Breaching the Realm of Heaven

Breach / brēCH / to make a gap in and breakthrough (a wall, barrier, or defense).

I researched the word “breach” after watching a video of a whale breaching. The whale swam half of its body out of the water into thin air then crashed back into the ocean with a huge splash. I have always felt whales had to be smiling when they put on such spectacular displays.

Watching the video of the whale, I thought of the many times in the summer when I dove into a lake or the ocean to enter the realm of the underwater world. My experience was like that of the whale. We each entered realms not our own for a temporary visit to experience awe and wonder.

I also thought of a movie I once watched. An unexplored realm hung before an explorer like a vertical wall of water held in space by a supernatural force. The explorer pushed his face against the shimmering substance and pressed through the barrier into another world to see what was not visible to those who stood behind him.

Yesterday, at Living Waters Church in Medford, Oregon, we breached the barrier between this world and eternity. Our worship team always does an excellent job using their musical gifts and worship leading ability to honor God. It is never a performance. It is pure and powerful worship. What was profound yesterday and became a breaching moment was when Ryan Rhoden stepped up on the platform and pastored the moment we were experiencing. 

At the end of worship, Ryan asked us to linger because something was taking place in the Spirit. No longer was the clock defing our time together, neither was the worship team or Ryan. The Spirit was inviting us to breach realms. In the wait, we stepped into the realm of Heaven and received what could not have been experienced had we not allowed the time for people to take a breaching step of faith. This moment came because we heard the words, “Let’s wait here for a moment.” In the waiting came the breaching.

For years, many of us who have led the Church believed our primary task was to center our gathering around a sermon or the latest expression of worship. At other times, we thought if we could just gain another skillset or another academic degree we could somehow move our churches past a limiting barrier of growth when all along, the most powerful thing we could have done was to help people breach realms.

In recent years, many of us learned that hosting the presence of God is the primary task of Spirit-led leadership in both the church and in culture. Each time we gather for a church service, a business meeting or when two friends meet for coffee, there will be an opportunity to breach realms. It is in these moments of breaching where something supernatural is released that we will bring back to our natural realm to change how we see and live this life. Breaching always precedes breakthrough.