinnati. That’s where his reproductive organs were. This is what you’re called for to reproduce.  I saw the left hand, it went over the mountains, it went up to Pennsylvania; Philadelphia and it had love in it, and the left hand was a teaching hand of God, and you’re going to begin to see the true teaching hands of God, teaching God’s love again.  I saw the right hand it went west, and it was tied down in Indianapolis, Indiana and I saw it begin to flex and begin to raise up and to pull those strings off.  I saw one of the feet; the left one was in Charlotte, North Carolina. Which means you’re going to see great television, books, and radio, and things that people can be taught without going thousands of miles.  I saw the right leg it was in Nashville, Tennessee.  Get ready to see great faith raise up there. I saw this great man raise up and begin to take and break off all restraints and He put his foot down, both of them in Atlanta, Georgia.  God means to take Atlanta, first he means to take Ohio, then Atlanta.  He means to take Indiana, He’s going to go on over into Illinois, He’s going past Cleveland.  If you take Atlanta, Georgia you take the South.  

My Daddy got big ideas, but He’s big enough to do it.  But He’s looking for the Body of Christ whose head will be in the heavens, whose body will be on the earth walking it out.  You are part of that Body.  This is why you really need to begin to go to Him in prayer, and find out where He wants to start.  I know where He wants to start. Find out where He wants to start. I know where He wants to start; in your heart, then in your home, then in your family, then on your streets, your cities, your states, and He’s starting, this is called “passion”.  Get ready for a passion for intimacy with God that can only be satisfied by being intimate with Him.  Get ready to know Him in a passion you have never known anything before.  He can bring you into such intimate relationship, that when you speak, the words He speaks to you, an intimacy is created.  You are part of that Body, my Daddy’s got big ideas, He’s big enough to do it.”  

Over the years, I’ve come to several conclusions about how to handle a “prophetic word, a dream or vision.”  First, just as prophecies, dreams and visions were given in the Bible - each were written down.  Secondly, people throughout the scripture were given the opportunity to evaluate the words.  Many of the words, dreams and visions were judged or evaluated by prophets, interpreted by prophets, and people; and then determined as being from God or not.  I think it’s important that the Body Of Christ needs to receive a lot of teaching on discerning what is from God, what is not from God, what is true prophecy and what is a false prophecy.  So the purpose of this first installment on Bob Jones’ Gulliver Vision is to explore the nature, purpose and use of prophecy.  My third thought has to do with “What are we supposed to do with a prophetic word, dream and vision once it is determined as being a ‘word from the Lord’?  If we really believe that GOD Himself has given us a word - once accepted - then we need to OBEY what God is saying.  This is what has perplexed me about Bob Jones’ vision and what this particular intercessory prayer team was engaged in.  Were they just crazy “Charismatics”  or were they really called by God to go to each of the cities listed and pray for the “Vision’s” outcome.  Over the years I’ve been engaged with this team and I think their actions deserve a just evaluation and appraisal. That’s what this series of articles will be about and I hope you will read through each of the installments as I write them.  I’ve been learning a lot about what I now call “Informed Intercession.”  This team’s work has challenged me to rethink every teaching I’ve heard on prayer, intercession, personal prophecy, what true prophets are vs false prophets, the purpose and use of all prophecy both in the Word of God and what to do with spoken words in corporate assemblies.

What I do know is that this Bob Jones’ Vision stirred a group of intercessors who still regularly call in to a conference call twice each week to pray through the meaning and purpose they have found in this vision. They have looked into the satirical work of Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and even found a book entitled “Gulliver as a Slave Trader” to assist them in praying for the healing of our nation.  For whatever reason, they got activated enough to go to each city in this vision and that’s where I happened to meet them while they engaged themselves in prayer in Pennsylvania.  It’s from this “Holy Spirit-led”, “Divine Appointment” that has now linked them into my journey on the road to healing and reconciliation.  Through this series of articles, I hope to share with you - the journey of what we’ve learned together since that moment when they were simply praying into William Penn’s vision for a nation.  I hope you will read on and maybe join us in - learning how to do “Informed Intercession” with “prophetic vision or words" that God gives you.”  I guess I cannot find a better way to finish this particular installment on the “Whys” of prophecy and what to do with them; other than what The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in I Timothy 1:18; “ This charge I commit unto you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which were made concerning you, that you by them might war a good warfare.”  This is a major insight into the purpose and use of prophecy within the Christian faith.

Stop Trying To be Famous!

What is the motivation for why you do what you do? Ephesian 1:18 The Apostle Paul wrote, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling..."  As a young man I loved traveling, speaking in churches and conferences.  I enjoyed meeting new people, going new places, and worked hard to be a good speaker with a prophetic edge.  It was great to witness so many people come to Christ, get baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit.  It was always amazing to pray for people and watch God heal them and perform miracles right before their eyes, my eyes and those who were in the meetings.  But what motivation did God have in mind when He confirmed the word he put in my heart to give people?  Did He do so I could become a major, internationally known prophetic ministry?  Did he want to make me a household name in the religious world?  I don’t think so.  Candidly, I just wanted people to experience the “grace of God” and “presence Of God” in the similar manner to the way God worked in my life.  I was taught by those who mentored me some very important principles to live by.

Here’s a very important one, in a time when everyone is working so hard to get noticed.  Jesus said, "Be careful not to do your good works in public in order to attract attention. If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you.  So when you give to the needy, don't announce it with trumpet fanfare. This is what hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets in order to be praised by people. I can guarantee this truth: That will be their only reward. When you give to the needy, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.”   (Matthew 6:1-4)  By contrast, Jesus (Matthew 5:16) taught in the  beatitudes to let their light shine before people.  Here Jesus is stating that if the motive of doing something good is to be noticed by people, then don't do that. Don't boast about how "good" you are before people. There is nothing wrong with doing good works that will be seen before people, after all, we live among unbelievers. However, when you do good things, don't do them for the purpose of drawing attention to how "good" you are or trying to impress the communities that you serve.

Secondly, in Matthew 23:3, 5 Jesus is addresses the crowds and points out to them that the  Scribes and Pharisees did their deeds in order to be noticed and admired. Jesus condemned this their motivation. People are supposed to notice your good works because your good character permeates them, not because of your attempt to have them see how "good" and "great" you are. The former is humility. The latter is self-centeredness and just trying to grab attention and praise from all the wrong. The Apostle Paul put it this way, “make it your ambition to live quietly, do your work, and earn your own living.” (I Thessalonians 4:11) As Christians our lives are not to draw attention to ourselves but to bring attention and honor to Christ in our manner of living. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said, “So let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Notice that the purpose of others seeing your good works is for “the others” to be moved to glorify God - not you!  Striving to become that “Next Christian Superstar” is called self-ambition. What does the bible say about this?  James 3:16 says, “ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”  The apostle explains to us that the fruit of selfish-ambition is “disorder” and “every evil practice.”  That evidence is everywhere in plain sight in our time. Why? Because everyone wants to be famous - instead of making Jesus famous.  

One of my favorite bible passages comes from the Gospel of Luke. In Luke 2:19 he wrote, “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”  Here is a woman who could have gone out and started a major ministry.  Here is one of the most famous women of faith of all time who could have reached for the heights of fame.  But, no, Mary choose to treasure all the things she witnessed and bore testimony too and kept it to herself until Luke came to interview her about it.  Years and years she just marveled the story, treasured the it in her heart and pondered what she experienced and saw.  If there is example of what it means to be a follower of Jesus is to follow the example of Mary.  Instead of trying to become that next great Christian who runs out and writes the next big story to become famous; maybe we should just treasure up the things the Lord does in ou lives and just ponder it a while.  Why sell yourself for some cheap fame and instant gratification when you can have rewards for all eternity to celebrate?  Do your works for the right reason!

Can Prayer Change A Nation?

Over the last year, I worked on a national project to gather pastors together to come to Washington, DC to pray for our nation.  Normally, I do not like working on prayer projects during the presidential election season.  I find too many people get suspicious of a prayer gathering in DC during an election year.  This year was no exception.  I also found that this particular gathering was one of the hardest goals I've ever worked for in these types of events. However, I always enjoy the challenge and I worked harder on this project than I've worked in the past.  In all my years of working on National Prayers gatherings, getting 30,000 pastors to commit to coming to this event was like herding cats. Pastor's are so committed to their local church work and so hard pressed by their work - it's extremely difficult to get them to join in another function unless it assists them in their regular routines.  The other major challenges I faced had to do with two other major events which were scheduled this year which basically polarized this major gathering of the Body Of Christ in DC.  One event was being held on the same day in LA and the other was a youth event that was to be held only 90 days later at the Washington Monument.  I have never experienced such competing movements in the Body Of Christ and the response and loyalties to their brands of these events. But, one question remains to be answered despite any organized prayer event, "Can Prayer Change A Nation?"

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, DC  American Christians have entered into the struggle of defining our national identity.  Among some Christians there is a belief that America has it's historic roots in the Christian faith.  For others, the Euro-centric version of the Christian faith was imposed on the natives of the land and slaves brought ashore by the mid-Atlantic slave trading industry which imposed colonialism which had nothing to do with God.  Yet, there are others who see no hope for any nation's future and believe that the end of our nation and even the world is near. Many of these folk believe that God has abandon America and placed our nation under judgement. I have also found some who believe that we can't pray for our nation on the basis of II Chronicles 7:14 because they have concluded that this prayer was relegated to the Nation of Israel. They believe this land was stolen from the native populations, there was never a national covenant made between our founding fathers, and no promise was made by God for America to be given to the European settlers as a promised land. Therefore, we can't pray II Chronicles 7:14 as a basis for the healing of the nation since we are not Israel. In this view we probably cannot claim any of the promises of God outlined in the Hebrew Scriptures because it was meant for Israel alone. 

 Wow! All of this only demonstrates that our churches have truly been impacted by our post-modern deconstructionism. One question I have really begun think about is "Can America be healed of It's national wounds?" For that matter, "Can any nation be healed ff it's national wounds?" If so, then what is the basis of a nation being "saved?"   I love Isaiah 66:8 "Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a nation be saved in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?"  It seems apparent to me that God does rule over history and brings salvation for a nation.  However, salvation doesn't come without true repentance. When you or I came to Christ - we recognized our sin and our need for our savior.  We are called to "repent for our personal sins (past and present - all of them) in order to receive the promises given through the work of the cross. There are conditions laid down for us in scripture laying the basis on how to be "saved."  We can't just say to Jesus - yeah, I want the blessings of your work but I refuse to accept the terms of your covenant.  Even those who have struggled through their addictions and worked through a 12-step program know that you cannot move forward without acknowledging, repenting, and making amends for their past. It's a very well known fact that until your acknowledge your "sins" you cannot be free from them.  So, what's important for the church in America to do is to stop living in denial of it's history and repent for its participation and role in our national sins so that it can become an instrument in bringing our nation to Christ.  Our past history matters. It shapes our present world and affects our future.

A few years ago, I was attending a meeting with some evangelicals in Dover, Delaware and a man walked up to me and asked why do you think it's important to address the past?  He went on to explain the past is the past.  We can do nothing to change it. Let bygones be bygones.  May first reaction to this kind of thinking was to ask, "Why then do most people think its important to acknowledge and remember the holocaust? Why does the German educational system teach it's children about its history? Why should they have to rehearse the sins of the past? Its very simple, the past shapes the present.  If the past is not important then why does our public education, colleges, and seminaries teach history?  The strange thing about this guy's questions was that we were both attending a seminar led by pseudo American Christian historian, David Barton.  Why was he even attending this history seminar if he didn't think the past wasn't important to remember?Millions of people around the world study history, philosophy, the arts, wars, genealogy and even how a family's DNA impacts the present.  So why shouldn't we explore the past? After all that's why over 600 people should up for the David Barton seminar. Edmund Burke put it this way, "Those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it."  The real question should be: "Why are so many Christians committed to avoiding their past?  Rose Kennedy said, " Some have said, time heals all wounds.  I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens.  But it is never gone."

What this man, who attended that seminar that day was really saying was, "I don't want to be responsible for what my ancestors may of may not have done."  For me, I can't imagine why he doesn't understand that the Jewish people will never let the world forget what was done to them by the German people and the world.  The same can be said about what America did.  The American people are guilty of stealing land from the native people, the genocide of whole tribal groups, slavery, lynching, raping their women, separating whole families, destroying their identities, language and cultures all the while proclaiming that they were church going Christians - and Christians don't want to talk about it?  Maybe we need a few American tribal and slavery holocaust museums built to remind American's of their sin. Maybe the Body Of Christ needs to look at the churches role in this process and be called to account for its participation in promoting slavery, segregation, and racism. What ran in our fathers still runs in us today.  This is what the Bible calls iniquity.  Yes, Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (Isa. 53:11) but you don't receive the right for that forgiveness until you recognize, acknowledge and repent of your sins.  You just can't say - can we let bygones be bygones.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated on August 23, 1963 that "It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges."  - from Dr. King's "I have a Dream speech

America can be saved.  But before it can be saved "The Body Of Christ" needs to lead the way and show America how to address the past. God is not going to bring a revival, awakening, or restoration to his people until they acknowledge their "participation" and "part" in our national sins. Only after we get ourselves and our relationships right with the Native American people and the African American community then, maybe God will forgive us and heal us of our transgressions.  Isaiah 66:8 explains how a nation can be saved, "Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."  We need as the Body Of Christ to begin travailing in prayer and intercession for our churches and the state of our nation.

Leviticus 26:40-41 "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their treachery which they committed against Me, and also that they have walked contrary unto Me.  I also will walk contrary unto them, and bring them into the land of their enemies; if then perchance their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then be paid the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."

Question: now for us "Have we've been humbled or have we embolden ourselves as American Christians? Our American troops have spent over 10 years walking in the lands of our enemies? Are we "The Body Of Christ" arrogant enough to demand rights and claim dominionism over God's prescriptions for revival? I don't see or hear much brokenness and travail that Isaiah 66:8 calls us to?  So it may be a while before America is saved in a day. In my humble opinion, we are too proud, stubborn and self-reliant as a people. How can call on a nation to do something we won't do ourselves?

Nehemiah 9:2  "And the ALL of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers."

Roots Of Calvinism: Dehumanization, Slavery, And Racism In America! (Part 2)

Native American. Photo Copyright 2015 Robert Keller. Used with Permission.

On June 18, 1452 Pope Nicholas IV authorized King Alfonso V Of Portugal to begin a venture into “dispossessing pagan, heathen and unchristian people groups of their land and to bring them into perpetual slavery”. Immediately King Alfonso sent ships to the West Africa and began engaging in the African Slave Trade. This act was the foundation and origin of the Church's role in dehumanization, racism, and slavery.  Why on earth would a church called to do Luke 4:18 begin to engage itself in such a diabolical work that is opposite to the proclamation of Jesus? The Church is called to "proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners, and bring recovery of sight to the blind, and set the oppressed free. It was not to be engaged in theft and slave trading.  Four centuries later, In 1823, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, would use this little known "Doctrine of The Western Church" (both Roman Catholic and Protestant) to justify the way for our government to seize land from Native American communities and establish a permanent slave class in the United States through landmark case Johnson vs. McIntosh.  Much time could be spent on what this ruling has done to our nation, but its important to note that it was this case that provided the foundation for the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Later this "Church Doctrine" would also provide foundation for Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney's decision on the famous Dred-Scott Decision which denied rights to African American slaves for freedom. In fact, it is important to point out, that the Constitution of the United states, in the fifth amendment, proclaims "no person shall be... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Our own Constitution, (which states that slaves were only 3/5^th of a human being therefore not really a “person”), made it possible for African slaves and their descendants to be denied these rights because of the underlying principles established by the “Doctrine of Discovery."  Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney wrote in his famous Dred-Scott Decision; "Blacks have no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justify and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever, profit could be made by it."  This is the gift that the Western European Church gave as its contribution to the founding of our nation beginning in 1611 in Jamestown, Virginia. Now here we are almost 200 years later and what is even more disturbing is that most Christians are not aware that this "Western Church Doctrine” also provided the foundation for America's War On Terrorism in the Middle East today; and people wonder why Jihadist Muslims are upset.

-President Abraham Lincoln

What on earth would give the Vatican and it's protestant counterparts the thought that "pagans, heathens, and unchristian" people groups needed to be dispossessed and enslaved? How did the theological views of Western Christianity provide the foundation for dehumanization, racism, slavery, and even abortion?  I would like to suggest that it all began with the theological heresy of Augustine of Hippo's "Doctrine Of Original Sin" and his well known book, "City Of God Against The Pagans."  Augustine Of Hippo was a "Roman Catholic" theologian and philosopher who presided as Bishop over a north African city, which is known today as Annaba, Algeria. He is viewed by  many Western Christians as an important Church Father, whose writings influenced Western Christianity and Western Philosophy.  Many Protestants, especially Calvinists, consider him to be one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on “Original Sin”, “Doctrine Of Grace” and “Predestination”. The origins, roots and foundation of Augustine's claims are important to understanding how the Church engaged itself in conquering land that did not belong to them, and enslaving the indigenous "First Nations" people internationally. It even provided the foundation for the Supreme Court decision "Roe vs Wade" in 1973 which has been used to commit the largest Black Genocide in modern American History.  Augustine's Theological views dehumanized people and reduced them to NOT BEING “fully human” which justified land grabbing, slavery, and eugenics.  After all, (according this theology), what do you do with all those "free laborers" when you have no more use for them?

Interment Camps (Reservations) owned by The US Government!

Our modern prison populations, our concentration camps of dispossessed Native people, and all abortion practices advanced by our government today have a sure foundation in Augustine of Hippo’s written positions. These positions were brought into our nation's founding by the Puritans of New England, Anglican and Baptist Calvinists of Virginia, and The Ulster Scott Presbyterians of New Jersey. All Euro-Centrists, whether religious refugees or colonial planters, came with the belief that God had predestined them to a "Promised Land" complete with free land and free labor. This land of opportunity had a sure foundation for Augustine's vision in his classic work, "City Of God Against The Pagans", to be built on the shores of America by European Calvinists. Funny how history, theology, and philosophy provides the basis for our established customs and practices as a people group. WHAT WE BELIEVE DOES MATTER! As we look at Augustine's views and how it impacted the Calvinists of Northern Europe in their colonization of America, we need to remind ourselves that just as the German people need to keep the history of the Jewish Holocaust ever before their eyes; we the "Body Of Christ" need to remember, lament, acknowledge and repent for the role of the Church's involvement in land grabbing, colonization, establishing residential schools, and racial segregation!  Lamentations 5:7 says, "Our fathers sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities."  In other words, what ran in our forefathers, still runs in us. We carry within ourselves attitudes and cultural assumptions that began in the theology of the Western Church and if these views are left unchallenged, we will only perpetuate the influences and wounds of the past. “RACIAL RECONCILIATION” is the defining moral issue of our time!

Please Read The Third Verse Of The Star Spangled Banner!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country, should leave us no more?

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Rob Corcoran, author of "TrustBuilding: An Honest Conversation On Race, Reconciliation, and Responsibility" states, "We can all think of people whom we regard as being "inside" our circle and others who are "outside." As we begin, we need to remember that in the early colonial period of our nation, African Americans were made to sit separated from the whites in most congregations.  White's today love the idea of breaking down racial barriers in the life of the church as long as the African American people come over to their Euro-centric churches. But how many whites would leave their white safe houses and join the membership of a predominately African American church? Remember, African Americans have tried to be part of white congregations for generations already. Would we find white flight in churches if they came over in vast numbers today? This ought to give us insight into how we really value racial integration. Understanding our racial discomforts ought to focus on questions like:  How do we begin a "sacred conversation" in the Body Of Christ that doesn't allow people to duck the issue?  What deliberate prophetic actions can we take as God's people to force people to become accountable and steward our relationships with one another well? 

A number of years ago, I was ministering in a church with a mutual well known ministry friend.  We were both speakers at a major youth conference with some 2000 kids from all over the Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota region.  During the conference the host pastor pulled me aside to explain that he objected to my ministry friend teaching with me in the conference.  I asked him "why" since my friend was one of the best youth communicators in the world.  He replied, "Because your friend doesn't believe in the 'Doctrine Of Original Sin!" I couldn't believe it.  So I sat down with my friend and asked him to explain why someone would make such a claim against him.  This is where I first learned that what I had been taught in both my own Christian upbringing and in seminary was based in Augustinianism. I had never heard the views my friend had shared with me that day.  However, after studying and learning about it for myself - I've concluded it is the most deceptive doctrine ever embraced in the church today.  I was raised in it and never once ever questioned Augustinianism.  What did Augustine believe and why is this so important in our discussion on race today? Most Christians know nothing about this former church theologian who had a very difficult time with his sexual addiction.  It's no wonder Roman Catholic priest and other denominations have sexual problems to deal with among their clergy.

Without spending a lot of in-depth time in documenting my research for this blog, let me just share the fact that Augustine of Hippo believed that the original sin committed in the Garden of Eden had to do with Adam and Eve's sexual engagement with one another before they were mature enough. He, along with his friend St. Ambrose, held to a view that sexual pleasure was a sin and that all sex was for pro-creation only. They believed and taught that sex should not be pursued for sexual pleasure.  Augustine described sexual pleasure as bondage to lust (or concupiscence) Concupiscence is a term referring to  a strong, compelling desire,especially like sexual lust which he struggled with throughout his priestly duties within the Roman Catholic Church.  With his interactions with St. Ambrose who held similar understanding, As a result, Augustine came to believe that if a man and woman experienced sexual pleasure (orgasm) and a child was conceived during this moment that child was born in sin.  From this Augustine formed his theological doctrine which later became known by Calvinist as the "Total Depravity of man."  According to Augustine, when we are lusting (be it a sexual lust or lust for things), we are in bondage and held captive to that lust.

He believed that because we were Totally depraved that no human effort or agency could free us from that "lust" except through God's gracious work of salvation.  Later John Calvin (A former Augustinian Roman Catholic priest) became a father of the European protestant movement.  As he engaged with European protestants, who were homeless throughout Europe due to the Roman Catholic counter-reformation movement, he taught them that God had predestined, a place, for those displaced to live.  As they began to resettle their lives in other northern European countries, they concluded that Calvin was right and they were the "predestinated" ones.  They went from being taught that God had a place for them to believing they were God's chosen people who had been brought to a promise land.  So, what does this have to do with our discussion on race?  Simply put, Augustinianism had found a place in which the City Of God Against A Pagan world could now be established.  Geneva, Switzerland would become that place where European Christian Empire building would begin for protestants.  New England's puritans would later set out from Holland to finish what Calvin's Geneva didn't get done.  Boston was to become that "City On A Hill" or beacon to the pagan nations. Of course to undermine, disagree, or fight against it meant lynching, being burned at the stake, whipping, your tongue being cut out, or genocide.  There was no way an unrighteous person would be left in charge of this new God-given nation! This is the history of John Winthrop's Augustinian dream for New England. Sound cynical?  No it's diabolical and true.  Early, New England and Virginian Calvinist believed that they had been predestinated, chosen by God and given a new land to begin again.  Of course, they preached the Gospel to the heathen, pagans, and unchristian in the land but for those who did not respond to this good news only served as evidence that they had been predestined for hell and needed to be ruled over to control their evil impulses since their was nothing of God within them (Total Depravity of Man).  The Doctrine of The Total Depravity of Man means there is nothing good within us.  Humanity is completely separated from God and not fully human (since God withdrew himself from their sinful nature).  This is called dehumanization.  If you are dehumanized and predestinated to be nothing more than a pagan or heathen you have no appeal for salvation or rights or privileges to those who have been chosen by God.  This became the basis for dispossessing the land.  After all, didn't Joshua dispossess the land of Canaan? 

Let me be clear, what has been called the righteous roots of America have led many Church leaders and members down through our history, into believing that African and Native American people (non-whites ) were to be subjugated to the “godly rule of the elect.”  Since they were predestinated for hell and Euro-centric leaders were predestinated by God (like ancient Israel) - they felt justified in their slave-holding and land grabbing “European Exceptionalism”, which later would become our “American Exceptionalism.” So, in effect, according to this mindset, “Black Lives Don't Matter” and “Native American Lives Don't Matter” either.  They remain on unequal legal footing in most “Eurocentric Entitlement” minds.  May I simply ask, when did God ever promise our Founding Fathers a new Promised Land?  Where is the National Covenant that our Christian leaders claim we have recorded?  What right did our European forefathers have in dispossessing the land of it's inhabitants and enslaving people to enrich themselves?  It’s all embodied in an “Augustinian Document” known as the “Doctrine of Discovery.”  The planting of the flag at Cape Henry was an English declaration to the Spanish and Portuguese that the King of England and his Church would do that dirty work of converting or killing the inhabitants of the land. It meant that this was their new land under the charter they had been issued and they were depending on their cooperation (and all other nations), to honor their claim and go elsewhere. It is amazing when the Native Americans or descendants of the slaves get worked up about their rights, how quickly the Church wants to pray II Chronicles 7:14 as a basis for the "Healing of Their Land."  How on earth can a land stolen from it's pagan inhabitants and justified by a story of the Hebrew people and their covenant with God (as though we are one and the same people), BE HEALED; by just quoting and praying that scripture?  We certainly, have a lot to do with the ignorance and claim that “All Lives Matter.”

Birmingham 1963

Here is some food for thought:  

Ferguson, Missouri 2015

The same police Actions taken during the non-violent march in Birmingham in 1963 were taken in Ferguson, Missouri in 2015. What is different about either of these events?  How has the training of police improved since the Rodney King beatings in 1992?

The American Church has a history in supporting dehumanization, slavery and racism. What has it done in acknowledging and repenting of it's sin?  Why is it still teaching Augustinianism?  Why does it think God is calling for a "City Of God" to be built here on earth?  

Here's a very unique thought. William Penn and the early Quakers of Pennsylvania believed that "There is that of God in every person."  Is it possible that God created humanity and pronounced it good!  Is it possible that the Bible teaches that God breathed into Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul - means as long as we keep breathing there is something of God in all of us?  What kind of theology would that reproduce in the American Church?  Maybe we need to explore the merits of Quaker theology - explore its work in peace-making and reconciliation, honoring dissent, and believing that God is already at work in every human heart.  Maybe we should call the entire "Body of Christ" to renounce Augustinianism and Calvinism since it seems to be the foundational problem to all dehumanization, slavery and racism in America today!

Racism In The American Church: Enough!

So, this morning I woke up to the tragic news that policemen were gunned down in Dallas, Texas, during a peaceful demonstration, led as a result of African Americans being unjustly shot by police officers in Baton Rouge, LA and Minneapolis, MN.  A morning news commentator raised concern that our nation was on the verge of major riots similar to those in 1968 after the gunning down of Dr. Martin Luther King. A very dear friend of mine and prominent African American Bishop recently shared with me that he was concerned that by the end of Summer, 2016 our nation was going to see an eruption of violence similar to those in the aftermath of Dr. King's assassination.  It is these predictive elements that should lead all of us in The Body of Christ to prayer, address any racism in our own hearts, and call us; to begin having a sacred conversation on race all across America - church by church, city by city.  

In July of 1992, After returning from ministering at Hillsong in Australia, I found myself landing at LAX during the Rodney King beating aftermath.  East LA was in flames.  Every flight was canceled and I was stuck in the airport staring at the TV screens watching the violence break out in the streets. Smoke had so overwhelmed the east part of LA, that the airport had to be shut down. As I stood there, I quietly asked the Holy Spirit why I was stuck there and could not get a flight out to go home after 14 hours of traveling back from Sydney.  The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "Do you see this?" (referring to the news on the TV screens) I said, "Yes, Lord."  He continued and said, "This is what the cities of America are going to look like if you don't go home and shut down that ‘Principality’ over that city I have sent you to”. Everything I saw that day brought back the images of the 1968 riots, cities burning and police brutality that I had witnessed as a child growing up in the Philadelphia, PA area.  Overwhelmed and realizing that God had sent me to Annapolis, Maryland (with its history of being a slave port), I realized that my assignment from God was not just to win people to Christ or to build a great church.  I am a White pastor and I was sent to Annapolis to do the work of prayer, intercession, healing and racial reconciliation for America's sake.  I have worked for this, in my context, for the last 25 years in the face of ridicule, church opposition, and blatant racism in the American Church.  On the one hand, I know that I have been engaged in the work of reconciliation while at the same time feeling like I've made little to no progress with the (“White Privileged”) Body of Christ, living in denial. African American and Native American Church leaders have spent years trying to redress the "racism" that runs not only in our nation but in the American Church.  This morning as I witnessed again, the violence that is occurring every day on our streets, I have an overwhelming sense of failure.  What is it going to take for the American Church to wake up and address its own racism and get engaged in their communities to lead the way for "Racial Reconciliation?"  

Before President Barack Obama ran for the presidency, God showed me that he would become the President of the United States. When God showed me "why" he was putting President Obama in the White House, he said to me, "I am placing this man in the White House to bring to the surface ALL the racism hidden under the surface of the nation."  Sure enough, that is what happened. The sad thing is, I've heard many "White Leaders", even proclaim - it's his fault.  They claimed, that our President has stirred up all this racial hatred. My only response has been to say Jude 1 warns the Body of Christ not to speak evil of dignitaries.  I Timothy 2:2 states "To pray for kings and all who are in authority, SO THAT we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."  As I immediately shared this with my own Church and others in our community and called for prayer I began to face opposition.  I couldn't believe it.  I was called a political liberal, was cut off from relationships, and watched in horror as many Christian Leaders and Church people blasphemed and damned the President of the United States, instead of praying and supporting him.  After all he is our President. Right?  Some people responded to me and said, “Well he's not my President!  I didn't vote for him.”  I have watched for the last eight years, Christians engaged in saying he's not American because he wasn't born here; even though he was clearly born in Hawaii and his mother was American!  They said; “He was born in Kenya, he's a Muslim, and is not a Christian!”  So, what if he was? Does that make him any less American?  Doesn't the Constitution of the United States guarantee the freedom of ALL religion? What's wrong with Kenya? I have many Christian friends and ministers from Kenya and Africa. They are delightful.  I spent two days with Dr. Jeremiah Wright, A distinguished member of the clergy in The United Church of Christ. This man was President Obama's pastor and is born-again, loves the Lord with all his heart, and is a prolific preacher. He experienced a huge character assassination by the US media, the political establishment, and right-winged, conservative Christian church.  Even though, many may not share his theological perspectives, he embodies everything the United Church of Christ stands for.  In my private conversation with him, He told me that he led President Obama to Christ.  He told me that he mentored President Obama in his faith.  He told me he officiated the marriage of the Obama's and baptized their children.  President Obama was a member of "Trinity United Church of Christ" in Chicago for over 22 years.  Even if he was a Muslim?  He became a Christian.  A famous Christian football player, who won the Heisman Trophy, who meets with the President on a regular basis told me clearly, our President is born again, but said that he did not have the same theological or biblical perspective as President Obama had.  So what?  If you disagree with The United Church of Christ - it doesn't mean that it is not a Christian perspective.  

When the birther movement couldn't prove his being born in Kenya, they tried to say he was born in Indonesia like something is wrong being born there. I have dear friends who I have ministered with from Indonesia. Is Indonesia any different than Fiji, Korea, or Japan? We are the Body of Christ. We are not a part of The HOLY Roman empire nor part of a Christian American empire! Our citizenship may be from an earthly nation but we are members of the Kingdom of God. That's what matters. It is not a kingdom of this world. We should not be engaged in America's civil religion, we should be engaged in winning Americans to Christ, not to a political party or view. Barack Obama was born as an American citizen because his mother was an American.  He was raised in Kansas by his WHITE grandparents.  The amazing thing to me is these same Christians didn't say former presidential candidate Senator John McCain wasn't American (He was born in Panama).  They didn't say former presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz wasn't American even though he was born and raised in Canada.  His father was Cuban and his mother American.  He held dual citizenship until he ran for public office.  So why has President Obama been singled out?  Remember he's half white too!  All this has its foundation in racism. President Obama is not American or Un-American because his father was from Kenya. He's an American because his mother, Anne Dunham, (1942-1995) was an American.  She had a PhD in Economic Anthropology from the University of Hawaii. Something you never hear in the “American White Privileged Church!” It's appalling how many even questioned President Obama's education. His White mother I am sure encouraged her son to get his education. But, those same racists who challenged his birth records probably thought his mother was some kind of white trash too! Bet you didn't know that to address the problem in rural villages, in developing nations, she created micro-credit programs while working as a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development. Bet you didn't know that the whole reason President Obama spent part of his early life in Indonesia was largely due to his mother being employed by the Ford Foundation in Jakarta. Maybe you will also be shocked to learn that President Dwight D Eisenhower's mother was African-American? Yet, he never faced such disrespect.  It all has its foundation in racism.  President Obama is not American or Un-American because the Church is caught up in racism

Why is this all important?  Because God is "exposing the hidden works of darkness", Ephesians 5:11 exhorts the Body of Christ to "not have fellowship with the unfruitful hidden works of darkness."  Racism is a manifestation of the hidden works of darkness within us.  I am deeply disturbed by the "White" Church's reluctance to address its own racist European roots.  The European Church which came to American soil in the beginnings of the 17th Century did so under charters granted by European kings who base their colonization efforts on a 16th Century papal decree known as The Doctrine of Discovery.  This racist document was based on Augustine's "City of God" and his own sexually perverted mind.  For the White Church not to acknowledge this, repent of this, and even confront this heresy is unbelievable.  

God is dealing with the iniquity of the land. Leviticus 18:25 says, "The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants." We are witnessing Ezekiel 9:9; "The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very, very great. The entire land is full of murder; the city is filled with injustice. They are saying, 'The LORD doesn't see it! The LORD has forsaken the land!'"

In my upcoming writing, “Roots of Calvinism: Foundation for Dehumanization, Racism and Slavery in America (Part 2)”, I intend to demonstrate that Augustinianism provided the foundation for the “Doctrine of Discovery” which was the basis of all charters granted to those who colonized America, committed genocide against the Native Americans, then dispossessed them of their lands, and worked to create a permanent slave class in America.  This hideous Church doctrine unleashed the principalities on our nation.  Matthew 18:18 states very clearly, "Whatsoever, you bind on earth is bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven." The Church is responsible for the prevailing demonic spirits that hold our nation captive today.  Why is Sunday morning the most segregated time in America?  

Many White Christians would agree that we need to end segregation in the church - hoping that African-Americans would join their churches.  But what if God wanted the White community to leave their comfortable suburban churches and join an African American Church and be the minority in the congregation?  I believe that God's finger is on the Church to lead the way forward.  If the Church doesn't address its own racism, how do we expect the Church be an effective witness to the nation? It's time!  

If we neglect the challenges of our time right now, the Civil Rights Movement will be set back for another 50 years.  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was gunned down by the American Government.  On December 8, 1999, There was a trial in Memphis, Tennessee, with a jury that deliberated and concluded, that the government was guilty for the assassination of Rev. King. (http://www.cbsnews.com/news/mlks-family-feels-vindicated) The King family received an official apology letter from the government and a $100 check for reparations for his death. Where was the Church?  How come the Church has not led the way of fulfilling the "I Have a Dream" prophetic word given in August, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial that was uttered by Pastor King?     
     

What message does our education send to the African American community each year during Black History month or in our public school textbooks about the assassinations of Malcolm X and Dr. King? They speak of no other major leaders or great contributors from the African American community; just Malcom X and Dr. King. Might those who want to continue in their status of "White Privilege" in our education system, just want to remind them – “You get out of line, like they did, and this is what will happen to you?  It's unthinkable that 150 years after slavery, our nation is still entangled in this mess.  We need the Lord to intervene in the affairs of our nation now, more than ever before.  Racism is not something you were born with.  It is taught.  It's time for the Church to stand up and lead our nation into a National Day of Repentance and Reconciliation that goes beyond the words, beyond the prayers, and into action!  We need to win our nation to Christ!