The TOWERS or the SHORELINE??
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
friends, as I minister in Europe over the next two weeks. This
weekend I will be in Switzerland, and will then spend the following
week in Southern France then Central France. Thankyou so much
for your prayers. God bless you all. -Andrew Strom.
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The TOWERS or the SHORELINE??
-by Terry Somerville.
I was thinking about a powerful encounter I had with the Holy Spirit
back in 1988. Even though I didn't understand the prophetic
allegory at the time I set out to try to bring it to pass, BIG
MISTAKE! As usual with these things, we don't understand what
we think we do, we then blow it by doing what we shouldn't do, But
God brings it about in spite of us, and years later we say "OH there
it is". (Did you get all that?) Anyway, I've been having these "Oh
there it is" moments. I've shared bits of this before, but without
going into detail, here's the story.
I was at a pastors meeting in Niagara Falls. Our denomination had
decided to ordain homosexuals and many Spirit filled pastors
were now wrestling over reforming the institution, or starting a new
one. One evening the Lord called me down to the falls and used it
as a prophetic illustration of His message to me. I was walking
just upriver from the brink, where the sidewalk is right beside the
water. The Lord began to give me a prophetic message using the
various features around me.
The features symbolized:
The Niagara River, upper rapids, and falls represented the course
of humanity rushing to destruction. The mist represented "the
smoke of their burning rises day and night forever." The bank of the
river represented the church doing the great commission, - God's
people rescuing the perishing from the water before they fell to
destruction. The two towers on the hill above the falls represented
God's Word and Spirit as beacons to the world.
Then the Lord said three things to me.
"My people have gathered around the my Word and my Spirit for
entertainment. (There are amusement complexes in the base of
each tower.) "Call to them to come down from the towers to take
up their work at the shore" "Walk up and down the shore,
strengthen and encourage them" .
I thought I understood these words at the time and we ended up
leaving that liberal denomination and joining a Spirit-filled
denomination. I took my calling seriously, and would never have
believed I was engaged in tower entertainment. Yes, my sermons
were changed by the passion of my encounter with God, so I now
taught "the theology of the river" and "the anointing to work on the
shore". We even had conferences on the "power of the towers"
The problem was, we never actually worked at the shore.
Sometimes we did rescue people from the river, but the purpose
was to bring them to the tower! I couldn't see what God saw. My
heart was still for the tower, while God's heart was for the shore.
How could the Lord ever move me out of the tower and down to
the shore and the great commission? After all, the towers of the
Word and the Spirit are from God, and the people inside were
God's people also. It's all His, so I thought I was where I should
be! But step by step He changed my perspective and lovingly
adjusted me. Here's some steps we have experienced.
1. Idolatry Exposed
It's a strange thing, but the towers of The Word and The Spirit are
the setting for a lot of idol worship. This always happens when
God's purpose for something is distorted for man's own ends.
Personally, I had an idol of "ministry". I couldn't see it, and wouldn't
change, until the Lord revealed it. It's true that I entered the
ministry because I had a genuine call. But I gradually succumbed
to the "great vision of tower ministry". Like the serpent on the pole
in the wilderness, what started out holy was being perverted. It
ended in a real confrontation with God. He revealed that I was
living like the priests in the book of Ezekiel and serving an image
on the walls of my inner room (my heart). In my case I had moved
from serving Jesus to serving a graven image or picture, that we
call "the vision of ministry".
I couldn't understand how this idolatry was possble until the Lord
showed me that it was my flesh serving this perverted image of
ministry - a vision of success, fame, youth, money, position,
buildings, organization, all coming by revival and the glory of God.
My heart's motivation was wrapped up in it. I prayed for God to
bless it, confessed it, and looked for it. I had spiritual warfare
killing me around it, so I thought it must be right! But I was
unsubmitted to God so the devil wouldn't go! When ministry went
according to the image I was happy. When ministry went badly I
was depressed. This was my flesh serving another god! How
revolting! How repulsive! How this revelation broke me. I confessed
it quickly, but spent years overcoming it by overturning my change
tables and going beyond the tower walls. Unfortunatley, it also
moved me outside the circle of acceptance by my colleagues.
The problem with this idolatry is, others encourage it within the
great towers of the Spirit and the Word. We can never see it there
unless the Lord reveals it.
2. Divine Discontent
In the mid 90s I started experiencing a divine discontentment. We
had the best "Spirit and Word " meetings my ministry ever had.
But I would come home vaguely dissatisfied. There was a longing
for something I couldn't explain. I kept saying "God, I don't get it,
what's wrong? Your are here, you are blessing. We are
experiencing your power and glory! What's this feeling of
discontent?" Like a mother bird taking the feathers out of the nest,
God Himself was making us increasingly uncomfortable in the nest
that was once so perfect.
3. From My Ability To His Ability
Next, God shifted me from depending on my ability to spiritually
perform, to depending on His ability in me. I call this "the love
anointing" Up in the towers, ministry is all about our ability to
know the word, learn the right method, and have the right spiritual
experiences. It's all about spiritual performance. Thats why there is
a constant flow of teaching and conferences. Success goes to
those who reach the top, or so it appears! But for my ministry,
success seemed elusive. I especially wanted to see miracles. But,
no matter how hard I tried we could not move there. Sometimes
miracles did happen, (because God loves people) but it was always
serendipity, not a flow of ministry. It was like He said "you can get
this far and no farther. My power is not for the tower"
Finally I experienced a great shift. God's love for people and His
ability in me (the love anointing) became the focus, rather than me
and my spiritual ability. Suddenly miracles opened up in my
ministry. I found out that God was not obligated to anoint my
mission, or my work in the tower. But he always anoints His great
comission. At Niagara Falls, the two towers are there because of
the river and the falls, not the other way around! Likewise, when I
found the focus of His heart, His power found me.
4. The Great Commission Gets In My Face
Finally the Lord connected me to a powerful "on the shore" work
when we went to India. It was there that I saw what could happen
if a team of Christians actually DID the great commission. I saw
the love and co-operation of believers, genuine apostolic ministry,
the grace and provision to help the least of people, the healings
and salvations of the thousands, and real social change wrought
by the Kingdom of God. I couldn't resist. I finally had to break away
from where I was. So now I've ended up at the shoreline, walking
up and down, calling the saints down from the towers and
encouraging those who rescue the perishing.
Life At the Shoreline
So, what is it like laboring at the shore of the river? Hows life just
above the falls, where men are rushing to destruction, and being
pulled out?
1. Well, for one thing it's a lot more real than life in the towers.
Now we connect to Canadians and their joys and pains. I never
knew how much of a sub-culture living in the tower creates. People
look like ants from up there.
2. The definition of Apostle is different at the shore as well. I never
could figure out out how apostles fit in the tower. It seems that in
the towers of the Word and Spirit, an apostle is defined by "how
high" he is. At the shore, it's quite different. An apostle is known
by how far he goes into the water to rescue someone. Now I
question if the tower apostle is genuine.
3. Money. At the shore it becomes painfully obvious that almost all
the resources go into building up the towers. The shore only has a
sidewalk. Actually it's been quite astonishing how little the church
in the tower uses for the great commission.
Personally, I'm looking for the day when all that g reat high tech
equipment is permanently moved down to the shoreline and put to
use where it belongs. The towers are meant to be the beacons of
the Word of truth, and the power of the Spirit, for the task at hand.
Let's hope the Lord doesn't have to bulldoze our favorite tower just
to get us where we belong.
Blessings in Jesus,
Terry Somerville.
~ http://www.totalchange.org
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