Battle series
The Sound of war in the camp

A Soldier Of The King - 4/1999 - Prophecy

The Trench and The Walking Dead - 7/1999 - Vision/Prophecy

Don’t You See - 11/2000 - Vision

The Basement - 7/2001 - Dream

Memorial Day and Joel’s Armies - 5/1999 - Article

 

A Soldier Of The King

Bob Neumann, April 11, 1999

I am a soldier of the King. Just seven short words that define my existence to many. They see and turn away knowing what without regard to who. For the who has lost all meaning for me, never had for them. Being a soldier of the King requires being under authority and focused entirely to duty. Our duty is to obey THE KING.

To those who notice, we are walking and breathing testimonies that there is a King. To many this is a welcome reminder, to others a point of provocation. Such variances of opinion does not reflect the activities of duty, but their relationship with THE KING. Often we are but the recipients of where man's heart truly lies, In THE KINGDOM, or outside in the Darkness.

Yet to most we move unseen and unnoticed across the Land. Fleeting shadows easily ignored and quickly forgotten by most. Our purpose is duty and obedience, not affectation and reward. That is the rationale of being 'under authority' rather than holding authority. For when THE KING SPEAKS it is not for us to just listen but to do. To go. To stand. To overcome. To walk away and serve again.

To be a soldier of THE KING requires so little, and so much. Not a PARADE SOLDIER used for ornament and ceremony. Nor a BARRACKS BRAWLER noted for bellicose language and a bully's attitude. Never a FAIR WEATHER FIGHTER that stands and is noticed when times are clear and the climate provides no heat to test ones mettle.

Nor is a soldier a warrior who rises for the threat that comes, and returns home to hearth, and home, and kin.

For to answer HIS CALL required a warrior to lose and not gain. To be a soldier a warrior must put aside that which called him to stand and face the darkness. To be a soldier one does not rally upon emotion, but to respond out of duty to THE KING. Merely to STAND upon HIS WORD. TO GO wherever and when ever HE SAYS. And in OBEDIENCE ACT without regard to personal consequences.

To be a soldier of The King means that no one sees the person, but THE PURPOSE OF THE KING. Individuality no longer exists, as we become cognizant and devoted by HIS WILL ALONE. It is in this what we call DUTY we can go when told, do what is told, and to move on when told. Many would not choose such a life and it is not hard to understand from those who have never heard HIS VOICE, or seen HIS HAND.

Maybe that is all that differentiates, it does not matter. For HIM and HIM ALONE do we wear HIS ARMOR and HOLD HIS STANDARD. By HIS WILL we stand alone in the night on the walls. And by HIS WILL alone do we enter the pit or penetrate strongholds. Whether standing a WATCH or walking POINT matters little so long AS HIS WORDS ARE OBEYED.

That is all there really is. To become faceless and nameless to SERVE. To become unnoticeable and unrecognizable to SERVE; to become homeless and without

ties to SERVE; to lose all that we were to be what HE DEMANDS us to BE; to lose all we esteemed and valued to be HIS VOICE and ARM; to lose all and life itself to KNOW HIS WILL LIVING IN US.

For it is in living HIS WILL and HIS WORD do we lift high HIS BANNER. HIS WILL is our purpose, HIS WORD our armor and our sword. HIS JOY provides the strength to press on in the heat of battle. HIS SONG heals our many wounds that come with service. HIS PRESENCE destroys all fear and doubt. HIS PEACE brings assurance and confirmation during the storm. HIS FAITH energizes and sustains in the midst of darkness. HIS LOVE allows one to stand when and where no one else will hear the call to arms. HIS MERCY AND GRACE is sufficient to destroy the works of the enemy, to save the lost, and restore the disenfranchised.

For this, few were chosen from among the many. For HIS CALL has sounded long and full for all who would hear. Yet even among those who hear few choose to serve. Few choose to serve where there is nothing to gain.... in this world.

All a soldier has is A PROMISE....the PROMISE of our KING.... of rewards unseen....of rewards unimaginable.... of rewards that are forgotten completely in the heat of battle.... through the long hard marches.... during the cold nights as a lone watchman on deserted walls.... for we serve not for what we can not see.... we do not bleed and die for those who never noticed the battles waged.... but for our KING. And HIS WORD. FOR HIS KINGDOM AND HIS PLEASURE ALONE do we serve... all who are soldiers of THE KING.

 

 

 

The Trench and The Walking Dead

Bob Neumann, July 7, 1999

The Trench

Preamble

In order to convey the fullness of this “image” and the starkness experienced I am required to attempt to explain things at a different level than I am comfortable with. I am compelled to do this because of the magnitude and extent of the REVELATION BIRTHED. According to THE WORD of GOD my duty is as described by Habakkuk is to write it down and let others run with it. In my spirit man I am very uncomfortable with our brothers and sisters that come forth with a dream, vision, or utterance of 300 - 400 words and then give to us 1000+ words of interpretation. AS IF THE HOLY ONE NEEDS OUR HELP TO CONVEY HIS WILL. All HE requires is obedience. SO, instead of giving a whole lot of personal spin at the end I will dig a hole at the beginning.

On the afternoon of Memorial Day Sunday a seven day experience began in the darker realms of THE SPIRIT. Several years ago I was informed that THE MOST HIGH could speak with both Dark and Dire SAYINGS. David sang of them. Being a Watchman in the NIGHT formulates an awareness of the breadth and depth of HIS WORD. Then when you find yourself walking it out, all preconceptions die. Sometimes hard.

Sometimes slow. From late Sunday afternoon to predawn Saturday I kept falling into a progressive vision. Six or seven times a day during this time I found myself sitting in the cold and the dark. I was sitting in blackness with my back against an earthen wall.

The realization that I was physically exhausted, mentally spent was unmistakable. As were the facts that I was freezing and unbelievably hungry and thirsty. I was sort of sitting and leaning at the same time. The first thing I noticed as “vision” was reestablished was I was wearing combat boots laced to the top. They were scuffed, well worn, and covered by either dried or frozen mud.

Either way really did not matter because between the boots was a but end of a very heavy rifle. It had a sling which hung loosely and the barrel lay comfortably on my right shoulder. At eye level it had a bipod, and my right hand rested on the magazine clip.

For six days I kept going back to a trench where I was freezing to death, and jointly dying of thirst and hunger. Yet the fun thing was the awareness that they were the least of my problems. I did not know exactly where or when I was, so it did not help. But I was aware that I was sitting on an “alice” pack, had empty bandoliers and ammo pouches around my waist and across my chest. I was also aware that I was in one long trench and I was not alone. Scattered down the line to either side were others dressed as I was. In the same situation I was in. But the spaces between us were wide and too far to speak across. So we all were sitting propped against the wall, waiting, resting. For these six days I tried to fill in the blanks. I had spoken about these visions with several others, and found myself with too few answers. The weapon, helmet, uniform placed me in the periods of both WW2 and Korea.

On Friday evening I found out when the vision expanded. Once again I was in the trench feeling all the raw emotions that now were with me continuously. Yet I felt no fear, but resignation. I am here, and have no place else to go. That is when the artillery opened up and they turned on the sound systems. Star shells were being fired to explode just over our heads. These are the type of fireworks that produce the huge flash and big boom at fireworks events. often the noise is so loud the ground shakes. At the same time began continuous amplified bugle calls.

So I had my answer. I was in Korea. Circa 1951 and we were facing the YELLOW HORDE. Red Chinese troops. And all I had was a summer uniform on in the dead of winter. No food, No water. And three clips of ammo. One loaded and locked. And two spare. All this was awareness, not revelation knowledge so far.

Then came the predawn on Saturday as the vision progressed as all the others. When we came to the point of the star shells and bugles I was not surprised. Then the bugles stopped and the night sky lit up as the sky filled with parachute flares. The long awaited final attack had begun. I watched as to either side my brothers/sisters slowly reached back and pulled bayonets out and fixed them to their rifles. My weapon being a Browning Automatic Rifle was not made for close combat, so I took my “GI Entrenching Tool” and sank it into the dirt at my feet (otherwise called a pack shovel).

So we stood stooped down at the edge of the trench wall, waiting, preparing to make every shot count, preparing to attack which is what a bayonet is for. When you can’t run, you attack..

And that is where the visions ended, so to speak. Only in all this time I heard nothing from my MASTER. My prayers were hitting a heavens of brass and I really was not enjoying any of this. Certainly I was curious intrigued, but there was no joy or peace in my camp. So when I found the TRENCH not repeating itself through Saturday I really got worried that I had missed the whole purpose.

So I waited and kept kicking at the door. ASK. SEEK. KNOCK was changed to shout, hunt, and bang. I’m Sorry, but I have given up on being cute and cuddly in my religious reality. Maybe that is comfortable for some, but sitting in that hole made me acutely aware that this is serious. And all I got Sunday was one “WORD”. and it messed me up big time. EXPENDABLE After I got over the shakes, I did not know whether to be scared or angry. Or maybe both. It was not the answer I wanted to hear. I sure did not expect to hear.

Now there have been a lot of “WORDS” concerning intercessors, the prophetic, and the church in general. Most are going along with what has been said or heard before. So they are acceptable at the worst. Comfortable at the best. Or maybe the worst is when we are comfortable.

I am not sure if it was Monday or Tuesday when THE LORD OF HOSTS decided to explain the thing to me. Again it was neither expected or comfortable. Most who may read what I know my MASTER said to me will not like it either. Many will be offended. as if I really care at this point. You see, I am no longer caring what anyone “feels” or “believes” about anything. Except for HE WHO SITS ON THE THRONE. If you ain’t got nail scars in your hands or feet. If it ain’t your footprints I’ve been following hard and long after. As Rhett Buttler said to Scarlet. FRANKLY MY DEAR.

This leads me to..

 

THE WALKING DEAD

What follows is an abridgement of a long conversation. Take whatever you want from it. I got what I needed and then some. Nothing directly came concerning THE TRENCH. Or EXPENDABLE right then and there. So bear with me. It all started with a question HE asked me.

DO YOU KNOW THE TWO GREATEST VICTORIES OF THE KINGDOM IN THE LAST 2000 YEARS? Frankly, it was so off the wall I was taken back. I thought maybe the RESURRECTION and THE CROSS.

NO DOG, I’M TALKING KINGDOM VERSES KINGDOM. TRUTH AND THE LIE. THE GOOD NEWS AGAINST THE WORKS OF THE FALLEN ONES. I told HIM I had no idea. And HE COUNTERED WITH ““WHY NOT???””

My immediate thought was “oh, damn” and HE JUMPED ON ME. THAT’S THE PROBLEM DOG, BECAUSE PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THE KINGDOM RULES AND PURPOSE. THEY CREATED THEIR OWN. AND BECAUSE OF THIS MANY WHO THINK THEMSELVES SAFE AND SECURE ARE SLIDING RAPIDLY INTO ETERNAL DAMNATION. MY FATHER’S KINGDOM HAS SUFFERED VIOLENCE AND TO RETAKE WHAT THE STRONGMAN HAS STOLEN YOU GOT TO BE STRONGER THAN HE. BUT YOU ALSO MUST PURPOSE YOURSELF TO VIOLENTLY ASSAULT HIM. THAT IS NOT HAPPENING TOO MUCH IS IT?

Now I know a loaded question when it slaps me across the head. So when HE began to chuckle I knew THE MASTER had a couple aces up HIS SLEEVE.

I TAUGHT KINGDOM TRUTH 2000 YEARS AGO, AND WHAT DO I GET WHEN I COME BACK AND DEMAND ACCOUNTS TO BE SETTLED? REGRETTABLY LITTLE FRUIT AND NOT MUCH IN TALENTS. THERE ARE SOME TREES DOGS THAT WILL REFUSE TO BELIEVE I HAVE HEWN THEM DOWN OR CHOPPED THEM FOR KINDLING. THE LIE IS SO WELL ESTABLISHED. I TAUGHT THEM THE HOWS AND THE WHYS OF THE KINGDOM AND WATCHED AS MEN AND DEMONS CREATED RELIGION AND DOWNPLAYED MY FATHER’S WILL AND PURPOSE. IT IS DANGEROUS TO INSULT SOMEONE WHOSE NAME IS GREAT AND TERRIBLE.

LET ME TELL YOU A LITTLE SECRET, DOG. I DO NOT CHANGE. NEITHER DOES MY WORD. IN THE END TIMES KINGDOM SHALL BATTLE KINGDOM. NOTHING NEW SINCE THE GARDEN, DOG. BUT WHO IS LIVING IT? EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT HARVEST AND REVIVAL. EVERYONE WANTS THE “PROMISED LAND” ON THE OTHER SIDE OF JORDAN. WELL WHICH SIDE DID THEY START ON? IF THEY REALLY ARE IN THE WILDERNESS WILL THEY KILL THE GIANTS ONCE THEY CROSS OVER? OR WILL THEY EVANGELIZE THEM? WHAT COULD THE STRONGMAN HAVE THAT WOULD HAVE VALUE IN THE KINGDOM? AND HOW DO YOU TAKE OUT THE STRONGMAN?

Here we “discussed” some of the popular aspects of “intercession”. Selah. Eventually we came back to the original question.

THE TWO GREATEST VICTORIES OF THE KINGDOM HAVE OCCURRED OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS. FOR OVER 150 YEARS THE “SOLDIERS OF THE KINGDOM” HAVE WEPT AND TRAVAILED IN THESE BATTLES. WITH GROANING AND TEARS THEY HAVE STORMED THE CITADELS AND PLAYED HAVOC ON THE SCHEMES OF THE ENEMY. THE GREATEST AND MOST VIOLENT BATTLE HAS BEEN AGAINST THE PRINCE OF CHINA. THE SECOND IS THE FALL OF THE PRINCE OF KOREA.

YET YOUR PEOPLE, DOG, ARE SO FOCUSED ON THEIR LITTLE PUDDLES THEY MISS THE GREAT FLOODS OF MY POWER ON ALL CONTINENTS. MORE SOULS HAVE BEEN BIRTHED IN ABBA’S HOUSE BECAUSE OF THE PRAYERS OF SO FEW.

THE REASON THE LINE WAS SO THIN WAS BECAUSE THE “CHURCH” IN AMERICA IS NOT CALLING OUT FOR CONSCRIPTION INTO MY SERVICE. WHEN THEY DO TALK ‘ARMY’ IT IS WITH PARADES AND BANNERS, NOT WITH TEARS AND FASTING. REGRETTABLY YOU FOUND YOURSELF WITH LITTLE OF VALUE ON THE BATTLE LINE BECAUSE YOUR PEOPLE FAIL IN THEIR DUTIES TO PROVISION THEIR OWN. NO SUNSHINE WARRIORS TO FILL IN THE GAP WHEN SOLDIERS MAKE THEIR STAND IN THE DARKNESS. I GAVE YOU ENOUGH TO DO THE JOB.

BUT THEY DO LITTLE TO HELP MY CAUSE. BUT THE TIDE OF BATTLE HAS MOVED. I AM RAISING UP MEN AND WOMEN OF MY WORD IN CHINA AND KOREA, INDIA AND AFRICA TO INTERCEDE FOR AMERICA. FOR THE BATTLE LINES HAVE BEEN MOVED AND YOU HAVE NO TRENCH TO PROTECT YOU IN YOUR OWN LAND.

At this point I got the shakes very bad as the spiritual images that flowed became real and of what will be. Nothing really new. We have had many warnings, but nothing will adequately prepare us for what’s down the road. Then suddenly I was again in the valley of vision. This time I was walking in staggered formation along a road. Still tired, still cold, still hungry and thirsty. I have the BAR riding on my hip, and I still have three clips. All I really need to do the job--the BLOOD, the WORDS of my testimony, and being dead to this world. And that’s where it all came together. An image from Viet Nam. THE WALKING DEAD. Those who gave up thinking about the future because doing the job and surviving the next battle was all consuming. It’s what Paul talked about when he spoke about “being poured out”, giving it all for the sake of CHRIST, to be “expendable” for the sake of THE KINGDOM. THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE is our battle cry. JUST GET THE JOB DONE is something I have heard so often in my spirit, but seldom from the pulpit. So I’m just one of the few on patrol. THE WALKING DEAD. Who follow the CAPTAIN wherever HE leads, will do whatever HE commands.

Selah, Dog

 

 

 

Don’t You See?

Bob Neumann, November 21, 2000

Last night I had an “interesting” experience. Or at least that is a description of what took place that is “safe”, at least for a season. It all started in the FIELD OF VISION where I stood on top of a great stone spire. The kind you see in old movies about the “cowboys and Indians. There is a place “out west” called “MONUMENT VALLEY” where mountains and rock predominate. Frankly it is a desolate wasteland.....but a great backdrop to the stories that needed to be told. And I guess that is why THE KING OF KINGS used it.

I found myself standing on this platform of rock lifted supernaturally above the surrounding terrain. In the far distance on the ground I “saw” specks moving across the valley floor traveling slowly from the right to the left. After awhile as their slow progress continued I “saw” another group come from the upper left of my “field of vision”. This second group was moving very fast in the direction of the first slower group. My immediate “reaction” was that “an attack” was coming. In my “mind” I “saw” countless Hollywood creations of epic proportions where the “good guys” are attacked by “the bad guys” and eventually win. Then I heard HIS VOICE ask “ARE YOU SURE?”

At that point I “stepped back” and looked at THE LAMB OF GOD. HE was dressed in the same bib overhauls HE WORE when I saw HIM last. A vision I chose not to write down and send out in the early morning two weeks ago right now. It was a vision more momentous than any I had ever seen, now evaluated in hindsight. It is because of that “sin” I am to write what took place now.

Seeing HIM dressed that way I was brought back to the reality that I had willfully disobeyed. Again HE ASKED, “ARE YOU SURE?” I had no answer. I really don’t know, which makes all my “interpretations” and “evaluations” valueless. Like I said in the past, HE can out wait anyone and everyone, so I answered “no, LORD”.

With that HE pointed back at the converging “specks” on the valley floor. “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?”, HE ASKED. And suddenly in my mind I saw a collage of “images” and “characters. Things from my memories. John Wayne, Errol Flynn, and many others valiantly “in battle”. VIVID, yes.....but all “make-believe” from TV and the ‘SILVER SCREEN’. Inside me was the answer I wanted to give, yet I knew something was wrong. At that point I felt HIS HAND on my shoulder and I began to cry.

“WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO, DOG?” HE ASKED in that quiet VOICE I have heard in times of pain and fear. I looked into HIS FACE and realized I was ‘safe’, and I answered.

“I want to warn them, LORD”, I replied.

“WHO WOULD YOU WARN?”, HE ASKED.

“The people about to be attacked”..........

“BUT HAVEN’T YOU DONE THAT OVER AND OVER?” I looked back at HIM and had nothing to say. What could I say?

“DON’T TAKE IT SO HARD, DOG. YOUR NATURE IS TO WARN AND PROTECT. I KNOW BECAUSE I MADE YOU AND PLACED YOU. IT IS REALLY QUITE SIMPLE.

THERE ARE MANY WHO DO WHAT YOU HAVE JUST DONE. THEY ‘SAW’ SOMETHING IN THE FAR DISTANCE AND REACTED OUT OF THEIR EMOTIONS.

THEN THERE ARE MANY WHO ‘HEARD’ SOMETHING AND ACTED OUT OF THEIR AGENDAS.” When HE SAID ‘HEARD’ I realized I could “hear” “stuff” coming from the VALLEY, but nothing was distinct or clear....but I was “hearing” and “seeing”. I “watched” as the two groups continued to get closer.

“IT WOULD SEEM INEVITABLE FOR THOSE TWO GROUPS TO COLLIDE IN THE VALLEY.” HE REMARKED. “BUT WHAT ‘SEEMS’ TO MAN IS OFTEN SO MUCH MORE FROM MAN THAN FROM GOD”.

I understood because it was how I have felt about much that is labeled “prophetic” of late.

“BUT APPEARANCES ARE OFTEN MADE IN ORDER TO DECEIVE”.

Now that caught my attention, and I turned back to HIM as HE watched the two distant groups on the VALLEY floor.

“THINK ON THIS, DOG, IS IT NOT WRITTEN THAT JERUSALEM WOULD BE A “BURDENSOME STONE” AND A “CUP OF TREMBLING” TO THE NATIONS?”

As usual all I could say is “yes, LORD”.

“YOU HAVE TO WONDER IF I REALLY MEANT PALM BEACH, IF YOU LISTEN TO THE SO CALLED PROPHETS OUT THERE.

LAST NIGHT A SCHOOL BUS WAS BOMBED AND PEOPLE DIED. AMERICA WATCHED THE FLORIDA CHIEF JUSTICE ASK HOW MUCH TIME THEY COULD SPEND COUNTING BALLOTS BEFORE FLORIDA WAS DROPPED FROM THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. THROUGHOUT THE WORLD THE SAINTS ARE BEING MURDERED AND RAPED AND ABUSED BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE ME AND CHOOSE TO FOLLOW ME”.

With that HE turned to me and asked. “WHEN DO YOU THINK THEY WILL REALIZE THEY HAVE TAKEN THEIR EYES OFF OF ME?” But before I could say anything I watched HIM shake his head and smile......

“YOU CAN’T ANSWER THAT BECAUSE IT IS A LOADED QUESTION, DOG. MOST HAVE NOT “TAKEN THEIR EYES OFF ME” BECAUSE THEY NEVER HAD SEEN ME.

LIKEWISE THEY HAVE NEVER HEARD ANY WORDS I HAVE SAID. SOME HAVE INDEED HEARD MY VOICE. SOME EVEN HAVE REPENTED. BUT SALVATION IS MORE THAN A MOMENT OF ACCEPTANCE OF ONES SINS. IT IS “WORKED” OUT WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING. INDEED IT IS A RACE WITH A BEGINNING AND AN END. BUT SO FEW HAVE EVER CHOSEN TO RUN”.

“TO THE CHURCH OF AMERICA TELL THEM THIS FOR ME, DOG. DID YOU EVER LEARN THAT I AM THE WORD AND YOU LIVE ACCORDING TO EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD? NOT ON YOUR OWN RATIONALIZATIONS AND IMAGINATIONS. SO MANY OF YOU DWELL IN EPHESUS, YOU GOT LOTS OF “GOOD WORKS” AT THE SAME TIME HAVE FORSAKEN YOUR FIRST LOVE. THEN THERE ARE VAST NUMBERS OF YOU WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE IN SARDIS AND THYATIRA AND PERGAMUS FOR THE SIMPLE REASON IS THAT YOU ENJOY THE POWER YOU HOLD AS YOU RULE OVER YOUR PEOPLE. YOU HAVE FOUND THAT YOU CAN BLESS AND CURSE LIKE BALAAM AND THEY THINK IT IS ME. YOU MANIPULATE AND SEDUCE LIKE JEZEBEL AND JUSTIFY IT BY USING MY NAME. AND NOW YOU ARE DIVIDED AT WHICH MAN YOU WILL LOOK TO INSTEAD OF ME, ALL OF YOU LAODICEANS. ALL YOU WHO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN YOUR OWN EYES. SO PROUD AND ARROGANT BECAUSE IN AMERICA THE PEOPLE RULE. THERE IS NO KING IN YOUR LAND, YOUR CHURCHES AND YOUR HEARTS.”

HE STOPPED and I waited for HIM to continue. instead HE just smiled and slowly shook HIS HEAD. The two groups in the VALLEY suddenly vanished and I watched the barren and ‘silent’ landscape. Still there were things to see and there was the sound of the wind blowing through the ROCK and the MOUNTAIN, but THE KING STOOD SILENT. It was then I realized what HE was trying to show me. So many were “prophesying” to the “wind” and from the “wind”, and I remembered EZEKIEL who was told to “prophesy” to the bones and the wind. Only old ZEKE did so when GOD told him to do so. These “prophets” were “seeing” and “hearing” the “events” in the VALLEY and are speaking as they lead themselves. They speak from hearing themselves and others like them when THE LAMB was not speaking.

I felt sick.

“I’M NOT BLAMING YOU, DOG, FOR WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING IN MY NAME. THE SAME HAPPENED TO ALL MY SERVANTS, SO DON’T TAKE IT TO YOURSELF. THOSE PEOPLE CHOSE THEIR OWN WATCHMEN AND THE FALSE SHEPHERDS AND FALSE TEACHERS SAID IT WAS ALL OF AND FROM AND BY ME.”

“IT’S ALL WRITTEN, DOG. JUST BECAUSE MEN CHOOSE THE EASY WAY AND THE SMOOTH ROAD DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE NOT TRIED. NOR THOSE WHO CHOSE TO FOLLOW AND SERVE ME. I AM STILL FAITHFUL AND TRUE. IF THE HYPOCRITES, PHARISEES, SADUCEES, AND FOOLS PREFER WEALTH AND POWER OVER MY GRACE AND MERCY IT IS THEIR CHOICE; ALWAYS HAS BEEN.”

“EVERYONE WHO “SEES” AND “HEARS” CAN ONLY DO SO BY MY WILL AND BY THE SPIRIT OF THE LIVING GOD. YET IT IS WRITTEN THAT “MY SERVANT IS BLIND AND DEAF”. SERVANTS DO NOT SPEAK UP FOR “THEIR RIGHTS”. AND DEAD MEN HAVE NONE.” “I CAN DO A LOT WITH DEAD BONES, DOG. BUT I CAN DO NOTHING FOR THE ONES WHO REFUSE TO OVERCOME.”

“DON’T YOU SEE, DOG?”.

I replied, “I am trying LORD”.....

“GOOD ANSWER, DOG.”

HE LAUGHED and I was back in reality....

It isn’t easy....but I have written and now send.

 

 

 

The Basement

Bob Neumann - July 7, 2001

I had an unusual and vivid dream where I was standing in what looked like my parents’ home of 20-30 years ago. As I was slowly walking through the dining room toward the front door the town sirens went off.

Living in rural Illinois this usually meant a “funnel” cloud had been sighted. At this point I saw one of my younger sisters at age 5 or 6 (she is now 30 something with 3 sons) and I took her to the basement, which looked much as it did back then, but no one else was the same. So I went up the steps and noticed the house was now dark and that strange “steam locomotive” sound was approaching.

I have watched and heard several “TORNADO’S” pass by over the years, and I had the experience of watching and listening to Hurricane Andrew tear off my roof. So the event felt and looked all too real. At this point I “found” another one of my sisters, age 7-8, and took her to the basement. There I found several people I did not know. What I did find was a man, who I have worked with over two years. We said hello and I noticed he held two children -- twins, age 10 months. In the natural he was just married several months ago. When last we worked his family was not expecting.

At this point I was missing 2 parents, 2 sisters, 3 brothers; I am the oldest of 8 children. Since I was seeing both the past and (theoretically a future), it was weird, and I had a wife and two children unaccounted for. So I was not surprised to find myself running up the stairs and through the house. Standing at the front door holding the front door open was the third sister.

I now had the three youngest accounted for. As I stepped out the door I noticed the increase in the “sound” and the intense wind blowing. My sister was looking towards what would be the east and I tried to pull her through the door, but she resisted. All around us there was a rapid swirling of dust and debris without any pattern. It was then that I realized that none of the houses on “our block” were there. All the “homes/buildings” were unfamiliar and haphazardly spread out around us. As I again started to pull my younger sister into the house I heard a dull “whining” pierce through the constant roar of the “approaching tornado”. As I looked to my left I saw a large multi-engined jet plane trailing smoke and showing damage to it’s wings and tail structure. I watched it scream past and crash beyond us. Then I noticed a turbine sound, high pitched, coming towards us from the opposite direction.

SUDDENLY the sound stopped and I saw a “missile” of some sort fly overhead, and I heard it crash moments later. At this point I picked her up and was about to carry her to the basement when I heard explosions coming from the East and watched as a low flying jet was strafing down “our street”.

I quickly ran through the house and down the steps to the “basement”... only it had changed. Now it was a huge area filled with many, many people. All sizes, ages, colors, whatever.

Along the walls and through the area itself were rows of piled “supplies” and “stuff”. At this point I stood alone dressed in my usual faded fatigues with combat harness. I turned and walked towards where the “steps” should be, only to an earthen ramp with sandbags lining the opening. I walked out of the “basement” on to a scene of swirling colors and lights.

My thought was “war” in the heavenlies. The ground was barren and there was a sandbag wall and barrier in front of the opening to the place I had just left. The “WORD” that came was “re-dought”... if I spell it right. On “the roof” of the underground was a “fighting position” with sandbags and sheet metal. All around us were trenches and other positions, most empty of defenders. I watched as individuals and fire-teams were “returning fire” from points completely surrounding the position.

It was obvious it was time to “pull” back to a closer, tighter defensive perimeter, and all the defenders, as one, pulled out of their spots in the defenses and dropped into prepared positions surrounding the “re-dought”. I “knew” the area had been prepared and supplied for this battle. As all made ready the air itself began to shift and distort. I felt sudden nausea and awakened in a full sweat.

The last battle appears to have begun.

Selah

Old Dog

 

 

 

Memorial Day and Joel’s Armies

Bob Neumann, 5/1999

It is said that all things occur for a reason. Add to that the concept of Divine Timing and we have Two pillars on which the Kingdom is built. We call them Purpose and Season. Usually we hear Time and Season preached and taught because the direct image of “Immediacy” is placed upon us. We in our finite reality when touched by Eternity can only respond in the form of immediacy. That is why all prophetic scripture had the sense of “now”. Jeremiah breathed it, Isaiah walked in it and named his children according to it. So when looking at that which God now speaks the sense of “immediacy” is not hard to see. Nor should it be hard to accept or comprehend. What sometimes is not forthcoming is an awareness of Purpose.

Ecclesiastes was written by a self-proclaimed “madman”.

Ecclesiastes 1:16-18

16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. (KJV)

Solomon declared he gave his heart to know wisdom. Yet we know that GOD gave him the wisdom to rule in righteousness. That he had but also did he seek out madness and folly. We need to assume that was Solomon’s idea and not GOD. Interestingly verse 18 tells us that wisdom brings grief and knowledge is aligned with sorrow. Seeing that wisdom and knowledge come through THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT, and that our first contact with GOD is to bring us to conviction which leads to repentance, grief and sorrow are required. For without true grief and sorrow we are never repentant and forgiveness and salvation can not be given. Grace and Mercy are free, but the price is exacted.

Recently I have witnessed a discussion of those who have heard “Trumpets” being blown. Sometimes only in the Spirit, but sometimes it was discernable to the ear. Of course it lead to “lively” discussion and “intense” fellowship. Of course scriptures flew back and forth and I was reminded of a “walk” I had taken a few years ago. So I asked the question of the Group, “What is the purpose of GOD in all these manifestations?” The replies did not answer the question. And I grieved and sought the LORD. HIS ANSWER was a classic one liner....”WHICH ARMY IN JOEL 2 ARE YOU IN?”.

Interesting question that still has no answer from among the people it was asked. This morning I was awakened with the same question in my heart. As I pondered it I had a “grocery list” for our Memorial Day BBQ. And I wept. We forgot, I forgot that the time and season has no meaning without the purpose. Memorials are established so we would not forget. Scripturally GOD placed “Memorials” into the lives of HIS PEOPLE in order to confront them with HIM, “lest we forget”.

In my home town in rural Illinois we have a memorial to our “HONORED DEAD”. All it is a concrete wall with a series of plaques. My grandfather and dad were part of the American Legion color guard every Memorial/Armistice Day and Veteran’s Day when they fired their rifles and blew Taps. As a child I knew it was solemn and not “fun” like Fourth of July. I do not remember how old I was when my Grandpa showed me the names of men he knew and the “uncle” I would never meet. I do not remember if it was the year before or after my dad did the same. They never had a name for what they were trying to do. They did not have fancy words or explanations. Nor did they tell any “war” stories. What they imparted was an awareness of something it has taken most of my life to define and comprehend. The concepts of Honor and Duty that they accepted and lived with for a few years early in their lives stayed with them and they felt necessary to pass on. Concepts that were valid then, and now.

In the late 1980’s a plaque was placed that has an additional seven names. Three I knew. One sat in my high school home room for 2 years. And all I remember was a voice that said he was going to be a Marine, “just like my dad.” He was.

In all our lives we need memorials or we will forget. I know both my Grandfather’s never forgot. While both were Legion members, only one was active. Seldom did the two ever meet to my memory. I was 13 when my Mom’s Dad “passed” as they say. I never knew that the two had known each other long before my parents were married. It was Grandpa Neumann that told me more about Grandpa Carroll that day then I ever heard from my parents. On the coffin where the decorations won so long ago, and never spoken of. Bits of metal and cloth that meant nothing to a child, but a great deal to those who had walked a similar road. Only when I asked him right then and there did I learn he too would have decorations on his casket. And he did.

When I was lead to share this I did not expect ABBA to make me look back into my own life before I can look ahead. But that is the whole purpose of REMEMBRANCE. To look back so we may understand what is to come. In Ecclesiastes 3 Solomon tells us something about how our ABBA does things. HE declares times and seasons and purposes under heaven for HIS GLORY....and then declares....

14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

So to look at Joel we must see that it has happened and will happen again. By knowing what actually happened we can see what will “shortly” take place. If Joel was written like a modern novel, it would barely take ten pages and ten minutes to read. Only Joel is not a modern novel, but an ancient prophecy. It is written in layers with much that is missed today. We find it divided into 3 chapters, but it itself is divided into stages according to the images and purposes that THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT is using to instruct us.

The First chapter begins with GOD declaring to HIS PEOPLE to take notice and remember. It speaks to the people of GOD to make a MEMORIAL of what is happening. GOD explains that the curses the land is under is due because of the “servants” in the land. Verse 14 brings the first call to the people to repent.

Chapter 2 begins with the “blowing of the trumpet” as the Great and Terrible DAY OF THE LORD is at hand. Obviously the call to repent was not heeded, so we have a predicament. In the next 11 verses we have a confrontation. In it we have groups in adversarial positions. The question GOD asked was “Which army are you in?” must be addressed. So we need to see which armies are involved.

Because we are sounding the SHOFAR in ZION, we know we are in Jerusalem. We man the walls. We are the covenant people who built the TEMPLE and are called by HIS NAME. We are the chosen. Our heritage is of Hezekiah, Joash, Solomon, and David. Of Joshua, Gideon, Samuel and the mighty men of valor.

We are the army of GOD, worshipping on ZION, the anointed and the chosen of GOD.

This is the first army.

Only Joel 1 says :

5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

Drunkard is a term synonymous with idolatry. THE LORD says the “new wine” is cut off. That a nation will be raised up to lay waist to the land. Joel 2 carries out this image.

The Second Army has come forth to bring down unrepentant Zion. Many today see the hypocrisy and hidden sin within the first army. They know judgment has been proclaimed. Eagerly many join ranks to assault “Babylon” because of the arrogance and unrepentance they perceive. They see GOD raise up an army to bring judgment upon ZION and quickly stand in their numbers. For this is GOD’S ARMY....

4 The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.

5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

7 They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:

8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.

The key here is appearance. The First Army is of GOD. Now a second army is of GOD. BOTH ARE RIGHT. But both are only to a degree. The first still caries HIS NAME, but do not serve HIM or Fear HIS NAME. In spite of the warnings, they would not repent. The Second Army is of GOD. GOD SPECIFICALLY is calling it to make war with the unrepentant. They are HIS TOOL of judgment upon the land. But is that the army to join? It appears to be timely....and unstopable. Isn’t that how we want GOD’S ARMY TO BE?

But are we discerning HIS SPIRIT today? Two armies appear to be of GOD. Both claim HIM, and are warring with each other today.

The problem with the first are openly stated by ABBA in the entire Old Testament. The problem with the second is it’s “appearance”. It is described “like a...” at every simile. Scripture has two other similes that parallel it. First is “like a flood....”.

Isaiah 59:19

19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. (KJV)

Jeremiah 46:8

8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. (KJV)

Amos 9:5

5 And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. (KJV)

Behold 3 witnesses, GOD will destroy....using “Egypt”. Makes even more sense when you understand how GOD works....

Jeremiah 27:6

6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. (KJV)

So we have a second Army sent by GOD. The question is do you want to be in that army? The second simile may help....1 Peter 5:8

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (KJV)

So this is a time to be sober and discerning. It is also a time to remember....what is yet to come.....maybe a third army, yet unseen...

11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Now if it happened before, and GOD says it will happen again.....the third army also appeared. That is if you are looking for it. Joel 2:11 says nothing about the ARMY....but one heck of a lot about who commands it. So we look to how Babylon fell and the PROPHETIC IMAGE laid out before us and see it as what is yet to come.

So if you want to see THE ARMY COMMANDER YET TO COME...read Isaiah....

28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron:

3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.

Historically we know Cyrus defeated Babylon and ended the “captivity”. In Chaldean “CYRUS” means “KING”.....Isaiah 44:18 is of a KING YET TO COME.....it is nice to know who that KING IS....Revelation 17:14

14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (KJV)

THE KING OF KINGS IS THE LAMB OF GOD WHO OVERCOMES.....and we overcome by....THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB.......which gives us the strength to STAND against the enemy and speak.....THE WORDS OF OUR TESTAMONY..... and this removes our fear and allows us to LOVE NOT OUR LIFE....even unto death. We are the “called”, the “chosen”, the “faithfull” who serve the LAMB our KING.

So the third army in Joel is.... Revelation 19:11-16

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (KJV)

Just one of many who will follow HIM that day.

So we have three armies. All can claim that they are “of GOD”. Yet GOD seems not as happy about how we are doing today than many say that HE IS. In Matthew 24 JESUS the LAMB says we should not be deceived, over and over. Today many are deceived and battle constantly among the brethren over doctrines, interpretations, and priorities. They believe they are right and battle accordingly to defend their “city”.

Likewise there are many who got mauled in the skirmishes and now oppose the “city”. So sides were picked and the “war” began. It started long ago and still is there today.

Us and them with both claiming ““GOD IS ON MY SIDE”“.

No one wants to ask who is on GOD’S SIDE. Seems sort of trite today, don’t it.....

NATO bombing in the Balkans.....Israel has a new government and ISLAM still wants Israel destroyed....the election changed that in no way......India and Pakistan getting ready to throw nukes around.....the Chinese building nukes and neutron bombs and loading them on delivery systems “given” to them.....actually it seems a fair and even playground.....everyone hates everyone else and is preparing for the finale.

SO this weekend we are to remember....but what is worth remembering? If I look back to what was and see what now is in my own homeland I get sick. “I REMEMBER...” is a painful experience when you look back at what was.....

We sent our young men to foreign lands to stop an aggressor. Both my Grandpa’s said it was “THE WAR TO END ALL WARS”. They tried. They came back with family and friends to rebuild and go on. Only they failed. Once again did we send our young men and some young women to meet an attack upon our nation. They called it “THE BIG ONE”....and hoped it would be the last. But they too, failed. No matter how many lives are lost, battles fought....PEACE only comes when THE LAMB takes HIS THRONE.

As a nation we were once a people that feared GOD and chose to do right. But that seems long ago. Like Israel we were blessed and protected by our GOD. And like Israel we forgot our GOD and HIS WAYS. HE calls out and few listen. HE has sent trouble to our land, but we have not turned as a nation or a people from our ways. We chose plenty and abundance rather than faith and provision. So we forgot GOD.....and learned to enjoy sin. Now we pursue sin and not righteousness.

Once someone said of AMERICA that AMERICA was strong because it is GOOD. Our strength was not economic or military. It was in our GOD, and HIS MIGHT.

So today I cry for what was lost....i pray for mercy for a people who see not the danger approach. But most of all I remember the old paths I now walk with my ABBA.....the path my Dad and my Grandpa’s pointed me to and walked with me on those first steps. For ABBA to show me a heritage I never appreciated yet in HIS WAYS explains to me HIS INHERITANCE in ‘my’ generations....is humbling. It is nice to be “called”....better to be “chosen”.....but unless HE calls me “faithful” nothing mattered...

HE IS FAITHFULL....THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS....IN ALL SITUATIONS.

BLESSED BE THE NAME OF OUR LORD.

Bob...son of Robert.... son of Joseph.... son of Leo....