Why the School of the Four Living Creatures? by Richard Kinney

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All rights reserved. Firehouse Ministries, Inc. 2016.

Questions

1. How can only pursuing and advancing in one area destabilize us?

2. What does God try to do for us when we cry out for more in any area?

3. What is at risk if you are out of balance in the Lion? Man?

4. What is at risk if you are out of balance in the Ox? Eagle?

5. How can growing in each one give you a better ability to live in communion and “oneness” with Christ?

6. True or false: Concrete evidence of our faith needs to be in what we do rather than in just what we hear or what we say or how much of the Bible we know—such evidence will be things like joy, love and an abundant life.

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Heavenly Father, come and touch me by your Holy Spirit. Cause me to grow where I am immature, where I am unschooled. Take away my prejudices and judgements against other Christians who operate in some of these areas that I don’t understand or haven’t done much in. Help me to be teachable, humble, willing to receive, willing to be wrong–so You can come and have union and oneness with me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Personal Application Questions

1. Which of the four living creatures represents the mode of Christianity you feel most acquainted with in your life? Which the least?
2. Of these four aspects of God, in which would you most like to see the Holy Spirit train you?
3. What are some things you will have to consider doing or changing to cooperate with that happening?
4. In question 1 you identified what your weakest area was. In light of that, answer the question, “What would it mean to me to develop in the lion or eagle? The ox or the man?
5. Write out specifically what the fruit would be in your life. For example, if you are weak in the eagle you may ask, “What would it be like to be able to hear God’s voice and tell the people I share the gospel with what God thinks of them?” Or if you are weak in the lion, “What if I could change a long-term abusive relationship at home or work by stepping into the authority of the lion?”
6. Some of the Man issues are learning to give and receive love and resolving childhood issues. How much experience have you had with these?

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Scripture

Ephesians 5:31-32

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church.

Revelations 3:17-19

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

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“Why the School of the Four Living Creatures Lecture?” Quiz

Fill in the blanks (words listed below)

1. “It is never a matter of trying to get God to release more power, it is always a question of our ability to ____________________.
2. Dealing with the man has to do with our humanity, our soul and our ___________________.
3. The strength of the Ox has to do with ___________________.
4. Doing the Lion can bring ______________________in everyday life, fathering others, winning and taking territory.
5. Moving in the Eagle needs to be balanced with the Man and the Ox. Some of the aspects of the Eagle are _____________________, __________________________ and the Glory.

Submission to God’s way

History

Receive

Authority

Supernatural experiences

Operating in the gifts of the Spirit

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Answers to Questions

1. How can only pursuing and advancing in one area destabilize us?

If we are strong in only one area, we do not have the foundation and grounding provided in other areas to counteract the challenges presented by development in only one area. Too much ox can leave us feeling afflicted and powerless where too much lion may make us arrogant and contentious. The eagle takes us to spiritual heights but we can become flakey if we haven’t dealt with the relational issues in our man.

2. What does God try to do for us when we cry out for more in any area?

He seeks to strengthen us in other areas so we are capable of receiving the “more” we are crying out for.

3. What is at risk if you are out of balance in the Lion? Man?

Too much lion can make us haughty and entitled. Too much man can leave us introspective and worldly. (There are other answers that are just as correct. These are just a sample.)

4. What is at risk if you are out of balance in the Ox? Eagle?

Too much ox can leave us serving as a way of establishing our worth or feeling victimized, too much eagle can leave us flakey and so heavenly we are no earthly good.  (There are other answers that are just as correct. These are just a sample.)

5. How can growing in each one give you a better ability to live in communion and “oneness” with Christ?

He was a perfect balance of all four. He was strong in all four. As we become strong and balanced in these four ways that God wants to develop us, we become capable of a oneness with Him. So we can love like the “man”, engage the supernatural like the “eagle”, submit and serve with the strength of the “ox” and rule and reign like the “lion.”

6. True or false: Concrete evidence of our faith needs to be in what we do rather than in just what we hear or what we say or how much of the Bible we know—such evidence will be things like joy, love and an abundant life.

True.

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Answers to Quiz

1. “It is never a matter of trying to get God to release more power, it is always a question of our ability to ____________________. (receive)
2. Dealing with the man has to do with our humanity, our soul and our ___________________. (history)
3. The strength of the Ox has to do with ___________________. (submission)
4. Doing the Lion can bring ______________________in everyday life, fathering others, winning and taking territory. (authority)
5. Moving in the Eagle needs to be balanced with the Man and the Ox. Some of the aspects of the Eagle are _____________________, __________________________ and the Glory. supernatural experiences,

operating in the Gifts of the Spirit

Submission to God’s way

History

Receive

Authority

Supernatural experiences

Operating in the gifts of the Spirit

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Four Faces of God Reflected in His People

WHICH ARE YOU?

How do you live your Christian life? Do you mostly serve others and try to help them? Are you more about the development of your soul and interested in inner healing and personal growth in Christ? Or are you more interested in the supernatural: prophecy, visions, and supernatural manifestations? Or maybe you are focused on proclaiming the truth of God and taking over territory for Him: the administration and enactment of His kingdom?

Reading this paper will help you to understand how all of these things are an important part of being made in His image. Hopefully it will encourage you to look into the areas you have never been exposed to and allow the Holy Spirit to develop you in these areas.

The Four Faces of God as demonstrated in the four living creatures shows four areas of development for us. These areas are actually reflections of four aspects of God’s character. He has shown us Himself as the Lion, the Kingly function of God where He takes charge and wins territory and brings forth life and tears down evil.  The Ox function is illustrated by the Lamb of God who serves us all and cares for us as a Shepherd.  The Eagle part of God is displayed throughout the Bible through His many supernatural manifestations and the glimpse we have into the heavenly dimensions. And the Man was epitomized by the Incarnation of Christ, fully God but fully Man. He had a mind, will and emotions.

Although there is much overlap, groups tend to gravitate towards one aspect more than others. Some groups are very versed in Ox-living. They are willing to do service, missions, and understand they must deny themselves and follow Christ. These groups are often the best at serving the poor, recognizing needs in the community and those members in their midst who have suffered life losses or challenges. They expect to turn the other cheek and rarely see themselves as being the “conquerors”.

Others are heavy on the Lion-side of God. They believe in naming and claiming the will of God to come on earth as it is in heaven. They believe they should be able to prevail against difficulty and overcome the resistance of the enemy. They do well in developing the confidence of believers in the active power of God for today. They take over territory for God and have higher expectations of what they can accomplish than most Christians.

Some groups are most focused on the Eagle. They pursue connecting to the heavenly dimensions and manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They may use the gifts of prophecy, healing and tongues. They may see angels and other supernatural things. They have a high expectation of the miraculous and of hearing God’s voice.

Others are mostly involved in the Man type activities. They emphasize the soul qualities of thinking and feeling and choosing. They may spend much time studying the Bible or doing inner healing and trying to understand the relationships between man and God and others. They can relate to Jesus as a human more than the Supernatural God who took on flesh.

Every one of these areas are vital to having a full and balanced Christian life. Over my years of Christian experience, I have been involved in every one of these types of groups (admitting there is sometimes overlap and these categories are mostly for teaching purposes.) Being raised Catholic, I had a reverence for God and the mystical that I didn’t see in many of my Protestant friends. I started my Christian life my freshman year of college, being mostly involved in evangelism, discipleship and missions. I had briefly been involved with a charismatic group whom I rejected after several months for fear that their lack of love was indicative of theology problems. At that point I joined Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship (1975).

The focus of Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship is threefold: evangelism, discipleship and missions. I was trained in how to have a Quiet Time every day, how to share my faith, how to help a young believer grow in their faith and made aware of the need for the gospel to go to the ends of the earth. There wasn’t much discussion about what I needed but mostly about what I could do for God as He equipped me to participate in the call to make disciples. My husband, Gary, and I responded to this teaching and training by signing up to be missionaries with then North Africa Mission (Now Pioneers).

We lived in France and North Africa for seven years and had no awareness of all the ways we needed counseling; nor of all the demonic influences afflicting us; nor of how to do spiritual warfare or protect ourselves from the well-armed enemy. In fact, we rather despised people who tried to bring up such “ridiculous” topics as Christians needing deliverance or counseling. We were into “sacrifice and suffering” and had nothing much to offer the North African believers we worked with other than Bible studies, evangelism tools and our love and support.

When we returned home on furlough we were broken and discouraged but ready to return. By God’s grace we couldn’t because of not being able to raise the needed support. At that point I began to pursue more of the “Man” aspects of God mostly because I needed counseling so badly that I could barely function.

It was at that point I began receiving help from an inner healing ministry and for the first time ever began to be aware of what was inside of my mind, will and emotions. For the first four years I mostly received help for myself but then I began to help others and finally the last 8 years I taught and trained inner healing.

By 1999 I had a decade of experience helping myself and others with what I knew to do. But I still saw areas of my life and those I closely worked with that weren’t being addressed by my skills. I felt the next area I needed to look into was the Prophetic and the Supernatural aspects of God. Many years before I had walked away from this because of seeing these things misused by a small group of people on my college campus.  I realized I had thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

In the spring of 1999, I began praying earnestly for God to send someone to mentor me in the prophetic and the supernatural things of God. Six months later I met my present co-worker, Richard Kinney. God had directed him to attend a seminar I was teaching. For the first time ever, I began to see supernatural things happen. The first thing that got my attention was several weeks after the seminar. I had a terrible dream where I was being painfully held by a big black clamp around my neck. When I awoke I began to fast and pray since I didn’t know what else to do. That afternoon the phone rang and I had to try and remember who this Richard guy was on the phone from Atlanta. When I asked him why he had called, he said, “God told me to call you up and pray to get rid of that thing around your neck.” I almost dropped the phone! I had never seen people who claimed to be prophetic demonstrate much more than vague “words” and signs of low self-esteem as indicated by their need to draw attention to themselves and their “gifting.”

I realized this was the person God had sent to answer my prayer. I was wanting to incorporate these prophetic aspects of God into what I was doing in inner healing but that was not acceptable to my boss so by June of 2000 I parted ways with this inner healing group. I began studying the different people over the past few centuries who saw the miraculous on a regular basis in their lives and meetings. William Branham was in particular dear to me. I was aghast I had been a Christian for over 20 years and had never heard of someone who had many, many documented instances of seeing Christ heal cancer, tuberculosis, paralysis, etc. How was that possible? Shouldn’t that be common knowledge? But once again, the fractured nature of the Body of Christ omitted and ignored vital information. Is this

because people like to do what they feel comfortable with? Does leadership warn them from things and people who would offer more than they do?

At that time of my life I found myself rejected by “prophetic” groups because of their wariness of “counseling”. I was also rejected by “inner healing” groups because of their distaste for “just pray it away” types who were more interested in prophetic words than the root of people’s fears! What I saw were two groups of people desperately needing what the other group did well. I felt the same about my early formation of the disciplines of Inter Varsity and sacrificing our comforts for the sake of others. I wished we could all share in what others did best to bring us into balance and effectiveness and to know the whole Person of God and not just one part of Him. We all seemed like the blind men feeling different parts of the elephant and believing themselves to have the whole picture.

After a few years of studying and pursuing the supernatural side of God I began to wonder about the saints through the ages and how they lived out their faith and what they thought about the Lord. So I began a ten year study of the desert fathers and other mystics such as St. Theresa of Avila, St. Seraphim (a Russian mystic) and other various saints. For my personal Bible study I studied “The Song of Solomon” for these ten years because it was the favorite of so many mystics.

I found a wealth of understanding about God from these dear saints now in the cloud of witnesses. I could see the most powerful among them were those who seemed to have a balance in the four dimensions of God as described earlier. I could see the contributions of the Pentecostal, Evangelical, Protestant and Catholic saints, the Orthodox saints as well as the little known Eastern Christian Church and all the various Desert Fathers before them. It also gave me many landscapes for viewing the lack of balance in different groups.

Over the last ten years, God has gradually unfolded this teaching about the Four Living Creatures. In 2005 I was in Brazil on a Global Awakening mission trip. The worship band prayed for impartation for us at the end of trip. They prayed that we would receive the spirit of the “Four Living Creatures.” I had no idea what that meant or how it would affect me. About four months later I had an open vision of the Eagle which stayed with me for days. Over the next several years I saw all of them but wasn’t sure why. I kept researching what others had to say about them. Some say they represent the gospels, others that they refer to kingdoms and I am sure there are other interpretations of their significance of which I am not aware.

I am not trying to discount anybody else’s ideas. At this point, I realize there may be multiple things that are true about them—which I learned from studying Song of Solomon and how so many different interpretations can all seem to apply and be helpful.

But when God began to show me how they reflected different aspects of His character and how He longed for His people to grow in both knowing Him in all these ways and allowing Him to develop them like this, I knew it was something needed by the Body of Christ to bring the sorely needed balance so obvious almost everywhere.

So that is why I am presenting this teaching after many years of having it age and develop in the wine cellar of my soul. I believe that the needed teaching and word for this hour is that the Church needs to embrace the fullness of God and accept one another for what each does well. May the Holy Spirit release it to bring a fruit which will please God and promote His desires in our midst.

The School of the Four Living Creatures is meant to instruct and encourage and equip believers in their development of the four faces of God. I hope you will make yourself available to God’s Holy Spirit and how He would like to use these four schools of the Man, Eagle, Lion and Ox in your life.

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