The Transition Team sundaycreek@midrivers.com To Meri and the AP family, Several have written me wondering what I might be hearing for the year 2001. It is important to hear from prophets that we might discern seasonal changes, at the same time it is becoming too popular, even trite, for prophets to hang little rhymes and sayings on each calendar year. I don't mean to offend those who do this because some do so genuinely. Others are simply mimicking phrases, being witty, or reducing prophetic words to little more than marketable slogans. So, here it is: The word the Lord is giving me for 2001 is "liberty." Liberty is defined by Webster's as "freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control." Amen to that! But before we start dancing in the aisles let's remember that on the eve of the recent Year of Jubilee prophets were declaring great things. A year of rest! Slaves would be set free! Yet many found it to be one of hardest years of their lives. The wine of jubilation was hidden in the grapepress of affliction. The same for this year of Liberty. Liberty is a form of freedom and freedom is never free. (I am one among many who have had it prophesied to him that I would be speaking to Kings, Prime Ministers, and Presidents. The balance to that heady word is that most prophets and apostles speak to rulers shortly before their own execution.) As we see a new government taking shape in the natural, so also a new government is also slowly taking form in the spiritual. Both require a transition team. Being on the transition team does not necessarily mandate being in the new government. Most of us are on the spiritual transition team. Whether or not we are promoted from transitional service to governmental authority will be decided this year. The first test is to give place, not to take place. The Cat in the Sunbeam Last August the Lord showed me a clear picture of a big, fluffy housecat lying on a windowsill soaking in a sunbeam. On the floor was a raggedy kitten. The message was that the fat cat was to move over and give place to the younger and less developed. I have observed this process in the Body now for several months. There are mature prophets and intercessors who have been soaking in the Lord's light until the comfort has seduced them into believing they have a position, not merely a privilege. They've become territorial and have forgotten the call to train, equip, and release others to do the work of the ministry. They must graciously make room. The Holy Hush Early in December I released a word on the AP List that was also distributed by several other lists, including the Elijah List. This posting -- which Steve Shultz entitled "A Holy Hush" -- brought in more emails than any word I've ever sent out. "A Holy Hush" was my sharing of several months of hard testing where the Lord was telling me little and giving me even less to say. I don't believe this message was heard by many on the smaller lists because of the implied importance placed on our daily hearing from God. And I don't belittle that, nor did I assume my word was for everyone. But, I also sensed that there are those who simply do not want to hear these two words: Be Quiet. Yes, we must hear from Him. No, we are not required to share everything He tells us. Years of being trained to speak, and years of speaking, might easily be followed by seasons of silence as we are readied for the next series of messages. He forms not only the words but also the vessel. Can we be quiet? Or critiqued and edited? One of the more poignant words of the past couple years came through Ray Hughes. The Lord showed him a computer and impressed on him the importance of the "delete" button. During a pruning season, it is more important to hit delete, than to hit "save as." Superficial Without Being Shallow There has become a glut of prophetic words on the Internet and familiarity can breed contempt. I've personally unsubscribed to several lists recently. Some were good lists managed by good people. But too much is simply too much. Many posted words are shallow. I understand beauty in simplicity, and nothing reflects the beauty of His creation like the reflection of a mountain lake. But a lake reflects beauty because of its depth. Babbling brooks do not reflect. Stillness reflects. And still waters run deep. I would never discourage young Christians from posting or offering anything they feel they are receiving from God. So if you are young in the Lord or in prophetic ministry, please venture on. But to the more mature members of the prophetic community I suggest that some of us are falling prone to the pitfall of popularization. Yes, it can be fun to see our words in print and receive emails of appreciation. But therein lies the trap of soulish reward. Also, there can be a voyeuristic attitude in words about intimacy with the Father. Mature prophets should be intimate with the Father, but rather than preach about intimacy they should be able to tell us what He is telling them and be able to discern if it for the Body as a whole or only for them. I fear some of us are treating the bridal chamber like a locker room. The Cult of Celebrity Most of us on the transition team are laboring in the shadows. Like John the Baptist, we are preparers in the wilderness. Pioneers. Mountain Men. Wagon train scouts. We've tried to work within old governmental forms and were probably ushered from them. The old forms executed government in the "top-down" manner, creating executive orders without due process. Years of rejection, rebellion, and reproof have hopefully formed us into usable and presentable servants. But we are still servants. We must decrease so that others can increase. Having resisted -- and hopefully, having repented for -- a church system that is authoritarian, ritualistic, and dead, we must not now compromise to that system if it offers us attention. The old is passing away. Some on the transition team will be tempted to compromise for the sake of spiritual bi-partisanship. We mustn't. (There is place for honoring those who worked with a pure heart within a system they did not necessarily understand. Honor these. As they say in the world, "Hate the game, not the players.") The main lure of the old system is acceptance. And with acceptance comes the promise of celebrity. The transition team is not called for celebritydom. We are called to prepare a new system of governors who cannot be seduced by worldly attention and have no desire for the cult of celebrity. Yet, even in our own ranks, we are tempted to make stars out of those we esteem to be popular and we glorify numbers as if any spiritual battle was ever won by the arm of the flesh. There is much to be said for unpopularity it we can embrace it without bitterness and allow it to keep us in the shadows doing the work we have been called to do. Our job is to prepare the Bride, not be the Bride. Being the Bride is not a job. It is an election declared by the Bridegroom. Our passion must be for people, not position. We must desire, above all else, to see an overcoming end time company of Saints. Only by working to prepare this company do we have any chance of becoming a part of this company. Some members of transition teams go on to places in government. Others return to other labors. Let us be rewarded by our works, not our ambition.