THE ETERNAL VISION 4 · Fasting opens two way communication channels of both mind and spirit....

THE ETERNAL VISION

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WE OVERCOME SATAN BY OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF THE FATHER as we

‘LOVE NOT OUR OWN LIVES SO MUCH AS TO SHRINK FROM DEATH.’

‘BOOK FREE’

ETERNAL

THE VISION

Reach for a light bulb and God provides the ladder.Reach for the stars and He designs you a spaceship.

DEPENDENT UPON GOD, INTERDEPENDENT AMONGSTEACH OTHER, INDEPENDENT OF THE OLD NATURE.

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A VISION OF……

PAGE3 A FURTHER NOTE FROM DAVID

4 GOD’S OVERCOMING TABERNACLE CHURCH Resting in the River of God

9 A GLIMPSE OF ONE MAN’S VISION FOR THE TABERNACLE CHURCH MOVEMENT Walking With Jesus

14 THE THREE ARMIES OF GOD

18 UP THE MOUNTAIN

30 ‘TABERNEAGLE’ THOUGHTS FROM…..

31 WHAT A G.E.M!

34 GIVING TO GOD Praise and Worship – Prayer and Fasting – Tithes and Gifts

45 ‘NEARER MY GOD TO THEE, NEARER TO THEE’ The Power of Intercession

49 THE WINNING TEAM

51 VICTORY!

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A FURTHER NOTE FROM DAVID…….

I trust you have come through the previous 120 pages with a greater understanding of God’s plan for youand the Church. Now we come to the most exciting and challenging part of the whole presentation.

You will by now, have a good idea of where I am coming from. So sorry if you now expect radicallydifferent things than in the teaching from The Word, because you won’t find them. For it is vital that ourvision be based upon the foundation of The Word. Otherwise it is all too easy to come up with fancifulhuman ideas that sound good, making the presenter look good, at least in some people’s eyes.Unfortunately there are a number of leaders within the Church who have done just that. Unfortunately theinevitable conclusion of their human delusions is the formation of cults, where the leader or ‘prophet’ setshim/herself up as having a mystical insight into the scriptures, an insight not yet possessed by theirmerely mortal followers. It enables them to exercise control over those who choose to be misled andbelieve them.

I trust you will see for yourselves as you read on, that this is neither God’s, nor my plan. I hope you knowme well enough by now to understand my motivations. That is why I have spent so much time talkingabout my experiences and reactions to them. For any vision is only as good as the person bringing it. It isnow up to you to decide whether I am hearing from God, or simply making up a good story.

The unique thing about the coming Tabernacle Church movement, unique in all Christian history, is thatit will not be initiated or imposed by a person or persons with a special anointing from God. Rather it willrise up from within the body itself. For submission and obedience to God is not something that any mancan impose on another individual. While a man (including women too!) can point out to others the plansand purposes of God, as I am attempting to do in what follows, only the individual can make the intenselypersonal decision to act upon it.

Let’s face it, if we are to become the promised, perfected and united Church, it is going to take a miracleof God! No human or group of humans has ever been able to achieve anything like that, even in theworld, more than superficially and then for a very limited time. Let alone in a Church that is currentlymore fractured than any nation state. No, it is beyond the capabilities of even the most inspired humanbeing. It will have to be of God. Him working in the lives of individuals, gradually bringing us into Hisone perfect will. Not clones of each other, but a group of people motivated and directed by the TriuneGod, fulfilling His plan set down before time began.

So the future is up to each one of us. To make up our minds whether to fully commit to the Lord our Godas He desires, or instead, move along the paths we desire. The choice is ours.

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GOD’S OVERCOMING TABERNACLE CHURCH

RESTING IN THE RIVER OF GOD

A CHURCH OF …….. DESTINY!

……... DELIVERY! .….. VICTORY!

SYMBOLICALLY DEPICTED AS‘THE RIVER OF GOD’

As Jesus is symbolically pictured by the Passover ‘Cross’, the Holy Spirit by the Pentecost ‘Dove’, Godthe Father is in turn depicted by the ‘River of God’ in Tabernacles.

The River of God symbolism represents1. The Reconciliation of God with His purified church, washed clean, sanctified by the water of

the Word.2. The Anointing power of God acquired from resting in the River of Life, now to be used to

reveal the glory of God to all the earth3. Access to the very throne room of God, via the River of Life.

A CHURCH OF DESTINY ….. of Final Reconciliation between Man and God.

To present to Jesus upon His return, a holy, blameless and radiant church, without stain, wrinkleor any other blemish, in a final act of reconciliation between God and Man.

A CHURCH OF DELIVERY ….. of a People Willing and Able to Fulfil God’sPurposes Upon the Earth.

A vibrant church, experiencing the truths ofAtonement (Reconciliation with God) firstfulfilled by Jesus upon the cross, now beinglived out in His followers. These realities are:

1. Atonement as an Ongoing Experience:a . Being Worked Out in our Lives: A

process, not an event. Holiness, thepractical application of Atonement, isobtained in greater measure the more wesubmit ourselves to the will of the Father.The greater the sacrifice of our ownnature for the nature of Christ, the holierour lives will become.

b. Available to All Who Desire It: As withthe experiences of Passover and

Pentecost, the truths of the TabernacleFeasts are available on an ongoing basis,to all those desiring to participate.

2. A Time of Rest:Our rest, our reliance, is founded upon theLord, seven days a week. Seven representscompleteness, a finished work. So we areable to rest in the completed work of Jesus atall times. Rest cannot be earned by settingaside one day or through good works. Jesushas done it all.

3. A Time of Fasting:Fasting is a very practical acknowledgementof our heart attitude to the Lord, shown

THE ETERNAL VISIONGOD’S OVERCOMING TABERNACLE CHURCH

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through the temporary gift to Him of ourmost basic human instincts, food and sex.Fasting opens two way communicationchannels of both mind and spirit. Fasting is aregular, integral part of submission to God.Fasting is to become a pleasure, not anobligation.

4. A Time of Prayer:Prayer is the very essence of ourcommunication with God. To be a time ofseeking a greater understanding of God’swill. Our ultimate aim is to establish a two-way, 24 hour communication channel ofprayer, so enabling us to react automaticallyto the Father’s will in every situation. To beas one with Christ.

5. A Time of Humility:a. Individual: An ongoing time of humility

before the Lord, seeking His guidanceand forgiveness.

b. Corporate: An increasing frequency andintensity in intercession, prayer andfasting in order to seek His will for Hispeople.

6. A Time of Testing:The Atonement experience is inevitably oneof trial and testing. The cleansing andpurifying of our soul; (defined as mind,emotions and will), our personality, ourmotivator, is at the very heart of Atonement.It is promised, He will not test us beyondwhat we can bear.

7. A Time of Worship:Worship, along with prayer and intercession,is our entry ticket into the very presence ofGod. The Tabernacle church will see worshipraised to new levels of intensity, as God’speople become more and more desirous ofentering into the Lord’s glory.

8. A Time of Purity:God’s revelation and urgent requirement forthe Tabernacle church, is personal andcollective purity. Rather than merely seekingforgiveness for our sins through the blood,the very source of sin in our lives is to be

washed clean by the water of purification.Placing a new emphasis on the prevention ofsin in our lives.

9. A Time of Righteousness:Putting aside personal desires for excesspossessions, pride of position, physicalcomfort and pleasure, in order to liverighteous lives before God. God and Hisdesires are to predominate in our lives.

10. New Ministry Roles For the Church:The Tabernacle church is to fulfil new rolesas part of its end-time assignment.A. Present Roles:

a . Reconciliation to the Father:Through an emphasis on bothindividual and corporate repentance.

b. To Subdue Satan: To be proactive inSpiritual Warfare, in order thatSatan’s kingdom might be defeated.

c. Ministry of Forgiveness: That sinsmight be forgiven on earth, ratherthan being judged by God later.

d. Bearing the World’s Insults ofChrist: As Christ’s representatives inthe world.

e . Disseminating the Power of theTabernacle Truths: To the rest ofthe Church and to the world,primarily by example, but also inteaching.

B. Future Roles:a. To Subdue Satan and His Angels:

When they are cast down to earth inthe last days.

b. The final Separation of Churchand World: To separate the churchfrom the world in the final days.

c. The Ultimate Goal: To be presentedwith Christ before the Father, aperfect bride without spot orblemish.

11. A Unified Church:A unified church, to be presented with Christbefore the Father’s throne. This unity is oneof purpose, not of yet another denomination.The Tabernacle church is a movement ofpeople within God’s various churches,


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seeking to apply the greater truths theTabernacle Feasts reveal. It is a movementthat will grow, indeed is already growing,from the ground up, as individuals areconvicted by the Holy Spirit to apply thesetruths to their lives. It cannot be imposedupon people from the top down - eitherindividually or as a group - for a personal,100% commitment is required to participate.

12. A Call to Perseverance:The attainment of these goals seemsimpossible to the human mind. This is but anungodly human mindset that we have towork through. For nothing is impossible inGod. The writer of the book of Hebrewsrecognised this, constantly emphasising theneed to persevere in our faith. While we willfail from time to time, these principles arebeing established within us on a progressivebasis. We do not attain holiness or perfectionin the twinkling of an eye. It is a process inwhich we must persevere, for the desiredresults to be attained.

13. A Call to Godly Living:Tabernacle Principles are not merely anothergood Christian Doctrine, but a call to theindividual, and the church, to godly living.Our life is a witness to the truth. Tabernacletruths can only be fully understood andentered into, through participation. Thosewho don’t desire to participate will dismissthem as foolishness. Such has been the wayof the Church throughout the ages.

14. A Hatred of Sin:The Tabernacle church will illuminate thedifference between right and wrong. ‘Nearenough is no longer good enough’. Believersare to live a life of righteousness. Sin is to behated, firstly in us, then in other believers.Sin’s awful nature will cause the TabernacleChurch to become more proactive in leadingothers to Christ. For the consequences ofunforgiven sin are frightening. As webecome more conscious of doing God’s will,so the incidence of sin in our life reduces.

15. A Fear of God:As we get closer to the Lord, a greaterawareness of His awesome majesty, might,power and presence fills our lives. Webecome more aware of the dreadfulconsequences of falling under the judgementof the living God, so developing a ‘HolyFear’ within us.

A CHURCH OF VICTORY …..Reflecting God’s Glory upon the Earth.

The Tabernacle church is to become thevictorious church, reflecting the glory of Godupon the earth, as prophetically illustrated in thejoyous Feast of Tabernacles itself. Thesevictorious reflections include:

16. An Outpouring of the Holy Spirit:Such as has never been experienced inhistory! As the Holy Spirit is poured outupon the earth in abundance for a short timeat the end of the age, signs, wonders,miracles and healings will form a natural partof the Tabernacle church. Christ however,will make these supernatural abilitiesavailable only to those who have proventhemselves trustworthy, through obedience tothe will of the Father. Otherwise chaoswould reign!

17. The Time of Final Harvest:The final and greatest harvest, as promisedthroughout the Bible and looked forward toby most believers. The Holy Spirit will do aquick work in people’s lives. Churches willoverflow with new believers, each oneneeding to be discipled and trained in theways of the Lord. All Bible Believingchurches will experience rapid growth. Forsome will be saved into the truths ofPassover, others into those of Pentecost,while still others will proceed rapidly intoTabernacles. There will also be a greatmovement amongst present believers, as theHoly Spirit convicts many to seek furthertruths, to increase their level of commitmentto their Saviour and Lord. However, thereare many that resist change. Sadly, they willbe highly resentful of the new ‘spiritual


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upstarts’, those prepared to make therequired sacrifices to move into a deeperrelationship with God. Deeper levels thanthey are prepared to commit to. Muchopposition will come from this group.

18. A New Concept of Church:The Tabernacle church will not regard itselfas a ‘church’ of the type we know today. Itwill not be just another denominationmeeting in a building, separated from others,celebrating the truths that have beenrevealed to it. For Tabernacle churchfollowers will regard their bodies astemporary dwellings, to be lived in but for atime, while eagerly awaiting the receipt oftheir eternal, heavenly bodies. This conceptof ‘temporaryness’, with its focus on whatis ahead, will result in a distinct lack ofinterest in permanent church organisationalstructures and buildings. For they know thatthe return of Christ is near. ‘Tabanaclers’will be motivated to work within existingchurches, seeking to lead others into theTabernacle experience, while promotingunity in God’s will amongst all churches.Barriers between churches will lessen asgroups of like-minded people develop andmature within the various denominations.Denominational barriers will become ofincreasingly less significance as more andmore attention is focused upon preparing forand eagerly awaiting, the Lord’s return.

19. Aspiring to Perfection in Christ:A church focused upon and fully committedto its ultimate destiny – to be the perfectBride of Christ. This is not possible byhuman effort, attainable only through thecomplete submission of our wills to that ofthe Father. To become like Christ - for Hiswill was totally submitted to His Father. An‘idealistic impossibility’ when consideredfrom the viewpoint of current experience,but attainable in the future throughabsorbing the principles of Atonement, inbeing healed by the power of the anointingof the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Itsimply has to be possible, in order that theword of God may be finally fulfilled.

20. Total Sacrifice:A people totally committed to seeking andliving by the will of the Father, as reflectedin the example of Jesus; even unto death, ifrequired; washed clean by the water of theWord as well as saved by the blood of theLamb; to be pure, as well as forgiven.

21. Eagerly Awaiting the Return of Christ:The major motivation in life will be to bepersonally prepared, and to help othersprepare, for the triumphant return of Christ,in total victory over the final barrierseparating man from God – death.Hallelujah!

A MATTER OF TIMEAs emphasised throughout, the attainment ofthese objectives is a process, not an event. For asthe Holy Spirit convicts us, in new areas in ourlives, so He guides us closer and closer to thescriptural ideal. We are not to be discouragedwhen we fail. We all fail, for not one of us hasyet been made perfect. But if we diligently applythese principles to our lives, through the savinggrace of Jesus, in the full power of the HolySpirit, and in submission to the will of theFather, to the very best of our ability, changeswill occur. For the Lord sees and honours ourtrue heart. As we surrender to Him, so Heteaches trains and encourages us in theapplication of His ways to our lives.

For the sacrifice of Atonement must be built intothe heart of our very beings. Then we will beable to celebrate the victory, power and wonderof the Feast of Tabernacles. As individuals andthe church, we will not experience the glory ofthe promise of Tabernacles until we have builtGod’s Tabernacle within us. Glory follows, notprecedes sacrifice! “My people, prepareyourselves,” is the Lords heart cry.

Each one of us can make a start today. Finalrevival, the end –time harvest, the glory of Godbeing manifested in the church, is dependentupon the sacrifice of our lives to Him, not uponan ‘easy miracle’ from the heavenlies. For God’sTabernacle is being built in each of us. His


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collective glory will shine forth as HisTabernacle builds within each one. ForTabernacles is an individual, not a corporateexperience. But God’s glory will be greatlymagnified by the collective witness of HisTabernacle church movement.

Let us then, get ready today for the victoriousreturn of the Lord Jesus to collect his perfectbride, in accordance with the pattern establishedin the Tabernacle Feasts.

NOT THE FINAL WORDRevelation, like the development of Christ in us,is an ongoing process, not a single event. It is theperfectly natural desire of every person with anapostolic or prophetic gifting, to receive brandnew, supernatural, life and church changingrevelation from God. Unfortunately when suchrevelation comes, it frequently leads to spiritualpride, accompanied by the belief that ‘theirword’ (God’s really!) is the final and ultimateword of God. God’s next revelation has then tobe given to someone else!

Naturally, being human, I would like to believethat there is some element of revelation in whathas been written here concerning thedevelopment of God’s end-time Tabernaclechurch movement. However it is neither all newrevelation, nor the final word. The teaching onwhich these premises are based has beenprogressively revealed to many within thechurch over the past 50 years or so. While thishas not yet all become mainstream Christiantheology, bit by bit, piece by piece, these truthsare gradually being absorbed into the widerchurch. For change and revelation in God’sorder, as in the exploration of a new country, isfirst carried out by a few pioneers, before beingsettled by the mass of its inhabitants.

As individuals, God takes our natural talents andbreaks them down, before rebuilding them in Hiswill, rather than our own. He does not make us‘Christian Clones’, according to the humanideals of any one person or group. For we allhave individual, God given personalities, eachuniquely incorporating differing strengths andweaknesses. God will use our strengths, oncethey are submitted to him, while at the same timestrengthening us in our areas of weakness, tomaking us better all-round people in Him. Mythree natural talents happen to be in the areas ofenvisioning the future, putting things intoperspective, and explaining complex issues in asimple way. These are likely to be reflected here.I have many weaknesses. He is still workingupon these!

Because we are human, every revelation containselements of both God and the writer. This is noexception! I have tried my very hardest to ensurethat as much as possible is of God, and as littleas possible of David. This picture of theTabernacle church movement has been carefullycomposed scripture upon scripture, word uponword, to line up, to the best of my ability, withGod’s word as developed in ‘The First and LastWord.’ You need to be the judge of my successor failure in this regard.

Finally, this is not the final word! (I can seeDavid in that!) It is an attempt to provide aframework which others, more spiritual andknowledgeable than I, will be able to amend,expand and enhance. As time marches on, Godcontinues to reveal more and more of his natureto us. But it won’t be until the glorious day ofHis return that all will be revealed. Then He willhave the final word! For the final ‘Word’ isindeed Jesus. To Him be all the honour andglory. Amen.

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A GLIMPSE AT ONE MAN’S VISION FOR THETABERNACLE CHURCH MOVEMENT

WALKING WITH JESUS

Before considering the vision, a briefunderstanding of the historical background ofGod’s dealings with His people would be useful.

THE TABERNACLE CHURCHMOVEMENT BACKGROUNDOur God is a triune (three-part) being whoseoverriding desire has always been to restorerelationship with His disobedient creation,mankind. He has approached this task in alogical, consistent way, the pattern of which isrevealed throughout scripture. A pattern initiallyrevealed when he set up His first church onearth, when the Israelites miraculously escapedfrom Egypt in c.1446BC, nearly three and a halfthousand years ago. As the heavenly architect,God provided Moses with highly detailed plansfor the first church building (Tabernacle ofMoses). At the same time Moses receivedinstructions for its operation (the Law). God’searthly representatives were appointed (thePriesthood), and the annual religiouscelebrations to be observed by His people weredetailed. (The Feasts of the Lord - Passover,Pentecost and Tabernacles.). God’s plan ofreconciliation is disclosed in all four, but is mostclearly seen in the layout and furniture of MosesTabernacle (an earthly type of Heaven), andthrough the religious festivals, the Feasts of theLord, that the Israelites were to observe. Thiswas the Old Covenant (Testament) church.

Nearly 1500 years later, this Old Covenant,based on the Law, was replaced by the superiorNew Covenant (Testament), based on grace. Itwas and is made available through the birth,death and resurrection of Jesus. Through hisdeath, Jesus fulfilled the pattern of the Feast ofPassover. The ‘new’ New Testament Church wasestablished on the Day of Pentecost, fulfillingthe pattern of the Feast of Pentecost. That leftonly the three-part Feast of Tabernacles as theremaining Feast to be fulfilled. The fulfilment of

the Tabernacle Feasts, in accordance with God’spattern, is the honour, privilege andresponsibility of the end-time church, for thesefeasts represented the final celebration and highpoint of the Jewish religious calendar. This taskis the responsibility of the Tabernacle churchmovement, soon to culminate in the finalreconciliation of man with God when Jesusreturns to rule and reign upon the earth for 1000years.

The development of the New Testament Church,a church now including all believers in Jesus,Jew and non-Jew, has many similarities to that ofthe Old Testament Church. As illustratedthrough the Israelites’ journey to claim thePromised Land. The peoples’ release from Egypt(Passover) was quickly followed by the giving ofGod’s Covenant at Mount Sinai (Pentecost).Following this, through general disobedience,provision of the Promised Land was delayed forforty years, time for a generation to die in thedesert. Possession of the Promised Land itselftook more than 400 years, from crossing theRiver Jordan under Joshua, until final fulfilmentunder King Solomon (Tabernacles).

Similarly the New Testament pattern saw thecrucifixion of Jesus (Passover) followed 50 dayslater, by the release of the Holy Spirit(Pentecost). After a time of growth the churchwent into a long period of decline during theaptly named Dark Ages. Since the Reformationof the 16th Century, the Church has graduallybeen restored.

The Traditional/Evangelical Churches firstembraced again the Passover truth, that ofsalvation through the blood of Jesus. In the 20th

century the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churchembraced the Holy Spirit truth of Pentecost.

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Now, the pattern of Tabernacles is starting toemerge within the Church. Since the 1950’s,there has been a ‘Trumpet Call’ to action, duringwhich time the Lord has revealed many moretruths from His Word, including revelation of theimportance of Moses Tabernacle and the Feastsof the Lord. This call is right now graduallybeing heeded as people, around the world, arebeginning to apply ‘Day of Atonement’principles of repentance, holiness andsubmission of personal goals and ambitions tothe will of the Father Himself to their lives. Theoutworking of this is to be the promised, gloriousend-time Tabernacle church movement, infulfilment of the ‘Feast of Tabernacles’ itself.

Detailed scriptural principles upon which this isfounded are contained in ‘The First and LastWord’. This vision or dream, (confused as towhether I am a young or old man!), is an attemptto bring the facts to life. Adding flesh to thebones, putting forward one man’s view of thedevelopment of God’s plan of reconciliation, tobe fulfilled through the Tabernacle churchmovement. It is a vision, it is a dream, but onefirmly based up on the reality of the Word.

A CHURCH OF DESTINY…. Of FinalReconciliation between Man and God.To present to Jesus upon His return, a holy,blameless and radiant church, without stain,wrinkle or any other blemish, in a final act ofreconciliation between God and Man.

SHARING THE VISIONThe clock ticks irresistibly on towards midnighton 31 December 1999. There is, particularly inNew Zealand, the first to experience theawakening of the new millennium, a sense ofkeen anticipation of the future, muted by the fearof possible consequences of the Y2K computerbug. The clock strikes 12! The lights stay on!The fearsome Y2K bug has forgotten to hatch.The hours on the time clock of life tickrelentlessly onwards……8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 1, …The new day, the New Year, the New Century,the New Millennium. No miracle hangover cure– for the head from the party the night before, orfor the ongoing challenges of living. One centuryblends smoothly into the next. Or does it?

For the world so it seems. The pace of lifecontinues to accelerate, people striving everharder, reaching out to grasp those worldly waysof satisfaction that always remain, tantalisingly,just out of reach.

For most of the church too, there has been littlechange. Billboards outside the churches havecleverly adjusted their traditional salvationmessage by two words, from “Last Chance ofSalvation in the Old Millennium” to “FirstChance of Salvation in the New Millennium.”Inside of people’s hearts, the change has beeneven less dramatic. For the Christian life cyclegrinds on, some enthusiastic, most content to gowith the flow, always a few unfortunatesdeparting, dejected, rejected.

During the past few months, while travellingaround the country, I have listened to lots ofcassette tapes, many now 20-30 years old,sounding out the ‘trumpet call’ of awakening tothe church. Maybe you have heard them too.Calls to put our lives in order. Calls to preparefor the greatest revival of all times. And whathave we done about it? Generally nothing! Howdisillusioned many of the ‘trumpeters’ must be,as the people have said, “That’s nice,” beforecarrying on with life as normal. Some have heardthe call in their minds, others have even believedit in their hearts, but very few have beenprepared to do something about it, to submittheir wills and desires to those of the Lord JesusChrist.

Until recently, that is. For there is now a gentlestirring amongst a few of God’s people. As thefirst puff of wind causes a gentle ripple to runupon a mirror-like sea, so the Spirit of God isstarting to move in people’s hearts. In everincreasing numbers, Christians are beingconvicted of the sin that remains in our lives, sinthat separates us from the full love of God. Sinthat surely as night follows day, prevents us fromfully walking in His ways. Perhaps the HolySpirit is convicting you as He is convicting me.Convicting us both to do something about it.Yes, a hatred of the sin in our lives is buildingwithin. Compromise is becoming less of an


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option than in the past. Black is black, grey isblack however light the shade of grey might be.Only white is white. A greater desire to pleasethe Father is being instilled within by the HolySpirit; a desire to become more like Jesus, to dothe perfect will of the Father as He did. “Lord, Iam available. Please, please, use me!” is theincreasingly harmonised cry of more and morehearts, a cry reaching out into the heavens. Thechorus the Lord has been waiting for, the cry thatso gladdens His heart. Reverberating chords ofworship greet our King of Kings, followed bythe soft sound of surrender to our Lord of Lords.

For a new sound is being heard amongst God’speople. Whispers here, heart cries there. Cries ofrepentance. Cries of passion! Cries of a peopleawakened by the gentle puffs of Holy Spiritwind. Cries of desire for more of God. Cries ofintercession. Cries of worship. Cries of intimacy.Cries of submission. Cries of commitment.Promises of obedience to the will of the Lord.

For a new generation is stirring amongst God’speople. An impassioned, committed generation,desperately hungry for God. A new generationtotally committed to righteous living. A newgeneration committed to the growth of the wholebody of Christ. Dedicated to spreading God’sword amongst all people. Committed todefeating the forces of evil upon the earth.Earnestly desiring to fulfil God’s will. A newgeneration committed to becoming the perfectbride of Christ. A new generation, now eagerlywaiting upon Jesus’ return. A new generation isarising, of both young and old. One called by theSpirit of the Great High God. A new,overcoming generation who will “ not love theirlives so much as to shrink from death.”(Revelation 12:11) A new generation, onewilling to pay the price of total commitment.

A new generation is arising within the body,convicted by the Holy Spirit to be the start of thefinal end-time move of God. Not all are socalled. But it is the highest calling God has forthis generation. Salvation and the empowering ofthe Holy Spirit are free gifts from God.Obedience on the other hand, is our gift back toGod, through which He empowers us to fulfil

His purposes. By its very nature, obedience hasto be an individual commitment of our individualwill. It comes from within. The Spirit of Godinitiates it. It is not of man, not of preacher,evangelist or pastor. It is our personal responseto all that our God has done for us. It is a Godinspired, personal response.

The Tabernacle church movement will notseparate itself from the body to become justanother denomination. For unity in God is at itsvery core. Units of God’s Tabernacle Army willgrow within existing churches, dedicated todoing God’s will within the Body of Christ. Foras individuals within churches grow incommitment to the Lord’s will, so will unitypermeate the Body. The ‘unified end-timechurch’ is neither a single world church nor a‘superior’ denomination. Rather a unity ofpurpose amongst people in churches fulfillingthe will of God. For as individuals get closer toGod, so His will inevitably will be betterexpressed through His Body, the Church.Denominational walls are starting to crumble, aswe become more in tune with our Master andLord.

Inevitably, there will be opposition amongstsome, indeed many, to this new move of God’sSpirit. For there have always been individualsand churches content to remain at differinglevels of truth. ‘Tabanaclers’ will recognise this,choosing to love those who criticise, for all formpart of the one Body of Christ. The poisonedbarbs thrown by those who have been at theforefront of previous moves of God, but whoreject this one, will hurt the most. On the otherhand, criticism from the ‘worldly religiouschurch’ will be easily recognisable and dealtwith for what it is.

There will be a ‘quick work’ too, amongst thosethe Holy Spirit convicts. People will rapidly riseto new levels of understanding and capacitythrough commitment, to the envy of those olderChristians who have placed limitations upontheir faith. For these believers will rapidlyabsorb the eternal truths of Passover, Pentecostand Tabernacles. Receiving the blood offorgiveness of Jesus, submitting to the fire of


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purification and testing of the Spirit, beingperfected by the washing of the water ofobedience to the Father’s Will, in a way notpreviously experienced.

A commitment founded upon repentance. Ahunger to get right with our God. An intenselypersonal repentance, an ongoing process of‘Atonement’, a thorough cleansing providing thefoundation upon which Christ can rebuild us intoHis image.

For repentance is an ongoing process, as theLord reveals, layer upon layer, areas in our livesthat need to be changed in order to fulfil his will.Yes, sin is present in attitudes as well as actions.Dealing with ingrained attitudes, firmlyentrenched at the very core of our personality, isrequired of the ‘Tabernacler.’ Often so much apart of us that we cannot see them! So we mustbe prepared to let the Holy Spirit reveal them,allowing Him to change us as He turns up theheat in our life until we finally let go of our once‘sacred cows.’ This process, normally so painfuland time consuming is speeding up, as‘Atonement’ impresses itself more deeply uponus. As we desire to be ‘at one ‘ with our God.

Change through repentance, under the convictionof the Holy Spirit, is at the heart of this finalTabernacle experience of worldwide revival. Weare now experiencing the ‘latter rains’. Less thanthe ‘early rains’ of early New Testament times,but so welcome after the centuries long droughtof the Dark Ages. Now we’re eagerly sensing theimminent arrival of the final harvest, thefulfilment of the joyous Feast of Tabernacles, thetime of God’s glory being powerfully reflectedthroughout the earth.

Before this though, we must put aside our half-hearted ways, the greyness of our past. Meetingwith our God in Atonement, in whole-hearted(and bodied!) praise and worship, prayer, fastingand intercession. Enduring the fire of testing inhumility and righteousness, living pure and holylives. Letting His awesome majesty, might,power and presence fill our whole beings. This isour entry ticket to the Feast itself.

Yes, Tabernacles is first and foremost a joyouscelebration of the fruit harvest. The sweetest tothe taste buds. Celebrating the harvest of thechoicest crops. Far more rejoicing than there wasfor the basic but necessary commodity crops ofbarley and wheat. For now has come thetantalising taste sensation of the fruit of the land.Yes, the glory of the Lord will shine throughthose prepared to make the necessary sacrificesto join His Tabernacle Army, the final glorious,mouth watering fruit harvest of those who havefully submitted their wills to Him.

The signs, wonders and miracles of Jesus, asexperienced in the early church will again flowthrough those who have paid the entry price tothe overcoming Tabernacles company, only inmuch greater number. For God only gives powerto those He can truly trust, those fully submittedto His will. Otherwise there would be chaos! Tobe trusted with miracles we have first to pay theprice of obedience. The glory of the Lord shinesthrough those prepared to make the necessarysacrifices to join His Tabernacle Army, the finalmagnificent fruit harvest, those who have fullysubmitted their will to Him.

Tabernacles also celebrates the final harvest ofmankind, when multitudes upon multitudescome to Christ right across the world. For asTabernaclers reflect the glory of the Lord in theirlives, many others will be attracted to their light.Some will come in as barley, some as wheat,while others will hunger for the delights of thefruit of Tabernacles. The much awaited end timeharvest will happen when individual Christiansand the Church radiate the light and purity ofJesus. God’s plan is perfect. He will not movebefore His church is ready to gather the harvest.For if the storehouse leaks and is infested withrats, the harvest will be spoiled, as it has been sooften in the past.

The pattern of Tabernacles cannot and will notbe fulfilled until His people and Church are fullyprepared. Are we ready?

THE VISION STOPPED!How I would love to move on further – to beable to see right into the future, to have God


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reveal the full glory of the Feast of Tabernaclesthat is to be experienced by His people. To bethe prophet of prophets, to have all the answersabout what the future holds. In my humannature, that is! To be honest, when I startedwriting, that is what in my heart of hearts, Ihoped for. But it is not to be for I will not makeit up in my imagination.

But wait, the Lord is clearly showing me as Iwrite that that knowledge is not for now. Weneed have no concern for the future if we fullyfollow His ways today. To the extent we areprepared to submit to His purposes, Heguarantees to guide us through the promisedtrials and tribulations of the days ahead. We arenot to concern ourselves with things we cannotaffect or influence. For God’s will, will be done.

“Listen my people,” says the Lord. “Myjudgement is coming soon. For my will, myperfect will is being done on earth as it is inheaven. Prepare yourselves my people, gird yourloins for the battle. Put on the armour I haveprovided for you. For the days of this age aredrawing to a close. Prepare yourselves for thebattle my people. For, to the extent you haveprepared yourselves through submission to mywill for you, so I will in turn protect you. Prepareyourselves now my people and I will give you awhite stone, the admission ticket to my GloriousFeast. Do not delay, for as you can see my Spiritis already moving to separate the wheat from thechaff, the tares from the wheat. Do not worryabout the troubles of the world my people, forthey will receive my justice if they do not repentof their wicked ways. Do not neglect yoursalvation, for I am a righteous God and I amseeking a righteous people. Repent. Make yourway right with me, with your brothers and allthose you have offended. For I require it of you.Prepare yourselves the way of the Lord, for I amsoon coming in might, power and majesty, as Ihave promised in my Word. There is nothing tofear for those who are fully submitted to me. Butbeware of lukewarmness, for I will spit you outof my mouth as surely as the night follows theday.

Listen to me my people, while there is still time.For I your God am a righteous God, slow toanger and just in my ways. But the day of thewrath of my judgement is very near. Come to memy people, come to me and I will protect youfrom my righteous fury against an unrepentant,self-centred people.

For I love my own and will see that you come tono harm. Rest in me; bathe yourselves in mylove and tender care, for I am your Father whocares for you. I have marvellous things for you,things that you cannot even envisage, as myplans unfold for the end of the age.’

“For I am returning for my perfect bride, clothedin white linen, to dwell with me forever. Be partof my bride, my people, for although the cost isgreat, the rewards are unsurpassable. I Jesus,will be with you soon.”

Well, what more can I say! The Lord works inways that man cannot comprehend. He leads us.We merely need to be available.

For we are living in days of ‘Atonement’. Dayswhen we desperately need to get ourselves rightwith God, our Christian brothers and sisters, andall others we have offended during our lives. It’snot easy. I know that! You know that too! But itis necessary if we are to enter into all that Godhas for us. Yes, the message for this time is tosubmit to the will of the Father for our lives. Tobe 100% sold out to our God. To be a part of Hisovercoming Tabernacle Army. To be as one withJesus.

As mentioned above, before receiving the wordfrom the Lord, I don’t know precisely how theLord will outwork His Tabernacle churchmovement. However He has graciously given mesome words in prophetic, allegorical and poeticform, along with some practical application ofHis Word and observations on the direction ofprayer and intercession. I trust you may findthese helpful in gaining an insight into theexciting future that awaits all who are obedientto His will.

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THE THREE ARMIES OF GOD

The Lord has given me a picture of three armies,all fighting the same enemy but with varyingdegrees of effectiveness.

THE OUTER COURT ARMY: This armyreminds me of the Chinese Army. They appearto be a huge, seething mass of soldiers whenlooked at from a distance but as you get closeryou can see that they are in ranks, very closetogether. Their uniforms are all much the samebut there are epaulets distinguishing regiments.The regiments are separate and do not mix. Theofficer’s uniforms stand out.

The soldiers are armed only with a very basicrifle. They are pleased to be in the army as itgives them security in an otherwise poorcountry. The only way they can win battleshowever is by sheer force of numbers. Theleadership doesn’t mind sacrificing soldiers inthe battle, as there are plenty of replacementsavailable. The individual soldiers however, whilewilling to sacrifice themselves in this way in thepast, are not so keen to do so now, theireducation levels having increased. Most of theleaders however do not realise this, being of theold school. So there is increasing disaffection inthe ranks and even desertions, as the soldiers areno longer prepared to be cannon fodder.

The leadership is at a loss as to what to do. Theyare not prepared to learn new tactical skills asthey feel they already have all the answers. Whatused to work still should, in their opinion, but itdoesn’t. They have a defeated look in their eyeswhen confronting major battles. So they avoidthese and restrict themselves to minor, low techskirmishes, where their numerical superiorityguarantees success. They are increasinglyreluctant to enter into battle unless success isvirtually guaranteed, for they know they cannotrely on their troops to accept the risks of all outwarfare. This huge potential resource is slowlydying due to the lack of innovative and inspiringleadership and their leaders inability andunwillingness to employ the new weaponry theirgovernment is providing. It sits neatly in piles in

huge storage sheds that surround the army. Theleadership have put armed guards on these shedswith orders to shoot on sight any soldierattempting to use their own initiative to go in andtry out one of these weapons. The soldiers loseeven more interest and many do not renew theircontracts once they have served their allottedtime. The army therefore, has to expend evengreater resources on attracting and training to abasic level, new recruits. This distracts themfrom the battle even more.

Their enemies can see this and are getting bolderand bolder in their attacks. The size of theiroccupied land is shrinking as the soldiersgradually withdraw towards the safety ofnumbers in the middle of their territory. Yet thearmy is potentially a tremendously powerful one,consisting as it does of such huge numbers ofsoldiers. If only the leadership would employnew tactics and make use of the weaponryavailable to it, it could once again become agreat force. Sadly, such a change does not appearto be in sight.

Encouragingly though, increasing numbers ofthe soldiers who are leaving realise the situationand are joining the adjoining supporting armieswho they can see are prepared to use theweaponry they have been given. This, in spite ofthe leadership instructing them not to haveanything to do with these armies, whom theysometimes incorrectly see as being the enemy.

The enemy, in increasing desperation, seeing notone but three armies gathering against it, isconcentrating its attacks far more than it used to.Sadly, this first army is not adapting to this newsituation at all well. It spends most timeremembering past glory days, rather thanadapting to today’s battle conditions. While itcannot be defeated completely because of thehuge numbers and infrastructure it contains, it iscontinually reducing in size and effectiveness,leaving more and more of the responsibility ofthe battle to its associated armies.

THE ETERNAL VISIONTHE THREE ARMIES OF GOD

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THE HOLY PLACE ARMY: This armyreminds me of NATO. Not as many soldiers asthe first army although they cover a greater area,being spread further apart. This army is in amuch more confident mood, having had recentvictories, although in reality, against much lesssophisticated foes. Their uniforms are many andvaried, representing the diversity of countriesthey come from. The troops are more highlyeducated, needing to be to handle thesophisticated weaponry they have at theirdisposal. The officers are clearly distinguishablefrom the troops, not because their uniforms areradically different, but because they haveadorned themselves with all sorts of gold braidand medals to make themselves stand out.

Everything looks pretty good on the surface butthere are major problems underneath. Firstly inthe areas of communications. For here are manydifferent national languages spoken, so troopunits have considerable difficulties incommunicating with each other. An attempt hasbeen made to overcome this by making thepredominant, English language the primary onefor the command s t ruc ture , butmisinterpretations are frequent, particularly inthe heat of battle when stress levels are high.Resentment and uncertainty occurs, amongstboth officers and men. This is a major problemwith this army, for national pride supersedesefficiency and effectiveness on many occasions.Each national unit feels that they know best andwant their own people to be at the top of thecommand structure. This has led to a top-heavyorganisation, one slow in making decisions.Pride and bickering between units, each ofwhom have slightly different agendas, alsoreduces the effectiveness of this armyconsiderably. But they are finding now, the morethey fight beside each other and come to relyupon each other in the heat of battle, that theirdifferences are not as great as they once thoughtthey were. As the battle intensifies, they arerealising that they indeed have all critical areasin common and that the enemy is the real foe.

Weaponry is not a problem for this army. Theyhave more than adequate supplies provided by

their governments and the soldiers are keen andeager to use it. Unfortunately however, theweaponry is looked upon as being sufficient towin all the battles by itself. Technology is king.This reliance on technology has now got to sucha state that the army is jeopardising theequipment’s effectiveness by not being willingto risk soldiers lives in the employment of it. Somassive firepower is poured out in a shotgunapproach from a long range, losing itseffectiveness and inflicting more damage than isreally necessary, both to property, but moreimportantly, unnecessarily injuring and killinginnocent civilians.

The life of the soldier has become moreimportant than the lives of the people they arefighting to protect or release. While theindividual soldiers are prepared to fight, theleadership are unwilling to risk the publicbacklash that battle casualties are likely to cause.For they are most interested in protecting theirlives and positions, and supplies of high techweaponry. Sadly, the leaders’ focus has turnedinward, away from the battle to what is in theirpersonal best interest. Getting the leaders towork together is harder than for the troops, but itis happening more.

While this army, in spite of its limitations, hasbeen winning many battles, the enemy is gettingwise to its major weakness, particularly theunwillingness to risk soldiers’ lives. So theenemy has designed his tactics to get the armyoffside with the people it is trying to influenceby exaggerating damage and casualty figures. Ifit can’t win the war on the battlefield itselfbecause of the power of the weapons employedagainst it, it will try to win the propaganda war,both amongst the soldiers themselves and withinthe civilian population. For the enemy’s realexpertise is in psychological warfare as inreality, he does not have a fraction of theweaponry of the army available to him.

While this army may appear to be on top of thepresent level of enemy activity, it currently doesnot have the willpower necessary to fight againsta foe prepared to launch all his resources in one


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final desperate fight to the death. When this timearrives, this army is going to be faced with themost critical decision of its existence – areleaders and soldiers alike prepared to die for thecause? Some will and some wont.

Many will leave the army but there will be manymore prepared to fight to the end, putting thecause ahead of their personal safety.

THE HOLY OF HOLIES ARMY: This armyreminds me of the Israeli Army. An army thatalways appears to be facing insurmountableodds, both numerically and in weaponry, butcontinues to win its ongoing battle of survival.This army is not large in comparison to the othertwo, in fact it is really only now starting to beformed. But it is growing rapidly and will intime, become the most effective, althoughremaining the smallest of the three. The mostimpressive impression of it as it grows, is that ithas a focused direction.

The soldiers’ uniforms are not smart; in fact theydisplay the dirt and grime of battle. The soldiersthemselves have a battle hardened look, for theyhave personally experienced the harsh reality ofwar. Understanding only too well, the reality thatthey may be one of the next casualties. Theyknow that war is harsh, hard and unforgiving.Realising that war is not a game, that it involvesrisks, that many don’t return. Understanding waris necessary for survival, individually and as anation. Yet their look is not one of exhaustioneven though they are tired, but one of confidentexpectation, knowing that the victory is alreadywon!

Interestingly they seem to be so well organised,moving as if one, yet their leadership is notobvious. No one person stands out by virtue ofhis or her uniform. All appear much the same.Yet the leaders are there and obviously wellrespected, giving instructions in an informal yetprecise way. For the leaders are as one with thesoldiers, giving the impression that they havecome out of the ranks, rather than having beenimposed from above. All speak the samelanguage. Orders are therefore easily understood

and instantly acted upon as if the soldiers’ livesdepend upon it, which in fact they do.Surprisingly there appear to be far fewer fulltimeprofessional soldiers in this army, compared tothe other two. Even many of the officers haveoutside jobs and come and go as required. Thisdoesn’t seem to be a handicap at all, for theyseem better able to relate to their soldiers thanthe professionals do.

Their weaponry is very good, but notnecessarily the very latest available, althoughsome is. Indeed much looks very battle scarredbut is still in very good working order. For it isalmost as if these soldiers are as one with theirequipment. They obviously understood itthoroughly, through much training and wartimeexperience. Knowing what it can do and itslimitations, they work within these to achieve themaximum results from their armoury.Differences of rank do not affect the jobs theydo. Each job is done by the best person availableand when a job is required to be done urgently,all ‘muck in’ and do it. This army operates on ateam rather than a hierarchical basis.

The territory they control is actually not thatlarge, although on a per man basis it is muchgreater than for the other two. What is mostimportant though, is the key location of the area.It reaches out into the very heart of the enemy.So different to the first two armies, which haveessentially become defensive in orientation. Forthis army, the best form of defence is attack.They instinctively know that if they sit back andwait to be attacked, they will be overwhelmed bythe sheer weight of numbers of the enemy.Controlled aggression typifies their strategicthinking.

This results in their companion armies having amuch easier time of things than they wouldotherwise have had. For they alone recognisethat all three armies have a role to play in theoverall victory. Even when their air of quietconfidence and successes are misunderstood,sometimes even envied by the other armies.Gradually however, through patientcommunication and because of the spectacular


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results this army is achieving, their companionarmies are being won over.

Indeed recruitment skyrockets, as other soldierswant to join. However many can’t pass theintense initiation programme which requires totalcommitment and dedication to complete. For thisarmy can only operate successfully with thosewho are 100% sold out to the vision andprepared to make the ultimate sacrifice of theirlives in the attainment of it. The vision of thisarmy is not one of containment, but rather, atotal and final victory over the enemy. They arehighly educated, knowing their strategy andgoals backwards. Most importantly, they knowthat when they follow the defined battle plan,their ultimate victory is assured.

INTERPRETATION: By now, many of theinterpretations should be familiar to you.However, I am including a few hints to help you.Outer Court Army: Traditional/Evangelical ChurchHoly Place Army: Pentecostal/Charismatic ChurchHoly of Holies Army: Tabernacle Church

Movement/ArmyEducation: Knowledge of the Word.Regiments. Nations: Denominations, MinistriesBraid, Medals, etc: Vestments etc.Uniforms: Picture of the nature of the people in the particular army.Weapons: Spiritual Gifts.Leaders: Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, Prophets, Apostles, Ministers, Priests, etc.Enemy: Satan and his army.Battle: Between forces of good and evil.Battlefield: External for the Church, internal for the individual.Psychological Warfare: Waged by Satan on our mind, convincing us to give up the battle.XXX Army: Similar to, but not precisely the same as. A human illustration only.

Received by David Tait: 20 March 2000

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UP THE MOUNTAIN

THE DREAMOnce upon a time, as all the best tales start, therewas a man. He could have any number of namesbut we will call him John. John was a veryordinary man. He lived in a city on a vast plain.There were lots of cities round about similar tohis, where millions of citizens got on with life,making a good living from the surrounding landand craft industries they had developed,producing the goods that go to make for acomfortable life. The people were happy withtheir lot. Generations came and generationswent. Life began, was lived, and one day ended.That was that, and that was all. The sun rose, thebirds came out to play. The sun set, the birdswent back to sleep. The cycle of life rolled onand on throughout the ages.

John owned his own little house in a good areaof town. Most comfortable and homely it wastoo. He worked hard, enjoyed kicking about aninflated sheep bladder, footbladder they called it,with his mates after work and in the weekends.Life was good. “This is what living is all about!”or so his mates told him.

But John had a secret dream. He couldn’t tell hismates about it, lest they thought him stupid. Forwhen he was young, sitting upon his Grandma’sknee, she had thrilled him with stories of apeople far away, living on a mountain. A landoverflowing with milk and honey, a land verydifferent to the one he knew. John had no ideawhat a mountain even was, for the plain was hisworld, stretching as far as the eye could see.

As a special treat for his fifth birthday, Grandmahad drawn, on a very expensive, special piece ofpapyrus, a picture of the mountain of his and herdreams. For she had once been to the mountain,returning solely to share her discoveries withothers. How sad she was, that so few wereinterested in hearing and even fewer in going tosee for themselves. For life was pretty good, yousee, right here on the plains.

But John treasured that present like no other. Heknew that one day, he would search out thismountain and experience for himself, thewonders of her stories.

The inevitable happened and Grandma died.What would he do? Let his dream die with her?No. He would find the mountain! So Johnquickly ‘rushed up’ a designer sack withshoulder straps to make carrying the load easieron a long journey, good at design and stitchingas he was. (men did these things in those days –women carried the burdens – still do, some say!)Named it a rushsack. After filling it with theneeds of his journey, including his preciouspapyrus picture, off he went. Didn’t tell hismates though, for they would only have laughedat him!

THE JOURNEYHe journeyed from city to city, showing peoplehis picture, asking everyone he met if they hadseen the mountain. But no one had. The citiesthemselves were interesting enough, for each hada different philosophy on life, but none excitedhim as much as his precious Grandma’s stories.After several weeks of seemingly purposelesswanderings, John felt down in the dumps,wondering whether the journey was worthwhile.His rushsack seemed particularly heavy that day.“Perhaps I would have been better off staying athome, playing footbladder with my mates,” hethought, in a moment of pensive reflection. Butthe dream he had so blissfully nurtured over theyears was so strong that he convinced himself, “Imust go on. I can’t give up yet!”

Heading down the road, he caught up withanother traveller, a kindly looking soul. As theypounded the dirtments, (for paving had not yetbeen thought of) passing the time of day, John,rushsack on his back, mentioned his search forthe mountain. His friend’s face lit up like alantern. You want to go to the mountain, heexclaimed! I am heading that way too. Andwhat’s more, I have a map. I can show you the

THE ETERNAL VISIONUP THE MOUNTAIN

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way. John was ecstatic! His dream was about tocome true!

Together, they headed down the road at anincreased pace. They were on their way to themountain! The way John’s newfound friendtalked about the mountain was trulyinspirational. John couldn’t wait to get there!After a few more days of dirtment pounding,John’s friend suddenly stopped. “Look overthere”, he cried. “The mountain! I can see themountain!” John squinted. (the only treatmentfor short sightedness in those days.) He squintedagain. Yes, there it was! As one, the two of themjogged off down the road. Running would havemade the story sound a lot more impressive, butthe mountain was still 30,000 paces away, theirrushsacks were heavy, and we don’t want themto collapse through exhaustion before they getthere, do we? Would ruin a good story!

As they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Johncould see all the awe inspiring, craggymagnificence his grandmother had spoken aboutthose many years ago. It was as if he was cominghome. John was just so happy, he gave his frienda big hug. (men were allowed to hug then!Today too actually!) “Thankyou for showing methe way,” he cried. It was a really emotionalmoment. He didn’t care about his tears, thoughreal men, even then, were not meant to cry!

At the foot of the mountain there was a river,deep and wide. “How do I get across?” Johnasked his friend. “For it is too deep to wade andthe current is so strong.” “There is a way” hisfriend replied gently. “A bridge. Come, let meshow you.” So he led John round a bend in thestream towards the bridge. As they got nearer,John’s friend stopped. “I have to leave youhere,” he said with a sigh. “For we all have tomake our own journey onto the mountain.” AsJohn watched with amazement, his friend wastransformed. Light glowed over his whole body.A thousand candle power! Wings sprouted on hisback. He rose gracefully into the sky. “Don’tworry, I will be on the mountain too, keeping aneye on you,” he said comfortingly, disappearinginto the sunset.

John, walked towards the bridge, astounded.“What else is going to happen today! Well, Ihave dreamed of this moment for so long, I can’tback off now,” he thought to himself.

“Can I be your guide?” asked the man at thebridge. A man like he had never seen before. Sokindly and merciful, yet strong at the same time.It was impossible to explain. “I would like to goacross the bridge to the mountain,” Johnrequested quietly. “My Grandma told me howwonderful it is, and I would like to experience itfor myself.” “Have you got your toll?” the Guideasked gently. Now John knew what he wastalking about, for tolls and tax gathering are asold as history itself. “So, how much is it to getacross?” “It costs nothing to cross over thebridge my son, your ticket is my free gift to you.But, be warned, to climb the mountain will costall that you have.” “That’s okay with me,” Johnsaid quickly, so keen to get across. “Okay, let metake you by the hand, for the bridge is narrowand I wouldn’t want you to fall off, after havingcome all this way.” “How does he know how farI have come,” John thought to himself. “Heseems to know me better than I know myself!”

So John held out his hand, letting the Guide takehim over the narrow bridge, into the land of hisdreams. Halfway across, glancing down for aquick look at the water, John gasped withamazement, for the river was flowing blood red!Surprises abound for our intrepid traveller!

Upon recovering his composure, John looked upand down the bridge itself exclaiming! “It’smade like a giant cross. Criminals are normallyhung on these. The Guide doesn’t look like acriminal, though!” “The cross is mine, the bloodin the river is mine,” said the Guide gently, againreading his mind. “It is the toll I paid to get youacross.” “Thanks so much,” John exclaimed,staggered by the ease with which the Guideunderstood his thoughts. As they stepped off thebridge, he turned to John saying, “I have to leaveyou now to go back and bring others across. ButI am leaving you with another friend to ‘showyou the ropes’ of my kingdom. You can’t see


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him, but he is now inside you. Just ask in yourmind anything you want to know, and he will tellyou.” Naturally, John thought this to becompletely weird, but then, so was everythingelse about this place. The Guide obviously knewwhat he was talking about though, so he thoughthe might try it sometime. Bidding his Guidefarewell, John headed off on a journey ofexploration, keen to experience all that Grandmahad thrilled him with, those many years ago, ashe sat on her knee. “Great days, they were,” hereminisced. “But now, I can experience it all formyself!”

‘TWEET TWEET’John was more excited than he had ever been inhis whole life! Caused him to jump up and downwith great glee! Hopped higher than he had evermanaged before. That’s funny he thought. Mustbe the adrenaline! He turned round and looked atthe trees. “Boy o boy, they seem massive!” Helooked and he looked and he looked again. Buthis focus of attention was not now on the treesbut a lot closer, to his face in fact. Before hisvery eyes, his nose was growing longer andlonger and longer and joining up with his mouth!“Must be hallucinating,” he squawks to himself.“All the excitement you know.” So he waved hisarms round in a circle, to relax his body andbrain. “Hey, something’s not right here,” hethought to himself. “I feel as free as a bird on thebreeze. Wait a minute! I am a bird on the breeze!And I am about to hit that……” Thud! John’sworld suddenly went black. Gingerly, he wokeup, as if from a dream. “What’s happened?Surely not! It can’t be! It can’t …. b-b-be! B-b-but it is! I am a bird! A sparrow, even! What hasbecome of me! Grandma never told me aboutthis!” John looked for his rushsack but it hadgone. No more jellypeas he said sadly to himself.(For no one had yet had the brilliant marketingidea of trebling their size and changing them intoa bean shape, selling for four times the price! Anidea that turned this ‘has bean’ ‘sweet pea’, intoone of the world’s sweetest, succulent successstories!)

“Well, I guess I had better make the best of it,”he thought sparrowfully. Flapping his new found

wings he yawed his way up into the tree that hadso rudely stepped out into the path of his firstflight! After a perfect two foot landing on a highbranch, a fine chirpiness feeling nested over him.“This is a birds eye view,” he exclaimed. “Well,it is for us sparrows,” said a chipper voice nextto him. John looked around and there was thisvery nice lady sparrow, twirling her beak in aclassic sparrow smile. “Welcome to themountain,” she said sweetly. “Can I take youunder my wing, metaphorically speaking ofcourse!” she said blushingly, embarrassed by herlittle joke. “What a good idea,” John replied,“For this is all very strange to me.” “By theway, my name is Jill,” said Jill. “And mine isJohn,” said John, pleased to have theintroductions done with. For he wasn’t toopractised in introductions to beautiful ‘birds’ ofthe opposite sex!

So Jill winged John on a guided tour of themountain. He really enjoyed the freedom offlying, being able to get from point to point, ‘asthe sparrow flies.’ “Flying is certainly easierthan climbing,” he thought to himself. Jill wasobviously really at home. “There are two groupsof us here” she informed John tweetingly. “TheSparrowditionalists, who have been here thelongest and the Sparrangelicals, real enthusiastsfor the Guide and his River of Blood.” Jillintroduced him to many of her friends, aboutwhom she talked freely. “Gossip, hisgrandmother would have called it,” thought Johnto himself. “But they all seem happy enoughplaying around, twittering from tree to tree,enjoying the sunshine filtering through the treesof the foothills in which they live.”

As they flew round John was feeling a littlepeckish but could find nothing to peck! He sowanted to try out his newfound beak too. Hadnoticed that all the trees were in blossom butthere was no fruit anywhere to be seen. Finally,plucking up the courage, John asked Jill wherethey could get a bite to eat. “Oh that’s simple,”she tweeted, preening her feathers, “We have afield of barley over here. We can eat as much ofit as we want. It’s not great food but there isplenty of it and we are happy enough, although


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more variety would be nice for a change. Myfriends often complain about it, but they are notprepared to look elsewhere either. Some peopleare never satisfied, are they! Let me take youthere.” So Jill and John went to the barley fieldand joined thousands of other sparrows peckingtheir lunch. “Plenty of it,” John thought tohimself once again, for he didn’t want to offendthe beautiful Jill, “but it isn’t anything like themagnificent feasts Grandma used to tell meabout. And those trees are strange. Always inblossom! But never producing fruit!”

John pondered all this inside his bird brain,which being sparrow sized, took time tocompute. But unlike the sparrowbrains aroundhim, he quickly became dissatisfied with his lot.Plucking up his courage, once again, (won’t havemany feathers left soon!) he asked Jill if this isall there is to the mountain. Jill was not reallysurprised when he asked, for she was getting toknow him a little by now. “I hoped you weren’tgoing to ask,” she said sadly, for she knew shewas about to lose her friend. “You really do wantto fly higher up the mountain, don’t you.Sometimes I dream of flying higher too. To bereally honest though, life is very comfortabledown here in the foothills. But I have seen thatdream in your wistful sparrow eyes for a whilenow, and know that you won’t be happy untilyou give it a go. Remember our Guide at the gatetelling you about a friend inside? Well, I havealways been sceptical about him, but others saythat he holds the key to flying high. So you’dbetter ask him. I’ll say my goodbyes now, forwhen you go away I won’t see you again.” Jillcried sporrowfully, gentle sparrow tears rollingfetchingly down her delicate beak. “And I wasbecoming fond of you too,” she twittered with abirdie blush, before disappearing into the sunsetas all true, jilted heroine sparrows do. John wassad to see her go, but he had a greater purpose inlife – to climb the mountain.

‘COO COO’“I just don’t see how I can fly high,” he mused,totally bemused, “for my wings only lift me tothe treetops, not the mountaintop!” For a quicklesson in sparrodynamics, he had taken. “This

will be a good test for my Friend Inside. I feelpretty stupid talking to someone I can’t see, but Ireally do want to go higher and I have run out ofideas myself.” Looking round to make sure noone else was watching, John said in his best birdthought, “Friend Inside, please tell me how I canclimb further up this mountain.” “You want todiscover the wonders your Grandma told youabout when you sat on her knee?” a gentle voicereplied. John was so surprised he did aspringsault (for summer had not yet come) rightthere on the spot! “You too! How is it that youknow so much about me? Like my Guide!” hesqueaked. “We both knew you before you wereeven born,” his newfound friend said gently. Notwanting to get involved in a deep theologicaldiscussion about the origin of bird life, Johnaccepted that his friend knew what he wastalking about and queried again, “You know howto climb this mountain?” “Yes John, I do. If youlet me, I can guide you right to the top.” “Can wego now, please,” John cooed in a mostunsparrowlike manner. “That’s a funny voice Ihave! I am growing too, and my feathers areturning white! What’s happening? I like this! I’llhop over to the ‘looking pool’ and see myreflection in the water!” “No need to, John, for Ican tell you that you have been transformed intoa dove. You have been prepared to trust me, sonow are taking on my image. Spread your wingsand enjoy yourself! Fly high, fly on up themountain!” So John did. Now bigger andstronger, he effortlessly winged his way over thetreetops, up onto the mountain itself.

Jill looked on from far below, a tear welling inher misty eye. “Farewell John, I wish I was asbrave as you but I am so comfortable here. I justcan’t make the break. Maybe one day.Maybe……” John didn’t hear for he was alreadyflying high above the trees, delighted with theflapping power of his new wings. Up, up andaway. He would get to the top of the mountainnow! He climbed and climbed, so happy that hehad now made it! But soon, feeling tired fromexertion and excitement, he spotted a group ofdoves feeding. Thought he would join them for awell-earned rest and refreshments. He landed,again in a perfect two-point landing, feeling


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proud of himself for how far he had come. Theother doves welcomed him warmly. They wereso much more outgoing than the sparrows,although he soon observed that they were alsoexpert at pecking each other too, when one got inanother’s way! But there was even more foodhere, and it was tender wheat, rather than thetough old barley of his sparrow diet. “Jill doesn’tknow what she’s missing,” John thoughtfleetingly. “But it’s her choice.” So reinvigoratedafter a good feed, he decided to take a lookaround.

There was just a different atmosphere about thisplace. Not as many doves as there were sparrowsbut they made so much more noise! Soenthusiastic they generally were about life too.Oh yes, there was the odd reclusive bird.Suffering from something called ‘spiritualdovpression’ the others said. But most happilyperched on the local tree branches, cooing aboutthe good life. Noticing green fruit on the trees,John asked his dovecostal friends when the fruitripened. “We don’t know,” they said in a chorus.Then each promoted a different theory in ahubbub of noise. But suddenly, there wassilence. John looked skyward with the others tosee why. For up there, a flock of jet blackvultures wheeled around, seeking prey. Severalcareless doves were not quick enough at gettingunder cover and were caught in the vultures’trap. The vultures chased them relentlessly untiltheir resistance caved in. They just lay down anddied of fright. Dead doves - vulture food! It wasso sad to see. He observed the battle of witsgoing on between the doves and the vultures.Like psychological warfare between twoopposing armies. The doves would squawk at thevultures, most undovelike really, and the vultureswould counter with their own blood curdlingscreeching laugh, that harbinger of death sofeared by countless generations of desertdwellers. A contest of intimidation. A contest ofwills. A phoney, yet ever so real war.

Now John wasn’t just a lovey dovey, but really amost astute bird, for he remembered from hisplains’ days that vultures only fed on the dead.“Why then, did the doves fear them?” He shared

his thoughts with his fellow doves, encouragingthem to call the vultures’ bluff! “We’re going tocome out of the bush and exert our authority,” hecried out to his mates encouragingly.“Remember, ‘a bird in the battle is worth morethan two thousand in the bush!’ The vultures arealready defeated! We will call their bluff!”Some decided that John was right, while themajority, as usual in such matters, thought, “Hedoven’t know what he is talking about,” or, “thevultures will kill us.” Or again with dove-likecaution, “we will wait and see how he gets on,before risking losing our beautiful white feathersin the battle.” Much like the sparrows,” Johnthought to himself. “Enjoying what they have,but not prepared to risk home comforts to flyhigher up the mountain. While this place is great,I know there is more, for I haven’t yetexperienced all that my Grandma told me aboutthose many years ago, when sitting on her knee.Well padded, comfortable, ‘Grandma knees’they were too! Memories, memories!”

So John took his small intrepid band of dynamicdoves out to face the vociferous vultures. Thevociferous vultures circled above, vigorouslyvociferating, then dive bombed the dynamicdoves. The dynamic doves responded by flying,feathers flapping furiously, fighting fear, up inthe air as one, to do battle! They were perfectlydovetailed, one to the other. The voracious,viscous, vocal voices of the villainous, verbosevultures, vaporised vacuously, as the wall ofpure white, dovetailed doves rose to meet them!Then the vanquished vultures voluntarilyvanished! For they knew that their bluff hadbeen called, that their hold over the doves hadbeen broken.

Some of the watching doves flapped their wingsvigorously in appreciation before flying off tojoin their victorious friends. Many othershowever, didn’t know quite what to do, now thatthe vultures had, temporarily at least, vacated thearea. In fact, in their heart of hearts, they reallyyearned for the vultures’ return. For they wereactually more comfortable with the enemy beingthere! Some doves you just cannot please!


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John was philosophical about all this, as he usedhis birdbrain to mull over the day’s happenings.“Didn’t happen like this with the sparrows,”John thought to himself. “That was because thesparrows were not large enough to interest thevultures,” John heard a voice from nowherereply. Then he realised that the pearl of wisdomhad come from his Friend Inside, whom, he hadto admit, he had temporarily forgotten, in themidst of the excitement. “Perhaps he can alsoexplain this phoney war,” John thought tohimself. “Yes I can.” John’s feathers underwenta rapidly ruffling reaction, now fullyunderstanding that his Friend Inside could heareverything he was thinking. “That’s okay then,”he thought with relief, preening himself back tonormality. “This place is certainly different tothe one I grew up in. But I wasn’t a bird in thosedays either! This mountain is surely a worldapart.” Yes, John was at last starting to attain a‘bird’s eye view’ of the world.

‘SOAR SOAR’“You are at last starting to understand themountain,” his Friend Inside exclaimedencouragingly. “The real, eternal world, is notback down there on the plains in the cities youcame from, but here, living as a bird of theSpirit, on the mountain of God. As a sparrow,you were limited to the foothills, small, oneamongst millions, yet even there, you wereknown by name. You wanted to fly higher. ThisI made possible by transforming you into abeautiful dove, with the ability to soar further upthe mountain. But I know your heart’s desire isto fly higher still. That was proven today, whenby overcoming the vultures of sin, you earnedthe right to move up into the very mountaintopsof God. Do you want to go?”

John took just two tweetseconds to come up withhis answer. “Yes, Friend Inside, you know I do.My favourite Grandma stories were those aboutsoaring over the mountaintops, overseeingeverything happening on the mountain, whilefellowshipping with the Lord of the Mountainhimself. But I know that I can’t go any higher asa dove, for the rarefied air will not support my

weight. I place myself completely in your hands,or wings, as the case may be!”

At that very tweetsecond John underwent afurther miraculous transformation. His wingsgrew and grew and grew until he had to squint tosee his wingtips! Not only had his wingspanwonderfully widened but his plumage too,glistened, the purest white reflection of the sun’ssupernatural glory. The doves standing nearbyappeared positively dowdy by comparison! Nowtoo, he was able to peek over that annoying rockthat had previously blocked the sea views fromhis favourite preening perch! “A new perspectiveon life,” he thought airily, before glancing downto find out why. Seeing his now massivemasculine legs, John exclaimed, “Better than Icould ever have hoped for, stonelifting in thegym!” Then the ‘piece de resistance’, for he wasa bilingual bird. His designer claws! Sensational!So beautifully, yet powerfully sculptured formaximum grip and clutching power. Their razorsharp tips would tear a vulture to shreds in aninstant. Yes, John was now a fantastic, fully-fledged, flying eagle machine! He knew that atlast, he was going to be able to soar to themountaintop to experience for himself, hischildhood dreams.

“Thankyou, Friend Inside, for making mydreams come true,” John glowed in ecstasy. “Iam eternally in your debt. Whatever your desireis for me to do, I will do.” “I know,” said hisnow, Best Friend Inside, “for obedience was thesingle condition necessary for yourtransformation. You could only call the vulturesbluff by trusting me to get you through. As aneagle, you shall now soar to the verymountaintop, just as your Grandma did thosemany years ago, there to dwell with the Lord ofthe Mountain.

The light now radiating from him dazzled John’sdovecostal mates. Some asked how they toocould become eagles. “Obey your friend insideand overcome the vultures” John stated in hisnewly acquired, deep and authoritative eaglevoice. Some flew away eager to earn their ‘eaglewings’. The not so silent majority however, were


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as we have come to expect by now, content tocarry on in their own comfortable, establishedways. Being strictly honest, they didn’t reallybelieve, in their deepest of dovehearts, that theycould put the vultures to flight anyway, in spiteof all their boisterous bravebeak bravado.Besides, they would quite miss them if theyweren’t there! Saddened by once again having toleave birdmates through their lack of desire toseek the mountaintop, but wanting more thanever, to fulfil his dreams, John majesticallyflapped a fond farewell, before flying off todiscover the magnificence of the mountaintop.

As he soared John made an amazing birdynamicdiscovery! No longer did he have to flap hiswings harder to fly higher, for now he could justsoar, gliding free on the gentle eddies andcurrents the mountain wind provided. Soeffortless, yet so much more effective! Flyingwas now so much fun! “Thankyou Best friendInside” he yelled victoriously, “I have eaglelyawaited these wings for such a long time! Now Ican be a soldier in the Taberneagle Army!”

Higher and higher he soared, enjoying theamazing freedom he now had, to go whereverhe, or rather his Best Friend Inside, pleased. ForJohn knew that without his friend’s help andongoing guidance, he could not possibly beflying high today. John cast his ‘eagle eyes’round as he flew.

Then, as the recipient of a severe shock, hemomentarily folded his wings in disbelief! Butfree falling like a stone towards a squelchy endrapidly revived our eager eagle! W i n g l yequilibrium was urgently re-established. “Phew,that was too close for comfort! I can’t believemy eyes! My inherited short-sightedness hasdisappeared! I can now see everything! I caneven recognise my old sparrow friend Jill rightdown there in the foothills. Brings back somememories, that does! Still down there playingwith her friends, just as I left her. Oh Jill, you aremissing out on so much!”

“Your ‘eagle eyes’ are for a purpose,” remindedhis Best friend Inside. “For you are to protect all

my birds on the mountain from the vultures, myfriend.” Now not particularly being a ‘culturevulture’, John was delighted with this newresponsibility, for he felt so protective towardshis old friends, wanting to encourage them toclimb and experience the freedom of themountain top, as well. So vigilantly victimising,villainous vultures, would be his pleasure! ForJohn could now clearly see the insidious controlthe vultures had over the bird life of themountain.

Needing a bit of a break, John alighted in one ofthe many trees that graced the upper mountainslopes. Immediately he could see that these treeswere covered with the most delicious looking,mouth watering, ready to eat fruit that he hadever seen in his life. Taking his first bite, Johndiscovered ‘eagle heaven’, for he had alwaysliked his food. This fruit was just so much betterthan the barley and wheat he had lived on atlower levels. “My old friends just don’t knowwhat they are missing out on!”

“That’s right,” confirmed his Best Friend Inside,“for this is my fruit, the fruit of the nature of theSpirit you see, available to all who committhemselves fully to me. Eating of this fruit willsatisfy not just your bodily needs but your wholebeing. For there was a time many, many yearsago when the whole earth was full of trees suchas these and this fruit was available to allmankind. But man was not content to merely livein paradise. He wanted to control it, to be themaster of his own destiny. As if you couldimprove upon perfection! The Lord of theMountain gave him his wish and you lived theresults before coming to the mountain,successfully managing to turn gardens intodeserts. As you remember from your days on theplains, mankind has had to fight weeds, bugs anddisease and sometimes, other people, in order toeat. So the Lord of the Mountain removedhimself from this mess, requiring mankind toseek him by coming to the mountain, enteringover the bridge of the Guide. To be set apartfrom the world, by being transformed into a bird.As you have experienced John, in yourprogression from the foothills to the mountain


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peaks, two further major transformations arerequired to adapt to the new conditionsexperienced as you fly higher. For the trees ofthe fruit of the Spirit will blossom in thefoothills, will pollinate and grow fruit in themiddle reaches but will only ripen to fullmaturity on the mountain tops, under the purelight of the Lord of the Mountain, in the glory ofhis ‘Son.’

For it saddens me John, to see the blossom of thesparrows, promising so much but failing topollinate. They accept me in their minds only,but their heart and will are far from me. But Ihave still provided barley for them to eat. Thedoves have allowed me to pollinate their fruit byaccepting me in their heart as well as their mind,but sadly, their fruit will never ripen. But I haveprovided them with wheat to eat. For you mustunderstand, it is not until I am given mind, heartand will, as you have done, that the sonshine willripen your fruit. Sadly, so many sparrows anddoves think that if they do good works for me,they will produce ripened fruit. But ripe fruitonly comes from the sonshine of submission andobedience.”

It was amazing how so many of the things thatJohn had often wondered about were beingclarified. It was as if he was getting closer andcloser to the origin of the voice. The more helistened and obeyed, the higher he soared. Hewas rapidly becoming ‘in tune’ with hissurroundings. This both thrilled and puzzled himfor something was definitely different up here.“What is it?” John asked his Best Friend Inside.“You are becoming as one with us,” he replied.“With us?” John questioned. “ Yes, with us. Forwe are three. The Guide who made the pathwayfor you to enter the mountain kingdom and whohas been keeping his eye on you all the time youhave been here, myself, your Best Friend Inside,and the Lord of the Mountain, to whose plan weoperate. The higher you soar, the closer to us youget, the more like us you become.”

Somehow now, it all made sense to John, for hehad experienced it. He now knew though, that itwas impossible to understand, before coming to

the mountain. Even as a sparrow and a dove, this‘mystery’ was only partially understood. But ashe became more in tune with his Guide, Friendand Lord, so the unity and purpose of theintimate relationship they shared, gelled in hisbirdbrain. And, even more amazingly, it was aunity of purpose into which he also was nowabsorbed. As if they were all one! Incredible!

John, now comfortably settled high up on arocky crag, designer claws anchored to the rock,suddenly realised that he had not seen manyother eagles up there with him. In fact, if it hadnot been for his Best Friend Inside, he wouldhave felt positively lonely! There had been a fewoff flying in the distance, but it did seem rather asolitary lifestyle he was living. Still, it was farmore satisfying than his sparrow and dove days.For he now knew what his Grandma had meantwhen she told him how she had felt to be at onewith the mountain.

The views were magnificent and flying a dreamwith the latest developments in advancedbirdynamic eagle wing engineering. John hadbeen able to make many ‘kills’ in birdfights withthe black vulture squadrons whose weaponrywas no match for the superb fighting machine henow was. His telescopic eyesight, speed,manoeuvrability and designer claw armamentsspelt instant destruction to the opposingvultureforce. He remembered how he had foundthem to be all bluff and bravado in his dovedays, no match even then, for a unified,dovetailed doveforce. But getting the doveforceto fly in formation under a single dovemanderwas the problem! With the Taberneagleshowever, it was as if the vultures knew thatdefeat was inevitable. After an initial short showof bravado they would quickly ‘turn tail’, tryingunsuccessfully to escape their inevitable fate.“But there are so many of them,” John thought tohimself, “far more than us few eagles canannihilate by ourselves.” As he mused, the sunset. Now tired, John in good eagle fashion, restedhis head comfortably on his left wing, ready totake his 140 nightly eaglewinks. The end ofanother fulfilling day. He slept soundly, forvanquishing vultures is a tiring business.


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‘TRUMPET CALL’At 132_ winks John was not so rudely awakenedby the blast of trumpets coming from the highestreaches of the mountain. The sound was a 100-decibel blast to him, for he was near its source.Further down the mountain in Doveland, it stillregistered 60 decibels, sufficient to wake all butthe heaviest sleepers amongst the doves. InSparrowland too, a more gentle 30 decibelsreverberated, bringing to life many but by nomeans all, the residents.

“What is that sound!” John exclaimed, as heawoke. He listened more intently. The trumpetcalls resounded, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord ofthe Mountain. Prepare yourselves for the returnof the Lord.” “Wow!” thought John, “the day ofpromise is about to come, the greatest of all dayswhen we will be able to fly to the very top of themountain!” An air of excitement and anticipationdescended upon all the eagles, many of the dovesand some of the sparrows. The remaining dovesand sparrows got quite angry, for all they heardwas a loud noise that startled them out of theirvery pleasant birdreams, a mite earlier than theydesired.

Amongst all those who heard the voice in thetrumpet, there was an urgency to fly higher andhigher, into the very presence of the Lord of theMountain himself. John stretched out his eaglewings and took off to soar to the mountaintop.As he did so, he found the other eagles he hadpreviously only seen from a distance, joininghim. It was great to be in the company of othereagles. They immediately bonded as one.

Further down the mountain in Doveland, therewas a great clamour, for many more doves nowdesired to scale the heights of the mountain too.The vultures wondered what had hit them, beingattacked by clouds of dovetailed doves. TheFriend Inside all of them, was kept working flatout as more and more doves were prepared toplace themselves fully in his hands.Transformations from dove to eagle now becamecommonplace sights in Doveland. John’s BestFriend Inside was now busier than he had ever

been! He was so happy, well able to cope - noproblem. In fact he had been looking forward tothis time, right from the very beginning.

In Sparrowland too, there was considerableactivity, as numbers of sparrows were blastedout of their complacency and sought to flyhigher. John’s former friend Jill, was one of theones galvanised into action by the call of thetrumpet. “Interestingly” the Best Friend Insideobserved, “many sparrows are now moremotivated to soar than lots of the doves. Theywill not need to spend too long in Dovelandbefore becoming eagles. Will surprise and shocksome of the older, more self satisfied doves, I amsure!”

With all this upward activity on the mountain, astrange phenomenon gradually started to takeplace. For as all these birds started to flyupwards, more and more light reflected fromtheir transformed whiter and larger wings. Thisreflected light began to shine as a giant beaconover the cities of the plains, even reaching thoseplaces furthermost from the mountain. Thecitizens of the plains were either attracted orrepulsed by this supernatural light. Largenumbers of people flocked to the mountainwhere they were now more than willing toaccept the free toll the Guide offered to enter themountain, to cross over the cross shaped bridge.No qualms about the ‘life price’ to climb themountain either. Never in all history, had somany people crossed the bridge in so short atime. Both the Guide and the bridge were wellup to coping with the influx. “Although I wouldhave built the bridge for just one person to cross,this influx is the fulfilment of the promise madeto me by the Lord of the Mountain before it allstarted,” the Guide thought thankfully to himself.

Amongst those people who remained on theplains, lawlessness and war now broke out. Theytried their hardest to stop others seeking themountain, being possessed by the vultures of theplain, but they were not successful, for those onthe journey to the mountain seemed to have ahedge of protection around them.


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The trumpeting from the mountaintop continueddaily for six days.

BIRD CRIESAs the sound of the trumpets faded, the windcame up, a gentle zephyr at first, much loved bythe doves but ignored by the sparrows. Graduallythe puffs of wind increased in intensity,penetrating every nook and cranny and everybird on the mountain. There was no way to avoidits effects. All the old hiding places where smartbirds would go to get out of the wind when itblew too strongly for their liking, werepenetrated by this new wind. A wind ofrepentance from which there was no escape.

As the wind grew in intensity, so a new noisearose from the mountain. Almost imperceptibleat first, the cries of the birds gathered in strengthas a wave forming on the ocean, increasing insize and power before inevitably crashing on theshore in a thunderous cacophony of convictionand repentance. Plaintive sparrow criesintermingled with the louder grief of the doves.There were even a few screams from the eagles,as all remaining impurities were expelled fromtheir bodies. For the eagles had already partiallyexperienced this phenomenon, before beingawarded their eaglewings. As the windpenetrated feathers, right into the very bodiesand hearts of the mountain’s birdlife, multitudesof bird tears flooded to the ground and streamsof repentance flowed down the mountain into theBlood Red River of Sacrifice that the cross-shaped bridge spanned. A more powerfulintermingling of the blood of sacrifice with thewater of sanctification had never been witnessedthroughout all history. The birds were beingpurified, as was required by the Lord of theMountain.

However this cleansing windstorm was notwelcomed by many of the sparrows and doves.The wind was too strong and there was no longeranywhere to hide. Large numbers now lookedlongingly back to the plains from whence theyhad come, for they had had enough of thisstrange land. The pleasures of the plains nowseemed so much more attractive. So these

birdsliders flew back over the river, uponlanding on the plains, to become humans onceagain. The Guide was very sad to see thisexodus, for he had given his very life for eachone of them. But he also realised that thesounding of the trumpet heralded a time of greatupheaval, a time when the strength andpenetration of the wind would cause many dovesand sparrows to leave the mountain. Returning tothe cities from whence they had originally come,many became the bitterest critics of the ever-increasing birdlife on the mountain.

And as usual, there were those who toughed itout, digging in their claws, determined not tolose that which they had, but too fearful to let thewind change them. What a sorry sight theymade, indeed.

At the mountaintop however, the scenario wascompletely the opposite. For John and the othereagles, having adapted to the new intensity of thewind, were perfectly equipped to take advantageof these new conditions. For they were able to gowith the flow, joyfully taking advantage of allthe many eddies and currents, making use of thewind rather than being blown round by it, aswere the other birds. John too, quickly observedthat the air was now becoming thick with‘Taberneagle Squadrons,’ for the windstorm hadcaused many sparrows and doves to desireeaglehood, to join the Taberneagle Army and flyhigh in the sky.

The power of the wind removed all theremaining weaknesses and impurities fromJohn’s eagle body, so he and his eagle matescould now soar to the very mountaintop, into thepresence of the Lord of the Mountain himself. Itwas a place that until now, no bird had been ableto reach, for the uplifting wind of the Spirit hadnot blown to these heights before. Yet, as hereached the summit, John saw that one had beenthere before him and was now waiting for him toland on the mountain peak. Yes, it was the Guidewho welcomed John as he landed. He was theone who made this journey possible, who hadpioneered the way. “Well done, my good andfaithful eagleservant,” the Guide said lovingly,


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“for you have made my return journey to be withthe Lord of the Mountain worthwhile.” And herevealed his name as being ‘Jesus’. John’s whiteeagle body glistened, a heavenly, perfected, purewhite, for he was now one with the Lord of theMountain. His life dream had been fulfilled.

But there was still work to be done! For the windso enraged the black vultures that they all took tothe air in furious frenzy. They knew that this wastheir last chance to do battle with the doves andeven the sparrows. The Guide saw all that washappening and ordered his Taberneagle Forceinto action. With a mighty roar, the eaglesdescended to take on the vultures one last time.The vultures concentrated their attacks on thedoves and fought the sparrows too, for theyknew they could not defeat the eagles. The battleraged over the entire mountain, claiming manysparrow and dove casualties. The eaglesspearheaded the fight. Inevitably though, throughthe preparation the Guide had done on theirbehalf, turning them into lean, mean, eaglemachines, every last vulture was eitherslaughtered or captured, including the FieldMarshal of the vulture forces himself, one satanby name. Satan’s forces were an-eagle-ated.There was a huge victory party on themountaintop as the wind stilled, having fulfilledits task. The Taberneagle Army finally reignedsupreme on the mountain.

THE LAST TRUMPETOn the seventh day there was a new trumpet call– the trumpet call of victory, blown by the Guide- by Jesus himself! The sound of the victorytrumpet resounded throughout all the land, fromthe top of the mountain to the furthest reaches ofthe plains. Doves, sparrows and plain dwellersalike - all were stopped in their tracks,mesmerised by the incredible sound. Theirattention was drawn to the top of the mountainfrom where there was a mighty reverberation ofwings as the victorious Taberneagle Army, Johnand Jill amongst them, took to the air with theirSupreme Commander, the Guide Jesus at theirhead. As one, the Taberneagle Army flew off themountain, spreading out over the plains below. Amixture of fear and wonder overcame the plain

dwellers as the eagle army approached. Passingover the river of blood and water calledSalvation, the eagles underwent a bodilytransformation. John saw that his body had onceagain taken on human form. He could stillrecognise himself, even though he now radiatedthe glory of God. Looking around, he saw thathis body was perfect in every detail. He couldn’tbelieve it. Yes, this body would never again getsick or grow old. It was his, perfect andunchangeable, forever. And what is more herealised with a start, he was still up in the air,flying without wings! Around him too, he sawthat the army was now surrounded by hosts ofangels, who did need wings to fly! Among themhe spotted his angelic friend, the one who hadoriginally guided him to the mountain. Johnwaved out to him vigorously, doing asummersault (for summer had now arrived) inthe air, not quite yet having refined the pilotingskills necessary for human flight! His angelfriend arrived in a flash, to steady him. Yes, hisGuardian Angel was still there. John nowunderstood that he too, had been with him all thetime he had been on the mountain, keeping himout of trouble when he flew faster than his wingshad been designed for. For John had always beena speedfreak, pushing his wings beyond theirbirdynamic limits! But he was healed of thatnow!

Yet, the most exciting thing about his body wasthe glory of the light that shone out of it. Enoughto turn night into day! The glory of the Lord ofthe Mountain was his forever!

Looking down, he could see the people runningfor cover, for the light was too bright to bear.Jesus gave the order and the victorious armylanded on their feet, right through the land. Thepeople now came out of cover, attracted to thelight of the individual overcomer arriving togovern their area. The whole Taberneagle Armymoved about the land seemingly as one, withautomatic communications. No radiotransmitters or receivers required here!

Taking a moment or two to get his bearings,John looked out into the distance, momentarily


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blinking, unable to believe what he saw! For hewas still getting used to his new 20/20 vision. Heremembered his earlier short-sightedness andcould hardly believe the difference! But it waswhat he saw that truly amazed him. For thefields and deserts that he had remembered werenow beautiful gardens, as they had been at thevery beginning of time. One vast Garden ofEden! As the people realised what had happened,they too were delighted, for living in a gardenparadise is attractive to all.

Equally surprising to the people of the plainswas how they all now started to get along welltogether, no longer having the desire to fight oneanother. While the people themselves did notunderstand this new phenomenon, John knewthat it was because satan and his vultures hadbeen defeated, the survivors having been boundand thrown into a bottomless pit from whichthere was no escape. The ultimate black hole!

Some of the people came to John wanting toknow about Jesus and the army, before settingoff on their own journey to climb the mountain.But, as usual, most were quite happy to enjoy thegardens and their new, harmonious environment,carrying on with their lives, just as they hadalways done. Some things, some people, neverchange!

After a few days had passed, John heard a greatgroaning and gnashing of beaks coming from thedirection of the mountain. For the remainingsparrows and the doves had finallycomprehended what was happening. The eagleshad flown! The vultures had gone! All waspeaceful and pleasant on the mountain. Whileenjoyable for a few days, this relaxed state ofaffairs had soon got pretty boring really! Indesperation, the doves and even some of thesparrows that normally enjoyed the quiet life,asked their Friend Inside what had happened.They were told, “The eagles have flown to thetop of the mountain where you all wereencouraged to go. But you did not choose toleave your home comforts to fly high. The eagleshave now attained their reward. To rule andreign on the earth with Jesus for 1000 years.

Your reward will come too, but you will have towait until the end of that time.”

The enormity of the situation hit them squarelyin the eyes. For they had missed out on the verybest that the Lord of the Mountain had to offer.They would live most pleasantly, for the vultureshad been defeated, but would have to make dowith barley or wheat until the end. Their rewardwas delayed because of their own actions. “Whydidn’t we climb the mountain while we had theopportunity” they cried out to each other. Forthis was the weeping and gnashing of beaks thatJohn heard, as he reigned and ruled with Jesus inthe cities far away.

And so John lived happily ever after, as hisGrandma had promised all those years ago, whenhe sat upon her knee.

INTERPRETATIONGiven by the Lord after the ‘fairy tale’ wascompleted!The Dream: The witness of others into our life.The Journey: Making the decision for Christ.‘Tweet Tweet’: Fulfilment of the Feast of Passover, as reflected in the Traditional/Evangelical Church‘Coo Coo’: Fulfilment of the Feast of Pentecost, as reflected in the Pentecostal/Charismatic Church‘Soar Soar’: Individuals throughout history, living their lives in full submission to the Father’s will. Trumpet Call: Symbolising the Feast of Trumpets, now in progress.Bird Cries: Symbolising the Day of Atonement. Now starting to be fulfilled by the growing Tabernacle Army.Last Trumpet: Symbolising the Feast of Tabernacles itself. To be fulfilled in the 1000 year reign of Christ.

David Tait: 4 May 2000

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‘TABERNEAGLE’ THOUGHTS FROM…..

…..THE SHOWER1. A foolish man knows his strengths, a

wise man acknowledges hisweaknesses and makes allowancesfor them, while a godly man seeks toovercome them.

…..BEHIND THE LAWNMOWER2 . A foolish man needs wisdom, the

wise man godliness, a godly man thecharacter of Christ.

…..ON THE RIDEON3. A foolish man denies God; the wise

man acknowledges God, but thegodly man experiences his God.

…..A SLEEPLESS NIGHT4. The foolish man seeks pleasure on

earth. A wise man builds treasure inheaven. But the godly man seeks tobuild heaven on earth.

5. Earthly possessions are perceived tobe:

- Owned - by the foolish.- Rented - by the wise.- Administered - by the godly.

6. The true heart of a man is found inhis wallet:

- A foolish man spends all hehas on himself.

- A wise man tithes 10% to theprovider.

- A godly man spends all he hasbeen given on the provider’sbehalf.

…..IN FRONT OF THE COMPUTER7. The foolish man rejects God, the wise

man respects God, but the godly manlives for his God.

8 . A foolish man speaks before hethinks, a wise man thinks before hespeaks, but a godly man lets his lifespeak for him.

9 . The foolish man is satisfied withreading the Word, a wise man followsthe Word, but the godly man is as onewith the Word.

10. The foolish man listens to himself, awise man listens to others, but agodly man submits to spiritualoversight.

11. The lips of a foolish man blasphemeGod, those of a wise man honourGod, but a godly man’slips glorify his God.

…..IN THE SPA12. A foolish man loves pleasure, a wise

man finds pleasure in love, but to agodly man, pleasure is love.

13. Unity of fellowship is spurned by thefoolish, acknowledged by the wise,but sought by the godly.

14. Foolishness is effortless, wisdom agift, but godliness requiressubmission.

15. Satan loves the foolish, attacks thewise, but fears the godly.

…..AN EMAIL16. Wisdom is easily read, takes time to

acquire, but needs to be applied overa lifetime.

17. A fool believes he has all wisdom, awise man is prepared to learn fromothers, while the godly man’s teacheris the Holy Spirit.

…..IN THE SPA AGAIN18. A foolish heart seeks only God’s

blessings, while a wise heart seeks tobless others, but a godly heart firstblesses God.

NB: A lot easier to write than to live! But God and I are working on it together!

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WHAT A G.E.M!

SEEKING NEW HORIZONS

DAY 2Back at beautiful Bowentown beach once again,seeking God inspired revelation concerning theFeast of Tabernacles. What an awesome study,for this feast of joy and celebration provides thepattern for the end-time Tabernacle church tocome.

This morning, I woke up to an absolutelyincredible day. It is early winter here in NewZealand, yet this morning would not be out ofplace in early autumn. The sun peeking over thehorizon into a cloudless sky, so grateful to beable to radiate the full glory of its light andwarmth to an eagerly awaiting world. Now Ihave to admit to taking a little ‘non poetic’licence here. Not for speaking on behalf of thesun, but in having to admit to not actually seeingthe sunrise, preferring instead to turn over in bedand dream about a song that had suddenly comeinto my head!

I wish I could justify my laziness by the ‘super-inspirational ‘ nature of the song. But that wouldbe less than truthful. In fact, a downright lie, thetruth be known! For this embryonic masterpiecewas about the leader of the Fijian coup, GeorgeSpeight, to be sung to the tune of the ‘real’Australian national anthem, Waltzing Matilda!He does have an Australian wife after all! It goessomething like this:

Once a jolly con man sat upon his haunches,Under the shade of a coconut palm.And he ranted and he raved as he waited for hiskava to boil,For our Georgie is the saviour of Fiji.

CHORUSWaiting for Georgie, waiting for Georgie,We’re all waiting for Georgie you see.He comes out with more demands, while waitingfor his kava to boil,Always promising his captives to free.

Now it is very difficult to relate this nonsense toeither the Feast of Tabernacles or the beautifulday, so I won’t try. The mind works inmysterious ways – well mine does anyway!

Shortly after sunrise (sounds good until yourealise it is only two weeks away from theshortest day of the year) my guilt got the betterof me, so I bounced out of bed, quickly threw onmy running gear and headed off down to thebeach. The beach was simply, absolutely,gloriously magnificent! The sun’s glistening raysplayfully sparkled on a lightly dimpled sea,whose gentle waves smoothly rippled theirpeaceful way into the welcoming arms of athirsty, lightly browned, sandy beach. January inJune. Heaven on earth.

Running along the sand leaving footprints ofmemories past, each new step but a fleetingmoment of time present, striding into a neverending vista where infinite grains of sandrapturously greet an ongoing procession ofsparkling waves in a joyous celebration of life.So I ran and I ran and I ran. My normal, long 40minute run, done. Maybe, just possibly, I couldreally extend myself, add on my short run andrun for an hour? Haven’t run that far for yearsnow.

It was a breeze! Even had to add a bit to make upthe full hour! And while fasting too. Finishingwith plenty of energy and not tiring later either.How could it be? For seemingly, I had entered anew realm. A realm where yesterday’s dreambecame today’s reality. Where yesterday’sbarrier became today’s launching pad. Wheretoday’s seemingly impossible, idealistic,unrealistic dream of the Tabernacle church willbecome tomorrow’s reality.

And how will this be? Through striving harder?Through applying PMA (Positive Mental

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Attitude) principles? Through living a betterlife? No, no, and again no. Have been down thattrack and know it just doesn’t work! For theseinvolve the application of worldly thoughtpatterns to achieve godly principles. It’s only byusing God’s methods that we can learn God’sways. For only ‘GEM’ actually works in our life.That is

GodEmpoweredMotivation

God activates His GEM in us as we submit ourwill to Him. Couldn’t be simpler, yet moredifficult. For we like doing our own thing. Yetsubmission, obedience to God’s will for us, isthe key to entering the experiences of the Feastof Tabernacles.

For I would not have thought of running for anhour this morning by myself, having had a selflimiting, forty-minute barrier imposed upon mythinking. But the Lord provided theenvironment, as I have tried to convey, wherethe previously impossible, became the perfectlynatural. I am of course, delighted with the result,but I acknowledge that it was God’s doing, notmine. For I didn’t go out this morning intendingto run for an hour. It just happened! Godprovided the inspiration of the moment on thisunseasonably beautiful day, placing the idea inmy mind. I still had to place one foot in front ofthe other, but in view of the source of themotivation it was a breeze, a real thrill, acelebration. A dream had effortlessly come true.So it will be for those who choose to move intoTabernacles. God’s world is at our fingertips!

DAY 3:In the Natural: Last night I broke my fast aftertwo days, for it was a time to celebrate and feast,in line with the writings I had just completed onthe Feast of Tabernacles. That is my excuse, andI am sticking by it! I went to a local familyrestaurant where I ordered steak and salad incelebration. The pepper steak was nice, if a littleovercooked, but what really delighted me wasthe salad. Believe me, I am not normallydelighted by salads! For this nicely presentedsalad was dressed with good old, home made,Highlander condensed milk mayonnaise, which I

love. Ask Kathy. It’s hard enough to find inanybody’s home these days, let alone in arestaurant. A little thing perhaps, but it reallymade my celebrations complete.

This morning I looked out the window and sawthat it was going to be another perfect day. So Ihopped out of bed, noticing amazingly, that Iwasn’t suffering any after affects fromyesterdays run, and took off down to the beachto watch the sunrise. It was well worth getting upfor! Even though it was really time to get upanyway! I stood on the beach looking over thesea. Gradually the sky lightened. The sunblinked promisingly from some small wisps ofcloud, giving a glimpse of its glory to come. “Itwill come up here, no - maybe there, no -definitely here,” I mused to myself, as the sun’srays playfully hopped from one small cloud toanother. The closer sunrise came, the brighter thereflections became. The moment I settled in mymind exactly where it would come up, it fooledme, by impishly coming up nearby!

For an instant, the sun appeared as a small roundsphere of intense light, before immediatelysinking again below the horizon. Come andgone? No. For now it slowly and majesticallyrose in a blinding display of piercing yet gloriouslight, as its rays, the harbingers of a new day,raced nimbly across the water to greet me. Iturned and looked behind me. It seemed as if agigantic streetlight had suddenly been switchedon, illuminating the surrounding area with acomforting, early morning glow. A new dawn, anew day had arisen.

Getting used to the light I started to run, myshackles of two days ago well and truly broken.“I can now run down to the next town,” was myfirst thought. So I did. On the way I passed agentleman, in his seventies at a guess, runningthe opposite way. I had seen him yesterday too,and wondered how far he was running. Sawtoday that it was a longer distance than I hadguessed at! Noticed too that he was runningbarefoot and wondered why. Was soon to findout! For I came across a stream to cross, one toowide to jump. My friend, for we had waved outto each other several times now, had been able to

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run right through. I had to take a detour up to theroad, across the bridge, then back down to thebeach. The second time this happened I gave up!Running up to the road, I turned towards homeand ran and ran. As I had very nearly reached thecentre of town, I was more than happy with myachievement. In a nice little touch, I ran up‘Beach Access 19’. Nineteen just happens to bemy favourite number. Funny the little things younotice when running.

Running along the road was unlike the peace andcalm of the beach. For cars were whizzing busilyby, people were up and moving, getting up andon with their day. As I ran on and on, I realised Ihad been going for over an hour. “Perhaps Icould do eighty minutes and double my previouslimit.” So I did. Extended the run to include partsof Bowentown that I had not previously covered.My watch stopped at 1:20:41 as I reached home.I had done the impossible! While keeping myrunning form too – relaxed upper body with lowswinging arms. Must admit though, I was quitehappy to finish! But if anyone had told me twodays before I would run for 60 and 80 minutes inthe next two days, I would have laughed it off asbeing impossible. But I had done it! Abreakthrough made in my running life.

In the Spiritual: As yesterday morning was apicture of the days of the Tabernacle church, sotoday was a natural picture of the return of Jesus,in glory and blinding light. For as the sun rose, iturgently penetrated the darkness of the night,establishing its rule over the earth for anther day.Sin as represented by darkness, was quicklyswept away by the all-encompassing power ofthe ‘Son’.

While the running achievements of yesterdaywere great, with a power and freedom beyondwhat had been previously experienced, andtypical of the Tabernacle church, today’s rewardwas far greater again, a type of reigning andruling with Christ for 1000 years. Completefreedom, complete release, in a new, eternal, noache, no pain, heavenly body. What a wonderfulthought!

The older man running along the beach was apicture of the truth that no one, irrespective ofage or past experience, is excluded from theopportunity to join in Tabernacles. Provided weare prepared to participate in the training regimeof submission, that is! In fact this gentleman,who could easily be excused from runningbecause of his age, was better prepared than wasI, to complete the task.

The everyday activities going on along the road,were a picture of life proceeding as normalduring the 1000 year reign, albeit without thedarkness of sin, spreading its pervadinginfluence upon mankind. Maybe policemen andprison staff should look for new occupationsnow!

As for the mayonnaise and Beach Access 19? Ofno special spiritual significance to me! Just niceexperiences! Maybe you are more spirituallyenlightened than I. Please let me know theanswers if you are.

David Tait: 8-9 June 2000

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GIVING TO GOD

PRAISE & WORSHIP – PRAYER & FASTING – TITHES & GIFTS

THE GIVERS DICTIONARYA ‘RELIGIOUS PERSON’ follows rules to earn God’s favour.

The ‘CHRISTIAN’ delights in giving to God, in gratitude for what He has given us.‘MAN’ delights in turning gifts to God, into rules. (Only fools make rules)

‘GOD’ seeks an ‘attitude of gratitude’ from the giverTHE ‘5G’ PRINCIPLE

A ‘GIVER’ GRATEFULLY GIVES GOD GRACIOUS GIFTS

WHY GIVE TO GOD?A very good question! Surely, if God created usand owns “the cattle on a thousand hills”(Psalm 50:10) there is nothing we can give Himanyway! Sounds pretty good logic to me!Reminds me of a good joke. “Yesterday I gotgiven everything in the world. Now I don’t knowwhere to put it all!”

But there is one thing God doesn’t own – us!Why? Because He wants us to own Him! If Godhad wanted to own us He would have created usas human robots, programming us to do His will.Now that sounds a pretty good idea for teenagers– from a parent’s perspective anyway! But Goddesires from us what most seek in a marriage –love, relationship, companionship, etc. It is mostinteresting that none of these things can bepurchased over a shop counter. The world maytry to convince us that they can be bought,through deceptive counterfeits. For example, lustfor love. But, in reality, love is voluntary, givenas a matter of choice.

But in order for a choice to be made, there mustbe at least two alternatives to choose between.Now, can you start to see where God is comingfrom? To develop a loving relationship with us,He had to give us the choice (called freewill) ofloving Him or not. So we can choose to live in“sin” (apart from God) or in “righteousness”(right standing with God). It is our choice.

But David, what does this have to do withgiving? Everything! How? Well, there areseveral ways we communicate to another personthat we love them.

1. We tell them so. Spiritual equivalentis ‘praise and worship.’

2 . We give them presents. Spiritualequivalent is ‘tithes and gifts.’

3 . We put our own desires second.Spiritual equivalent is ‘prayer andfasting.’

Isn’t it amazing how the natural patterns areduplicated in the spiritual. This is the way weobtain much of our understanding about thingsspiritual – by applying natural principles to theunseen spiritual world, as revealed to us throughGod’s word, the Bible.

Remember our ‘3 S’s’ of Salvation, Spirit andSubmission? We will see that our attitudetowards each of the 3 areas of giving detailedbelow, depends on what stage we are at in ourwalk with the Lord. Some of the ideas presentedmay appear a bit radical to you. Please don’t justreject them out of hand though. May I suggestyou put problem areas to one side and come backto them another time.

For these matters are very personal andchallenging, cutting to the very core of ourbeliefs and faith level. I know it! For I haveexperienced many challenges in these areas overthe years too! I have argued with myself, withmy wife, with my pastor, with my God, and lost,

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nearly every time! I well know the feeling ofknowing what I should do, then finding everyexcuse not to do it? Just a tip from experience! Itis easiest to give in quickly and gracefully,because it makes bowing to the inevitable a lotless painful! That is, of course, if we really dodesire to walk in God’s will for our lives.

Please remember that there is no condemnationfrom God or David if you don’t feel able toagree with, or aspire to, what is written. For Goddoes not set religious rules. He just desires ourlove to the extent we are able to give it. For eventhe best of us, (which I am not) fail from time totime, none having reached perfection just yet! Soplease be encouraged, we are all in the sameboat. For we are all challenged in these areas.

PRAISE AND WORSHIP

I am really into praise and worship! That has notalways been the case, as I described earlier.Won’t bore you with the details again! But Ihave been through all the stages and still seekeven more! As my love and appreciation for myGod grows, so I desire to worship Him more andmore! This is a very unnatural reaction for thenatural David, I can assure you! It just has to beGod working in me!

Now I am probably not going to win friends andinfluence people with the following. We all liketo think we are worshipping our Lord as Hedesires. In reality though, it is rather more likelythat we are worshipping Him to the extent we areprepared to let go of our reserve. The two arenormally quite different! For we very easily fitinto a ‘worship culture’, hugely influenced bythose we are worshipping with. Try going into achurch where the worship is significantly more,or less, exuberant than we are used to and youwill soon know what I mean! I am mostfortunate to be in a church where worship ishighly esteemed. A right rowdy, enthusiasticbunch we are! “But David, I am not comfortablein that sort of environment”, I hear you say.Surely it is not the ‘I’ that is important but ratherthe ‘He’! Mark 12:30, the most important

commandment of Jesus, gives us the clue as tothe desire of the Father in this matter.

“Love the lord your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all your mind and

with all your strength.”

Now that is very straightforward to me, praiseand worship being the outward expression of ourinner love. No ifs, no buts, no maybes! Oneword in every 6 of this verse is that mostuncompromising, concise, yet big word, ‘all’.

When I joined a Pentecostal church I discoveredthat there is a 3 step (surprise, surprise, surprise!)pattern that God has revealed for praise andworship, that pleases Him. It is based on the 3parts of the Tabernacle of Moses. The excitingthing about this pattern is that it shows us wherewe are heading, as well as how to get there!Let’s take a look.

1 . 1. THE OUTER COURT – GIVINGTHANKS TO JESUS: The Outer Courthad, as its focus, the Brazen Alter, on whichanimal sacrifices were offered, specificallyfor the sins of the people. This is of course apicture of what Jesus was to do for us on thecross, 1,500 odd years later. He wassacrificed for all our sins. Therefore theemphasis in this first part of our praise andworship is on Jesus, giving Him thanks forall He has done for us. This is typical ofmany of the great hymns and songs of theTraditional and Evangelical churches.

2. 3. But our praise and worship is not to stop

there. For the Lord has revealed more. Thatis why, even in these churches, moremodern songs, often identified as ‘choruses,’have being introduced. For there are less andless churches where the traditional 3 or 4hymns of my youth, admittedly many yearsago, (in pre-historic times according to myfamily!), separated by prayers and a sermon,are still in vogue. Generally such churchesare populated by older folk, and are likely tofinally die as their shrinking congregationsdwindle away to zero. Please, but please,neither God nor myself, is being critical of


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these, mostly God honouring people. But itis simply reality. And there is so much moreavailable to us.

4 . THE HOLY PLACE – PRAISINGGOD BY THE SPIRIT: More controversy.To those who don’t participate - it’s all justemotion and no substance. Those who doparticipate in Pentecost, believe they placeequal emphasis on both praise and worship.So I might as well be in trouble witheveryone! Show no favouritism that way!

For my observation of many Pentecostal andCharismatic churches is that most are morecomfortable in, and have a greaterunderstanding of, praise rather than worship.For praise is typical of the added dimensionof the Holy Spirit, (Jesus plus the HolySpirit) which go to make up the realm ofPentecost. Pentecostal praise is typified byenthusiasm, noise, clapping, dancing, etc.Hence the name ‘happy clappies’. Althoughused in a derogatory way by many of thosewho won’t participate, in reality it is apositive nickname. It’s an accuratedescription of the praise and worship ofPentecost. This worship type represents ahuge advance on the older, traditional formof worship and has literally been responsiblefor keeping the church alive in many placesduring the 20th century. But there is stillmore.

5 . THE HOLY OF HOLIES –WORSHIPPING GOD THE FATHER:This is the ultimate. To enter the very throneroom of God, to be in His presence. Howcan we worship in the very presence of TheFather? Only by being perfect, which noneof us yet are. But we are on the way, aren’twe? Aren’t we? I hope so, for that is whatour walk is all about. As Paul says inPhilippians 3:12-21.

“Not that I have already obtained all this, orhave already been made perfect, but I press

on to take hold of that for which ChristJesus took hold of me.……I press on towardthe goal to win the prize for which God has

called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All ofus who are mature should take such a view

of things.”

So let’s have a look at how worship hasevolved throughout the ages and where weare heading to in the future. Never believeany person or church that says that theyhave it all. For God’s ‘all’ has not yet comein any area of the church. Thank God forthat! For there just has to be somethingbetter than we currently have, don’t youagree? Yes, God’s best is yet to come.God’s best is perfection!a . In The Past (Old Testament): All

man’s encounters with God the Father todate have been strictly limited, becauseof human impurity. For an impure mancannot exist in the presence of pure God.It is man who gets zapped, not God! ForGod told Moses,

“you cannot see my face for no one maysee me and live.” (Exodus 33:20)

God then, protected Moses from the fullglory of His presence with His hand. Inthe Tabernacle itself, God’s presence wasin the ark, which in turn was in the Holyof Holies, inaccessible to all but the HighPriest, and then only on the annual Dayof Atonement.

b. At Present (New Testament): Whatapplied in the past is still of practicalrelevance today, because we cannot yetphysically enter into the full presence ofGod himself, even after salvation. Thecurtain to the Holy of Holies in thetemple was torn at the time Jesus died,spiritually giving us access to God’spresence through belief in Jesus, but wehave not yet been able to access it in thenatural as sin remains in our life. In mineanyway! So we all for now, have splitpersonalities! Our old human natureliving side by side with our new spiritualnature. Only once we become 100%pure will we be fully physically able toenter His presence.


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With the arrival of

“the Holy Spirit, whom the Father willsend in my name……” (John 14:26)

at Pentecost, a new revelation of, andenthusiasm for, worship was given. Thiswas lost after a short time by the earlychurch. It was always retained by ‘aremnant’ over the centuries, but only inthe last 100 years has the influence ofthe Holy Spirit returned in a moregeneral way.

The Spirit works primarily in the area offaith, involving the heart, the seat of ouremotions. So we have seen in thePentecostal/Charismatic movement agreat development of thanksgiving,praise and worship, both structured andfree. We desire to stretch out our handstowards God, to get closer to Him,which we do in the Spirit.

‘Happy clappy’ does not necessarilymean that God is a ‘happy chappy’ withus! For our worship must come from thespirit of God living within us, not solely,(get the pun!) from our human or‘soulish’ emotions. For praise andworship is not just having a happy time– sometimes we don’t even feel like it –but rather the giving of all we have andare to God.

c. In The Future (Book of Revelation &Other Prophetic Scripture): Now forthe radical! You see, most people arelooking for a more intense experience ofthe same to get even closer to God. Thatis what I thought too, until God revealedto me otherwise. Two verses, John 4:23& 24 reveal the truth!

“Yet a time is coming and has now comewhen the true worshipers will worship

the Father in spirit and truth, for they arethe kind of worshippers the Father seeks.

God is Spirit and his worshipers mustworship in spirit and in truth.”

What is that horrible “T” word? TRUTH!Not just in spirit, which is where we areat currently, but in truth also. ‘Happychappy clappies’ who worship with alltheir emotions on a Sunday, yet livesinful lives for the rest of the week arenot the worshippers God desires! Now Iam sure that you have never fallen intothat category! But I know I have, fromtime to time. It’s so easy to do! To havethe form but not the substance.

Know what I am talking about? To breakthrough to the next level of praise andworship does not mean singing louder,but rather, getting our lives right withGod. I sense that the Lord is starting tobring us closer to that place, as a peoplearise who are sold out to Him.

The process is explained in Hebrews10:19-22.

“Therefore, brothers, since we haveconfidence to enter the Most Holy Placeby the blood of Jesus, (Salvation –Traditional/Evangelical Church) by anew and living way opened for usthrough the curtain, that is, his body,and since we have a great priest over thehouse of God, let us draw near to Godwith a sincere heart (Spirit –Pentecostal/Charismatic Church) in fullassurance of faith, having our heartssprinkled to cleanse us from a guiltyconscience and having our bodies(Submission – Tabernacle Church tocome) washed with pure water.”

From these verses, we can see Jesus hasdone for us a completed work‘positionally’, but this has to be workedthrough ‘experientially,’ personally andcollectively as the church. To my simplemind – we must live it, not just believeit! For it is so easy to simply rest on thelaurels of Jesus having done it all for us.So what are the implications for ourpraise and worship?


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1 . Now – in our Imperfect State:Experience shows, that as we drawnearer to the Father in our still lessthan perfect state, we fall down beforeHim in reverence and awe of Hispurity and power. Our worshipquietens, sometimes being reduced toa whisper or even a groan, as we comenearer the presence of the glory of ourGod. It is as if we are just beginning toenter through that torn curtain, into theHoly of Holies itself, getting aforetaste of the majesty of our Father.But is that all we can expect? No.

2. Later – When we are Made Pure:Those who have been fully cleansedand purified will be able to stand, tolive in the very presence of God, tohonour and glorify Him and to ruleand reign with Him. For God has doneeverything to finally bring us back intorelationship with Him. Andrelationship is a two-way thing.

“They will walk with me, dressed inwhite, for they are worthy.”

(Revelation 3:4)

Yes, we will be able to walk withGod, to relate to the Father as a childto a parent, to Jesus as a wife to ahusband, and to the Holy Spirit as amentor and closest friend. I appreciatethat the full implications of thisrestored state are not easy to grasp. Iknow that it is common for Christiansto believe that when they get toheaven they will spend all their eternaltime singing praises to God, an eternalpraise and worship session. Right?Wrong! In the sense we understandworship now, anyway. For we are tobecome as one with Jesus, given

“the right to sit with me (Jesus) on mythrone.” (Revelation 3:21)

The full implications of this areimpossible for us to currently grasp.For as the 3 members of the Trinity

are one in a way we don’t yet fullycomprehend, so we will become asone with Jesus in unity of purpose, ina way that we don’t yet fullyunderstand either. It remains a mysteryto us.

“For who has known the mind of theLord that he may instruct him?” But

we have the mind of Christ.” (1Corinthians 2:16)

As we submit in a greater way to theFather’s will, in which Jesus set theperfect example, so our understandingwill increase.

To attain fulfilment in praise andworship we must become pure. Now,of course we need God’s help to dothis. We cannot attain purity orperfection by our own efforts. But thisdoes not mean that we give up andleave it all to God! Remember Paul’squotation earlier. It is ourresponsibility as mature Christians to“press on toward the goal” o fperfection in Christ. As we submit toGod, so He brings us closer to Him,enabling us to enter new realms ofpraise and worship. It is up to us!Radical - yes, different - yes, true -yes, exciting - yes! Then let’s do it,shall we!

PRAYER AND FASTING“Why combine these two,” I hear you ask. Theone I love! The other I hate! A bit of anexaggeration, but you get the idea. Yet together,they fit into the true Christian lifestyle in asimilar way that praise does with worship. Andno, it is not just an Old Testament concept. Forexample, in the appointing of elders.

“Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for themin each church and, with prayer and fasting,

committed them to the Lord, in whom they hadput their trust.” (Acts 14:23)


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In spite of many ideas to the contrary, Jesusvery often fasted when He prayed. The classicexample is the time He spent 40 days in thewilderness, preparing for Satan’s temptation. Nodoubt He spent most of this time in prayer andHe fasted too.

“After fasting 40 days and 40 nights he washungry.” (Matthew 4:2)

Not surprisingly! But fasting and praying,together provided Him with the strength to resistSatan. Jesus often went away by himself to prayand I suspect He didn’t take a cut lunch withHim! You see, Jesus was very much againstmaking public spectacles of both fasting andpraying. For Him, these were His primary meansof personal communication with His Father.Interestingly Jesus talks about them both in theidentical way,

“……your Father, who sees what is done insecret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:6 & 18)

He was particularly critical of the Pharisees fortheir hypocritical public displays of both prayingand fasting. Why? Let’s find out.

WHY PRAY AND FAST?a. PRAYING: Prayer is our primary means of

establishing and maintaining an ongoingrelationship with our Father in heaven.Without mutual communication no effectiverelationship can survive, let alone thrive.Every marriage seminar focuses on the keyimportance of communication, yet most of uscontinually continue to ignore it! What adifference it does make, when we areprepared to put in the time and effort, asKathy and I have found out over more recentyears.

As Christians, we are meant to be the brideof Christ. So how are we doing inestablishing our communication channelswith God? Yes, prayer is our ‘bread andbutter’ means of keeping in touch with ourLord. We may occasionally have dreams,visions or receive prophecies, but prayer isthe primary means we have of getting to

know God. I find it ironic that we spend mostof our prayer time telling God about ourproblems and desires, when He knows allabout them already! After all He is God! Butwe spend very little, if any, time listening towhat He might want to say to us.

Don’t you get really put out when you havea conversation with someone, and all theyare interested in talking about is their ownself? It saddens rather than annoys me now,as I have grown so used to it over the years.How do you think God feels about it,particularly as He knows the full storyanyway! But then, you or I would never boreGod like that, would we? My thoughts dohappen to concur with those of Jesus, at leastin this area!

“And when you pray do not keep on babblinglike pagans, for they think they will be heardbecause of their many words. Do not be likethem, for your Father knows what you need

before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:7)

b. FASTING: I can see myself getting intoanother minefield here! But if the cause isgood enough, a soldier is prepared to risk hislife! And the cause is good enough! In fact itis so good that it is worth dying for – but notby fasting though! Too slow! For fasting is aprinciple of God that has been largelyignored by the modern church. Bycoincidence, I am on a regular fast day today,so I am not just speaking (typing actually!)theoretically.

Why fast? Fasting involves the submission ofour natural bodily desires (food and sex) tothe Lord for a period of time so that we mayseek and be open to receiving God’s desiresfor our life. Fasting creates clearercommunication channels with God.(alliteration is fun – helps the memory too!)Apparently fasting is good for our health too!Now I appreciate that some people havemedical conditions that do not allow fasting,but very few of us do have the luxury of thatexcuse.


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For fasting is the most concrete physicalmeans (outside martyrdom!) through whichwe can demonstrate our commitment to ourHeavenly Father. It also follows in thepersonal example of Jesus.

If you like food as much as me, you too willknow that it is not easy – it takes personaldiscipline and commitment, two principlesthat are not popular in our modern,humanistic, if it feels good - do it, world.Fasting may not be easy, particularly to startoff with, but is definitely worth it. Take theword of one who has had tremendousstruggles over the years, failing often, butkeeping on coming back to it.

If the thought horrifies or scares you, can Isuggest you just try missing a single meal fora start? We all miss a meal occasionallyanyway, don’t we, so that isn’t too hard todo. God will reward you for it, although thatshouldn’t be our reason for doing it – just anice side benefit.

PRAYING AND FASTING IN THECHURCHI must be a glutton for punishment because Iknow what I am going to share now is going tocreate still more controversy, amongst those whodon’t understand where I am coming from. It isnot said to hurt or to criticise, but to encouragethose who are seeking more of God. To pressfurther and further into these most vital areas, inorder to develop a deeper and deeper relationshipwith Him. It is most interesting to see thedevelopment of prayer and fasting through thetypes of church we have discussed earlier.Having been involved in both evangelical andSpirit filled churches I have experienced thediffering attitudes towards prayer and fasting,plus the Lord has shown me a little of what isstill to come.a. TRADITIONAL/EVANGELICAL

CHRISTIANS1. Fasting: Basically is either unknown or

ignored.2. Prayer: Consists of giving God thanks for

salvation and the good things of life He hasgraciously given us, followed by a long list

of requests for things we would like tohave or see done. This prayer is generatedprimarily from the mind, is low key, andnon-demanding. It is preferably done inprivate, with prayer meetings being hardwork and generally poorly attended.

3. Concentrating on: Meeting man’s desiresand needs.

b. CHARISMATIC/PENTECOSTALCHRISTIANS1. Fasting: The principle of fasting is

generally recognised and usually, but notalways, entered in to for specific events, orwhen special requests or favours arerequired of God.

2. Prayer: The release of the Holy Spirit addsan extra dimension to the believer’s prayer,releasing too the realm of spiritual gifts.

“To one there is given through the Spiritthe message of wisdom, to another themessage of knowledge by means of the

same Spirit, to another faith by the sameSpirit, to another gifts of healing by that

one Spirit, to another miraculous powers,to another prophecy, to another

distinguishing between spirits, to anotherspeaking in different kinds of tongues, and

to still another the interpretation oftongues. All these are the work of one andthe same Spirit, and he gives them to eachone, just as he determines.” (1 Corinthians

12:8-11)

These gifts result in greater enthusiasmboth for and in prayer, particularly whenpraying in a group, as the prayers are nowsourced from the heart or emotions. Anincreased element of faith (a spiritual gift)is invoked, faith primarily being of theheart, as we have learned previously. Thereis an emphasis too on spiritual warfare, asSatan concentrates his attacks on thosewho have been released into the Spirit.Aspects of praise and worship to themajesty of God are introduced also. Butthis enthusiasm can give rise to certainproblems also. Faith in faith, rather than inGod – such as the name it and claim ittheologies falsely promote - noise being


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equated with power - a product of overenthusiasm - with more power beingascribed to Satan than is his due – becauseof his reality in Spirit filled believers lives.

3. Concentrating on: Overcoming Satan.c. TABERNACLE CHRISTIANS

1. Fasting: Becomes a way of life, not forreward, but as the submission of ournatural human desires to the Lord of ourlife. In so doing, to remove the static fromour lines of communication with Him. Togive of ourselves and to hear from Him.

2. Prayer: To seek God’s will for our lifeand actions, rather than making demandsof God. Seeking what God wants of us,rather than what we want from God. Tolisten rather than to speak. To relate as afriend on a one to one basis. To worktowards becoming one with Jesus, so thatHis desires become our desires, His willour will. To break through the barrier thatSatan has established around the earth. Toenter into the magnificence of what isknown scripturally as the third heaven, thedwelling place of our God. Impossible?No. There are reports from leadingintercessors world wide, that suchbreakthroughs are starting to take place.For paradoxically, to receive everything,we must give up everything. But what wegive up is merely a shadow of what wewill receive. Just look at the promisesmade to the “overcomers” in the earlierchapter on the promises to the churches ofthe Book of Revelation for confirmation.

“To him who overcomes, I will give theright to sit with me on my throne, just as Iovercame and sat down with my Father on

his throne.” (Revelation 3:21)

Who could ask for more, than to be onewith Jesus!

Concentrating on: Becoming as one withGod’s will.

This obviously, is only an brief overview of ahuge subject. For prayer and fasting are at thevery core of our relationship with our God.There is no way out. Without prayer and fasting

we can’t have a personal relationship with God -Father, Son and Holy Spirit. A ‘Christ’ian cannotbe a Christian without believing in Jesus‘Christ’. And what did Jesus do for us? Hegained access for us to, and communication with,God the Father, the Ruler of the universe and(hopefully!) our lives too, through the power ofthe Holy Spirit, our teacher, friend and guidewho dwells within us. Yes, God has made theway for us to be restored into a full relationshipwith Him, through Jesus taking upon himself oursins, on the cross. That relationship grows andmatures through prayer and fasting. You can’t bea Christian without it! Let alone a TabernacleChristian!

TITHES AND GIFTS:Another area of testing! Parting a man from hismoney! Invisible glue! A real test of faith!

To me there are two simple tests of a genuineconversion to Christianity.

1. Putting matters right with people youhave wronged prior to yourconversion, and

2. A change in what you do with yourmoney.

These two actions clearly show the true state ofour heart, far more than any religious words thatmay pour forth from our mouths. I am a verypractical person at heart and look for reality,both in my own and other people’s lives. I ammy own worst critic too by the way, being harderon myself than on others, although my kidswould probably disagree - but then most kids do,don’t they! But back to the point!

What we do with our money really shows thestate of our heart towards God. Jesus knew ittoo! For Jesus talks more about money than hedoes any other subject! Considerably moreactually!

Not that there is anything wrong with money initself. Surprising though it may seem at times,money is nothing more than a very useful,inanimate means of exchange. Is far moreconvenient than carrying around 2 chickens inour pocket, ready to exchange for a sack ofpotatoes. The change could be quite messy if the


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potatoes were only worth 1_ chickens! Plus wewould need bigger pockets! Blood and peckproof too! Stop it, David!

Why then, does such an inanimate item get usinto so much trouble? Because of what it standsfor. Wealth brings security, independence,comfort, power and luxury to name but a fewattractions. I had better stop now before Iconvince myself! I am sure you can add manyothers. For ‘there is nothing wrong with moneyin itself, it is just the self in money that iswrong!’(I like that – it is original, although, nodoubt, someone else will have thought of it too!)For the human benefits of money are all selfcentred. And we can so easily be lured by them,can’t we. Let’s be real! But in Luke 16:13 & 15Jesus tells us,

“You cannot serve both God and Money” and“What is highly valued among men is detestable

in God’s sight.”

Most interesting that “Money” is spelt with acapital “M”. I hadn’t noticed that before I cameto type it out. The choice is ours. To serve Godwith a capital “G”, or Money with a capital “M”!God does not say that money is evil – it can’t beas it is inanimate - but it is our obsessive desirefor it that causes the problem.

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds ofevil. Some people, eager for money, have

wandered from the faith and pierced themselveswith many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

I just love how the bible is such a practical aswell as a spiritual book. So what does the biblerequire of us, in practical terms, when it comesto money?

It amuses but sometimes saddens me, when I goto a Christian meeting, that the best prepared andpresented ‘sermon-ettes’ are often given justprior to the collection, on the subject of giving.You are not going to get another one here!

For the biblical principles are clear andstraightforward, when it comes to giving to God.

Applying them is the problem! There are twoforms of giving – in money and in kind.

1. THE TITHE: (meaning one-tenth) The first10% of what we are given by God (which iseverything!) is to be given back to Him, toHis storehouse, our local church. “But howcan you be so dogmatic, David?” It is not justI. God is even more straightforward!

“ ‘Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.’ Butyou ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ ‘In tithes andofferings. You are under a curse – the wholenation of you – because you are robbing me.Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that

there may be food in my house. Test me inthis,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I willnot throw open the floodgates of heaven andpour out so much blessing that you will nothave room enough for it.’ ” (Malachi 8-10)

Wow! No punches pulled here! “But it’s OldTestament, David.” Yes, but it is anestablished principle in God that the NewTestament nowhere rescinds. We are to givethe first tenth, the very best to God, not whatwe happen to have left over at the end of theweek. As a former flower grower, I know thatthe first flowers of a crop are the best, qualitywise. ‘If we give the best, God will providethe rest!’ (Another original! Want it? You canhave it!) I don’t need to say any more really.We either believe God or we don’t. It can behard at first to take the necessary step of faith.If you don’t currently tithe, all I ask is for youto give it a trial for a month, then see if Godkeeps His word. You can’t lose too much inthat time anyway, can you? Look what youstand to win! Beats a lotto ticket any day!

2. GIVING: Giving is to tithing, what fasting isto prayer – the icing on the cake! Notice theverses quoted from Malachi talked not onlyabout tithes but also offerings. The tithes wereto go to the storehouse, (local church) butwhat about the offerings? “Surely we don’thave to give more than 10%, David?” Well,yes actually!


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“But when (Not - if!) you give to the needy,do not let your left hand know what your righthand is doing, so that your giving may be insecret. Then your Father, who sees what is

done in secret will reward you.”(Matthew 6:3-4)

We are to give, as the church should also bedoing too out of our tithes, to the needy, tomissions, to all those who are looking afterpeople and/or spreading the word of God. Theamount of giving is voluntary, and should beaccording to the Lord’s leading. Once againKathy and I have proven that giving bringsblessings, although that is not why we give.

3. OUR ATTITUDE: When it comes to tithingand giving, and everything else we give toGod for that matter, it is our attitude that isimportant. Let’s take some human examples.

Who likes paying taxes? Not too many of us!That is reflected in our attitude to the TaxDepartment, and the Tax Department’sattitude towards us, however many publicrelations programmes they run! In NewZealand, the Inland Revenue Department hashad a slogan, ‘It’s our job to be fair’, whichhas been the butt of many cruel jokes over theyears. We all know we need to pay taxes torun community services, but none of us likedoing it. If that is the attitude that we taketowards God’s simple tax system, the tithe,(one flat rate of 10% on net income – LikeGST or VAT!), it is hard to imagine Godbeing too happy with us either.

Even worse of course, are those “titheevaders” who don’t bother tithing at all! Theythink they can get away with it because thereare no earthly “Tithe Investigators” to enforceGod’s tithe system. However we will all becalled to account at the time of ourjudgement, a ‘going over’ which will be morethorough than any earthly tax investigation!

Similarly with giving. If I give my wife abunch of flowers because I feel guilty or feel Iought to, her reaction is going to be vastlydifferent than if I buy them just because I love

her, and tell her so. As long as she believesme! Which she does!

These words about giving from 2 Corinthians9:6-9 summarise well, God’s views on giving.

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparinglywill also reap sparingly, and whoever sowsgenerously will also reap generously. Eachman should give what he has decided in his

heart to give, not reluctantly or undercompulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound toyou, so that in all things at all times, havingall that you need, you will abound in every

good work. As it is written: ‘He hasscattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his

righteousness endures forever.’ ”

Who are we to disagree with Him?

SUGGESTED ‘3 x 10%+’ PERSONALGUIDELINES:

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: The followingare not rules or requirements but simplysuggestions for you to ask God’s advice on

These are guidelines that I have worked out formy own life and I believe the Lord would haveme to share them with you. For I believe that, ifwe are sold out to God, the tithe, the 10%principle, should extend beyond mere money,and apply to all areas of our personal lives. Aswith the principle of giving being on top oftithing, I see these ‘10%’s’ as being a minimumrather than a maximum for me. And I againstress the ‘for me’ bit. I am not saying that thesame has to apply to you.

I see 3 areas in my personal life where this 10%+principle should apply.

1.TITHING MY TIME: (1_ hours + Daily)Building any relationship takes time. Time isthe most valuable gift we can give our spouseand family. Time is also the most valuablegift we can give God. I therefore believe that Ishould spend at least 10% of my waking day


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(1_ hours +) seeking to build my personalrelationship with Him and doing His work asHe leads. (Apply the same criteria to mymarriage and family too? You need toremember this, David!) This time doesn’tinclude church or church type meetings – theyare extra. For it’s not easy to develop apersonal relationship in a group situation.

We can, and must, if at all possible, meet withour fellow believers for praise and worship,giving and receiving teaching, mutualencouragement and support, etc., etc., allthings we cannot easily do by ourselves. Butif we are foolish enough, we can do all those“meeting things” without ever being mateswith Jesus. It is called religion. How very sad.Bible study, personal praise and worship,prayer, (including time just listening for whatGod has to say to me), helping people out anddoing whatever the Lord leads me to do forHim. e.g. writing this book. Worthconsidering?

2.Tithing my Money: (10% + Gifts) As Ihave testified previously, this has been anamazing blessing in my life. For I started myChristian walk with nothing, as a bankrupt,and God has faithfully looked after me overthe past 10 years. He has enabled us to givelots away, as well as having sufficient left forourselves. Now, working fulltime for the Lordis a new challenge, made possible at this stageby Kathy’s grace in continuing to workfulltime to put the food on the table. Onceagain I am facing bankruptcy through thecollapse of our property development project.My mistakes. My responsibility. Talk aboutgoing the full circle! Only this time it is withGod on my side, which is far superior, I can

assure you. But the Lord has promised methat money will not be a problem, andthrough past experience, I believe Him!Worth considering?

3.Tithing my Bodily Desires: (3 DaysFasting per Month) I have talked about thedifficulties I, and everyone I know who fastsactually, have in relation to fasting.Submission, particularly for men, is not easy.I do find it easier to fast on a regular basis,rather than intermittently. But that is just me.10% fasting requires one day a week, for 3weeks of the month. It is not so difficult whenyou look at it that way – so I kid myselfanyway!

An interesting and sometimes moreconvenient alternative, the one which Igenerally follow, was instituted by JohnWesley for his Methodist ministers. Theywere required to fast 2 days a week until 4pm.A similar approach to the above time-wise. Ido this again three weeks a month. Fasting isnot just very old or very new!

If you don’t feel able to do either of these,you could try starting by fasting for just onemeal. You will soon find you can extend totwo, and so on. Worth considering?

Well, that’s it! God has given us everything.Surely we should return the compliment. Forgiving, in whatever form, is a practical measureof our commitment to our Lord. Our giving oftime, money and ourselves is a practicalyardstick of the depth of our commitment to ourGod. Let’s show Him then, shall we, how muchwe really love Him.

THE ETERNAL VISION

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‘NEARER MY GOD TO THEE, NEARER TO THEE’

THE POWER OF INTERCESSION

INSTRUCTIONS ON WORSHIP

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – forkings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge ofthe truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gavehimself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time………I want men everywhere to

lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputation.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6, 8)

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but theSpirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our heartsknows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance to God’s will.”

(Romans 8:26-7)

WHAT IS INTERCESSION?Dictionary definitions are not very helpful indefining the difference between prayer andintercession. For in reality, there is a blurringbetween the two. But to me, the key distinctionbetween interceding and praying is contained inthree words, ‘on behalf of’. For Jesus gave Hislife ‘on behalf of’ us. Now He intercedes withGod the Father ‘on behalf of’ us. So we are tointercede ‘on behalf of’ others, in accordancewith God’s will, as we are led by the Holy Spirit.Prayer is our own direct communication withGod. Intercession is the heart cry of God beingoffered back to God. Now I realise that thisdefinition of intercession doesn’t make a greatdeal of sense to our natural mind, but it is of vitalspiritual importance to God.

THE POWER OF INTERCESSIONThe expression of God’s will through us, is ahugely powerful weapon in the battle withSatan’s evil army. Our ongoing declarations ofGod’s will are the hydrogen bombs of thespiritual world, devastating and defeating thedemonic forces arraigned against us. For Satancannot defeat the will of God. And the job ofovercoming Satan has been delegated to us, asexpressed in our key verse of Revelation 12:11.

“They (Christian ‘brothers’ or ‘brethren’)overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamband by the word of their testimony: they did not

love their lives so much as to shrink fromdeath.”

The process of intercession is a classic practicalexample of ‘dying to self’ that this verseexpresses. For the intercessor powerfully praysin submission of their personal will to that oftheir God the Father, as guided by the HolySpirit, under the all-encompassing protection ofthe blood of Jesus. A winning formula if thereever was one!

ENTERING THE HOLY OF HOLIESBy now we know that Jesus made the way for usto enter the Holy of Holies when He died uponthe cross. We became ‘pure’ in God’s sightthrough the forgiveness of our sins. However wealso understand the practical reality that we don’tyet always walk in this purity – well at least Idon’t. So what has been done for us‘positionally’ has yet to be fully experienced.

We also know from the example of theTabernacle of Moses, that the way into the Holyof Holies is through worship and prayer, assymbolised by the Incense Altar. Now, while Icannot justify this with scripture, my personal

THE ETERNAL VISION‘NEARER MY GOD TO THEE, NEARER TO THEE’

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observation and experience has been that thepeople who are leading the way into the Holy ofHolies are the intercessors. Come to think aboutit, this likely does reflect the fact that, at least fora time, the intercessor is operating in God’s willrather than their own. For they intercede on Hisbehalf.

The key to entering into the Holy of Holies ispurity. Purity, normally expressed as sinlessness,is probably better expressed as ‘walking inGod’s will’. For that encompasses not only theaspect of sinlessness, but also includes thepositive aspect of doing what God wants us to dowith, and in, our life. For our walk is not onemerely avoiding the Old Covenant negatives of‘the law’ but also one of living the positives ofthe New Testament commandment of love ofGod and our fellow man. In the words of the old(before my time) famous song, we should‘eliminate the negative’ and ‘accentuate thepositive’. Not a Christian song but one with areal message, in that part, at least. So,intercessors, walking in the will of God, areleading the way into the Holy of Holies.

THE CHALLENGE OF HOLINESSMany have tried to walk in holiness in their ownstrength and dismally failed. Others of us havenot bothered to try for we perceive it isunattainable, alright maybe for the superspiritual, but we’re not good enough, so wewon’t try.

But did you know that holiness really comesfrom God? For He places the desire in ourhearts. All we have to do is make the positivechoice to go along with His desire for us. To putaside the memory of our past failures and not beheld back by them. To yield ourselves to ourGod and let Him build us up. To choose to alignourselves with our God. To choose to flee fromsin. To choose to move to a new level of faith.To repent. To attain a new level of reverence andawe of our God. To instil the positive ‘fear’ ofGod in our lives.

If we are prepared to make these positive choicesas God lays them on our heart, holiness is not abig deal. It is a natural progression of the

submission of our selves, of our will to that ofGod. It doesn’t make us ‘super spiritual’ or‘holier than thou’ – indeed the reverse. For agodly humility (not man’s definition of‘weakness’) grows in our lives.

While there have always been a few people whohave chosen to follow this path, at God’sleading, the call to holiness is now being stirredin more and more people’s hearts. It is to be amajor characteristic of the Tabernacle Churchmovement, people consenting to walk the way ofholiness.

But holiness is not an end in itself. It is themeans by which we are genuinely motivated tohelp others, and as a bright beacon for God,attracting others into the kingdom. Holiness isnot self-centred, as has effectively often beenseen to be the case in the past, but 100% Godcentred. Holiness indeed, is the reflection of notloving our lives “so much as to shrink fromdeath.”

For this is the commitment God is calling us toin these days. But as with everything else inGod, it is not, indeed cannot be done in our ownstrength, but only through letting the power ofGod work in our life. By resting in Him. Isn’t itmarvellous! If only we let Him, truly give Himthe authority to change us, He will do it all forus!

INTERCESSION AND WORSHIPThe two are so closely related they are difficultto separate in a practical sense. The connectionbetween them has been there for 3,500 years.From the beginning of the Old TestamentChurch, in the earthly heavenly pattern that wasMoses Tabernacle. For the Incense Altar was atthe very entrance to the Holy of Holies, wherethe presence of God dwelled amongst Hispeople. Symbolically the sweet incense speaks ofPraise and Worship and Prayer and Intercession.These remain today as the primary ways inwhich we approach the Throne of God, the waywe enter into the presence of the Holy One.

True worship, where we have no option but tofall on our faces in adoration and ‘holy fear’ of


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our Creator and Lord while bathing in Hisoverwhelmingly powerful presence amongst us,is becoming an increasingly common experienceas we seek more of Him. It is a key indicator ofthe growth of our faith from Pentecost toTabernacles. For Pentecost is primarily based onpraise, worshipful though much of it is.Tabernacles on the other hand, centres uponentering into the very presence of God, wheretrue worship and submission to the will of theFather occurs.

The natural progression from this ‘new’experience of true worship is intercession, wherethe very power of the Father is poured outthrough us. It is the Father’s heart that containsthe power for us to fight and yes, to overcomethe spiritual enemy we face. While the enemyoften appears to predominate in Pentecost, weare starting to rise to a new level of authority inTabernacles that will finally enable us toovercome Satan and His army. This is starting tohappen, for reports are coming in from aroundthe world of intercessors breaking through thebattle lines of the forces of evil, experiencing aforetaste of the glory of Heaven.

THE THREE HEAVENSThe natural concept of the three heavens is avery helpful one in understanding, from a humanperspective, the invisible but very real spiritualbattle we are all a part of.

In the natural we have the earth on which welive, surrounded by the atmosphere. This formspart of a vast system of galaxies that surroundthe centre of the universe. The Bible shows thatthis natural pattern also applies to the spiritualworld.

1.The Atmosphere – The Home of Satan:

“As for you, you were dead in yourtransgressions and sins, in which you used tolive when you followed the ways of this worldand of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the

spirit who is now at work in those who aredisobedient. (Ephesians 2:1-2)

“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid Daniel.Since the first day that you set your mind to gain

understanding and to humble yourself beforeyour God, your words were heard and I have

come in response to them. But the prince of thePersian kingdom (i.e. Satan) resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes,came to help me, because I was detained therewith the King of Persia. Now I have come to

explain to you what will happen to your peoplein the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to

come.” (Daniel 10:12-14)

The two passages indicate that Satan’s home isbetween earth and God’s dwelling place. Hence,the spiritual battle we are involved in requires usto defeat Satan in order to break through into theheavenly realms of our God. This battle rages inthe realm of Pentecost, where very often Satanseems to have the upper hand. A little ‘DavidDitty.’

“God’s battles are fought, even now victories won,But when we succeed, the devils bigger become!”

Seemingly a never-ending battle! But frompractical experience, a battle that requiresincreased levels of unity and support, one withanother.

In due time this heaven and earth are to bereplaced by a new sinless and perfect newheaven and new earth.

2.The Second HeavenThis, the heaven of outer space, will feel theeffects of the final spiritual battle.

“Before them the earth shakes, the sky trembles,the sun and moon are darkened, and the stars

non longer shine.” (Joel 2:10)

Some battle!

3.The Third Heaven – The Home of God:The centre of the universe, where is the verydwelling place of God. The ‘open heaven’ oftentalked about in scripture. For example:


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“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years agowas caught up to the third heaven. Whether it

was in the body or out of the body I do not know– God knows. And I know that this man –

whether in the body or apart from the body I donot know, but God knows – was caught up to

paradise. He heard inexpressible things, thingsthat man is not permitted to tell………To keep

me from coming conceited because of thesesurpassingly great revelations, there was givenme a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan totorment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lordto take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘Mygrace is sufficient for you, for my power is madeperfect in weakness.’………For when I am weak,

then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 2-10selected)

Yes, there is a greater ‘Tabernacle’ revelationand victory available to us. Certainly it comes ata cost, but the potential rewards far outweigh thesacrifice. It is these areas into which someintercessors are starting to venture, breakingthrough beyond the range of Satan’s arrows,

approaching the glory of God’s third Heaven.For in the spiritual realm, intercessors are thepioneers of the Tabernacle Church movement,opening the way for the settlers to follow.

The numbers of intercessors throughout theworld is rapidly increasing as the Lord is layingHis intercessory burden upon more and more ofthe hearts of His people. Yes, intercessors formthe front line of God’s Tabernacle army.

TESTIMONY AND THANKSI must express my thanks to Lorraine Wells andall the members of our intercessors group here atthe Abundant Life Church in Tauranga, for theamazing support, protection and encouragementyou have been to me over the time of mywriting. One of the best ‘spiritual ‘ things I haveever done was to join ‘Intercessors’. Thankyoutoo, for leading me into new realms ofexperience of God and His glory. We are allgrowing heaps together. You are a great group offriends.

THE ETERNAL VISION

49

THE WINNING TEAM

In late October 1999, there was a majorcatastrophe that personally affected many,indeed probably most, New Zealanders. It wasn’ta plane crash, or a volcanic eruption, althoughthe resulting ash cloud of burned up expectationsclouded the country for weeks. It was the loss ofthe 1999 Rugby World Cup by our nationalRugby Union team, the All Blacks. Certainlyreflects the sad state of priorities of our nationwhere rugby is God to more people than towhom God is God! It is indeed our nationalreligion!

Not only did we get beaten in only the semi-finals, the World Cup itself was won by our archtrans-Tasman rivals, the Australians. To rub saltin the wound they have now won the World Cuptwice to our once, in the game we taught them toplay! Sufficient reason for national mourning!

What will be the reaction when Jesus comes?The World Cup of Rugby will be a minor losscompared to losing the World Cup of Life! But Iam determined to be on the winning team! Mydesire inspired this story, which I hope you willappreciate, rugby fan or not, sportsperson or not.For the bible tells us that we all have a race torun. (a game to win!)

THE WINNING TEAM A three person coaching staff with ultimatevision, proven experience and integrity, andamazing personal insight heads my team. Fondlyknown to those in our team by their initials, GF,JC and HS, they are so in tune with each otherthat outsiders often have difficulty in separatingthem. Their nickname is "The Trinity." Theyhave that amazing ability, which no othercoaches have ever had in spite of sometimesclaiming so, to be able to see the oppositionsgame plan in advance, then to train our team inthe countermeasures necessary to win the game.

Their training system is set out, step by step, intheir ‘Life Training’ manual. Interestingly andsometimes frustratingly, the steps aren't alwaysset out in a simple, logical order. They have their

reasons though. To make us study the manualcontinually so we absorb it all – “until itbecomes part of us,” they say. Pretty hard worksometimes though, particularly when we wouldrather be out playing the game. HS keeps tellingus though, "If you don't understand the rules andstrategy, you'll get murdered by the opposition."

It is funny though, that our opposition can'tunderstand our manual at all. They think it isirrelevant to the modern game because it waswritten 2-3,500 odd years ago. But our coachestell us that the basic principles of the game neverchange, something the All Blacks could takeheed of in their modern, affluent, materialistic,professional era. There is no substitute forputting our life on the line. “The example JC setfor you in the past still remains valid today,” weare told.

You know too, our coaches didn't pen themanual directly themselves. They cleverly used40 odd players to write this 66-section ‘Bible’for them. So the game is thoroughly analysedfrom all perspectives. Remarkably with so manydifferent authors, it still comes together as asingle, successful, united game plan. To behonest, when I first joined the team, I found it alittle difficult to understand, and a bit dry attimes. Incredibly though, once I allowed HS toexplain it to me, it all started to make much moresense. Funny how some of my team mates arestill reluctant to let him show them too! For HStaught me how it all fits together like a giantjigsaw. Have tried doing the jigsaw by myselffrom time to time though, but can never seem toget the pieces to fit! Strange that! I tell you, Ialways used to be sceptical about this game plan,before joining the team. But since beinginvolved, I have found out that it is perfect. ForGF is the master of that. He has analysed andorganised each play to the infinite degree.Nothing has been left to chance.

And there is practical experience too! For thecoaches don't ask us to do anything that is notpossible. As we are continually reminded, JC set

THE ETERNAL VISIONTHE WINNING TEAM

50

an incredible example in his playing days,achieving a far higher standard of performancethan is required of us current players.

HS too, is an amazing guy! He seems able tokeep his eye on all of us, all of the time, as ifeach one of us was the only player on the team.Can't understand how he does it! All with such aquiet mannered calmness about him too.

The only hiccup to an otherwise perfectprogramme seems to be in their player selectionsystem! For they choose the most unlikelylooking players for their team. Seems as if theywant to give themselves a bit of a challenge! Fora more motley lot of recruits you wouldn't seeanywhere. They say they deliberately pick thoseno one else would want! They say it helps showup the quality of their coaching. For it is obviousthat we, the players, cannot possibly take creditfor the results we achieve. Certainly givingthemselves more than a few problems, copingwith us, though!

Like the All Blacks, our team trains well at ourSunday morning training sessions, butunfortunately many of our players seem to losethe plot when they rejoin the Monday toSaturday game. Putting the perfect plan intoaction seems to be a problem for both the AB’sand us! For once we're on the field it is up to uswhat we do, so the coaches tell us. Somethingcalled freewill they say. Sometimes I think theyshould programme us like robots. But thecoaches say they would never know if we woulddo what they desire if they did that. Their choice,I guess.

However, unlike the All Blacks who have to waitanother 4 years for their (inevitable!) win, therehas recently been a new sense of unity, optimism

and increased level of performance amongstsome of our ‘Tabernacle’ team. This isencouraging us to believe that the final victorymay not be too far away. A good number of usseem to be attaining a new level of confidenceand skill, when facing the inevitable, final,desperate thrusts of the opposition. For we knowthat the winning of the game is finally to be ours,just as the coaches have told us!

And you know what? From such unpromisingbeginnings, some of us players are now lookingas if we could beat the All Blacks (not too muchof a challenge at the moment!). And we haveabsolute surety we will soon be good enough towin the World Cup of Life and attain the eternalrewards that go with this ultimate victory!Amazing what the coaches have been able toachieve with such unpromising recruits!

Sadly, quite a lot of the original team have fallenby the wayside, because they haven't beenprepared to do what the coaches have told us todo. Some have given our team an undeservedbad name. For it is not the coaches or the teamsfault (although sometimes we team members arenot as good to our fellow team mates as wecould be!) that they choose to leave the team.Rules are rules, if the game is to be won! Theyoften love to have someone else to blamethough. Saddens the coaches particularly!

If you haven't yet joined our team, we do have afew positions left, so why not ask our coachestoday. They are always excited to accept thechallenge of blending keen new players into ourteam. Any current player on the team will bemore than happy to put you in touch with them.And, unlike the All Blacks, if you follow thecoaches’ instructions, you can't possibly lose!

THE ETERNAL VISION

51

VICTORY!

An Explanation: The inspiration for the first two parts of this poem came from a cross island trek Kathyand I went on when we were staying on the beautiful Island of Rarotonga, in the Cook Islands. For thosewho don’t know, The Cooks are situated around the Tropic of Capricorn in the Pacific Ocean. A greatplace to visit! The last part is based loosely on the book of Revelation, Chapters 21 and 22, the biblicalpromise of what is to come. Hope it is both enjoyable and challenging to you. Of course it is just verse, sois not all strictly theologically accurate! Called poetic licence!

VICTORY!

THE MOUNTAIN CLIMB

I rang a guide, booking a trip for the day,So Kathy and I, could go out and play,“Any special offers?” as I always ask,“Yes sir, but are you up to the task?”

“How much will it cost?” showing more interest,Now more open to tackling Mount Everest!

“Our special offer is entirely free,”This now, I couldn’t wait to see!

So off we go in a very smart minibus,Kathy and I, some others, a group of us.There we first meet our new guide to be,Jesus by name, seemed friendly to me.

Hopping off the bus, now ready and eager to go,Our lot in with Jesus, we were all willing to throw.

Until Jesus said, “There’s a small catch to mygenerous offer,

The trip’s tough, no turning back,” the advice he didproffer.

Two people looked at the track ahead,Could see the markers, all coloured red.

“Don’t think we can do it,” was what they said,“We’d rather stay in bed, being newly wed!”

“The choice is yours,” our guide kindly does cry,“Maybe another day, you will come back and try,”

As he leads the rest of us on, up into the trees,“You must try in life, even when there’s no fees.”

As we wend our way ever upwards on the path,Sweating heavily now, would love a cold bath!The blood red markers were now on every side,

To tree after tree, with love they’d been tied.

This Jesus our guide, is oh so strong,Always encouraging us to move along,

And when the load is heavy on our backs,He helps us out, willing to carry our packs.

He shows us all the interesting points along the way,Has a guidebook, called his ‘Bible’, I heard him say.

Knows all the small birds, twittering from tree totree,

His oneness with the creation, is just wondrous tosee.

For some aren’t used to this mountain climbing lark,Exercise for them means a leisurely stroll in the park!

Of these ones Jesus takes considerable, extra care,Before their continual grizzling, gets into our hair!

The tropical rain forest was so lush at the beginning,But as we progress, the trees they are now thinning,

The further we go, the steeper the track,Some of us wish, we could now turn back.

But rules are rules, as teachers so often say,A condition of the trip at the end of the day,So we all plod on as the going gets harder,Learning new skills, seeking to be smarter.

Until two of the party hit upon a brilliant idea,A shortcut ahead, look! There, nothing to fear!

So off they went, full of confidence that they bestknew,

More insight than the rest of us, two of the chosenfew.

Jesus stands sadly by, watching them depart,Their leaving weighing so heavily, on his heart.Surprisingly he says, “Let them go, that is their

choice,Should they cry out though, I will still hear their

voice.”

THE ETERNAL VISIONVICTORY!

52

Another of the party misses a turn in the track,Off into the bush, a sense of direction did lack.

Jesus stops us all, while he goes to look,In finding this person, every care he took.

At the top of the mountain the scenery did change,The summit now in view, well within our range,Grasses indeed, now the landscape predominate,Sprinkled about with wild orchids, looking great.

At the summit we rest, our faces all aglow,We have made it! No more climbing to go!

We thank our guide Jesus, for taking us right upthere,

But our own efforts too, we are wanting to compare.

Jesus just looked at us with a wry grin on his face,“How little they know, thinking they set the pace.”

But he says nothing, for we’re still learning the way,“Let’s go down to the waterfall’, then see what they

say.

So down the mountain towards the waterfall wewander,

Satisfied with what we had done, but our legs dowonder!

For we have reached our goal, or so we thought,In the ecstasy of our achievement, we are caught.

On the way down, we all get a little careless,Tripping over a stump, my side now a mess,

Suddenly learning that a journey isn’t complete,Until you are safely back, sitting in the bus seat!

More carefully now, we wend our way down,Conscious of our need, to get back to town,

To have a shower, to again get clean,Jesus grinned, this he had often seen.

For he did, and still does, know more than we,Some of us by now, understanding him you see,Could glean that he has more surprises in store,

For those who want to move on, who desire more.

UNDER THE WATERFALL

Finally the track bursts out into a clearing,A sigh of relief, so many of us are feeling,

But the few who noticed the grin, those minutes ago,With a new sense of anticipation, now begin to glow.

Here is a sparkling, different world.Vines aplenty with leaves unfurled,

Spreading their wings with reckless abandon,We can see we are entering a heavenly garden.

Centre of the landscape is a refreshing waterfall,Cascading gently down over a sheer rock wall,Bouncing, dancing into a delightful rock pool,Over which the waterfall, as master, does rule.

The pool is bordered with trees so lush,The sound of the water, they seem to hush,

And flying among them I see a pure white dove,Which Jesus tells me, is the sign of perfect love.

Is something about this place I can’t work out,So I seek out Jesus asking, “What is it all about?”He looks at me, as only a father looks at his son,

“Enjoy it my son, It’s all for you, my job is done.”

Looking back to the water I hear, “David come in”A voice from somewhere - seemingly from within!

Now that is impossible, I think to myself with‘logicality’,

“Pull yourself together, clear your head, get back toreality!”

Coming to, I turn again towards Jesus, only to find,He’s gone to the bus, leaving some of us behind.For you see, others did not want to go on into the

pool,Would rather go back to the hotel, to enjoy their cool.

As Jesus hops in the bus, ready for the drive,He waves back at me, motioning me to dive,

Lovingly now too, he points down by my side,He’d left me his guidebook, to take on my ride.

Opening the cover, not knowing what I’ll see,A personal note there, one from him to me.

“Trust in me, my son, I will never lead you astray,My Spirit’s with you, always to show the way.”

Sitting down on the rock, a tear in my eye,“Can’t ever repay him,” I think with a sigh,

For the book of life, he’s so generously given me,With it beside me, I’ll always enjoy his company.

Hearing that voice again, “David, the water is cool”, See Kathy there too, already enjoying it in the pool.

Taking the guide book with me, waterproof so Ifound,

Now jump right in, to where Kathy is playing around.


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A great splash - the water is so refreshing!Gives a new lease of life, ‘tis a real blessing.

Can’t now understand my reluctance to hop in,Feel really at home here, amongst kith and kin.

Kathy calls me to come, walk under the waterfall,Together we stand there laughing, have a real ball!

For the water has special healing properties,Curing us all our aches, pains and disease.

Such healing water, able to lift my spirits inside,No longer feeling the need, to run away and hide.

Strange really, how it refreshes my soul,‘Tis so much more than a watering hole.

After playing round in the pool some more,Hopping out to dry off, being wet to the core.

Sitting on the side, calmly enjoying the breeze,I am attacked by mosquitoes, as big as bees!

Slapping at one, then another, then a third!Slap, slap, slap, until that voice again I heard

Coming from deep inside me, so gently saying,“Jump back in, it’s with me you should be staying.”

A few more slaps before learning my lesson,Wiser now, back into the pool I do hasten!

In the refreshing water my bites do soon disappear,The Spirit, in the right direction, would me steer.

In him, by now, I was coming to trust,Just as Jesus earlier, had said I must.

For such a slow learner I am sometimes,Until my head clicks, then the bell chimes!

So once again enjoying the play,Happy to go on from day to day,

But I have to admit to becoming a little bored,“Surely there has to be more”, my inside roared!

RIDING THE RIVER OF LIFE

“What is this I do hear?” the Spirit said,“New words appearing, inside your head.

They are the ones I have been longing to hear,So you my son, in a new direction, I can steer.”

“For I must explain,” the Spirit then told me,“To move on, your decision only, must it be,

For to do the will of our Father is the highest call,To attain this goal, you must sacrifice your all.”

“I can show you the way, point out the bends,But the success of this journey, on you depends,

For this step involves 100% commitment,Your own desires, being substituted for atonement.”

“Sounds good to me” I said, after some deep thought,For giving up dreams is not what I had been taught

As being the real way to be successful in life.But pursuing them, had only brought me strife.

“So how do we proceed?” I asked the Spirit,“’Tis easy”, he said, “if you really want to do it.

Look over to the far side of the pool,See there, the river starts, it’s so cool!”

Turning towards the river to look for a wee while,“Not many swimming in it,” I think with a smile,

To my mind, that was so good to see,Appealed to the adventurer, within me.

Seeing one person take the plunge,Bobbing up and down like a sponge.

Struggling at first, fighting against the flow,Before relaxing – now that’s the way to go!

Looking back at numerous people in the pool,All happily swimming, many playing the fool,

Yelling out to them, “Hey, look what I have found!”But no one hears me, by pleasure they are bound.

The stream is so inviting,The journey so exciting.

Now I can no longer wait,Others to join me at the gate.

Do a fine swallow dive, deep into the river,Bounce in the current, hither and thither.It is a new sensation to be unable to stop,

The water too deep, me on my toes to hop.

Hearing that gentle voice again inside,“Relax now David, in me you do abide,

Obey me implicitly on this journey of life,That’s the only way to keep out of strife.”

So relax I do, and float down the stream,No effort on my part, life is but a dream!

So this is what living is all about!For me there is, now no doubt!

Looking up to the sky, what do I see,An eagle high above, flying so free.

Eagle eyes searching the river below,A victory song, he does now bestow.


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“But where will this stream take me?” I think,Once again questioning, not wanting to sink,

“To the heavenly city,” the voice inside replies,I believe him again, to me he never, ever lies.

“The heavenly city, wonder what its like?I know!” The thought to me, then did strike.

For it is described in the guidebook Jesus gave,The last two chapters - here it is - for it I did save.

Pondering this greatest of all cities as I float along,“Is it possible that to it, one day, I will belong?”

Where the very glory of God has its home,Living in perfect peace, no more to roam.

To view its great high wall, with twelve large gates,Going in past the angels, now to be with my mates!

Seeing the names of the twelve tribes there inscribed,With those of the Apostles on the foundations inside.

The wall is made of jasper, shining as clear as crystal,The foundations of precious stones, emerald to beryl.

A main street of pure gold, like transparent glass,Like everything else in this place, it has real class!

Floating down the stream,Ever content in my dream,I’m being cleansed inside,No longer any sin to hide.

The voice inside now cries out – “Look! Look!A city ahead – greater than any picture book!

The glory of God surrounds it from above,And the light of the Lamb bathes it in love.”

Struggling against the flow to take a look around,The voice said, “Don’t David, you’ll run aground,Just rest in me, only I know the way to take you in,Your own effort now, would merely end up as sin.”

So lying back, enjoying the current’s flow,For the Holy Spirit, he knows where to go.

The goal of my life is now about to be achievedWith the Spirit’s help; ’tis what I’ve perceived.

One last bend, the river runs through the gate,To a life full of gladness, no bitterness, no hate.

Entering the city, to be completely surrounded bygold,

More magnificent even, than the stories I’ve beentold.

The river, from the very throne of God does flow,Yes, I am in his will, that much I certainly know.

For the river flows through the main street of the city,Its gurgling waters bubbling, bouncing - oh so pretty.

Looking to the left, then to the right,The trees of life there, what a sight!

Twelve crops of fruit each year they bear,An abundance of goodness for all to share.

Then coming to the final, eternal destination,On a throne of gold sits the author of creation.

Welcoming there, truly magnificent in his glory,I see it is my Jesus, long promised in his story.

Falling at his feet, overwhelmed by his gloriouspresence,

The air being charged with the most delightfulfragrance.

His face smiling, radiating so much love and care,I know it is he, for he still has his long black hair!

Then, the most amazing thing I have ever known,A culmination of all that in my life has been sown,

By so many helpmates on my journey through.He held out his hand saying, “David, I love you.”

As my hand grasps His, He gently raises me up,Saying, “Come, be with me and share of my cup,

For you have overcome, won the final victory,Earning the right, to rule and reign with me.”

Guiding me to my personal, hand built throne,My heavenly glory reflects a little of his own.For no longer does my earthly body smother,The joy and fulfilment, of being his brother.

David Tait: 11 April 2000

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