Still watching on the 28th day!

The Lord is just now returning me back to minister through posting to this blog. This has been a very intense week, and several very important things have been noted.

I have been fielding emails and comments posted to the blog, and for nearly all of them, I have little to report that's very good. There has only been a very small number who have been very rude, mocking and gloating over a perceived victory. We had a sign about Daniel and the lions den and we understood that the Lord was shielding us by stopping the mouths of the lions. A larger number seized upon the perceived opportunity to offer me a range of pet theories about why I failed to predict the time. Those actually began coming in well in advance of the Pesah week. Most of those offering their theories expressed gratitude for the work of The Open Scroll and encouragement to continue, and they were largely offered in sincerity. Most of the response fielded has been with the expression of much gratitude and the extension of mercy, encouraging us to continue. The vast majority of readers didn't weigh in at all. The smallest number who reported in actually indicated that they have a clear sense that what's really going on now is quite special, and that's a very, very small number.

If you read the latest post about “Please accept our apology - Retracting "A Word from the Lord" from November 20, 2014” and interpreted that to be an apology or admission of some other kind, you read into it.

If you emailed us and didn't get a response for a few days, or you watched how many days went by with no posting to the blog, and interpreted that to mean that we were discouraged about a failure to predict the time, you read into it.

At what point did I declare that we failed on some other point, and that we were discouraged as a result? Go look. Obviously, we're still here, and we're not denying or trying to cover or duck anything. I've claimed that I'm not concerned about my perceived credibility or reputation, and that's an honest report. I've been pretty well seasoned on those points. That's the Lord's business, not mine. So, here's the big question: Were we wrong about the time? Yes and no, and that's the thing, right there. Most of you assume we were simply wrong, and if you're content with that, I'm content with that. But that's not all there is to it.

So, are we discouraged? No. Not at all. We've been crushed, but that's not an emotional response to finding ourselves still here after the Pesah. While we were very disappointed, because hope deferred really does make the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12), the crushing has been the result of the Lord's dealing with us very deeply, with correction, discipline. If you haven't personally experienced this yet, and I mean very specifically within the past week, I pray you soon will, because it is a necessary work of this season. And, I do mean, pray. The Lord's dealing with Aaron and myself has been on the basis of some errors made in judgment, which, bottom line, is a reflection of our character. As the Sr. partner in this pairing, I am accountable. What was acceptable in the previous season no longer receives a passing grade. The requirements are much more stringent. After dealing with some personal failings, the next order of business was to unpublish two posts, the one from November 20 and one from the MOB Blog. The Lord made it plain what the problem was and what to do about it. The apology was posted to this blog, as directed. The Lord required a substantial penalty to be paid, and it was agonizing and there was much anguish and many tears. I didn't know if I would endure it or what the outcome might be. Aaron, who is not nearly so well seasoned as myself, is still working through it, and I bear no small amount of responsibility for failing to prepare him better. This is not about airing dirty laundry, but the testimony is for your benefit. While the main theme of the the 24th day of the 1st month (Monday April 13) was the crushing, we wrapped up the day with a season of prayer where Aaron got a touch of glory, where a word was received that we would be returning to ministry, and late at night we had a footwashing ceremony. That was encouraging but I can't say it was comforting, because there was no comfort to be had. There was no relief from the penalty until sometime the next day, but it became apparent that the Lord was satisfied. We survived.

So, we unpublished the November 20 post, and fixed and reposted the one from the MOB blog. What else did the Lord require of us? I had a book offered on Amazon in the Kindle version. I unpublished it and removed links to it from the websites. The problem with it wasn't the content, it was the relationship with Amazon. Regardless of how little money I could arrange to make off the sales, the matter of making any money off the sale, along with having a business relationship with Amazon, was no longer permissible. I can no longer legally offer the Kindle version, or a pdf of the contents. The book was titled, Who is Cain's Father? The controversial work is still available for reading on TheOpenScroll.com. What else did the Lord require? Excluding personal issues, that's pretty much it. I did also remove a few series links off the side bar of the blog because I wanted to review them for possible editing, since we've now got more insight into what's really going on. At some point, Beyond The Veil will get some updates, Lord willing, but first, the blog.

What should be noted is what the Lord did NOT require of us. There has been no direction to unpublish or retract anything else, or offer an apology for anything else. I am willing if the Lord requires it, this I know, and I think that has been adequately demonstrated. The retraction we did publish has been fully exposed on the blog for many days, and no effort has been made to obscure or minimize it.

There have been some pretty outrageous declarations made this month. There's more to be written about all that, and more to be written about what all this means for you. Lord willing.

We admit freely to knowing only in part, as those who have come before us. You may have noticed that I'm generally quite precise with my language, not wanting to come up short or go long of a thing, or be ambiguous when there's something to be declared. The results of my efforts aren't perfection, but the Lord has accepted my efforts and blessed them with much mercy and grace. He Has a plan and He's working it to perfection.