Supernatural Technology

It has been said that technology of an advanced society would look like magic to us. 

Well, I’m here to tell you that there is a higher society and it’s not from aliens or other dimensional beings; it’s spiritual. You see there is a spirit world, and we exist inside of it. In fact, even you are a truly a spirit! 

Every new day we are stumbling on many scientific breakthroughs that prove biblical correctness about scientific theory; it’s mind boggling and you won’t hear the haters of God and the Bible admitting that. They go along with blinders, “developing and uncovering” truths that have been stated and revealed for millennial.

Well, I wanted, in this article, to reveal the heart nature of Christ/God toward our current connection to technology today and our seeming addiction to it, as well as how we seem to be deriving fulfillment from it at the sacrifice of relationships, specifically our phones/tablets. 

Jesus used prayer to connect with the Father. He taught prayer and He showed how the anointing that breaks EVERY sin, sickness and dis-ease comes from communion with the Father. Now don’t you think, being God, if phones were the way to greater connection, He could have whipped up a phone or two or 2 million? The answer is yes. Certainly, He could have brought us into a new level of technology back then even in that day! But He didn’t! He showed a MORE EXCELLENT way ...PRAYER!!

If Jesus were here today would He have a phone? Do you think He’d have His nose stuck in it and tell people wait till I’m finished with this text? Or do you think He would say the best way to get a hold of me is text? I think not! I think He’d say if you wanna talk to me LITERALLY come follow me, spend time with Me, listen to Me in person, etc. In fact He told us, if you want to be fulfilled seek the Father through Me in prayer. He said that in Him you’ll find joy, peace, happiness, hope, and even all the things you need! He showed us we need to talk to- and look at each other in the eyes- face to face! We need to lay hands on one another, hug one another and, love one another! He showed us we need to stress less and live simply and peacefully. He showed us we need to be sharing, caring, building ourselves- and each other up- to be peace makers! 

So, I ask you if that is the model He set- and will bring back upon his return- how should we be living today? It’s time to go tech-free and connect face to face, first with the Father and second, with each other! God is rebuilding His church again. He is showing He is our true Father; He is showing us we are ONE Family in Him; He is showing us unity is the key and humility is the first stepping stone to unity! 

Please join me is committing to seeking God and people more Face to Face! Let’s set the phones down more and more! Let’s not be upset with people when they don’t get right back to us. Let’s give grace and be happy for people who are not available because they have put people before phones!

Let’s unplug from the world and plug into Him and each other. It’s time we tap into the Highest level tech, the Tech of God Father/Son/Holy Spirit. See ya in person at the Barn! Talk to ya in person later as well, lol. Love ya all, be blessed!! 

~Shane

F5 Senior Leader - The Barn

(We lead as one, five fold for all!)

This is a move!

From prophetic song writing to healings, God is moving in The Barn. The unity we are experiencing is only caused by our obedience and submission to each other and what God is doing and saying. And we know, THERE IS MORE!

God has more for you and more for us. He wants us to know Him as Father like never before, He wants to restore family back to the church, and He wants to blur the lines of denomination. He wants us to operate as one in His name and He wants us to exercise our giftings and callings even in our imperfection. You are called and you are significant!

Let us say that again; you are called and you are significant! You don't have to be perfect to minister to people; you don't have to be perfect to be in ministry; you just simply need to be you. God can use any and all of us to do His work on the earth today and He wants too!

So, we encourage you to be bold and trust that you hear the Lord leading you. He will give you the words as you speak so you don't need to worry. Be aware of your impact on people and smile a little more- it'll brighten someones day. Laugh a little harder- it'll bring joy to peoples lives. Love a lot extra- it'll give people hope for a better tomorrow. Extend mercy and grace when it's undeserved because that's what Jesus did for us.

You can change the world one person at a time and if we all do it together... just imagine the impact!

Blessings and love,
Shane and Kara

Bickering Spirits

If you have an argumentative attitude or SPIRIT (especially with your spouse) and you cannot stop or control it; you are under the influence of a Bickering Spirit. The trouble with a Bickering Spirit is that when these issues arise, you may think the problem is with the other person and not see the spirit that is driving you/them. 

You may think “so what? Bickering doesn’t sound so bad.” But, listen! This situation is not just demonic; it’s the place holder for other major demonic entry!

The Bickering Spirit’s Goal:

• To well up your self-pride, creating a critical attitude. 

• To fool you into believing it’s the other person/people causing the attacks and problems. 

• To subtly and subconsciously make you angry at/blame God. 

• To build resentment. 

• To justify wrong thoughts and attitudes.

• To weaken your self discipline in many areas, beginning with controlling your tongue.  Eventually this lack of self discipline can lead to eating disorders and other bad habits.  

• To subtly draw you away from your spouse, your marriage, and ultimately God’s plan for your life by attracting you toward things that seem to fill a void.

• To distance You from the Lord through justification of not spending time with Him in prayer and devotions.

• Advanced stages of this spiritual attack will be a critical nature; fault finding in others (maybe everyone in your life), gossiping, complaining, etc .  

A Bickering Spirit seeks to destroy you. It is a door holder for other spirits and it allows other demonic influences, such as: eating disorders, lust, attractions to pornography and thoughts of infidelity, isolation, and desire to give up. This list is for individuals but when this Spirit attacks a marriage it usually happens to both spouses. 

So what next? 

The first key step toward destroying this spirit is to first recognize you have it. You may feel you can see it at work, and you may feel like you can’t stop it. But you can! 

You will first need to realize and accept that the problem does not reside in another person or group of people. Spirits use people against us to cause us to feel attacked, bringing out blame and a judgmental attitude within ourselves.  

We must stop accepting these attacks and instead, learn how to combat them.

Here’s how we fight back:

1. We must start by having a repentive heart

2. Each day we need time with God- in prayer and in His Word.  

3. We constantly need to intentionally resist this critical behavior, control our tongue, and be mindful of our attitudes.  “Resist the devil and he will flee from you!”

Begin battling the Bickering Spirit today! Apologize. Get your spouse, friends or family to pray with you. Speak openly about your struggles and repent to one another; committing to making changes.  Begin taking back your life and home! We are engaged in a spiritual war and we cannot  let the enemy reside within our homes and our hearts! God did not design us to be alone and the more aware we are of Him  and the forces we fight, the easier it becomes for us to win our battles and fulfill our destiny! 

Holy of Holies

The Holy of Holies is a term in the Bible that refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle where God's presence appeared and dwelled. No one was allowed to enter except the high priest and that was only once a year during Yom Kippur. Nowadays, we know we can enter- and be- in God's presence anywhere but have we lost the understanding of the necessity for reverence when we do this? Have we forgotten He is still holy and we need to enter freely but with a sense of reverence and seriousness? 

Rev 4:8-11 TPT - Each of the four living creatures had six wings, full of eyes all around and under their wings. They worshiped without ceasing, day and night, singing,“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty! The Was, the Is, and the Coming!”And whenever the living creatures gave glory, honor, and thanks to the One who is enthroned and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fell facedown before the one seated on the throne and they worshiped the one who lives forever and ever. And they surrendered their crowns before the throne, singing:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory, honor, and power,
for you created all things, and by your plan they were created and exist."

If we walked into a room and saw God physically there, how would we respond? How would we act? A step further, if we knew He would be there, would we enter that room any differently? What would the posture of our heart be? How would we act just outside the room? How would we feel walking up to the door from the outside? How would we feel driving there? What would our conversations be about? What would be going on in our minds? What if He was in the backseat of your car this morning? What if He was in your office or class when you arrived? What if He was at the dinner table? What if He hung out and watched a movie with you after dinner? What if? Imagine! Is it possible we have become too familiar with the "friend" side of God that we have missed the Sovereign Lord side?

I believe we need a return to this mind set, so our responses and attitudes would naturally change. We would be different. We would act different. We would talk different. We would think different. When we realize that we are always just outside the Holy of Holies... just imagine!

God is doing something in FNL that deals with the Holy of Holies. He really wants us to grasp that He is HOLY. Yes, He is loving and kind and merciful but He is Holy; HE IS GOD ALONE! And if you know Jewish script, you know that when something is said 3 times, it is of utmost importance. The Bible says the angels cry out holy, holy, holy is HE!

We live in a culture that doesn't consider, let alone teach, reverence or respect too often in our relationship with God. So we don't bring that reverence to our daily lives, but we should! We should at least try to understand that there is some seriousness to our relationship with Him and we shouldn't be so flippant about entering a church's sanctuary or The Barn or anywhere two or three or even ourselves are coming to "meet" Him. Why? Because He is there waiting all the time. This is the mind set that will transform our daily lives. His eyes are always upon us- we are literally just out side the HOLY OF HOLIES- let's act like it! We are moving to a new level of reverence in The Barn, at the leading of God. It is a time of worship and sacrifice just for Him. We are embracing a new attitude that God is literally there, because He is, and we are going to act as such!  

Join us any Friday in The barn at 7... we'd love to see you and experience the Holy of Holies with you.

Blessings and love,
Shane and Kara

Stretching Past Regrets

We all know that regrets are negative memories of past events that we wish had never happened. We also know that regrets can be tied to emotions which can severely impair our ability to grow in areas where regret exists. An example might be where someone had an abusive relationship with a controlling partner in the past and therefore, going forward, they guarded that area to prevent being hurt again- even with people who aren’t trying to control them. They may become bossy and self-sabotage relationships and in turn, build up regret that this area of their life is eating their lunch.

God wants us to grow. God wants us to stretch our current capacity. How do we do that if we have areas where regret is causing us to fear growth? This is great  question- and it’s a serious one too. Many people are cycling in life, struggling to break free from regrets and the fears that comes with them. But... there is hope!! 

God gave us brains and He wires them for success. When we understand how they work, we can begin to take back what the enemy has stolen. When you understand this principle:

“Your mind controls your brain and your brain controls your body
and if you want a healthy body, you need a healthy mind.
You are, and you become, what you think.” 
-Dr. Caroline Leaf  

An individual with a “victim identity” believes that the past is more powerful than the present; the opposite of the truth. We also need to understand that principles of mental health can be backed up Biblically.  A victim’s mentality is the belief that other people and what they did to you are responsible for who you are now-for your emotional pain or your inability to be your true self. The truth is that the only power there is, is contained within the present and future. Once you know that truth (and really understand it) you realize that you alone are responsible for your inner peace and healing; not anyone else. You realize that the past cannot prevail against the power of the NOW. 

A victim mentality will keep you from emotional and physical healing because it keeps you locked in the past. A victim’s mentality prevents you from finding the roots of your reactions and keeps you from finding solutions, closure, and responsibility. Too often, people think being the victim is the easier road to take but that too is a lie. Similar to getting a new toy, the "high" of avoiding the hard work of healing quickly vanishes. If you do not choose to take responsibility and forgive, or apologize and move on, you will be stuck; your emotional and physical health will suffer. 

God wants you free! He wants his children to be free from regrets, free from fears, free from depression, free from all the wounds of your past.  He wants you free from wrong thinking. 

At FNL, we want to bring healing to the areas of people’s lives that have them stuck, mired down and held back back from all God has for them! 

We are excited to say that you will be soon hearing about how we are going to go about doing that. We want people healed from their past so they can live free in their future. We want to help people regain identities that were stolen by the enemy and help people to know both who they are and whose they are. If you're stuck or you know people who are- help is coming. Stay tuned for more information. 

Blessings and love,

Shane

What if?

What if we really believed everything God says about us? How would that change our decisions? How would that change our outlook? What if we really believed His love for us is more real than any earthly thing? How would that change our interactions? If we truly believed AND accepted His love, what He says, our original design- all of it- would anything be any different? What if we really believed the sacrifice was worth the cost?

I’d say without a doubt everything would change. Everything. Our outlooks, attitudes, thoughts, decisions, choices, lifestyle, you name it, it would change and for the better!

Would we let those lying spirits that speak the opposite of what God says remain? No! Because we would know that we know that we know it’s a lie!

Would we let bitterness remain? No!

Would we let unforgiveness reign? No!

Would we allow ourselves to be judgmental and critical? No!

Would we allow the enemy to tell us all the things we’ve messed up, all the things we’ve done poorly, would we allow condemnation to remain? No!

If we truly believed what He did for us on the cross, would we be better at loving others no matter what? Would we make different choices as to what we look at on the internet? TV? Movies? Books? Would we spend our time differently or would we still plan our lives around our entertainment? Would we pray more? Would we open our Bibles more? Would we love the unlovables more? Would we understand every decision matters?

If we truly understood Holy Spirit is residing in us would we live more Holy lives? God is holy. He is holy. Holy. It’s heavy. Let yourself feel the weight of His holiness. As we enter Good Friday and Easter, this needs to sink in. Take a moment and really think about what happened 2,000 years ago on the cross and what it meant for all of mankind and then realize if only you would have been saved, only you, He would have done it still!

The Father is preparing His bride for the return of the groom. And He isn’t looking for a dejected, weak, down-in-the-dumps bride. He’s looking for a HOLY bride that knows her worth! He is looking for a bride who is prepared and ready for His coming! He is looking for a bride who is telling others to watch for Him!

He is coming for a bride that understands their value and authority and identity. He is looking for a bride that knows who she is.

Who are you?

• Prized possession: James 1:18

• More than conqueror: Rom 8:37

• Royalty: 1 Peter 2:9

• Heirs/Benefactors: Rom 8:17

• Designed for good works: Eph 2:10

• Chosen: John 15:16

• Able to do greater: John 14:12

• Authority over enemy: Luke 10:19

When we know who we are, we will be more able to do as it says in James 4:7.  “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you!”

And we will know when the enemy’s up to no good because we will recognize what John 10:10 says; that the thief (the enemy) is coming to steal, kill, and destroy and Jesus came to give us abundant life!

Now stand up, stop being comfortable and say these things out loud:

• I am part of a chosen generation, holy, a special treasure for the Lord.

• I know that all things work together my good because I love God.

• I am called.

• I am forgiven.

• I am valued.

• I am loved.

• I have authority.

• God is for me. He is on my side!

• I can do great works in His name!

• I AM ROYALTY and I have DESTINY!

It is time we stop allowing ourselves to live a “What If” life. It is time we know who we are and hold on to that in this journey called life. We simply cannot allow the enemy to steal from us, our future or any part of our identity!  If we really believed everything God says about us we could change the world. If we really believed, we would be unstoppable. And so it is with you... believe!

See you in The Barn!

• Kara McLean

A Whirlwind Month!

We LOVE seeing people exercising their giftings and callings for Kingdom purposes! Seriously, it's our hearts desire that each person fulfills their destiny in Christ by doing exactly what He made them to do. We love and are so encouraged when we see people step out; it really sets our hearts on fire.

This month, Angela Fee did just that. The preacher in her rose up and she gave an awesome message in mid-march. She said "sometimes in the middle of a problem, all we see is the problem. He doesn’t want us to get there on our own. He wants us to know that we know that we know it was Him! He prepared our way before we had breath in our lungs. God is bigger than us not listening. Your ship might be going down but you aren’t! He will get us to the other side!!" We were very inspired by her message on Restful Tenacity. 

Then Brian gave a communion message that was about the best we've ever heard: "Communion is about intimacy not ritual; we are doing it WITH Jesus not for Him."

Angela Darda shared some of her testimony with us early in the month and boy was she right when she said "Sometimes UNanswered prayers are really ANSWERED prayers!" Can we get an AMEN on that?!? How many times have we prayed for something that looking back wold have been the worst thing for us? Praise God He knows what is best!

We hosted the Carry the Love team on March 8 and wow, was that an impactful night! With powerful worship, prophetic words, and group prayer; God set a new standard that night!

We finished the month with a message from Brian Fee about Overcoming Our Past. He said we spend a lot of time focusing on the things we don’t have control over. Focus on what you CAN control and let God work on the things we can’t! He said it's the enemy constantly bringing up our failures and that we don't have to listen to those thoughts. He gave us 3 things to remember:

1. In Christ, I am completely forgiven!

2. In Christ, I am valuable!

3. In Christ, I am unconditionally loved!

God has forgiven us; our past doesn't bother Him a bit! So remember, you’re not the sum of your mistakes; you’re the sum of Jesus’ success!

It's truly energizing to us to see people walk out what God has called them to. From singers on the worship team to hospitality from media to greeting, and everywhere in between, God has a destiny inside of you and we want to help you fulfill it!

Lastly, we appreciate your prayers and support for FNL! We are continuing to save for the Parking Lot and are getting closer with over $6,200 saved of the needed $15,000. That is because of you and your generosity! Should the Lord lay something on your heart to contribute to FNL and/or the parking lot, you can click the link below. 

And, we can't wait to SEE YOU in THE BARN!

Shane and Kara McLean