The Entry

The Entry

Narrow is the gate into the kingdom of beauty and wonder

Yet within the way is very, very broad

In fact, it is eternal

It dances in the clouds

It moves into the depths like the waters

It is older than the mountains

Yet younger than the sky

It moves on without hesitation

Never stopping at the why

It is blue as blue is meant to be

It is promise of coming life

The entry may be narrow and hard

Yet within there is no strife

So don’t mistake the universe for the entry

Don’t settle down where there is no room

Keep stepping toward the bluest depths

Where the sun always rests at noon

K, Duane Carter 10-27-11

The Deep

I was finishing up my exercise routine this morning, and I looked up to see one of my photos of Colorado.  I have been thinking about publishing an inspirational calendar with poems and photos, and that got me to wondering.  I began to wonder why inspirational products sell so well.  Obviously our country must have a lot of people that desire to be inspired and encouraged.  Now the next logical step would be to say that obviously life can be hard and stressful and people need that inspiration and encouragement to get through those difficulties and hardships.  But then I felt something deeper.  What if down deep what we are really seeking is that something that life is really supposed to be here on planet earth?  I’m not talking about the yearning for heaven either.  I’m talking about releasing the glory of God here on this earth we live on.  What if we humans have put up with disappointment and hurt and discouragement and pain and suffering and death for so long that we have buried that real yearning and power and faith that is deep within us telling us it really doesn’t have to be the way that we see it?  What if that fire burning deep within the mountainous pile of ashes is that quiet voice of God saying, “You were born for much more than this…you were born for much more.”  What if God is just waiting for that one woman, that one man, that one boy, that one girl who is willing to say, “God, you told us to pray that Your will be done on earth and Your kingdom to come to this earth and for it to be on earth as it is in heaven.  You gave us back our dominion over this planet.  I’m ready to walk in that”?  What if we quit accepting excuses like, “That’s just the way life is”, and “God allows bad stuff to happen to help us be better” and started to live out the truth that He has called us to greater works than Jesus by resting in our identity as sons and daughters of God and the beautiful bride of Jesus?  What if??  I’m beginning to see it…and it is more beautiful than we can think or imagine.  You were born for more than this.  Go for it.  The earth is crying out for you. 

Kabad

Kabad
The heaviness
I feel it hovering
I feel Him hovering
Like a great eagle over her nestlings
He is about to descend
And place Himself over us
And make us warm
With His fire
Which is Himself
And nothing else to us will matter
We will see nothing but Him
We will feel nothing but Him
We will hear nothing but Him
We will smell nothing but Him
I can sense the heaviness
It is wonderful
It is awesome
It is His
Kabad

K, Duane Carter 1-31-10

Truth and Disaster

One of the Greatest Truths, One of the Greatest Disasters

One statement that I have heard many times is one of the great truths in the modern church, but is also one of the greatest disasters. It is, “You are so heavenly minded, that you are no earthly good.” It is a great truth because the church has gotten to the point that it is so far away from Jesus’ call for it, that we have to look forward to the rapture to save us all. The world is not in a mess because of the rampant power of sin. The world is in a mess because of the rampant powerlessness of the church, and our reaction to that is to pull the “eject” lever and bail out. Thank God He didn’t tell us where that lever is. Instead He has told us where the throttle is, and He has told us where our weapons cache is, and that is what He expects us to do is to go full throttle into the mess and come into agreement with Him to fix it. So we do need to get delivered out of this dreamy state with our heads in the clouds waiting to be delivered from our boring, meaningless, and powerless existence. It is time we became good to this earth. It is time we took our role as the salt and preserve the goodness that God created in this earth.
There is a disaster in this statement though. The question becomes “How do we go full throttle into this mess and work with God to fix it?” We have to become heavenly minded. If we try to be earthly good without being heavenly minded, then we have a disaster. Now before you start to throw rocks at me for contradicting myself I am NOT talking about dreaming about streets of gold and a big house and such. I am talking about getting to the point where we are so intimate with God that we follow His dreams. That is TRUE heavenly-mindedness. His dreams are a world without poverty, a world where every child is loved and nurtured and cared for, a world with no HIV, a world with no violence and hate, and a world that is overwhelmed with His love. I am not talking about “utopia”; I am talking about the kingdom of God. In order to think like the King, we have to know the King. We have to hang out in the presence of the King. We have to obey the King when He says, “Do this.” We have to obey the King when He says, “DON’T do that.” I am not talking about obeying the ten commandments. I am not talking about taking on more activities at the local church. I am not even talking about selling everything and becoming a missionary. I am talking about getting before Him and listening and doing what we are told. To do this, we have to be heavenly minded. Paul puts it this way, “We have the mind of Christ.” Christ did only what He saw the Father do, and He said only what He heard the Father say. If we are true believers, then we have the mind of Christ and it is time to put that heavenly mindset, the mind of Jesus, to work. When we become the body of Christ and we function in the place He has created us to be, then guess what? The body of Christ becomes the living being that it was meant to be. Let’s get heavenly minded so that we can BE earthly good.

Today I discussed with some friends our desire to see the kingdom of God show up. I shared how I felt that God was telling us that it is here, and that He had been sharing with me how so many people missed Jesus when He showed up because they had such a limited idea of what He was supposed to look like. I told them that I felt like God was giving us a “heads up” not to do the same thing. We are so intent that He will show up in a certain way or in certain place that we are going to miss Him if we aren’t looking to the Father for our guidance. As we discussed this, God started revealing some things to me.
When Jesus began His ministry His message was, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (within your reach).” For so long the word repent has been used for “turn from sin” or “ask forgiveness for your sin.” I don’t think this is what Jesus is saying here. He wasn’t saying, “Turn from your sin and it will be good for you.” What He was saying was “Change the way you think about God, because He is right here within your reach, but you will miss Him if you don’t change your way of thinking.” This is His message for us in this day and age also. He is calling out for us to change our way of thinking about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is time to quit thinking of the Father as a cruel Taskmaster in heaven who has a big whip just wanting to thrash us with it except that poor, humble Jesus is holding Him back. It is time to quit thinking of the Holy Spirit as a “thing” and realize He is a person and that He is frankly the only God here on this earth, so we might want to have a relationship with Him. It is time to quit looking at God as only the Judge of all things wicked and threatening people with Him and with punishment. See God already unleashed the punishment, and Jesus took it for us, so that is done with. Now He is simply looking to love on all of His children, and I do mean ALL of His children, and that would be every single human being on the planet. Yes, I did say every single human being on the planet. Because here is the deal. If we don’t change our thinking about God and allow it to line up with the truth, then when He does show up at the least we will miss Him and at the worst we will try and kill Him (or those that follow Him). If we don’t change our thinking, then we won’t even be able to recognize Him. Look in Mark 1:15 where Jesus says, “Repent and believe…” We can’t believe something that our mind won’t accept. If we have a mindset of “God would not do this in this way” then when He does it that way we miss Him at the least or at the worst attribute His work to the enemy. It is time we change our thinking by allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us what He says about us and Himself in His word, and not by just holding on to some “doctrine” for the sake of holding on to doctrine. When we allow bitterness and anger and hatred to masquerade for a pursuit of holiness or to masquerade for standing for truth, then we are in the enemy’s camp and we will miss Jesus when He shows up. It is time to change our thinking.
Jesus didn’t come to simply help us cope. What a waste that would have been. He didn’t come to give us another Dr. Phil (no offense to Dr. Phil, by the way) to get us through our lives hanging on until we “fly away into the sweet by-and-by.” That is also a waste. Jesus came to restore us to the Father. He came to reestablish our relationship with the Father. When we walk in that relationship with the Father we move from merely existing in a natural world simply coping and doing the best we can (which is never enough, by the way), to living FROM a supernatural world where by His grace we take our God-given place of dominion. That is called abundant living and it is what Jesus promised us. We are not here to sit around waiting for Him to come to save us from this “cruel world.” JESUS ALREADY CAME AND DID THAT!!! We are to change our thinking and see the kingdom of God come to this earth now (in our time) just as it is in heaven. That is what Jesus told us to pray for. Would He ask us to pray for something He wouldn’t do?
I am ready to repent and believe. The kingdom of God is within our reach.