Private or Public? Kiwi culture or Kingdom culture?

The other week I had a dream and I was taking my child to a new private school and while there, I was invited by the teachers for lunch. But just before lunch I decided to go to the toilet, along with other teachers. But what I noticed was I was on a toilet that was like that of those we have had experience on in the Tibetan Plateau in China, open, exposed and very public, no embarrasement but a part of every day life, but the other teachers were on the style we have here in New Zealand, private and a personal cubicle.

As I pondered this I was reminded of a book title the Lord gave me a while ago about Kiwi Culture vs Kingdom Culture. And the picture in the dream above illustrated a wonderful of example of how easily people can be misunderstood because of the culture that they have lived in and by the experiences that one has had which determines world view, verses that of what is actually a Kingdom culture.

In dream interpretation, going to the toilet often represents a place of cleansing, a place of repentance. And here in Kiwi culture, often that is a very private thing, a place of embarrasement and perhaps even shame, certainly not something that is discussed with others, and where everyone can see you. So we can often get clashes in thinking. In a Kingdom Culture mindset there is no shame, there is no embarrasement and no hiding, but rather a people walking in truth and fellowship with one another. In Gen 2:25 in the garden of Eden there was no shame, it was all open relationship. It was only when they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil did their eyes open and they felt shame and embarrasement and wanted to cover themselves up. So in the Kingdom of God in the garden, which is the place the Lord through Jesus has returned and restored us too, we once again have the freedom to feel no shame in our repentance, in the cleansing, but rather see it as a part of ordinary everyday life and walk in relationship with others.

There is so much in this to ponder and reflect on, as this can go across many situations in life, for example marriage, govt, forgiveness, finances, everything. But the main point I am trying to get across is that we need to be careful that we are functioning, reacting and responding, and growing in, that of the Kingdom mindset as seen in the word of God. The plumbline of God, rather than the worldviews and cultural mindset of the world in which we live in or have grown up in, or the experiences we have had, that we think perhaps are Christian, that are in fact our own worldview. We need to learn to change, grow and develop to be more like Christ in everything we do and everything we say.

So I bless you in this new season with eyes to see and ears to hear what Jesus would say and do, respond and react, to what is taking place in the world in which we live right now.

Obedience and Commitment are big things in Gods Kingdom

Reading in Acts 7 this morning the story through Stephen of Abraham being told by God to " Leave your country and your people and go the the land I will show you" So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child." As I reflected on this and the journey of Abraham stepping out in faith into a land that he received no inheritance in but a promise of what was to come for his descendants of which we live in the fruit of that, I thought of todays generations in which often is only doing things that we want to do or that will benefit us personally as we live for 'today' not worrying about tomorrow. A sense of if it feels good then do it, if it doesn't then we will move on - perhap...

There is an army rising up!

Are you struggling in your family? Are you struggling with people in the body of Christ? Keep going in love and you will see the breakthroughs you long for. Over the past few months the Lord has been showing me some scenes where the enemy has been trying to attack and destroy families, and so I believe it is a time where we need to be alert of the devils schemes and counter attack with the truth and the love of God. Three areas we ourselves as a ministry are currently contenting for breakthrough in are: 1. the unity of the body of Christ, 2. for whole families to come to Christ 3. for mental health issues to be overcome .... and so of course the enemy wants to come and try and destroy in whatever way He can within churches, within families, in individuals and so I/we need to be alert to the schemes of the enemy. Romans 12:21 "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." One vision I share with you I ha...

Isaiah 54 Stretch wide the tent pegs

We had a special night of people meeting from all different places, different churches, different towns and coming together in fellowship, food and worship was just wonderful. People who had not met before but became connected to others from across the body of Christ. From the Far North to Waipukura. There was definitely a call for each one of us to 'stretch wide the tent pegs' like that in Isaiah 54. That now is not a time for holding back but for enlargement, that today is the day of salvation, that today is the day of Gods favour and each one of us have a responsibility to stretch out our boundaries and step out in faith into what the Lord has said for our lives. So that is a challenge I bring to all those who read this - stretch out your tent pegs. On the night it was like an orchestra that tunes up its instruments and then finally plays a great sound in harmony, is a little what it was like on the night in the spirit. Initially all of us findi...

patient in affliction

This morning in prayer the words "Patient in affliction" came from the Holy Spirit. Patience is something a long time ago I asked that the Holy Spirit would teach me and the way He has seemed to have done this is through affliction, through trials and testing of my faith, through learning to love people even when rejected by them or misunderstood, or persecuted. But the joy that comes in the growth in the fruit of patience, the 'rest' and 'peace' that comes through learning to be patient in affliction, is one I am thankful for as I start to see an unshakeable faith coming as I learn to trust in the Lord to deal with the issues I can't deal with, to trust in the Lord to work things through and see His hand come into situations and circumstances. James 1:4 talks about the fruit of patience being one that we will be lacking nothing "perseverance must finish its work in us so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" but that pe...

"I am ruined for the ordinary"

“I am ruined for the ordinary” A statement that can possibly be to some, come from a place of judgement, or it can be from a place of there is more in the Kingdom of God that I am yet to experience or understand, revelation that I have tasted of something that actually shows me that I have not tasted of anything yet. A place where there is such a contentment and joy in what I have seen and longed to see and yet a revelation that there is way more "beyond what I think, ask and imagine" (Eph 3:20) and one that spurs me on to seek and discover all the fullness that could be ours in the Kingdom of God. When we as Christians see other Christians going places or experiencing things that we don’t understand or perhaps we have not yet moved in, we can either become jealous of that person and judge and bring them down to our level, exclude them from our lives or we can choose to be excited by what is happening and be encouraged and spurred on in the Lord for the more than ca...

"A man's enemies will be the members of his own household" Matt 10:36

Recently we have been pondering how to deal with situations in our family that don't line up with the word. What action do we need to take? Are we being too harsh? Do we accept the behaviour or be considered by those around us as "too radical" or "too black and white"? "Where is grace in all of this? How do we love the sinner but hate the sin? What about forgiveness? What is the role of discipline? What makes that sin any worse than lying? What is true love? And there are a lot more questions going through the mind in how to work through this and know God's will and desire for the situation and the person. And firstly to say we have not come to any conclusions and are growing and learning day by day in this but I want to throw it out there. In Matt 10:34-39 says "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "a man against his father, ...

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