HOME NEW – Intro

By Admin July 29, 2019 Uncategorized

This was a picture taken of my grandfather passing out  Gideon Bibles at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss).  As you read this, you will understand why this picture of my grandfather has become so significant to me.   As I have worked on this site, I have fought and wrestled with God.  I have been frustrated and exhausted and overwhelmed.  This picture has served as a reminder to me of why I am here and what He has called me to do.  I look at my grandfather,  “The Tired Gideon”, fighting the good fight. I have never felt called by God to do anything.  God gave all of us gifts as part of being in the body of Christ.   I wasn’t sure what mine was.    Recently, however, he has placed an enormous sense of urgency and conviction in my heart. 

july 2014

 

I bought a house that was built in 1940 and I had all these plans for how I wanted to renovate it.   The first thing I wanted to do was paint the outside of it because the whole house is tan, including the roof, and I thought it was ugly.   I put it off and first did a few things that I wanted to the inside.   Not to long after I moved in, however, God started increasing His level of conviction in my heart.  I started looking at all things that were going on in the world and I knew He was testing me.  Am I going to seek Him first, and do what I feel he has placed in my heart, or am I going to put myself first and my desires before him? THE PARABLES OF THE WEDDING BANQUET hit me the hardest.

LUKE 14 : THE PARABLE OF THE BANQUET (Matthew 22:1-14)

15And when one of them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said to him, Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. 16Then said he to him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:17And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.  18And they all with one consent began to make excuse.  The first said to him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray you have me excused.  19And another sad, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray you have me excused . 20And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.  21So that servant came, and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. 22And the servant said, Lord, it is done as you have commanded, and yet there is room. 23And the lord said to the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

MATTHEW 22 : THE PARABLE OF THE BANQUET (Luke 14:15-24)

1And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables, and said, 2The kingdom of heaven is like to a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. 4Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatted calves are killed, and all things are ready: come to the marriage. 5But they made light of it, and went thei r ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:

december 2015

 

I created this wordpress website, which I named the “Narrow Gate Entrance” which I derived from LUKE 13 and MATTHEW 7.  These verses struck fear in my heart.  I wanted to use the site as a place to gather and collect what I was seeing going on in the world in relation to what the bible says.    I felt overwhelmed with how to process what I was seeing happening in the world and how it relates to my faith.  There were so many verses in the bible that I felt were in direct conflict with the way I was living my life.

LUKE 13 : THE NARROW GATE 

22And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23Then said one to him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said to them, 24Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

When I started this site, I knew I needed to make sure

that’s the gate my life was heading towards

and after reading the book of Revelation,

I wanted to make sure I had the KEY OF DAVID.

Revelation 3 : Message to the Church in Philadelphia

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; 8I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door, and no man can shut it: for you have a little strength, and have kept my word, and have not denied my name. 9Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come on all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth. 11Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which you have, that no man take your crown. 12Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God: and I will write on him my new name. 13He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches.

My heart felt like it was being

 pulled in a million different directions  

 

I felt like my FAITH was hanging by a thread.

 

I was having more and more trouble

 discerning what was even right from wrong anymore.  

 

The LINES were starting to get BLURRY.

 

I felt like THE WALLS WERE CLOSING IN

and I wondered how He could use me.

 

 

I was doing everything I could just to keep up,

but things seem to be moving so fast. 

 

Psalm 69: The Waters Have Come Up to My Neck! (Matthew 27:32-44; Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:16-27)

1Save me, O God; for the waters are come in to my soul. 2I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: my eyes fail while I wait for my God.

13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation. 14Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15Let not the flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth on me.

We are DROWNING in DATA, NEWS, MUSIC,

PODCAST, &  ENTERTAINMENT and STARVING FOR TRUTH

 

In the last days people will be learning more and more and never coming to the knowledge of the truth

2 TIMOTHY 3 : EVIL IN THE LAST DAYS

1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3Without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. 9But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest to all men, as their’s also was.  

Amos 8 :  The Basket of Ripe Fruit 

11Behold, the days come, said the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.

I was DESPERATE to know THE TRUTH and to understand HIS STORY.

april 2016

 

 

(5 months later)

I gave my friend a bible at a bible study we were having at my house every week. 

After just a few days of reading, this was the text he sent me:   

I had not mentioned to him, or anyone about my website

 

may 2016

 

 

The company I work for took us for a team building exercise

to play THE ESCAPE GAME 1 month later.

 

THE ESCAPE GAME is where a group will go into a room

and you have an hour to gather all the clues to unlock the door and break out.

It reminded me of another verse that had a placed a sense of urgency in my heart.

 LUKE 21 :  BE WATCHFUL

34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come on you unawares. 35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to ESCAPE [h4422]all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man 

Strong’s Greek Concordance
ESCAPE [h4422] מָלַט mâlaṭ, occurs 95 times in 85 verses

  •  a primitive root; properly, to be smooth,

  • i.e. (by implication) to escape (as if by slipperiness);

  • causatively, to release or rescue;

  • specifically, to bring forth young, emit sparks:

  • —deliver (self), escape, lay, leap out, let alone, let go, preserve, save

I was dreading going cause I hate these types of things and I was really tired but something told me I needed to go.   That day happened to be one of the peak days of my overwhelm and frustration.   On my way there I actually pulled off the side of the road and just started crying.   

 

I was crying out to Him a conversation that went like this:

 

“Is this really what you want me to be doing?” “Why me?” 

“I am not equipped to do this.”

“I didn’t go to seminary school and I have no credentials behind my name. “

“I am not an eloquent speaker or great communicator or great story teller.”

“I sit behind a desk all day without much interaction with people.” 

“Nobody will listen to what I have to say anyway.”

 

The more I saw  happening around me the heavier my heart got.   I felt like God was removing the scales from eyes but I didn’t know how to communicate it to others.    My brain felt like it was going to explode with all the research I was doing.   I really just wanted some type of confirmation or sign from Him.   

 

I finally drug myself to the game.    They have 5 different rooms.  A different game in each room.     The first thing I noticed in our room was a book called MUSIC CITY BABYLON, which is about the world of country music in Nashville, TN, where I currently live.  The majority of the research I had been doing at the time was trying to figure out what the heck Babylon was. 

 

 

Our room also had a clue containing a bible verse. 

 

LUKE 13 

29And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

 

I was not much help during the game.   I was standing there looking at all the interesting stuff in the rooms.  As time was running out,  there was a map hanging encased in a box with a silver ball at the bottom of the casing.  

 

The clue said “THE SHORTEST DISTANCE IS STRAIGHT LINE“. 

 

So we were supposed to use the magnet to drag the ball, which was behind the map, and drag it across to each of the four different cities on the map.  If the ball behind the map wasn’t guided in a straight line, it would drop and you would have to start all the way over.  They started trying to drag it but it kept dropping because they couldn’t keep a straight line.   Time was running out, our team was frantically trying to figure out what to do.  I was honestly just ready to go home, but I happened to see a wooden board on the floor and put it up there for them to use as a ruler to guide him into keeping a straight line from point to point on the map.

It worked and the door opened.    We were the only team that actually “Escaped” in time.  The next morning I was prompted in my heart to go back and read the verse that was a clue in our game.

LUKE 13 : THE NARROW GATE (Matthew 7:13-14)

22And he went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23Then said one to him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said to them, 24Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 25When once the master of the house is risen up, and has shut to the door, and you begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not from where you are: 26Then shall you begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets. 27But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not from where you are; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. 28There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. 29And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. 30And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

When I realized that verse in our game was in the context of the verse I based this site off of, my eyes filled with tears because I realized that it was His confirmation of the calling I felt He had placed in my heart, and why I felt so urgent to create this site. 

 

I wasn’t sure what it all meant at the time, or where all of this was leading to, I just new that He was trying to show me something that day and that I needed stay diligent and pay attention to the details.

I had used a WOODEN BOARD

to keep THE PATH STRAIGHT

  (level, smooth, true)

so we could OPEN THE DOOR

and ESCAPE

During a time of CONFUSION

Revelation 3 : Message to the Church in Philadelphia

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things said he that is holy, he that is true, he that has the key of David, he that opens, and no man shuts; and shuts, and no man opens; 8I know your works: behold, I have set before you an open door,

After this, I felt God prompting me to go back and look at the picture of my grandfather the details of the story of GIDEON.    I started noticing very similar parallels between Gideon’s calling and the calling I felt He placed in my heart.  I soon realized the HEADQUARTERS of GIDEON INTERNATIONAL is stationed here in Nashville as well.  

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance
GIDEON [h1439] occurs 37 times in 39 verses

  • Gideon = “hewer”
  • “cutter down”
  • “brave warrior”
  • 5th judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites
  •  youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites   

Gideon [h1439] occurs 39 times in 37 verses.  I created this site when I was 37 now I am 39.   It has taken me  3 years to understand what God was showing me that day and to make all the information I was gathering into something coherent to where someone else could read it.  The call of Gideon came from an angel of the Lord that sat under an OAK while he was threshing wheat.

 

JUDGES 6 :  THE CALL OF GIDEON  

11And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained to Joash the Abiezrite: and his son  Gideon threshed wheat by the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites.  

I live 2 miles from Vanderbilt whose symbol is the Leaf and acorn from an OAK TREE .  Oak Hill within Nashville, is 3 Miles from house.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but what I was doing when I created this site was THRESHING WHEAT just like Gideon, who was trying to provide food for his family. 

Strong’s Greek Concordance
THRESHING [h1758] occurs 15 times in 14 verses

  • a primitive root; to trample or thresh: —break, tear, thresh, tread out (down), at grass

  • break in pieces in order to  SMOOTH & LEVEL as well as LOOSEN THE GRAIN from THE HUSK

I created this site in order to try to have a place to gather the things I was seeing going on in the world and to have a place to sift and sort them in relation to what I was learning in the bible.  I was trying to break apart and separate the TRUTH from LIES to UN-BLUR THE LINES.  

 

 

 

 

I recently looked at what my house used to look like before I bought it on the tax records . It used to be painted GREEN and Now it is painted TAN.

They are ugly colors to paint a house,  but they illustrate the coloring of THE STAGES OF WHEAT from which the grain comes from.  

 

I then realized that my last name “MILLER”, which I got from my grandfather in the picture, is a person who operates a MILL, which is a device that breaks solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting, just like threshing wheat.

A “MILLER” GRINDS HARVESTED WHEAT GRAIN into FLOUR which is mixed with OLIVE OIL used to make BREAD.

Strong’s Greek Concordance
BETHLEHEM [g965] occurs 8 times in 8 verses

  • Bethlehem = “house of bread”

  • Where Rachel Died and here Jesus & David were born

When I moved into my house, He started giving me understanding of His Word. There were so many things in the bible that I didn’t understand until I moved into my house partly because everything is rooted in sowing and reaping.  I had previously lived in condo’s and apartments and have never planted a thing in my life.  When I started having to personally take care of and maintain my yard, I started making the connections. 

 

When Jesus broke bread with His disciples, it signified Him giving them understanding of the scriptures.

Luke 24 :   Jesus Explains the Prophecies 

 30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to them. 31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 33And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 34Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon. 35And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread.

Gideon asked for CONFIRMATION of his calling twice by laying a FLEECE OF SHEEP’S WOOL on THE THRESHING FLOOR

JUDGES 6 :  THE SIGNS OF THE FLEECE

36And Gideon said to God, If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the threshingfloor[h1637]; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry on all the earth beside, then shall I know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said. 

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance
THRESHINGFLOOR [h1637] occurs 36 times in 36 verses (17 books)

  • from an unused root meaning: TO SMOOTH (as made EVEN) 

The day I played the ESCAPE GAME I had pulled over on the side of the road because I was filled with so much overwhelm and CONFIRMED with God if this “IS THIS REALLY WHAT HE HAS CALLED ME TO DO”.   This was in part due to the fact that right before I went to the game I had stumbled upon this video called “THE LOST SHEEP” which put a lot of pieces of the puzzle together for me.

THE LOST SHEEP VIDEO  &  ESCAPE GAME LOGO  that looks like a threshing floor

 

I then used what looked like a THRESHING BOARD for my teammate to drag the ball in a SMOOTH & STRAIGHT line to open the door and escape.

 

Related image

————-

THE SHEEP and THE HARVEST

 

48

Matthew 9 :   Sheep & the Harvest

36But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37Then said he to his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few;38Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

 

When his crop is fully ripe

…The farmer cuts down  (hew’s)

his crop that he has sown in the field

typically done through use of a SICKLE or SCYTHE.

 

 

The farmer would then GATHER the stalks of wheat

together into a SHEAF or SHEAVES (multiple)

 

 

The bundled wheat is then taken to the 

CIRCULAR THRESHING FLOOR

where the sheaves would be spread across it.

 

 

PAIRS OF OXEN would then be

walked AROUND the threshing floor

 

 

The Oxen would drag THRESHING BOARDS

 behind them which had stones

or flint chips or iron spikes

 inserted into the bottom side

to speed up the threshing process.

 

 

THE THRESHING BOARDS

are used to tear THE STALKS from the EARS of GRAIN

THE STALKS 

~ from-

 

THE EARS OF GRAIN

 

“He who has an EAR, let him hear”

The THRESHING BOARDS also serve to CUT & CRUSH the EARS in order to  SMOOTH & LEVEL as well as LOOSEN the GRAIN from the HUSK

Related image

(This can also be done individually by using a flail or stomping on with feet)

 

THE LOOSENED GRAIN would then be WINNOWED with a WINNOWING FORK  in order to SET // APART the HUSK from the GRAIN

THE HUSK/CHAFF  

 

(The Outer Protective Coating)

-from the-

THE  GRAIN 

 

(Fruit within the Shell)

THE LIGHT CHAFF would be BLOWN AWAY/SCATTERED and FALL some DISTANCE AWAY while the HEAVIER LOOSENED GRAIN would FALL at WINNOWERS FEET & taken into the FARMERS BARN

THRESHING FLOORS were built in the high parts (hills) of cities to utilize the WIND to accomplish this SEPARATION 

THE LIGHT CHAFF 

 

THE  HEAVIER LOOSENED GRAIN : 

 

THE PROCESS OF

threshing wheat 

 

~symbolizes~

 

THE PROCESS OF

SANCTIFICATIOn

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance
SANCTIFY [h6942] קָדַשׁ qâdash occurs 172 times in 153 verses

  • be SEPARATE or SET APART from profane things and dedicate to God
  • be HOLY
  • be TRUE
  • be SANCTIFIED
  • to be CLEAN (ceremonially or morally)
  • be PURIFIED

 

HOLY [h6918] קָדוֹשׁ qâdôwsh occurs 116 times in 106 verses

  • sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart

 

SEPARATE [h914] בָּדַל bâdal occurs 42 times in 40 verses

  • to divide, separate
  • distinguish, differ
  • put difference between 

Revelation 3 : Message to the Church in Philadelphia

7And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write;

These things said he that is HOLY, he that is TRUE, he that has THE KEY OF DAVID,

Those with the KEY OF DAVID are those who are HOLY (Sanctified) and TRUE (Justified)

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance
VIRGIN [h1330] קָדַשׁ qâdash occurs 50 times in 50 verses

  • feminine passive participle of an unused root meaning to separate;
  • a virgin (from her privacy);
  • sometimes (by continuation) a bride
  • pure and unspotted as being separated

Revelation 19 :The Marriage of the Lamb

6And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife has made herself ready.8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.9And he said to me, Write, Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. 10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, See you do it not: I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

THE BRIDE HAS MADE HERSELF READY

Meaning she has sanctified herself and has come out of Babylon, and is given clothing of fine linen, which represents being clothed with Christ’s righteousness.

We will be priests of God and Christ and reign with him 1000 years.

Revelation 20 : 

Blessed and HOLY [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

PRIEST’S were from the tribe of LEVI.   LEVI means “JOIN TO or UNION”  just as a MARRIAGE is a “UNION”

The Levitical Priests in the Old Testament were  “JOINED” to God and SET // APART from the rest of the congregation to do work in the Tabernacle. PRIEST’S were to instruct Israel in HOLINESS by teaching the people to differentiate between. 

 

UN-HOLY

 

HOLY

 

UN-CLEAN

 

CLEAN 

 

A bride is carried over the THRESHOLD

by Groom into new HOUSE after being married.

 

“Bethlehem” means “House of Bread”,

where Rachel Died and here Jesus & David were born  The Marriage Supper.

 

Matthew 25 : The Parable of the Ten Virgins

10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I know you not. 13Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man comes.

 
A “Threshold” meaning brink, verge, origin, entrance, dawn, sill into a room or house.  The etymology of “Threshold” comes from Threshing.
Related image
  So how does “Threshing” relate to an entrance?

 

Strong’s Greek Concordance
Gate [h8179] shaʻar 
occurs 371x in 302 verses

 

gate (of entrance)

  1. gate (of space inside gate, i.e. marketplace, public meeting place)

    1. city, town

  2. gate (of palace, royal castle, temple, court of tabernacle)

  3. heaven 

Psalm 118:19-20 19 Open to me the gate [h8179]s of righteousness: I will go into them, and] I will praise the LORD: 20 This gate [h8179] of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.

 

 

from the

primitive root

word

[h8176] shaʻar

 

 

Strong’s Hebrew Concordance

Think, Opening, Door, Gate

[h8176] shaʻar

occurs 1 in 1 verses

 

a primitive root;

in its original sense; an opening, to split or open,

i.e. door or gate:—city, door, gate, port (× -er). 

i.e. (literally, but only as denominative from H8179); compare see H7778 to act as gatekeeper;

(figuratively) to estimate:—think.

to split open, reason out, calculate, reckon, estimate, to cleave, divide, to estimate, to set a price

 

Proverbs 23:7

For as he thinketh [h8176] in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee.