The Real Source of Our Conflict

At this time, when so much emotion is swirling about, and when each person holds a passionate and immovable position, it is too easy to forget what is taking place. Death is manifesting its presence, and that manifestation is taking many forms. 

There is a spirit called Death. In the Greek language, he is known as Apollyon. In Hebrew, Abaddon. This spirit is defined as “Destroyer” and “the author of apocalypse.” The definition also includes “ruin, “destruction, “the minister of death,” and “the author of havoc on earth.” These definitions are sourced from a root word meaning “perish.”

The manifestation of Death is not always a final blow, shot, or verdict. It works like the proverbial frog in a kettle giving its dark mission time to misguide us leading us down a path of greater forms of deception and decay until, at last, something dies.

 

When peaceful protests for righteous issues are allowed to become riots that lead to anarchy and eventually death, death will have accomplished its goal.

 

Abortion, once a sad solution for an early-stage unwanted pregnancy, moved its demand for death to mid-term pregnancies, and now to the unimagined horror of late-term abortion.

 

Poverty created by disadvantage and dismissal of those living in the decaying inner cities of our nation has created generations who have only known loss and lack. This disadvantage and dismissal have brought the death-producing mindset of hopelessness to an entire family line.

 

A marriage that began in love and commitment ends in divorce. Death has a mission to destroy the oneness of the earthly image of Christ and the Church by removing reconciliation and forgiveness from the relationship.

 

When Jesus rose from the dead, He disempowered Death. The faith of the Church is built upon that victory. Our response to the resurrection of Jesus is to bring life in all its forms to our conversations and actions. Paul repeatedly preached a message about the implications of resurrection life because it is what empowers the Gospel message by disempowering the ministry of Death in all its forms. 

 

Many are praying against the byproducts of this spirit. There are many examples of these byproducts of Death, along with the ones I noted above. Praying against these manifestations is a good thing, but only if we recognize the root that is spawning such issues and giving them a place in our lives. 

Going to the root cause of the brokenness in our world - Death - will keep us from making enemies of those who are manifesting the byproducts of that dark spirit. It will also help us reevaluate our response to what agitates us and allow us an opportunity to define our real enemy.

 

  

Unleashed

Yesterday, Sunday, August 30, a significant event took place in the spiritual realm. I cannot fully describe what transpired, but like any result of corporate prayer, what sets off a chain reaction of answered prayer may not be fully understood until more history unfolds to provide a context for our understanding. 

On Sunday, I felt s heavy burden without definition or an identified source.  An accompanying depth of frustration, and at times anger, was also present regarding what is taking place in our nation. It was like I was being pulled in the wrong direction by an invisible leash. I felt like I had lost my peace. Then as evening approached, something began to lift, and this morning when I arose, it was gone.

 

Unleashed is defined as “set free from restraints.” For the last few months, we have been leashed emotionally to issues like a pandemic, protests, violence, and division by puppet masters determined to jerk us here and there at the end of their controlling strings. Yesterday, the leash was cut in the Spirit, and today many will wake up to a new perspective because they have been set free.

 

Be careful that you do not define this unleashing as hordes of people running to your preferred opinion. It is not about affirming a human opinion – any human opinion. This is an unleashing that will enable all who are willing to run toward God’s opinion and His heart for our families, cities, and nation. 

 

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).

Avoiding Ambushes

Ambushes are being set to attack your credibility and derail your calling. Do not allow yourself to be drawn into the line of fire. The impatient and frustrated ones who are walking into these ambushes are being led by their emotions, not the Spirit. There are times when conversation and confrontation no longer serve a purpose. Wisdom may, at the appropriate time, ask us to shelter in place emotionally and relationally until the first wave of a social storm passes. This may be one of those times for some of you. In that sheltered place, the Lord will heal and restore your soul, bringing new clarity and direction.

Discerning the Plan of God

Many think they have rightly discerned the times. But some of that discernment lacks a depth of understanding. It only sees lawlessness and pending disorder and constructs its response to this life based solely on that evidence. 

The Lord has always worked outside the line of sight of human discernment. His intercessors have seen rightly, and their prayers are turning the course of history. Through those prayers, the Lord is preparing to demonstrate the power of His justice, mercy, and reconciliation in ways many of us have not known. Those who do not see what the Lord has done will respond to His revelation with disappointment and disillusionment because the foundation of their trust was misplaced. 

Just as the prophet Micah said to Israel when the nation was confronted by an overwhelming force set against destroying them, “But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts. These nations don’t know that He is gathering them together to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor” (Micah 4:12). 

 

Do not place your hope in the promise or outcome of any human system no matter how right or unique that system might be in the world. The coming days will prove that it was not wise to have relied on a promise that does not come directly from the heart of God. The things sent to destroy your life and dismember your joy will be what is eventually beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain under the weight of God’s revelation.  

Take heart. The battle belongs to the Lord. He has yet to reveal the fullness of what He has planned. Until that fulness arrives, trust in His faithfulness.

The United States of Nineveh

Like Jonah, we can miss the real reason for our assignment to speak the truth in love to a culture in turmoil. Our undisciplined emotion can cause us to mirror Jonah's response to the call of God and run in the opposite direction. 

God’s message, no matter how challenging it may sound, will always reveal a deeper level of reconciliation and redemption than our angry and undiscerning eyes can see. When Jonah got mad at God for redeeming the city of Nineveh, the Lord said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about this?” and “Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” 

 

God sees the potential of greatness for a city, even when it is manifesting a lack of greatness. The Lord wants to open our eyes to see the greater potential of the cities within our nation, especially those currently experiencing violence, racism, and destruction. We are assigned by God to call out the greatness of a city and invite its people into the destiny God has planned for its citizens. Unrighteous anger, like the anger of Jonah, is an emotional response that will never produce the outcomes of greatness God has planned for a city or a nation. 

Disarming Verbal Snipers

Beginning in late May, someone has been shooting at vehicles traveling on Interstate 5, the main north-south freeway that travels along the west coast. The shootings are taking place on a 70 mile stretch of freeway in the area where Jan and I live. The shootings have only been bullet strikes to vehicles until yesterday when the sniper’s bullet struck a woman in her shoulder. We would appreciate your prayers. This person needs to be brought to justice sooner than later.  

Like all forms of violence, escalation is always possible because violence seeks to increase its presence when not confronted. Just as the freeway sniper has now escalated the deadly potential of his/her acts of violence, so it is with anything in life. Restraint, not the freedom to do whatever an evil desire demands, is the mark of an emotionally and spiritually healthy person.

While a freeway sniper is a real concern for the safety for those of us who live in southern Oregon, so are the contributing words and actions we might add as kindling to the burning fires of emotion now aflame in our culture. Like the progression of the mindset of a sniper firing at innocent motorists, so it is with us when we respond to cultural stimuli without the restraint of the Spirit’s presence.

I understand much of the frustration happening in this emotionally charged pandemic-election cycle-economic downturn social distancing-wear your mask culture. We want to fire off our disgust at someone. We may start by taking aim at the nearest moving vehicle of dissent, but at some point, our unrestrained words can escalate and become a deadly projectile that creates an outcome of harm, not healing. Words do matter. They can be as fatal as a bullet.

 

Today, take a break from what riles you. Walk away from your computer, TV, or smartphone screen and breathe. Bend down and smell a rose, or walk through your neighborhood and say a warm hello to everyone you meet, or simply stare out a window and dream about something you stopped dreaming about when all this craziness first started. 

When we take time to do these simple things, we interrupt the flow of our thinking and our focus shifts. We are able to redirect our thought process and become more willing to put down the weapons of our dissent. This gives the Lord time to speak to our angst and recalibrate our thinking. Under the influence of His love, a renewed sense of hope and trust will come to wash away our need to fire off comments at every passing opinion of which we might disagree. 

Closed Doors Will Open

I saw someone running their personal race of faith. They were not jogging at a cautious speed. It was an all-out run. As they ran forward, line after line of closed doors stood before them, but the closed doors did not slow them down or break their cadence of faith. They ran with abandon, trusting the Lord to open the right door at the right time. 

Some of the doors that opened were opened at the last possible moment, just as the face of the runner pressed against the door. It looked impossible that the timing could be so precise, but it was, time-after-time without fail. Those watching the person run thought for sure they would crash, but the word of the Lord proved faithful to open what was considered closed and not accessible. 

If you run after the Lord and trust Him, no door set before you will remain closed in the presence of His love and your faith in His ability to perform what He promised. 

"And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Soon To Savor God's Goodness

Tonight, I did a bit of dinner prep for tomorrow. I prepared chicken and coated it in kale pesto and garlic. Then cut a bed of scallions and thin-sliced potatoes. The ingredients are resting overnight, blending their goodness in olive oil. When I finished the dinner preparation and cleaned, the kitchen the Lord spoke a word. Some of you are going to bed tonight, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. There are some significant issues you are processing. You don't have a precise word or direction. As you prayed and pondered, God was preparing a meal of revelation for you. He has formed that word and the place in your life for it to reside and prosper once delivered. Go to sleep tonight and choose not to worry. The Lord has prepared a meal of His goodness that you will soon savor with joy.

An Approaching Moment of Singularity

I listened to an interview with a scientist describing the concept of Singularity. Singularity is a moment in history when seemingly disconnected events happen at the same time with such rapidity, they seem to the human mind as a single event. It would be like all the scientific and technological advancements made in the last 100 years happening in a single moment. It will be an overwhelming experience to a mind not accustomed to such rapid revelation.

A moment in human history is approaching that will challenge our understanding of life and how the future will unfold. When this time comes, the Lord will be the only safe harbor as these events unfold, seemingly out of control. 

This is not another end-times scenario. It is a moment of transition where the Church will be revived and reformed to engage culture with hope and offer solutions that will solve many of the struggles faced by humanity. The opportunity these events offer will become gateways into Ephesians 3:20 moments in human history where God will accomplish more than we could imagine. These events will lead us to a hope-filled future.

On the world stage, events are beginning to cluster into what will become a moment of singularity. The prophets have spoken of these events many times but as isolated revelations. A moment of singularity is being formed that will bring together the fulfillment of multiple prophecies that seemed wild and questionable at the time of their initial delivery. This single moment of mass fulfillment will create confusion and in some cases, delusion for many whose eyes are not focused on the Lord, even among those whose faith appeared strong in the past.

 

As this moment of singularity appears, there will be only one way to survive emotionally and spiritually. As the psalmist said, “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8). As the world shakes in a moment of unexpected singularity, we have an opportunity to live with an unshakeable faith in the One who is never shaken by the turmoil and transitions of humanity.

 

In Those Days and In These Days

“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6).

 

The spirit of rebellion manifesting in our nation has arrived and displayed its presence because many have become their own lords, believer, and non-believer alike. Just as Micah did in Judges 17, we can lose our way to such a degree that we create shrines and idols to honor our rebellion and begin to worship a false image of freedom. This indictment is for all from masked anarchists wanting to tear it all down to someone sitting in a church pew wringing their hands in disgust at what is happening in the streets and placing their hope in the outcome of the next election.

 

We don’t do well when we become our own lords and rulers. Only God can be Lord, and only He can rule righteously. This is why His Kingdom is not of this world but invades this world, displacing shrines of deception that rob us of real hope. 

 

A great apostasy is afoot, and the apostate spirit revealing itself is a practiced deceiver. Be careful where you hitch the wagon of your commitment. At some point, that commitment will require your worship. 

 

 

 

Your New Orbit of Understanding

Your attempt to process what is taking place in the world has been a dizzying experience. Life has been spinning with increasing velocity. It has been a challenge as you tried to hold on to the sense of stability you enjoyed within the familiar orbit of the past. 

As the speed of this emotional and spiritual orbit has ramped up, you feel as though you have lost control. You have been shot out from the security of your previous orbit into a universe of thought you did not know even existed. 

This loss of control is actually a work of the Lord. He has audiences that need to hear your voice. In the old orbit, you held on revolving around a limited understanding of a greater truth. What you have processed in the last few months will become the core of a message God will have you deliver to those who have been waiting for your arrival.  

Chasing After God

There has been only one principle that Jan and I followed when needing to discover our next step in life. That principle has been to follow the Lord at all costs. We had a few times when we stumbled, but when we finally stepped out in faith, that single principle has led us without fail in the last 47 years of marriage and 40 years of service in God’s Kingdom.

At times chasing after God made no sense financially or logically. It created challenging times with good friends who did not understand. It changed how people viewed us, and in some cases, radically altered the trajectory of our lives.

As someone on the last lap or two of life, I can look back over the previous four decades of life and say, following the leading of the Lord has been the single most important decision we have ever made. It has been our key to fulfillment in all areas of our life. Today, Jan and I have no needs, but if tomorrow should a need arise, we know that in Christ, we lack no good thing. 

If you want to know your next step in life - chase after the Lord. His is the calling of your life, not what you do to express that calling. Follow Him wherever He leads no matter the cost or the jeopardy that choice creates. The place where God is leading you and how you will execute that calling will be the by-products of obeying His voice. That choice will challenge your faith when your doubts and the counsel of others tell you to take a safe and predictable course. 

Each day, Jan and I wake up and thank God for our life together, knowing we did not get here on our own or by our wisdom. We were brought to this place by a faithful Lord who invited us to follow Him. He is waiting to take your hand and show you how to move forward to something you could not imagine. Take Him up on His invitation, and you will never live with regret.

Cities Surrounded by Angels

Evil, like water, will find seek the course of least resistance. In my state of residence, Oregon, evil manifestations of a spirit of rebellion, have found that place of least resistance in some of our cities. Evil will continue to manifest if not challenged. It has now moved its activities from civic structures in the heart of our cities to suburban neighborhoods and has even threatened to destroy a cross that sits in the midst of a Christian college.

 

What I just described are the obvious realities of how evil works. Anyone can see and understand what is happening on a natural and visible level. A rational person knows evil must be confronted with all resources available, both spiritual and natural. What we can miss, as our fear and corresponding anger rises, is what God is doing out of sight as an answer to our prayers. If our faith is too practical and earthbound, we will not consider that angels are being commissioned and assigned by the Lord to stand between us and the forces of darkness. These are not nice or polite angels. They are powerful warriors who will aggressively slice through the works of darkness at the command of the Lord.

There are more angelic forces present in Oregon at this moment than we could imagine. Their numbers would boggle our minds. I have friends who will be prayer-walking today in the streets of Portland and Eugene. For every believer who walks in prayer and worship in opposition to these demonic forces, 10,000 angels will be at your side fighting an unseen battle. The evidence of that victory of that battle will be seen in the transformation of hearts and lives.

The reason why these evil spirits are appearing more volatile and demonstrative is that they can see what many of us have failed to see in the realm of the Spirit. They know their time is short and Heaven’s resistance to their activities will be swift and overwhelming.

The Arrival of Unexpected Miracles

To those of you who lead anything - a business, a church, or a family – God knows what you are facing. You are giving it your best, and yet you still have a lingering suspicion that your best might not be enough or that somehow you have missed an important step along the way. Everyone, this writer included, has opinions about what you should do, but not all we offer is the opinion of God. Sometimes, sadly, our opinions may not reflect the heart of God. 

The Lord knows what you are facing. While you struggle trying to discover your next step, the Lord has a hidden miracle planned, something secreted away from your current understanding. It will arrive unexpectedly and seemingly out of nowhere. These hidden miracles are hovering over businesses, churches, families, and even nations, waiting for deployment. When these miracles arrive, they will reveal the love of God in astounding ways. Choose to live in that expectation. It will bring you the hope you need to wisely lead in this very challenging season of life.

The Sword of Government

The older translations of Romans 13 tell us the government does not bear the sword in vain. In more contemporary language, we would read that phrase as “without purpose.” One noted translator rendered that portion of Romans 13 to read “'not to hide it (sword) in the scabbard, but to draw it.” 

The rule of law is in place so we can endure the violent swings of culture and remain intact as a society. As those swings take place, a government will attempt to keep social order. If you have never lived in the middle violent social disorder, it is hard to imagine what that feels like. While missionaries serving overseas, Jan and I lived through situations where social disorder had broken down to such a degree that we worried about our safety, and in a couple of cases, our very lives. 

Jan had this happen to her as a little girl. Her parents were missionaries in Central America. Rumors had been circulating through the small town where they lived of a violent uprising coming against them as Protestant missionaries. One night, a large mob assembled in front of their home carrying torches, Molotov Cocktails, and machetes intent on killing her family and destroying their home. Just as the mob was about to carry out their deadly mission, soldiers arrived with bayonets fixed and pushed the crowd back bringing an end to what would have been the scene of multiple grisly murders.

Social order is more than speeches, kind gestures, and political promises. Order must be maintained at times by force. Force can seem rough and out of proportion to those watching the news from the comfort of a living room sofa or from within the insulated halls of debate. When the “sword” of government is wielded, it is not a pleasant thing to behold. But at times, it is necessary. To those whose neighborhoods, businesses, and even their very lives are in danger from a spirit of anarchy, the arrival of those assigned to defend life and property is a welcome sight.

The Most Dangerous Person in the Room

When I was a young cop, my training officer taught me a lot. I watched how he moved through a hostile crowd of drunks in a bar. He was able to read a crowd. One thing he did was to determine who was the most dangerous person in the room. This is the person who, if not approached with discernment and challenged with wisdom, could do the greatest harm. When that person was finally engaged and disempowered, all of their followers who fed off that person’s bravado seemed to lose steam.

There most dangerous people in our culture are not always found in a dingy, smoke-filled bar. Some of them are within the Church. The danger they present is not bullying, but a lack of gritty realism. This problem developed in the last few decades when well-meaning people mixed Christianity with a misunderstanding of biblical reality. As a result, they created a context that was never present in the real world of the first century. Today, these people call Jesus a socialist when, in fact, he and his father ran a carpenter business and had to turn a profit to stay in business. They were more like compassionate capitalists than socialists.  

Content from the Sermon on the Mount has been plucked out of context to justify pacifism in the face of danger. In that sermon, Jesus said if our hand offends us, cut it off. If our eye views something it should not see, we are to pluck it out, and if someone slaps us, to turn the other cheek. All of these commands were issued in the same discourse. I have noticed there are a lot of two-handed, two-eyed people telling others that defending life and limb is not the Christian way. Perhaps Jesus was simply asking if we would be willing to be radically obedient instead of actually cutting off a body part, plucking out an offending eye or sitting idly by as violence has its way unrestrained.  The most dangerous person in the room is not the barroom thug. They can be believers who have created a form of Christianity disconnected from reality. 

People are becoming increasingly nervous. That unsettled feeling has arisen because of a lack of leadership, not just in the institutions of culture, but in the ranks of believers. This happens when we allow our faith to be diluted with an irrational interpretation of reality. Our world is now at a tipping point, more than most of us realize. Courage is not silence and passivity. It looks a lot like what my training officer did when he was outnumbered and surrounded by a hostile crowd in a late-night bar. Courage and truth can disarm the plans of a thuggish spirit before it creates a hellish environment that makes living a good life seem impossible.

What Happens When a Bully Gets a Bloody Nose

There are times when a punch to the nose of a bully is all that will stop their quest for dominance. As a chubby insecure pre-puberty kid, I remember landing a punch on the nose of our playground bully after repeated calls for him to leave me and others alone. After that confrontation, he lost his place of dominance. Peace, laughter, and child-like joy returned to our playground.

A bully is prowling the playground of our culture. He is using fear to push people around. During this time, when the truth is being turned upside, redefined, and trampled under the hooves of a spirit of anarchy, it seems like the bully is getting his way. As this bullying spirit tries to gain a greater foothold, a group of David-like individuals is emerging. They will enter the fray and bring down the bullying spirit of deception with a single stone of truth. 

God’s mercy, justice, and compassion, all components of truth, will empower these men and women to execute a strategic punch that will stun and disempower the spirit of fear that motivates the bully.  God's truth will be the sword that beheads the false thinking of this bully. The bully of fear has had his way for far too long. It is time for peace and order to return to our playground. 

Hell's Card Dealer

The Devil loves this time in our history. He and his troop of dark spirits are walking through our culture with decks of cards in their hands. Instead of traditional playing cards, these cards have images of disasters, conspiracies, and dark outcomes that are tailormade for our unresolved fears.

In gambling circles, there is a saying, “the house always wins.” The same is true in spiritual matters. The house we allow to deal our cards will always determine how we interpret life.

Today, check the cards in your hand.  The cards you hold have been given to you based on your faith or the lack of it. That is the hand you will play in your mind, at your family gatherings, and with your friends. It will also be the hand you bet your life resources on. It is a costly bet.

For some, it is time to fold and get a new hand – a hand of hope. That is not a naïve hand that ignores what is taking place in the world. It is a hand that sees Heaven being released on Earth and trusts the supernatural ability of God's love to turn the negative course of human history toward goodness. That is a hand you can go all-in on because it is backed by the heart of God. Nothing else is worth playing. In the end, a hand of hope always wins.

Pickup Your Memorial Stone

Amid all the noise, clamor, and disruption taking place in our culture, God wants to reveal His love and power. That love and power will be visible to those whose eyes have been trained to see His goodness.

When Joshua was leading the Israelites into the Promised Land, they had to cross the Jordan River, which at the time, was running at flood stage. The Lord stopped the river’s flow allowing the Israelites to cross over on dry ground. When the miraculous passage was complete, two memorials were constructed.

The Lord instructed Joshua to tell the people to choose a leader from each of the twelve tribes who would select a single stone and build a stone memorial where they would camp the first night after the crossing was complete. This would be a forever memorial to future generations of God’s faithfulness to deliver His people. 

The second stone memorial was built by Joshua. His memorial was built on the dry riverbed, in the middle of the Jordan. When all the people finally crossed over, the river began to flow again, and Joshua’s memorial would be submerged.

The crossing of the Jordan is a word picture for each of us.  We are making a crossing from what we once knew to a future yet to be defined.  Today, we have been given an assignment similar to the assignment that Joshua gave the Israelites. Stop and look for your stone of remembrance of God’s love and power displayed in the last few months. This stone is somewhere in your life. Only the eyes of faith can see this stone. Pick it up and carry it with you as you journey forward. It has a place on the other side of this time of transition where your stone will be placed with other stones of remembrance to remind you, your friends, and your family of God’s goodness.

If you are leading a family, a business, a church, or an entire movement of people, you also have a memorial to construct. Your memorial will be like the one Joshua assembled.  Place your stones where you stand today on the dry ground of your passage. When your passage is complete, it will be submerged and out of sight. In future generations, leaders will remember that your memorial to God’s faithfulness is there, somewhere underneath the future floodwaters of transition. It will give future leaders who follow in your footsteps the courage to step into the floodwaters of transition, knowing that God will always be faithful to reveal a way forward.

“Today, you will know that the living God is among you” (Joshua 3:10).

Look Up!

Every 4^th of July, my dad would take my brother and me from our home in Los Gatos, California to a part of San Jose where we could buy strings of firecrackers. While the typical 4^th of July fireworks were fun, it was the firecrackers that we loved the most. 

One of our favorite things to do was fill a basin with about an inch of water. We punched a hole in the bottom of an open tin can just large enough to insert a firecracker leaving only the fuse exposed. Then we would set the open end of the tin can in the water and light the fuse. When the firecracker went off, the tin can would launch like a rocket and fly into the air sometimes as much as fifty feet. My brother and I loved watching our neighbors look into the sky and wonder what the Elkins boys were up to now. We especially loved it when the wind carried our airborne tin cans in the direction of a neighbor’s home. There was something strangely satisfying to our still-developing minds knowing that our tin can mortar rounds could land on someone's roof.

For some reason, I recalled that long-ago memory this morning as the dawn was breaking on this July 4^th of 2020. There is a great deal of noise being produced in our culture. Everybody has an opinion and their preferred evidence to support their position. As a result, we are divided and quickly becoming a dismembered nation. The sharing of our diverse opinions is like a string of firecrackers going off at someone’s feet. You don’t know who or what to believe. You just jump in response to all the sounds exploding at your feet.  

We have arrived at a ridiculous place where the evidence used to produce and support some opinions is no longer able to pass the muster of rationality. The Lord is about to change our confusion into clarity. Like a single firecracker rightly prepared in a tin can and water basin, words of truth and their resulting adjustment will be sent into the cultural air for all to see. This launch of truth will be used by God to draw the attention of people away from the noisy confusion long enough for them to come to their senses. 

Look up from all the nonsense being thrown at your feet. Its purpose is to confuse. God is about to reveal what is hidden in all the noise. A single firecracker of truth placed in the right environment will produce dramatic results.