Preparing the Bride of Christ For His Return By Janet Van Hierdan
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Friday, March 27, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Supernatural Maturity, Part 1
March 20, 2015
During the past few months,
I've been sharing in our local fellowship a revelation from what we commonly
refer to as The Sermon on the Mount. As I was reading Matthew 5, 6 & 7, I
suddenly realized that Jesus was sharing with the folks a whole lot of character
pictures which epitomize the very nature of His being, makeup and personality.
Before
we dig into Jesus' teaching, let's consider the context of the things Jesus is
sharing in this "sermon." In
Matthew 3, we have the revelation of Jesus' baptism and Father making
abundantly clear to those who were watching that, "This is My Beloved Son
in Whom I am well pleased!" It was
a remarkable statement for Father to make of Jesus, but it was one that was
common to Jewish society.
Whenever
a son reached a point in his life where he was both learned and practiced in
his father's business, and sufficiently seasoned at it that his father could
literally turn the entire operation of the business over to him, the father
would call together his friends, family and business associates for a public
ceremony in which he would announce officially that "this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased." At
that time the father would also provide the son with a signet ring with which
he could set the father's seal to any official document, acting in the stead of
the father with the father's full backing and approval.
By
this time, the son had observed all that the father would do in the course of
fifteen to twenty years of working with him (that period of being "under
tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father") after his
"bar mitzvah" at age 12, he had learned to say what his father would
say in virtually every situation. The
son, therefore, became the father's representative and alter-ego wherever he went,
and whatever he said or did was done in the place of his father as though his
father was actually there.
Thus,
when Jesus was given this magnificent public approval by Father, Father also
sent His signet ring in the form of Holy Spirit, Who settled on Jesus in the
form of a dove. It couldn't have been
clearer to all who witnessed the event.
Consider
the following scriptures within the context of these two pictures; namely, that
of the learning under tutors and governors to do and to say all that the father
said and did, and finally, the giving of the signet ring to seal everything
done in the father's name.
John 8:26, 28-29: I
have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I
speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of
man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of
myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father
hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
John 10:30: I and
my Father are one.
John 14:10: Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I
speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he
doeth the works.
When
Jesus, therefore, made the statement that He and Father are One, He wasn't
saying that they were the same person, He was following the protocol that
mandates His acting in Father's stead, saying exactly what Father would say,
and doing the works that Father would do were he present in person.
Now,
take a look at the picture of the signet ring.
John 6:27: Labour
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto
everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God
the Father sealed.
The
KJV uses the word "sealed", and that's a poor translation. I won't take the time to re-translate that
whole verse to you, but the Greek word which is often translated
"sealed" or perhaps "signet" is the word, sphragizo.
Here's how J.H. Thayer translates this word: to set a mark upon by the impress
of a seal or a stamp. The word literally
describes a signet ring or an official seal that a king would use to
authenticate a document or a decree.
With that in mind, consider now how Paul uses this word, sphragizo.
I Corinthians 1:21-22: Now
he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is
God; Who hath also sealed us, and given
the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Ephesians 1:13-14: In
whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with
that holy Spirit of promise, Which is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 4:30: And
grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
Have
I drawn this picture sufficiently for you?
My objective is to lay the groundwork for understanding that when Jesus
began to teach the multitudes, the things He was sharing were inherent to His
character, makeup, and personality. And
Jesus was sharing -- and this is important in our understanding -- exactly what
Father had said to Him, and what Father was saying to us! He was sharing those things that will cause
us to become naturally supernatural -- naturally spiritual, as measured by the
fact that a signet ring has been impressed into our minds, our thoughts and our
behavior.
When
I use the term, naturally supernatural, I am referring to the fact that we are
no longer part of this world, this world's kingdoms, this world's mindset or
this world's behavior. What the world
considers as "natural" is, in fact, sub-natural. It is not normal in any way shape or form to
the way we were designed by God in the first place. Thus, when we are in Christ Jesus, and He is
in us, He has placed His "super" upon what we have known and lived in
as "natural."
OK? Sorry if I've dragged this out or been too
exhaustive in my explanation, but it is necessary for all of us to have the
proper context for what Jesus began to share when He opened up to the
multitudes. That said, let's begin with
the very first statement that Jesus made when He began to share what we
commonly refer to as "The Beatitudes."
Matthew 5:3: Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
If
ever there was a verse of Scripture that has been taken out of context, this is
it! Folks with a poverty mindset have
abused this for generations, focusing on the first four words, “Blessed are the
poor,” and stopping there.
The
word, poor, if taken alone in this verse certainly could be taken that
way. The Greek word, ptochos, literally translates to: destitute
of wealth, influence, position or honor. But that’s NOT what Jesus said. He didn’t say that it was blessed to be poor;
He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
The
apostle Paul fully understood what Jesus meant when He made that statement and
he put it in its proper context for us when he wrote to the Ekklesia in
Philippi.
Philippians 2:5-8:
Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
be equal with God: But made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
We’ll
come back to Paul’s statement shortly.
“Poor
in spirit” is defined by J.H. Thayer in his Greek-English Lexicon like this: destitute
of the wealth of learning and intellectual culture which [academic] schools
afford. Understand? OK, let’s put it in simpler language. Watch what happens when we fully translate
Matthew 5:3 from the Greek.
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed and highly favored by God are those who
don’t eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and live their lives on
the basis of intellectual learning and culture — those whose spirits are fed
from the Tree of Life; for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven — that dimension of
the Spirit where the rulership of God enables us to function as Jesus did.” (RAC Translation
& Amplification)
Consider
how Paul expressed it when writing to the Romans.
Romans 8:5-16:
For they that are after the flesh do
mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of
the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. But ye are
not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the
Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you. Therefore,
brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye
shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. For
ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received
the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with
our spirit, that we are the children of God:
It
would take up too much space in this Coffee Break to amplify this whole
passage, so let me deal with just a few segments.
Romans 8:5-8: “For
those who live their lives based on what is a “reasonable” or “rational” mode
of thinking and living behave according to their five senses, feelings and
perceptions; but those who live their lives responding to the quickening of
Holy Spirit live spiritually, opposing the dictates of the flesh.
“This is because thinking which
follows that which seems reasonable and rational (according to feelings,
emotions and human learning) is at war with God, is not subject to the Law of
the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus — and, indeed, it cannot be.” (RAC Translation and Amplification)
Romans 8:13-16: “For
if you live according to the demands of your flesh, your rational and
reasonable thinking, you will die; but if you access the Spirit of life — that
Spirit of God — that is within you and shut down and put to death the normal
desires and acts of your flesh, you will [truly] live.
“For all those who allow themselves to
be led and quickened by the Spirit of God will become — and be — the
full-grown, mature sons of God. And
that’s because you have not received in yourself slavery to spirits of fear;
but rather that deep knowing within that you’ve been adopted into the Family of
God so that your natural — spiritual — reaction [when in crisis] is to cry out,
“Daddy! Papa! Father!
You see] Holy Spirit witnesses within our spirits that we have become
children -- members of the Family of God!” (RAC Translation & Amplification)
Was
that clear? THAT’s what it means to be
“poor in spirit!” Now take another look
at the way Paul described Jesus’ mindset as he wrote to the Philippian
Ekklesia.
He
said, “Let this manner of thinking be in you!” Then he describes the kind of “poor [in]
spirit” that ruled Jesus.
As
the only begotten Son of God, Jesus knew with a certainty that He was in the
form, likeness, nature and makeup of God; that as such He paralleled God in
every respect — even in his human form — and yet he subdued His flesh and human
cravings and desires in order to adopt the nature and character of a bond
servant, becoming instead a normal man by all appearances and actions.
Now,
think about the second half of Jesus’ statement, “For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
A
kingdom, obviously, is the domain where a king rules — whose word is Law! When we talk about Heaven, we mostly think in
ethereal terms of a place we will go to “in the sweet bye and bye,” when in
fact there is nothing ethereal about Heaven.
Heaven is simply a parallel dimension.
I
realize that sounds a bit like some sci-fi story, but the truth is that Heaven
literally parallels this time-space earth that we spend the majority of our
time living in and with.
We
were first designed as spiritual beings, and in fact pre-existed in Heaven with
God before we ever came here. (I know that some folks really get a bee in
their bonnet when I say that, but there are a fistful of scriptures to back it
up. See, for example, Job 40:15, or
Jeremiah 1:5) That said, Heaven is a
tangible, multi-dimensional place which has authority and power over this
time-space world in which we live.
Heaven existed before there was ever an Earth or a Universe, and Heaven
will still exist when this earth is dissolved and a new earth and a new
“heavens” are created.
When
Jesus said, therefore, that “theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” He was making it
very clear that those who willingly set aside their rational, reasoning, human
thought processes and become “poor in spirit” — not exalting their spirits,
their minds and their own purposes above God’s plan and destiny for us — will
be enabled to live a Kingdom life with ready access to the Heavenly realm.
OK. That was a mouthful. Let me put it more simply.
When
God’s rulership in our lives becomes paramount and preeminent in our
priorities, we have access to that Kingdom He has prepared for us. So long as we continue to walk and live the
Kingdom life, a process of the rulership of the Lord takes over us, and begins
to function through us.
Let
me stop here, and we will pick this up again next week.
I remind those of you
in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call is back on schedule for
Mondays & Wednesdays at 7:00 PM Eastern.
Once again, the number to call for healing is (805) 399-1000. Then enter the access code: 124763#.
Also want to let you
know that our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference call –
usually at about 10:45AM Pacific. That
conference number is (559) 726-1300, and the access code is 308640#.
Blessings
on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
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Saturday, March 14, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Signs, Part
2
March 13, 2015
Well,
I hadn't intended to do a Part 2 of this message, but after receiving some of
the responses from folks who'd had their own experiences, it just seemed
appropriate to do a follow-up. My
follow-up, by the way, does NOT include more discussion on UFO's. Some folks wanted me to explore that
discussion further but that would not have served the purpose of alerting
people to the signs in the heavens and in the earth.
My
first response and commentary comes from a friend -- Mike Huskey -- who has
been a Coffee Break reader for the past three years or so, and who has a rather
intense occupation as an air traffic controller. That job exposes Mike to a lot of events that
none of us would ordinarily even hear about.
Mike's comments relate to the events that occurred in 1994 with the
angelic visitations and the repeated warning, "the trumpet has been set to
the mouth," as well as our being in a Shemitah year. Here is some of what Mike shared with me.
"My comments here stem from the writings of Jonathan Kahn in his best seller, The Harbinger and ESPECIALLY his most recent book, The Mystery of The Shemitah.
Thursday Sept 25, 2014 was the 1st
of Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar and marked the beginning of the year of the
Shemitah. On the eve of this event that began at sunset on Elul 29 (Sept
24) and prior to sunrise on Tishrei 01 that next morning, the most bizarre
event happened to me. I should add here that I had just finished reading
Mr Kahn's newest release.
While driving down the highway here
in Memphis late at night I was struck from behind by a car traveling at more
than twice my speed. My car was totaled as the trunk was crushed entirely
up to the rear seat! The entire event immediately seemed odd to me in
many ways as it defied any rational explanation. The responding officers
just shook their heads as they would look at my car and then look at me
standing upright talking to them.
Before even arriving at the ER for
treatment God brought to my mind that this day was the opening of the Shemitah
and I had at that moment (and still do to this day) a sense that I was being
"sat up straight" and "awoken" to be watchful in this year
of God's unfolding. The year in which He "settles accounts".
I have been mostly silent these past
6 months with my mouth shut and my eyes/ears open. I truly have felt God's prompting, especially
the past three (3) months, to simply be still.
In my stillness I have observed many
global shiftings. One big example is that almost immediately after
entering this Shemitah year, financial markets the world over became unsettled
and the word "volatility" has now appeared in daily use. I have
no doubt that you are seeing this also.
Regarding your words:
"...No word could
better describe that which took place 21 times in 7 days as tunnels of fire
exploded forth from the surface of the planet Jupiter with accompanying
geo-magnetic shock waves."
John says (in Revelation 10:3, 4) that when the angel cried, "seven thunders (brontai) uttered their voices."
John says (in Revelation 10:3, 4) that when the angel cried, "seven thunders (brontai) uttered their voices."
1994 was significant also in that it
marked a Shemitah year, a year of resetting on God's timetable. This
grand celestial event that you have brought such clarity to came just a few
weeks prior to the closing of this 7 year cycle, the Shemitah, in Sept 1994.
The closing of the next such cycle
was marked by the falling of the twin towers in 2001 and the crash of financial
markets one week later. The following Shemitah (2008) closed with the
global financial meltdown.
Of importance, all of these events
transpired TO THE DAY with the closing of the Shemitah year.
As stated, we have been in the
current Shemitah year since sunset on Sept 24 and as you have shared, this year
then marks 21yrs since God's messengers spoke warning of His trumpet.
Is it significant that the sign that
God used to mark the cycles in 1994 consisted of 21 pieces spread out over a
cycle (God's cycle) of 7? And is it coincidence that this brings us to
the 21st year, 2015 and its significance to God's Sabbath Year?
The more I learn the more I
recognize that God has placed "order" in everything. Even
Martin Armstrong (a brilliant man) has noticed that all financial cycles
repeat on multiples of the number Pi. Yes, our God is a God of order.
As you surely have guessed, I remain
watchful, sir, as there are many other factors pointing to the timeframe of
Sept/Oct 2015 IN SUPPORT OF God's Harbingers!"
Rich and Gerry Verhoef are a part of our fellowship. Yesterday, Rich and I were discussing the things that Mike had written and he reminded me of something he had shared in the past which bears directly on all of this.
In
the spring of 1994, Rich felt prompted by the Lord to initiate a move here in
the Yakima Valley that he had heard about, called the March for Jesus. After some initial resistance by the local
pastors he was able to help organize a prayer over this valley in conjunction
with the March. They set up a tent pole
on Snipes Mountain to symbolize the tent covering over this valley, and then set
groups of folks at strategic high places overlooking the valley to pray for the
move of God.
On
June 24th of 1994, a prayer gathering took place in every single time zone
around the globe. The organization even
extended to moving ships into time zones in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans so
that every single time zone around the earth was covered as agreement in prayer
took place. Where possible, groups
marched through the various cities with declarations that those cities, states,
nations and regions were declared over in preparation for an outpouring of the
presence of the Lord with revival and renewal taking place.
The
fact that this all took place during this same Shemitah year with all of the
other attendant signs is highly significant, in my opinion. Here we are, 21 years later, in a "super
Shemitah" year, the second of two consecutive years in which we have two
blood moons on feast days. Is God
precise in the way He does things?
I
know that we are in the midst of some spectacular events unfolding around
us. The fact that we are in a Shemitah year – a year of debt
cancellation, a year of the Open Door, a year of great things for God’s people,
and a terrifying year for folks who are not in fellowship and union with the
Lord -- should make every believer sit up and pay close attention! God is putting Heaven on display!
Because
of an experience I had a couple years ago, I would not be at all surprised to
see a massive shakeup in our government and a replacement of the current
administration because of this president’s overt actions against Israel, along
with his deliberate efforts to undermine Netanyahu and interfere in the Israeli
elections so as to further his Iranian agenda.
For
the past few years I have become actively conversant (behind the scenes) in
some massive changes to the global economic system, and have been participating
in an effort to put our country’s (as well as Canada’s and other debtor
countries) currency on sound financial footing. Back in 2003, George W.
Bush set in motion a set of events with what are commonly referred to as the
Basel III Protocols which would get rid of fiat currencies and put countries
back on asset-backed currencies. While there have been some pretty solid
moves forward to accomplish that, our current administration has been fighting
it tooth and nail. Just in the past few
weeks the business news media (FOX Business News, CNBC and Bloomberg) have
commented on the fact that all of our major US banks are now Basel III
compliant.
For
those who understand the economic and spiritual symbolism of Revelation 17
& 18, these are signs, folks! Pay
close attention.
The
past few years have seen a close relationship develop with a brother in the
Lord who is exceptionally influential in the financial world. He has
acquainted me with the fact that a significant number of the Chinese elders
have become professing Christians and have taken a real interest in bringing a
resolution to the world's current economic crises. These families have – throughout many centuries
and millennia – gathered together the gold that was Solomon’s (its current
value is measured in excess of one quadrillion dollars) and have been actively
seeking ways to assist debtor nations in paying off their debts.
While
their interest in assisting paying off these debts is certainly Godly, it is
also self-preserving because without this taking place, we ARE going to see the
collapse of the Babylonian economic system John prophesied in Revelation – and
in my opinion, prematurely.
It
was two years ago (by my best recollection) that Chuck Pierce prophesied the
rise of China's influence globally from an economic standpoint, specifically
with regard to China replacing the United States as the number one economic
power. That was not a random prophecy,
nor some kind of emotional outburst because of his affection for the Chinese
Christians. Today, China has more
committed, believing Christians (numerically speaking) than we have in the
United States. By the year 2020, China
is expected to become the largest Christian nation (per capita) in the world,
surpassing the United States.
These
are signs, folks! Pay attention!
Two
weeks ago, at the beginning of the Chinese New Year, (they refer to it as the
Year of the Ram –and I see that as a reference to the ram caught in the thicket
which was the intervention of God and the salvation of Isaac from death) the
Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. declared their new year as “The Year of
Jubilee.” In case you hadn't noticed, "the year of Jubilee" is
NOT a conventional Chinese expression!
That, obviously, is in keeping with the Shemitah Year – 5775 – which we
are currently in.
I do
believe that we are on the verge of spectacular changes that will benefit the
body of Christ and cause the Glory of the Lord to be revealed in ways the world
simply cannot even begin to imagine. I also believe it will be a horrific
time for folks who stand in opposition to the move of God. Chuck Pierce’s
recent prophetic utterance regarding the massive shaking to take place in the
west and northwest plays directly to that.
Buckle
your seatbelt! We are in for a ride –
the ride of a lifetime!
There is, however, a growing conviction among
Christian leaders the world over that 2015 will bring some of the greatest
so-called natural disasters anyone has ever seen. Maybe so. Maybe it will come a little later. Nevertheless, no credible leader in the Body
of Christ that I know believes that we have a great deal of time left before
the Lord begins to unleash a series of occurrences that will alter the course
of human events.
The 1994 events simply presaged events to
come. They were – by all accounts – an
announcement of things to come. As Mike
has so carefully noted in his comments above, we are exactly 21 years from
those announcements. God is
spectacularly precise in His mathematics!
There have been a few naysayers who liken the
picture of the Shemitah year, the Blood Moons and the various prophecies
concerning them to the gloom and doom predictions concerning Y2K. Nothing could be further from the truth. During the late 1990's I was doing beta
testing for Microsoft for the new computer operating systems and was well
acquainted with the double-digit glitch in the 8-bit processors. It was clear to me, and to the overwhelming
majority of computer technicians and engineers I was acquainted with that the
whole Y2K fears were seriously overblown, and I warned Christian leaders at the
time not to focus on those fears.
Most of the leaders I spoke with ignored my
warnings and got caught in the fear and hype, some even treating Y2K as a
prophetic event. It was not! It was a minor hardware programming glitch
that was easily solved with none of the predicted chaos. I have other observations about the event
that will go unsaid here.
My point is that the Shemitah year -- 5775, the
Blood Moons correlating to God's commanded Feast Days, the "trumpet set to
the mouth" warnings, and the signs following the breakup of the comet
Shoemaker-Levy were indeed the kinds of signs that Daniel refers to.
Daniel wrote (Daniel 6:27), “He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth…”
The question for you is this: Are we seeing those signs come to pass from Joel’s prophecy? Are we about to see an unfolding of signs in the heavens and in the earth beneath that will shake the human race to its core?
As I stated last week in the first of these two Coffee Breaks, having walked with the Lord for the better part of 70 years, there is no question that those who live Godly in Christ Jesus have nothing whatever to fear from any unfolding natural catastrophes.
Once again, quoting from Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2015 -- the Hebrew year 5775 -- is not a year to take things lightly. Wonderful things are taking place! Dreadful things are taking place. And they all fit with Isaiah's prophecy.
Isaiah 60:1-3: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
2015 -- the Hebrew year 5775 -- is not a year to take things lightly. Wonderful things are taking place! Dreadful things are taking place. And they all fit with Isaiah's prophecy.
Isaiah 60:1-3: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Something is happening! Something is a fixin’ to happen, ready or not! Watch and see the signs. Ready?
Next week, we will begin a new series titled, Supernatural Maturity.
I remind those of you
in need of healing of our Healing Prayer Call on Mondays at 7:00 PM
Eastern. Once again, the number to call
for prayer is (805) 399-1000. Then enter
the access code: 124763#.
Our Sunday worship
gatherings are likewise available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM
Pacific. That conference number is (559)
726-1300, and the access code is 308640#.
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com.
Coffee Break articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Signs
March 6, 2015
Greetings,
Salutations and Blessings on you as we head into another weekend. I will continue this week with one more set
of stories before we resume doing series-type Coffee Breaks. Next week we will dig into the Sermon on the
Mount and begin taking a look at the character and nature of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Today, however, we're going to
stay kinda casual and relaxed as we talk around the morning table.
My French Double Roasted Columbian coffee (compliments of David Dnistran, who had it custom roasted in Beijing) – and man, is it ever dark today – is freshly steeped, my cup is poured, and I’m ready. Hope you are, too.
Ever seen a flying saucer? Maybe not a flying saucer, per se, but some kind of UFO? Ever wondered where they come from, or what they are doing here?
In case you are part of that group of skeptics who doesn’t believe in the existence of flying saucers, you’re looking at a guy (sorry…reading a guy) who has seen them on two separate occasions. I have many friends who have likewise seen them. In fact, one of the scientists I used to work with at NASA many years ago -- Bob Lazar -- was asked to come to the White Sands testing grounds to reverse-engineer the propulsion system on an extra-terrestrial craft in the possession of the federal government. His reports afterward made clear the fact that this was no sci-fi fantasy.
I'll never forget the day we had taken a
mid-morning break for coffee and discussions at the Palo Alto laboratories when
one of the scientists (he stood over seven feet tall!) came running in
breathlessly. It was a funny sight to
see him run, but what he had to share was rather startling for all of us.
"I've just been inside a UFO inside the blimp hangar at Moffett Field," he puffed, out of breath. There were a few skeptical glances thrown his way by some of the engineers I was talking with. He continued.
"A friend told me about this UFO that had been
flown in under the cover of night and was parked inside the hangar. Because of my Top Secret security clearance,
and the badge I wore, the guards didn't question me when I entered the gated
area; and I walked straight in to where the UFO was sitting. A ramp led up to an opening in the ship's
side, so I waltzed up like I belonged there.
Not until I was looking around inside did one of the security folks
realize that I didn't belong there and he quickly escorted me outside with a
stern warning."
So what was it? Where did it come from? Why was it here? Was it simply another sign in or from the heavens – albeit a very tangible sign -- in a long string of events that have happened since 1947? OK, how about this one?
The date was July 17, 1994. Della and I were working at the Calgary Stampede with Eileen and crew. A CBC news crew showed up outside the Country Kitchen really early, and decided – when they smelled the ranch coffee I was cooking, the fresh hot rolls being baked by Eileen’s sister, Rose, the Black Forest Ham Eileen had just pulled out of an oven, and saw the omelets Della was making on the wood-fired cook stove – they needed to have breakfast. Well, hey, wouldn’t you, with all those tantalizing smells hitting you in the face?
Anyway, the news crew was all abuzz about an astronomical event unfolding as we were talking. It seems that a comet – named for the two astronomers who identified it and its path – was just hitting the planet, Jupiter. Shoemaker-Levy had begun disintegrating – it broke into 21 pieces – and over the course of the next seven days, each of those 21 pieces collided with the planet producing a series of explosions unparalleled in recorded astronomical history.
The energy released exceeded one million megatons of TNT (that is another way of saying 1 trillion tons), dwarfing the power released if all of the nuclear bombs on the earth were to be exploded at the same instant.) It resulted in tunnels of fire on, and above, the surface of Jupiter as large as, or larger than, the state of Texas in diameter, and mushroom clouds above the surface of the planet larger than Earth. Shock waves were generated by these explosions creating a "sound" (inaudible low-frequency, geo-magnetic and gravitational waves) which reverberated throughout our solar system.
I’ll come back to this event momentarily. Less known was a series of non-astronomical events that had begun some five weeks prior.
They began on the evening of June 9th, 1994. On that evening, one of Eileen’s friends was driving in towards the city of Edmonton, and saw a hitchhiker. She would not have, under any normal circumstances, stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. The Holy Spirit prompted her to stop and pick up this hitchhiker, but she drove past, arguing within herself that it was "not the thing to do."
The Holy Spirit then said to her, "I said, Stop! Go back and pick up that hitchhiker." She was surprised by the urgency within her spirit, and obeyed.
Making a U-turn, she went back, turned around and pulled over to let the hitchhiker get in. He got in, and she proceeded back into the lanes of traffic. Because she was concentrating on the traffic conditions, she did not look directly at the gentleman sitting in the seat, but began to ask where he was headed. Before she could say anything, she heard him say, "The trumpet has been set to the mouth!" Startled, she looked over to where he was seated, and he vanished -- disappeared into thin air.
Obviously, she was awestricken. When she arrived at her destination, she called the RCMP office in Edmonton to report the incident. The officer on duty said to her, "Lady, you are the sixth person to call in with that same report tonight!"
To the south some three hundred miles, the RCMP office in Lethbridge, Alberta, received an identical report from three additional motorists. In each case the report was the same. The motorist stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. Shortly thereafter, the hitchhiker made the statement to the driver, "The trumpet has been set to the mouth," using exactly those words. The fact that nine motorists felt prompted to call the RCMP offices in Edmonton and Lethbridge that night is, in itself, astounding. It would seem that the Lord was making a statement that needed to be published abroad.
In the weeks that followed we began to hear of more reports. In five separate incidents, Montana state troopers stopped to assist individuals they thought were hitchhiking. In each instance, the report was identical to those we heard about in Alberta. The hitchhiker said to the trooper, “The trumpet has been set to the mouth,” or in a couple of instances, “I have set the trumpet to the mouth.” The case of the five troopers was very distinctive in that none of them were Christians, and at least three of them had been very antagonistic towards Jesus Christ and Christians in general. More spectacular was the fact that each and every one of those troopers accepted Jesus Christ that day as their personal savior. One trooper, who had been on the force for many years, resigned that very day.
In Tacoma, Washington, a Washington state trooper stopped to assist a lady who was walking along the side on Interstate 5. When he asked her if he could help, she looked at him and said, “The trumpet has been set to the mouth,” and vanished before his eyes. In Seattle, a nearly identical event took place with another state trooper. Another report came in from Portland where a city police officer stopped to check on a hitchhiker. He pulled over just as the other officers had done and asked the hitchhiker if he needed assistance. The hitchhiker said, “I have set the trumpet to the mouth,” and suddenly was gone.
We later heard of similar stories occurring in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and even Toronto. No doubt there were many other similar events we did not hear anything about. Here’s where it gets really interesting. Every single one of these events took place on June 9th, 1994.
Signs. That’s what they were. Signs.
OK. How about this one?
The date was….dum..de..dum..dum…..June 9th, 1994. An earthquake of epic proportions struck in La Paz, Bolivia. Originally put at a 7.8 on the Richter scale, seismologists later upgraded its intensity to 9.2. The quake’s epicenter was more than 70 miles underground. It caused a ripple effect that reached along fault lines through South America, under the Gulf of Mexico, through the central states, and as far away as Toronto, Ontario. Though there was minimal loss of life (resulting in minimal news coverage), seismologists couldn’t remember any quake with such far-reaching effects.
When we heard of the quake, a couple Scripture verses from Isaiah 5:14 and Isaiah 14:9 went through Della’s mind, “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure…” The verse in Isaiah 14:9 was specifically targeted at Satan, “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee…”
Why all these seemingly unrelated events on June 9th? Why the unusual events that followed five weeks later?
We were -- and are -- being forced to throw away our textbooks and discard our doctrinal understanding of how the Lord is fulfilling many prophecies. He is doing it outside the realm of natural understanding, knowledge, and perception. That which was prophesied by John (in Revelation), was prophesied in and by the Spirit of the Lord. In order to see that which is taking place, it must also be unraveled in and by the Holy Spirit.
Any attempt to explain what the Lord is doing and how He is fulfilling His Word -- when that attempt is predicated on our knowledge of Scripture, our knowledge of history, and our perception of how the Lord has previously fulfilled His Word -- will only get us into trouble. All we will get for our efforts is a lot of dead bark in our mouths from the Tree of Knowledge. (Pun intended.)
By the same token, those who live daily -- 24 hours per day -- in the presence of the Lord, in an intimate love-relationship with Him will have no struggle whatever as the Lord fulfills His word, since He clearly explains that which He is doing to those with whom He has an intimate relationship.
What is the Lord saying in the midst of all these events? What is He doing? Anyone?
Was the comet event a sign from the Lord to confirm that "the trumpet has been set to the mouth?" Try this on for size.
There is another aspect of this event which bears consideration. The word in the Greek text for "thunders" is brontai. This word literally means, "a fiery and destructive sound." No word could better describe that which took place 21 times in 7 days as tunnels of fire exploded forth from the surface of the planet Jupiter with accompanying geo-magnetic shock waves.
John says (in Revelation 10:3, 4) that when the angel cried, "seven thunders (brontai) uttered their voices." Would you believe, 21 times (3 X 7) in 7 days? O.K.! O.K.! I know that this is not the traditional explanation for the "seven thunders," but I believe that it deserves consideration in the light of the other attendant events.
I spoke with an astrophysicist in Lethbridge, Alberta a few months after the Shoemaker-Levy comet struck Jupiter to ask him about the geo-magnetic shock waves. He likened them to ultra low-frequency sound traveling through our galaxy. Though they were inaudible to human hearing, our planet certainly reacted in the months that followed with auroral activity and tidal aberrations that stirred more than a little notice within the scientific community.
Let’s get a little more current. There are most likely very few of us who hasn’t seen the incredible footage of the massive tidal wave that followed a huge earthquake and struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and a host of other nations in the Indian Ocean causing an estimated 272,000 deaths. Was this a natural disaster, or was this a singular event related to coming judgment on this earth? Was this a sign?
Then consider this.
In Indonesia alone during the past twelve months, more than 400 churches have been destroyed or burned to the ground. More than a thousand church leaders, pastors, etc., have been shot to death, beheaded or tortured to death in other ways. I know of many leaders in the Body of Christ who clearly believe that Indonesia (which took the brunt of the loss of life (at some 156,000 deaths) suffered the judgment of God, who would no longer stand by while His anointed representatives were being tortured, mutilated and put to death. I have no statistics for any of the other nations, so I can’t speak to any of the spiritual causes or effects that could be related to the earthquake and tidal wave.
There is, however, a growing conviction among Christian leaders the world over that 2015 will bring some of the greatest so-called natural disasters anyone has ever seen. Maybe so. Maybe it will come a little later. Nevertheless, no credible leader in the Body of Christ that I know believes that we have a great deal of time left before the Lord begins to unleash a series of occurrences that will alter the course of human events. The 1994 events simply presaged events to come. They were – by all accounts – an announcement of things to come.
Daniel wrote (Daniel 6:27), “He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth…”
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Mathew 16:3)
On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood before the multitude of gathered folks and quoted from Joel’s prophecy, “And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:19)
The question for you is this: Are we seeing those signs come to pass from Joel’s prophecy? Are we about to see an unfolding of signs in the heavens and in the earth beneath that will shake the human race to its core? What about the four blood moons in 2014 and 2015?
Of one thing I am certain. Having walked with the Lord for the better part of 70 years, there is no question that those who live Godly in Christ Jesus have nothing whatever to fear from any unfolding natural catastrophes. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I have a personal conviction about 2015. I believe that this year will bring about some of the greatest miracles the world has ever seen. I believe that God’s people are going to experience an outpouring of His abundant blessings in an unprecedented manner.
There is one other thing of which I am positive: People who ignore the unfolding signs that we have seen, are seeing, and are about to see, in the ludicrous hope of escaping the wrath of God on an increasingly degenerate world – people who think they can ignore the great salvation available to them in Christ Jesus simply because “God is a merciful God” are living a fantasy.
God IS a merciful God. But He is also a just God. He is a God of righteousness. He is a God of justice and judgment. And, He is a God who absolutely keeps His Word!
Something is happening! Something is a fixin’ to happen, ready or not! Watch and see the signs. Ready?
Now that I’ve got your juices stirring, finish your coffee. Blessings on you! Have a stupendous day, and a great weekend!
I remind those of you
in need of healing of our Healing Prayer Call on Mondays at 7:00 PM
Eastern. Once again, the number to call
for prayer is (805) 399-1000. Then enter
the access code: 124763#. Also want to
let you know that our Sunday worship gatherings are available by conference
call – usually at about 10:45AM Pacific.
That conference number is (559) 726-1300, and the access code is
308640#.
Blessings on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break
articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
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