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YAHWEH, Our Almighty God, has put within the Indian heart a gifting of courage to wage war and fight the good fight, even unto death. As the history of this land reveals, it was this very gifting which caused the American Indian to be oppressed, humiliated, and incarcerated on the present day reservations. Since the day the dust settled from the last of the "Indian Wars", this gifting has been a source of frustration and hopelessness for countless thousands of young Indian men. This hopelessness has driven many thousands of Native peoples into the deeper bondages of alcoholism and drugs with premature death, and a Christ-less eternity as their only reward. Today however, the Lord of Hosts, Yeshua is His Name, is about to do a new thing. He is about to break the yoke of bondage to hopelessness and despair in the hearts of Native Americans throughout this land by reviving in them this gifting of a warrior's heart." This time, though, He intends to consecrate by His Blood and use this gifting for the redemptive purposes of His Kingdom. Think of it!! Countless thousands of young Native Americans brought to a newness of Spirit-life, and given the vision of becoming "Mighty Warriors" with the Lord Jesus Christ as their indwelling, Great Warrior Chief and partnering together with all ethnic peoples of the world to advance the Kingdom of God. What would be the result of such a mighty move of the Great Holy Spirit of God? This is the glorious vision that Yeshua has birthed within the heart of Day Chief Ministries, Inc. Open Rock Springs Healing Center The central feature for implementing this vision is the construction of a headquarters facility called the Open Rock Springs Healing Center. This facility will be the home of multiple ministries and initially include: Red Earth Church in the Wilderness (Jn 17:11, 16; Acts 7:37/38), an incorporated church fellowship of believers founded upon and living out of the Kingdom of God or more simply the domain and rule of Jesus Christ, Savior, Lord and King; the equipping function for this fellowship is carried forth by: Red Earth Worship-Warrior School: an advanced training resource made available in seminar format as well as online. The School of the Risen Warrior: a foundational training school for new and recently liberated religious believers. Day Chief Ministries, Inc.; a 501 c(3) incorporated non-profit ministry providing legal, liability covering for the ministry of Pastors Jim and Faith Chosa to the region, state, and nation. A Taste of Heritage; the teaching ministry of Crow elder, Alma Snell a nationally known ethnobotanist, who was taught how to use for medicinal and food purposes native plants by her grandmother, Pretty Shield. Alma has taught college professors, doctors, pharmacists, and students from elementary to college level. The broad vision of Open Rock Springs Healing Center is the full spiritual and natural restoration of the individual and associated family through the power of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God; and the restoration of the family’s position as the most powerful Earthly entity capable of directly influencing and promoting transformation within the larger sphere of communities.[1] 1) The specific ministry vision of the Healing Center can be summed up in the eight-fold purpose of the Red Earth Church and Day Chief Ministries: a. Provoke every believer to reach new levels of growth, maturity and godly living through the increasing openness of the spiritual heart to God, our Heavenly Father; b. Promote true corporate immigrant and indigenous [2] “community of unity” living in the newness of spiritual life through the avenue of the real Gospel of the Kingdom of God; c. In practical ways, help believers understand how to co-labor with the Word and Spirit of God to effect change and personal transformation within their own personality, and then carry the authority gained to effect change in their families; d. Connect believers in righteous alignment of immigrant to indigenous authority in the spiritual landscape in every place we have indigenous or adopted stewardship authority; and train and equip believers to understand the how and why of spheres of authority. e. Help believers understand Biblical strategies for spiritual warfare to include recognizing and understanding how evil is anchored in their own lives and how evil became anchored through humanity to the spiritual landscape; f. Train believers on how to break the power-grid of iniquitous religious structures, and deliver first themselves and then the landscape from evil’s legal hold; g. Promote the increase and exercise of a believer’s dominion authority and through proper authority alignment, repossess the spiritual landscape of homes and lands one acre at a time; thus effecting spiritual change in the larger sphere of the territory. h. Encourage, qualify, and certify believers as trained “Territorial Deliverers” as pictured and modeled by the Book of Judges and the Apostle Paul capable of leading and training others to the extent God’s stated purpose in Rom 8:21 can be accomplished on a broad territorial scale: “That the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” ASV 2) Since Native Americans still retain, from God’s viewpoint, the stewardship hosting authority for the spiritual landscape of America, our overall vision includes a very special emphasis on Native families and aspects of Native culture which enhance connecting Native Americans to the true spiritual Kingdom of God. This includes the restoration and Blood of Christ consecration of the Biblical belief principles already embedded in Native cultures using the Apsaalooke (Crow) culture as a platform model. These include the following twelve cultural beliefs and principles which have direct correlation to the teachings of the Bible: God was a Triune Being, which the Apsaalooke identified by a separate term for each as: the One Who Makes All Things, First Maker, and the One Man. The First Maker had spiritual helpers (angels). Man was foremost a spiritual being living in a physical body. There was a spiritual dimension to all life including the Earth. Life was not limited to what one can see or feel, but was a continuum of both the natural and spiritual realms working together as one. Success in life and war depended on gaining effective and powerful help from the spiritual world. Prayer, praise through song, and worship was required to connect spiritually with God (praise and war songs, etc). Personal purification through fasting and cleansing (sweat lodge) was required before seeking God for any reason. Seeking God for a high level spiritual experience and help required separation from the world and worldly comforts (vision quest). Suffering to the point of death was an important element of this separation process carried out by a four day vision quest. Commitment to God and the spiritual helper given to assist one in the natural life directed one’s lifestyle. Family (nuclear and extended) was vital to maturing and growing up spiritually, mentally and socially. Love, honor and respect were living principles which bonded the family and families of the clan together; honor was bestowed through the specific acts of the giving of Indian names, the give-away, honoring ceremonies, and specific family feasts and celebrations known currently as pow-wows. The clan system itself, the one element which enables the tribe to survive, is written in the Bible: Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity (1 Tim 5:1-2). Death was not to be feared, but conquered through discipline. All equipping, training and maturing disciplines for young warriors required preparation to meet death in battle in increasing stages of risk and fear. The way of the warrior was of highest importance to the tribe therefore, the warrior culture dominated all aspects of tribal culture. Leadership was not based on property owned or political influence alone, but was a direct result of many good war deeds done in battle with the enemy; the reward system was based on counting coup. Therefore, all equipping and training activities of the Healing Center will not detract from but enhance these cultural beliefs and principles to include honoring the use of the Apsaalooke language in song and in prayer as the Lord directs. Please refer to the attached addendum for additional information on use of Native culture. The Facility: As we have prayerfully considered the facility to house the vision and make it practical, the Spirit of the Lord said, “It must be built in the excellence of the Lord!” With this in mind the facility must have space sufficient to further all purposes of the vision beginning with a large culturally-friendly, gathering place to seat 300 people capable of being partitioned into a number of classes. It must also have office space; be computer networked and capable of using state of the art video and telecommunications technology. It will also have a capacity to provide fellowship meals together in a community atmosphere and several fully equipped apartments to house vital permanent staff. Location of the facility will be on land secured by a long-term lease from Faith Chosa, an enrolled member of the Apsaalooke Nation, on the Bighorn Mountains, Yellowtail, MT. Facility Needs: 1) Architectural plans with a design that builds the facility in practical phases and supply and cost estimates by phase. 2) On-site landscaping to provide building site and parking space. 3) Internal layout plans for sound and video technology. 4) Funds to support and build the facility. How to Donate to Help Establish the Vision 1) First, pray and intercede for with us for this vision and mission to be established; 2) Then, allow the Spirit of God to impart His desire within you as to how He would have you participate to make this vision a reality in the heart of the Apsaalooke Nation. 3) If the Holy Spirit directs you to contribute funds to this project then make out your check to: Red Earth Church in the Wilderness. 4) Our full contact information is as follows: Red Earth Church in The Wilderness Ok-A-Beh Marina Road Box 7483 Yellowtail, MT 59035 Phone: 406-666-9183 E-mail: jim@daychief.org Setting Boundaries for Native Cultural Issues and Christianity We recognize the value and redemptive gifts God placed within all people groups and nations, and acknowledge no single people group has the full and complete revelation of God, His Ways, and His perfect Plan of Redemption, Reconciliation, and Restoration. When nations and ethnicities are drawn together in the love, mercy, faith and grace of God, all will have access to what each nation group brings to the one Body of Christ. We recognize the contributions each presents to the whole, but also acknowledge that all of our human cultural customs, manners, and religious ways and beliefs have been seriously inoculated with the invisible virus of evil and iniquity. Thus all aspects of the objects and activities of human culture must be placed under the intense illumination of the Light of God, and what is unredeemable renounced, cast off and put out by the power of the Cross. Human culture can be redeemed since humans are the center of their culture. What can be potentially redeemed must first be evaluated by the standard of God’s Word and if redeemable then placed under the sanctifying blood of Christ. What can and can not be sanctified by the Blood will vary from culture to culture according to the context of the culture, and can be subject to variation according to the maturity level of each believer. In our assessment of Native cultural religious practices we must not repeat the erroneous mistake of the missionaries of the past and exhibit a condemning or condescending attitude, but we must relate respectfully with those who still use their ancient practices to build a meaningful relationship to righteously lead them to the revelation of Christ. Even though religiously-minded missionaries condemned all the religious practices of Native people as being pagan, not all of them were since many had concepts and principals which were Biblical in substance and effect. However, we must recognize that all forms of religious cultural ceremonies and beliefs like the religious forms and ceremonies of ancient Israel connected to the Tabernacle of Moses were declared by the Word of God to be obsolete and worn out (Heb 8:13) the moment Christ died on the Cross. Before the work of the Cross these religious ceremonies may have been appropriate ways to approach God, but after the Cross, Christ became the only viable and legitimate way to know and relate to God. In our relationship with the Crow Nation, we have found many elements of the culture redeemable such as major beliefs which line up with the Word of the Lord, tribal language, love for the land, the custom of giving of “Indian” names, some arts and crafts, and the love, honor, and respect of the clanship system which governs the social affairs of the Tribe, and the righteously motivated “give-away.” In fact the clanship system of the Crows is found in 1 Tim 5:1-2: Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; 2 The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. These prior belief patterns we believe were placed into the indigenous culture to prepare the Way for the coming of and the reception of the Lord, our Savior and King. Where they differ from the Scripture, however, we allow the Holy Spirit to shift the heart of the indigenous believer from the cultural belief so they can more fully embrace Biblical truth as it is written. We also are aware of many cultural elements which are distinctly in contradiction to the Word and unredeemable such as: 1) All elements of the Native American Church which relies on drugs (peyote) to produce a trance state in the soul, and opens up the participant to demonization. 2) Ceremonial smudging with either sweet grass, cedar or other incense. Smudging is an attempt to cleanse oneself and protect from the power of evil. It is the reliance on a material object for what only the One True God of Heaven can provide. In some cultures it is a form of prayer which substitutes the smoke for heart-felt communication with God. 3) The considering of material objects like the eagle feather or special places of worship as sacred, which means holy. This is a Levitical religious belief, but it is not a New Testament belief. Unfortunately, many believers believe that the “House of God”, their church building, is sacred. In the New Testament there are only three things sacred: God, His Word, and the people He dwells in. We must respect all of God’s creation as such, and thank Him for making the many varied elements of Creation, but there is a difference between respect and holding something sacred or holy. 4) The use of drums as the sole musical instrument for worship of God. In many regions of America, ancient people established drum cults which worshipped the drum and established religious ceremonies centered on the use and sound of the drum. Modern musicians know the power of the drum to rouse the carnal elements of the soul with its repeated rhythmic sounds. When used with fasting, dancing, and/or mind enhancing drugs, the drum can quickly cause the participant to enter a trance-like state where the soul is open to spiritual influences. This is what happens in the sun dance ceremonies. Rhythm must be balanced by harmony and melody to produce a sound pleasing to God. Remember, it is God, not man, who is to be worshipped. 5) Ceremonial dancing as an act of worship using material objects associated with the “medicine powers” of shamanism. Although seemingly innocent, the use of what is called Native regalia often increases the risk of dancers so dressed to attract the familiar spirits associated with such practices and objects. The risk comes when the soul of the dancer knowingly or unknowingly places a sense of increased sacredness upon the objects worn. One key symptom of this happening is the sense of increased pride of stature, self worth, and identity found in the regalia. Regalia used as an instrument for evangelism can be appropriate if so inspired by the Holy Spirit and/or agreed to by a more mature believer, but care must be given so the regalia does not detract from the message of Christ. However, the purpose must be made clear, and when the assignment is complete the regalia put away for another time. The ritualistic use of regalia for worship is similar to the ritualistic use of songs and formalized service in many old wine skin religious structures. When entering into the territory of other indigenous believers our regalia may not be an accepted means even of evangelizing the lost. If we are true Kingdom believers, then we will understand, submit, and accept those with territorial authority, and what they approve of as accepted strategies for reaching the lost. We must remember worship is the primary objective of both the serpent and God. This is one of the main reasons God sent the Son as the perfected vehicle of worship; now in Christ, we can ascend into the Court of Heaven without the fear of demonic subversion or perversion of our worship since it is now in the protected environment of the perfected humility of Christ Jesus and His Blood. If the use of any object is a must for the believer to enhance the believer’s worship of God, then the believer should ask one question: who is the object of worship, me or God? 6) The medicine bundle, sun dance, sweat lodge, and material objects previously used for the worship of other gods in any of these practices (Acts 19:19). Concerning the sweat lodge, this practice relies on the ceremony and hot steam to spiritually cleanse oneself before participating in a sacred religious ceremony, and as a place of prayer. The relying on hot steam to cleanse oneself from spiritual sins denies the power of the Blood of Christ, which alone purges the believer from sins (Heb 9:14). The prayer purpose of the sweat lodge for a believer is fulfilled in Christ, and now the believer’s body becomes the temple whereby prayer can be offered up to God on a 24 hours a day, seven days a week basis without having to wait for the sweat lodge ceremony. Many immigrant believers are attracted to the appearance of Native regalia. Some have foolishly stated these regalia are the Native believer’s “armor of God.” The kind of regalia most often seen is the pow-wow regalia which were introduced in the early 1940s. As such these regalia are not genuine traditional apparel of the Native warrior. Their purpose, especially the war bonnet, is to enhance the performance and appearance of the wearer. Thus, their use, even for evangelistic purposes, can seriously detract from the message of the Gospel rather than enhance it. In the pre-missionary contact times, the war bonnet was a sign of leadership gained through acts of bravery and war deeds accomplished. Each eagle feather was a like the medal won by a modern soldier. For a Native believer who has gained this status in the tribe, the wearing of the war bonnet is legitimate. For others to assume they can wear it simply because they can purchase one, makes the wearing of it just another aspect of religious futility or worse, a religious façade. It would be equivalent to a civilian purchasing an Army captains uniform with all associated ribbons and gold bars. Does this civilian have any legitimate authority by wearing the uniform? The cultural religious objects, acts, ceremonies, and beliefs which cannot be sanctified in the Blood of Christ must not be utilized in any way by a true believer in Christ Jesus. To do so is to place oneself and family in great peril of religious deception notably marked by Christians who do participate in them by a strident division from the rest of the Body of Christ. Their use constitutes the establishment of a subcultural religion within the many religions of Christianity, and like most religions, participants try to forcefully proselytize unbelievers, so all are doing and believing the same thing. If they cannot win over someone then they cut one off by the fearful practice of “shunning.” The serpent has perfected his seducing techniques for over six thousand years. We must not forget that he was able to quickly seduce and deceive Adam and Eve even when they had no prior consciousness of sin. He even tried in vain to deceive the Lord Jesus Christ who defeated him not by His own wisdom, but by the written Word of God. The Apostle Paul strongly contrasted such behavior with the true Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation in Romans 1:20-25: For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], 21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. 23 And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles. . . 25 Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it). AMP As maturing believers we must spiritually know how to separate the sinner from sin, and live above the offenses of the sin. If we are truly led of the Holy Spirit, He will give us ways to reach out to all indigenous people without disrespecting the people, offending God or giving access to the serpent. For us on the Crow reservation, we have found the periodic use of songs in the language of the Crow, honoring, respecting and operating within the clan system, and using some of the cultural analogies or parallel cultural principles as significant means of training, evangelizing, and equipping for ministry the Crow believers. Probably the best way to evangelize lost, unbelieving Crow natives is through well trained spiritually alive and functional Crow sons of God. This is based on the principal “It takes one to know one” and works very well with the Crow people. We don’t have to dress like an Indian to be an Indian since the Creator has already made just for us a special, perfectly fitted Indian suit. [1] The institutional, religious church has over time succeeded in illegally replacing the family with an artificial family structure; however, the Biblical spheres of authority and function is as follows: individual > family > fellowship > territory; this pathway of relationship has been distorted, subverted then perverted by religion thus negating the correct alignment of the spheres of authority and short-circuiting the power of God. [2] The two terms are used as follows: indigenous refers to the Native Tribes of America; while immigrant refers to all other people groups regardless of how many generations these people groups or individuals have been in America.
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