Monday, July 18, 2011
Good Communication
Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say (Isaiah 28:23).
3 Factors of Communication
1) Feel
2) Timing
3) Balance
* The rate a person is able to move toward perfection rests entirely upon these three factors *
"Feeling" of the Horse
Ray Hunt said, "You can't buy it and I can't give it to you." You can read all the books in the world, have people tell you what "feel" is, and see people that ride through "feel," but you will never have it until you experience it. It can only be achieved between you and the horse. People can help you position yourself so that you and the horse are in a situation to experience "feel," but ultimately it is between you and the horse. If you can't feel when things are perfect, how do you expect to attain perfection?
Often perfection will pass by in a split second and then vanish. A person needs to recognize these split seconds and relieve the applied pressure. It is through receiving relief that the horse develops the desire to stay in perfection; then the seconds can be multiplied to minutes. A 30-minute ride with 2 minutes of perfection is better than a 3-hour ride with no perfection. The 2 minutes may be multiplied. However, the 3 hours without perfection will lead to an unwillingly submitted horse.
True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Human
The title of Tom Dorrance's book is "True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human." The editor Milly Porter stated, "From the beginning of time, history has been sprinkled with individuals who, because of something unique in their personalities, take the very ordinary in their environments and see in it, or do with it, a little more than others seem to have gotten from the same opportunity." Tom was definitely one of these individuals. Tom's teachings, both directly and indirectly have had an enormous impact on people around the world. Tom did not do an incredible amount of traveling putting on clinics, but his teachings have spread like wildfire, through many of his students.
Nearly 20 years ago, Tom said, "It will soon be 27 years since I first met Ray Hunt – that has been another fortunate experience of my life. I have never experienced anyone who could pick up on the slightest clue and build on it in the right direction in such a short time." Ray Hunt, one of Tom's best-known students, took what Tom gave him and shared it with people for over 40 years.
What was it that Tom possessed, that not only helped people to realize how to get along better with their horse, but to live a better life? People who worked around Tom not only said that their horsemanship improved, but they became a better person. So what was it? I believe it was a combination of things. The times that I was around Tom, I was too young to realize and appreciate the gift he had with horses. I just remember him being one of the most caring men I have ever met. He not only had a gift with animals and especially horses, but a gift with people.
Tom had an incredible memory, and a God-given ability to feel a horse and read a person. However, I believe that Tom's greatest gift was his heart. Tom had a soft heart and that is why people and horses were drawn to him. What made Tom truly unique was that he had Christ-like qualities. I do not mean to take away from the legacy of Tom Dorrance, but the reason his teachings were successful, was because it was the way God intended it.
God told me once, "If you have a little piece of God in this world, you will stand out; if you get a little bigger piece of God, you will be set apart; the more of God you receive in this world, the more of you will depart from this world until you are no longer in this world and are with your Father in heaven." Whether a person is a Christian or not, if they possess any of Christ's qualities they will stand out in this world. A person that is humble, caring, patient, unselfish, and trustworthy will easily stand out in the world we live in today.
Tom could communicate with horses, but he had trouble trying to get people to find that same communication. It was only when the person's heart changed that they could find what Tom had been trying to show them. The person had to set aside their selfish ambitions and look at things from the horse's perspective. There were some things however, that Tom could not teach; "feel, timing, and balance." These were the backbone to what Tom tried to get across to people, and without that backbone, they could not progress. Without it, communication between horse and man is very limited.
Feel, timing, and balance cannot be comprehended from intellectual knowledge, but must be experienced. The same is true with God and words such as: revelation, manifestation, and glory. I majored in Equine Science in college and earned a Masters in Equine Science. I have learned anatomy and physiology, reproduction, lameness, conformation, forages, genetics, management, and nutrition. All of these have helped me to understand the makeup of a horse and their character and management, but none of this has helped me to "feel" of the horse. This is something that I will only understand through experience.
We can go to church and learn the makeup of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can read the Bible and listen to sermons to understand the character of God; however, we will never truly know God, until we experience Him. This can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The frustration that Tom experienced in trying to help people communicate with the horse is the same frustration that God has with us. Tom says in his book, "If I could tell people, just go through the motions here, and then they could pick this up and do it, I wouldn't do anything else, but work with people and horses; but there is something more. It is something that has to come in the unity between the horse and the rider."
God tried to get people to have closeness with Him by going through the motions. He gave Moses a list of laws and told him exactly what they must do to have closeness with God. However, unity could not come through willpower or head knowledge; it had to come through the death of Jesus Christ uniting us to the Father. By accepting Jesus into our hearts we become children of God, uniting us with the Father. Then the Holy Spirit is able to communicate the will of the Father, and He is able to direct and lead us. God leads us through the Spirit, and we are able to experience Him in greater ways the more we operate through the Spirit.
If Tom could have gotten everyone to operate through "feel," instead of willpower, they could have had the unity that Tom had with horses. However, many people had the habit of operating through willpower. People would come to Tom and he would show them what was holding them back from "feeling" of the horse. They could feel what Tom was talking about, and experience closeness with their horse when they were with Tom. It made sense and felt good, but when they left his clinics they would slide back into their old way of trying to make it happen. When they were in the clinic environment it was easier to operate through feel, but when they left and returned to their jobs, the environment changed. They then had trouble keeping the soft "feel."
This is no different than our lives with the Lord. If we go to someone who is living their life through the Spirit, they can show us what is holding us back from "feeling" the Lord. When we are with them it is easy to operate in the Holy Spirit. However, when we leave and return to our jobs we find ourselves in a different environment and slip back into our old way of doing it by our willpower.
This is why Scripture tells us: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). God knows that it is hard to walk in the Spirit when we are baby Christians. That is why He tells us to assemble together. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). God tells us when we are babies we need milk, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). This should be the job of our pastor; a man that is acquainted with operating in the power of the Holy Spirit and can help us mature in Christ. If our pastor is only teaching on the character of God and is not helping us experience God (soft feel), our lives will often slide back into operating through our own willpower.
Tom was probably one of the greatest people to learn how to experience a soft feel from, because Tom always operated with a soft feel. The results were evident with any horse that he worked, as well as the people that he helped. Tom did not just talk about the power of having feel, timing, and balance; the evidence could be seen through what he could accomplish. I did not get an opportunity to spend time learning about "feel" from Tom, however, I have learned a great deal from people that have spent time with him. It is from these people that I have seen the powerful results in their horsemanship and they have helped me experience the results that can come from "feel." It is easy to see if someone is operating with feel, timing, and balance, because it will be evident in what they can accomplish with their horse. The same is true for someone who is operating through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). Jesus told them they would do "greater works than these" because He was going to the Father and was going to send the Holy Spirit.
In Acts Jesus told His disciples, "For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit came on the apostles, and they began to speak in other tongues "as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4). The men that had just crucified Jesus were at the Pentecost and were in disbelief of the power of God working through the Holy Spirit. Peter stood up filled with the Holy Spirit and in a few paragraphs Peter's words cut through their hearts and they asked what they must do. Peter told them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Scripture says that over three thousand were saved that day.
We may think that we have a tough crowd to try to get saved, but I am fairly confident we will not come across a crowd as tough as the people at the Pentecost. These were radical religious people who had just crucified Jesus. However, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and with God talking through him, his words pierced their hearts. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).
The Holy Spirit brings power to our lives, and if we are walking in the Spirit, God's power will be evident through us. "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers" (Acts 16:5). People were drawn to the early disciples because they could see the power of God on them. People were drawn to Tom because they could see the power of a soft feel. Scripture says, "That we will judge them by their fruit." "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:19-20). Jesus told His disciples when they received the Holy Spirit they would receive power. I am not talking about selfish power, but power for the kingdom of God. Jesus told them they would do greater things than these. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead and that is what the disciples did once they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the disciples also possessed a supernatural love that only comes from God and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the power that is available once we have learned to become united with God and walk in His spirit.
People were drawn to the disciples because the power of God was on them. People wanted to know what was different about them, and the disciples told them it was Jesus and the Holy Spirit living through them. They wanted to become born again and receive the Holy Spirit. In this same manner people were drawn to Tom, and wanted to learn how to "feel" of the horse.
In order to have unity with our horse, we need to learn how to operate through a "soft feel." If not, we then try to do it through our own willpower. The same is true with the Lord. In order to have unity with Him, we must learn how to let the Holy Spirit operate through us. It is when
we are not continually striving to know God more, and lose the hunger for His presence, that we find ourselves trying to do it by our own willpower. If we want to know how to be united with our horse, we wouldn't go to someone who has only read books on horse behavior. Instead, we would be drawn to someone who attains unity with their horse and can communicate with them. Then they could help us communicate with our horse and eventually gain unity. The same is true in our spiritual life. When we are baby Christians, we need to make sure that we find people that are not only familiar with the character of God, but have experienced God and are acquainted with walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. People that communicate with God can help us communicate with Him and eventually we can gain unity with our heavenly Father. We can gain True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Man.
God Bless,
Wade Black
(exerpt from "Returning to Eden - True Unity & Willing Communication" by Wade Black)
3 Factors of Communication
1) Feel
2) Timing
3) Balance
* The rate a person is able to move toward perfection rests entirely upon these three factors *
"Feeling" of the Horse
Ray Hunt said, "You can't buy it and I can't give it to you." You can read all the books in the world, have people tell you what "feel" is, and see people that ride through "feel," but you will never have it until you experience it. It can only be achieved between you and the horse. People can help you position yourself so that you and the horse are in a situation to experience "feel," but ultimately it is between you and the horse. If you can't feel when things are perfect, how do you expect to attain perfection?
Often perfection will pass by in a split second and then vanish. A person needs to recognize these split seconds and relieve the applied pressure. It is through receiving relief that the horse develops the desire to stay in perfection; then the seconds can be multiplied to minutes. A 30-minute ride with 2 minutes of perfection is better than a 3-hour ride with no perfection. The 2 minutes may be multiplied. However, the 3 hours without perfection will lead to an unwillingly submitted horse.
True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Human
The title of Tom Dorrance's book is "True Unity: Willing Communication Between Horse and Human." The editor Milly Porter stated, "From the beginning of time, history has been sprinkled with individuals who, because of something unique in their personalities, take the very ordinary in their environments and see in it, or do with it, a little more than others seem to have gotten from the same opportunity." Tom was definitely one of these individuals. Tom's teachings, both directly and indirectly have had an enormous impact on people around the world. Tom did not do an incredible amount of traveling putting on clinics, but his teachings have spread like wildfire, through many of his students.
Nearly 20 years ago, Tom said, "It will soon be 27 years since I first met Ray Hunt – that has been another fortunate experience of my life. I have never experienced anyone who could pick up on the slightest clue and build on it in the right direction in such a short time." Ray Hunt, one of Tom's best-known students, took what Tom gave him and shared it with people for over 40 years.
What was it that Tom possessed, that not only helped people to realize how to get along better with their horse, but to live a better life? People who worked around Tom not only said that their horsemanship improved, but they became a better person. So what was it? I believe it was a combination of things. The times that I was around Tom, I was too young to realize and appreciate the gift he had with horses. I just remember him being one of the most caring men I have ever met. He not only had a gift with animals and especially horses, but a gift with people.
Tom had an incredible memory, and a God-given ability to feel a horse and read a person. However, I believe that Tom's greatest gift was his heart. Tom had a soft heart and that is why people and horses were drawn to him. What made Tom truly unique was that he had Christ-like qualities. I do not mean to take away from the legacy of Tom Dorrance, but the reason his teachings were successful, was because it was the way God intended it.
God told me once, "If you have a little piece of God in this world, you will stand out; if you get a little bigger piece of God, you will be set apart; the more of God you receive in this world, the more of you will depart from this world until you are no longer in this world and are with your Father in heaven." Whether a person is a Christian or not, if they possess any of Christ's qualities they will stand out in this world. A person that is humble, caring, patient, unselfish, and trustworthy will easily stand out in the world we live in today.
Tom could communicate with horses, but he had trouble trying to get people to find that same communication. It was only when the person's heart changed that they could find what Tom had been trying to show them. The person had to set aside their selfish ambitions and look at things from the horse's perspective. There were some things however, that Tom could not teach; "feel, timing, and balance." These were the backbone to what Tom tried to get across to people, and without that backbone, they could not progress. Without it, communication between horse and man is very limited.
Feel, timing, and balance cannot be comprehended from intellectual knowledge, but must be experienced. The same is true with God and words such as: revelation, manifestation, and glory. I majored in Equine Science in college and earned a Masters in Equine Science. I have learned anatomy and physiology, reproduction, lameness, conformation, forages, genetics, management, and nutrition. All of these have helped me to understand the makeup of a horse and their character and management, but none of this has helped me to "feel" of the horse. This is something that I will only understand through experience.
We can go to church and learn the makeup of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can read the Bible and listen to sermons to understand the character of God; however, we will never truly know God, until we experience Him. This can only happen through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The frustration that Tom experienced in trying to help people communicate with the horse is the same frustration that God has with us. Tom says in his book, "If I could tell people, just go through the motions here, and then they could pick this up and do it, I wouldn't do anything else, but work with people and horses; but there is something more. It is something that has to come in the unity between the horse and the rider."
God tried to get people to have closeness with Him by going through the motions. He gave Moses a list of laws and told him exactly what they must do to have closeness with God. However, unity could not come through willpower or head knowledge; it had to come through the death of Jesus Christ uniting us to the Father. By accepting Jesus into our hearts we become children of God, uniting us with the Father. Then the Holy Spirit is able to communicate the will of the Father, and He is able to direct and lead us. God leads us through the Spirit, and we are able to experience Him in greater ways the more we operate through the Spirit.
If Tom could have gotten everyone to operate through "feel," instead of willpower, they could have had the unity that Tom had with horses. However, many people had the habit of operating through willpower. People would come to Tom and he would show them what was holding them back from "feeling" of the horse. They could feel what Tom was talking about, and experience closeness with their horse when they were with Tom. It made sense and felt good, but when they left his clinics they would slide back into their old way of trying to make it happen. When they were in the clinic environment it was easier to operate through feel, but when they left and returned to their jobs, the environment changed. They then had trouble keeping the soft "feel."
This is no different than our lives with the Lord. If we go to someone who is living their life through the Spirit, they can show us what is holding us back from "feeling" the Lord. When we are with them it is easy to operate in the Holy Spirit. However, when we leave and return to our jobs we find ourselves in a different environment and slip back into our old way of doing it by our willpower.
This is why Scripture tells us: "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). God knows that it is hard to walk in the Spirit when we are baby Christians. That is why He tells us to assemble together. "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). God tells us when we are babies we need milk, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready" (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). This should be the job of our pastor; a man that is acquainted with operating in the power of the Holy Spirit and can help us mature in Christ. If our pastor is only teaching on the character of God and is not helping us experience God (soft feel), our lives will often slide back into operating through our own willpower.
Tom was probably one of the greatest people to learn how to experience a soft feel from, because Tom always operated with a soft feel. The results were evident with any horse that he worked, as well as the people that he helped. Tom did not just talk about the power of having feel, timing, and balance; the evidence could be seen through what he could accomplish. I did not get an opportunity to spend time learning about "feel" from Tom, however, I have learned a great deal from people that have spent time with him. It is from these people that I have seen the powerful results in their horsemanship and they have helped me experience the results that can come from "feel." It is easy to see if someone is operating with feel, timing, and balance, because it will be evident in what they can accomplish with their horse. The same is true for someone who is operating through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told His disciples, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12). Jesus told them they would do "greater works than these" because He was going to the Father and was going to send the Holy Spirit.
In Acts Jesus told His disciples, "For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5). "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1:8).
The Holy Spirit came on the apostles, and they began to speak in other tongues "as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:4). The men that had just crucified Jesus were at the Pentecost and were in disbelief of the power of God working through the Holy Spirit. Peter stood up filled with the Holy Spirit and in a few paragraphs Peter's words cut through their hearts and they asked what they must do. Peter told them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Scripture says that over three thousand were saved that day.
We may think that we have a tough crowd to try to get saved, but I am fairly confident we will not come across a crowd as tough as the people at the Pentecost. These were radical religious people who had just crucified Jesus. However, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and with God talking through him, his words pierced their hearts. "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).
The Holy Spirit brings power to our lives, and if we are walking in the Spirit, God's power will be evident through us. "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers" (Acts 16:5). People were drawn to the early disciples because they could see the power of God on them. People were drawn to Tom because they could see the power of a soft feel. Scripture says, "That we will judge them by their fruit." "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:19-20). Jesus told His disciples when they received the Holy Spirit they would receive power. I am not talking about selfish power, but power for the kingdom of God. Jesus told them they would do greater things than these. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead and that is what the disciples did once they received the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the disciples also possessed a supernatural love that only comes from God and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the power that is available once we have learned to become united with God and walk in His spirit.
People were drawn to the disciples because the power of God was on them. People wanted to know what was different about them, and the disciples told them it was Jesus and the Holy Spirit living through them. They wanted to become born again and receive the Holy Spirit. In this same manner people were drawn to Tom, and wanted to learn how to "feel" of the horse.
In order to have unity with our horse, we need to learn how to operate through a "soft feel." If not, we then try to do it through our own willpower. The same is true with the Lord. In order to have unity with Him, we must learn how to let the Holy Spirit operate through us. It is when
we are not continually striving to know God more, and lose the hunger for His presence, that we find ourselves trying to do it by our own willpower. If we want to know how to be united with our horse, we wouldn't go to someone who has only read books on horse behavior. Instead, we would be drawn to someone who attains unity with their horse and can communicate with them. Then they could help us communicate with our horse and eventually gain unity. The same is true in our spiritual life. When we are baby Christians, we need to make sure that we find people that are not only familiar with the character of God, but have experienced God and are acquainted with walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. People that communicate with God can help us communicate with Him and eventually we can gain unity with our heavenly Father. We can gain True Unity: Willing Communication Between God and Man.
God Bless,
Wade Black
(exerpt from "Returning to Eden - True Unity & Willing Communication" by Wade Black)
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