Shifting to Kingdom Authority

By Ron McGatlin

(Note from Ron: If some of this important writing is new to you or does not seem to fit in your box, please be patient and do not throw it away quickly. Please read to the end before tossing it. If you cannot receive it now, please put it on the shelf in your heart and allow time for the Holy Spirit to confirm or deny it. – Thank you, Ron)

Perhaps the most significant shift since Pentecost is now taking place in the Body of Christ. It is possibly the most significant move of God in the last 2000 years. The order of church as we have known it is changing.

One of the comments heard often coming from prophets that are seeing the shift is that they do not know exactly what it looks like. Yet all would probably agree that there is a significant shaking of all that can be shaken on earth.

How severe will the shaking be?
What will happen to me and my family during this time of shaking? 
What will the governments of nations look like?
How perilous will it really be?

Probably no one has clear answers to these serious questions.

With the light of spiritual revelation and God’s wisdom that is available to those who love God above all else, we can know some specific answers to some other even more important questions such as:

Where is all this going? 
Why is the church worldwide being targeted with vicious persecution?
Why is God allowing these things to happen?

Even many who are aware of the major shift taking place may not yet be sure about where this is all going.

The Quiet Beginning of This Shift

In the 1980s, a major millennial shift quietly began among a scattering of unknown men across the world. Later I miraculously found out about some of these men of God that experienced the same revelation that I received in the same time frame. They were low profile and had no connection or contact with one another. These men were mature chronologically and spiritually. Most had gone through all the recent moves and restorations of God in the church up to that day. God opened the eyes of these men and lifted the cover from the powerful gospel of the kingdom that had been covered for two thousand years. The gospel of the kingdom has now been quietly spreading like yeast in dough, mostly unseen, and from person to person through organic networking.

From the quiet reseeding of the gospel of the kingdom that began in the 1980s, it continued to spread as the powerful revivals and spiritual outpourings of the 90s prepared the people to receive more from God. In the 2000s the sprouted seeds grew and many men and women of God began to proclaim and demonstrate the portions of the gospel of the kingdom that they had received. The same powerful message that Jesus and His disciples first planted over two thousand years ago is now being widely proclaimed across the world. Generations of people are being prepared to experience the fullness of the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Much of the existing church that is structured from the past is not yet aware of what God is doing.   

The enemy is aware of what is happening and is furiously trying to destroy all the babies and children of these generations in an effort to stop the move of God. Every person who is part of the kingdom of God reality that is coming forth to these generations are becoming targets for annihilation, if the enemy can find an opening to get to them. The enemy is killing as many babies and perverting as many children as possible in an attempt to stop the kingdom generation of people. All of the persecution designed to kill, steal, and destroy anything of Jesus on the earth will only serve to purify the true kingdom age church of God. Priorities will drastically shift to the true values of God. The King and His kingdom will be the number one focus of life among the generations of pure-hearted holy people of power in the kingdom age church of Christ Jesus.

The church systems that in the past ruled with authority over people are finishing their season as the new kingdom of God reality comes forward. The authority of the past church systems is rapidly fading from effectiveness in the Body and in the world. The great shift of our time has to do in part with church system’s governments and functions being changed into the glorious church “ekklesia” of the kingdom of God age. The kingdom “ekklesia” (the gathering of called out ones) is becoming the “basileia” (kingdom) of heaven on earth.

The Church System Authority and the Kingdom of God Authority

To understand the difference in the two let’s begin with a brief look at the roots and development of the religious church system authority. The church system’s structure was never God’s perfect design for the people of God after the time of Christ Jesus. The first century church that the disciples of the Lord knew was nothing like the church systems that began developing shortly after Paul and the other disciples left.

Around the third century the church became infiltrated with pagan practices and ruled over by politically inspired hierarchical systems of men. The leadership of Christ in the Holy Spirit that had ruled in the first centuries left the corrupt church. Man reinstated the Priest system and produced many religious laws or rules for the people. The divine authority that was in the early disciples was gone and man developed church system authority and called it “God Ordained.” 

The politically oriented corrupt leadership of the church that was void of the Holy Spirit began to reach back to the other side of the cross and brought forward a lot of what God had ordained for the Old Testament time before the coming of Christ Jesus.

In the Old Testament day the Priest were established to serve as a mediator between God and man. There was a distinct separation between the priesthood and the rest of the people. The Priests did all of the God stuff, and the people only brought the proper sacrifice for the Priests to offer. Specific rules and rituals were carried out religiously with the people. There was a distinct group of men set aside to rule in the places of worship. Only the set apart Priests were to do the stuff. All of this looked forward to the coming of Christ, and all of it was to be done away with after the cross. The church of Jesus Christ was to be the kingdom of God come to earth fulfilling and ending the Old Testament religious types and shadows.

The church systems to this day have continued to replicate this out-of-order authority structure with many minor variances. Today in church systems, local churches, and ministries the same structure of men ruling over men through a system of “clergy” over “laity” continues to be the backbone of most church governments and functions. This may have many names and forms but is deadly to the functionality of the New Testament kingdom of God reality. The name may change from denominations to apostolic networks or associations or whatever. However, if in fact it is a hierarchy or pyramid of men ruling over the people of God, it is working in the old clergy over laity error that has been prevalent since around the third century.

(Please don’t go yet. Let’s look briefly at the reality of the kingdom church government and function.)

In a natural earthly kingdom, the king is sovereign. The king has complete authority over everything and everyone in the kingdom. Since the king cannot possibly be everywhere to see over and manage all things, he appoints people to manage specific portions of his domain, according to his desires and instructions. Each subject reports to the king, either directly or through an appointed overseer who manages a specific area and answers to the king for the subjects under his oversight. The king delegates his authority to an overseer person because the king cannot be present with all of his subjects individually. A natural or earthly kingdom is like the Old Testament rule of the people. It required delegated authority to function.

In the kingdom of God as in any kingdom all authority over all that is within the kingdom rest in the one KING.

The kingdom (government) of God is very different in some ways from an earthly kingdom. The kingdom of God on earth is the kingdom of heaven ruling on earth. It will always operate from the same reality that it does in heaven. The spiritual from heaven created the natural and has complete authority over it.  

Here are the BIG differences -

First the kingdom of God from heaven on earth is a spiritual kingdom.

God is SPIRIT! God’s Son was with God in the beginning and was part of creating all that is created. The Son of God with God was SPIRIT before coming to earth to take on a human body in order to redeem, restore, and reclaim all that was lost in the first Adam.

All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Christ Jesus the King. Jesus is the only HEAD of the church and the only KING of the kingdom.

All power, all love, and all wisdom is given to Christ Jesus, the SPIRIT KING of earth and of all creation. Father God and the Son are ONE (John 17:21-22).

King Jesus knows what is best to do in every situation and has the power to do it and the love to make it be the best it can be for all His people on earth. 

We are the subjects of His kingdom on earth. We are spirit beings with a soul and body. As spirit beings in a human body we have the potential to be one Spirit with Christ Jesus and carry out His will by His power here in this natural earth.

Unlike the natural king who had to delegate his authority to someone to oversee for him, King Jesus and the Father, in the Holy Spirit, can become one Spirit with us and abide in us to bring forth His own authority. There is no need for men with delegated authority to try to rule the church and subsequently the world. SPIRIT GOD will rule His kingdom in and through His Body and Bride on earth. This is the reality of Christ in you the hope of glory (Col 1:27).

Christ Jesus is still seated at the throne of God, and we are seated with Him there in the Spirit. Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and ascended to the Father. As a “life giving Spirit.” (1 Cor 15:45) Jesus returned to His disciples at Pentecost, just as he said He would, to abide in them by the Holy Spirit to do the greater works in His Body on earth (John 14:12) (John 14 15-20) (John 17 20-23).

While in His incarnate body on earth, Jesus was a man in one place at one time. As Spirit God, He can be anywhere and everywhere all at once. He is both at the throne and on earth indwelling His people.

This is not saying that there is no future bodily return. This is saying that He came as Spirit to establish His kingdom now in us and subsequently into the world. We literally can rule and reign as kings and priests with Him now on earth as we no longer live but the life we now live is His life in us (Rev 1:6) (Gal 2:20).

This is also not saying that there is no place for leadership and leaders in the Body through whom Christ functions. It does mean that we must come to understand the difference in Headship and leadership. More on true kingdom church leadership next time.

Kingdom authority is the authority of Christ Jesus in the Holy Spirit living in His people ruling and reigning on earth as kings and priests.

Yes, as you imagine there is much more to this wonderful kingdom reality for each of us to experience in this life now and in the life to come. The Kingdom Growth Guides are a very good source of moving from religion into intimate relationship in the emerging kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Keep on pursuing love. It never fails
and His kingdom never ends.
Ron McGatlin
www.openheaven.com basileia@earthlink.net

Fresh Wind for a Fresh Harvest

I am coming soon to breathe a fresh wind on the Northwest. Many have said “I’m tired of the same thing every week” and “I’m ready for something new.” I am breathing new life into the churches throughout the region, and a fresh wind of creativity will uplift spirits. Do not expect things to happen in the old ways, the ways that have worked before. I am doing a new thing, and I want to reveal my ways and my will in new and creative ways.

This will require questioning ideas and beliefs that you have assumed to be correct for a long time, and it will require grace and patience as you watch others struggling through belief systems and transitioning in understanding of my Grace. For my grace is boundless, and reaches far beyond what you have learned in Sunday School. I am doing a new thing and bringing a new paradigm to my people in this hour. This new paradigm shift will help position you for the billion soul harvest that you have been preparing for, and you will not quite be ready until you receive my thoughts and my ways. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thoughts, and my ways above your ways. Come up here and sit with me awhile, and I will share my thoughts and my ways with you, and I will give you blueprints of things to come.

I am preparing my bride to be spotless and pure, to be ready for all things in the days to come, and to be a shining light, burning brightly in the darkness that is ahead. And when I say darkness, do not fear death, calamity, or destruction. For the darkness I see most is the darkness in men’s hearts, darkness that hides my truth and seeks to keep mankind in bondage to the Law. See now that I have already set you free from the Law, and have brought about the new way of living by my Spirit. I am bringing a new revelation of the depths of what my Son purchased on the Cross, and am raising up a new generation of speakers who will share this revelation with My Church. I am not speaking in terms of ages, in that it will be a young generation of speakers I am raising up. No, I am speaking of a new generation of speakers from a perspective of the old having gone and the new having come. I am doing a new thing, and I am giving the revelation to a new group of people. I have had a people kept in hiddenness for this very time, those who have been hearing my voice and my leading in a new way.

Be aware that I am not saying that I am somehow a different God, but I AM saying that I am bringing new revelation and new understanding. Things that have been good in the past will no longer serve you as I bring about a new understanding that trumps the old. The old will simply be of no use or no value, in the same way that an old wineskin destroys new wine. You cannot expect to successfully mix the old wineskin and the new wine that I am bringing. For those who have been praying for the new wineskin, continue to diligently pray and diligently search. In the same way that my sheep know my voice, you will know the new when it comes before you, and you will know to follow my voice above the voices of all others.

When you hear my voice, do not turn aside from it and follow the wisdom of man. Many who have walked in my ways in the past, and whom I have genuinely given revelation to, will question my voice in this hour. You must follow my leading and not theirs, as I have said again that I am doing a NEW thing. It will not look like the things of the past, but it will look like my Son. Know that as long as you seek to know my Son and seek to hear My voice, I will not put the voice of Another in your path. I will lead you in paths of righteousness for My Name’s sake, and you will dwell in my house forever.

Michael King

The Fellowship of Deep Water

“One of the big lessons about surfing is learning to operate in the present. That’s really what the entire foundation about surfing is.” ~Jack Johnson, professional surfer and musician.

A number of prophets have been hearing about a great “tidal wave” coming (http://bit.ly/GodsWave): a wave of God’s glory, yes! But such a powerful wave, while being profoundly good in nature, will also cause immense destruction of anything found in its way: the coming wave will both fulfill our greatest longings and destroy many of the things we’ve relied on over the years.

At the very least, the coming tidal wave will include massive transition for the people of God. Frankly, I believe it will revolutionize the entire culture of many nations (keep in mind that “revolutionize” comes from “revolution” and is not a tidy word, or a safe one). We are experiencing the beginnings of it now, and when the first crush of the transition is over, there will be remarkably little left that is familiar to us.

There are at least five ways to respond to a substantial wave:

1)     Stand firm and endure it. This response works well on lesser transitions, but I want to grab and shake those people planning to stand firm and endure the transition that is going on now: If you stand in the path of this wave, if you expect to resist it, you will die. You may die a hero; you may die a fool, but you will die. Please, don’t try to “Keep calm and carry on” in this one.

2)     Resist the change. I hear stories about groups of people gathering together, arming themselves, in order to fight off some of the civil and political changes. I’ve heard a number of people organizing signature drives, lobbying politicians about what needs to happen. Frankly, if God is telling you to do that, please obey Him! But a tidal wave does not slow down for either a 7.62 mm bullet or a fully-documented petition. Obey what God is saying, but don’t count on being able to hold off the wave.

3)     Dive deep, under the wave. I’ve met a goodly number of people who are “going off the grid” in one way or another specifically for the purpose of not getting caught in the wave of transitions – political, cultural, spiritual, economic – that this wave is bringing with it. Others are dropping out (or considering dropping out) of fellowships, out of visible public positions, out of social networks with the goal of reducing the impact of all that change going on in the various aspects of their lives.

I have serious questions about the viability of this response to a tidal wave. Most waves bring a load of water in to shore, crash on the shore, and then the water level goes back to normal. A tidal wave is not like that. A tidal wave looks a lot like a normal breaking wave when it’s coming at you, but behind it, the water level stays high: it never goes back to normal. Assuming that a very skilled swimmer has attempted to dive deep, under the wave, coming back to the surface, reaching air again, will be far more difficult than it usually is.

4)     Run for higher ground. It’s ironic that this has actually been the most effective way – in the natural – for people to escape the destruction of tidal waves: get out of the path of the wave. The prophecies about the coming wave (or waves) suggests that there will be no safe place where you can avoid this move of God, this change in our civilization. You can run screaming, but by the time you see the wave, it’s too late. And really, screaming won’t help. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy had the right advice here: Don’t panic!

“Build your house on the Rock” is superb counsel, but it won’t keep the wave from overwhelming you. The wave will still come, the storm will still rage, and you will be battered around, and you’ll get cold, wet & miserable. But if you are well-founded on the Rock of Christ, you and yours will emerge, wide-eyed and victorious after the storm, ready to partner with God and build a new world after the old one has vanished under the wave.

5)     Ride the wave. Yeah, let’s acknowledge that people don’t usually surf tidal waves, but I think that’s going to change, at least for the “Move of God” aspect of the coming waves. Yeah, surfers need to be out in the water before the wave hits, and yeah, surfing a tidal wave is a dangerous proposition: I get that, and I’m not advising that everyone try this. But some of us (some of you) are called to this: ride the wave! Let the overwhelming, overpowering, completely out-of-control move of the Spirit carry you, propel you into the things that God is calling you into, into the things that you’ve secretly dreamed of all your life.

And here’s where Jack Johnson’s advice applies: surfing in general – and even more so when you’re surfing a tidal wave – is about being “in the moment,” or “in the present.” Other than being available – being out in the deep water with God before the wave hits – there’s no advance preparation you can do besides learn to move in the Spirit. When it happens, tomorrow may not even exist for you: every day is the only day of your life, though you may have 90 years of that! Respond instantly, instinctively to the movement in the wave, in the Spirit.

Let me conclude by re-emphasizing that every one of us need to be well-grounded on the Rock who is Christ: on who He is and on what He has taught us! Ungrounded people, ungrounded fellowships simply will not survive what’s coming.

He is calling only a few to wax up their longboards and paddle out to the deep water, and keep an eye on the horizon. There is no shame for those who choose not to paddle out to the deep, or who lack the strength or the skills to do so. But there is also no condemnation for those who do: whether they stuff it big time, or whether they ride the wave to its conclusion, we must cheer them on.

The great cloud of witnesses is watching us.

David McLain

The Peninsulas of Washington State

The Lord spoke to me on this Tuesday morning in what is (in the Northwest) unmistakably garden season:

I had the sense that God is doing something in some places in Northwest Washington, particularly on the Peninsulas (Kitsap, Olympic) that's a lot like compost. Yeah, I know: weird, eh? He’s not doing this only on the peninsulas, but these are the areas that he brought to my attention this morning, as I was working in my own garden.

Compost is essentially trash (lawn clippings, table scraps, yard trimmings, farm animal poo) that's buried. Often compost is buried in more compost, but my sense was that this was underground, beneath the surface.

And when compost is buried, worms and bacteria and rot work in the trash, and over time, they turn it into the richest, best, most nourishing soil that a seed can grow in, so rich, in fact, that a good gardener will often have to “cut it” with something safer (regular dirt, peat moss, vermiculite, etc) so that it doesn’t burn the tender young roots of a baby plant.

My sense is that God has been doing this in the Peninsulas of Washington State: taking the trash, the castouts, the human beings that have been discarded, trimmed from more civilized culture, and he’s taken the poo, the worst circumstances, crises, difficulties, trials and hopelessness, and he’s buried them, hidden them. And while, over the years, the tourists come and go, the city folk move to the suburbs to civilize them, God has been working in the buried trash and poo, and he’s been working a miracle.

There’s a richness that’s developed among these discarded people, these who have endured such poo from life. There’s a readiness, a goodness, a nourishing home for the Spirit of God to find a home, and to move among a people.

There are no big, famous fellowships that I know of in Northwest Washington, but there’s a lot of fellowship. And so much of it has been under the surface, hidden from view, but in those unseen places, God has been building some mighty sons and daughters, warriors who haven’t known the temptations of big city churches, and who haven’t fallen prey to the cruel masters of numbers and money.

Look to the peninsulas when you’re looking for revival. Listen to the peninsulas when you’re listening for what God is up to. There’s life sprouting in the compost there, life that will influence and nourish the entire region.

David McLain

Word for the Yakima Valley and Beyond

When I died on the cross, my blood created a covering for you. A covering of
Protection. A covering of Blessing. A covering of Unity. Many are the attacks that have
come against this covering. Many are those that have tried to damage my protection
and to destroy my blessings. But remember this my children, this is my blood that
Covers. This is my power that Blesses. This is my power that Unifies.

Though the stones that come from the depths of the earth are strong and mighty in
the sight of many, know that my blood—liquid, moving, and life-giving—is many times
stronger. It is my blood that unifies and weaves my Church together. It is my blood that
purifies and sustains the life of my children. It is the strands of my blood-soaked Love,
that are woven together, as a net of protection, over my people and over their land;
over their cities and over their families; over their homes and over their hearts. It is my
passion, “The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies [that] will make
this happen!” (Isaiah 9:7b)

In this time and in this place I am moving. As a housewife will shake the crumbs off a
tablecloth after the meal is over, so to I am moving. And just as a housewife can easily
shake off the debris of the former meal, this task is also easy for me to do. Why would
you put a limit on my power? Do I not sustain the entire universe? Did I not defeat
darkness upon the cross?

I am removing the lies and distortions that have held the children of my house in
bondage. Listen for the wind of my Spirit! I am washing my children in the life-giving
water of my Spirit. I am removing their stains with my blood. I am encompassing them
with the warmth of my eternal Love. I am mending the holes that darkness has torn
and chewed into the hearts of my children. I am preparing them to be a table, fit for the
presence of the King of Glory.

My children, do not just look back at the cross, the cross where I was broken and given
for you in Holy Communion. Look ahead to the table of blessing it has become! Come
dwell in my house. Come eat at my table. Come, take my Word, my Communion of
Love, to all those who dwell on this earth.

But my children, you cannot do this alone. No one people, no one group can do this
alone. Only in godly and God-purchased unity can you do this. Do you not know that
my death on the cross paid for the unification of my people into one body? One body
in Me, one body in Holiness. One body in Light. One body in Love. It is my desire and
joy that you seek this unity. Know that I too join with you in this prayer—do not discount
the value of your prayers!

And do not discount the prayers and supplications of the Women of God. Did I not
make human beings in my own image? “In the image of God I created them; male and
female I created them.” (Genesis 1:27b.) The fullness of God contains both; that which
is considered masculine and that which is considered feminine. Am I not the All in
All? Do not discount the strength of your maternal Love, your maternal Courage, your
maternal Hope. I hear the prayers of all my children! I seek and respond to the hearts
of all who desire to do my will. All are worthy to serve in my house. All are worthy to
stand before my throne as priests and as rulers. “My Kingdom come, My will be
done. On Earth as it is in Heaven!”

Joan Monteith, 9/3/12