Columba and Kentigern. After establishing 30 houses of prayer in Ireland, and after making a pilgrimage to honor Martin at Tours, the hot-headed Columba created some serious problems in Ireland—and was banished from his homeland in the middle of the sixth century. Founding the prayer community at Iona, Columba succeeded in bringing the Picts and […]
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Patrick and the Irish
October 28th, 2019Patrick and the Irish. As a teenager, Patrick was whisked away from his home in Dumbarton, Scotland, to be a slave in Ireland. This improbable beginning set him on a journey of prayer, which God would build into one of the greatest examples of Kingdom transformation the world has ever seen—as described by Patrick himself […]
Evagrius, Cassian and Germanus
October 28th, 2019Evagrius, Cassian and Germanus. Evagrius of Pontus, experiencing the temptations of wealth and power in the Byzantine Church, fled to the deserts of Egypt, where he became the leader of the spiritual descendants of Anthony at Nitria. Two men—Cassian and Germanus—attached themselves to him, then carried the teaching of the Desert Fathers into Gaul, and […]
The Early Celts
October 28th, 2019The Early Celts. The Desert Fathers, beginning with Anthony, continued to live by the original “by my Spirit” pattern Jesus modeled out for them. Martin of Tours picked that up from the biography of Anthony by Athanasius, and passed it along to Ninian, who planted it in Scotland in 397 A.D. Scotland became a matchstick […]
Power and Might
October 28th, 2019Power and Might. When Constantine moved to make Christianity the official “religion” of Rome, Pope Sylvester I assumed that he was to form an alliance with the Roman emperor. In this way—beginning in 313 A.D.—Christianity stopped being a “by my Spirit” kingdom, and began to function as a “power and might” religion. My teaching shows […]
By My Spirit
October 28th, 2019By My Spirit. Jesus fulfilled the ancient king-prophecies, but declared that His kingdom was not “of this world.” It was not a “power and might” kingdom, but a “by my Spirit” kingdom. My teaching articulates seven features of how His Kingdom operates—the basic patterns of real Christianity, which entered into the Roman world to transform […]
The Hope of Rome
October 28th, 2019The Hope of Rome. The ancient Hebrew prophecies spoke of a new kingdom that God would instigate during the fourth great world empire of the ancient world: the Roman Empire. The great promise of that empire was this: that they would civilize the surrounding “barbarian” nations by conquering them. Caesar began the process of “civilization” […]
Praying in the Spirit
October 18th, 2019In experimental Christianity, you find something in the Bible, then you ask God to teach you how to walk in the reality of it—to walk by faith. Early on, I was confronted with the gift of tongues described in the Bible. I give a little history of this gift, and explain why I don’t teach […]
Praying with Others
October 18th, 2019When we come together with other people, the dynamics of prayer changes dramatically. That is why it’s best to follow the pattern that Jesus gave us for together prayer. Start with worship. Then focus on the Kingdom of God—God’s will, before asking for anything for ourselves. We also clear our hearts of any residue of […]
More Ways to Buy Oil
October 18th, 2019Jesus warns us to “buy oil”—especially as we see that the time of His return is drawing near. The purpose seems to be so that we can resist deceptions that will overcome the world at that time. I add several more ways to enrich our daily quiet time with God—secrets of the secret place. The […]
