Prophetic word

To the Church in Santa Rosa,

I am devoting my weekly email to a prophetic word for our region which has been forming for many years. The accuracy of its 'unfolding' can be confirmed by the people I mention in this letter, the people of God and the leaders in this city.
I moved to Sonoma County exactly 40 years ago and became a Christian shortly after. My spiritual journey has been intertwined with the history of the church in this city beginning with my salvation and baptism in the largest church north of the Golden Gate Bridge at the time, in a building which is now known as the Wells Fargo Center.

After the sad demise of that incredible center of faith, that great equipping and a sending ministry, my journey took me throughout the the churches in the region. It has been a long road which has been traveled by many other people in this city. 
I am not alone in having been a part of the unique and rather intricate intertwining of relationships that have formed over the years in this city. It is an odd dynamic of the church in the city itself: we all know each other, we all see each other in churches all over the area. The incredible complexity of family and relationships within this city's churches must be taken into account by any leader who desires to accomplish anything for God in Sonoma County. There is a Body of Christ, a hungry people, a unity in the Spirit, a collective memory and a desire for the restoration and recovery of a dream. I would call us 'the remnant' and we believe that "God's gifts and callings are irrevocable" (Rom.11:29)
We possess the anointing & inheritance of this city within our very DNA.

Approximately  five years ago a prophetic vision for this city began to form as I engaged with the leaders and other friends who were able to see the 'big picture' of what God is doing in our city. These men and women had grown to understand a culture of honor and to conceive of an unprecedented unity which would require
any leader or any church to think out-of-the-box of traditional ecumenical unity. There would be a unity of the Spirit and a bond of peace which tapped deep into the ancient wells of God's calling on the city of Santa Rosa.

As I met with leaders and friends I heard the same 'word', I saw the same picture forming, the same vision being articulated through us in various forms. We saw a forerunner city, a church without walls, a people of God who shared a common purpose to restore the greatness of the call of God on the city of Santa Rosa.
Almost all of us saw our city as a center for revival where God's people were united under the banner of love. Each of them agreed that no single church, no one leader would again be lifted up to a such a place of prominence that his or her possible failure could disappoint or destroy the vision again. Rather there would be a great cooperation between leaders and God's people wherein Santa Rosa would become a 'testimony city' that says "do it again Lord."
A forerunner example of the Kingdom of God.

We would have a church where the passion for His Kingdom would center on knowing His ways. Where the children of God were united in the conviction that His Kingdom was not a political power nor a moral majority but a people of God walking in love towards each other while viewing the pre-Christian people in our city as ones created in His image, not as the enemy but as ones who need an encounter with Jesus in all His mercy and grace.

It would require His children to rise above their doctrinal distinctions and lay aside their personal agendas while walking in the Spirit in order to bring heaven to earth. A people along with their leadership who would be empowered by the Spirit to cooperate with the fulfillment of each others destinies, to call out the gold in each other, to use the ways of God's supernatural mystery to prophetically declare and release His promise over our city. To walk in honor towards the pre-Christian people in our region, not in an 'honor' that condones their sin, rather the honor
that recognizes each person as created in the image of God and that remembers that His blood is all that cleanses us from our own unrighteousness before a Holy God.

READ ON,
THE 'REDWOOD' PROPHETIC WORD:

As Jan and I sat with 70 leaders on August 30th in the 'Church of the One Tree' we became aware of the incredible prophetic picture being formed. God was indeed speaking through this event. As these leaders listened carefully to Mario Murrilo's inspirational speech and during the brief time of prayer, we looked around at the inside of the church of the One Tree. Stained glass windows depicting redwoods were on each wall and above the altar, a prophetic image began to form. We live in the Redwood Empire and right here in the middle of this region is built a church made from the wood of a single felled redwood tree. 
This alone held a great sense of prophetic symbolism.
I began to wonder which part was more important, would we consider the roof or ceiling as more important?  The foundation of the floors?  The walls or the beams and buttresses which hold everything in place? Each part made from the same tree....was this not a perfect picture of His Body? 
Isn't this the perfect picture of God's word and promise over the church in Santa Rosa? 

"In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord." Eph 2:21
"From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." Eph 4:16

Many of my friends agreed that when God looks down upon a city He does not see many churches, rather He sees His Body, His Church. Just as John was told to prophesy to the city churches in Revelation we saw a picture of how God views regions and cities. We began to see how God has strategically placed leaders
in this city who are anointed with what we call the 'five fold' or ascendant gifts. We could clearly see that God has laid a foundation for true unity....for a Book of Acts city church, it became even clearer that it would require unprecedented cooperation and unity. It wouldn't matter that we had different church 'houses'
where unique expressions of worship and teaching made us feel more at home, we could still live next to each other and build a city together where friendship and a common culture and language knit us in the ways of His Kingdom. An atmosphere of the Spirit, a people with One Father, a church with One head, Jesus.

THE 'REDWOOD' PROPHETIC WORD  began to intensify in my spirit...the Holy Spirit making it as clear as any word I've ever received.
From many of the things that Mario Murrilo has said in his meetings here in Santa Rosa I believe that he is aware that he has stepped into a powerful apostolic Metron. I am not quite sure yet if he fully realizes all that God has said and is doing in this region but I am convinced that he is hearing the Holy Spirit in some measure. I have taught on the supernatural prophetic gift for many years and I know that we all see through our own paradigms and thus it requires each of us to test every word (Mario's & this word I am submitting to the Body of Christ in this city)...to filter and to 'hear' with spiritual ears what God is saying. As I listen to Mario Murillo I can discern that he is hearing some of the things that I first heard five years ago from the men and women who have labored to build a foundation in this city. 
That foundation is not unlike a grove of REDWOOD TREES.

The redwood forest is the greatest prophetic picture for our region and for this city.
Jan pulled out the notes she took when she walked through Armstrong Woods as she read each information sign carefully placed along the trail:
"The root system of the redwood tree is surprisingly shallow, especially given the great height the mature tree attains. There is no tap root and the other roots may reach no deeper than 6-12 feet. The major roots are about 1 inch in diameter,
and they typically spread 50 to 80 feet. One way in which the trees are able to remain upright for millennia is by growing close together with other redwood trees, intermingling root systems." 1

The prophetic picture of our leaders the people in our churches as a 'redwood forest' formed in my spirit even as I reviewed the frequent use of the redwood, and the church built from one redwood, as a central prophetic illustration used in the 'fire' meetings. It is a well known fact how amazing the events and prophetic indicators were that led up to the gathering in the church built from one redwood tree. I fully agree that the meeting held on August 30th held intense prophetic implications.

I realize that Mario Murillo is an evangelist with a evangelistic crusade style of ministry. There is a place in the God's strategy for these types of ministry, they are usually temporary. I have not been to all of Mario's meetings so I am not clear if his personal intention is to stay in Santa Rosa, I do trust that he is listening carefully as he moves ahead, I know that the leading of the Spirit can change as we get a greater sense of what God is saying.
I am not sure if Mario intends to stay in our city for any length of time, he sometimes appears to indicate that each week may be his last. Even if he is here temporarily he should to be aware of the unique dynamic of the church that exists in the city of Santa Rosa.

But if Mario Murillo would be led to stay for any length of time he would be a young redwood in this city,he would need to spread out his roots and link with the deep and established roots of the trees which have united already in an existing unity and in the prophetic grove of churches in this city. He would especially need to wrap his roots around the giant redwoods that exist in this region. 
I call these the 'Apostle trees'.
Yes, Sonoma County is an apostolic Metron. It is not a city of pastors who consider ecumenical unity as simply doing a Easter sunrise service once a year, it is a Metron as I wrote of in the first section of this letter...an incredibly complex and intertwined network of people who have known each other for many years and who see each other at events and churches, who share family connections, who share history and hold a deep and profound hope for our city. And it is a 'city' with several Apostles who exist in the spiritual realm and may not be seen if we measure by worldly standards or church size. But believe me, they do exist.
Any evangelist would especially need to link his roots with the apostle to be effective in his gifts in this city.

This city has great leaders who may be businessmen or women, church pastors or ministry leaders, this city has prophets and worship leaders, teachers and evangelists who may be hidden in a sense. The people of God, the Christians in this region, are an amazing & eclectic group of people. They have a startling maturity which may be due precisely to a collective experience in faith. They are so hungry for God's Kingdom that they readily open their hearts to receive but they have long ago moved beyond naivety. They are hungry for authentic Christianity.

Greatness lies within the destiny of this city and it is imperative for God's people in this region to see in the Spirit and recognize its incredible destiny....a destiny which God has been laying the foundation of for many, many years. Mario Murillo has not stepped into a 'dead church' city, rather this city is alive with an incredible legacy of revival which has touched down in many places. Some of the atmospheres of revival that I have personally experienced in this region are too extraordinary to report in a few words but I will say this: we have been a city in revival for many years and Mario Murillo has also stepped into this dynamic authority, like any of us he has an anointing of his own but as he has also stepped into the anointing which is on our region.
(I might liken it to the authority for revival which I stepped into when I was in Brazil with Randy Clark
and Pastor Carter Wood of Vertical Call).
[See my blog dated: Oct. 12, 2009 'Carter Wood's Promotion'.http://radicalgospel.net/thoughts.htm]
It is an authority and anointing which already exists in our DNA and heritage.

I could never express in words my excitement and anticipation in this season we are now in....I sense a great breakthrough into things that many have longed for but may not 'look' exactly like they have imagined. It requires all of His people to pay attention, to not check their brains at the door...to be open to transition. And to recognize the very thing that Mario Murillo seems to sense in his heart and say so often: that this 'fire' cannot be contained by one church but will spread to many churches. Mario seems to clearly understand this as he frequently declares that this is not about Mario Murillo. I honor him for this spiritual insight more than any I have heard from his lips. In an expression of his humility he consistently insists that he is only one man.

I will speak now in 'my opinion' only; my sense of this prophetic picture is that Mario Murillo is a catalyst from God to stir and light a fire. The things that are happening in and around the meetings are far beyond what the evangelist could possibly understand. I mean no disrespect...he is an amazingly gifted man and I honor his mantle...but it would be impossible for one man to enter this city and clearly see what God has already done and is doing behind the scenes. I am truly grateful to him and to the Holy Spirit for his dedication and zeal...but as I listen to him, and as I am intimately involved with and surrounded by the collateral issues
that these meetings have produced, I am keenly aware that Mario Murillo has stepped into a Metron that requires him to pay close attention and seek the counsel and wisdom of many people in this city as he goes forward.
He has entered The Redwood Empire.  

In His radical grace,
     Ray

For more prophetic insights of your own I would encourage you to read this short description of the incredible REDWOOD, especially the section devoted to how 'fire' can be a benefit to redwoods.1.
http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/Redwood/Redwood2.html

Radical Gospel is in transition...there are many things stirring in my spirit as the Holy Spirit uses the events in Santa Rosa to bring clarity and focus to this ministry. Our purpose, our vision, our core values and our destiny have been truly provoked by the Lord in every good way. It would take a long letter to express what the Lord has revealed to me in the Spirit since we first suspended the Monday night in Petaluma in order to support what the Lord was doing through the meetings there. One thing is clear to me....I have sensed for a long time that Santa Rosa is the center of this Metron and my center as well.

I ask for your prayers and continued financial support during this amazing season of vision and mission definition.
All tax deductible support can be sent to:
RADICAL GOSPEL MINISTRIES
2804 BRISTOL RD.
KENWOOD, CA 95452