​Open Heart 
​
I had open heart surgery with 5 by-passes on New Year's Day, 2016! When my heart broke and needed to be put back together my life depended on the care of the surgeon and the will of God.

Under the influence of very powerful anesthesia there was little sleep and no hunger for food. As a result I as a bit delirious and staring at the ceiling of my room I couldn't figure out if I was in South Carolina, London or Baltimore.

Without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I couldn't imagine what others must go through facing such a life and death moment. I can't speak for others but clinging to life was a maze of emotions that went from 'where are the angels to moments of paranoia!

I wondered if I was going to live or was in the process of dieing. What caused me to vacillate was dealing with reality. I became suspicious of the doctors and nurses. I couldn't sleep.

I was trying to think about Communion with Jesus... but there was intense focus of the enemy to distract me or destroy me at the same time made me very very aware of something.

In the hospital bed I felt alone to battle with the intense misconceptions, and distractions of the enemy trying to destroy my faith.

But Jesus! never, ever, ever leaves us or forsakes us. Facing my frailty and helplessness without awareness of Jesus let me know my inability to fight alone. For two days I battled with conflict.. I told my wife and Communion partner for 3 years, "We need to stop having Communion!"

​What?

​The enemy worked me over all night long. She didn't know it but I somehow got convinced that only the Roman Catholic worship model of the Communion-Centric Eucharist was correct and everything else was suspicious, including our three year daily communion journey with Jesus in our home!

Camille lovingly, graciously rebuked my fears and doubts and said, 'Remember!'

I was so weary I couldn't even respond. I was feeling pretty hopeless. At that moment I was pretty convinced we needed to give up CommunionFire Ministries and just join the Roman Catholic or Antiochian Orthodox Church. Western or Eastern, but Catholic was the only solution or was it?

Within 24 hours (still little to no sleep or food) I was amazed at how devastating and debilitating the enemy attack had been. When the battle subsided a little bit, the memory of our encounters and experiences in Communion every day for the past three years came to mind. This was real!.

So, another sobering reality hit me square between the damaged heart repairs.

How then do we reach 650 million non-communion-centric Protestants, Evangelicals and Charismatics? 

Not my problem!  Jesus makes it clear He is building His Church and the gates of hell will not prevent Him. Jesus also told Peter, "Upon this rock (of revelation) I will build My Church! That construction involves the power of the Holy Spirit in us to make us His living stones to build with. 

Our focus, like the rest of our "christian clans', is Jesus!

Had platform-centric worship and preacher-centric gatherings replaced the quiet power of having Communion with Jesus?.

We have seen self-serve Communion offered: in the lobby of the sanctuary to take whenever convenient, behind curtains at various stations throughout the sanctuary and shared from the front by the preacher, pastor or worship leaders once per month or once per quarter or year. In some denominations there is no communion at all!.

We want Communion with each other but what about the primary relationship we have with the Lord? Sometimes having Communion with each other reinforces 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th hand witnesses from others about the Lord's presence. Is this an indirect influence in our life? Are we leaving our relationship with Jesus up to others at the expense of knowing Him personally, intimately and one-on-one through Communion?  Before trying to have communion with each other, don't we need to first cultivate our relationship with Jesus? 

What others say; what clergy promotes or what 'our church' shares all becomes the turning point of our faith instead of a 1st hand personal relationship with Jesus! What kind of surgery was Jesus doing while I was having physical surgery? 

With Holy Mother Mary, The Angel Gabriel is a manifestation of the GLORY  of God and with Jesus John reports 'we have seen His GLORY'!

Then Mary is called 'Full of GRACE' by Gabriel with the confirmation that among all women of all time she is BLESSED! When we see the GLORY of JESUS whether our opinion is fully formed or not, we behold the Father's only begotten Son, FULL of GRACE and TRUTH.

Look closely at the details of each key word. they so clearly define what is happening in Communion and CommunionFire! When we encounter Jesus, Mary and others who come with Jesus from time to time - always, without exception they reflect the GLORY of Jesus. He is always, kind, gentle, joyful, peaceful, youthful and gentle. He is never wrathful, angry, bitter, condemning, or judgemental!

Further - He is always there. he never leaves or forsakes us. He can't wait to see you! He has so much love and life to share! So look closely... and the Holy Spirit will help. .  


GLORY
​GLORY = DOXA (OT KABO (to be heavy - substance, essence) opinion, judgment, view: the unspoken manifestation of God, divine splendor, God's infinite, intrinsic and inherent worth; brightness, glory, evidence, honor and majesty. (that which belongs to God and His Christ - His Kingly majesty, Judicial majesty, Regal majesty; His absolute perfection as in the majesty of His saving grace. The splendor of the Messiah's external appearance, the absolutely perfect, inward, personal excellency of Jesus Christ.

Doxa comes from the base word DOKEO: Very apparent glory - (to have an opinion, I think, it seems, appear) properly suppose, (what "seems to be"), Forming an opinion, a personal judgement, estimate. Directly reflects the personal perspective of the person making the subjective judgment call - subjective mental estimate.

DOKEO explains what happens in CommunionFire when encountering His GLORY (the weight of His presence, the encounter and overall experience)!


FULL OF
​FULL = PLERES < a derivation of PLETHO (to be full): literally FULL of the presence of the Lord (His provisions) which is the definition of a full life


GRACE
​GRACE = CHARIS: Grace as a gift or blessing brought to you by Jesus Christ, favor; gratitude, thanks; a favor, kindness. That which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness. Goodwill, loving-kindness, favor in the broad sense. The favor (grace) of God or Jesus, to which all blessings, especially spiritual, are due! Kindness which bestows upon one what he or she has not deserved. Recompense, Reward, Gift.

Charis comes from  CHAIRO; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude) -- acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace(- ious), joy, liberality, pleasure, thank(-s, -worthy).


and TRUTH
​TRUTH = ALETHEIA: not merely truth as spoken; truth of idea, reality, sincerity, truth in the moral sphere, divine truth revealed to man, straightforwardness.​ In ancient Greek culture, ALETHEIA was synonymous for "REALITY" as the opposite of illusion, i.e. "FACT".

Aletheia from ALETHES, "true to fact" properly, truth, REALITY  unconcealed, true as it accords with fact (reality), i.e. attested because tested – literally, "what can't be hidden."
"what can't be hidden" stresses undeniable reality when something is fully tested, i.e. it will ultimately be shown to be fact (authentic).

​





The First Martyr, St. Stephen, may have been the only one that brought Jesus to His feet as He opened heaven for Stephen to see Him with arms wide open. Like Mother Mary and Jesus, He is described as a man FULL of GOD'S GRACE and POWER!                          
Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people. Acts 6:8

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus STANDING at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
​
While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:54-60


Being FULL OF GRACE shows up in our life as conversation and how our life
communicates.. It is the overflow of our spending time with Him. At His Table we sit down empty-handed, hungry and thirsty. We feed on what He blesses and drink what He blesses. When we do, The veil of this life pulls back to reveal The King and His Kingdom. 

​Paul says, "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." Colossians 4:6


In His Presence There are No Shadows
Jesus is really looking forward to seeing you 
He prepares the Table, a seat with your name on it and He becomes the meal

When we feed on the bread we feed on His glory
His glory anoints our head with the oil of gladness and revelation
He opens the eyes of our spirit

When we drink the wine we are cleansed and quickened again by His blood
As we drink, His life and fire course into and throughout our body and we are made alive 
As we drink the ears of our spirit are opened to hear His Voice

Then Jesus shares His life, His love, His peace, joy and kindness
He is passionate, happy, and totally able to commune with us in reality
The result of being in His glory, we are transformed from glory to glory

One degree of glory to another
The Kingdom of God opens the windows to get a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven
The reality of the eternal begins to overtake the reality of the temporal

ALLELUIA!!!

Example of Orthodox Church in Santa Barbara, CA Today
https://www.stathanasius.org/
https://www.facebook.com/StAthanasiusOrthodoxChurch/

COPTIC http://​www.copticchurch.net/
SYRIAN http://sor.cua.edu/
GREEK http://www.goarch.org/
RUSSIAN http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/indexeng.htm
ORIENTAL http://pluralism.org/affiliates/student/allen/Oriental-Orthodox/Home.html

​Some other Eastern Catholic Links
https://www.stathanasius.org/resources/bible-study-downloads/
https://www.skete.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&page_id=50
http://www.ancientfaith.com/radio

History of the Orthodox Church in the 21st Century
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laHcgdE55Mo
​

THEOTOKOS Iconic Holy Art of the Mother of God, Mother Mary. There are many of these beautiful, heavenly inspired Icons. Some report and document multiple miracles.

The Orthodox Church believes that Mary, as a human being, could indeed have sinned, but chose not to. Jesus Christ is Mary’s Savior, as well as ours, as testified in her own statement in St Luke—the Magnificat—where she says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Mary is the “new Eve” who said “yes” to God where the first Eve said “no.”

How My Story Connects to Orthodoxy

In the early years of my faith I had a divine appointment.

I was in Ocean City Maryland and 'by chance' took up a conversation with a young Benedictine Monk.. He was in plain clothes so there was no way of knowing he was a monk until further into our discussion. 

We talked about prayer. i spoke  about intercessory prayer and he spoke of contemplative prayer. 

The conversation lasted for two days. The Holy Spirit knit our hearts.

He gave me three gifts when it came time for our final departure. He told me about The Jesus Prayer. He gave me a well worn copy of The Way of a Pilgrim and finally he gave me a handmade set of "Jesus Beads" that he had made. Later in life I would get a copy of the Philokalia. 

The Way of the Pilgrim (not related to Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress) is an Eastern catholic or Orthodox classic. It is about a man whose tragic life included the loss of his wife and children when his house caught fire and burned to the ground in the countryside of Russia. He wandered through the countryside praying the Jesus Prayer. .

;The Jesus prayer is a prayer of every breath.. "Lord Jesus Christ Son of God" (on the inhale) and "Have Mercy on Me a Sinner"(on the exhale.). A simple prayer that upon repetition becomes part of breathing. It is not 'vain repetition' because there is nothing vain about crying out to God for mercy from His Son. 

The beads help with building the practice of the prayer until it becomes second nature.. 

The Philokalia is another Orthodox classic that is a compendium of information,and  testimony about The Jesus Prayer.

I still pray the Jesus Prayer after learning about it 35 years ago from that dear young Benedictine Monk.

The Lord be praised that truth can ride the tumult of every storm and experience is the better teacher than the lips of people and books.

Spiritual Armor is not the same as Physical Armor. You might say that the shoes of peace take us everywhere we go! We are children led by the Holy Spirit. This armor has been prepared and tempered by the Lord for each individual.

For example it's not a literal shield, but faith that protects the issues of our heart. Its not literally a helmet, but the anointing of the Lord and revelation that protects us from lies and distortions. It's not a sword that we wield, it is the Word of God. In most cases its God's living rhema to us and through us that has the power to do real damage to anything evil and do miracles to anything born of God and so forth.

​Our continual trust in the goodness and righteousness given to us by the Lord is our breastplate! Just say, "I am the righteousness of God in Christ!" 10 times a day right along with the Sign of The Cross! 

The Sign of the Cross goes back to the earliest days of the Church. 

It is a tool of faith just like a key is used to start the car.

Going through the motion in the physical sets your mind and heart in a certain direction and the confession of "In the name of The Father ans the Son and The Holy Ghost" places you into a location and position of strength. 

It can be used and said by you all day long. I've seen baseball players of all ages cross themselves before going to bat. I've seen Olympic athletes dedicate their performance in their sport to the Lord before and after the event.

The issue for all of us is to keep Jesus central and supreme in our daily activities and to give all glory to Him for anything we may accomplish and to surrender any difficulty or conflict to Him before we try to deal with it in our own strength.

There are all kinds of hand gestures that people use every day. Why not employ one that says "I love and trust Jesus" included along  with a friendly fist pump or handshake, a wave of hello or good-bye instead of other mean and sordid gestures.

Start each day and activity with a hardy, humble, cheerful, passionate, "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost!". Facing trouble or conflict? Insert the Sign of the Cross as a way of saying, "Lord, I commit this to you and depend on you for assistance!

We are Warriors of the Cross, We are Emissaries of The Gospel of God's Grace and Goodness and Mercy. It is the Cross that guarantees Victories small and great! To wear the Armor well, make sure to put it on by going through the  physical and verbal Sign of the Cross several times throughout the day. 

"In the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit! AMEN

BBB = “Bob, Be Bold!” This was said to me in the presence of Jesus by Mother Mary when having Communion in CommunionFire last year. By December 2015 Camille and I crossed the mark of 1,000 daily Communions in our living room.

There are three powerful miracles over the past three years that are so natural the only way to describe them is ‘supernatural’.

Contained, released and revealed within each one are innumerable other miracles!

The Third is “The Rosary”

As expressed in the previous three posts in this series, Communion with Jesus is personal, intimate and one-on-one. As Queen of Heaven and Mother of the Church, Mary is never far from Her Son. She is ever near her heavenly Father and one cannot imagine what the intercession of Heaven might look like.

He chose to personally introduce me to Mother Mary. When I first met her it was not dramatic but, you’ve read this phrase before from me, ‘so natural that it had to be super-natural’.

Note: in ancient Israel the mother, not the wife, became Queen of the kingdom if her son was the King. This was because there were multiple wives and concubines. So when Jesus was coronated King of kings and Lord of lords, Mary was in position to become Queen in the Kingdom. She also becomes the spiritual Mother to all the children in the Kingdom of Heaven by virtue of giving birth to Jesus and our new birth in Him. If it is no longer I that lives but Christ who lives in me then Mary becomes our Mother as well!

This Methodist, Charismatic, Evangelical, Southern Baptist preacher in one brief miraculous moment became Communion-Centric! Do you know what Communion with Jesus at His Table does?  When I dine with Him, He is the host. In the midst of sharing so much life, love and peace with me, He also provides introductions to the people of God. He chose first to introduce, after over 700 Communion experiences He chose to introduce Mother Mary to me.

When that happened, I started studying the 2,000 years of paintings, drawings, statues, frescoes and images of the Holy Mother, The Virgin Mary, The Queen of Heaven etc… I also studied the various appearances she made throughout the history of the Church and did research and reading about just a few of the myriads who also witnessed to encounters with her.

The Lord said, 'Follow Me." He has been leading me into fellowship, church history and scriptures. It is not me trying in my own strength or temporal thought trying to find Jesus as in the first 40 years.

In the same way, the Rosary found me. I studied it, prayed it and then it became part of my daily prayer life. What an amazing side of the Kingdom of God, the people of God and mystery of praying with those in heaven and an others on earth.

I am a street level Christian. Everything is subject to doubt first. I once heard from a periodical I used to read called “The Wittenberg Door” that ‘to believe greatly is to doubt greatly.’ After a lifetime of ‘avoidance’, ‘skepticism’, ‘doubt and fear’ the holy spirit won me to the side of faith and the faithful.

First I will tell you who may have been part of the non-Catholic resistance that with any study of The Rosary, it is 75% pure Scripture!

Second I will tell you that The Rosary glorifies Jesus. It is devoted to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and honors Mary for just who she is! She is Jesus’ Mom, She gave birth to Him pure and holy, full of grace and the Holy Spirit as a virgin! Truth!

She is Mother, Queen and co-intercessor with her Son and the rest of heaven. She is ‘blessed among women’. In the language of the day, this meant that there is only one of her and none other like her before or afer!

Third I will tell you that since I started praying the Rosary (and I have been a prayer warrior if nothing else for 40 years) I have never seen more consistently answered prayer in my life and I am no stranger to prayer! I have never seen so much answered prayer since praying the rosary every day since June 12, 2015. 

Praying The Rosary somehow makes you aware that you are part of a prayer army that is in heaven and on earth. Mary is a real person. Mother Mary is your spiritual and eternal Mother and your eternal Queen. This is not exclusive to the faith of only 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, 600 million Eastern Catholics (Orthodox, Coptics, etc…) on the planet today it is scriptural, historical and part of Christian Orthodoxy. Thi is true whether you choose to allow Jesus to share His family or not! It may have been born within the Roman Catholic tradition but it belongs to all of God's people.
 
In the basic "Hail Mary" part of the Rosary here is a quick look at the associated Scriptures:

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women.

“And the Angel (Gabriel) came in unto her, and said, Hail (Mary), full of grace, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women.” Luke 1:28

Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus!

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb (Jesus)!” Luke 1:41-42

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

‘Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary’ (Apostle’s Creed). Mary was with Jesus from conception to birth to the way of the Cross, at His death, resurrection and ascension. She most likely conducted the prayer meeting for the 9 days prior to the sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

As Jesus is ever at the right hand of the Father, then Mary is part of heaven’s royalty. As on earth she is always at her Son’s side. For nine months she was the "Ark of the Covenant"! In the Upper Room the week before Pentecost, she is involved in conducting the prayer meeting as the 120 await the coming of the Holy Spirit. (These nine days are where the Roman Catholic Church get the tradition of the "Novena Prayers".

Jesus ever intercedes and now so does Mary. She prays, as we do, with the Lord not just to Him. She and all of heaven are a symphony of praise, worship, prayer and intercession. She prays that we might each know the way of Jesus into eternal life now and in the great transition in death from our mortal bodies to the heavenly.

Have you left all to follow Jesus? Consider Jesus' cousin John. While on the Cross before His last breath:

“When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”

Like John, have you heard Jesus saying, “Behold your Mother!” Have you taken Mary into your ‘eternal household’?

I have. I can’t believe it took 40 years and a heart ploughed by Communion to make my me tender enough to receive her sweet embrace. In eternity we will all know her love and the love of the heavenly host but now it is just a matter of believing.

Take an honest look at The Rosary.

Watch those who pray The Rosary on EWTN.

Study it, try it before you make judgements. It has been developing within the Roman Catholic tradition since 1221 A.D. after St. Dominic had a visitation from the Blessed Virgin
Mary. As late as the 2002 the Luminous Mysteries were added to the other three (Sorrowful, Joyful and Glorious Mysteries) by Pope John Paul II

BBB = “Bob, Be Bold!” This was said to me in the presence of Jesus by Mother Mary when having Communion in CommunionFire last year. By December 2015 Camille and I crossed the mark of 1,000 daily Communions in our living room.

There are three powerful miracles over the past three years that are so natural the only way to describe them is ‘supernatural’.

Contained, released and revealed within each one are innumerable other miracles!
 
​“Bob, Be Bold” Miracle #2: Meeting Mary

On another morning while having Communion with Camille, while drinking the wine of the Lord’s blood, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say, “Read John 2:3”. This was the first time during CommunionFire that the Holy Spirit spoke about a specific scripture reference, so I was a little bit hesitant thinking, ‘Okay, I guess this is where this Communion Fire thing breaks down! I was very jittery about these encounters at first and still I shiver with the fear of God that I don’t mess up!

But in over a thousand encounters during daily Communion, I feel Jesus is more my friend than anyone I have ever known. He has never let me down and everything he shares with me is gently powerful, filled with His love and leaves me with a certain soundness that constantly gives me peace and joy.

O me, of little faith! LOL

When I told Camille, neither of us had any idea of what the scripture reference was, so I wanted to read it to her out loud at the same time I looked it up.

“When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ “
I noted to myself that this scripture also introduced the personage of Mother Mary. So there were two firsts. A scripture reference  and Mary. Mary just posed the problem. She knows her Son is the ultimate problem solver. She placed the situation before the Lord and left it to Him. At the same time, she was used by the Heavenly Father to sound the wake up call to public ministry.

Up until this moment all of our CommunionFire encounters and experiences were focused exclusively on Jesus. We saw other people including the disciples but now the action involved Mary.

So the question always is, “Lord why do you bring this to my remembrance this morning?”

Somehow I knew instinctively that the Lord was pointing to the Church and that the wine had run out! There may be Communion, but those who were not celebrating Communion or CommunionFire were missing out on the life that Jesus gives to us through the bread and wine that He blesses.

I also sensed that the Lord was making it clear to me that the ignition of his ministry began with these words and they came from his Mother.

Fast Forward

Two years later as mentioned in a previous post, Mary shows up through a flying scroll, and says, “Bob, Be Bold” with a nod from her Son, my Lord Jesus. I didn’t know at that moment that very much the same way the Holy Spirit was speaking through Mother Mary to take an action that would also indicate the start of something new igniting me to serve God’s people.

Sharing our experiences about what more Communion could mean became the message. In Communion if each of us would ‘be still and wait on the Lord’ after receiving the bread of His flesh and after receiving the wine of His blood then there is an encounter to be had. Ou witness is that Jesus is waiting at the Table to feed us physically as well as spiritually and to quench our thirst physically and spiritually with the essence of His presence, His glory..

When we wait, just 5-10 seconds, we see the Lord Jesus is there waiting to share with us and to speak with us.

“The Word (rhema) of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword diving between the soul and spirit, the marrow and the bone, the thoughts and the intents of the heart” Hebrews 4:12

When applied to Communion, there it is! So that’s what this is. Its Jesus (the Logos) made alive to us (Rhema) as real food that has been blessed to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear in the spirit. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

So I also had my first encounter with Mary through the John 2:3 confirmed 2 years later with Dear Mother Mary, Queen of Heaven. She would be the first of others the Lord would introduce me to in the Kingdom of Heaven during time spent with Him at His Table.

FYI: I am not Eastern or Western Catholic. I grew up Methodist and then became Charismatic Evangelical and landed in Southern Baptist Churches. After 40 years, I am just a helpless, hopeless mess, broken and frail and totally dependent on Jesus Christ as my foundation and friend. Its no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.

Outside of that I love all God’s people everywhere and anywhere including heaven and earth without regard to time and space.
 ​

​
“Bob, Be Bold” Miracle #1: CommunionFire

There are three powerful miracles over the past three years that are so natural the only way to describe them is ‘supernatural’.

Contained, released and revealed within each one are innumerable other miracles!

​
The first is CommunionFire.

My wife Camille and I have had well over 1,000 Communions over the past three years. It is a daily encounter with Jesus at home and in the homes of others who have come to share the miracle.

Communion is what most Christians do. It is a Sacrament in most denominations. Usually it is hurried and at the end of the service. We have found that many believers are not aware that coming to the Table of the Lord involves more than just receiving the blessed bread and wine. Our experience is that Jesus established the holy meal as His way of providing a place where we could ‘dine with Him’.

When we partake together each morning in our living room, each of us has a very special personal encounter with the Lord that feeds us with His life, love and peace. In the bread and wine, which we now believe becomes His glorified ‘flesh and blood’ after we offer it to Him for His blessing. Supernatural food and drink that brings us into His presence and reveals His presence within us.

For the purpose of making the experience distinct we call the encounter during the meal CommunionFire. We have the blessing, the meal and during the consuming of the bread of His flesh and the wine of His blood our spiritual eyes and ears are opened to see and hear Jesus. He may show us something of Himself or comes to share something with us and speaks to us in a way that is personal, intimate, and gentle.
 
Interesting Facts
What Communion looks and sounds like today:
Today there are 2.6 billion Christians on the planet and they are comprised of two Communion-related groups:

1. A) Communion at least once per week with few divisions or schisms

1.2 billion Roman Catholics
600 million Orthodox or Eastern Catholics
150 million Anglicans and Lutherans (some Methodists)
Total: 1,950,000,000 (billion)

1. B) Communion once per month to not at all with over 30,000 schisms

650 million non-Catholics: Protestants, Evangelicals and Charismatics
Total: 650.000.000 (million)
(Charismatics are found in both A and B.)

Group Catholic: Communion-centric worship and lifestyle.
These trace their history to apostolic tradition. The center of the sanctuary and focus of worship is the Eucharist/Qurbana/Holy Communion. This means they believe this is the way Jesus visits his people personally today. They hold up the Communion and say, “Behold the Lamb of God!”

Group Indy: Platform/People/Bible-centric worship and lifestyle.
This is my background BTW. We trace our genesis from Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, Count Zinzendorf, Conrad Grebel and other Reformers, Anabaptists, Moravians and a barrage of other divisions during the past 500 years. Worship is Bible-centric and the sanctuary is generally some type of platform with a pulpit of some kind or arrangements of microphones and multi-media. In some more traditional sanctuaries there is a table in front of the pulpit adorned for once per month Communion.

Like my wife says, “It’s like we trace our heritage from Jesus (then skip 1600 years) and go right to Luther! Today’s non-Catholic worship is arena and platform-based with congregations of 10,000 people or more. Evangelistic crusades are generally outdoors and can draw as many as a million people! Great for 'winning souls' but then what? It's the then what that causes so many divisions. 

Here’s How we Share Communion Every Day at home and in home gatherings usually once per week. (This breaks the tradition of the Catholic and Independents both but it is where we experience the Fire of Communion.)

Simple Communion
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Believe & Receive – Be Still & Know He is God
Have a small piece of bread and pray
“Lord, we ask you to bless this bread to be your Body; 
we do this to remember you.”
Partake as you think or say
“The Body of Christ Broken for me/you”
Eyes closed, Pause for ten seconds, looking for Jesus
Luke 24:31, 35

Believe & Receive – Be still & Listen for His voice
Have a small sip of wine and pray:
“Lord, we ask you to bless this wine to be your Blood;
we do this to remember you.”
Partake & Drink as you think or say
“The Blood of Jesus Shed for me/you”
Eyes closed, Pause for ten seconds, listen for Him.
Hebrews 12:24

​Then we share with each other what the Lord shared with us. I like to journal every episode! “What He shows in secret, shout from the housetops.”


​

My Story 

In Communion one day, as I ate the ‘bread of Jesus flesh’ the eyes of my spirit were opened and I saw a very small library reading room. It was in the shape of an octagon with dark wooden shelves and maybe 10 feet of floor space.

It was me and Jesus standing together. Light filtered in from windows up toward the ceiling.
​
On the opposite side of the room one wall panel opened up to a narrow hallway that led to some wooden steps that went “up”. A shaft of light came from the top of the steps like the sun shining in through a window.

Almost immediately I saw a cone shaped scroll flying down the steps, through the hall to where we were in the study. By the time it arrived the room had grown in size and the scroll was larger too. The scroll hovered for a moment above us and  then began to unfurl.

As it did, a person dropped from the scroll and when I looked, standing and smiling kindly was the Holy Mother. Mary was standing next to Her Son Jesus and facing me.

Up until now, after about two years of daily Communion, anyone else who showed up when I met with the Lord was part of what the Lord was sharing with me as par of a scene. In this case Mary came personally to see me!

Jesus was smiling (kind of like a big brother would when Mom was in the room) as if to say, 'How about this?'

I was like, “Well, here we go! There’s no turning back now!”

When my eyes met the eyes of Mother Mary I could feel a flush of heaven’s peace within me and then Mary said to me, “Bob, be bold.”

She was calm, loving, kind and though she spoke with a small grin I knew she was giving me Motherly advice from heaven.

Camille and I took the cup of the wine of His blood and drank in His life and love. Immediately I looked at the Lord Jesus, He nodded approvingly. I thought "Okay, Lord!" I felt so privileged but a little trepidatious.  The love of Jesus and His Mother won and my faith was reassured. In an instant 40 years of speculation, doubt and 'dogma' were replaced with the reality that comes from the presence of Jesus 

Occasional ‘flying scroll’ encounters have happened since then, but this was like a baptism. It was very profound to me. A personal relationship with Jesus is just that but when a relationship grows strong enough Jesus likes to introduce others to me that play a part in His work of intercession. Today I begin to follow Holy Mother’s motherly advice by writing this blog. My first step outside the box to Be Bold! I sense Mother Mary and Jesus smiling at my attempt! Sweet.
 
Sitting at Table with Jesus is my passion. In His presence is fullness of joy and everlasting life. I share here with you only what Jesus shares with me. My heavenly account is overflowing with eternal wealth and I can't spend it fast enough and few there be that are looking for that wealth.

Alleluia.