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Saints Of Fresh Oil (SoFO) was founded in October of 2004 by Karen Maxwell and
Vicki Durst. Both are assistant pastors of
the Vineyard in Frazier Park,
California.
SoFO is
about creating and blessing. We pray, seek
guidance, and bless everything
as
it is being created, bottled,
and shipped. Our
prayer is that the blessings that go out with each oil will bring a
revelation of the grace and goodness of
God.
Bless -
barak (Hebrew): - A self contained beneficial force which one could
transmit to another and which stood in contrast to the destructive
power of cursing. (Dictionary of New Testament
Theology)
Christians pray over
people, books, houses, churches, businesses, food, furniture, pets,
cars, gifts, and anything else they come into contact with!
Why? Because blessings are transmittable, and they know
it.
This is the premise of our
oils. We currently ship our oils throughout the United States
and in some countries abroad. We are touching
people with blessings from Scripture that we would never
be able to within the confines of the local ministry.
In an age where there is
much negativity, tearing down, and cursing of one another, we
want to bless people with something beautiful, rich, and
encouraging.
We
intentionally design our fragrances to be more "hearty" and aromatic
than most sold at Christian bookstores. Two separate
lines of oils are offered: Anointing Oils and Oils of
Blessing. Both lines use a perfected blend of essential
and fragrance oils, and all are prayed over.
Anointing Oils are holy and
sacred (Exodus 30). They are prayed over and used for a
specific Biblical purpose - anointing the sick for healing, burial
rituals, setting apart leaders in the Church, and/or for
consecration of people or objects for service. (Consecration means
"to set apart".)
The Old
Testament ritual of anointing with oil carried through into the
New Testament. Anointing oil was a type or foreshadow of
the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Jesus (the Anointed One), and
later upon the Church at Pentecost. We see through
Scripture in James 5:14, that the practice of anointing with oil for
healing continued even after Jesus was resurrected.
The chosen
ingredients in the anointing oil, Myrrh, Cassia, Calamus and
Cinnamon have been understood to have distinct meanings.
While most agree that Myrrh represents Christ, there does
not appear to be one standard belief from ministry to ministry about
the other three ingredients.
We too, have a
"belief" that we subscribe to.
Myrrh - Christ, the
Anointing, Eternal Spirit of God
Cassia - Healing and
Deliverance
Calamus -
Authority
Cinnamon -
Joy
It is not our
view that the ingredients in themselves are holy, nor even that the
mixture of the four together are holy, until they have
been prayed over and sanctified for a certain Scriptural
purpose. Nor do we believe that all anointing oil has
to contain only these ingredients in certain measures and none
other.
In our experience as
pastors and Christians, we have seen people come to salvation
and healing through prayer where there was no oil, only
spit. Jesus employed this means to heal a blind
man's eyes.
We have also
witnessed people set free from demonic spirits using prayed over
Wesson oil, olive oil, Christian bookstore oils, personal ministry
oils, and yes, even the oils we sell on this site.
Having said all this, we find it
less offensive and more conducive to ministering when a
sanctified oil with a nice fragrance is used rather than spit .
. .
Oils
of Blessing are oil perfumes that can be
worn anytime and by anyone. These oils come in a variety
of fragrances and carry with them prayers, proclamations
of blessing and encouragement, directly from the Scriptures.
The Bible has
much to say about perfumed oils, fragrances, ointments, aromatic
sweet spices, incense, and other scents. Proverbs says
that perfume and incense bring joy to the heart. Ruth was told to wash and perfume herself before going
down to the threshing floor to see Boaz. Before going in to
King Ahasuerus, Esther was required to prepare herself for a year:
six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and
preparations for beautifying women. The Book of Song of
Songs is permeated with references to fragrances, scents and
aromas as the Shulamite and her Beloved passionately sing of their
love for one another.
Many of our
customers have commented on the creativity of our oils and have
asked how we come up with our blends. We believe that God puts a
name on our heart, then we search the Scriptures. We
personalize prayer from the Scripture over each oil as we are
blending it. For example, the first Oil of
Blessing we created was Grace. The aspect of Grace that God wanted
us to reveal was His comfort (2Th 2:16-17). Therefore, the overall
fragrance is for comfort: vanilla, oatmeal and
honey.
For those who prefer
carry oil in a purse or pocket, 10ml bottles are
available. All of these bottles have a Euro cap with a plug to
prevent leakage. The more elaborate-minded individual may choose
from a selection of exquisite European flacons to
fill with anointing oil or fragrance.
What are European flacons? Our flacons are miniature, filigree perfume bottles,
hand crafted by local artisans in Eastern Europe. They first
appeared during the Art Deco era. Flacons were
collected and traded by many women of that period. Their
popularity has held over the years, and they continue to be produced
today.
In
2006, we traveled to the Czech Republic to meet with our
suppliers for the first time. We expected to
visit a factory where the flacons were mass produced by
modern equipment, with very little "hands on". What we found
instead was a small intimate group of people, working quietly and
diligently, creating flacons and jewelry - by
hand. We were impressed to say the
least!
We spent four
days walking the streets of this city. During this
brief visit, we developed a love and passion for this
place. One day, we hope for more than just a business
relationship with the kind and gracious people of the Czech
Republic.
Please
note: It is recommended that flacons not be
carried about in a purse or handbag on a regular basis. Damage
may occur to the outer decoration of the flacon. The
10ml bottles are much safer for
transport.
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