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Spiritual Intelligence from Morningstar, The Lake, ZHOP refugees and The Cause USA Parking Lot
"The only way to combat the static is to go to the cement dam at the end of the lake and declare the name of Jesus and pray in tongues for about an hour. Walking back and forth and simply praising God and praying in the Spirit releases an individual sphere of protection and clarity."
What is happening around here as we finish 2009 and enter 2010 is that the original themes of why people came here originally have dried up over the course of the last four years. Ministries have left and there is a general erasure of overarching spiritual agendas that have left a void in the land.
Leviathan and Mental Degradation
One of the by products of living in close proximity to the lake in front of Morningstar is that there is a subtle but powerful ongoing daily and ever present heaviness or weight upon the mind. The simplest tasks become confusing and difficult. It is difficult to describe. There is a great deal of spiritual static in the air all the time. Electronics break down. Hard drives crash. There is a general financial desperation in the area.
This is especially true in relationships. The simplest friendships and Christian fellowship become confused and twisted with manipulation and sub-surface personal agendas seeking resources and empowerment. The spiritual warfare around the Heritage USA property is extremely intense, especially since the sphere of Glory around the area left when the prayer house moved to IHOP Kansas City. There is a frazzled band of spiritual refugees attempting to find new beginnings and new belonging in something higher than their lone existence.
The several high-profile ministries, The Cause USA, The Zadok House of Prayer and others, which started in 2006 have since dried up. It is all finished. What is left in 2010 is Morningstar 2.0, Bob Griffin and Seven Flames and a couple of ongoing prayer meetings in private homes. There is one group - or more accurately - one couple who are attempting to acquire a following to start an "outside of the system" compound south of Rock Hill as a place of refuge for the collapse of society.
Hidden in the shadows of the Cause parking lot, against the hill, is what has come to be known as "Camp Solidarity". What people do not realize is that there is a fairly large population of displaced Christians who live in their cars in the parking lot. Who arrive late and leave early. Large regions of the Grand Hotel sit vacant. Ten homes on Durand street remain empty from the ZHOP exodus. And the homeless look for open hearts in the winter.
The only way to combat the static is to go to the cement dam at the end of the lake and declare the name of Jesus and pray in tongues for about an hour. Walking back and forth and simply praising God and praying in the Spirit releases an individual sphere of protection and clarity.
Communal clarity has left. The new paradigm in 2010 is to fight for and get individual clarity in a daily walk with the Lord. There is no more auto-pilot spirituality based on an association with a ministry. Perhaps there never really has been.
Crumbling Ministerial Foundations
Many individuals and families moved to the immediate vicinity in 2006 to be a part of what they thought at the time would be long term permanent ministry expansion. There was an investment club that was started, a prayer house and a Nazarite youth movement, alongside Morningstar's renovation of the Heritage USA property. It is very interesting that during the grand exodus of the Zadok House of Prayer in the summer and fall of 2009; the prophet Bob Griffin came to town with new fire, new teaching, and original prophetic words. Following in his wake came a new wave of individuals and families seeking housing and resources.
What we realize here is that people want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want connection, direction, purpose, validation, hope, and community. There are people who will uproot themselves to follow strong prophetic personalities around the country. We most desperately want to be in the will of God. But we also function out of wounding, distrust, and basic survival defenses.
The Prophetic Spiritual Front
Regarding the homosexual predator at ZHOP - His modus operandi was to use the prophetic as a first mover advantage. In other words, the way he would get in to the group was to find lone, seemingly vulnerable young men and "pray" for them. Or he would come up to them with a "prophetic word".
The basic operating theory here is that in any given new situation where two people are meeting, the one who "prays" first or gives the other person a prophetic word first gains the prophetic upper-hand. When someone comes up to you, uninvited, and tells you they have a word from God , you naturally lower your defenses because you want to hear what the word is. They also give the impression that because they had a "word" first they are somehow more tuned in to God. The prophetic can be used as a tool of manipulation.
His other practice was to steal bibles and acquire "food" and give them as "gifts". "God told me to give you this bible."
The proper use of prophetic words is in community, within a body of believers, all of whom have a piece of the picture and something to contribute. The words can be discerned and judged as a whole.
Just like any organization the people at the top are usually the most verbal, strong-willed, and narcissistic. Christ like leadership is based on humility and service. To become a servant is to be a leader. But what we see when there is a spiritual void is that certain gifted people see an opportunity to launch themselves into ministry based on a prophetic word they themselves received perhaps years ago. There is no covering or accountability.
The situation in the region is that there are many displaced and scattered people looking to "belong" to some new thing and the person with the most aggressive and verbal agenda is usually the one who collects a following.
It is extremely important to dig your own well, hear from God yourself, and discern - who people are and what they really want. All is not as it appears to be.
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