Mishpachah Yeshua Newsletter
A Newsletter To The Family Of Jesus From Restoration Ministries
The Hebraic family is not simply an individual or private matter.
Rather, it is an institution in which the whole community has a stake.
Thus, the Hebrew word “mishpachah,” meaning family, not only refers to parents and children,
but to the whole extended family worldwide in the body of “Yeshua”—our Jesus.
[click here for a printable copy]
March-April 2004 Topic: Grandpa, The
Reformation Wasn’t the Restoration
Dear Older Men (and those of you who know
some!),
Every other day or so I swim laps at the
pool here in our mobile home complex. Most of the time all I
can hear is my breathing through my snorkel as I watch
the bottom of the pool go by. But every so often our Father
speaks to my spirit about things that deeply concern Him,
matters He wants me to address.
It’s almost as if He whispers right
down through my snorkel. Not only are His words revealed; the
emotions of His heart about what He is sharing comes through as well.
This time His message was filled with intense warning.
His whole discourse with me grieved over
how hell-bent so many pew-sitting older men are today. Their
disregard for His commands, their void of obedient trust, and
their dearth of genuine concern that their children and/or
grandchildren were heading for destruction were paining Him
tremendously.
So many older men felt that their job of
modeling Jesus and leading their families in wisdom and
Christ-likeness was finished — if it had ever started!
His Son — He Who died for the sins of mankind —
will eventually have to judge them and their offspring to hell if their
hearts don’t turn away from sin and find forgiveness and
reconciliation in the manner His Word proclaims.
Our Father reminded me again why He took
Sue and me to Israel 10 years ago. A few days after we had
agreed to leave our retreat ministry in 1993, our friend, Bert
Schlossberg, came to see us. Bert had moved to Israel with his
family 5 years earlier. From his visit we ended up living with
them in a settlement outside Jerusalem for 3 months. [It was
during this stay that the Hebraic relational foundations would
be revealed to us.]
The day after Bert’s visit, I got up
early and knelt down in front of the sofa with my Bible laid
out before me. I wanted to know why our Father was sending us
to Israel. As I let the Word fall open, the Book of Jeremiah
came into focus. The Holy Spirit directed my eyes to 1:17-19:
Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to
them whatever I command you.
Do not be terrified by them, or I will
terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified
city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the
whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its
priests and the people of the land.
They will fight against you but will not
overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,"
declares the Lord.
I bawled like a baby when I finished
reading that passage. After 11 years of running a farm retreat
center and counseling clergy, I was worn out, barely keeping my
own marriage together. Now the Lord was telling me He had
greater purpose for our going to Israel than just visiting
friends and recuperating.
What really caused me to weep were the
words, “‘They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,’
declares the Lord.” Whatever
our Father was leading my wife and I into, He’d have to
rescue me. This He has been faithful to do ever since.
In the pool this week my Lord reminded me
of this passage and His purposes for my life at this juncture.
In the sternest voice I’ve ever experienced, He told me
to warn men with all the conviction I can muster.
The Restoration Goes Way Beyond the
Reformation
Most of us, before we ever heard of the
Hebraic foundations to the Church, were steeped in
Nicolaitanism. We relied on the teaching of clergy to make the
Bible clear for us and our families. Our faith enactment was
based more on religious form and creedal allegiance than on
intimacy with our Lord.
A good number of you men who read our
materials and contact me continue to argue points about creedal
issues that were borne out of the Reformation or revisionism.
These cognitive discussions that have nothing to do with relating to our Lord
are extremely painful for me. No matter how hard I try I
can’t seem to help you discuss your relationship with
God.
The Reformation was not a Restoration of al
that our Father ordained for the early Church. Yes, great truths were restored: sola scriptura — the Bible as sole and final authority; sola fide — by
faith alone are we justified; sola
gratia — by grace alone are
we reconciled with our Father through Jesus. Sadly, Martin
Luther’s proclamations, for the most part, only went back
as far as Saint Augustine, who, at the time, had been branded a
heretic by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Reformation was an attempt to reform — to
make changes in the same piece of cloth — the corruption
that so permeated Roman Catholicism. But, none of the Reformers restored the relational priorities and love-grounded
obedient trust of Abraham that the earliest Jewish Christians
embraced.
What I’m saying is this: these
well-meaning yet anti-Semitic theologians based their new
creeds and religious practices not on apperceiving God’s intent in the Bible,
but on the decisions of theologians
and church councils of the past.
If there hadn’t been such a strong,
long-standing anti-Jewish bias over the centuries,
today’s followers of Jesus would be abiding in the
relational foundations that the earliest followers of Jesus
embraced. Isn’t it time that all of us join our Father
and become “Restorers”, and stop trying to be
“Reformers” of man’s religious practices?
I’m calling especially on you older men to lead the way.
Do you care enough for your family to get involved in their
spiritual well-being?
One supreme difference exists between
contemporary Restorers and Reformers: The goal of the
first is to grow in love for God and for others: “In Christ Jesus...the only thing that
counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
Reformers, however, are impelled to be
creedally correct. As a result of repeated attempts to patch up and
reform creedal platforms, over 22,000 “correct”,
competing denominations now exist in the world. Do you think
all 22,000 can be right? Especially if you take seriously Jesus’
prayer that His followers “may all be one” (John 17:
21)?
It’s Time to Apperceive
Our Father’s Intent
If you’ve read our book, Pastoring by Elders,
the word “apperceive” isn’t new to you. Let
me repeat the simple illustration that we used in the book to
convey the difference between apperceiving the Bible and revising it as the Reformers did.
A man sets about to build a house. He
carefully measures out a pattern for a roof joist and cuts it,
then uses that joist as the pattern for the second one. For each and every joist,
he uses his original as the pattern. This describes apperception—going
back to the pattern of the Word for every application and
religious practice.
The revisionist carefully measures out and cuts the first roof
joist, then makes a second one from that. But instead of using the original joist as his pattern, he uses the second joist as a
pattern for the third, the third joist to make the fourth, and
so on. By the time he finishes cutting his last joist and lays
it against the original one, he discovers that the measurements
are way off. What started as minor deviations added up to major
differences. So too with revisionism.
Because theologians and church councils of
the past 300+ years only cited previous writings and decisions
and then used them as their foundation point, multitudinous
denominations with their own specific focus have been birthed.
Revisionism produces creedal division. Apperception, however, restores what our Father intended for
His Church — God-dependent people of loving trust and
faith communities bent on bringing glory to Him, rather than
serving their own interests. The apperceptive life calls for personal responsibility to study and to apply the Bible to all of who you are and what
you do. No one else can do it for you.
A Wake Up Call
The Nicolaitan church system has been
bouyed by Reformation writings that have discarded the
relational framework of pilgrimage with Jesus. So many of you
men have been deceived into believing that teaching alone can change
you. Never! Our God commands those of us who would convey His
truths to not only present truth, but equally to admonish as
necessary: “We proclaim him, admonishing [Greek: warning] and
teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present
everyone perfect in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).
Consider Paul’s command to his
protege, Timothy:
In the presence of God and of Christ
Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of
his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach
the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction (2 Timothy 4:1,2).
Paul was writing about the times in which
we live when he warns, “For
the time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather
around them a great number of
teachers to say what their itching
ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:
3).
Paul understood the need for men in all
ages to be confronted in order to grow in the character of
Jesus. “Now we ask you,
brothers, to respect those who are working hard among you,
those who are guiding you in the Lord and confronting
you in order to help you change” (1 Thessalo-nians 5:12). If you can’t confront as the Bible requires,
then you should never become a husband, father, or faith
community leader. Intervening
to halt destructive behavior, then guiding the errant to
righteousness in that area of their lives is a very necessary
function in each of these roles!
For 27 years I’ve watched some men
mature in Christ while others walk the path of the Hardened,
Mocking, or God-denying fool. I’m convinced that, along
with yielded obedience to the Holy Spirit, a man who desires to
mature in Christ requires another man or two to whom he will
give deference. He’ll walk with purposeful determination in
Jesus to not do anything to lose the respect of those
loadbearing men.
Nicolaitanism fails to provide the strong
interpersonal relationships that are needed for appropriate accountability and confrontation to take place. So many of you men have remained
complacently mired in a religious system of practice that you
have a difficult time when you begin to enter into the Hebraic
foundations. The relational
responsibility called for both
to God and to other men is too intrusive for you. I feel sad
for your wives as they plod along without spiritual protection
or leadership from you.
Our Father is Restoring His Church in an
Age of Scoffers
I know full well that what I am writing
here in itself isn’t going to change anyone. If you want
to fulfill the responsibilities our Father requires, your are
going to have to get on your knees. His process to bring you into conformity to
His will is twofold:
1. He convicts you of your sin so that you
will repent, that is, turn away from your sin and turn to Him and
His way of life for you.
2. When our Father accepts your
repentance, His Spirit will help you live a life that both
pleases and glorifies Him.
This is true
grace: God gives us the desire and
the power to obey Him as our beloved Lord. Notice how true
grace differs from the Nicolaitan concept of grace that excuses your
sins until you decide you want to turn from them. This false
presumption is “greasy” grace. You feel as though
you can slide past the call to obey God because all sin is
covered.
If you have studied the Hebraic
foundations and are applying these truths our Father gave us to
share, you realize that no one has the capacity to be
relationally committed to the same degree to everyone in their
lives. For example, among His disciples Jesus had his special
three, Peter, James, and John, and then the other nine.
Why is this fact important? On the upper
right corner of the first page of this newsletter we have
illustrated the center three relational priorities of the
Restoration Diagram. This is our particular focus of ministry.
When you go to our website, you’ll find the same diagram.
You can click and find our writings organized under Jesus, The Home, and Fellowship in Homes. This sequence of relational
priorities is the critical, non-optional foundation to live as
our Father requires.
If you’ve read our newsletter, The Gospel of the Covenant is the Pilgrimage to
Salvation, this all makes sense to
you.
The first priority is relating to our
Father and His Son, Jesus as the Scriptures call for, in
love-grounded, obedient trust.
The second is making our relationship with
the God-head real in our homes as we model a unity in Jesus and
a harmony that is both pleasing and glorifying to the Father.
The third is embracing a few others who
uphold righteousness in their lives, and will one-another with
you in living righteously, glorifying our Father through your
answered prayer and testimony.
Everything else, including your
congregational gatherings and impact on your piece of the world
for the Kingdom, is built on these three foundational
relationships.
Let me give you a glimpse of one facet of
my ministry with men. Over the years I’ve mentally placed
the men who contact me into three categories.
1. Some of you who contact me are living
for God no matter what it cost you. I’m greatly
encouraged by your resolve to glorify our Lord!
2. Some of you whose heart is in the first
category are struggling and need some counsel to guide you back
on track. I’m delighted if I can help.
3. Then, there are those of you who call
or write but have no intention of dying to yourself and
embracing the responsibilities our Father requires of you. You
like to read and argue religious concepts, but have no desire
to leave the irresponsible self-centeredness that Nicolaitanism
offers you and your family. You have no idea how emotionally
painful it is for me to talk with you. But you are the group I
need to warn in this letter — the Scoffers.
Last week my brother Tom and I were
recalling the wonderful corrective
interaction we had with so
many adults when we were growing up. We were raised in a very
tight Polish-Catholic community. My cousins filled the classes
in the parochial school we attended. At Mass each Sunday my
parents saw the nuns who taught us. We had frequent interaction
with my uncles who used these opportunities to correct us if
need be.
My brother and I had been raised to trust
in and to seek wise counsel, especially from the older and
wiser people we encountered. Even today we continue to seek
wisdom so that we can make the most correct decisions.
I believe that when I went into Navy
Flight Training, my family upbringing contributed to why I
became a helicopter pilot rather than a jet jockey. My
personality profile showed that I am a “we”-oriented person. Test results showed that I’d do better flying
with a crew than flying alone. I had a strong sense about
belonging to others and accomplishing tasks with others.
Because of this, I really enjoyed being part of crew in a
helicopter.
During our conversation, Tom and I also
realized how lonely it can be when a someone grows up not cherishing
wise correction and counsel from others. To their own
detriment, so many today make decisions on their own and find
themselves heading down destructive paths.
As my brother and I talked, I became aware
of how many people among the scoffers I just mentioned have,
for a variety of reasons, grown up with minimal corrective
influences. Broken homes, frequent relocations, absence of
intergenerational contact, and just plain rebellious
stubbornness have all created a growing number of people 50 and
younger who rely excessively on their own rationale. They have
been raised to avoid wise correction and advice, trusting
instead in their own “instincts” and inclinations.
As a result, not only do they rebuff attempts at wise counsel
in their lives, they scoff at both
the advice and the advisor.
Let me offer an example of the scoffing
we’ve encountered since we began sharing the Hebraic
foundations 10 years ago. Sue and I have no doubt that, during
our time in Israel, our Father gave us the Hebraic facets to
share. We don’t try to persuade people to believe us.
Instead, we ask them to ask our Father themselves to verify
whether He recruited us to share His relational
priorities.
When I challenge some to do this, I can
sense the scoffing. They’d rather argue than humble
themselves and ask our Father to give them discerning ears to
hear. An appropriate passage applies to those who doubt that
God is still acting to further His own interest on earth: “Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days that you would
never believe, even if someone told you” (Acts 13:41).
These are the times Peter, Jude, and Paul
warned were coming:
First of all, you must understand that in
the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their
own evil desires (2 Peter 3:
3).
In the last times there will be scoffers
who will follow their own ungodly desires. These are the men
who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not
have the Spirit (Jude 18,19; see
also 2 Timothy 3:1-5).
The heart of a scoffer is bent on pursuing
a selfish and evil course in life. But scoffers will do
anything to disguise their selfish bent. The people I’ve
encountered in the third category of contacts come across as
the friendliest, most biblically conscientious people you could
meet. Yet, their lives lack intimate relational accountability
with either God or other men. When you remind them about needed
corrective input in their lives, you get shunned. Then later
you find you’ve been slandered!
Shepherd-king David be-moaned the attack
of scoffers: “Whenever one
comes to see me, he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers
slander; then he goes out and spreads it abroad” (Psalm 41:6).
“The unrighteous man flees though no
one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion”
(Proverbs 28:1)
I want to conclude with a few insights for
you older men to consider. Some time after we wrote our article I Hate Nicolaitanism, [available at our website under Hebraic Articles],
our Father revealed to me why He hates the practices of the
Nicolaitans and wars against those who live in it (see
Revelation 2:6,16). He pointedly stressed, “Nicolaitanism permits people to remain in their unrighteousness.”
I pondered His words for some time.
Clearly, fellowship in homes was instituted by our Lord to help
His children uphold righteousness. Because of their relational
interconnectedness, exten-ded spiritual family could confront
sin. Their prayers were answered in response to their walk in
righteousness (see 1 John 1:9, James 5:16-18). Men who drain
you by their cognitive arguments avoid this kind of relational
accountability. They, and perhaps their family, enjoy their
unrighteous pet sins. Nicolaitanism does not confront their
sin!
Even in most home groups and house
churches today, people are more committed to what they get out of the
group than to God’s standard of righteousness.
I want to appeal to you grandfathers and
soon-to-be grandfathers. Both Sue and I rejoice to hear from
those of you in your 70’s and 80’s who are
affirming the truth of our newsletter of the Covenant Gospel.
But if you are in category 3, we realize how hard it is for you
to reconsider that you may have embraced a false gospel. Your
children and grandchildren are probably wading through false
gospel shoals as well.
Think of the consequences of where
you’re leading them if you don’t stop to make
certain that you have embraced the Gospel our Father has given
in His Word.
Picture yourself standing next to your
children and grandkids at the Judgment Throne. If they are
condemned to hell by our Lord for having succumbed to a
self-serving, empty false gospel that excuses sin and offers no
reconciliation with our Father on His terms, they may turn to
look painfully at you. What reason for not having sought and
shared the true Gospel earlier can you give?
Judge for yourself now if your family is
indwelt by the Holy Spirit. His presence is evidenced if they
are walking in His Light, easily convicted of their sins and
repentant. If the Spirit of God takes up His dwelling in
someone who embraces the true Gospel, don’t you think
that God within a person will make a noticeable difference?
Take seriously this scriptural requirement
before you and your family reach the Judgment Throne: “You, however, are controlled not by the
sinful nature but by the Spirit, if
the Spirit of God lives in you. And
if anyone does not have the Spirit
of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ” (Romans 8:9). You may
want to repeat this passage aloud so that the full implication
of its truth sinks in.
Some of you grandfathers I want to
especially warn. I’ve been contacted by men whose son is
getting a divorce, or granddaughter has become a lesbian,
or grandson is addicted to drugs, porn, or alcohol, or whose
daughter has deserted her family. I earnestly desire to help.
But you spend 30 seconds on the need of your loved one, then go
on for a half hour about situations in your church, or some
theological topic.
Think of how you come across. If I don’t sense
you truly care about your own family, how do they feel? I’ve said
before, “Whatever comes out
of a man’s mouth first or what he talks about the most is indicative of what
he really values.” Many
scoffers have called me on several occasions and I still
don’t even know if they’re married! I wonder how
their wife feels — neglected or cherished? Does your wife come up in
conversation with others as part of your sense of
“we” in the marriage? Nothing
on earth should compete with a wife fully experiencing her
husband’s loving devotion! Ask her she’s
high in your priorities...
Grandfathers and soon-to-be grandfathers,
are your moral principles equal to or even greater than those of your
children? We’ve heard from countless parents who have had
to keep their children away from their grandparents because of their
low moral values. How do you and your spouse feel about sexual
morals? Do you tolerate homosexuality, adultery or fornication
by what you view or read? Talk this over with your spouse, then
your kids.
Is your wife an interfering mother-in-law?
There is no way to accurately assess the many variables that
contribute to divorce today. But, from one who has observed
thousands of situations, mothers of married women would be near
the top.
If you want your grandchildren to grow up
with their biological parents, keep your wife from listening to
derogatory information about your son-in-law from your
daughter. Talk to both of them together about their
problems, or talk to neither of them about their situation.
Many of the spiritual strongholds that
plague your children and grandchildren are ones they inherited
through you and your wife.
• Have you helped your family become
free from these demonic influences?
• Are you helping them have their
need for dignity, authority, blessing and provision, security,
purpose and meaning, freedom and boundary, and intimate love
and companionship met in godly ways?
If you have offered to help us over the
years but have left us because we couldn’t fulfill your
expectations, we hope you’ll discover and walk in our
Lord’s relational priorities. We don’t want our
needs to be met without regard for what is going on in your
personal lives.
When you approach us with bitterness
toward a spouse or parent, or if your spouse has unresolved
bitterness, we choose to help you first come into fellowship with our Father and
His Son, Jesus. Sadly, many with bitterness or a bitter spouse
have walked away, unwilling to deal with your own bitterness
and fearful to confront your spouse about his/hers.
Far more important than the elections this
year is whether you grandfathers will lead your families into the biblical
stipulations that our holy God requires. Who becomes President
of this country isn’t nearly as important as whether the
Holy Spirit is ruling the hearts of your family. Consider
taking your family through the Hinds
Feet on High Places study
guide to teach them about the lifelong pilgrimage aspect of
walking with Jesus. That will help keep them from becoming
self-satisfied, self-dependent, and distrusting of our Father.
My love for our Father encourages me to
write so directly to those of you whom He sees as scoffers and
who are producing scoffing progeny. I hope that by this
straight-forward message I am fulfilling a call God gave me 27
years ago:
Son of man, I have made you a watchman; so
hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say
to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do
not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man
will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his
blood. But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways
and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will
have saved yourself.
(Ezekiel 33:7-9).
Notice that “the wicked” are
not those who’ve never heard of Jesus, but those who
choose not to obey His commands! (See Psalm 50:16,17). I want my son, and his wife and our
granddaughter in heaven with us no matter what it takes. I can’t even imagine what lack of love
it takes for a grandfather to lead the way for his family to
chance hell.
If you have lived for years as a scoffer,
our Lord offers encouragement if you will repent and seek Him
wholeheartedly:
“You will seek me and find me when
you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:
13); “And without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).
If you want to lead your family
spiritually so that each will be welcomed at the Throne, then
start on your knees.
In the last days, God says, I will pour
out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will
prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will
dream dreams (Acts 2:17).
Would any of you older men call God a
liar? He tells us that “old men will dream
dreams.” Do think these are
dreams of fancy that He is referring to? Far from it! God often
uses dreams to give men guidance, especially when something
important needs to be conveyed.
When Herod wanted to kill the
Christ-child, we are told, “When
they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get
up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is
going to search for the child to kill him’” (Matthew 2:13).
Then we are told, “After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared
in a dream to Joseph in Egypt” (v.
2:19).
The Bible is filled with God giving
direction to men through dreams. Do you think the God who is “the same yesterday, today, and
forever” has stopped
using dreams to assist you older men in guiding your families?
Can it be that our families are falling
into demonic traps of divorce and drug addiction because so
many older men are not taking God at His Word? Job retirement
does not mean retirement from spiritual responsibility. Even
the most hopeless situations can be changed on your knees on
love-grounded, obedient trust.
Your brother and fellow elder and
grandfather,
Mike
