Today I come to the final area I have describes as a gate: that of Family and community.

How is family to be defined and how much can it be re-defined? These are two enormous questions. Let me, however, state that family wholeness is the bedrock of society, and it is an area that will always be under attack and be undermined.

Although I am not simply defining family as a husband, wife and children, let me focus there for a moment. The Genesis story begins with a husband and wife and the Revelation story ends with the same.

Throughout these blogs I have tried to suggest that we are not looking for success or perfection, so it is also vital as to how we stand in the midst of failure. One of the many wonderful marriages I have attended, included one of two divorcees. Before the ceremony began, the husband to be stood before the people and said, we come as failures before you today. We have both made vows that we were not able to complete. We have sought to work through those implications, so come before you today sobered as again we stand before God to make vows…

They stood in their falure but as they stood there in that spirit I believe they were contributing towards the restoration of that gate.

So issues of marriage (and failure), children (natural, adopted, childlessness and spiritual reproduction), extended households, open community homes, reconciliation, peacemaking, mental, emotional and social healing… and so much more is involved in bringing wholeness into this gate, and as a result a healing into society.

This gate more than any other speaks of relational values as being uppermost; it also speaks of generational values: of making the ceiling of one generation become the floor for the next generation (to borrow a phrase from Bethel, Redding).

There is great overlap in the gates, but with regard to the family gate I believe at the core of it is the life of two people: husband and wife living, standing, and loving together. As a sign of the consummation of the age this is vital that this aspect is stregthened. Other diverse households expressing true committed relationships are also necessary: those being a microcosm of society.

Media and communication…

Really appreciated the comments on yesterday’s blog, and am aware that there is a big overlap today with the media, as art speaks, however media does cover areas beyond the art sphere, so I still consider it a separate ‘gate’.

My experience on the isle of Wight also has helped me understand the need for the gates not to overstep their boundaries. I find it very interesting that the day after our visit there that there was a ‘dust devil’ whirlwind on one of the downs, caused by a freak wind on a sunny day. It certainly made the local tv news and is on the BBC website and (ironically?) will be front page news in the local paper on Friday.

Given we prayed into the issue of media I think we stirred a wind that will blow through the media – glad they are willing to report it!

So the media. For the Empire the media is very important: myths told as truth becomes vital to self-sustain. Hence the myth of Pax Romana, and the Pauline statement about those who say ‘peace, peace’.

God is the ultimate communicator, the one who reveals himself, and I see communication as being about revelation. This does not mean everything has to be clear – parables were not given as nice clear stories – but that a door is opened that enables sight.

It is important that the media is not owned by vested interest (I appreciate this is idealistic, but I am looking at what we need to be pushing for); that it also does not set itself up as something above everything else, trespassing across boundaries into other gates.

Underground communication is also something that is vital, giving an alternative voice, for it is in the many voices that we hear heaven’s sounds. I like the use of the internet we are now witnessing. Just as the printing press opened the way for the Bible in the hands of the people so now with the decentralised means of communication we have the possibility of releasing perspectives that can set people on a new journey.

Let the communicators arise. No one has a monopoly on the truth, yet not all perspectives are equal. There are vantage points that come from being immersed in the Spirit of Christ, that interprets the world through Easter, and the community of God through Pentecost. I am reminded of Jean Darnell’s words that a great army of people would arise in the media, communicators would go forth.

Today a few thoughts on the the arts and entertainment gate. The arts are powerful when understood prophetically, or maybe even sacramentally.

At the heart of my thinking is the nature of symbolism, design and signs:

• they point to a reality beyond themselves, and
• draw that reality through themselves to the location or people.

Heaven, the invisible realm, needs to be made manifest here within the visible. This takes place through every act inspired by, and every response to, God, but it also takes place as the creative within people is released to become the bridge between heaven and earth.

Conversely, the arts when not yielded to the Creator can become a means of images / sounds being created that will draw spiritual darkness to the situation.

God is the ultimate artist – all of creation inidicates this. We catch a strong statement of this in Gen. 2 when the trees are made for two reasons: good fruit (useful) and good to look at (artistic). The creative expressions are to stir the imagination. Without a stirring of the imagination to another level there will be very little stretching of faith to touch the transcendence of God.

Entertainment can be very negative with all sorts of dark passions being stirred, but this simply indicates that healthy entertainment is designed to stir all passions that are good.

So much that occupies this gate today can be destructive… so come on those who can make a different sound, create a different shape, etc., those who can open up portals through which sight and experience can come.

(Again I appreciate the overlap of the gates – maybe that of the media and arts could even be put together, but not all of the media is within the arts.)

Before commenting on education, for those interested there is already an interesting comment made yesterday on the politics / media overlap and conflict. Today I am considering the realm of education.

Again there are overlaps here. Is education the responsibility of government – is it simply a sub-section of politics; or is it the responsibility of family? I have decided to place it as a separate gate that inevitably has consderable overlap elsewhere.

Maybe what is easier to suggest is that the purpose of education is:

• to take the wisdom of former generations and allow a new generation to grasp it, develop, and climb higher

in so doing it should also connect with each person, valuing them, and enabling them to grow according to what has been placed inside them… the concept of training according to the way they should go.

There can be a measure of truth in there are those who do and those who teach, but it is also true that there are those whose main call is to teach so that others can do. Such people are worth their weight in gold.

Those who teach then are not simply relaying facts but enabling people to develop. They do not simply teach, they enable people to learn. I once heard Derek Prince say that ‘nothing is taught until it has been learnt’.

So here are some (maybe uneducated thoughts:

• models of education that do not simply see qualifications on paper as the end result
• the disappearance of (or at least minimising of) league tables
• education that is more freely available throughout the stages of life

The pressure on the teaching world is enormous, perhaps indicating that this gate too has lost its way somewhat. When one looks at the pay structure / rewards for those in the various gates it is interesting what is valued. My perspective is that the health and education gates are often over-worked and under-paid. Entertainment (particularly as relates to certain sports) and commerce seems to be over-valued. I know what I have written is a generalisation… but it might indicate the values of society, or the values imposed upon society.

Thank God for those who are dedicated to work within this gate, I applaud you.

The gate of politics – including law and order, the judiciary, etc.: all aspects that are in place for the governing of society.

We need such a shift here. The words ‘politician’ and ‘honesty’ do not sit well together. There is little trust for politicians, many operate short term, play the popularity game for sake of votes. This is not just their issue, for many people do not want the harsh truth of sacrifice now for the sake of the future, but would rather sacrifice the future for now.

There are also some myths.

• the idea that we can get the born-again president / prime minister in place and then everything is sorted. (So who will the born again people vote for in the US election?)
• change takes place top down
• legislation is the answer, and Christian legislation. Seems to me that it is a culture shift that is needed
• the idea of a Christian nation. ‘My kingdom is not of this world’ – not meaning it has nothing to say into this world but it certainly does not mean that the Christian faith does not impact this world. For within this world there have to be signs of the age to come manifest. The challenge then is of a secular state with believers who live within it, as citizens of heaven, bringing the values of heaven to the earth
• justice and equity, that values all alike, seem to me to some of the qualities that a government are called to shape.

Perhaps (in the UK) party politics are coming to an end. Perhaps we have to see a generation rise up who might not be lauded and elected but who might pioneer a new way of being involved in the political arena.

This gate raises so many questions and issues. But as politics does not begin in Westminster but is also manifest in our streets and localities, our schools, colleges etc., there are opportunities for those who will help shape the future to arise.

So come on those who are called to shape the future in this gate.

Another ‘gate’ is that of health, science and technology (the discovery of all that is in within God’s creation for healing and betterment). God is a creator and he has put within the heart of humanity the desire for discovery.

The consummation is not that of a garden but of a city in which all the qualties of the garden are there. I see this as a picture of all the good that has developed from within creation being brought into the age to come. It might not be a ‘straight line’ from now to then, and it is certainly not that we bring in the age to come, but in the words of another (N.T. Wright) we are shaping the building blocks for the age to come now. Not a straight line but there is a link between now and then.

This gate is one that is always under threat. And it is also a gate where, if we do not acknowledge God, people will sit in the gates as those who will play at being God. These are gates that are to be occupied in stewardship, and when the stewardship is lost, the vacuum will draw an idolatry to the gate.

So in health, we can lose sight of the divine purpose, and play God; in technology there can be developments that allow us to exploit and oppress rather than set free.

I have a dream of some major discoveries coming through here that are good for the environment. I have, before, noted that I am anticipating some breakthroughs in the realm of waste management. There are other areas that need breakthroughs: usage of power, food supplies, pollution, water conservation and supply. The list goes on. In health: discoveries that parallel that of supernatural intervention.

Of course there are overlaps between the gates: pharmaceutical companies that control for economic and political reasons. We will not see advances in the gates without opposition for the world (read ‘domination system’) lies in the hands of the evil one, but the world in which we live is God’s creation.

Business, economics & commerce

Money is not evil, but the love of money is a / the root of all evil. There is a great challenge to those who operate in this realm, for Jesus focused the battle for our allegiance down to God or mammon. The Apocalypse talks about the battle being over being allowed to buy or to sell with the two beasts being military and economic trade. So here is a major gate that will either open the way for there to be an expression of the kingdom of God or for a stronghold of the enemy to arise.

I believe that we have to see a great shift in the realm of capitalism in these coming decades. The corruption is all around us… the sheer level of financial reward to certain people; the lack of incentive to others who serve society; the poverty in the global scene and the incredible concentration of wealth too.

On this latter point: for example, the amount of money spent on perfume in the US and EU per annum would feed the world that is in hunger. Something has to shift.

Creative not exploitative trade is called for. People rising up who carry a vision for economic transformation is necessary.

We also need people who rise up who have a vision for ‘wealth transfer’. Not the transfer of money from the ‘unrighteous’ to those of us who think our middle name is ‘righteous’. But faith to see the transfer of wealth from the centres of wealth to the places of need. I believe much revelation is going to come on this aspect.

Are there areas of economics where followers of Christ could not be engaged? Almost certainly. We cannot think of acting perfectly (we live in a fallen world), but have to think redemptively. We might not be able to act without some measure of collateral damage, but this has to be short term and temporary so that we are part of those who move things forward. Decisions taken in the West can have global consequences. We have global responsibility.

Here is the place for faith. What one believer does from a redemptive motivation might not be the same as another one. However, those who do handle finances at great levels have to do so humbly. Let us not make the mistake of many in the Bible that those who are rich have been blessed by God.

A gate of great influence… God bless those who sit, crawl, kneel, who are beat down, who rise up in this gate.

A little more on the ‘gates’.

• If we shift things spiritually (in the ‘heavens’) we have to then shift things culturally. Legislation is very important but it is also insufficient. If all we do as believers is campaign for laws we will find that we draw a line today, but tomorrow it shifts yet again.
• The reason for no religious / church gate is to avoid the church being some separate institution within society. Salt of the earth, believers married to the land, immersed in the gates of society.
• To be in the gates does not mean being there as the most dominant force, or as rising to the top position. Change takes place as there is a grass roots rise. (The word of God comes to John in the wilderness in the context of Caesar and his cohorts are in power – Lk.3:1,2).
• There are those that are positioned at the top (Joseph, Daniel), but they are discipled through great hardship. I suggest this is to remove the abuse of power from them.
• Those who engage with the culture influencing gates of society will do so without guarantee of success. To change the analogy to a Genesis 3 analogy, they will have to grasp the thorns and thistles. To do so might mean great pain, a lack of visible success, but they might just be effective as they clear away the ground for others to ‘succeed’.