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.....and being with you nothing else I desire.

The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale. Part 5. A Final Word On Grace.

by on in The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale

 

I believe we are now living in the time spoken of in Daniel 7:27, “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

Our experience with the local City Council is a hopeful sign. I have a number of other friends who currently are being opposed by the same spiritual force that we faced and are seeking justice in regard to issues of adoption, divorce, taxation, and employer misbehavior. We certainly experienced the truth of Proverbs 21:1, “The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. He directs it like a watercourse, wherever he will.”

Are we entering the time spoken of in Isaiah 26:9, “When your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” when we will increasingly see the justice from the Divine Court being manifested on earth?

Just last night we heard of another situation here in Northern Ireland where a couple of integrity who had been falsely accused of abuse have now been completely vindicated.

I believe it is important that no matter where we personally find ourselves in the storyline we understand the end toward which The Plan of God is moving summed up in the chorus of the song I was given the opportunity to sing to the Council….All Will Be Well.

The third “Fear not” I mentioned Paul heard in the midst of the storm and I heard in the midst of the night was followed by the words. “God has GRACIOUSLY given you the lives of ALL on board.” (Acts 27:23)

The ship in which Paul sailed I believe represented all of humanity: Paul and his companions represented the overcomer company, the ships crew; the rest of the church, and the Roman soldiers; those who do not yet believe. At the very end of the story all 276 (the gematria for “all flesh’ is a multiple of this number) made it safely to shore….for he is indeed the King of Grace and while we can stubbornly resist the King of Grace in this life we are told that in the end, “Every knee will bow (to the King of Grace) and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.” 

This would not be “to the glory of God the Father.” if it were a compelled kneeling or an enforced confession which contradicts his essential nature (“glory”) of ‘agape’ love that is freely offered and received. (1 Jn.4:8, Jn.3:16 )

This is why when all is said and done, we need have “No Fear” because “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things” ( Rm.11:36) – and in the end, All Will Be Well. 

P.S. This week’s photo….Can you trace the rainbow of God’s gracious covenant through the rain last week on Breaghy Head, Donegal, and through the clouds in your own life?

P.P.S. As Hilary was reviewing this post I went to check my email and discovered a problem had arisen and the last email I had received was at 9.11 am. 911 is the gematria for the Greek word for GRACE. It looks like Father was, even as she read it, confirming the message – we are, whether we like or not – stuck with GRACE!

The King of Grace and the Robbinsdale Queens. Part 4. The King of Grace

by on in The House (Rivendell), The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale

 

Ours was not the first item of business at the Council meeting. Another Robbinsdale resident was requesting that he might have permission to have three hens in his backyard. The code only allows for two. So his request was up for consideration.

The dream I had the evening before the Council meeting confirmed not only the message I should deliver but that I should also sing a song, and not be concerned about time.

So I finished my address with these words,

“Tomorrow, Hilary and I are blessed to fly back to Belfast and enjoy 5 weeks of wonderful Irish hospitality in the homes of family and friends who share, our way of life… I wish we could take you all with us!

We have paid our fine and are eager to continue as law abiding residents in Robbinsdale, but if the codes of the city conflict with God’s law that reflects his nature of generous and unconditional love for all people, and compels us to show his warm welcome to whoever he might send to our door, then we must choose to obey the higher law.

When we return from Ireland, if the City is still not able to offer us any other option, that would mean we could continue our way of life in the Big Green House, then we will likely instruct the realtor who valued it this morning to put it on the market.”

Then I asked the Mayor if I might sing. He said, “I’m always game for ‘a first’! Go ahead.”  This is the song I then sang:

Ben said “The atmosphere changed.” It was as if the Spirit of Grace flowed in to lift us all above the letter of the law!

The Councillors took turns to speak.

The first laughingly said it was the first City Council meeting he’d been at where he felt he should have bought a ticket to get in : – )

Another acknowledged that this code didn’t make sense in our case. “Some of us have houses not much bigger than 800 square feet!!” 

The longest standing councillor, opened his comments with, “You two are living saints! I agree with everything you said.”

In the end the Mayor smilingly said to us, “Go on to Ireland, – and enjoy your holiday!”

I turned to see the man with the hens get up to leave. On the back of his shirt were the words “King of Grace School.”

I remembered Jesus words when as a mother he wept over the city of Jerusalem’s hard heartedness,  “How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” (Lk.13:34)

Jesus came full of both “grace and truth.” (Jn.1:14) God first revealed himself to Abraham as El Shaddai, “the mighty breasted one” and only subsequently to Moses as Yahweh, for ‘the mother’ comes first to bring to birth and with ‘grace’ to nurture, then “the father disciplines the son in whom he delights.” (Prov. 3:12) following up with training in ‘truth,’

I had been speaking about the Robbinsdale Queens – these three mother hens embodying the ‘Mother Heart’ of God

……..we had all been in the School of ‘The King of Grace’!

I believe this was also an hour of visitation for the city of Robbinsdale, but unlike Jerusalem it seemed they had not missed their opportunity but their hearts were responding to the ‘King of Grace’ in the midst!

 

 

 

The King of Grace and the Robbinsdale Queens. Part 3. My ‘No Fear’ Gospel

by on in The House (Rivendell), The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale

 

When the apostle Paul speaks about “my gospel” (in Romans and 2 Timothy) I believe he is not intending to convey that the content of what he believes was any different than say Peter or Luke or James. Rather he is saying, “This is the gospel as I personally have come to understand, experience and embody it.”

So I believe when last week we were given the opportunity to “testify before governors” (Matt.10:18 ) we were given the opportunity to declare “This is who we (Paul and Hilary Kyle) are and how we now live because of the good news from God we have come to believe.”

I believe Father also pointed out to me that Paul the apostle, like this Paul (and like most people!) was prone to “fear” in the natural. That is why God had to say to him and to me three times. “No Fear!” “No Fear!” “No Fear!”

The first time was in Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews where we read the verse I will quote below.
The second time was in vision in the Acts 18 story which I have also referenced as a type of what we have been acting out.
The third time was in the shipwreck story of Acts 27. I believe this angel also appeared to me one night a few years ago with the same message that Paul the apostle received, beginning, “Fear not.”

Below is the second half of “my gospel” that I was able to declare at the City Council meeting on 4th September:-

“Jesus said, “It is not right to make an innocent person pay a fine. Justice is perverted when good people are punished.” (Prov.17:26 )

So ‘Dr Kyle the psychiatrist’, got to thinking, “What accounts for this present madness?” ..where these mothers, worthy of honor, are being fined, and put out onto the street?

I think I found the answer in a quote from Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida “Fear makes devils of cherubim”

Might there be FEAR at work..

..…when a Private Property No Trespassing sign appears in a window?

…..when someone walks into City Hall, brandishing a legally held firearm, that might just be loaded…. metaphorically speaking of course?

….when at a Public Hearing someone speaks prospectively about the Big Green House being filled with sex offenders?

I must admit I too experienced fear 5 months ago when I watched the Robbinsdale City car pull up and a man with an official looking name tag round his neck step out.

Fear is a very understandable emotion for us all when we perceive a threat.

But I believe F.E.A.R. stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. Yes these feelings of apprehension are very real for each person, but they are based on a falsehood, a lie that probably began way back in our childhood when we were wounded by that other wounded person, and we began to believe the lie, “They are not to be trusted. I’m on my own. I have to take control. I need to look out for myself.”

The antidote to a lie – is the truth. Jesus said. “The truth will set you free.”

So as Pat Connelly, the code enforcement officer, walked toward our door I remembered ‘a truth’ I had been thinking about that very morning, where Jesus says….”I will never leave you…..I will never forsake you. Therefore with confidence we will say. God is our helper; we will not be afraid; what can man do to me?” (Heb.13:5,6)

The good news for all of us is, that the worst any man can do to us is –  pull the trigger! The fear of death is the root of all fears. But death’s OK! They pulled the trigger on Jesus…. and he came back to life!!…. and what’s more he promised never to leave us or forsake us!!!

The antidote to fear is trusting in this truth…the truth that everyone of us has a heavenly Dad who delights in us, and who will never let us down, and who really is managing everything for everyone’s ultimate good.

From this basis of trusting in His love, we can then begin to learn to trust and love one another.”

The King of Grace and the Robbinsdale Queens. Part 2. Three Queens of Robbinsdale

by on in The House (Rivendell), The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale

Early on in the movie Braveheart, Wallace watches his wife’s throat being cut by the oppressor. This lights a fire under him which becomes his motivating force right up until his agonizing execution as the sacrificial liberator. Just as he is about to die he sees his beloved bride pass through the crowd. (Caution: This scene may be disturbing to some)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAZEZfkM2YQ

This is a profound depiction of Christ. “Likewise husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” As the Bride of Christ we are exhorted to become like our Bridgroom King in his submissiveness to his Father in order to be a fitting Queen. (Ephesians.5)

Revelation 18 depicts the antithesis of the Bride of Christ, the Whore of Babylon, whose nature reflects the one she is wed to, Satan, also depicted as the Red Dragon in Revelation 12. She is consumed with self interest, seeking to consume  the weak and the vulnerable…..like the child not yet born! The revelations that are now coming about the extent to which children have been sexually abused is shocking ordinary folk. Women ‘as the more fragile vessel’ (1 Pt.3:7) have also been historically on the receiving end of this exploitation  being overtly treated as “second class citizens” or more subtly manipulated by current social pressures to behave and compete as men, denying the nobility of their femininity and the calling of many as mothers and homemakers

As I pondered what I should say to the Council, this is the first part of what I was given:

“Mayor Murphy, members of the Council…..Thank you for this opportunity to speak. and for all the good work you do on behalf of our City.

I think Mayor Murphy you may have heard our son Ben’s song,

“Daddy was a preacher in a shipbuilding town.

Momma rocked the cradle and wore a crown;

Because of you, Yes Lord because of you.”

Well, meet the preacher!…but I will try to be brief.

I would like to tell you about one of my heroes……This little girl grew up in a wealthy family…..but it was not a happy home. One day, when she was 15 years old she put two ice cubes instead of one into her father’s drinking buddy’s whiskey and her father said to her, “Get out of this house, and never come back”

That day she made a decision, albeit subconsciously. She decided she would not live for money, seeing it did not bring happiness, but she would live – for love. And so she got married and they moved into a small two bedroom house in Robbinsdale where she lovingly and responsibly raised their 7 children.

Then one day she heard that the little girl across the street had run into the same problems that she’d had growing up. “Sure dear.”She said, “Come and live with us. You can be part of our family.”

That caring mother is Mary Lou Clarkin, 58 years resident of Robbinsdale, sitting over there…… She told me her ‘adopted’ daughter turned out pretty well..…she became a Robbinsdale Queen in the City’s beauty pageant!

I think that is why my Hilary and Mary Lou get on so well together….As we’d say in Ireland, ”They’re cut from the same cloth.” Hilary is an incredible lover too.

Early on in our marriage she left her career in Education, and after defeating England at Wembley stadium on TV, as the song intimates, left her Irish international hockey career….because she felt her first call in life was to create a stable, loving and happy home. And so again as the song says she “rocked the cradle” – 7 times… but that was only the beginning!

I was talking to Ben the other night and he said, “Dad the lyrics are actually Momma cooked the meals and wore a crown.” And I said, “That’ll work too.”…because since we got married 43 years ago Hilary has cooked thousands of meals, made up thousands of beds, spent thousands of hours listening, counseling, coaching and praying for all sorts of people who have come to our home needing help and healing.

For money? Not a penny…. For the love of God, because like Mary Lou, by the grace of God, Hilary’s heart is no longer captive to fear and self interest, but her heart has been set free by love, to reach out and welcome many others in to our family……This, is our way of life.

We don’t consider ourselves religious. We just follow Jesus. When asked by his followers, “When did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink. When did we see you with no place to stay and invite you in? When did we see you sick and tenderly care for you?” Jesus answered, “Don’t you know? When you cared for one of the least important of these my little ones, my true brothers and sisters, you demonstrated love for me.”

At our first appeal we were told we were guilty of overcrowding. You see each person in our home has only 800 sq.ft.!! Please forgive my sarcasm, but Jesus used it once too, when he told the community leaders “You are obsessed with peripheral issues. You strain out a gnat… and swallow a camel! You should be concerned with the weightier matters of justice, faithfulness, and mercy, which means a readiness to help those in need.”

So we were informed if we told guests 3 and 4 to move out we would be forgiven the fine. These people are not numbers to us. This is our sister Shiela, a courageous Lakota mother seeking to responsibly raise her teenage daughters, in the midst of a hurting indigenous culture. Their names are Amber Sky and Hopa.

When this proposal was made to us, Hilary and I just looked at one another and smiled. We were both thinking, “Tell Jesus to move out? No; not for any amount of money.”

You see, my son Ben was right when he wrote “Mamma rocked the cradle and wore a crown. Because of you Yes Lord because of you”, because according to Jesus’ Code Book, it is Marylou Clarkin, Shiela Zephyr and Hilary Kyle who are the Real Robbinsdale Queens – in heaven’s beauty pageant.”

This message was confirmed to me in a dream the night before the Council meeting. As I woke, I sensed when I opened my eyes the digital display on the clock would confirm the dream. The clock said 3.33. When I rose later that morning and went downstairs I found someone had left a check on my study desk made out for $333. It was on the next evening as we were reflecting together after the Council meeting that someone discovered the Hebrew word for Queen has a gematria of 333. Then I realized the dream had been given on the third day of the ninth month 3.3.3. Hence the Three Queens of Robbinsdale.

P.S. Tomorrow, Monday 10th, Hilary and I will be leading a time of worship and sharing in a friend’s home in Belfast. Those of you in Northern Ireland who read the blog are welcome to come! The address is 6 Waterside View, Waterman’s point. Shore Road. Opposite Belfast High school. We’ll begin at 6pm with a meal. Please bring a side.

P.P.S. Because we go to the wilds of Donegal next week, I aim to complete this series reporting on recent events at The Big Green House before we leave wi fi behind and go silent for a few weeks!

The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale. Part 1. Spears into Ploughshares

by on in The House (Rivendell), The King of Grace and the Queens of Robbinsdale

 

The accusations against us had come from House number 2725. Strong’s # 2725 (Gk.) is reproduced above.

Consistent with the type in Acts 18 I referenced a few weeks ago where Paul was attacked in Corinth, (Gallio) The (pro) Council has ruled in our favor, and the complaint (accusation) has been “ejected from the court” (Acts 18:14)

The Council decided to halt any further citations being issued while they consider how the City zoning code might be amended so that we are able to continue what we are doing which the Council recognized was for the welfare of the City.

Again consistent with the story in Acts 18, God’s “many people in the city” were instrumental in this victory ……of ‘the people’

Over the last 5 months of warfare at the Big Green House the movie Braveheart has been brought to my mind. Particularly the decisive Stirling battle scene when the rag tag Scottish army face the seemingly invincible English. William Wallace makes his classic FREEDOM speech.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEOOZDbMrgE

The arrogant English Lord is provoked to toss caution to the wind and preemptively send his heavy cavalry at the ‘rebellious’ Scots. As they face the thunderous charge, Wallace repeats to his nervous men, “Hold! Hold!! Hold!!! Hold!!!!” until at precisely the right moment…. “NOW!” – The tree trunks sharpened into deadly spears are hoisted up and the charging tide destroyed, routed by their own momentum leading to the unthinkable – an English defeat!!

Early on we asked former Riven-dwellers to send us short testimonies of their time at Rivendell. We were so heartened to read 25 stories of healing and transformation. I sensed these were like 25 sharpened Scottish stakes and were to be held back… for precisely the right time. During the first and second appeals we brought out a few of them to give the officials an understanding of our calling…. But not until the documents for the final Council meeting were being compiled did I submit all 25 for inclusion. These were swelled by the testimonies of 16 (love) neighbors at the Public Hearing and a neighbor initiated petition with 38 signatures. (38 is the number for calling, for I believe we have been fulfilling our calling at Rivendell over these last 16 (love) years) There were also several strongly supportive phone calls and letters from neighbors as well as Dr. Tim Behrens letter providing the scientific proof for our definition of “family” substantiating the words of scripture.

I also anticipated I would have another opportunity to speak at the Council meeting before they made their ruling and so for days I mulled over this final piece of ‘testimony’. It turned out not only was I allowed to speak at some length, but when I asked the Mayor if I might sing, he chuckled and said, “I’m always game for a first….go ahead!”

Of course death in the old (covenant) is life in the new (covenant) as the physical sword (or sharpened Scottish stake) which kills the body is replaced by “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” that kills the soul, only to free the spirit. We know too that, “They overcame him (the accuser) by the blood of the lamb (what God has done for us) and the word of their testimony (what we do for him, in response)..and they loved not their lives unto death.” (Rev.12:11)

I believe we are experiencing in these days what is written of in Isaiah 2:4

” He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more.”

The evening of September 4th was when our Father shouted “NOW!”…. and we witnessed the routing of the enemy. I believe ‘the sword of the spirit’  like a ploughshare, ploughed  the hearts of  the Council as, through the testimony of many, they received the word of God, and then gave their godly ruling.

More next week.

Appendices 1 and 2

by on in Uncategorized

 

I couldn’t help but slip in an extra post this week when this photo came through on Hilary’s Instagram feed the night after I posted the last blog..

As you can see it takes the images I posted of the Bank Building and the rainbow and fuses them into one. Posted by bestofBelfast….I agree the best is yet to come, for Belfast and us all, as God has promised!!

My second appendix is to share a ‘gag’ with you (Irish for a laugh). One of our American friends wrote, concerned that I had made an embarrassing typo writing ‘fag’ instead of ‘fire’. One of the definitions at dictionary.com for ‘fag’ is “a contemptuous term for a male homosexual” Thank you dear sister for your caring sensitivity. I ended up writing about Belfast with my Belfast readers (terms and spelling) in mind. Growing up there, ‘having a fag’ simply meant smoking a cigarette! (I think it was Winston Churchill who said that the British and the Americans where two nations separated by a common language. : – )

However as I further pondered the comment of this very prophetic lady I realized God was using her to point to something else…..the recent shocking exposure of sexual abuse in the Catholic church… another example of God’s shining the light on the ‘works of darkness’ ….such as ‘having a fag’.  Even the most supposedly ‘trustworthy’ of institutions will be shaken, and only that which cannot be shaken, Christ and his unshakable kingdom, will remain.

 

 

 

 

 

Does the Flame Burn Brighter?

by on in Uncategorized

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A week from today Hilary and I fly back to Belfast. (D.V.)

Yesterday our daughter Abby sent us this photo of an iconic building in the centre of Belfast, ablaze. I couldn’t help but line it up with The Flame picture that hangs in our hallway. Painted by our Australian friend Paul Newton, co-inciding with the 2000 Sydney Olympics, it illustrates The Flame song I was given at that time.

The painting is based on two photos Paul took of his father’s hands and his daughter’s hands with the flame of faith being passed through the three generations. Interestingly when Abby found and married her Belfast flame, Stephen, she moved from Minneapolis to live in a little house literally 50 yards from where her godly grandfather had his furniture shop! Stephen and Abby’s joint flame now burns bright as they serve together in leading a thriving Belfast city centre church!

I have been pondering the significance of this fire because although there is a purely ‘natural’ reason (someone having a fag? ) and response, (relief there were no casualties. sadness at the loss of an historic building etc.) for these things, there is another greater ‘reality’ manifesting in this time/space continuum that we are being given eyes to see. So may I offer a couple of ‘insights’

I believe we are living in Verse 4 of the Flame song

…..When this age shall end and the time has come, for the Trump to sound.

When I was given those lyrics back in 2000 no one was thinking of Donald Trump as a political candidate much less as a future President of the United States! So the next phrase should have us on high alert:

….and our Lord to come.

When Hilary was showing the photo to someone here, she made a throw away comment I picked up on, “It’s famous as The Bank Building.”

In Revelation 18 we read about Mystery Babylon and her fall. The power of this entity has lain in her ability to remain secretive. However because ‘the time has come’  I believe God is now exposing as never before “The works of darkness.” 

One expression of the ‘kingdom of darkness’ based in the world of banking, is the Federal Reserve, which is not Federal at all but a group of private bankers that has welded enormous power over the last century. It’s origins are well documented in the book “The Creature from Jeckel Island” by G Edward Griffin. More and more people are now waking up to the manipulating narrative of the money manipulated, mainstream media. I have mentioned this before as described in the old BBC documentary “The Century of the Self” available on Youtube.

So to understand what is really going on requires an understanding of history and a more accurate knowledge of current events, but most important of all an insight given by the Spirit into Scripture.

These blogs are not a teaching platform but mere morsels to whet the appetite for this deeper study and understanding that is possible for those with a hunger for truth.

A second observation to do with these two photos I was lead to lay alongside each others is this….

You will notice that above the flame atop The Bank Building is an ominous black cloud of smoke. News of troubling events in today’s world can fill us with foreboding!

However if you look above the other Flame, the Flame of God’s love, you will see a rainbow. The rainbow was given in Genesis 9 as a sign of God’s covenant with the whole of creation. This was a reaffirmation and elaboration of the first covenant given to Abraham, the covenant fulfilled in Christ, based on grace through faith. This new covenant stood in contrast to the old covenant. The old covenant was to do with man’s vow to God, which he could never keep, the New Covenant is to do with God’s vow to man which he will most certainly keep.

This is the incredibly good news of the God of hope who fills our hearts with joy and peace, as we put our trust in Him…..to do all that he has said he would do for you, me and the whole of creation that lies under that rainbow of His promise.

Babylon is bound to fall and as Jesus taught his disciples to pray…..the unshakable Kingdom of God will come, and his will, be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

 

P.S.We are looking forward to carrying this hope to our family and friends in Ireland from September 6th – October 10th. If any of you Irish blog readers would like to connect with us during that time, please do contact us……and we’ll see what adventure our Father has in store for us together as we worship and wait on Him in this Tabernacles season.

P.P.S. We fly out the day after the Robbinsdale City Council meeting. We have been greatly encouraged by the many expressions of love and faith we have received on this journey, and will hopefully have a report to share with you on the next blog. For those who live  locally and would like to attend, the meeting is at Robbinsdale City Hall at 7pm on Tuesday 4th September

WE are more than CONKERS

by on in The House (Rivendell)

 

As a boy growing up in suburban Belfast, we used to look forward every Autumn (Fall, to my American readers) to gathering horse chestnuts. The game of “Conkers” would give us endless hours of good, clean, EMF free fun. We would dry the nuts and then bore a hole through which we would thread and knot a string. The two contestants would then take turns to swing their conker in an attempt to hit and ultimately shatter the opponents nut. With every win the conker would move a notch higher in prestige. If you beat a ‘winner’ you then gleaned it’s accumulated victories.

In those days there were relatively few horse chestnut trees in Northern Ireland, and the location of these was a closely guarded secret. the trick each year was to visit and secure the hidden treasure at just the right time…after the ripe fruit had fallen, before the other searching schoolboys arrived.

The other day I was running down PARKVIEW and suddenly realized the central island was lined with horse chestnut trees, weighed down with a bountiful conker harvest. “Wow!!” I exclaimed with schoolboy glee….”PARKVIEW is heaven!”

I was recounting the experience to Hilary… ending with, “We’re living on PARKVIEW heaven!!!”

The grandkids has just left, so her spontaneous response was, “Not if there’s no one to play with!”

It was a bit of a downer, but as I pondered further I realized , “She’s right. There’s no such thing as heaven on your own….on your own without anyone to play with…..it’s hell! I thought about our isolating neighbor who has taken offense at all the people coming and going at our home, and of another dear lady we get to visit occasionally who languishes immobilized in a ‘care facility’, having lost her sight her beloved ‘seeing eye’ dog and most of her human connections.

We are made for loving connection, primarily with our Creator, our Father and then with our fellow human beings.

That day I had my men’s sharing group in the morning and that evening some other brothers who came over to process the PARKVIEW citation developments with me. At the end of the day my heart was full, buoyed up with the wisdom and support of true friends who I have journeyed with – deep and long.

I thought of Psalm 16.“You give marvelous comrades to me the faithful who dwell in the land.”

…and then Paul’s words in Romans with a renewed emphasis on, “WE are more than conquerors THROUGH CHRIST who loved US.”  This truth flies in the face of the “I’m my own man.” and ” I did it my way” spirit that our pride based nature and culture would nurture. But those who follow this lie end up the most disconnected, defeated and miserable of all men and women.

Hilary was right – WE are more than CONKERS

……. cause without anyone to play with, what looked like heaven, can prove to be  hell.

 

2721 Parkview

by on in The House (Rivendell)

 

 

At the back of my KeyWord study bible is a Dictionary with the Strong’s numbers. The Greek number 2721 occurs only once in scripture. Interestingly it is in the story in Acts 18 where “the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul.” (KJV). The Lord had however already appeared to Paul in a vision saying, “ Do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

At the Public Hearing at the Robbinsdale City Hall last Thursday we saw some of these “many people”, step up to speak one after another. The youngest was Raina Marsh pictured above giving testimony into the microphone : – )

Then,

A social historian, who lives three doors down from us painted the picture of how our society has changed  over the years, and warned that if the old codes regulating housing are not updated, the City is ‘headed for a train wreck’

The head of the law enforcement agency, the chief of police, who lives next door stepped forward to eloquently explain how “the letter of the law” must be applied in harmony with “the spirit of the law” in order that peace might prevail.

A young couple, baby in arms, came forward. Both are engineers. Andy helped design the retractable dome on the new stadium in Minneapolis. Kelly designs bridges. They offered a very straightforward… mathematical solution.

Since moving to Park-View 16 years ago the promise, “Stand still (Park) and see(View) the salvation of your God.” (2 Chron.20:17) has always lived in us. As we stood still and saw these and other Parkview residents step forward, not to force their opinions, but to make their unique contributions, we realized we were hearing the wisdom of God and actually seeing “the kingdom of righteous peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rm.14:17) manifesting in downtown Robbinsdale!

Jesus said, “‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive.” (Matt.13:13)..…for not everyone hears and sees “truth”.… YET that is!

However, this is the genius of God’s wise love.

In Ex. 4:11, he tells us that he is the one who has the power to open and shut eyes and ears and mouths. He therefore takes responsibility for blinding people to the truth. In the law, if a man blinds his slave he is obligated to then free that slave.“If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye.”(Ex. 21:26) God has created us so we are all his property (slaves) by virtue of creator’s rights. So if he has blinded us, he has also obligated himself to set us free.

Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn.8:32). So effectively God has promised, to in the end, open the eyes and ears of everyone, so that all can see and hear “the truth” that sets us free.

As well as peace and joy there was a large measure of “fear” in the room on Thursday evening. “Blinded by fear.” is a phrase we are all familiar with. In Shakespeare’s play Troilus and Cressida, Troilus warns, “Fears make devils of cherubim; they never see truly.”  The antidote to this blinding and binding “fear” is a knowledge of, that is a personal experience of, “the truth” that God loves us, for “perfect love drives out fear.”(1 Jn.4:18)

Our grandchildren acted recently in the school Shakespeare play. When the play finished, all the actors came on stage and bowed, no matter how they were cast – heros and villains alike.

We are confident then,  that as the scripture says, in the end, ‘when the lights go on’, every knee will choose to bow and every tongue choose to confess that Jesus Christ the author and director of our story, is Lord….and it will be… to the glory of God, our “perfect love” Father. (Phil.2:10,11)

If we believe our eyes and ears have been opened to a degree, it gives us no cause for pride, because this is an unmerited gift from God. Instead, it gives us the opportunity to grow in patient love with those we deem to have not YET received this grace – the personal experience of His “perfect love.”

P.S.  A final ruling is expected to be given at the City Council meeting at Robbinsdale City Hall at 7pm on September 4th. It is a public meeting, so anyone is welcome to attend.

Thank you again for praying with us that as this divinely orchestrated drama continues to unfold, and we seek to faithfully play our part that all the actors might come into the liberating experiential knowledge of this “perfect love.”

The Number of Love

by on in The House (Rivendell)

 

Saturday morning and still no still, small, blogging whisper. “Ah! after last week’s long one, Father is giving my readers a break” I thought.

So I sat down at the computer and instead of going to my blog site I turned to of all places the Hennepin County site to look at property information following up on a notion I’d had a few days ago.

It occurred to me that “The Big Green House.” (which we don’t view as ‘our’ property, but which we simply steward for our Father and in which we serve at his bidding) had cost substantially more to buy than the average house in this neighborhood. Again as we determined to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” the “all these things” including the purchase price has been provided for, by Him!

That amount was substantially more than the average house in this neighborhood sells for, because of course the house is substantially bigger than the average house!

The question that occurred to me was whether consequently the property taxes we pay every year are also more than our neighbors pay. If this were so, would it be not be reasonable if the code allowance for the average home was 2 ‘guests’ we should be allowed more?

We have been so heartened to see the two oldest neighbors on the block – one resident of 58 years, another couple, 51 years resident have been the leading ‘Activists’ on our behalf : – )

Last night I saw Mary clipboard in hand working the street for signatures on a petition to request we be allowed to continue our family way of life here, while Mary Lou sent out an email to the neighbors encouraging them to let their voices be heard at City Hall.

Last week at the Block Party on National Night Out we were able to share with some neighbors not only a slice of our trademark avocado cake, but part of our story through our Rivendell Live CD. We met, Lena a young woman, who works in mental health and has just moved into the neighborhood. She subsequently wrote to the City:

“Most people only talk about making the world a better place, but this is how we make the world a better place. Hillary and Paul are actually doing it. By being of service to those in need, by opening their home to those who need shelter and by creating solutions in areas where city, county, state and national governments are failing. “

She also wrote,

“I am new to the neighborhood, and in the short time I have been here I have already begun to understand that Hillary and Paul are exceptional people.” 

I agree that we are “exceptional people” not in the sense that we are any better than anyone else but in the sense that we are not average. This house is also exceptional in this same sense. In the light of this should we also not be grated an exemption from the code?

Should not also the antiquated City code be changed in order,

1. To catch up with modern science that in the last 15 years through DNA studies has affirmed we share 99.9% of our DNA. As our long time friend Tim, a leading geneticist wrote,”We are all “blood relatives” in the original sense of the word, related by birth due to common ancestors.  The data is incontrovertible.” (and in accord with the scripture, Acts 27:26,27)

2. To be made compatible with the lifestyle of those who seek to follow the Jesus who said,

Then the godly will, answer him, “Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty and give you food and something to drink? When did we see you with no place to stay and invite you in? When did we see you poorly clothed and cover you? When did we see you sick and tenderly care for you, or in prison and visit you?”

“And the King will answer them, Don’t you know? When you cared for one of the least important of these my little ones, my true brothers and sisters, you demonstrated love for me.” (Matt.25: 37-39) ?

Hilary and I have been doing some ‘soul searching’ recently. The other night she said to me, “My only concern is that we may have turned away someone who we were meant to have said ‘Yes’ to”. We may not be an “average” household, but oh that her heart might become the new “normal”.

So….to return to this week’s title.

I looked up the property taxes which are on the public record. I then added the property taxes of the two house on either side of us, divided by two to get an average and then divided this amount into the amount of property tax we pay.

The answer was 3.14

Excitedly I showed the figure to Hilary. As the penny dropped (pun intended) she chuckled “Again!”

Let me explain, if you haven’t ‘got it’. 3.14 is the mathematical value (to two decimal places) of the infinite number Pie which is 22/7. As I have written before. Pie is the 16th letter in the Greek alphabet and there are 16 characteristics of love recorded in 1 Corinthians 13. So pie represents God’s infinite love.

Once again Father was letting us know that we are simply paying the price of love…… and it is even written into our property taxes!!!

And the date of our hearing this week?

The 16th of course : – )

P.S. I just checked the word count for this week’s blog – 901 = Ps.90:1. “Lord, YOU have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” : – )