This e-mail is a report in response to some of your inquiries regarding the recent apostles-gathering in Oklahoma City which I attended from September 26th-28th 2000. Thank you so much for your prayers and support concerning my involvement with this apostles-gathering. A special thanks to Linda Marshall, Kyoko Sears and Fred Halbritter for your letters of affirmation and prayer support in this matter.

Today is the Day of Atonement (at-one-ment with God) which is the most HOLY day of the Jewish year. A time of fasting and prayer and reflection. I find it a great time to give a report on this gathering because trying to describe what happened here is about as hard as trying to describe "HOLY." This gathering really was a holy set-apart time that I will remember and cherish for years to come. We truly live in a transitional period between the age of grace and the soon coming millennial reign of Y'shua (Jesus) the Messiah. This "third day" is dawning upon us right on schedule as the scriptures have promised.

I feel that the most important thing that is being established as God gathers His apostles are TRUE covenant relationships. God dwells in covenant relationships, not in worldly partnerships with the mentality of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." Many of the current church relationships are "professional" and oriented more around common "vision" rather than true covenantal relationship. Covenant relationship says, "I am willing to die for you and your family." When tribulation hits the fan, the only thing that is going to matter are these "mutual respect and death to self" relationships... true family and true warrior covenants established by God.

The televangalist Jim Bakker incident during the 1980's exposed much of the church's lack of covenant relationship. When Mr. Bakker needed his "friends" and "partners" the most, he was abandoned and turned against like an enemy. We showed the world that "When the going gets tough, the selfish get going," and this attitude brought shame on the name of God, but I trust that we have learned from it. Only God can establish covenant relationships which are like stones in the temple being set in order according to HIS good pleasure and purposes, not man's good intentions, plans and ideas. May God continue to set His people in their proper place in the body with true covenantal relationships.

At the gathering, we practiced the basics of the faith, like repentance, washing feet, praying for one another and taking communion whenever led (the bread and wine were made available throughout the meetings on each of the tables - about 8 seats per table). The anointing of the Lord was very powerful on all of this as it led us to get to know one another so true relationships could be established.

The formal meetings (starting at 2:00pm and 7:00pm each day) were rather short and to the point. There were no special speakers or teachings planned or given. The goal was to wait upon the Lord, bless Him, and seek His glory. The words that were given were not preplanned and usually less than five minutes per person. The worship in song was very powerful often with spontaneous accapello songs rising from whomever the Spirit moved. There was one point of very intense silence where I felt like there was much warfare going on in the heavenlies, and one brother testified of hearing thunder during this silent period. Incidentally, the warfare in Israel that is currently taking place over the "sovereignty of the temple mount" broke out on the final day of this gathering when the shofar was blown. God has promised that He will show forth His sovereignty to all mankind from this very piece of land in the middle east during the millennial reign of Christ.

The shofar (ram's horn) is a very powerful spiritual weapon when used as the Spirit directs, and the shofar was sounded on the last day of the gathering in accordance with The Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23:24). Our SHOUTS of praise and adoration to the King opened the gates of heaven and His glory fell in the form of a sword. Three different brothers saw similar visions of the heavens being opened and light breaking through as a sword while we worshiped. After two of these visions were shared, three of the elders grasped hands together in a circle to reach for this sword together and all of the other apostles alsogathered around them reaching together heavenward for God's sword. Several men testified that they actually felt the weight of His glory (Kabod in Hebrew) pressing down on their hands and arms as we reached up. May God give us His grace to use this sword only as His Spirit directs.

The final message that I believe the Lord had for us at this gathering concerns the purity of doctrine with which God is restoring to His bride before His soon return. There were four brothers who came to the meetings with some serious false doctrines, one of which was polygamy (having more than one wife). The elders addressed these men personally on two occasions and then asked them to leave because they did not repent of holding doctrines of men and demons. This was done in a very orderly and civil manner. I personally noticed when these four men arrived at the gathering because they sounded a brass bugle in the parking lot of the hotel upon their arrival and their departure. This in itself is a message because God did not order the sounding of brass bugles, but rather ram's horns (shofars) or silver trumpets. In this new day in which God is bringing us into, He is not allowing man to "toot his own horn" anymore. It is a serious time, and one of REST in which God will not strive with man any longer. In spite of what the current church looks like, there really is ONE DOCTRINE, ONE FAITH and ONE LORD. May God continue to bring us into this unity of faith and doctrine.

I pray that this report will give you fuel for further intercession, because this work of God to gather His apostles has really only just begun. Please continue to pray for this endeavor as the Spirit leads, and if I can answer any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday at the Feast of Tabernacles celebration as we rehearse together this feast until the day that it will be fully fulfilled at the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To HIM be the glory. Grace and Peace, paul j.

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