No Discernable Talent
When I entered Pinecrest’s “gates”
in the fall of 1976 I was introduced to many concepts I have
never heard before. The one in particular I wish to focus on
here is “The Lord’s Visit.” At the time the school
seemed to be built around the school and individuals receiving
visitations from God. Staff members on numerous occasions
pointed out Brother Taylor as having been “a
nobody” and because of he had a visitation from God
he was able to build Pinecrest Bible Training Center. And it
was said that any Pinecrest student could have such a visitation
from God and start their own bible school too and the students
were encouraged to do so with these words and others like that.
Every Year of my five years at Pinecrest
Wade Taylor would take the opening week of Chapels and give
his testimony. He would begin by saying: I say were you sat
. . . And then ruminate through a preset line of his experiences
in bible school, of a revival or visitation that came beginning
with a single student from Japan named Ellen Yamato, how it overthrew
the girls dorm and then took over the
whole school for two weeks. Wade would then speak of the power
of God’s visit and that it was life changing – that people in
such visitations were marked for life, they were spiritually
ruined and would never be able to go back to what they formerly
had.
Wade never really spoke of his own
no frills graduation, and that he had been at the “Bottom of
his class” that he had never received any accolades from his
mentor Walter Beuttler, or any of the faculty at EBI. And while
the cream of the crop were whisked off to Pastor churches or
immediately went out mission field Wade Taylor and the bulk
of EBI’s graduates were “No Talents” and thus left to their own devices to
fend for themselves.
Wade would then pick up at this point
and give his testimony: In 1959 I was on my way to Philadelphia to pioneer a Church . . . And he
spoke of how God stopped him and told him to go to Pine Crest.
He then would wrinkle his nose and say: Pine Crest? Why Pinecrest
and tell the first years students sitting there that probably
many of them were asking themselves the same question. And he
would speak for a moment about divine appointment and then go
back into his testimony.
Pine Crest in those days was run by
the Italian Assemblies of God and taught students Italian among
other things so that they could preach and ministers to inner
city Italian Churches and or go to Italy
as missionaries, neither of which Wade
felt any calling to do whatsoever.
So when he arrived in obedience to the Lord Wade promptly
pulled out his fresh diploma from EBI and said God had sent
him to which the schools officials shrugged and said sign up
and be a student or leave.
So Wade prayed and after he was sure that God wanted
him at this school and he went and signed up as a first year
student and went through the same classes he had taken at EBI
a second time.
And in his two year stint at Pinecrest
Wade Taylor did not distinguish himself to any of the staff
or faculty. Even though he knew all the subject
matter. Even though he had sat under Walter Beuttler,
and dare I say even though he had been in a powerful visitation
at EBI. I can not say
that Wade ever really came to a realization that all that he
experienced in EBI was not sufficient for the task of his going
into ministry, and it seems that the staff and faculty at Pinecrest
seemed to be well aware of this.
Wade would then pick up at this point
and speak of the lone visitation that came to Pinecrest while
he was there and his having dove off the platform into the chairs,
and the story of two students that had stood on the sidelines
and mocked what was going on, until they realized
it was over and they had missed God -- how they tried to get
something in the last day and it did not go well for them at
all.
Wade would then speak in brief detail
of how in late 1959, while praying he was bodily caught up to
the throne of God, and how God told him among other things that
He was giving Wade Pine Crest and how God wanted him to prepare
a prophetic people for the end time. And Wade would then say
he was so frightened that most of what God said he lost and
was never able to recover those words.
After this visitation Wade would speak
that he thought that what God had spoken to him was imminent.
That the staff and faculty of Pine Crest would surely hear and
see what God had spoken and immediately hand over the keys and
presidency to him. But that did not happen. Wade would say that
at the time he became so engrossed in trying to figure out how
God was going to go about giving him the school that he had
a second visitation of the Lord. Wade then would speak of how
he was working on maintenance as his work duty and how he was
on a ladder spackling the ceiling when the Spirit of God came
and he had to hold onto the ladder for dear life as the Lord
began once more to speak and rebuke him. The Lord Spoke and
said everything that you have figured out as to how I am going
to give you Pinecrest is automatically eliminated. –
Seeking to have Wade return to pray and
wait upon Him and to let Him fulfill that which He had promised.
And Wade Taylor’s second graduation
was as non-deplume as his first was again deemed as was a student
of “no discernable talent”
And as at EBI the cream of the crop where again
whisked off to waiting churches and waiting mission field assignments.
This time after graduation Wade and his wife and family hung
around the school waiting for the staff and faculty to “Get
the revelation” which was not forth coming, and finally he was
unceremoniously asked to leave.
It was some seven years later that the school was miraculously
given to Wade, and in his testimony he would conclude with his
being A Pinecrest as President.
In the five years I spent at Pinecrest
I saw many graduations, and many disappointed students that
had done to some degree all they had been taught. They had seen
to Lord’s visit one or more times. They had entered in to these
visitations they had danced, fallen out under the power, been
drunk in the spirit, and even prophesied over. But upon graduation
they found that other than their having bragging rights of having
been in a visitation of the Lord -- they had not in fact been
changed. Not in least the perceptible terms that they would
have desired. So in terms of what they had been told time after
time by Wade: That if you have something in God people will
smell it, and come for miles around and beat a path to your
door. They were crushed.
When they returned to their home church
or home meeting, other than their having a piece of paper in
hand from Pinecrest, nobody sensed anything about them, nobody
smelling anything on them. They found that after having spent
two entire years in bible school they were able to articulate
little of what they had seen in any meaningful terms to their
hearers. And instead of being embraced as emissaries filled
with all truth, they found themselves relegated to being among
the “no talents” of their church or fellowship.
When we speak about the “Lord’s Visit”
or “Revival” as it is termed most everywhere else, certain connotations
rise up within people. Souls being saved. The Power of God being made manifest. Times of Spiritual renewal. Re-dedication
of one’s life. Times of Spiritual refreshing.
And of course all the ideas that are put forth about the coming
end time revival.
Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said,
My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is
flesh:
In Genesis 6:3 we find the purpose of God in
the visitation or moving of His Spirit. And knowing this we
can clearly see this is so in the so-called revivals through
out the Old Testament. They were all a coming or a visitation
upon sinful flesh, a calling or striving of the Spirit to turn
the hearts of God’s children unto him. As in New Testament the
Coming of both John The Baptist and
Christ were ministries of reconciliation of a wayward people
unto their God. It is only since perverted Latter Rain Revival
that the definition of God’s coming or visitation has been redefined
-- as one of approval and blessing people that they might feel
good in their sin and corruption, and not depart from it.
Galatians
5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary
the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would.
Here in the Church of the Galatians Paul is not speaking
this verse of the unsaved or those of some lower realm in some
other church that he had not taught in – he is speaking here
of the day to day reality of believers that had come to Christ,
been baptized in water, been baptized in the Holy Ghost, prayed
in tongues like Paul, operated in gifts like the Corinthians,
and yet were carnal corrupt unspiritual babes and “No
Talents” like the Corinthians – However here he declares
that this was due to their carnality, and flesh was blocking,
interrupting and nullifying – their part time service and devotion
to God so that they were pinned in babyhood, or in other words
stunted and choked, so that this was as far as they could progress,
this was as far as they could enter in and of this the Lord
and Paul were quite angry.
Exodus 4:10 And
Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither
heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am
slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. (Moses was a man
keenly aware of his limitations that he was not a gifted teacher
filled with oratory ability that men would stand up when he
spoke. The meaning of Moses words here is that he had returned
on more than one occasion to this burning but “Neither heretofore
[you first appeared unto me] Nor since though hast spoken [Neither
after that visitation] – So Moses is declaring that he Had seen
God, He had heard his voice but when he went back to the house
of Reuel his father-in-law and tried to relate what God had spoken
he could not articulate it in any meaningful means – he was
still not eloquent even of this personal visitation and that
he was slow of speech [literally speaking haltingly] so that
his hearers were not in the least moved by what Moses said.
In other words despite this great, great visitation of God Moses
yet remained a no talent)
Exodus 4:11-12
And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who
maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore
go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt
say. (God here shows some mild annoyance
and declares then that He will take possession of Moses mouth
so that Moses need not fear his inadequacies in expression,
and his stuttering or halting speech or his long gaps and pauses
as he would speak.)
Exodus 4:13 And Moses said to the Lord I pray thee
lord I have not been sufficient in
former times neither from the time that thou has began to speak
to thy servant I am weak in speech and slow tongued
From this sentence Moses states once more that God
has been speaking with Moses for an ongoing period of time.
And Moses is saying that even with
God’s training he has still found himself to be insufficient.
This would seem to mean that God spoke to Moses on perhaps two
three or occasions at the burning bush. And that in these manifold
occasions of the Lord speaking to Moses, Moses then went out
from the Lord to speak His words and test out his sufficiency,
in communicating what the Lord had spoken to him to someone
other than himself.
It would seem that Moses went home
between these meetings and spoke these things to at very least
his wife Zipporah and quite possible while sitting at the table with
his father-in-Law Reuel, Reuel
being the Priest of God (Jehovah)
in Midian. (The Midianites being
direct descendents of Abraham, and these people were also obedient
to God’s covenant given to Abraham. And thus they had priests
and prophets just as the children of Israel did.) So we see in the words of Moses that as he would try to
relate the things that God had spoken to him to others, it appears
that it did not go over all together that well. And even with
Moses trying this time and again Moses discovered that even
having received multiple personal visitations of God
-- of such a magnitude it would make anyone’s
spiritual experiences of the last hundred or so years seem very
thin and trite at best.
Paul the apostle is referring directly to Moses in Exodus in
these verses
1
Corinthians 1:25-29 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the
weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of
the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which
are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are: That
no flesh should glory in his presence.
Moses inadequacies, his lack of any natural discernable talent,
his being rejected of men and cast aside to the most menial
of tasks caring for a small flock for a man of great wealth
in the wilderness, his remaining a dud, and a complete no talent
after repeated visitations of God at the burning bush – and
his being painfully aware of all of this, was precisely why
God was calling unto him, and why God had chosen him above all
of those that were eloquent, and had been at the top of the
class, and cream of the crop for such duties and honors in the
eyes of men. God summarily rejected them, rejected
their natural gifts and talents,
rejected their education, rejected the diplomas degrees and
all the accolades of men they had received, and instead chose
a nobody, a no talent, a stone that had been rejected by the
builders as inherently flawed, a stone that was happy and satisfied
after having lived in wealth and power to live in utter poverty
as a servant or slave in someone elses
house. The Corinthians, and
Galatians were no doubt rebuked and told to so examine themselves
and their talents and personal ambition against Moses to see
where they stood before God.
And Moses said to the Lord I pray thee lord I have not been
sufficient in former times neither from the time that thou has
began to speak to thy servant I am weak in speech and slow tongued
From this sentence it appears that
Moses is saying that God has been speaking with Moses for an
ongoing period of time. And Moses is saying that even with God’s training he has still
found himself to be insufficient. This would seem
to mean that when God spoke to Moses, he would then go and speak
it to Reuel his Father-in-law,
Zipporah
his wife, and of or someone else. And as Moses would try to
relate the things that God had spoken to him to these other
people it appears that it did not go over particularly well.
And even with Moses trying this time and again Moses decided
that he was not improving and more particularly he was not sufficient
for the task that the Lord gave unto him.
Paul the apostle refers to this verse in
1
Corinthians 1:25-29 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which
are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory
in his presence.
We see this clearly stated in the calling of Moses. Moses
was not called because he was wise; Moses was neither a scholar,
nor one learned in either scripture, or the ways of God.
Moses was not called
because he was mighty -- in either words
of deeds. (Paul tells us that this regardless of however it is manifested
is a disqualification.)
Moses was not called
because he was “noble” in that he did not possess some righteousness
or holiness about all other men. (Paul
tells us that this too regardless of however it is manifested
is a disqualification)
According to Moses he was a slow learner,
he was slow of speech, and slow of tongue. In other words he
would have been considered, at best “The least among the brethren.”
And by those who consider themselves “learned”, “educated”,
and “refined”, Moses would have been looked upon as a fool.
– And as such God chose Moses to confound the wise and notable
men in the church and their congregations that despite all their
teaching, all they had to confess as the promises of God they
had in that hour, none of that changed the experience of man
or household in their midst. From the top of their leadership
on down they were all in bondage / slavery to Egypt and the
devil.
In that hour He took an ignorant man who was
slow of speech to confound all the wisdom of Egypt,
He took a weak man to confound the might of Pharaoh God chooses those with no discernable talents,
and the nothings of this life to bring down the things that
are.
One might ask: why does God do that?
It is
because these will not brag in His presence of their works,
or brag before men about what they have in God or of their accomplishments
in God.
Moses was great in selflessness. God says he was the meekest
man in all the earth. Whereas the ministers of our day are great
in selfishness and the Spirit testifies against them that they
are prideful and stiff-necked.
I see by the Spirit also that when
Moses said that he was weak in speech and slow tongued,
Moses was saying he in fact had a language barrier. Moses was
raised in the courts of Egypt and then
after he fled he lived in Midian for 20 years. It appears Moses
could speak fluent Egyptian and Midian but that Moses could
only speak haltingly in Hebrew.
So that is why Moses wanted Aaron to be his prophet and
translator.
And the Lord said who has given a mouth to man? And who has
made the hard of speaking and who has made the very heard of
hearing and the deaf the seeing and the blind? Have I not God?
And go now and I will
lay open your mouth and will instruct they in what you will say.
And so God gave Moses more than the
gift of tongues God spoke through Moses mouth and as God spoke
through Moses mouth, He would instruct the prophet Moses by
speaking to him “mouth to mouth.” This is the Nabu Spirit of God. I
want to you’re your attention to that fact that Moses was not
the first in scripture to experience this –Adam was. And later
scripture records the Nabu Spirit of God fell upon Abram the father of faith.
This is no small thing – what small thing am I referring to
God inhabiting ones mouth and speaking in the tongues of men
and angels. This NABU EXPERIENCE is what Peter cited
when he said This Is That. – This is the hallmark
of Adam,
Abram, Moses, and the Prophets. – This
is the sign of the covenant when men shall speak in tongues
of men and angels proclaiming the mighty works of God.
When Peter said in Acts chapter 2 This Is That, no prophecies were given. No one was healed.
No devils were cast out. No water was turned into wine. And yet everyone understood what was wrought
in their midst that day – the seventy elders that had been with
Moses had the Spirit of Moses fall upon them. And the Jews that
were outside the upper room that day understood that 120 elders
that had been with Christ had the Spirit of Christ fall upon
them. And with the 120 elders speaking in tongues and proclaiming
the mighty acts of Christ in the tongues of men and of angels
proclaiming the glories of God to the invisible and the visible
3000 believed that day.
Isaiah
50:4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned,
that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that
is weary:
Isaiah testified that he knew of this
same Nabu experience,
this same experience of God using his mouth and tongue to speak
to the people of Israel. While he spoke great amd mighty things that
thou knowest not.
(God Said to Moses) And go
now and I will lay open your mouth and will instruct
they in what you will say.
The words “Go Now” are
in the wrong tense. In the Septuagint these words are in the
present imperfect tense and as such would be translated “to
go and go and go.”
Is there another passage in scripture where this
NABU experience is described?
1 Samuel 10:1-13 Then Samuel took
a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and
said: "Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander
over His inheritance?” -- And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from
the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute,
and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying. Then the
Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy
with them and be turned into another man. And let it
be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion
demands; for God is with you. You shall go down before me to
Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt
offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days
you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should
do." And all those signs came to pass that day. 10When
they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to
meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied
among them. And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he
indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to
one another, "What is this that has come upon the son of
Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?"
Then a man from there answered and said, "But who is their
father?" Therefore it became a proverb: "Is Saul also
among the prophets?" And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.
Here we have no less than Samuel saying Saul is the man that God has
chosen. He anoints him with a horn of oil. Saul is prophesied
to and given instructions to do certain things. Saul walks alone
to serve God, Saul gives the word of God to strangers and is
given food and drink by strangers. – Saul is told to meet up
with the prophets and God’s Spirit falls upon Saul and he is
taken over by God for hours if not days. During which time Saul
rants, raves, shakes, falls out, barks, groans, sings, and weeps,
while proclaiming the glory of God and his mighty works in the
tongues of men and of Angels. And Saul makes a complete spectacle
of himself, so much so that people that knew him came out and
saw him being overwhelmed by the Spirit of God along with the
prophets. And they made a running joke of it.
Had Saul humbled
himself under the mighty hand of God, and took no offense at
the NABU Spirit of God coming upon him and inhabiting his mouth
and body Saul would have become a great king and leader but
instead he turned unto his flesh, his own natural talents and
abilities and sought through those to build his own house that
God had given to him by prophecy visitation and the word of
the Lord, so that what was begun in the Spirit Saul sought to
perfect it by the flesh as the flesh and his carnality and personal
vanity was offended by the movings and operations of God. And
Saul’s not being able to pray , to wait upon and submit himself
unto the Spirit of the Lord was in the end the cause of his
destruction and God stripping away his household from rulership
over Israel.
Carefully
consider these words, and your life as the Lord reveals to you
your walk and life before him in the woof and weave of these
words.