The times they are a changing!

Mark Holloway's picture

God you always seem to say the same things when we talk.

Why does that matter?

Because it might get boring for people I send these conversations to.

Let me ask you a question Mark. Who are these conversations for?

You and me?

Yes. It’s true for you, and true for anyone else who has a conversation with me, above all else, the conversation is just for us. Just the two of us.

So you’re saying not to worry what others think?

No don’t worry.

But you also say to send the conversation to people?

Yes I do. But I don’t want you to care what they think about what you send them. Write down your words, and mine back to you, for our sake. Your sake and mine. Just the two of us. If those who read this want to benefit from what they read they will. If they don’t, they won’t.

But God you’re always saying the same thing. It makes me wonder if my ‘hearing from God record’ is stuck. I know it’s you talking. I can tell. Sure I struggle with Doubt, but I DO know that it’s you talking. But when you say the same things, but just in slightly different ways, I end up wondering if I’m blocking you. Or maybe I’m only able to hear at a certain level.

It makes me wonder if somehow you can’t say anything different to me because I have reached the limit of my ability to hear you.

Mark you haven’t even really gotten started. There is a vast, immeasurable amount, for you to hear yet, and you have certainly NOT reached the limit of your ability to hear me.

And no, you’re not blocking me particularly. Because sin doesn’t stop you hearing me. I’ve told you that. How could it? If it did, no one would hear me. ‘We have ALL like sheep gone astray’. Not just you. Even all the greats. All sinning. All the time.

Which is ok. I’m working with you all. I’m patient. My focus is you, not the flaws. You’re all fantastic, which makes your flaws less of a worry. All of you. All fantastic!

I speak to imperfect people. I was able to speak to you the night you met me. You weren’t asking for me, just wandering along doing what you wanted and suddenly WHAM! You walked face first into God. I approached you. That’s who I am, and how I do things. When I speak to you, you can hear, no matter what your behaviour’s been like.

God when you say that stuff the religious get all up in arms at me. They say that it can’t be you. That you hate sin.

Well of course I do. They’re right.

Good. I kind of thought they were right.

They are. But Mark I don’t lose any sleep over sin like they do. I’ve got a plan. I’m happy with my plan. I’m dealing with sin my way. Not focusing on it like he does.

So how come you say that you talk to me no matter what I’m like, and that it’s the same for everyone else?

Simple. I’ve told you this before. If I focus on what you do wrong, you’ll feel condemned. And if you feel condemned you’ll be more inclined to do what you’re feeling condemned about. It’s a fact. Ask any counsellor or psychologist. Condemnation makes you feel there’ no hope. It makes you think you might as well return to your vomit, ‘wallow in sin’. That’s why the enemy is so keen to build a religious system that focuses on your sin. It keeps you a slave to your sin. Search the scripture and you’ll see that it’s so.

The letter of the law drives you further into sin. The spirit frees you from ‘THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH’. That’s what the law is called up here Mark. The law of sin and death.

So instead of focusing on your sin like Religion and the enemy do, I focus on you. After all it’s you I’m interested in. NOT your sin. Does that make sense?

Yes. But I get in so much trouble when you say stuff like this to me. And somehow it worries me that the religious will think I write and focus even more on sin just to prove I’m wrong. That’s certainly how it sounds when they talk to me.

Don’t worry about it. Let’s carry on discussing your first question. You asked why I always say the same things. Like what for instance?

God, you’re GOD. You don’t need to ask ‘like what?’ That makes them say I’m making this up too. They say it’s a product of my own mind, that I’m ‘musing’. Not hearing from you at all but ‘musing’.

What does that make you think?

Well it makes me sad, because if they wanted to they could hear you speak like this too, and think of all the people who look up to them for guidance from you. They’d be able to set the lives of so many on fire. Imagine it. Hundreds of people would have a back and forward conversation with you if they were prepared to spread the news about it.

You’re going to see that in your life time Mark. Hundreds. The naysayers can’t stop that, it’s what I’m doing.

At the risk of seeming ungrateful God, I thought somewhere you’d told me it would be millions.

It will. You KNOW that. You’ve already seen hundreds changed by the conversation. Hundreds already. There will be millions, millions and millions, and in your lifetime. That’s something you’ll have to wait and believe for, but it’s coming. AND SOON.

God I’m thinking of Bob Dylan’s sixties’ protest song, ‘The Times they are a changing’ and the lines…

‘Come gather round people. Wherever your roam. And admit that the waters around you have grown. And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone. If your time to you is worth savin, then you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a changing.

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call. Don’t stand in the hallway, don’t block up the hall. For he that gets hurt will be he that has stalled. There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin. It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. For the times they are a changing.'

Exactly. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Even the prophets outside the church can hear, and have heard for some time. And the words of that song, although about another wave of change that has since been and gone, those words are still apt for what’s coming. I want you to tell people Mark, the ones who don’t like the idea of me talking direct to people whatever they’re like. The ones who think I need to go through a third party. The ones who want others to jump through hoops before I’ll talk to them.

I want you to tell them, with warmth and patience. With respect. They will often be those older and in authority. Men and women of God. I want you to tell them that if they can’t be part of what’s coming to get out of the way. Otherwise they’ll get hurt.

How on earth can I tell them that? I have no platform.

Tell them. When you are given the option, tell them. Some will listen. Some won’t. Your job is to tell them. Not to do the changing for them. That’s their job. Neither is your job to judge their response. If I don’t judge them, then neither can you. Just tell them.

And you’re not alone. I am raising up an army. Thousands, then millions of people who hear direct. Many of them, like you, will be the least likely people to hear. The misfits and the downcasts. The failures. The ones whose lives look to have fallen off the wagon. You are the ones who will push this move through first. Those desperate enough to come and demand to hear me speak about their situation.

The ones, just like you, the millions just like you who don’t want to have anything to do with pushing a move of God. People like you who don’t fit the system, and don’t want to be great movers and shakers for God. You and the so many others like you are the ones I can trust this with.

Because THIS is about me talking to the little people, direct. The forgotten people, direct. The ‘shouldn’t hear from God people’, direct. So it’s all of you who I am going to use to sweep this move through.

Ok. But you still haven’t told me why you say the same things. Why I sound like a stuck record.

You do to you. You do to the naysayers, critics and skeptics. But not to me. To me and to those thirsty, those who are crying ‘there has to be something more than this’, you don’t sound anything like a stuck record. Not at all. To us, you and all the others crying out this same message seem like a Godsend. Stick with it. Tell others to stick with it too. GOD. IS. ON. THE. MOVE.

‘Don’t stand in the hallway, don’t block up the hall. For he that gets hurt will be he that has stalled.’

One day Bob Dylan himself will read these words. That’s my guarantee to you. And then he will stand and laugh, humbled that God himself will say and sing the words of Bob Dylan if that’s required to get the message out. I use what I’m given. I use what’s available. That’s something to really make the hair of the naysayers stand on end. Tell them to read the story of how Paul pointed out an ‘idol to an unknown god’ and told those assembled that the god the statue represented was me.

Whatever works Mark. Sixties protest songs. Carved idols. Misfits like you and all the others like you. Whatever works. I’ll use it. ‘God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.’ Here it comes Mark. Here it comes.

 

 

For your own copy of Mark Holloway's book 'The Freedom Diaries - God Speaks Back' buy the book on this site at a special discounted price for friends of Communion with God Ministries. Just click the arrow at the top right of this page. Also see 'The Four Keys to hearing God's Voice' by Dr Mark Virkler.

 

 

 

Related Resources: 

How to Hear God's Voice!   

Related Blogs: 

How to Hear God’s Voice   
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Comments

Anonymous's picture

I haven't read your book, but I've been reading the blogs. I don't see them as redundant, and in every blog there's something that God speaks and it applies directly to my life and what I'm walking through. If God is for you, who can be against you. Keep sharing.

Mark Holloway's picture

So exciting that you're hearing him too. Spread the word. Not everyone knows this!! It's why I wrote the book. More people need to know that God speaks to them. Mark

Anonymous's picture

Mark, I for one have been very encouraged by your blog's as i'm sure have many others also. I need God to say the same things over and over to me so finally I "get it". That is proof to me how much he loves me by his relentless pursuit after me and his not giving up until I understand. I know God said your conversations are mainly for you but I can tell you that I am getting blessed also, so Thank you. I too can hear God and have journaled in the past(it has been to long)and reading your conversations has given me the inspiration to start again because I see how much I am missing.
Curtis

Mark Holloway's picture

I'm glad my conversations with God are encouraging you - because your comments are encouraging me. Keep listening to him. He wants to talk more than you can imagine. Mark.

Anonymous's picture

Thank you so much for leaning in close to hear from God and for sharing your intimate conversations with others. You are teaching others about the struggle, and the process to imtimacy. This is helping many people!

Mark Holloway's picture

Thanks for the encouragement. It means a lot. Mark.

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Pages

Intimacy with the Holy Spirit

Intimacy with the Holy Spirit

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 223 Pages

This book leads you in meditating on and journaling about two hundred and fifty verses that discuss the Holy Spirit. You will grow in intimacy with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the anointing within you will increase! You will exclaim as the disciples did on the Emmaus Road “Did not our heart burn within us…while He opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)! In addition to being led to journal through these verses, you will read numerous two-way journal entries from Mark Virkler, as well as a five-page prayer at the conclusion of the book.

Price: $10.95

Kids Can

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This book will inspire you and train you to teach children to minister in the power of the Spirit! And the stories it contains will bring tears to your eyes! Kids Can is a message for the children of today about their destiny tomorrow. When kids encounter the pure essence of Jesus, they will become empowered, equipped and energized to serve Him accurately and with amazing clarity. As they hear His voice and are encouraged in their giftings, strong leaders are created and maturity, vision and skills are fine tuned.

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Lamad Faculty Handbook

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by Mark and Patti Virkler | 78 Pages

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Living with Jesus Book 1 - Welcome to God's Family

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by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

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Book 3 - Talking and Listening - Hearing the voice of God.

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Living with Jesus Book 6 - What Do We Choose?

Living with Jesus Book 6 - What Do We Choose?

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 6 - What Do We Choose? introduces children to making kingdom choices.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 7 - Having Faith

Living with Jesus Book 7 - Having Faith

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 7 - Having Faith introduces children to a life of faith.

Price: $9.95
Living with Jesus Book 8 - Staying Protected

Living with Jesus Book 8 - Staying Protected

by Daphne Kirk | 47 pages | Published 1999

The Living with Jesus series is a unique, exciting  and transformational discipleship course for children, taking them through the fundamentals of the Christian faith in a relational, interactive and challenging way, always applying to their lives the commands to love God, love one another and love the lost.

Book 8 - Staying Protected introduces children to spiritual warfare.

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Operations Manual

Operations Manual

by Mark and Patti Virkler | 134 Pages

We have helped hundreds of churches establish Schools of Ministry or church-centered Bible schools over the last 25 years. This manual draws together insights and approaches for how to do it easier, faster and better. Enjoy as you build on the success of those who have gone before you.

Price: $69.95

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