Category Archives: government

dominance: praying revival into a world on fire

Posted on by October 12, 2023

Life has leveled up to a new level of ridiculous. I don’t mean the current events – I mean, they are, but we can talk about that later. What I mean is, there’s a rooster living in our bathroom.

I introduced you to Freckles in the last post. And yes, even inside, he still crows in the morning. Not the first day; he was too injured and didn’t eat or drink for about 36 hours. But the second morning I woke up to crowing at 7:14, approximately twelve feet from my head. The next day it was even earlier, 7:03.

dominance: praying revival into a world on fire

Knightley meowed from the corner of my pillow, and Vin murmured, “Cats to the left of me, roosters to the north…here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”

But this morning was better: Freckles, now acclimated to the late schedule of homeschoolers, waited until after 10am to start crowing. I told you, he’s marvelous.

(Wait, did I mention we also have five quail who’ve been brooding in the same bathroom for six weeks? They need to transition outside but currently their brooder won’t fit through the door because there’s a cage the size of a Prius blocking it from opening all the way.)

So some things have to change. Since we had too many roosters with all the chicks that hatched this summer, we sent two of the lesser-favored ones to (ahem) freezer camp, and in the reshuffling of space and territory, the other young rooster took it upon himself to prove dominance. Freckles got the worst of it; I found him hiding in a nesting box with one eye swollen shut.

And then – because Vin and I clearly still don’t know what we’re doing – instead of removing him that night like we should have done, we handpicked who he should roost with and put him in the coop with the gentlest hens…so we thought. The next morning both of his eyes were swollen shut and his ear was also terribly swollen, because one of them had picked on him overnight.

It’s what chickens do. If someone’s injured, they attack. It’s not exactly Kingdom culture.

That was Saturday, when everything else all over the world escalated. He’s been in our bathroom ever since to recover in safety, with occasional trips the first couple days to the living room for spa treatment (meaning, Vin held him while I swabbed his swollen eyelids with a steamy washcloth and talked to him about his nice complexion) and afternoon excursions during the last couple days to play with the kids in the yard or help the guys change tires because we got our first snow this week.

Our beautiful fall quickly turned to bleak-fall-mixed-with-winter, and we need to figure out what to do about roosters, and quail, and garden pots that need put away. I cannot resolve world events but I can tackle these. So while world leaders strut about a war they helped create to line their own pockets as others pay the ultimate price, I’ve been distracted with the small events in my own territory, watching Freckles make progress as his eyes start to see again.

Is it enough, though? It’s such a small thing in light of so many unknowns and concerns about the future. We can pray deep and wide, but physically I can only reach so far.

And I thought about not sharing any of this at all because people on the internet can be stupid. (Not you, of course. Other people.) Why do you have more than one rooster? You should just get rid of the one who lost the fight. You should do this and this and this…People who don’t bother asking about the size of our flock or other dynamics are happy to throw out all kinds of unhelpful advice and criticism so they can feel like experts. But I’m not here for advice or criticism; I’m just here learning and trying to do the right thing, like most of the rest of us.

(For the record, we have too many hens for one rooster, and I don’t want to eliminate the one who’s nicest to the hens and our family. DUH.)

In the middle of the world threatening to light itself on fire, there’s something visceral and focused about trying to bring healing to one creature, and about not just letting nature take its course but instead being an intentional steward, partnering with God to bring restoration.

Sometimes I am the creature who needs healing, and if I can get the log out of my own eye it makes a huge difference on a wider scale. This right here, where I can touch, is where I do the most important work. When the world is ridiculous, this is where I show it who’s boss: He is, of course.

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

– Psalm 25:8-9

So I harvested carrots, and pulled ripe tomatoes from the vines growing in the living room, and spent more time listening – really listening – to my kids than I was inclined to after bedtime. I cleaned the gross area under the sink and prayed for other gross areas to be cleaned from our country.

I read to my kids, and prayed with a stranger at the thrift store, and smiled at people who looked like they were in a hurry, because I’d rather be at home instead of running errands, too.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

– Psalm 37:3

Such tiny things. But I want people to be unable to drive through Wasilla without being touched by the Lord and encountering bold love from His people. This is my territory, the land He’s made me (and many others) steward of. This is the place I can touch and cultivate. This is where we release Kingdom culture, ignite revival, and prove Who is dominant.

This morning we were praying about how creation groans, and how creation sings God’s praises, and how creation bears witness to God. We listened to the same song I sang when I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant with Kavanagh, struck with the glory of sober obedience: If creation still obeys You, so will I.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.

– Psalm 24:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

– Romans 1:20

And as we prayed, I kept hearing the phrase, “Creation, obey Him!” The enemy is bent on destruction because chaos and ugliness don’t reflect the glory of God or draw people to Him. But beauty, order, and strength do.

So in the midst of chaos, when anything I can do feels so small in comparison to world events, I’m pursuing order and beauty and strength in the areas I can reach. Because things here have to change.

I cannot counsel world leaders who beat war drums, but I can finish the tasks on my own desk. I can ask God to heal the wounded while I tend my rooster. I cannot prepare for all the unknowns, but I can pray for people to encounter God in dreams and visions as I bring order to my own house. I cannot root out evil networks, but I can ask God to invade hardened hearts as I wipe the counters and run another load of laundry and pray for those driving up and down the highway.

People are trying to light the world on fire, but what if the fire they get is revival, instead?

The globalists and the terrorists – but I repeat myself – think they dominate but they haven’t seen real power yet. They have no idea what comes of the prayers of those who have favor with the King who turns evil on its head: Communities saved. Culture redeemed. Workers of evil brought into the Kingdom of light.

What if we prayed that way, and the Lord confronted the perpetrators with the blinding light of a Damascus road experience? Because He does.

What if we prayed for those who are fleeing and despairing, and Jesus showed them He is the God who sees? Because He is.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

— 2 Peter 3:9

For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

– Psalm 37:9-11

It’s another season of sober obedience; our hearts might get hurt in this. But that’s the case in parenting, forgiving, writing, reaching out to others, being a friend, or trying to learn anything new. We might get hurt. None of this is safe or guaranteed.

But letting nature take its course and resigning to not doing anything is an insult to the One who gave everything, even when He knew it would hurt. He hasn’t called us to bury our talents and do the safe or easy thing. He’s called us to level up, even if it looks ridiculous.

He hasn’t called us to act like chickens, but to be saints, a royal priesthood.

 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

— 1 Peter 2:9

It might bring the eucatastrophe we didn’t know we could hope for. We can pray for revival in the face of all the threats and posturing, and watch a quiet uprising that lights the world with a different kind of fire – the kind that burns but does not consume.

We pray rockets of revival and repentance into hearts everywhere, starting with our own. And the whole world will be changed, and we never saw it coming.

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P.S. Links for you!

  • How do we walk in God’s presence, and rest in God, and also be His resting place? What is He calling us to be, and how do we succeed? This is a life-changing teaching from Hayley Braun; her message starts around 1 hour 55 minute mark.
  • Incredible podcast here on hearing God, imagining with Him, and spiritually occupying the land the Lord has put before us, with Lana Vawser and Courtney Kueck.
  • Did you see my guest post at Raising Arrows? It’s on post-adoption depression which I absolutely did NOT want to write about, especially after writing a whole book on it…but we can do hard things. So I did. It’s a super vulnerable post and I hope it blesses you.
  • We just started A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens this week in Gaining Ground. I’d love to have you join us! Don’t be intimidated by Dickens; he’s wonderful and we’re tackling just 35-40 pages a week.

bricks without straw: the struggle that leads to freedom

Posted on by June 21, 2023

You wouldn’t think gardening could make you that sore. You pull out seed packets, you put seeds in the dirt, you water.

But no, it’s not that simple because you actually have to move a lot of that dirt and water. Pots go here, pots go there. All the pots need filled with dirt and then you realize, Wait, that spot looks funny. So you go back to rearranging.

A bench is in the way, in the prime real estate of the porch’s sunny south side. You try moving it but no, BIG nope, that’s going to hurt tomorrow. So your husband comes and together you pivot (“PIVOT!” yes, I was thinking that, too) to the other side of the deck. Ahhh, done.

But no, not so fast, because there’s that empty space where the bench was, and you still need to put pots there. Drat.

And that’s how it goes.

bricks without straw: the struggle that leads to freedom

That night in the shower as I scrubbed the dirt off my feet I found a particularly dark spot under all of it, and rubbed at it. Ew, a blister? No, different texture, not rubbing off. Kind of gummy. Ah, tree sap. Gross.

This is how we cultivate life: Hands in the dirt, doing the work, asking for help, making a lot of turns and finding new perspectives, feeling the burn and ache of too much movement when we try too much on our own, and in the end, we still have to trust God for the harvest because we don’t control the weather or what goes on underground. And even if we fence what we can, there are still other critters out there who want to steal the harvest.

(Peter Rabbit, I’m looking at you.)

It’s raining so we are doing inside-the-house things, and I tried something new today: recording audio downstairs. It’s still empty where Iree moved out; we haven’t rearranged rooms yet, and I thought it would be quieter in the basement. Less traffic, less airplane noise.

WHAT WAS I THINKING.

Quail roosters crowing in the bathroom overhead. The furnace and water softener kicking on. And then, so help me, someone flushed the toilet.

(“…John seventeen says, All mine are yours, and–” BA-WOOSH, gurglegurgle pflalbghghghrrr…)

The new quail are almost fully grown, so they will quiet down soon. Our oldest son came over the other day and asked why the males crow so much, and I told him it’s because they feel safe – they can make noise because they know they’re not in danger. When they go outside, they don’t crow as much.

And, well…when they’re in the freezer, they’re absolutely silent.

We make more noise and move more freely when we feel safe, too. We try new things, have room for mistakes, we try again, and get better. We tend to ask for help from people we trust and we get comfortable with the tasks we do over and over again.

And then something changes suddenly: A financial challenge, or a health issue, or a move, or a basic routine gets rearranged, and we’re like…Ugh, now I have to figure this out all over again.

I like (no, love – like, looooove) routines and predictability. I prefer flexible structure with just enough variety to keep life interesting. I like reading new books but I want to choose which ones they are. I want to learn new things, but do it on my own timeline and with my own curriculum.

And to some extent the Lord allows it, but the last few several dozen years have brought plenty of surprises to keep us on our toes and on our knees, trusting Him for what we needed as life shifted under and around us. We haven’t wanted to learn certain things that He’s put in our way. I was happy with the worn trails I was used to, where I knew all the turns and risings and places where you had to step over tree roots that crept onto the path.

But He is constantly forcing us to branch out into new territory. There have been so many times I felt suddenly lost in unfamiliar ground, unsure of how to go on, or how to do what He was calling us to. I have often felt like we were making bricks without straw, and we are there again in this season.

So I’m reading Exodus 5, where the Israelites really had to make bricks without straw.

Or, not without straw, but it was no longer just given to them. They had to go find it themselves. It was punishment from Pharoah – and not just punishment, but it came as a result of Moses obeying God and telling Pharoah to let the Israelites go.

Let’s go back a little bit, because this is often our life, too:

Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

– Exodus 4:29-31

Then Moses and Aaron went to Pharoah, gave him the message, and he said, No, BIG nope, you’ve clearly got too much time on your hands. Let’s make things more difficult for you.

So, to sum up:

We hear God, we do what He says, we feel hopeful about the future, and wham, the hammer drops. THANKS A LOT.

Is this life, though? We try new things in obedience and they don’t seem to work out. Or they get harder, or the circumstances become worse, or the whole situation reveals itself to be more complicated than you realized in the beginning, and if you knew how complicated it was going to be you wouldn’t have taken it on in the first place and that’s probably why God didn’t tell you…because he was protecting you from disobedience.

But maybe things are working out…they’re just still working out.

Because here’s the part of this story that struck me:

[Pharoah said] “Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.” So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

– Exodus 5:11-12

They still had what they needed; it just wasn’t handed to them anymore. Suddenly they had the freedom to find it for themselves. The middle man was eliminated. They could get the straw on their own without the process being controlled by someone else. And that’s significant, because straw comes from grain, which is food for them and their livestock.

Yes, it was more work. Yes, it seemed impossible. No, they would never have done it if they hadn’t been forced to. But do you see what happened here?

The Lord is preparing them to be delivered. They are forced to be resourceful. They have to get to know the land around them.

Because the Exodus is coming.

How many things have you done in the last year or so that you never would’ve taken on if you didn’t feel compelled to? I can think of a zillion things – well, at least seven – that I could’ve easily left on my “someday” list. (Or, honestly? My “never in million years” list.)

For example, I love the chickens, but I probably wouldn’t have chosen to have two coops full of them. And the quail? No way. Also, I never would’ve pursued several business skills we’ve had to figure out and push through. And there are so many things I’ve learned about our government and systemic corruption and history that I was happier not knowing.

But the Lord has continued to say, Dig deeper. Look further. Try this. Get ready for that. Read about this. You need to know the land. This is a time to run faster than you think you can – and trust Me, you’ll be glad you did.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

– 1 John 4:18

When obedience leads to more work, it feels like punishment because we aren’t seeing the promise on the other side of it yet. But the ache and the curveball and the new endeavors aren’t punishment; they’re growing strength. It’s upgrade.

It’s actually preparation for promotion, because God is getting us ready for freedom.

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storm in a teacup: a call for humble unity in the Church

Posted on by April 24, 2024

We’ve discovered a new love around here: Kid’s coffee. It’s not really coffee – it’s dark herbal tea with a splash of milk – but it looks like coffee and our little guys love it.

Another thing they love is straws. Paper straws, plastic straws, striped straws, spotted straws. But it doesn’t matter how many kinds you offer, you can’t always please a four-year-old.

“No, not that one,” Kav said. “I want my whiskey straw.”

“Your what?!” He doesn’t even know what whiskey is. And no, he can’t read the Irish cookbook yet and I guarantee you he’s never heard of Irish coffee.

“That one!” he pointed. “My whiskey straw!” And there, across the counter, was his green plastic straw, the one that curls around and around…like a whisk.

Ohhhh. It’s not a whiskey straw, it’s a whisk-y straw. Got it.

storm in a teacup: a call for humble unity in the Church

Let’s just hope he doesn’t mention it in his Sunday school class, right? I can just see him walking down the hallway on the way to class with his brother, talking about their red and green whisk-y straws that they got in their goody bags from church last Christmas. Snort. All we need is a visitor overhearing that conversation, and all heck would break loose.

(“Martha! Did you heeear what they gave the children at the church down the road? Ohhh, my goodness gracious…”)

There’s a lot of talk lately about persecution in the Church ramping up, even in America. And it’s true. But ironically, the Church’s biggest threat in the West isn’t from unbelievers right now. That’s on the radar for sure, but it’s still mostly down the road a little ways because that threat is preceded and prepared for by the real one – which is believers who are too quick to run with not enough information, making snap judgments and getting caught up in offense and creating division in their wake.

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

– Mark 3:24-25

What’s interesting to me about that verse is that it takes place smack in the middle of two events: The first is when Jesus was accused of using demonic power to cast out demons. The second is when He warns against blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, because the scribes did not understand what He was doing and instead of trying to find out, they had accused Him of having an unclean spirit.

This is important to pay attention to because the biggest threat to the Church is its self-inflicted wounds, primarily of legalistic groups coming against Spirit-filled Christians, organizations, leaders, and ministries. The Church needs unity but it has never found it in finger pointing and accusation, spewing hate and vitriol against anyone who challenges their self righteous comfort zone. We must walk in humility and grace toward others, knowing that we don’t know everything.

Do we want to be right, or do we want to be righteous?

Unfamiliarity breeds fear, and fear breeds dissension. Or, as a wise friend of mine put it this week:

Fear, not put into check, creates a very destructive tribalism. There are good parts of tribalism, like team work and sharing like-minded goals, upholding biblical values, etc. When done with maturity, accountability, and balance, there is good fruit. When done out of balance — check lists and qualifiers that produce a “mean girls” atmosphere, like “you can’t sit with us!” — then tribalism can turn into cannibalism. It seems to me the Church is being cannibalized from within and while that has somewhat been an issue for awhile, it has been going atomic since 2020.

— Maggie Montgomery

Do charismatic, Spirit-filled churches do weird things? Yes. Yes, we are weird…and so were those guys in the Bible. Especially Jesus. (Do you take Communion? That’s weird. Doesn’t mean it’s wrong, though.)

I am not wildly demonstrative in church – I blame this on my inability to clap in rhythm – but I remember years ago taking a younger friend to a Sunday service and she was aghast that weird people raised their hands during the singing. And this was a conservative, non-denominational church. No speaking in tongues, no healings, no deliverances, no signs and wonders, no loud prayer, no prophetic words…just slightly cringey worship music from the 90s.

It should be noted that all of those things – with the possible exception of slightly cringey music – are totally Biblical. Just because something is unfamiliar to us doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Likewise, just because the enemy has warped or counterfeited something doesn’t mean the real deal is wrong, either.

We have salt lamps in our house and some people think those are New Agey. So, okay, New Agers use salt lamps for whatever reason, but we use them because they really do clean the air (they attract water molecules and the warm salt traps particles of dust, pollen, smoke, etc) and they reduce EMF by neutralizing positive ions in the air. Salt lamps don’t have those virtues because of an evil power, but because God made those combined elements of salt and heat to do that. If we didn’t know about the science and we used salt lamps for some kind of spiritual power outside of Jesus, that’s one thing. But what about lighting a candle in the window and using it as a reminder to pray? Could that be New Agey? Um, maybe, I guess…but it doesn’t have to be.

When I post prophetic words, people could ignorantly interpret that as a Christian version of a tarot card or horoscope. Some people don’t like it; lots of people completely reject the prophetic realm. But we’re going to see the Church awake to signs and wonders like never before — the Bible warned us repeatedly of it — and the big challenge will be, will the Church have faith for it, or will they walk in fear, afraid to leave the familiar? Will they worship the systems they know instead of the One they claim to know? This has always been the question; it’s why the rich man went away from Jesus grieved. It makes me think of Luke 18:8: When the Lord returns, will He find faith in the earth?

The enemy has counterfeited so many truths that some Christians are afraid of anything that remotely smacks of the mystical or unfamiliar, but there is a lot of mystical and unfamiliar in the Bible. Just because something has been abused or counterfeited doesn’t mean the real thing has lost its validity.

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

– 1 Corinthians 2:1-3

God made science, and all truth is God’s truth. Science is catching up to a lot of truths and proving them all the time. But also, we need to stop fearing and condemning things we don’t understand. Not everything can be explained by science, and people of faith shouldn’t need it to be. And we definitely shouldn’t be too trigger-happy in condemning practices we don’t personally participate in when they’re not blatantly unbiblical.

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.

– 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Here’s the nicest way I can say this: When we walk in ignorance, pride, and fear, we freak out over the dumbest stuff. And that plays right into the enemy’s hands. Church, we need to calm down and stop doing that.

I was asked this week on social media to share my position on a particular tempest in a teapot I’d never heard of, but the gist, as I discovered, was a new witch hunt against Spirit-filled churches. And for the curious, here’s my position on these types of things: I do not get involved in non-essential controversies. I don’t argue with people about Harry Potter, or The Shack, or medical marijuana. They’re such civilian matters. Whenever we are nitpicking someone else’s faith and doctrine we are putting our eyes on the wrong person.

What can you ever really know of other people’s souls – of their temptations, their opportunities, their struggles? One soul in the whole creation you do know: and it is the only one whose fate is placed in your hands. If there is a God, you are, in a sense, alone with Him. You cannot put Him off with speculations about your next door neighbours or memories of what you have read in books.

– C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

What is the fruit of these ministries, on both sides? I have never yet met a person who has accused a Spirit-filled church or pastor of whatever they disagree about doctrinally who has actually listened to their sermons. I have only encountered people who have taken clips out of context and soundbites from anti-charismatic websites. What is the fruit, though? The fruit from most of these charismatic churches is pretty good: healings, wholeness, deliverance, people coming to know Jesus, people maturing in the Word, people obeying Him in radical ways, and beautiful communities. The fruit from these other groups is dissension, division, pride, self-righteousness, confusion, and accusation. So-called “ministries” have no ministry at all if they are doing the enemy’s work of accusing the brethren. You will know them by their fruits…and that makes this kind of situation pretty obvious.

In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity. That’s my position.

I think more and more will continue to come out that separates legalistic, comfort zone Church-ianity from Biblical, Spirit-filled abiding and practice. Wisdom is reserved for those who will not be tripped up by the spirit of offense. Offense and discernment are not the same thing and you will know them by their fruit.

The Lord is about to do something huge all over the place that will make the revival in Asbury look like the calm before the storm. But the enemy is frantically trying to subvert, delay, sabotage, and discourage us into thinking it’s not possible for us in this time. How do we fight back? How do we prepare the way? With unity, humility, grace, and our eyes on Jesus, not each other.

We’re not just capable of this kind of unity, we’re made for it. Do you remember the days shortly after 9/11? Here’s how Eric Metaxas describes them:

When you passed someone on the strangely empty and quiet streets, as we did, pushing our daughter in her stroller, you wondered if you were together at the end of the world. You exchanged glances that seemed to say: Yes, we are in this together. We don’t know you, but because of this tragedy we feel close to you. We are living through this together, and who knows what lies ahead?

– Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It

Are we ready for something like that again? Not if our favorite sport in the Church is friendly fire. But we can be. We are stewards of the mysteries of grace. We serve the One who’s already won, and we are on the same side, in this together. We just need to act like it.