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Prophetic Insights Before The Dark Days Come

"Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan
to his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7)

October 29, 2011
The disregarded call to be our LORD's slaves

Dear Friends,
We've completed what for now is the last of our Way of the Lord series on the Lordship of Jesus. We have no further revelation from the Spirit of anything more He wants us to write about this. As we prayed about and worked on these segments about His LORDship, the Spirit filled us with a deeper understanding of our biblical role as slaves of Jesus — His precious possession purchased by His blood (Acts 20:28). Obviously this role in no way nullifies the joyous privilege of being His friend, His brother or sister, His sheep or any other relational facet of being "IN Christ." But the neglect of what His LORDship means as those who are called to do only the will of our Father and have only the mind of Christ's perspective has been sorely overlooked within the realm of ME-centered contemporary Christianity.

Given that the word doulos (slave) or its variants is used over 200 times in the Newer Testament, that facet of our living to serve Him alone is non-optional! In fact, our loving trust in Jesus through our obedience authenticates the reality of knowing Him as LORD of our lives. Jesus did only His Father's will (John 5:19), and NOTHING less is expected of us in whom His Spirit abides if we claim to belong to Him (John 14:21). As the saying goes for those who know Jesus as their LORD, "God's Will: Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else!"

In a number of the recent Way of the Lord video segments we discussed the major hindrances to living in the Lordship of Jesus. In the last three segments (42-44), Mutually Living With Jesus a Lord, we expose two more hindrances that seem so obvious because they reflect the SELF-idolatry and individualist absorption that have emerged so radically in the past decade.

• The first is the stubborn resistance among so many to genuinely love our Lord and those in their relational realm with a sacrificial love that sets SELF aside. So many perceive that their acts of kindness emanate from love, but in reality they're stroking their own sense of self-worth. Ask yourself this: Do you use your discretionary time or resources at your own convenience, but get irritated or agitated when your "kind acts" are INconvenient for you at the point of someone else's need? Are you unwilling to be poured out by the Spirit until others can experience the love of Jesus through you — especially the very ones who live under your own roof?

What characterizes an intimate, love-based relationship?
• Whether it’s with Lord Jesus or with another person, you intentionally look for ways to please the one you love.
• When you discover you have a behavior or attitude that hurts the one you love, you readily stop it (Galatians 5:13).
• When you love someone, you openly show your affection in ways that uplift their dignity and worth (1 Thessalonians 2:7,8).
• They realize that you honor them above yourself (Romans 12:10).
• Your love for them, especially the love of Jesus in you for them, magnifies their joy and peace in your relationship (Romans 14:17).
• And being loved by you makes them feel they’re precious to you (1 Peter 1:22).

Jesus admonished a man of means who did a "kind act" by inviting Him to lunch. The other guests were also prominent religious leaders, who jostled one another for seats of honor. After soundly rebuking them, Jesus then addressed the host, pointedly calling this Pharisee to reevalute his motives: The man knew he'd be commended by these men of influence and probably invited to their homes as well. But that would be his only reward. The INconvenient but genuinely loving action would be to invite the poor, the blind, the lame — those who in no way could reciprocate but would be abundantly grateful for the honor and love shown them. THIS would be a righteous invitation that would garner heavenly praise (Luke 14:1-15; see also Matthew 25:31-40).

Consider this: You may be resisting your LORD's will by refusing to cherish the very ones Father put in your life to teach you the love of Christ. Out of the love that only the LORDship of Jesus in you can give, you're to lay everything of yourself down on behalf of the person you love. But SELF-pursuit and ego-building priorities will prevent this seed of love from germinating and bearing fruit.

• The second hindrance is that many perceive themselves to be "caring" when in fact they've trapped themselves in a codependent relationship that robs them of peace and joy. They complain to others about the dysfunction, but refuse to take the biblical steps to resolve the tension, even if it means discontinuing the relationship until repentance takes place (see Segment 43). Sadly, the ongoing emotional tension deprives them of the capacity to fully meet the emotional needs of those who have a right to their love. Codependent relationships are pervasive among so many Christians, yet their very cooperation in this imprisonment brings down His Name. Does this grieve your heart as it does ours?

Being Born Again — A 180º Turnabout
The Tension Between Believers and Unbelievers

Dear Friends,
The next segment in our Way of the Lord video series is now available. We continue to focus on your relationship with Jesus, and the hindrances to experiencing spiritual power. You can view Way 17. Your Relationship With Your Lord Jesus (Part 1), by going to:
http://www.restorationministries.org/wotlvideo/17.Wotl.mov

In this segment we discuss how doubt in our Lord so hinders you from experiencing spiritual power. Doubt isn't just an individual matter concerning you; it's often contagious among people who have close relationships with each other. Doubt can also be a reliable indicator that you're yielding to unrighteousness, another way of saying that you're tolerating sin. Because God's Word assures His people that "...the righteous are as bold as a lion" (Proverbs 28:1), please watch and discuss this video segment with your family and faith family to scrutinize your life for any doubt of the promises our Lord has given in His Word.

Being Born Again — A 180º Turnabout
The Tension Between Believers and Unbelievers

In our last e-mail we discussed some of the issues that arise between a follower of Jesus and unbelieving relatives. For over 3 decades we've grieved at the resistance of so many of our relatives who steadfastly resist the God of the Bible. You may have found yourself also saddened over the unwillingness in your own relatives to yield to Father's gracious call. Some of the tension you're experiencing may be emanating from your changed life — the progressive stages of spiritual development into Christ's likeness that you're in. Study the four stages in the diagram below. (It may help you to recall that time in your life when you were as resistant as your unbelieving relatives. Don't give way to doubt that they'll come to Jesus; instead, persevere in prayer on their behalf!)

1. Before Being Born Again
Before you responded to the Gospel of the Covenant in Jesus, your close relationships were most likely based on the comfort zone of strongholds you had in common and on your mutual toleration for sin. (Paul addresses this "old way of life" in Ephesians 2:1,2.)

2. Shortly After Being Born Again
While you enjoy learning more about God in His Word, you may not be applying it to your daily life. And, it's hard to separate from what you've been doing with your old friends even though they may give you a hard time about your "new religion". The struggle against those sinful cravings and your new desire to walk in the Spirit can be intense! (See Ephesians 2:3) And your struggle against your sin nature is compounded if you haven't renounced the   demonic strongholds that have bound you and your companions together in the past.

Toxic motivations will also agitate you with thoughts like, "You'll hurt their feelings if you speak up or refuse to join in the old activities you used to do!" But Paul is adamant about putting to death those ways you formerly gave way to (Colossians 3:5). Or, this idea may haunt you: "They'll think you're 'holier than they are now that you want to follow Jesus." If you allow these thoughts to influence or dominate you, you'll find your spiritual development being stunted. Fear of what others say or do to you will entrap you and keep you from maturing in Jesus (Proverbs 29:25). And spiritual infancy keeps you from having God's perspective: "I could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:1).

If you fear losing your old relationships that were held together by strongholds and sin-based activities, you'll be a prisoner yourself, held captive by your own double-mindedness. And if you find yourself trapped by the fear of what they may say about you or do to you, follow through in God's command: "Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4:8). Having HIS presence is far more precious than anything people can offer.

3. A Season of Time After Being Born Again
As you continue in God's Word, the Spirit in you uses it to do what it does best: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). You find yourself responding more quickly to the Spirit, taking God's Word seriously as His wonderful way of life for you. As you put His Word into practice, you discover you want to please your Father because of His great love for you. Living HIS way far supersedes the temptation to go back to your old ways and old companions in their worldly pleasures. As you read the Bible as your loving Father's road map for your life, His Spirit convicts you about different sinful things in your life that you've been allowing to control or influence you. You realize that the Bible is speaking to you in such commands as:

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Colossians 3:5,8-10).

As your conviction leads you to a life of staying repentant before your holy Father, the old friends who want nothing to do with Jesus ultimately leave you. As always, the Bible offers you wisdom even in this situation: "Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you" (1 Peter 4:1-4). You begin to develop new friendships based upon your loving, obedient trust in Jesus and on your new motives and goals.

4. Jesus is Lord of Your Life
As you continue to grow in loving appreciation of Lord Jesus and apply the commands of God through the power of His Spirit in you, you begin to die to every worldly value and goal you once held dear. Your heart motives become intentional toward everything your Lord wants for your life. That's sanctification, His Spirit at work in you in the ongoing work of making you holy in your character and purpose. Your closest relationships are "brothers and sisters in Jesus" who have a common commitment to become more like Him and to do His will. Through this ongoing and ever-deepening heart transformation, you experience authentic fellowship.

A Word of Encouragement
During this ongoing pilgrimage of transformation in becoming more like Jesus, keep focused on the relational priorities of your life in Christ: your intimacy with your Father and Jesus by the Spirit, the wholeness of shalom in your marriage and household, and authentic fellowship with close relationships in the faith. This pursuit will definitely cost you old relationships, especially as your longing for the lost to encounter Jesus stirs your heart!

Why? Because with Jesus as Lord and Master of your life, your new relationships in Him will be based on commitment to each other's Christ-like character development and bringing praise to your Father as you fulfill His purposes. Unlike your worldly companions who shunned or resisted any correction or admonition, your new relationships in Christ have the freedom to correct one another out of love (Proverbs 9:8, 17:10, 19:25, 27:5).

When you live with a heartfelt readiness to repent when you sin and a sacrificial lifestyle of serving others by His Spirit, you'll find an interesting response in others:

A number of unbelievers around you
will choose to follow Jesus
because of the courageous conviction they see
in those who follow Him no matter what the cost.

At the same time, many unbelievers
will be hindered from looking to Jesus
because of the worldly compromise,
lukewarmness and fear
they see in self-proclaimed "Christians" .

We encourage you to scrutinize your own spiritual life. Ask your close relationships in the faith to do the same. In light of the diagram near the beginning, where do you put yourself? Where do they put themselves? Discuss how you can help one another press on into the new life of His character together.

Continuing to prepare the family of Jesus to joyfully walk in His Kingdom purposes,
Mike & Sue

July 9, 2011

What Does Family Mean to you?

Dear Friends,
In our Way of the Lord video series we've begun taping several segments focusing on your relationship with Jesus. You can view the first of these, 16. Your Relationship With Your Lord Jesus (Part 1).
These segments will focus primarily on the hindrances to experiencing the spiritual power Jesus promises His followers. Once you've been used by the Spirit as His instrument, you'll discover how spiritually meaningless is any dependence on religious forms and rituals.

What does family mean to you?

God's Word has become so irrelevant to most of western culture that the biblical definitions of "marriage" and "family" have lost their original meaning. No doubt you agree with the Psalmist's description of today's flagrant and unabashed lawlessness: "The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men" (Psalms 12:8). And if you reverence our Father with a holy fear, you're probably grieving over the fall of this nation into a morass of spiritual and moral darkness as it brazenly forsakes biblical truth.

We'd like to address in this e-mail a deeper and more personal issue concerning "family."  In recent years we've talked with many followers of Jesus who find themselves enduring painful emotional strain whenever they socialize with or are in contact with their unbelieving relatives. This nation has compromised God's Word by ignoring it or watering it down under the deceptive guise of "tolerance." Those who do cling to Lord Jesus and the inviolable, absolute nature of His Word often find themselves insulted, mocked, excluded, and sometimes fired from their jobs. Even among unbelieving relatives, many Jesus followers struggle to lovingly and righteously represent Him. Finding pleasure in what is depraved and unholy stirs even those who are "churched" to avoid you if you're gratefully living in obedient trust in Lord Jesus according to His Word.

While this disregard for God's way isn't new, it's become ever-increasingly the norm. In fact, you probably weren't raised by parents:
• who wholeheartedly followed Jesus,
• whose marriage grew to increasingly reflect Him more over time,
• who trained you to apply the Bible to your life,
• who prayed with you daily in absolute trust and confidence in His faithfulness.

Perhaps you, like us, became a follower of our Lord Jesus after leaving home. You may have even wholly put your trust in Him after you got married or had a family. If this describes you, we want to offer some insight into how to handle the emotional tension when you spend time with unbelieving relatives.

Sue and I were married 7 years before we followed Jesus as Lord of our lives. I brought into our marriage the Dowgiewicz family demonic strongholds and some hefty unbiblical and toxic issues. Sue brought with her the Goodrich family demonic strongholds, as well as her own unbiblical and toxic issues. We had a lot to overcome! For 24 years of marriage these unChristlike influences were unconfronted and unchanged; however their effect was painful as we continued to hurt one another. As we look back now, we can see that our separate identities as "Mike Dowgiewicz" and "Sue Goodrich" exercised an element of independence that kept us like two railroad tracks — singularly going in the same direction but certainly not reflecting the union of heart and spirit that evidences Christ at work in us as a couple.

Little in the Christian teachings we received focused squarely on the changes we needed to be willing to make in our marriage. Pulpit sermons dealt with marriage as a concept. "How To" books addressed marriage through the filter of adding more to the relationship rather than eliminating demonic strongholds and toxic motivations inherited from our relatives. The information put a bandage over a festering wound; we can't remember anything that focused on becoming more like Jesus together as our goal.

It wasn't until we went to Israel in 1993 that we gained a new understanding of Father's goal for our marriage. It was there that we received the Gospel that the earliest followers of Jesus embraced—a covenant relationship secured by Jesus and entered through love-grounded, obedient trust. Through this totally scriptural Gospel we came to realize that our Father wanted us individually and collectively to diligently pursue sanctification—being set apart as holy for His use—into the character of His Son, Jesus. Our Father's goal is that our marriage covenant reflect in the physical world the eternal Covenant we have with Him in Christ. This is a twofold process that can only happen when a person or marriage is willing to be changed, and is intentional in removing anything that hinders them from becoming more like our Lord Jesus.

Perhaps you find that you respond to your relatives as we did before we received the Hebraic foundations from our Father. When we were around unbelieving relatives, we at times regressed back to the old patterns of interaction which were so familiar when we were growing up. (In your past, were you the bossy oldest child? The shy and easily persuaded younger one? The wild and rebellious life of the party?) We'd often find when we left these family gatherings that we felt ashamed that we'd given in to those old, unChristlike ways.

Our Father also showed us in Israel a deeper understanding of what "family" meant to Him when we embraced His Covenant as His trusting and beloved son and daughter. The concept and reality of living in "Covenant union" in Christ is so full of intimacy and grateful appreciation! That sense of "intimate union" has wonderfully undergirded our relationship with our Lord, with each other in our marriage, and with others of like obedient trust.

Covenant union in Spirit creates a loving determination to rid yourself of all unChristlike motives or actions. You want to live a life worthy of Him and please Him in every way (Colossians 1:10-12). By His grace, you purpose wholeheartedly to be the best reflection of Jesus to others you can be. What a whole different way of life in Jesus than just knowing about Him!

The question Jesus asks in Matthew 12:48 is intended to pierce our presuppositions so we can have HIS perspective: "Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?" He then definitively declares who His family is: "Here are My mother and My brothers. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is MY brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:49,50). No one emerges from the womb belonging to the family of Jesus. This new family identity can only begin after we're born again. It's then, with the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, that our heart's desire is to please our Father: to do His will without regard to the cost. Only after you're born from above do you have both the will and the power from God to live in a way that confirms you're His child in the family of Jesus.

In our recent Hebraic Article, Mutually Growing Christ-like Relationships, we note two pre-conditions you need in order to press on with others in learning how to be the family of Jesus together:
• a wholehearted desire to be transformed into the character of our Lord Jesus.
• a humble willingness to receive biblically-based constructive criticism from those who deeply care about you.

Being the Family of Jesus
Or, Identifying With Unbelieving Relatives

The values and goals you aspire to as you seek to become more like Jesus are diametrically opposed to the worldly values and goals your unbelieving relatives strive after. As Paul affirms, the "wisdom of this world" is foolishness from God's perspective; without His Spirit, the worldly can't perceive from His vantage point (1 Corinthians 2:14; 3:18-20). Perhaps a relative has scoffed at your relationships in Christ as your "family" by telling you, "Blood is thicker than water." They may be affirming their own priority of loyalty to relatives, but for those in the family of Jesus, His blood is what enables us to even be brothers and sisters in Him. Is your heart filled with gratitude to our Lord for His shed blood to pay the price for your sins? That is the cost to Him that made it possible for you to become our Father's child. It's out of deep-rooted love and heartfelt gratefulness that we yearn to become more like Jesus, and to joyfully fulfill His purposes for our lives.

Several differences distinguish your family of biological relatives and your family of brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember, at one time you as well lived with their values and goals! (See Colossians 1:21-23.) This isn't a time for pride or disdain regarding them; rather, it's a point of recognizing how He's changed you.

The Family Of Jesus

1. On behalf of your Father you seek to reconcile people to Him through Jesus. You want everyone to be drawn to Jesus so they might become His own. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
2. In your purpose and desire to become more like Jesus, you don't hide any areas of spiritual darkness. Rather, by His grace and authority you rid yourself of them. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
3. Through applying His Word to your life, you yield to and cooperate with the indwelling Spirit to live in way that pleases your Father. (Romans 12:1,2)
4. You refuse to live entrapped by fear of what others say or do to you. Out of love for Jesus, you purpose to live righteously with a holy boldness from Him that fears no one but extends His concern for all. (2 Timothy 1:7)
5. You intervene in interpersonal situations as a peacemaker rather than a peacekeeper, working to bring emotionally painful situations to a peace-filled biblical resolution. (Matthew 5:9; James 3:18)

Your Unbelieving Relatives

1. Unconcerned with their own eternal destiny and that of others, they live for this world's pleasures and for self-fulfillment.
2. They expend great effort to maintain the status quo of superficial pleasantry as they attend family weddings, funerals, picnics, etc., but refuse to get involved in the trials and troubles of each other's lives.
3. In general, they view the Bible as an ancient narrative, filled with nice stories and irrelevant commands that have no application today.
4. Entrapped by fear of what others, especially other relatives, might say, they're hesitant to reveal their inner motives and feelings to one another. Their family structures are controlled by intertwining Codependent relationships in which the Dominant individuals among them are unaware of and/or unconcerned about the emotional hurt they cause others. The Codependent members act as placaters rather than peacemakers. For the sake of avoiding any rupture of the status quo, they hamstring any attempt to bring lasting peace to emotionally painful situations.
5. The relationships of unbelieving biological relatives are often influenced by demonic strongholds that have become so "familiar" that they refuse to renounce these by the authority of Jesus' Name: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). You most likely were influenced in the past by the same strongholds and/or haven't been healed of the toxic memories.
Keep in mind that these spirits agitate your unbelieving relatives to know what buttons to push in you when you're in contact! Prepare your heart in advance to persevere in love, refusing to retaliate.

Because of the Spirit of Christ in you, you're probably pained by the gossip and slander that mar many gatherings. You also may be tempted to get frustrated by their resistance to any testimony of the freedom only Jesus can give. And perhaps you feel like your hands are tied by their collective "don't rock the family boat" attitude that wards off any attempt to confront personal issues that you know are hurting others.

In Teaching E-mail 29. Are Your Friendships Spiritually Authentic? we discuss the three types of relationships people have — Positional, Activity-based, and Value-based. The deepest relationship is Value-based, the kind of relationship we in the family of Jesus are privileged to have with Him and with the rest of our brothers and sisters in His Spirit. You may find it helpful to review this teaching e-mail.

Here's something to keep in mind. As a follower of Jesus, it's not that you're for or against any of your unbelieving relatives. Rather, as you seek to grow in His likeness, you are establishing your life on Biblical values and goals that conflict with their unbiblical way of life. Out of love for your Lord, your Christ-like values and goals make it difficult for you to esteem theirs and to voice agreement with them. And, without the Holy Spirit in them, they'll NEVER understand where you're coming from. That disparity brings pain to you because you know the One they're missing and the life they could have in His Lordship!

Over the years the Spirit has put us in the position of confronting in love our own unbelieving relatives, including our parents. Sometimes that meant we had to stay away, especially when their activities so violated God's Word that we needed to protect our son from them. Confrontation and absence may seem harsh to you. But our Father knew that our heart's desire was for our aging parents in particular to bow before Jesus as Savior and Lord. Ultimately, by His wonderful grace all four of our parents repented and committed their lives to Christ!
• Sue's mother did so on her death bed!
• Her Dad entrusted himself to Jesus near the end of his life after years of private conversations with Sue about Him and about eternal consequences.
• Mike's father approached him one day and announced, "I want the same Jesus I see in you." Heartfelt, earnest prayer found a new son in the family of Jesus!
• Mike's Mom entrusted her life to Jesus shortly after becoming free of strongholds.

Our experience over the years, especially with our own unbelieving relatives, has shown that the prison they find themselves in has been built because the family structures are primarily controlled by women. Hardly a man among our unbelieving relatives isn't fearful of his own wife! Is this so in your family? But it's not the women who are at fault; rather, the men fail to establish their family on a biblical foundation, instead allowing their wives to bear the burden of responsibility.

A Note of Caution
We hear from many of you who are pained by your involvement with your unbelieving relatives. In order to minimize the emotional tension among you, you need to grow in the character qualities of Jesus, especially in love. His family values and goals need to take precedence in your life out of loving obedience to Him so your relatives can see the difference He makes in a life—yours! Too often Jesus followers compromise their walk so they can appease those who have yet to believe. But when you do that, you're letting their sinful and stronghold-influenced values and goals dictate your understanding of authentic Biblical family. We encourage you to continue to press into the values and goals of the family of Christ!

Because you belong to the family of Jesus,
be sure you don't place the interests
of unbelieving relatives above your spiritual family.
If you do, you'll suffer a lot of unnecessary heartache!
(see Romans 12:13, Galatians 6:10, 1 Peter 2:17, 3 John 1:8)

You may find, as we did with our own unbelieving relatives, that the more growth in the character of Jesus was our priority, the less they wanted us around. Invitations to gatherings and events diminished for sure! While we're still very burdened for their salvation and pray consistently and earnestly for them, the fields are ripe for harvest where we're living and through various means of contact throughout the world. The family of Jesus and those who are moving toward trusting Jesus as their Lord is where we're focusing our efforts, even as we make use of every opportunity to testify of Him with whomever He puts in our path.

We hope that if you find yourself facing tension with unbelieving relatives you'll be encouraged by this e-mail. Only as you're being sanctified into Christ's likeness in your ongoing journey in Jesus will you cast down the toxic memories or motives instilled in you by your unbelieving relatives as you grew up. Press on into the transformation with grateful trust and joy. It's worth it!
Mike & Sue

June 30, 2011

Jesus Offers You A Death Warrant

Dear Friends,
The core instinct of human nature is SELF-preservation. Even the tiniest baby innately knows to cry when he or she is hungry! Straight from the womb the infant mind knows that if the body is not fed, it will starve and die. Self-preservation lurks in the background of all our motivations as we grow up. Serving as the protector of "self" in all dimensions, this instinct even tries to safeguard the emotions by looking for ways to avoid painful experiences and tucking away unpleasant past memories.

An insidious progression takes place if transformation into the character of Christ isn't a priority in your life: SELF-preservation blooms into SELF-fulfillment (the focus of obtaining your goals at the expense of everyone else); SELF-reliance (a life of emotional isolation brought on by independence); SELF-serving (chiefly concerned with your own welfare and interests before those of others); SELF-sufficiency (trusting only yourself to meet your needs); SELF-satisfied (excessively pleased with yourself and/or what you've achieved; complacently seeing no need to change); SELF-righteous (an arrogant certainty that you're totally correct or morally superior in whatever stance you take; perhaps biblically knowledgeable but lacking compassion or mercy.) For many today the unrelenting pursuit of self often results in SELF-pity, a prison of egocentric misery over personal troubles and unfulfilled expectations.

Familiar with the pagan decadence of Rome, the apostle Paul well understood the danger of SELF-idolatry and spoke forcefully against the many forms it takes. Look at his description of characteristics the Spirit told him would permeate people living in "the last days." Paul specifically cites those who are "religious in form" but devoid of the power of authentic relationship with God in Christ. Could he be reciting news articles from today?

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them" (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

There is surely much to grieve about these days, but stumbling into SELF-pity because of wrong focus is not Father's plan for you! The preeminence of SELF has fostered false gospels promising earthly prosperity from a coddling Deity who relaxes His standards to indulge people's fleshly desires. But those whose disinterest in or distrust of His Word as the true revelation of His character are responsive to any lies that make them feel better about themselves and allow them to continue SELF-interest. Be warned, however: there's no grace given to those who intentionally forsake Truth so they can pursue self-idolatry. In time, disillusionment sets in. You find yourself hunting for yet another congregation that will make you feel good on Sunday morning; another CD or DVD or conference to help you improve your life or at least lift your SELF-esteem; another life partner to replace the old one who doesn't satisfy your expectations or make you feel good anymore.

Jesus Offers You A Death Warrant
"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for Me will save it" (Luke 9:24)

When you're ruled by SELF-preservation, you may do acts of kindness and show consideration for others — but only AFTER you've first taken care of yourself. Unexpected needs of others or unanticipated demands on your time fluster you because you're not in control! But in Jesus you don't have to stay imprisoned to self. If you have ears to hear the wisdom and admonition shared by those Father puts in your life or vicariously gives you access to, the character of Jesus can be deepened in your heart and your motives can align with His. You CAN learn through His indwelling Spirit to put self aside and place the interests of others first. But as long as self rules, your sin nature will take control. Being "crucified with Christ" as Paul proclaims means DEATH TO SELF of anyone who claims they belong to Jesus. Your OWN goals, desires and motives die to earthly, fleshly inclination so that only Father's will and a heart's desire to trust that His will is best becomes your way of life.

Let's use a rather unpleasant analogy to frame this discussion. Slavery as an institution rings in modern ears as an abomination, and rightly so when you realize the extreme suffering and humiliation that has been wrought when one person owns another person as a "thing". But here's some startling news we gleaned recently from a prominent evangelical writer: Throughout the Newer Testament Jesus offers you the opportunity to become His SLAVE. Over 270 times the word that's generally translated "servant" is actually "slave": doulos. Modern translations have "prettified" it to make it more palatable, but nowhere is doulos used in the same sense as "diakonos", a voluntary helper/servant.

Wherever Jesus is referred to as LORD, there is the implied Master concept: “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). Slaves live to do the will of their Master, to please Him and to represent Him accurately as His agent. Unlike a contract or employee agreement, slavery is a permanent state unless the master says otherwise. So it is that Jesus says to His disciples, "A SLAVE is not greater than his LORD, nor is an APOSTLE [a sent one] greater than the one sending him" (John 13:16, literal). Then Jesus adds, "You are My friends IF you do what I command you. I no longer call you servants, [SLAVES, literal] because a servant [SLAVE, literal] does not know his LORD'S [literal] business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you" (John 15:14,15). Jesus could bestow the honor of "friendship" on these men because He was their Master; He was in position to alter the relationship to reflect a loving bond of devotion and a recognition that they DID know their Lord's business.

Talk about contrary to the world's way of thinking! Most today who DON'T know Jesus as LORD of their life are repelled at the very idea of someone having the right to tell them how to live — even if that Someone is God. But consider this. The person who thinks he is "free" to live for himself is in bondage to his sin nature. You are either a slave to sin or a slave to God: "Now having been set free from sin, and having become SLAVES OF GOD, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life" (Romans 6:22,NKJV). Authentic freedom comes only as we cry out to Him as Lord — Master — and obey because of grateful love for His Lordship in our lives. As slaves of God we live according to His good and righteous purpose for our lives, along the way bearing spiritual fruit that evidences that sanctification (ongoing transformation into holiness) is taking place through His loving work in us.

Mike's comment to men:
I've been ministering to men for over 34 years. In Teaching E-mail 22. "How Eager Are You?", we wrote how we used to toss a simulated hand grenade into groups of people at our retreat center. We wanted them to see who'd self-sacrificially jump on it so that others might live. The scenario was this:
“You have three seconds before the hand grenade blows up. One...two ... three...”
• 0% of the clergy ever jumped on the grenade. Not one!!!
• 10% of non-clergy men jumped on the grenade.
• 50% of the women and teenagers jumped on the hand grenade.

When people are taken by surprise and don't have time to analyze the pro's and con's of their response, their true heart is often revealed! Nobody is born prepared to die for others. Self-sacrifice is an acquired character trait that calls for deep humility and genuine love. Yet dying to ourselves and becoming more like Jesus through His Spirit is the essential purpose of our sanctification. That's our Father’s goal for His children each and every day we live. Walking in the steps of Jesus as we follow Him means a willingness to crucify all that hinders us from intimacy with Him. Remember, crucifixion meant death; there was no doubt where the path to a cross was leading, nor to the end result.

Think about our hand grenade scenario. Westernized, self-absorbed Christianity has taught men in particular to cherish self-preservation; laying their lives down for others has become such a foreign concept to today's men, especially those who haven't served in the military. In our grenade situation, a teenage boy has a 50% chance of dying for others. But when he becomes a man, his valor has been reduced to 10%. And, if he becomes a vocational clergyman, self-preservation becomes his driving instinct! Do you realize how very unChristlike and anti-Bible this self-preserving progression is?

A certain line of demarcation separates the men our Lord has used me to help develop Christ-like love and character, from those that His work through me has been futile. Men who've served in the military and those who've faced demanding situations in their life like prolonged care for an elderly parent or overcoming a debilitating illness or injury have been the most receptive and responsive to change. Why is this so? Let's look at the transformation that takes place in someone who is part of the armed forces. Imagine yourself there.

Beginning with boot camp, you're being trained to die to your own interests. You're molded individually and collectively with fellow recruits to see your life being poured out for a cause larger than yourself—something that certainly doesn't come naturally. As your character is being transformed through training, self-sacrifice (giving up your own interests or wishes in order to help others or to advance a cause) dominates your motivation. (This is even more real when you've endured combat.)

Boot camp also teaches you self-restraint (exercising control over your actions rather than giving way to raw reaction). The entire boot camp process of "killing off" your old self-serving ways teaches you self-surrender (voluntarily giving up your personal will to serve another goal or person).  (Have you recognized that these character qualities are esteemed by our Lord Jesus in His followers as well? His example calls us to be self-reflective in the pure and penetrating light of God's Word. That means prayerfully meditating on it to apply it and pursuing the particular character changes His Spirit wants to bring about in us.)

I wish there were a "Christian boot camp" where men could die to their self-pursuit and self-interest. Since that isn't outlined in God's Word as a specific window of time, then He must have other means for a man to lay down self of his own free will — as Much Afraid did on her pilgrimage to the High Places. The trouble for most nonmilitary men is that their years of reading the Bible for knowledge without application gets in their way. Puffed up with their wealth of facts, their conversation is mired down in concepts and situations "out there" beyond their own scope of influence or participation. Most have no idea that their words lack the wisdom of experience that comes from having learned to die to self and put the interests and needs of others first.

Here are 2 simple ways to discern the heart condition of a man:
• In conversations, what he values most is the first thing out of his mouth or what he talks about most often.
• You can evaluate the authenticity of a husband's words by his wife's eyes. Does she look loved or fearful? Appreciated or criticized? Free to serve or a prisoner of war?

Sue's Comment on Men:
Over the years I've talked with a number of wives whose husbands are self-serving despots, wielding the Bible as a club rather than a double-edged sword of righteousness and compassion. So many wives are emotional prisoners in their own marriages, wanting with all their heart to be Godly helpers/companions to their husband yet constantly criticized for not "doing it the way he would have." How grievously accurate that the earth trembles under a woman who is married and unloved (Proverbs 30:21-23).
When we first began to share the Hebraic foundations 17 years ago, about 1 out of 200 married couples purposed together to intentionally press on with these truths in their families. Why so few? Most often because husbands refused to humble themselves and cry out to Lord Jesus for transformation so their wives could experience the love He wants them to know through their mates.

I've sorrowed over callous married men who know so much of the Bible but don't apply it by intentionally yielding to the Spirit to work in and through them. While their words reflect a critical nature, their own character remains stunted and unchanged. Perhaps they missed learning from the chewouts Jesus pitched at the Pharisees who were trapped in the same facts-without-love dominion! In all of these men's study of Scripture, which part of 1 Peter 3:7 or Colossians 3:19 don't they understand? •"You husbands, likewise, conduct your married lives with understanding. Although your wife may be weaker physically, you should respect her as a fellow-heir of the gift of Life. If you don’t, your prayers will be blocked."(CJB) •"Husbands, love your wives and don’t treat them harshly."(CJB)

Too many men club their wives over the head with a misuse of Ephesians 5:24, demanding that these women be mindless doormats. But Paul was very purposeful in beginning this section of instruction with this command: "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1,2). What does the love for His own look like as it is enacted by husbands who are earnest to authentically love their wives as He would? Start by making Ephesians 5:25-33 your core motivation in how you treat your wife.

We've addressed this topic with good reason: God intends for your marriage to mirror the relationship you claim to have with Him. If it doesn't, humbly and with trust call out to Abba Father to help you make this true in your own marriage.

Mike & Sue

June 23, 2011

Lifebyte 76. Developing Spiritual Headwork

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How have you represented Jesus today?

Dear Friends,
Lifebyte 76 entitled, Developing Spiritual Headwork is available. This article is our way of encouraging you to exercise the spiritual authority Jesus gave each of His followers: to apply His Word to their lives. As you put His Word into practice you develop spiritual headwork. You’re able to think through a situation or problem by seeking a biblically-based application. As you continue to do this, you learn to increasingly rely on the Spirit of Jesus within you to reveal wisdom, which is perceiving everything from God’s perspective. He wants you to grow in your responsibility to Him as His loving and obedient child so you will authentically represent Him to the world by the way you live.

In contemporary western culture, developing headwork that aligns with God's Word isn't easy. Both religious sermonizing and public education's current goal of "Teaching to the Test" produce passive listeners who categorize what's taught into a specific locker of their mind to be regurgitated at a set point in time (if at all) then forgotten. This method woefully fails to train children (or adults) to evaluate information and to mentally work through situations. The student is limited to asking questions for clarification rather than for possible life application. This is why the topic of developing spiritual headwork is all the more critical for us who love and follow Jesus as our Lord and Master. May this Lifebyte strengthen and encourage your resolve to make God's Word your way of life.

"You are to [offer sacrifice] on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally or through ignorance..." (Ezekiel 45:20).

We who have been born from above in Christ have been made holy by His atoning sacrifice. However, we've encountered so many in Christendom over the years who don't believe they're guilty of sin if they don't realize they've sinned. They find it hard to fully appreciate Jesus as their Savior because they don't really think they've sinned much, especially when they compare themselves to "real" sinners. But what does God consider to be sin, whether deliberate or unintentional?

We wrote this account in our June 1998 Newsletter:
“It hurt my heart to see God’s name so thoughtlessly taken in vain. Contact every Christian organization you know to make them aware of this blasphemy!” These words were spoken to us by an unbelieving neighbor who had come to our door one night after fleeing the movie Titanic 20 minutes into it. He was mortified by such callous treatment of God’s name! Yet, everywhere we travel, so many Christians tell us they didn’t see anything wrong at all in the movie. That frightens us...
Our neighbor’s words have haunted us. Another friend who teaches at a Christian school shared with us her pain as she listened to the students discuss that same movie. Many of their mothers had taken them to see it, perceiving no discrepancy between youthful fornication on the screen and parental admonition for purity in their own children’s lives. For weeks we wondered, how hard has the spiritual callousness of God’s people become in this country? What was He going to have to do to intervene and get our attention?"

Our desire for all who read our materials echoes Paul, "asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Colossians 1:9). When we talk about applying God's commands to your life, we're emphasizing what you should do in order to develop the character of Jesus as well as what you shouldn't be doing that defames His holy Name. Our ongoing response of yieldedness to His indwelling Spirit determines if we're intentional in pressing on in our journey of transformation into His likeness.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews issues a warning to those who are in the midst of their journey heavenward. Even a Christ follower isn't exempt from temptation and sin's allure! "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1).

Out of love for our Lord, we need to discern from His Word if we are sinning against Him and thus bringing down His holy Name by our actions and attitudes. Those who have yet to encounter Jesus as their Lord are watching His followers closely to see if He's "the real thing." If we're His representatives, our sins make a mockery of Him. We aren't trying to justify ourselves before Him in our self-examination. Jesus already justified us by dying on the cross for our sins. But out of love for our Father we purpose to remain free from deliberate ongoing sin so that we may enjoy fellowship with Him. Our Father affirms the righteous standing of fellowship with Him by hearing and answering prayer:

• "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil" (1 Peter 3:12).
• "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).
• "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Repentant confession is how Father restores fellowship with His children.
• "We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does His will" (John 9:31).

Consider how the Scriptures below may apply to your life, and discuss the questions with your family and your fellowship family:

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name" (Exodus 20:7). "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5).
• Is it a sin to watch a movie or TV show that uses our Lord's name as a curse word? What if it displays lust and sexual immorality? Are you unintentionally leading your children astray by your personal viewing habits when you think they're asleep?

"If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers" (James 2:8,9).
• Do you give unfair preferential treatment to one person or group at the expense of another? Do you have any innate prejudices toward others that you haven't confessed in repentance? Do you speak disparagingly of any group of people, especially those whose religion differs from yours?

"Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).
• What does this passage mean to you? Does it apply to unbelievers, believers, or both? What are the consequences of "not inheriting the kingdom of God"?

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity" (Colossians 3:12-14).
• How well are these Christ-like character qualities deepening in your life? Cite recent incidents in which you've had to exercise these traits knowing that your sin nature was inclined to rebel. What was the response of the person(s) involved? What does it mean to you to "forgive as the Lord forgave you"?

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Hebrews 13:16).
• How might you be inclined to "forget" sharing with others? Why is doing good to others a "sacrifice" in God's sight? Are you willing to sacrifice on behalf of someone needy He makes known to you?

"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it" (Hebrews 13:2).
• Why do you think entertaining strangers is a command in God's Word? Is anything keeping you from showing kindness to someone you don't know? What will you do about it?

We encourage you to use God's Word this way: Stop and think with a heart that's willing to follow through! In other words, use headwork to decide how His commands should govern your attitudes and actions. Do this with one or two others and Jesus promises to be with you (Matthew 18:18-20). Tolerated sin among self-proclaimed Christians will incur God's forthcoming chastisement as much as the sinful indulgence of unbelievers will. Living in the righteousness of Christ and being quick to repent when we do stumble in sin will indeed make each of us shine as light in the darkness! (Daniel 12:3; Philippians 2:15).

Mike & Sue

June 14, 2011

Way of the Lord Video Series

How have you represented Jesus today?

Dear Friends,
Because of the intertwining nature of segments 12 thru 15 on suffering in our Way of the Lord series, we're posting these together on our website. Both the video segments and pdf files can be accessed by going to: Way of the Lord.

We know from past experience that we can expect increased demonic opposition any time we present material on demonic strongholds or authority. When we began the videos on suffering we encountered even more intense resistance! But the demonic hindrances only encouraged us more that these segments needed to be produced, and that the children of God need to know how much our Father uses suffering to help each of us become more like His Son, Jesus. We do appreciate and solicit your prayers in the work our Father has given us.

We'll be taking some time off from producing more Way of the Lord segments. We hope that you and those close to you in the faith will use this material to help you instill our Father's ways of conforming you to the character of Jesus through His indwelling Spirit. We strongly encourage you to use our Hebraic Article, Mutually Growing Christ-like Relationships, to rid yourself of any hindrances in your quest together to develop Christ-like relationships. It may be as difficult for you to go through this material the way God intends as it was for us to produce it!

"Teach me your way, O LORD;
lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors"
(Psalms 27:11)

Our Way of the Lord video series began with the focus of teaching how to experience the freedom Jesus promises His followers so they can love and serve Him wholeheartedly. Without the thorough life-changing work of Jesus in yourself and your close relationships, you'll suffer oppression. Sadly, especially if you're over 50, you've gotten used to the prison of emotional bondage. Your emotional fear of others imprisons you in "co-dependent toleration" rather than Christ-like relationships, devoid of the loving courage to do anything about it. Ask yourself this: Do you find that it's your lack of love for Jesus or for your children and/or family that's keeping you from pressing through the developmental issues you need to face?

Christ-like Transformation: Going To The High Places

A number of years ago we prepared a study guide, Going to the High Places, which is based on Hannah Hurnard's classic, Hinds' Feet on High Places, to reveal various hurdles each of us must leap if we're to grow in the love and character of Jesus. If you haven't gone through it with someone close to you, you've missed a valuable tool in growing a Christ-like relationship with each other. We've observed that many Christians are lazy or apathetic in pursuing the character changes Father wants to bring about in them. Even fewer Christians cooperate together to be transformed for His Kingdom purposes. Hence we produced Going to the High Places.

Let's review several points from both the book and our study guide so you can discern some of the difficulties you'll encounter if you choose to discard "religion" and practice a Kingdom way of life in Christ. The main character, Much Afraid, lives in quiet desperation in the Valley of Humiliation, yearning to experience genuine love. (We refer to her abode as "The Valley of Strongholds.") The Shepherd from the mountains invites her to leave the Valley and journey to the High Places if she wants to encounter the love only He can give. He knows, however, that love is only part of the entire transformation she needs to find wholeness. 

There hasn't been a person we've met, including ourselves in the past, whose family, close friends and religious relationships weren't held together by demonic strongholds! People seem most attracted to those who are beset by the same prevalent stronghold, be it rejection, fear and insecurity, bitterness or whatever. But to overcome this demonic agitation, you need a greater hunger for Jesus as your Lord than you do for the approval of others who share the same demonic influence as you. (See Matthew 10:35-39.)

The vast majority of marriages and close Christian relationships stop right at the edge of the Valley of Their Strongholds. Most often one partner refuses to leave behind the familiarity of the strongholds on which they've based their relationships, so the other person caves in as well. Their spiritual life slips gradually into religious complacency, bereft of any purpose that would have Kingdom significance.

You need determination and conviction to want to leave the familiar valley of emotional and spiritual darkness so you can begin an unknown journey. It takes Much Afraid three chapters before she even arrives at the outer edge of the valley to begin her ascent to the High Places. But at that point the Shepherd gives her two companions for her journey of transformation: "Sorrow" and "Suffering." Like most of us, during the initial stages of the odyssey Much Afraid resists the help of her two unwanted escorts. But over time she learns how wonderful it is to lean on them in her weakness. When she finally reaches the High Places, the two reveal their true identity as "Joy" and "Peace" — the same discovery we all make about sorrow and suffering as we proceed along our own life journey of transformation in Jesus.

In your ongoing transformation, those close to you such as your spouse or dear friends will probably need to serve as sorrow or suffering for you. They'll need loving boldness to point out dark, hidden areas in you about which you may have deceived yourself.

In our Hebraic Article, Mutually Growing Christ-like Relationships, we emphasize two conditions that are needed for pressing on with others to become more like Jesus:

• a wholehearted desire to be transformed into the character of our Lord Jesus.
• a humble willingness to receive biblically-based constructive criticism from those who deeply care about you.

The journey for Much Afraid isn't easy. As she leaves the Valley of Humiliation enroute to the High Places she's plagued by the voices of her family strongholds, "Pride" and "Craven Fear." You may find yourself beset by negative voices until you are completely free of strongholds. Then you can exchange old toxic memories and motivations for Christ-like ones. Be warned: those "inner voices" will haunt you until you diligently replace them with how Jesus would think (see 2 Corinthians 10:4,5). You need to forgive and pray for the people who brought about the distressing memories.

Chapter 6 of Hinds Feet is entitled "Detour Through The Desert." Desert experiences can scorch you. There will be times when your expectations aren't being met, and the mutual encouragement to press on is waning. But it is in the desert that Much Afraid enters the pyramid where grain is ground into powder, where the potter molds the clay, and where the furnace burns off the dross. Our Lord uses these refining processes until our hearts can agree with the little flower who patiently awaits a drip of water from the pipe outside the pyramid: "Behold me! My name is Acceptance with Joy."

It's during their desert experience that many abandon the journey and refuse to continue in the Shepherd's refining process. So much false preaching has promised them carnal lies of health, wealth and happiness to appease their flesh. Or, they partake of "religious service" to feel good about themselves but continue living as the world does in sinful pursuits and activities. However, when God refines them as His Word promises, disillusion sinks in. (We discuss this more fully in segments 12 thru 15 of our Way of the Lord videos.)

When each of us is individually and collectively prepared to fully cooperate with our Father's ways of conforming us to the character of Jesus, we can press on in the journey no matter what obstacles seem to lie in our path. Much Afraid often faced times of human loneliness, and you will too. "Sorrow" and "Suffering" led her to seemingly impossible situations to overcome so that her faith would develop the confidence she'd need for even greater "impossibilities." Are you willing to learn from these same "teachers"?

Chapter 13 finds Much Afraid proceeding down into the Valley of Loss, which provides the "sharpest and keenest test which she had encountered on the journey." Here she comes to realize that she is in fact in the Valley of Forgiveness. You can't go any further in Jesus until forgiveness becomes the hallmark of your attitude toward ALL people, no matter what they've done. Obviously, this is a work of the Spirit in you IF you are willing to yield to Him. A forgiving heart keeps no record of wrongs and reflects the humility our Lord uses to entrust you with spiritual anointing and power. A forgiving heart is where His grace in and through you begins to do its greatest work.

But one last development must take place, again individually and collectively, before our Lord releases you to effectively represent Him in the world. You find in Chapter 16, "Grave On The Mountain," that Much Afraid encounters the deep, mist-filled chasm. She must decide at that point whether or not to jump in, abandoning any desire for ordinary human love so that she might acquire the loving power to lay her life down for another. This is a sacrificial love, a devotion that only the Shepherd of your soul can infuse in you by His Spirit. Death to self so you can serve the needs of others can be far harder than your physical demise!

Only when her transformation is complete is Much Afraid given a new name to reflect her new character, Grace and Glory. She is now an available and useful instrument in the Shepherd's hand to represent His loving heart back in the Valley of Humiliation among those who had hurt her. We encourage you and those with whom you share a mutual eagerness to grow in Christ-likeness to go through and discuss the study guide together. There's so much to glean and joyfully incorporate into your relationship with our Lord and with each other; Going to the High Places and Mutually Growing Christ-like Relationships can be valuable companions for you on your journey!

You might be tempted to "journey to the High Places" alone and avoid all that potential relational interaction. (We've observed that people who are addicted to their computers and techie gadgets really prefer impersonal cyberspace contact to the complications of authentic relationship!) But self-imposed isolation isn't the way of the Kingdom. It's the Christ-like relationship that blooms and flourishes between those who proceed on journey together (even spouses and/or children and faith family) that reflects the "body life" of those in Jesus.

Each person in whom the Spirit of Christ resides through new birth is a member of His body. Jesus is the glorious Head, and each part is held together by joints and ligaments (Colossians 2:19). The human body would be a pile of bones if it weren't for the relational connectedness between the ligaments and the joints. So it is with the spiritual body. Love-grounded, dead-to-self-interest relationships merge for the common purpose to function to the glory of our Lord.

"Greater love has no one than this,
that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13)

Relational commitment that sacrifices self for the good of others is the true essence of biblical, agape love. Self-sacrifice to serve others as Jesus would, however, is neither cherished nor promoted in today's worldly manifestations of Christendom. The all-important, self-benefiting "I" becomes the motive for most collective spiritual practice: "I'm here for the entertaining preaching." "I really enjoy the worship." "The youth group is the only way I can get my kids to church." "This is the denomination I was raised in." But have you ever heard anyone express that, "Through this faith community WE can learn to love other people like Jesus would and bring the lost into His Kingdom"?

Relational commitment to the King and to one another should be the banner of a follower of Jesus. It's a heart issue that far supersedes much of contemporary agnostic acknowledgment ("There is a god, but you can't know him/her) or universal deism ("All paths of religion lead to God so long as you're a 'good person'"). Jesus could have confined His relationship to His disciples as "Lord", which indeed He was. But notice that He also called them "friends" (John 15:15).

Even the Apostle Paul was willing to leave an effective ministry so he could track down a close friend he was concerned about: "Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia" (2 Corinthians 2:12,13). Relational commitment, especially when it's aimed at becoming more Christ-like and serving His purposes more effectively together, is precious in the sight of your Father!

If you realize that you don't have anyone with whom you're relationally connected and committed for the glory of our Lord, then consider this. Perhaps you're trapped in a pit of what we call "codependent toleration." You put up with others and avoid bringing up anything that might cause apprehension. You dance around each other to make sure nothing rocks the complacency or superficiality (even if the relationship never deepens because of this intentional neglect). But that isn't authentic friendship, and certainly not biblical fellowship!

In 1978 a man named Jim Jones led 900 people, many of them self-identified "Christians" or "churched," to commit suicide in Guiana. Afterward the father of one of the victims paid for a study to determine if there was a common thread among those who had voluntarily chosen death. The finding? None of these people had a close friend to share their innermost feelings with. Most came from established congregations, but none had anyone they called their friend. A generation has passed since then and isolation has only increased. Are you among the relationally isolated? How would Father have you change that? ASK Him, putting no limitations on how He might answer!
(For more on Jim Jones go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Jones).

Please be diligent to pursue the materials we cited above. You'll undoubtedly find it won't be convenient for you to go through them with someone else. This means you'll need to be determined and intentional to establish a specific time for yourselves as a priority. In the meantime we'll be corresponding on occasion in the weeks to come as the Spirit leads. We're presently continuing our Spanish study for whatever purpose our Lord might have in our own journey. May you find Him at work in and around and through you for His praise!

Along with you on the journey,
Mike & Sue

May 31, 2011

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!"
(1 John 3:1a)

During our years of teaching at a retreat center we'd on occasion ask retreaters how often they'd heard a sermon about the Father and what it means to LOVE Him. In 10 years of asking that, only one person could recall that ever happening. Sadly, a sinister reason underlies why clergy seldom teach about our heavenly Father. Since many of you have been in the clergy-led religious system, we felt it worthwhile to talk about this since it may be negatively effecting your relationship with your heavenly Father.

If a pollster such as George Barna were to survey clergy today, he'd likely discover that the vast majority are shackled by unresolved issues with their own earthly fathers, especially bitterness. To become a clergy-person requires only knowledge acquisition at a seminary, not Christ-like character development. Young clergymen in particular can use their prowess behind the pulpit to make a name for themselves and experience a sense of an upper hand over their Dads. An unresolved issue with their own fathers forestalls sermon messages about the intimate relationship our heavenly Father wants with each follower of His Son Jesus.

Why is there such disparity between the mature biblical elder and today's career clergy person? So many "professional clergy" have little life experience in the world by which they could gain wisdom and compassion. Most were hired fresh out of seminary or shifted from congregation to congregation with little appreciation for the struggles those "in the world" encounter daily. Another factor relationally isolates most clergy: very few have experienced the rigors of military service. In fact, they avoid it like the plague! In the military someone has the right to tell you what to do. With unresolved bitterness toward their fathers, they avoid not only the military, but any situation where authority figures can confront them.

Instead, seminary training has placed clergy in a position of spiritual superiority in which they are recognized as sole authority, or chief among those on a "church council." We know from reports over the years that many "church board members" fear to correct or discipline their clergyman when he is in sin and unrepentant. They realize that the man's pious and caring personality comes across to most in the pew as dependable, good-natured, and easy to get along with — non-confrontational qualities which appeal especially to women, as well as to men who have issues with their own fathers. (And, few outside those on a board or council would be privy to the man's self-will or stubborn resistance to interference with his desires or plans for the congregation. Many of their wives do and divorce them. Clergy remain a leading occupation for divorce!)

Keep in mind that the Bible calls for teaching and confronting as our Father's means to convey His truths (see Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; 2 Timothy 4:2). You've probably observed that confrontation and admonishment are missing in westernized Christendom today. "Loving one another" has been watered down to mean tolerance for anything EXCEPT biblical truth that's put into action. This liberal compromise with the world's ways is actually not surprising, since so many seminary professors who train and influence clergy have unresolved issues themselves with their own fathers. Since any form of corrective confrontation by any authority figure is regarded as something to avoid, seminaries teach clergy students to focus on Greek rhetoric as their primary means of ministry.

Rhetoric is the art of eloquent speaking or writing. It relies on language that's designed to have a persuasive or impressive effect on an audience, but may also lack sincerity or life-changing content.

A study a few years ago revealed that of every 10 adults in western Christendom, only 2 are men. In order for a man to grow in Christ's character and to put God's Word into practice, he needs a personal and meaningful relationship with another man who will both role model the way of the Lord and willingly confront him as necessary. These two relational responsibilities, role modeling and confrontation, are foundational to men becoming more like their Lord. Both Jesus and Paul used these in their pattern of discipling. How desperately are wise and mature servant-leaders who enact this way of life needed in faith families today!

If you're a wife who is struggling to respect your husband, know this: A man will seldom change unless he has in his life another man whom he respects and who is willing to confront him. Think about Paul's references to being a "soldier" for Christ. You know that a soldier is sacrificing personal comfort and plans for a cause larger than self, and that he is a person under someone else's authority (see Matthew 8:5-10). Neither of those features is popular in today's self-absorbed culture, whether "churched" or not!

While today's clergy depend on their Hellenist-revered rhetorical skill from the pulpit, Jesus relied on Hebraic "direct experience" in training His disciples: He showed them what to do, then sent them out to do it. And, in situations in which He couldn't use direct experience, our Lord exercised training through "simulations," His use of pictorial images in His parables. We've used simulation for you through the characters of "Jack" and "Dee" in our Kingdom Living Today series to help you put into practice the biblical lessons these characters have learned as mature followers of Jesus. We also flesh out our writings with personal anecdotes to help you see some of the various ways our Lord has worked in our own journey in Him.

Recently we talked with several women here about the "Bible Study" held each week in our senior mobile home park. Their responses revealed a lifetime of complacent concession: "We make sure we always have a teacher who isn't 'controversial.' We don't want anything taught that will bring up our differences." "We sing only a few songs we've all agreed on so we don't have any hurt feelings." And when we asked, "What do you do with what you've learned?", a blank expression said it all. We then asked these ladies about their primary source for Bible instruction. To a person each named one or another of the famous teachers on TV whose sermons overflow with polished rhetoric. When people are so enthralled with how the message is spoken, they lose sight of putting it into action (see James 1:22-25). Being hearers of the Word without doing what it says is a primary reason the spiritual power Jesus promises His own is so lacking throughout western Christendom (see Luke 24:49; John 14:12; 2Corinthians 10:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power"
(1 Corinthians 4:20)

In upcoming segments of our Way of the Lord video series we'll discuss how you can regain the spiritual power of the first followers of Jesus. Our Lord didn't end in the first century the power He promised His own through His Spirit in them. But so many today have chosen to disbelieve that He's still imbuing His family with power, or are living as though it doesn't exist. The foundation to living in His spiritual power begins with the quality of your relationship with your heavenly Father. Several more video segments will explore both this essential relationship as well as spiritual power in Christ.

Have you understood the difference between Hellenist rhetoric and the Hebraic representation of the King and His Kingdom? You are not here to persuade people through rhetoric to follow our Lord Jesus. He has called you to represent Him in love and character through Word and deed to the darkened world around you.  Rather than reflecting the genuine love of Jesus, evangelism through rhetorical persuasion peddles salvation so those speaking can feel good about themselves—they've "done their duty." That sort of "self-righteous obligation" smacks of the tactics of both Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses, and leads no one into an authentic repentance and relationship with our Father.

This culture has become accustomed to Jesus being "marketed" through worldly "sales techniques." That makes it all the harder for you who are following Him to gain a hearing about your relationship with Him; people have become inoculated against the Gospel. But if we're to go on responding to the indwelling Spirit and His purpose for us in Christ, we need to speak up about how much we value our relationship with Him and our heavenly Father! Represent your values and goals as His servant and child with all the emotions you attach to them. It's Who you value that you are representing. As eager as you'd be to tell others about your spouse or family, be all the more willing to speak about your devotion to our Father and His Son, Jesus.

Eagerly pursue your Abba relationship that Father wants with you as His trusting and obedient child. It's a wonderful privilege given to you through the loving obedience of Jesus! "And without trust 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). Out of your relationship with our Father flows the power that you need to do His will for His glory.

Mike & Sue

May 19, 2011

How have you represented Jesus today?

"Make hay while the sun shines"

I (Mike) grew up around dairy farming. Frequently during the summer my brothers and I would get a call from a farmer friend or relative who had bales of hay still lying in the field when a thunderstorm was approaching. We'd rush to the farm knowing that if the hay got wet it'd be ruined. Either we got it into the dry barn before the rains soaked it or we didn't. There was no other alternative.

It was an incredible experience to be working with others who were determined to do their part to get the hay safely stored. A sense of urgency motivated all of us. There'd be those in the field throwing the heavy bales onto the flatbeds. Some would drive the hay to the barn. Others would heave it into the storage area. When I was 9, I started driving the truck along the rows of bales, a block of wood taped onto the gas pedal and brake so I could reach them. I knew early on that loading and unloading those trucks was back-breaking work, and that someday I'd be joining the older kids doing that.

A profound joy erupts when the last bale is safely in the barn and then the storm and lightening hit. I remember everyone standing in the wide doorway with a wonderful sense of satisfaction and sweaty camaraderie. How often we'd seen the farmer and his wife fight back tears of joy and thanksgiving for all of us laboring together to get the job done!

As you can tell by the last few e-mails, we're writing with a sense of urgency. We realize that the time we have left to get the Hebraic foundations out to prepare people is coming to an end soon. We believe that Lance Lambert's prophecy we included in our last e-mail is accurate — the day of Gentile conversions may be about to come to an end. Hearts ARE getting hardened, refusing to see either their need for salvation through Jesus alone or what it means to live by His Word. Several other trusted prophetic voices have also been sounding the alarm that God's judgment will soon come upon the United States.

We encourage you to take the time now to print out the materials on our website that can strengthen and encourage you during the Dark Days of Chastisement. Our Father promised that the truths we were given to share would bear fruit during that time. Please, see how He would have you use these resources to prepare yourself, your family and your faith family to stand firm in Jesus and to reach others for His great Name's sake.

"He who overcomes will, like them,
be dressed in white.
I will never blot out his name from the book of life,
but will acknowledge his name
before My Father and His angels"
(Revelation 3:5; see also Luke 9:23-26)

Can you imagine this glorious event as someone who has overcome sin through your obedient trust in Jesus? Our Lord announces your arrival in heaven to our Father and all the heavenly host! Think about the celebration that will be taking place. And even now, while you're still on earth, Jesus proclaims the joyous moment when you turned from sin to embrace Him and His purpose for your life: "I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

At the Judgment Throne, with sin behind us and an eternity with our Father awaiting us, how much more jubilation there will be when our names are announced by our Lord Jesus to be with Him forever! As the old hymn joyfully declares regarding our earthly pilgrimage with its trials and suffering, "It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!"

Now, while we still have breath, we need be about our Lord's business so that not only our names but those of people we care about will be voiced by Him. Think of your death whenever it comes to be like an approaching thunderstorm with bales of hay still lying in the field. You need to be unswerving in your commitment that you and the ones you care about have individually and collectively pressed on diligently according to our Father's Word to be welcomed into heaven. Take seriously our Lord's warning to the called-out ones in the city of Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). So many parallels there of compromise with the world's ways are neon stop signs to the "churched" today. If death comes and you've put Him off, it's too late...

In our last e-mail we wrote, "As long as a man can complacently sit back in a clergy-dominated, effeminized religious system, both grandfathers and fathers will neglect their personal responsibilities according to our Lord's command to train up godly generations." Our recent encounters with various people confirm how accurate this warning is. During the month of April we were in North Carolina to spend time with family. Before we even left on this trip, a prophecy was given to us that we'd meet many new people. Boy! Did we ever!

As we look back at our time away, we can see that God was giving us personal insight into the deplorable state of so much of Christianity in this nation. It broke our hearts to encounter so many self-satisfied "churchgoers" whose lives and families were riddled with sin — actions and attitudes that they readily admitted but felt not an iota of guilt about! Excuses and self-justification had blinded so many from humbly taking responsibility and turning away from what was spiritually devastating them all.

Too often we encountered complacent men from clergy-dominated, effeminized religious systems who were totally unconcerned about the eternal destination of their wives or families or friends. ZERO concern!!!! By their words and their actions they showed they were more concerned with the goals and values and acquisitions of this world than the reality of the next.

Men, think how seduced you are by attending a "church service" in which you passively listen to finely articulated words, as did the men of Ezekiel's day — yet inoculate yourself from any responsibility to live according to His Word. (Read Ezekiel 33:31,32 and ask yourself, "Am I any different?")

Did it ever occur to you that God never prescribed nor desired for His called-out ones any liturgy, that is, any preplanned form for corporate worship? For example, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11 the followers of Jesus shared communion together. Yet the Bible doesn't mandate any particular way to go about it, other than making sure that each one who participates has a clean, repentant heart before God! And certainly the Word does NOT call for an ordained clergy person to conduct this celebration.

In chapter 14 we're told that when a faith family collectively gathers, each one should be prepared to do their part through their spiritual gifting and through their witness of His Spirit at work in and through them: "Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Let all of these be [done] for edification" (v.26, literal). Being used by the Spirit with others in your faith family edifies them; your participation builds up and strengthens their faith walk. Nowhere in the biblical text do you find any prescribed order to follow in your faith family gatherings. We're just told that out of the character of God and respect for one another, whatever you do should be seemly, not chaotic (see v.40). If this isn't the type of gathering your family is taking part in; if you and they aren't preparing to be used by the Spirit to edify others in your worship time, then consider how you're sinning against God and against your family!

In our last e-mail we quoted Tom White, Director of Voice of the Martyrs: "Pray that we will not squander our fruit of the Spirit, lavishing it on ourselves and on our inner family circles to provide a more harmonious life only for ourselves." Tom's words should be inscribed on the hands and foreheads of the churchgoing grandfathers and fathers we met. Sadly, the primary concerns of so many of the men we met revolved around personal and family satisfaction, and worldly success. Sorely lacking was any sense of Kingdom connectedness, especially regarding our persecuted family suffering on behalf of the Truth, Jesus.

The common thread we found among so many churchgoing men was the absence of the Holy Spirit in them. This was evidenced by their fearful resistance to change, their cowardly evasion of biblical responsibilities, and their flagrant disregard and disobedience of God's Word. If they were abiding in the Holy Spirit, they wouldn't fear carrying out His commands: "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, 'Abba, Father'" (Romans 8:15; see also 8:9). How our Father's heart must ache as He watches so many deceived "churchgoing" men leading their families to hell. We arrived home heartbroken for this generation of Christendom.

During my (Mike's) almost 11 years of counseling clergy, I met only one who was concerned about whether the Holy Spirit was present within the people in his congregation. The rest were more focused on the number of people in the pews and maintaining the status quo of programs and activities. This experience was reinforced after we returned home. Sue got a book from the library by Ronald J. Sider entitled, "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience — Why Are Christians Living Just Like the Rest of the World?" So that you don't think it's just us recognizing the ineffectual nature of contemporary organized religion, we want to share a few excerpts from Sider, an "insider" in the evangelical community:

• "By their daily activity, most "Christians" regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim Jesus is Lord, but with their actions they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex, and self-fulfillment." (p.13, emphasis added)

• "The Gallup Organization and The Barna Group...hand us survey after survey demonstrating that evangelical Christians are as likely to embrace lifestyles every bit as hedonistic, materialistic, self-centered, and sexually immoral as the world in general." (p.13, emphasis added)

• "What a tragedy for evangelicals to declare proudly that personal conversion and new birth in Christ are at the center of their faith and then to defy biblical moral standards by living almost as sinfully as their pagan neighbors." (p.14, emphasis added)

• "Barna also found in one study that 90 percent of all divorced born-again folk divorced after they accepted Christ...25 percent of evangelicals—just like 25 percent of the total population have gone through a divorce. Does it make no difference to evangelicals that their Lord and Savior explicitly, clearly, repeatedly condemned divorce?" (pp.18,19, emphasis added)

• "Since 1993, about 2.4 million young people have signed a pledge ['True Love Waits', sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention] to wait until marriage to engage in sexual intercourse. [Of the 12,000 teens followed up for 7 years in a study], they found that 88 percent of these pledgers reported having sexual intercourse before marriage; just 12 percent kept their promise." (p.23, emphasis added)

• "Barna found from a 2001 poll that the rate of co-habitation...is only a little lower among born-again adults than the general public. Nationally, 33 percent of all adults have lived with a member of the opposite sex without being married. The rate is 25 percent for born-again adults." (p.23, emphasis added)

• "Fully 26 percent of traditional evangelicals do not think pre-marital sex is wrong, and 46 percent of non-traditional evangelicals say it is morally okay...Of traditional evangelicals, 13 percent say it is okay for married persons to have sex with someone other than one's spouse. And 19 percent of non-traditional evangelicals say adultery is morally acceptable." (p.24, emphasis added)

• "Now our very lifestyle as evangelicals is a ringing practical denial of the miraculous in our lives. Satan must laugh in sneerful derision. God's people can only weep." (p.29, emphasis added)

• "We cannot embrace Christ as our Savior without embracing him as Lord. A genuine personal relationship with Christ brings sweeping transformation of our sinful selves." (p.58, emphasis added)

• Justification and sanctification are both central parts of the biblical teaching on the gospel and salvation...Whether emphasizing simplistic slogans such as 'once-in-grace-always-in-grace' or focusing on seeker-friendly strategies that neglect costly discipleship, we have propagated the heretical notion that people can receive forgiveness without sanctification, heaven without holiness. Notions of cheap grace are at the core of today's scandalous evangelical disobedience." (p.59, emphasis added)

• "Discipleship is at the very core of the salvation Jesus commands us to offer to the world. And discipleship means turning from sin and following Jesus as absolute, unconditional Lord." (p.69, emphasis added)

• "Relativism has invaded evangelical thinking. Barna reports ... that only 14 percent of born-again adults 'rely on the Bible as their moral compass and believe that moral truth is absolute.'" (p.90, emphasis added)

• "The very purpose of Christ's coming to earth, the New Testament declares, was to create a holy community (Titus 2:14). St. Paul also insists that Christ came precisely to create a holy church (Eph. 5:25-27). Peter commands the Christians not to conform to their former sinful ways but rather to live in holiness (1 Peter 1:14-16). ...Paul issues the ringing summons, 'let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.'"  (2 Cor. 7:1).[emphasis added]

• "Jesus warned that the world would hate his followers because they refused to live like the world. The New Testament writers used the images of aliens and strangers to describe the church." (p. 104, emphasis added)

• "'Come out and be separate,' Paul urges in another vigorous call for separation from the sin of the world." (2 Cor. 6:17, emphasis added)

• "The radical worldliness that pervades surrounding society has infiltrated almost every part of the church. This worldliness takes the forms of racism, sexual promiscuity, materialism, and easy divorce." (p. 105, emphasis added)

• "In light of what the Bible says about sexual purity and marital fidelity, the love and joy in Christian homes where spouses keep their vows for a lifetime should contrast so starkly with the agony in contemporary families that millions of broken persons are attracted to the Savior." (p.106), emphasis added)

Just a note: We are not promoting the book, nor Sider's recommendation for all Christians to be under denominational authority. We cited the above quotes because Ronald Sider is a recognized writer in evangelical circles. Our solution to the worldly compromise and unholy syncretism within westernized Christianity has been and will remain the same: that trusting in the Spirit of Jesus within each of His own is far more reliable than confidence in a religious hierarchy whose chief aim is to keep their system running smoothly. Sider's proposal is like shifting the hay bales from one field to another to be rained on and ruined.

Our Father told us to call what He is restoring a "Hebraic Restoration." He intends that each of His children live by the same trust-based, obedient lifestyle of our father, Abraham, the first Hebrew (Romans 4:11,12). The patriarch's life involved no denomination, no weekly service in a religious edifice, no clergy person to direct his steps. Yet because of his obedient trust in God, the man was promised an eternal covenant. And, because of that trust relationship with his Father in heaven, Abraham is declared to be the father of every follower of Jesus (Romans 4:16).

The Bible commends our father Abraham's trust, the kind of unwavering, obedient faith our heavenly Father wants in your life as well:

"We have been saying that Abraham’s trust was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by trust while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who trust but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.  And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the trust that our father Abraham had BEFORE he was circumcised" (Romans 4:9-12)

Whether you're a Jew or Gentile, the first thing our Father wants from you is your trust — a relational foundation made possible by the reconciling death and resurrection of His Son. Out of his trust in God, Abraham set aside his fear and obeyed Him through many seemingly impossible situations. And think about this: Abraham didn't have the Spirit of Jesus within him as we can today, yet still He trusted God! If you're following Jesus as Lord of your life, His Spirit is within you. So what excuse do you have for not trusting Him to guide and empower you? What impossible things has God called you to do that you've rationalized away? It's time to repent and begin living in the trust-filled obedience that reveals your love for our Lord. Be like your father Abraham, and be a joy to your heavenly Father!

Again, please don't rush through our article, Mutually Growing Christ-like Relationships. It's absolutely worthless to you if you don't discuss it with your family and those in your faith family, and apply it. Incorporate each point the Spirit quickens in you to be a way of life that's pleasing to your Father. If you've been unsure about whether the Spirit of Christ is within you, may you use this material to remove the hindrances and finally trust our Lord as He has long desired for you.

Mike & Sue

P.S. We continue to appreciate your intercession on our behalf. As we're well aware, "[The devil] is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short" (Revelation 12:12). We went through numerous attacks on our equipment and on ourselves as we wrote Mutually Growing Christ-like Relationships.  A particular passage strengthened and sustained us: "... we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us" (Romans 5:3-5).
The Spirit's love continues to compel us to keep sharing while there is still time. Again, thank you for helping us through your prayers.

May 10, 2011

"I will rouse your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece,
and make you like a warrior’s sword" (Zechariah 9:13)

We first heard this verse explained by Lance Lambert at a prayer conference in Jerusalem in January of 1994. He had prophesied the fall of the USSR almost a decade before it happened, at a time when few believed this could ever occur. We believe that God spoke through Lance concerning Zechariah's prophecy: that God was now pouring forth a Hebraic understanding of the Bible to undo the centuries-long demonic influence of Hellenism on Christendom.

Initially, his comments had no significant meaning for us. But over the next two months during our stay in Jerusalem, our Father opened up a clear understanding through our research and through spiritual revelation to show us what He’s doing throughout the world. The Holy Spirit is restoring to followers of Jesus Christ a biblically Hebraic understanding of their relationship with our heavenly Father, and with the significant people in their lives. In other words, with all who have embraced His Covenant in Jesus, our Father is seeking the trust-filled, responsive relationship He had with the first recorded Hebrew, Abraham. In light of this responsive and loving obedience, our Father wants His children to live as brothers and sisters—the family of Jesus who by His Spirit actively and diligently fulfill our particular part to extend the Kingdom of God (Mark 3:33-35).

As with our father, Abraham (Romans 4:16), our heavenly Father is looking for each generation to pass along this trust-based lifestyle to the next: "For I have chosen [Abraham], so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just..." (Genesis 18:19; see also Deuteronomy 6:5-9). But there's a tragic hindrance in today's culture to men walking in the pattern set by Abraham. As long as a man complacently sits back in a clergy-dominated, effeminized religious system, both grandfathers and fathers will neglect their personal responsibilities according to our Lord's command to train up godly generations.

We've discussed this matter previously in many formats because it is so essential for families today. Our hearts grieve because it seems that the truths our Father gave us to share are falling on too many deaf ears, especially among men whose families are waiting for them to lead in spiritual truth as their way of life. A few weeks ago, I (Mike) was talking with a close relative, a dutiful "church attender". Out of loving concern for the eternal destiny of our unbelieving relatives, I've initiated countless discussions with him over the years about spiritual truths, praying that he would follow through in the Spirit and lead his family in the way of the Lord. Many of our mutual relatives live near this man, and he has regular social contact with them. Yet how rare have conversations been among them that have lifted up Jesus alone as Lord and Savior, and what that means for both their daily life and for eternity! Doubtless you find yourself similarly saddened regarding your own extended family's resistance to proclaim and enact biblical truth with one another.

During our recent conversations I've had a strong sense in my spirit that God is soon going to fulfill the prophetic words of Paul regarding Gentiles: "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25; see all of Romans 11). A few days ago our friend, Danielle, in Austria sent the following prophetic word from Lance Lambert. As soon as we read it, we realized that our Lord had spoken this message through him to warn God's people—the time is very short for preparation!

Jerusalem —  Sunday, 17th April 2011

It is well with you that you intercede for Israel that she be saved, for it is My purpose to save her. I will complete the circle of Redemption that began with Abraham and My promise that a great nation would come forth from him, and that in him would all the families of the earth be blessed. And so it has happened! For Israel became the vehicle through which My Word has come to all the nations; and also My Salvation; and the knowledge of My Purpose. From this nation, above all, came the Messiah. Soon the fullness of the Gentiles will have been saved, and I will turn again to Israel, to My Jewish People. They shall be reingrafted into their own olive tree, and My promise to Abraham will be gloriously fulfilled. Then their hardness of heart will melt, their blindness be turned into sight, and their suffering to radiant Glory. This is My determined purpose, and I shall not be turned from it. It will shortly begin to be fulfilled. I will turn all their weakness into unbelievable power, and I will use this nation as the last witness to the world as to Who I am.

Take very seriously what is taking place in the Arab world. It is no good for Israel! It is not a move toward freedom and true democracy, but an enormous gain for militant Islam. They will seek to annihilate and liquidate Israel, but they will not only fail—their strength and power will be broken, and a huge harvest of souls will be saved from amongst them.

Hear Me, I call you to intercession! It will not be easy. All the powers of My enemy are centred and focused on stopping this people from coming into My Redemption and Salvation. But he will fail! I look therefore for those who will stand in the gap, who will build up the wall; those who will stand in the place of intercession.

Shortly also I will begin more serious judgment on the Western nations. I will bring them to nothing; I will turn them upside down; I will grind them to powder. They will not know what has hit them. It will seem as if there is nothing left of what once I worked in those nations; especially that Superpower. I will bring it to weakness; she will no longer be super, but a pity of the nations.

Hear this Word of Mine. I call you to intercede for those who belong to Me in those nations; that they will be saved from it! Hear this cry. My heart yearns for those who belong to Me, that they might be clear in their understanding, clear in the way that they are to walk in the midst of all this. Do hear Me! For I speak to you who love Me, and who have this morning remembered Me. I do not desire judgment, but judgment of the most serious and devastating kind will fall upon those nations. Hear this Word from Me, and obey My call to intercession!

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you about this prophecy?

“No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 
And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined.
No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins" (Luke 5:36-38).

This passage has had great significance in my own walk in Jesus. When it was first explained to me, I responded to the Spirit and became a follower of Jesus. In 1977 I was stationed aboard a Navy ship operating off the coast of California. I’d been reading the Bible for a little over a year, and growing increasingly frustrated with my own religious upbringing. So much of what I discovered in God's Word conflicted with the traditions and practices of my denomination. On our last night at sea before returning to San Diego, I was laying on my bunk studying Scripture. Exasperated over the vast disparity between what I saw in the Bible and what I had practiced all my life in our family's religion, I was desperate for Truth.

At that moment the Spirit of Jesus entered my stateroom. I didn’t see Him with my eyes, but I knew He was there. He spoke to me: “Mike, the answer to your frustration lies in the meaning of the parable that you can’t sew a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment (Luke 5:36). Your sister Mary will explain the meaning of the parable to you.” I found myself at peace but baffled. My sister and I had been estranged for over a year, ever since she left the denomination we’d been raised in to follow Jesus as her Lord. Our relationship had fractured when she did that, because I was extremely prejudiced and believed that only those in my denomination were going to heaven.

The next morning our ship pulled into the pier and Sue picked me up. On the way home I told her what had occurred in my stateroom the night before, and how I had to see Mary. She told me with excitement that Mary had called the previous night and was driving the 200 miles to see me. Wow! As soon as my sister got out of her car I ran up to her. “Please, explain the meaning of the parable that you can’t sew a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment!” She replied with a knowing smile, “Jesus was talking about ineffectual religious practices, telling the religious leaders that they couldn’t put their faith in Him and in their religious practices at the same time." Two days later I became a follower of Jesus and left religion behind me. Sue did the same not long after.

The Spirit of Jesus told us to leave religion behind so that we could focus on loving Him and serving His Kingdom purposes. But that message wasn't just for the two of us! Even if you've left steepled buildings and organized religion for home fellowship, you may not have rid yourself of the religious system! So many we've encountered who meet in homes haven't become extended spiritual family in Jesus, building one another up in His Word and bearing one another's loads. Too many confine their relationship to "holding a service" in a house each week!

Brothers and sisters, the time is short! The door is about to shut on the unbelieving gentiles you care about. Does that hurt your heart? If you're trying to pour the "new wine" of restored Hebraic relational understanding and obedient trust into the old wineskin framework, it's time to flee religious reliance and become new wineskins (Hebrews 13:12-14). If the Spirit of Jesus is dwelling within you (Romans 8:9), can't you just trust Him, and through Him become the vessel He describes as a "born again" follower? "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Isn't this willing availability to be used by Him what identifies us as children of our Father? "Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" (Romans 8:14). The life of a Jesus follower makes a difference in the lives around him or her!

To love the Lord our God, to be led by His Spirit, to become more Christ-like and to do your part in His Kingdom is our Father's glorious purpose for His children. But if you're having problems in your life because you're trying to patch something new onto something old, Jesus already told you that won't work. And, as you spend your time pursuing a dead end, the time is running out for your unbelieving relatives for whom your testimony and the Gospel may make all the difference in their eternal destiny. Weigh this admonition carefully, please.

In our hearts is a greater urgency to share the truths our Father gave us with those who WILL bear fruit to His glory. We know it takes courage to leave behind all that is fruitless in order to press on to reach the people who are responsive. In the May 2011 Voice of the Martyrs, Director Tom White wrote, "Pray that we will not squander our fruit of the Spirit, lavishing it on ourselves and on our inner family circles to provide a more harmonious life only for ourselves." We personally took his words as a warning to focus only on those who are actively pursuing the biblical criteria cited in the previous paragraph.

We've been given "new wine" for "new wineskins." Out of His compassion and mercy our Father has spurred us on to disseminate these truths in multiple formats, both written, aural and video. Such tools as The Way of the Lord series, Discussing How To Restore the Early Church lessons, the Jesus In Your Home videos, and Going to the High Places study guide all provide practical application of living in loving service to our Lord Jesus according to His Word.

If you have unbelieving relatives and have done little or nothing to introduce them to the truths our Father is restoring today, ask yourself this: Is it because the Spirit of Christ is not yet within you and therefore you don't belong to Him (2 Corinthians 13:5)? Or, have you given way to a spirit of fear or rejection, preferring the praise of man to the possible rebuff of those who have yet to encounter Jesus as Lord of their life? These are sobering matters because the times indeed are evil, and the window of opportunity is short.

May the seriousness of our convictions come across in this e-mail because we DO care.
Mike & Sue

March 26, 2011

"As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth"
(Proverbs 26:14,15)

Years ago while I (Mike) was stationed aboard a Navy ship off Vietnam, a problem of malingering was manifesting itself among the ship's crew. The word "malingerer" isn't used much today, but the effects of someone who continually shirks responsibility or pretends to be sick to avoid doing their part is devastating on the confines of a military vessel. It was already a difficult time emotionally; everyone knew the war was already lost. All that remained was for the treaty to be signed.

One night at Officer's Call the Executive Officer (XO) of the ship cited that over 10% of the crew were reporting to Sick Bay each morning feigning illness of one sort or another. Malingering is a punishable offense if you can prove it, especially since others then have to pick up the extra workload. It's a real morale killer!

Even though I was part of the helicopter detachment onboard and not ship's company, I volunteered to straighten the problem out. The next morning I showed up in Sick Bay during Sick Call. The ship's doctor, Jerry, was a good friend of mine. When I arrived, he was seeing a patient in one of the examining rooms. About 60 men were waiting in line for their turn, and none of them looked particularly sick.

I walked up to the Chief Corpsman for a private conversation. "You've really got a problem here..." The Chief replied, "It's got us in an awful place. The XO wants this malingering stopped, but we can't turn anyone away who shows up here." Glancing over at the long line, I smiled slightly. "Would you like some help?" Taken aback, the Chief arched his brows but answered, "Sure, but what can you do?" I grinned, "Give me a white smock to put over my flight suit, and just follow my lead."

The Chief and I then walked up to the first man in line. I raised my voice so that ALL could hear. "What's ailing you?" The man was somewhat startled but murmured, "I've got this stiffness in my shoulder and I don't think I can do my job." "What's your job?" the Chief asked. The young man replied, "I'm a radar operator." I directed him toward an open examining room. "Go in there, drop your pants and lean over the table." The young man turned toward the Chief and bellowed, "It's my shoulder, not my butt!" The Chief calmly responded, "Lieutenant Dowgiewicz needs to give you a thorough exam." Gesturing toward me the sailor exclaimed, "He's not even a doctor!" The Chief retorted, "He knows what he's doing!'

The man hesitated as he eyeballed both of us. He then turned away and left Sick Bay, with about 55 other wide-eyed guys following him. That ended the malingering. As I took off the smock the Chief stood there with a Cheshire cat grin. At that moment the doctor came out of the exam room, surprised to see only a few sailors left in line. "Where'd they all go?" he asked incredulously. Still smiling broadly the Chief answered, "Lieutenant Dowgiewicz healed them!"

"We want each of you to show this same diligence
to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 
We do not want you to become lazy,
but to imitate those who through trust and patience
inherit what has been promised" (Hebrews 6:11,12)

It's no surprise to our Father how complacent humans can become. This is especially true as we neglect interpersonal responsibilities to others. There are 54 "one-anothering" commands in the Newer Testament. Each of these commands is designed for Jesus followers to reflect His love to others in His family. Ask yourself this. In your daily life are you actively engaged in being His blessing to others — loving and serving as His hands and heart? Or, would our Lord call you a "malingerer?"

Jesus voiced a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 to warn us about being lazy in fulfilling responsibilities He's assigned to His own. (Keep in mind that he related this to His disciples, knowing that they would eventually be sharing this admonition with other believers after His resurrection.) Leaving on a journey, a man entrusts his three servants with various amounts of money, each according to their ability. When he returns and asks them to render account, he discovers that the wicked, lazy one did nothing with the resources given him. Rather, he maligned the character of his master, using his own disregard for the man's authority as an excuse to spurn responsibility.

Listen to the point our Lord Jesus makes. It's a warning to each of us to be diligent in our obedient trust rather than self-serving and rebellious as the world is: "Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v.30).

The Bible leaves no doubt that authentic faith is evidenced by your actions. (See James 2:14-26, for example.) If the Spirit of Christ is dwelling within you, you are His instrument of blessing to others. Even the Israelites recognized their responsibility as His people to follow through in response to need: "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act" (Proverbs 3:27). The love that was manifested in Jesus motivated Him to turn water into wine and heal the sick and the blind. It was within His power to act.  Through the Spirit at work in and through you, what is within your power to act to help others?

Discuss with your family or faith family your interpersonal responsibilities toward others. The commands below written through God's spokesmen can be a starting point for you:

• "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:28).
• "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13).
• "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9).
• "And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Hebrews 13:16).

If you've been shirking the responsibilities our Lord Jesus has made so clear to His beloved sheep in His Word, please read our October 1998 Newsletter, The Almost Christian, a free download at our website. It may give you some valuable insights to refresh your loving determination to press on in His steps.

A word to the wise:

David, who well understood both
the overwhelming mercy of God
as well as his own responsibility to Him,
asked this poignant question:
"LORD, who may abide in Your sanctuary?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" (Psalm 15).
His response reveals the heart determination of those
whose actions align with their words:
"He who walks uprightly,
          And works righteousness,
          And speaks the truth in his heart;...
"He who keeps his oath even when it hurts."

This passage has very practical considerations even for your priorities with the resources Father has entrusted to you. We've met many missionaries and others who've gone forth relying on the promise of support from people who later abruptly reneged on giving. While financial situations can obviously change, those to whom help was promised are often left in the dark, wondering what happened. Ask yourself this. Have you malingered by not keeping your word to someone who had been counting on your help?

Please, examine your life and the words you speak. Don't make casual promises, then back down. Ask those close to you for their observations about you:
• Are you a malingerer? Or, do your actions reflect our Lord's love for others through you?
• Does your word really matter, especially when it's difficult for you to keep it? What you speak goes far beyond the moment: "I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken" (Matthew 12:36). In our years of ministry we've encountered many who were emotionally scarred by the unkept promises of others.

We sensed from our Lord that we should share this warning because you may be among those who are choosing self-pursuit over obeying the Lord you say you love. Is your walk coinciding with your talk? Please, take the time with others close to you in the faith to discuss if you're responsive to our Lord in what He's calling you to do in Him. Ask them if they see determination to follow through in what you say. Your very words and responsiveness reflect the depth of your bond with both Lord Jesus and with others.
 
Sharing in love according to the measure of faith He has given us,
Mike & Sue

March 22, 2011

The American Dream — Satan's trap

Many years ago a friend purchased a 200-year-old house in Connecticut. As he was tearing out a wall during remodeling, he found 12 dead mice, one behind the other and stuck in the narrow passage behind the wall. The rodents were emaciated, having been confined there a long time. As best as he could determine, each had followed the next until the first got stuck. The passage was too narrow for any of them to turn around. How would you like to die nose-to-tail?

This depicts exactly what Satan has been doing through the lie of the "American Dream." The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom encompasses the possibility of prosperity and success. James Truslow Adams expressed the American Dream in 1931: "Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth."

When Adams wrote about the American Dream, the Great Depression had been intensifying. But he missed a crucial element in his evaluation of the American Dream, namely that God had passed judgment on this nation as a result of the widespread decadence of the "Roaring 20's." Caught up in the fairy tale of the American Dream, President Roosevelt enacted the Social Security Act and other similar programs.

In establishing these measures, Roosevelt established the government as the 'god' in whom so many Americans have put their trust. For example, government rather than family became the caretaker for the elderly. And through delegation of that biblically-based responsibility once undertaken by kinfolk without question, intergenerational connectedness has deteriorated ever since.

This unholy merger of unbiblical goals and misplaced trust has seduced countless millions into seeking an "earthly heaven" — life, liberty and the pursuit of the desires of their own sin nature. This is the hidden deceit of THE American Dream: dogged pursuit of a pleasure-filled "heaven" on earth, a "heaven" without dependence on God.

Yet at what cost comes this earthly pursuit in violation of Scripture's warning? "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:15-17).
Those who are Spirit-minded have nothing in common with those whose hearts are firmly fixed on worldly gain: "O LORD, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life" (Psalms 17:14a).

And isn't Paul issuing a dire warning of what lies ahead for Jesus followers whose values have been compromised with those of the world? "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1Timothy 6:10)?

The foundation Jesus gives His followers for our way of life on earth is far removed from pursuing the self-satiation of the American Dream:

"If anyone would come after Me,
he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,
and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (Luke 9:23-25)

Following Jesus with wholehearted devotion leaves no room for the idol of self. "Losing your life" — forfeiting worldly goals and values for the sake of loving and serving Jesus — is a motive of the heart and a way of life in Him that leads through the "Narrow Gate." And that narrow, biblical path of obedient trust is the ONLY way we can enter heaven. Several generations have passed since the government installed itself as god of the people. The rotted fruit of this "earthly deity" is successive generations in bondage to ever-increasing greed, a greed which has spawned massive, unpayable debt to curse generations yet unborn.

What an awful heritage the American Dream has generated, much to the delight of our Enemy! During the past few decades the devilish "health and wealth gospel" and Church Growth Movement have led the way in seducing multitudes of Christians to join unbelieving Americans in the pursuit of greed (see 2Timothy 3:1-5). A stop sign is needed NOW for these who call themselves God's people to reconsider who they're following and where their interests lay. It isn't too late yet to repent!

Isaiah Still Speaks

If you're clinging to the way of our Lord in the face of such widespread evil, Isaiah's words will strengthen and encourage you:
•"Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds" (3:10).
• "You will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal" (26:3,4).
• "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever" (32:17).

However, God also speaks through His prophet to utter warnings to those who have forsaken His holy standards and brought His judgment on this nation:
• "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves" (3:9). The specific sin of sodomy condemned by Paul in Romans 1:24-27 was once despised in this nation, then became tolerated, and now is touted and paraded.

• "People will oppress each other—man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable" (3:5). Tensions today are great between the elderly with their medical needs and the next generation who fear that the government trough will be empty before they can feed from it. Federal and State administrations are adversarial, each demanding more from the self-preservational taxpayers who desperately clutch the little they have.

• Those who should be calling people to repentance are instead entertaining them with messages of false hope and counterfeit peace: "Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray" (9:16).

• Biblical patterns leave no doubt—God's judgment IS coming. Those of you who are prophetic have been confirming this with us for some time. Surely our Lord has been long-suffering and patient as He has looked for response to His many warnings: "See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it" (13:9).

• The righteous in Christ need to remain repentant as terrible days come upon this nation. People who love evil will continue to pursue it, despising the grace that God has shown them:
"But the people have not returned to Him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty" (9:13).
"Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD" (26:10; see also Revelation 9:20, 16:9,11).

If you cherish righteousness and love Jesus as your Lord, we want to encourage you: NOW is the time to turn to the power of Jesus' name and make sure no darkness is found in your soul. Don't give the devil a foothold he can use to seduce you when everything around you is being destroyed.

If you've wondered what the coming Dark Days of Chastisement might be like, just look at God's judgments currently going on throughout the earth. The Bible describes "birth pangs" and days of chastisement much like we see in Japan right now: earthquakes, floods, nuclear disaster, and bitter cold. Please, don't doubt that there will be a series of tragedies in this nation as well. Complacent disregard for God's holy commands will be shaken, and suddenly.

According to the unchangeable truth of God's Word, He brings judgment wherever there is widespread toleration for sin and/or people worship false gods. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their pervasive toleration for homosexuality and their disregard for the poor (Ezekiel 16:49). When God wanted to free the Israelites from Egypt and Pharaoh refused, He sent ten plagues, one at a time. Each plague was a direct assault on one of the false gods the Egyptians trusted in — powerless demonic entities in whom even some of the Israelites may have been seduced into worshipping. From time to time our God reaffirms that He is GOD and there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:35,39).

Is there a connection between some of the major catastrophes in recent years and the sins that were tolerated in those places?
Was Hurricane Katrina God's judgment on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast for the widespread prostitution, homosexuality and gambling rampant in that region?

Was the earthquake in Haiti an assault on their religious amalgam of Roman Catholicism and voodoo? Was it God's hand that the Bishop who should have upheld biblical truth was crushed inside his own flattened cathedral?

Was 9/11 an attack on the bastion of greed in New York that infects the entire country? Is the economic collapse both here and around the world His way of revealing that we are trusting in the wrong thing?

Was the attack on the Pentagon His way of making them give an account for the unjust wars both the administrations and the military have gotten this nation into? Thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians have been killed by the US because of our fear and greed. Remember, the last war this country won was World War II. In the meantime, many of our men and women have gone out to kill people who have not attacked us, and many of our own have died needlessly in unjust conflicts.

Japan is an empire of Buddha worship. Is God reaching them by undermining their confidence in a false god who neither hears their prayers nor can save them? Is He breaking down the self-sufficient, self-righteous pride of this demonic theology to humble them into having "ears to hear" the Jesus followers who are being thrust into their presence to help? Remember, our God doesn't want any to be lost, but all to enter into His Covenant in Jesus. Throughout history He has crippled the confidence of those who trust false gods, and has brought to them His chosen vessels of Truth.

+ + + + + + +

Our God is merciful. He sent Jonah to the Gentiles of Nineveh, who heeded the censure and repented of their sins. Father repeatedly warns people before He enacts judgment. But unlike repentant Nineveh, few today seem to be listening.

A word to the wise:

A job is one of our Father's means to
supply your provision.
That income is secondary
to the people He puts you in contact with
through your work.
Reaching them so they may embrace His Covenant
is our Lord's goal, and it must be yours as well.
He always puts you in proximity to people
so that you'll represent Him!

The Psalmist asked, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalms 11:3). Plenty! Loving and pleasing our Lord by staying repentant, becoming and remaining free of strongholds, making His Word your way of life, and lovingly reaching others for Jesus will keep you from being shaken when the ungodly foundations of this nation are removed.

Whether or not we'll be on earth when God's judgments fully unfold, we both sense the time is getting short. Press on in His Spirit, assured of His faithfulness, power and love.
Mike & Sue

March 15, 2011

Did You Speak Up?

Perhaps along with us you can recall certain events you readily participated in without giving it a second thought — until the Spirit of Christ in you evoked a deeper understanding of what was actually taking place. For example, when we first became followers of Jesus we continued to unhesitatingly accept invitations to weddings. But as time went on, we began to recognize our scriptural responsibility to the groom and bride if we were to be "witnesses" to their marriage ceremony.

We also sensed that the Holy Spirit was stirring an uneasiness as we witnessed certain nuptials. Later, we made the connection between our inner discomfiture and the divorces that ensued down the road. We realized that God was warning us that particular couples were unprepared, and that their marriage was not going to last. He didn't want us serving as witnesses to covenant vows that were going to be broken.

Sadly, the correlation between our uneasiness at particular weddings and the subsequent divorces was so unmistakable that we began to warn family and friends of impending marital problems before the ceremony even took place. That may sounds a little arrogant, but we knew that our God holds witnesses to a wedding responsible for affirming that He wants the couple to be joined in matrimony.

Weddings are a communal, collective celebration, a participation in a covenant God established with the first couple in the Garden of Eden. A marriage offers a physical representation of the spiritual relationship between Jesus, our heavenly Bridegroom, and His Bride, the called-out ones of His Body, the Church. This is a holy relationship, intended by God to be a permanent, one man/one woman union parted only by death. Just because marriage has become trivialized in this culture doesn't nullify God's intent for it, especially when it comes to bringing forth children He wants to be raised to love and serve Him!

Do you recall that marriage ceremonies used to challenge witnesses, "Is there anyone here who believes this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony? Let him (or her) speak up now, or forever hold his peace." Perhaps the reason those words sound somewhat antiquated is that today no one wants to get on the wrong side of either the couple or the parents. But those with doubts should have spoken up beforehand!

Could this warning be extrapolated to apply to those who remain silent when they know they're witnessing a likely-to-fail marriage: "If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible" (Leviticus 5:1)? Consider as well that in many wedding ceremonies the pastor charges the witnesses to commit themselves to help the couple succeed in their marriage. The communal intent of a wedding extends this responsibility beyond just the Best Man and Maid of Honor. But how few, including the fathers and mothers of the bride and groom, take this duty seriously.

During our years at the retreat center we heard the woes of so many parents whose offspring ultimately divorced. In so many cases, one of the fathers of the couple sensed that this marriage wasn't going to work, or that the prospective bride and groom needed further time to be prepared for marriage. All too often, however, the mother persuaded her dubious husband to back off and keep quiet. The most frequent excuses? "They're in love," or, "The arrangements have all been made," or, "We worked our problems out; they will too." Are you among those who attended a wedding recognizing that the couple was headed for trouble — yet didn't speak up beforehand? Serving as a witness to marriage vows carries a responsibility to God and to the couple!

After the wedding, these same woeful parents admitted they held extreme prejudice against their child's spouse. ("He's so selfish and irresponsible." "She's lazy and self-centered.") Instead of recognizing that both partners contributed to marital discord, they always blamed the in-law for the problems. When the marriage really got strained, the parents took obvious sides against their daughter-in-law or son-in-law, expediting the divorce rather than stepping in to mediate and help reconcile. And, when the divorce was final, these same parents were quick to excuse their adult child, slandering the ex-in-law by blaming him or her for everything.

"Teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up"
(Deuteronomy 11:19).

Parents who lack a strong biblical basis for their own marriage may find themselves unwittingly establishing in their children the wrong motives for marriage—motives that will ultimately contribute to divorce. You may have been one of these unmindful fathers or mothers...

For example:
Years ago I (Mike) was talking with a relative (who never read the Bible) and his soon-to-be-married son. Money always came up in the older man's discussions as a basis for happiness. With this materialistic focus he strongly encouraged his son to accept his prospective father-in-law's offer to join him in his business. However, I warned the young man not to do that, as it would hurt his marriage. If his wife saw that her father was the means to their provision, she'd never develop the respect for her husband that he needs (Ephesians 5:33). The greed of the young man's father prevailed. And yes, the young woman eventually divorced her husband. His pained but unrepentant father has not seen his two grandchildren for many years.

Have you instilled in your married child(ren) unbiblical motives that may seem right to the world but have only hurt their marriage or contributed to their divorce? Did you ever really let your heart grieve for what you did or failed to do, and then go to those younger people to ask for forgiveness? We've found that in many divorces in which the marriage lasted only a few years, the parents hold the greater guilt in God's sight. They refused to love that couple in a way that was willing to correct, rebuke and train them in righteousness in their relationship.

"A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is deceitful" (Proverbs 14:25)

Let's personalize this:
• Have you've been present at a wedding where you had grave doubts that this was God's will and/or timing, but still failed to speak up before the event took place?
• Did it ever occur to you that you were sinning through deceit, pretending that these vows would last by your silent consent?
• Did you ever ask forgiveness from the people involved for not having spoken up earlier?

A word to the wise:

Whenever you're asked to participate in anything
where by your mere presence
you're affirming the intent of the event,
be sure you confirm with God ahead of time
that you should even be there as a witness.

Pleading ignorance holds no merit with our Lord: "If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs 24:12). The two of us seriously weigh before our Father whether our presence at a particular event lends our affirmation of it. His warning about the perils of compromised participation is serious: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure" (1 Timothy 5:22).

We hope you'll consider and discuss the truths we've shared here. We encounter so many who in their own eyes are innocent, but from our Lord's perspective are guilty of negligence and worldly rationale. You don't want to be one of these.

A word to the wise:

When you have a concern and
you know you need to speak up,
there is a window of time
for God's grace to prevail.
Once you've chosen to be silently uninvolved,
you're now part of the problem —
you've become entangled in the
codependent, interpersonal tension.

It takes a lot of love, holy boldness and confidence in the commands of God to face down a wrong that's being committed. But if you're walking in the Spirit of Jesus, you are responsible as our Father's instrument to represent His righteousness and perspective: "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked" (Proverbs 25:26)

Sharing light to help keep you out of darkness,
Mike & Sue

March 9, 2011

Preprogrammed Prejudice
Breeding rebellion against God's Word
while incurring injustice toward others

In Lifebyte 75 we wrote about "Preprogrammed Prejudice: An Indicator of Toxicity":
"The mindset of the Hardened, Mocking and God-denying fools is controlled by what we call 'Preprogrammed prejudice.' Their response toward other people flows from a selfish and prejudicial set of values they’ve established, often from youth.
Without the light of Jesus influencing their perspective toward others, their thinking processes operate from a fortress of darkness. This means that they resist drawing close to those whom they don’t like, even if they can’t explain their hostility. Or, they avoid anyone they perceive might somehow penetrate their darkness with the light of Christ."

This sort of prejudice has nothing to do with the kind of love our Lord would have each of us reflect to others:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).

Of all these facets of love, the most commonly violated one we've observed in our years of ministry is that people keep records of the wrongs done to them by others. Throughout Christendom this sin of unforgiveness is pandemic. The Bible is firm in warning all of us, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). Yet because of the bitterness permeating their minds, those who have missed the grace God would give them to forgive keep holding on to what others have done to them.

What's painfully ironic is that in many cases the original hurt that precipitated the prejudicial memory may be long forgotten. But, some of the prejudiced person's current relationships suffer the injustice of being defiled by unforgiveness based on that old, preprogrammed response.

To their own woe, those who cling to their record of wrongs have NEVER come to the point of appreciating Jesus and just how much sin He's willing to forgive them of. The degree to which you grasp the depth of your own sin and value the cost of Jesus's shed blood is the degree to which you readily forgive others. People who feel justified in holding on to a "record of wrongs" have swallowed one of the false gospels peddled today that allow people to stay ensnared in their dark prison of unforgiveness.

Preprogrammed prejudice that emanates from unforgiveness obstructs the development of the love Jesus calls for in those who belong to Him (John 13:35). If you've been holding things against someone from your past, you'll hurt many other relationships later in life. That preprogrammed prejudice impairs your interaction with others; you're unable to freely accept and love those He calls His "brothers and sisters." [In Lesson 48 of Discussing How to Restore the Early Church we describe how a man's unresolved bitterness with his mother harms his relationship with his wife.]

"A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes
will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1)

There's also a direct correlation between those who hold ill feelings toward others and their unwillingness to receive correction. If you hold ill feelings toward someone, you'll resist reproof from anyone.
You'll steer clear of the truth you need to hear:
• by avoiding people who would confront you;
• by pouting (or withdrawing) when people do speak up, thus terminating all further intervention.
What's so sad about these responses is that the very people who could offer correction back off or are driven away by the resistant spirit.

Test yourself:
• What people do you have an emotional aversion to?
• Whom have you driven away who spoke truth that you didn't want to hear?
• Are there people even from your past who are made in God's image and for whom Jesus died that you hold resentment against?
• Are you one of the people who have given up telling someone what they need to hear?

"Do not hate your brother in your heart.
Rebuke your neighbor frankly
so you will not share in his guilt" (Leviticus 19:17).

This command from our God confirms that we are our "brother's keeper," answering the question voiced by the murderer, Cain (Genesis 4:9). No matter how YOU feel about it, if you follow Jesus you have a responsibility to others—to rebuke them when it is needed! And, to readily receive an appropriate rebuke when it is given to you! (See Proverbs 15:31.)

Those who keep a record of wrongs often find giving and receiving godly rebukes a difficult directive. Because of their soul's darkness they are prejudiced against receiving correction. And, they lack the love of Jesus that would prompt them to offer a righteous rebuke. In reality, preprogrammed prejudiced people befriend each other under the condition that "if you don't burst my bitter bubble, I won't burst yours." But sorely missing from that perspective is an essential criteria for love: "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" — even if that truth is given in the form of a reproof.

A word to the wise:

When you're rebuked by someone,
appreciate the courage it took for
that person to speak up.
Don't focus on your hurt feelings.
That you can receive a rebuke without being ruffled
is a sign of humility, revealing that your heart
is resolute in becoming more like Jesus.
That you are willing to rebuke someone
reveals both your love for them and for the truth.

On what basis do you rebuke someone? And for that matter, on what basis do you correct your children? NOT because they're doing something that annoys you or inconveniences you. A rebuke is a redemptive act with the goal that the rebuked person would instill a biblical character quality to replace the sinful one you are confronting. (See Revelation 3:19 for the intertwining of rebuke and love.)

Rebuking is ALWAYS based on confronting a violation of God's Word. The laws of God — His teaching and instruction — are aimed at producing Christ-like character in His people through His indwelling Spirit. Many of His commands entail the freedom and boundary that our children and others we deeply care about need to know and to make their way of life. Establishing the parameters of freedom within God's boundaries is one of the seven needs we are all born with.

Consider why parameters of freedom and boundary in parenting are so important:
"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:10,11). With that in mind, what is the biblical definition of "discipline?"

A word to the wise:

Discipline is God's means of training children and adults
to make His commands a way of life.
His commands become the principles
upon which character is founded,
and guides the just treatment of others.

Discipline uses appropriate chastisement/punishment
to correct disobedience and instill obedience.

Because the sin nature inherently resists any and all of God's commands, no one in authority should resort to cajoling anyone, including children, into obeying God's Word. Verbal arm-twisting reinforces rebellion and perpetuates stubborn resistance. If you as a parent or person with authority have the truth someone needs to hear, never try to persuade them to obey through coaxing or bribing. That's nullifying the veracity of God's Word!

When you appeal to a person's sin nature, that hardens him or her to the truth they need to hear, closing them off to the Christ-like character quality they need to develop. When you wheedle, you're actually convincing them that they're in charge. No one in authority should ever beg for obedience.  As the Bible so often affirms, the fear of righteous, prompt punishment is a strong deterrent, keeping both children and adults from repeating the same sin.

A word to the wise:

The boundaries of attitude and behavior
God requires of parents to instill in children
are a God-given need at birth.
As God's principles become part of their character,
a child develops deeper trust in the parent
who loves them enough to do whatever
is necessary to instill God's boundaries in them.
A child's continuing trust in his or her parents
is a sure sign that they are fulfilling
the corrective responsibilities
God requires of them in His Word.

"...rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith"
(Titus 1:13)

We who follow Jesus have no excuse to duck rebuking someone when it is appropriate. Our Father commands us to do this out of love for that person! If you're reluctant to rebuke, then your motives need a deeper understanding of WHY God gave us the Bible: every bit is breathed by Him into the Scripture writers. He WILLS that we know and use His Word — BOTH Testaments.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2Timothy 3:16). Paul then tells Timothy to fulfill this biblical purpose: "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction" (2Timothy 4:2). We need to be able to do likewise whenever the situation warrants it.

If you can lovingly give a corrective rebuke when it is needed, that's a clear sign that you are not hindered by preprogrammed prejudice against the commands in God's Word to do so, or against any human being. How important to you is this admonition? "Better is open rebuke than hidden love" (Proverbs 27:5).

"Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts"
(Hebrews 4:7)

One last area of preprogrammed prejudice can impede your growth in Christ. It's your reluctance to willingly obey our Lord no matter what. When Jesus says to you, "Follow Me," or "Obey Me," He doesn't allow for any preconditions. In other words, He won't entertain any preprogrammed prejudice against immediately responding to what His Spirit is telling you, His beloved child. 

Unconditional, prejudice-free willingness to obey is His prerequisite for His loving disciple to respond, "Yes, Lord!" Jesus rejected or rebuked those who offered Him any precondition to immediate obedience (see Luke 9:57-61). He didn't accept excuses from His first followers, and He certainly doesn't today! Our hearts should always be ready to respond, "Yes Lord, here am I!"

The indwelling Spirit of Christ brings forth so much character development in those who have ears to hear and follow through! Love, patient endurance in times of trial and persecution, and a readiness to obey that's borne out of a love for Jesus and ALL others we encounter must be the foundation of our motivations. Anything less than this reflects a prejudicial heart toward our Lord, His Word, and/or other people.

If you need help in what we're discussing here, cry out to Jesus and solicit the help of others who want to become more like Him themselves. If you hesitate in your response to Jesus, don't rest until you root out the prejudicial cause that's hindering you.

Wanting to help prepare you for the Dark Days of Chastisement,
Mike & Sue

March 4, 2011

"Take your pay and go. I want to give the man
who was hired last the same as I gave you" (Matthew 20:14)

While in the Navy I [Mike] was sent to graduate school because of a specific assignment at the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, California. California Lutheran College, which I attended from 1973-75, had a graduate program right on the base where I also lived, so convenience played a big part in my school selection. (At that time I wasn't following Jesus yet, nor had I ever read the Bible.) In my Ethics course we had to do a major term paper. However, rather than letting me choose my own topic like the rest of the students, my professor assigned me one. "I want you to write your paper on the parable of the vineyard owner in Matthew 20:1-16. Tell me what you learn about God from this parable."

I remember going home that evening and opening an old family Bible that had collected dust under the coffee table. I found Matthew 20 and began to read. The first thing that struck me was, "Why do they put numbers in front of the sentences?" (As you can tell, I was totally illiterate about Scripture!) It was around this time that my recently "born again" sister Mary challenged me to read the Bible for the first time. I can look back now and recognize that through this and other events God was chasing me down. He was determined by His mighty loving grace for me to become one of His own!

[In our book, Restoring the Early Church, we recounted the story of Dick Shand, a Navy pilot stationed with me at Pt. Mugu. Dick was the first person I’d ever met who was committed to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. Thirty-seven years ago Dick saved the lives of five others, ultimately crashing his helicopter into the sea and perishing. Three days later I flew the memorial wreath out to Dick’s crash site. That was the day God reached into my life and began to change me dramatically. Someone I had personally known had been consecrated to Him, someone authentic in His walk in Christ. My first role model in following Jesus had laid down his life to save others.]

As I worked on the Ethics paper going through the Bible using a concordance, I became aware of how deeply concerned our Father in heaven is with the physical needs of those He has created. No matter how many hours each man put in on the job, the Vineyard owner paid everyone a day's wage. He regarded the workers more from the vantage of their need than from his desire for profit. That motive permeates God's Word, for He is the ultimate Source of all provision. As a gracious Father, He took care of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:16), the Israelites in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:3), the prophet Elijah hiding in a cave (1Kings 19:2-9), and a host of other examples. But in the Bible I also saw how our God hates greed. Hates it with a passion!

Father's great heart as Provider has a twofold purpose. Not only does He want people to perceive their desperate need for Him and trust Him for provision. He also intends that through His faithful example, they would then readily meet the needs of others. This is an authentic indication that they belonged to Him—out of love for Him they would love others as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). Such concern that extends beyond self permeates His commands, which, as a wise sage once said, were simply commentary on what loving God and others is all about.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 19:9,10).

"Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:10,11).

Our Lord isn't looking for you to parcel out a little to others so that you’ll feel good about yourself and still have plenty for personal indulgence. The help you measure out to others will be poured out to you as a blessing from all your labor (Luke 6:38). From a Hebraic standpoint, to do what is right constitutes your true worship of God as His child (1John 2:29,3:10). To love God is to love your fellow man in a way that meets his needs. Pious words alone have no effect if unaccompanied by help. (See James 2:14-17.) Jesus warns us to keep everything we have in open hands. We are stewards, not owners, of what He’s given us here on earth — vessels through whom He pours out His blessings.

"'The eye is the lamp of the body.' So if you have a ‘good eye’ [if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22,23). It really is a heart issue; is yours bountiful or tightfisted?

Greed is the god of the United States
"A stingy man is eager to get rich
and is unaware that poverty awaits him"
(Proverbs 28:22)

The Apostle Paul reminded Christ followers in Colossae to keep focused on things above, things that matter to our Father. Why did they need this reminder? Because, as with people in this country today, hunger for earthly things was a constant temptation to give way to sin. Paul defines greed as idolatry (See Colossians 3:1-5). Greed is demonic at its core. It is Satan's seduction to fan intense and selfish desire, especially for wealth and power. A heart overcome by greed is fixated on self-fulfillment that's gained through personal effort and achievement. Having no need for God in his life, the greedy person blinds himself (or herself) to the real needs of others.

When you study the beginnings of this nation, relatively few were motivated by a desire for religious freedom. On the contrary, the majority were driven by greed — an urgent pursuit of self-gain that ultimately cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans. Financial institutions became bastions of greed for those at the top. Now, with the concurrent demise of personally owned businesses and the rise of mega-corporations, the idol Greed has become THE god of this nation. Employee interests have fallen by the wayside as investors pressure corporate boards toward greater profits. If the Vineyard owner had been driven by that mindset, many of his workers would have starved!

Why has today's two-party political system predominated? Because of greed. The Republicans represent the agenda of the greedy rich despite their veneer of alignment with conservative values. Historically, interwoven with the big-business interests of the Republican Party has been its connection with the Masons as power brokers of influence. [For more on the evil impact of Freemasonry in this country, see Lifebyte 59: Will You Be Among Those Our Lord Chastises?]

The Democrats, while historically focused on materials needs of society, have done nothing to support the dignity of those in need. Impersonal and irresponsible welfare programs have made the needy ever more dependent on handouts, reaping a generational pattern of entitlement dependence. Biblical charity, on the other hand, is dignity-driven; help is given with the purpose to return (or bring) the individual to self-provision. The type of help given by the Democrats comes with a tremendous cost — excessive spending in all areas has reaped unimaginable debt for the next generations. Each child born today is saddled with close to $50,000 of government debt that must be paid. Simply by being born in the United States the debt they owe is a greed-driven curse on this nation. This situation hasn't gone unnoticed by our God — and it's only going to get worse unless there's widescale repentance!

One of the most identifiable phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence is the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Considered by some as part of the most well-crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language, these three aspects are listed among the "unalienable rights" of humanity.

However, a life aimed at the pursuit of personal happiness is not a biblical goal! And, looking to achieve fullness of life and liberty through self-effort does away with our need for God. Remember, most of the Founding Fathers were "deists" — a theology in which God created everything but left it up to mankind to run it as we see fit. He's merely a "benign overseer", uninvolved in the affairs of men. Sadly, many Christians we've met live like deists — giving God intellectual assent that He exists but unconcerned about His will or His commands and His purposes.

What is the motive of your heart as you labor on behalf of your family? Is it to meet your needs and help others as His Spirit directs, or to sustain a lifestyle that’s personally gratifying but wasteful and self-indulgent? The current housing foreclosure crisis points up the tragedy of living beyond your means, presupposing that your financial status quo will continue. But using up your resources just to satisfy yourself is stingy and uncaring — definitely unlike the character of Christ!

"Those who know Your name will trust in You,
for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You"
(Psalms 9:10)

When the Dark Days of Chastisement come on this nation, we hope that the hearts of Christians in particular will align with Father's purposes. Perhaps then business owners will see themselves as stewards of God's resources to benefit both themselves and their workers. Perhaps greed will cease dominating the business climate among those who come (or return) to Jesus as Lord of their whole life. Perhaps chastisement will produce a republic form of government without the two parties constantly fighting each other over their individual states' interests. (Keep in mind that historically, a democracy will over time devolve to an antagonistic society in which each person indulges their own sin nature regardless of the impact on others.) In a republic, older and wiser men who truly represent the needs of ALL the people govern. You may think this is naive. But, you haven't seen how God blesses a people when they live according to His ways: "He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever" (Psalms 111:5).

For years we've been graced with the fruit of our Father's blessing by conducting our ministry according to His revealed will. How faithful He's been! He has made sure that we don't beg for money, but instead trust the Holy Spirit to prompt those He wants to be part of our work. We established our ministry practices on biblical halakhahs, that is applications, over 30 years ago based on these scriptures: "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8); "Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God" (2Corinthians 2:17; see also 1Timothy 5:18).

We've presented this truth before, and it's worth repeating:
Following Jesus entails obedience-based trust that is grounded in a love relationship much like that between Abraham and God. Obedience-based trust means that we are concerned with seeking our Father’s will and doing it no matter what the cost. And, as His Word attests, with obedience come His guidance, His provision, and His power to complete that will!
Outcome-based religious practice, on the other hand, relies on human rationale rather than obedient trust. That's the world's way of doing things. People governed by that framework seek a particular, desired result regardless of whether it is our Father’s will for them.

We leave you with this passage which captures the reality of your life as our Father would like you to understand yourself in these dark and greedy times:

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:1-4).

Looking forward to seeing you at the Banquet,
Mike & Sue

March 26, 2011

"As a door turns on its hinges,
so a sluggard turns on his bed.
The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth"
(Proverbs 26:14,15)

Years ago while I (Mike) was stationed aboard a Navy ship off Vietnam, a problem of malingering was manifesting itself among the ship's crew. The word "malingerer" isn't used much today, but the effects of someone who continually shirks responsibility or pretends to be sick to avoid doing their part is devastating on the confines of a military vessel. It was already a difficult time emotionally; everyone knew the war was already lost. All that remained was for the treaty to be signed.

One night at Officer's Call the Executive Officer (XO) of the ship cited that over 10% of the crew were reporting to Sick Bay each morning feigning illness of one sort or another. Malingering is a punishable offense if you can prove it, especially since others then have to pick up the extra workload. It's a real morale killer!

Even though I was part of the helicopter detachment onboard and not ship's company, I volunteered to straighten the problem out. The next morning I showed up in Sick Bay during Sick Call. The ship's doctor, Jerry, was a good friend of mine. When I arrived, he was seeing a patient in one of the examining rooms. About 60 men were waiting in line for their turn, and none of them looked particularly sick.

I walked up to the Chief Corpsman for a private conversation. "You've really got a problem here..." The Chief replied, "It's got us in an awful place. The XO wants this malingering stopped, but we can't turn anyone away who shows up here." Glancing over at the long line, I smiled slightly. "Would you like some help?" Taken aback, the Chief arched his brows but answered, "Sure, but what can you do?" I grinned, "Give me a white smock to put over my flight suit, and just follow my lead."

The Chief and I then walked up to the first man in line. I raised my voice so that ALL could hear. "What's ailing you?" The man was somewhat startled but murmured, "I've got this stiffness in my shoulder and I don't think I can do my job." "What's your job?" the Chief asked. The young man replied, "I'm a radar operator." I directed him toward an open examining room. "Go in there, drop your pants and lean over the table." The young man turned toward the Chief and bellowed, "It's my shoulder, not my butt!" The Chief calmly responded, "Lieutenant Dowgiewicz needs to give you a thorough exam." Gesturing toward me the sailor exclaimed, "He's not even a doctor!" The Chief retorted, "He knows what he's doing!'

The man hesitated as he eyeballed both of us. He then turned away and left Sick Bay, with about 55 other wide-eyed guys following him. That ended the malingering. As I took off the smock the Chief stood there with a Cheshire cat grin. At that moment the doctor came out of the exam room, surprised to see only a few sailors left in line. "Where'd they all go?" he asked incredulously. Still smiling broadly the Chief answered, "Lieutenant Dowgiewicz healed them!"

"We want each of you to show this same diligence
to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 
We do not want you to become lazy,
but to imitate those who through trust and patience
inherit what has been promised" (Hebrews 6:11,12)

It's no surprise to our Father how complacent humans can become. This is especially true as we neglect interpersonal responsibilities to others. There are 54 "one-anothering" commands in the Newer Testament. Each of these commands is designed for Jesus followers to reflect His love to others in His family. Ask yourself this. In your daily life are you actively engaged in being His blessing to others — loving and serving as His hands and heart? Or, would our Lord call you a "malingerer?"

Jesus voiced a parable in Matthew 25:14-30 to warn us about being lazy in fulfilling responsibilities He's assigned to His own. (Keep in mind that he related this to His disciples, knowing that they would eventually be sharing this admonition with other believers after His resurrection.) Leaving on a journey, a man entrusts his three servants with various amounts of money, each according to their ability. When he returns and asks them to render account, he discovers that the wicked, lazy one did nothing with the resources given him. Rather, he maligned the character of his master, using his own disregard for the man's authority as an excuse to spurn responsibility.

Listen to the point our Lord Jesus makes. It's a warning to each of us to be diligent in our obedient trust rather than self-serving and rebellious as the world is: "Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v.30).

The Bible leaves no doubt that authentic faith is evidenced by your actions. (See James 2:14-26, for example.) If the Spirit of Christ is dwelling within you, you are His instrument of blessing to others. Even the Israelites recognized their responsibility as His people to follow through in response to need: "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act" (Proverbs 3:27). The love that was manifested in Jesus motivated Him to turn water into wine and heal the sick and the blind. It was within His power to act.  Through the Spirit at work in and through you, what is within your power to act to help others?

Discuss with your family or faith family your interpersonal responsibilities toward others. The commands below written through God's spokesmen can be a starting point for you:

• "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:28).
• "Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13).
• "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9).
• "And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased" (Hebrews 13:16).

If you've been shirking the responsibilities our Lord Jesus has made so clear to His beloved sheep in His Word, please read our October 1998 Newsletter, The Almost Christian, a free download at our website. It may give you some valuable insights to refresh your loving determination to press on in His steps.

A word to the wise:

David, who well understood both
the overwhelming mercy of God
as well as his own responsibility to Him,
asked this poignant question:
"LORD, who may abide in Your sanctuary?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" (Psalm 15).
His response reveals the heart determination of those
whose actions align with their words:
"He who walks uprightly,
          And works righteousness,
          And speaks the truth in his heart;...
"He who keeps his oath even when it hurts."

This passage has very practical considerations even for your priorities with the resources Father has entrusted to you. We've met many missionaries and others who've gone forth relying on the promise of support from people who later abruptly reneged on giving. While financial situations can obviously change, those to whom help was promised are often left in the dark, wondering what happened. Ask yourself this. Have you malingered by not keeping your word to someone who had been counting on your help?

Please, examine your life and the words you speak. Don't make casual promises, then back down. Ask those close to you for their observations about you:
• Are you a malingerer? Or, do your actions reflect our Lord's love for others through you?
• Does your word really matter, especially when it's difficult for you to keep it? What you speak goes far beyond the moment: "I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken" (Matthew 12:36). In our years of ministry we've encountered many who were emotionally scarred by the unkept promises of others.

We sensed from our Lord that we should share this warning because you may be among those who are choosing self-pursuit over obeying the Lord you say you love. Is your walk coinciding with your talk? Please, take the time with others close to you in the faith to discuss if you're responsive to our Lord in what He's calling you to do in Him. Ask them if they see determination to follow through in what you say. Your very words and responsiveness reflect the depth of your bond with both Lord Jesus and with others.
 
Sharing in love according to the measure of faith He has given us,
Mike & Sue

March 22, 2011

The American Dream — Satan's trap

Many years ago a friend purchased a 200-year-old house in Connecticut. As he was tearing out a wall during remodeling, he found 12 dead mice, one behind the other and stuck in the narrow passage behind the wall. The rodents were emaciated, having been confined there a long time. As best as he could determine, each had followed the next until the first got stuck. The passage was too narrow for any of them to turn around. How would you like to die nose-to-tail?

This depicts exactly what Satan has been doing through the lie of the "American Dream." The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom encompasses the possibility of prosperity and success. James Truslow Adams expressed the American Dream in 1931: "Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth."

When Adams wrote about the American Dream, the Great Depression had been intensifying. But he missed a crucial element in his evaluation of the American Dream, namely that God had passed judgment on this nation as a result of the widespread decadence of the "Roaring 20's." Caught up in the fairy tale of the American Dream, President Roosevelt enacted the Social Security Act and other similar programs.

In establishing these measures, Roosevelt established the government as the 'god' in whom so many Americans have put their trust. For example, government rather than family became the caretaker for the elderly. And through delegation of that biblically-based responsibility once undertaken by kinfolk without question, intergenerational connectedness has deteriorated ever since.

This unholy merger of unbiblical goals and misplaced trust has seduced countless millions into seeking an "earthly heaven" — life, liberty and the pursuit of the desires of their own sin nature. This is the hidden deceit of THE American Dream: dogged pursuit of a pleasure-filled "heaven" on earth, a "heaven" without dependence on God.

Yet at what cost comes this earthly pursuit in violation of Scripture's warning? "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever" (1 John 2:15-17).
Those who are Spirit-minded have nothing in common with those whose hearts are firmly fixed on worldly gain: "O LORD, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life" (Psalms 17:14a).

And isn't Paul issuing a dire warning of what lies ahead for Jesus followers whose values have been compromised with those of the world? "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1Timothy 6:10)?

The foundation Jesus gives His followers for our way of life on earth is far removed from pursuing the self-satiation of the American Dream:

"If anyone would come after Me,
he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow Me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,
and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (Luke 9:23-25)

Following Jesus with wholehearted devotion leaves no room for the idol of self. "Losing your life" — forfeiting worldly goals and values for the sake of loving and serving Jesus — is a motive of the heart and a way of life in Him that leads through the "Narrow Gate." And that narrow, biblical path of obedient trust is the ONLY way we can enter heaven. Several generations have passed since the government installed itself as god of the people. The rotted fruit of this "earthly deity" is successive generations in bondage to ever-increasing greed, a greed which has spawned massive, unpayable debt to curse generations yet unborn.

What an awful heritage the American Dream has generated, much to the delight of our Enemy! During the past few decades the devilish "health and wealth gospel" and Church Growth Movement have led the way in seducing multitudes of Christians to join unbelieving Americans in the pursuit of greed (see 2Timothy 3:1-5). A stop sign is needed NOW for these who call themselves God's people to reconsider who they're following and where their interests lay. It isn't too late yet to repent!

Isaiah Still Speaks

If you're clinging to the way of our Lord in the face of such widespread evil, Isaiah's words will strengthen and encourage you:
•"Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds" (3:10).
• "You will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal" (26:3,4).
• "The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever" (32:17).

However, God also speaks through His prophet to utter warnings to those who have forsaken His holy standards and brought His judgment on this nation:
• "The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves" (3:9). The specific sin of sodomy condemned by Paul in Romans 1:24-27 was once despised in this nation, then became tolerated, and now is touted and paraded.

• "People will oppress each other—man against man, neighbor against neighbor. The young will rise up against the old, the base against the honorable" (3:5). Tensions today are great between the elderly with their medical needs and the next generation who fear that the government trough will be empty before they can feed from it. Federal and State administrations are adversarial, each demanding more from the self-preservational taxpayers who desperately clutch the little they have.

• Those who should be calling people to repentance are instead entertaining them with messages of false hope and counterfeit peace: "Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray" (9:16).

• Biblical patterns leave no doubt—God's judgment IS coming. Those of you who are prophetic have been confirming this with us for some time. Surely our Lord has been long-suffering and patient as He has looked for response to His many warnings: "See, the day of the LORD is coming —a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger— to make the land desolate and destroy the sinners within it" (13:9).

• The righteous in Christ need to remain repentant as terrible days come upon this nation. People who love evil will continue to pursue it, despising the grace that God has shown them:
"But the people have not returned to Him who struck them, nor have they sought the LORD Almighty" (9:13).
"Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD" (26:10; see also Revelation 9:20, 16:9,11).

If you cherish righteousness and love Jesus as your Lord, we want to encourage you: NOW is the time to turn to the power of Jesus' name and make sure no darkness is found in your soul. Don't give the devil a foothold he can use to seduce you when everything around you is being destroyed.

If you've wondered what the coming Dark Days of Chastisement might be like, just look at God's judgments currently going on throughout the earth. The Bible describes "birth pangs" and days of chastisement much like we see in Japan right now: earthquakes, floods, nuclear disaster, and bitter cold. Please, don't doubt that there will be a series of tragedies in this nation as well. Complacent disregard for God's holy commands will be shaken, and suddenly.

According to the unchangeable truth of God's Word, He brings judgment wherever there is widespread toleration for sin and/or people worship false gods. He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their pervasive toleration for homosexuality and their disregard for the poor (Ezekiel 16:49). When God wanted to free the Israelites from Egypt and Pharaoh refused, He sent ten plagues, one at a time. Each plague was a direct assault on one of the false gods the Egyptians trusted in — powerless demonic entities in whom even some of the Israelites may have been seduced into worshipping. From time to time our God reaffirms that He is GOD and there is no other (Deuteronomy 4:35,39).

Is there a connection between some of the major catastrophes in recent years and the sins that were tolerated in those places?
Was Hurricane Katrina God's judgment on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast for the widespread prostitution, homosexuality and gambling rampant in that region?

Was the earthquake in Haiti an assault on their religious amalgam of Roman Catholicism and voodoo? Was it God's hand that the Bishop who should have upheld biblical truth was crushed inside his own flattened cathedral?

Was 9/11 an attack on the bastion of greed in New York that infects the entire country? Is the economic collapse both here and around the world His way of revealing that we are trusting in the wrong thing?

Was the attack on the Pentagon His way of making them give an account for the unjust wars both the administrations and the military have gotten this nation into? Thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians have been killed by the US because of our fear and greed. Remember, the last war this country won was World War II. In the meantime, many of our men and women have gone out to kill people who have not attacked us, and many of our own have died needlessly in unjust conflicts.

Japan is an empire of Buddha worship. Is God reaching them by undermining their confidence in a false god who neither hears their prayers nor can save them? Is He breaking down the self-sufficient, self-righteous pride of this demonic theology to humble them into having "ears to hear" the Jesus followers who are being thrust into their presence to help? Remember, our God doesn't want any to be lost, but all to enter into His Covenant in Jesus. Throughout history He has crippled the confidence of those who trust false gods, and has brought to them His chosen vessels of Truth.

+ + + + + + +

Our God is merciful. He sent Jonah to the Gentiles of Nineveh, who heeded the censure and repented of their sins. Father repeatedly warns people before He enacts judgment. But unlike repentant Nineveh, few today seem to be listening.

A word to the wise:

A job is one of our Father's means to
supply your provision.
That income is secondary
to the people He puts you in contact with
through your work.
Reaching them so they may embrace His Covenant
is our Lord's goal, and it must be yours as well.
He always puts you in proximity to people
so that you'll represent Him!

The Psalmist asked, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalms 11:3). Plenty! Loving and pleasing our Lord by staying repentant, becoming and remaining free of strongholds, making His Word your way of life, and lovingly reaching others for Jesus will keep you from being shaken when the ungodly foundations of this nation are removed.

Whether or not we'll be on earth when God's judgments fully unfold, we both sense the time is getting short. Press on in His Spirit, assured of His faithfulness, power and love.
Mike & Sue

March 15, 2011

Did You Speak Up?

Perhaps along with us you can recall certain events you readily participated in without giving it a second thought — until the Spirit of Christ in you evoked a deeper understanding of what was actually taking place. For example, when we first became followers of Jesus we continued to unhesitatingly accept invitations to weddings. But as time went on, we began to recognize our scriptural responsibility to the groom and bride if we were to be "witnesses" to their marriage ceremony.

We also sensed that the Holy Spirit was stirring an uneasiness as we witnessed certain nuptials. Later, we made the connection between our inner discomfiture and the divorces that ensued down the road. We realized that God was warning us that particular couples were unprepared, and that their marriage was not going to last. He didn't want us serving as witnesses to covenant vows that were going to be broken.

Sadly, the correlation between our uneasiness at particular weddings and the subsequent divorces was so unmistakable that we began to warn family and friends of impending marital problems before the ceremony even took place. That may sounds a little arrogant, but we knew that our God holds witnesses to a wedding responsible for affirming that He wants the couple to be joined in matrimony.

Weddings are a communal, collective celebration, a participation in a covenant God established with the first couple in the Garden of Eden. A marriage offers a physical representation of the spiritual relationship between Jesus, our heavenly Bridegroom, and His Bride, the called-out ones of His Body, the Church. This is a holy relationship, intended by God to be a permanent, one man/one woman union parted only by death. Just because marriage has become trivialized in this culture doesn't nullify God's intent for it, especially when it comes to bringing forth children He wants to be raised to love and serve Him!

Do you recall that marriage ceremonies used to challenge witnesses, "Is there anyone here who believes this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony? Let him (or her) speak up now, or forever hold his peace." Perhaps the reason those words sound somewhat antiquated is that today no one wants to get on the wrong side of either the couple or the parents. But those with doubts should have spoken up beforehand!

Could this warning be extrapolated to apply to those who remain silent when they know they're witnessing a likely-to-fail marriage: "If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible" (Leviticus 5:1)? Consider as well that in many wedding ceremonies the pastor charges the witnesses to commit themselves to help the couple succeed in their marriage. The communal intent of a wedding extends this responsibility beyond just the Best Man and Maid of Honor. But how few, including the fathers and mothers of the bride and groom, take this duty seriously.

During our years at the retreat center we heard the woes of so many parents whose offspring ultimately divorced. In so many cases, one of the fathers of the couple sensed that this marriage wasn't going to work, or that the prospective bride and groom needed further time to be prepared for marriage. All too often, however, the mother persuaded her dubious husband to back off and keep quiet. The most frequent excuses? "They're in love," or, "The arrangements have all been made," or, "We worked our problems out; they will too." Are you among those who attended a wedding recognizing that the couple was headed for trouble — yet didn't speak up beforehand? Serving as a witness to marriage vows carries a responsibility to God and to the couple!

After the wedding, these same woeful parents admitted they held extreme prejudice against their child's spouse. ("He's so selfish and irresponsible." "She's lazy and self-centered.") Instead of recognizing that both partners contributed to marital discord, they always blamed the in-law for the problems. When the marriage really got strained, the parents took obvious sides against their daughter-in-law or son-in-law, expediting the divorce rather than stepping in to mediate and help reconcile. And, when the divorce was final, these same parents were quick to excuse their adult child, slandering the ex-in-law by blaming him or her for everything.

"Teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road,
when you lie down and when you get up"
(Deuteronomy 11:19).

Parents who lack a strong biblical basis for their own marriage may find themselves unwittingly establishing in their children the wrong motives for marriage—motives that will ultimately contribute to divorce. You may have been one of these unmindful fathers or mothers...

For example:
Years ago I (Mike) was talking with a relative (who never read the Bible) and his soon-to-be-married son. Money always came up in the older man's discussions as a basis for happiness. With this materialistic focus he strongly encouraged his son to accept his prospective father-in-law's offer to join him in his business. However, I warned the young man not to do that, as it would hurt his marriage. If his wife saw that her father was the means to their provision, she'd never develop the respect for her husband that he needs (Ephesians 5:33). The greed of the young man's father prevailed. And yes, the young woman eventually divorced her husband. His pained but unrepentant father has not seen his two grandchildren for many years.

Have you instilled in your married child(ren) unbiblical motives that may seem right to the world but have only hurt their marriage or contributed to their divorce? Did you ever really let your heart grieve for what you did or failed to do, and then go to those younger people to ask for forgiveness? We've found that in many divorces in which the marriage lasted only a few years, the parents hold the greater guilt in God's sight. They refused to love that couple in a way that was willing to correct, rebuke and train them in righteousness in their relationship.

"A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is deceitful" (Proverbs 14:25)

Let's personalize this:
• Have you've been present at a wedding where you had grave doubts that this was God's will and/or timing, but still failed to speak up before the event took place?
• Did it ever occur to you that you were sinning through deceit, pretending that these vows would last by your silent consent?
• Did you ever ask forgiveness from the people involved for not having spoken up earlier?

A word to the wise:

Whenever you're asked to participate in anything
where by your mere presence
you're affirming the intent of the event,
be sure you confirm with God ahead of time
that you should even be there as a witness.

Pleading ignorance holds no merit with our Lord: "If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay each person according to what he has done?" (Proverbs 24:12). The two of us seriously weigh before our Father whether our presence at a particular event lends our affirmation of it. His warning about the perils of compromised participation is serious: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure" (1 Timothy 5:22).

We hope you'll consider and discuss the truths we've shared here. We encounter so many who in their own eyes are innocent, but from our Lord's perspective are guilty of negligence and worldly rationale. You don't want to be one of these.

A word to the wise:

When you have a concern and
you know you need to speak up,
there is a window of time
for God's grace to prevail.
Once you've chosen to be silently uninvolved,
you're now part of the problem —
you've become entangled in the
codependent, interpersonal tension.

It takes a lot of love, holy boldness and confidence in the commands of God to face down a wrong that's being committed. But if you're walking in the Spirit of Jesus, you are responsible as our Father's instrument to represent His righteousness and perspective: "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked" (Proverbs 25:26)

Sharing light to help keep you out of darkness,
Mike & Sue

March 9, 2011

Preprogrammed Prejudice
Breeding rebellion against God's Word
while incurring injustice toward others

In Lifebyte 75 we wrote about "Preprogrammed Prejudice: An Indicator of Toxicity":
"The mindset of the Hardened, Mocking and God-denying fools is controlled by what we call 'Preprogrammed prejudice.' Their response toward other people flows from a selfish and prejudicial set of values they’ve established, often from youth.
Without the light of Jesus influencing their perspective toward others, their thinking processes operate from a fortress of darkness. This means that they resist drawing close to those whom they don’t like, even if they can’t explain their hostility. Or, they avoid anyone they perceive might somehow penetrate their darkness with the light of Christ."

This sort of prejudice has nothing to do with the kind of love our Lord would have each of us reflect to others:
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).

Of all these facets of love, the most commonly violated one we've observed in our years of ministry is that people keep records of the wrongs done to them by others. Throughout Christendom this sin of unforgiveness is pandemic. The Bible is firm in warning all of us, "See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many" (Hebrews 12:15). Yet because of the bitterness permeating their minds, those who have missed the grace God would give them to forgive keep holding on to what others have done to them.

What's painfully ironic is that in many cases the original hurt that precipitated the prejudicial memory may be long forgotten. But, some of the prejudiced person's current relationships suffer the injustice of being defiled by unforgiveness based on that old, preprogrammed response.

To their own woe, those who cling to their record of wrongs have NEVER come to the point of appreciating Jesus and just how much sin He's willing to forgive them of. The degree to which you grasp the depth of your own sin and value the cost of Jesus's shed blood is the degree to which you readily forgive others. People who feel justified in holding on to a "record of wrongs" have swallowed one of the false gospels peddled today that allow people to stay ensnared in their dark prison of unforgiveness.

Preprogrammed prejudice that emanates from unforgiveness obstructs the development of the love Jesus calls for in those who belong to Him (John 13:35). If you've been holding things against someone from your past, you'll hurt many other relationships later in life. That preprogrammed prejudice impairs your interaction with others; you're unable to freely accept and love those He calls His "brothers and sisters." [In Lesson 48 of Discussing How to Restore the Early Church we describe how a man's unresolved bitterness with his mother harms his relationship with his wife.]

"A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes
will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1)

There's also a direct correlation between those who hold ill feelings toward others and their unwillingness to receive correction. If you hold ill feelings toward someone, you'll resist reproof from anyone.
You'll steer clear of the truth you need to hear:
• by avoiding people who would confront you;
• by pouting (or withdrawing) when people do speak up, thus terminating all further intervention.
What's so sad about these responses is that the very people who could offer correction back off or are driven away by the resistant spirit.

Test yourself:
• What people do you have an emotional aversion to?
• Whom have you driven away who spoke truth that you didn't want to hear?
• Are there people even from your past who are made in God's image and for whom Jesus died that you hold resentment against?
• Are you one of the people who have given up telling someone what they need to hear?

"Do not hate your brother in your heart.
Rebuke your neighbor frankly
so you will not share in his guilt" (Leviticus 19:17).

This command from our God confirms that we are our "brother's keeper," answering the question voiced by the murderer, Cain (Genesis 4:9). No matter how YOU feel about it, if you follow Jesus you have a responsibility to others—to rebuke them when it is needed! And, to readily receive an appropriate rebuke when it is given to you! (See Proverbs 15:31.)

Those who keep a record of wrongs often find giving and receiving godly rebukes a difficult directive. Because of their soul's darkness they are prejudiced against receiving correction. And, they lack the love of Jesus that would prompt them to offer a righteous rebuke. In reality, preprogrammed prejudiced people befriend each other under the condition that "if you don't burst my bitter bubble, I won't burst yours." But sorely missing from that perspective is an essential criteria for love: "Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth" — even if that truth is given in the form of a reproof.

A word to the wise:

When you're rebuked by someone,
appreciate the courage it took for
that person to speak up.
Don't focus on your hurt feelings.
That you can receive a rebuke without being ruffled
is a sign of humility, revealing that your heart
is resolute in becoming more like Jesus.
That you are willing to rebuke someone
reveals both your love for them and for the truth.

On what basis do you rebuke someone? And for that matter, on what basis do you correct your children? NOT because they're doing something that annoys you or inconveniences you. A rebuke is a redemptive act with the goal that the rebuked person would instill a biblical character quality to replace the sinful one you are confronting. (See Revelation 3:19 for the intertwining of rebuke and love.)

Rebuking is ALWAYS based on confronting a violation of God's Word. The laws of God — His teaching and instruction — are aimed at producing Christ-like character in His people through His indwelling Spirit. Many of His commands entail the freedom and boundary that our children and others we deeply care about need to know and to make their way of life. Establishing the parameters of freedom within God's boundaries is one of the seven needs we are all born with.

Consider why parameters of freedom and boundary in parenting are so important:
"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it" (Hebrews 12:10,11). With that in mind, what is the biblical definition of "discipline?"

A word to the wise:

Discipline is God's means of training children and adults
to make His commands a way of life.
His commands become the principles
upon which character is founded,
and guides the just treatment of others.

Discipline uses appropriate chastisement/punishment
to correct disobedience and instill obedience.

Because the sin nature inherently resists any and all of God's commands, no one in authority should resort to cajoling anyone, including children, into obeying God's Word. Verbal arm-twisting reinforces rebellion and perpetuates stubborn resistance. If you as a parent or person with authority have the truth someone needs to hear, never try to persuade them to obey through coaxing or bribing. That's nullifying the veracity of God's Word!

When you appeal to a person's sin nature, that hardens him or her to the truth they need to hear, closing them off to the Christ-like character quality they need to develop. When you wheedle, you're actually convincing them that they're in charge. No one in authority should ever beg for obedience.  As the Bible so often affirms, the fear of righteous, prompt punishment is a strong deterrent, keeping both children and adults from repeating the same sin.

A word to the wise:

The boundaries of attitude and behavior
God requires of parents to instill in children
are a God-given need at birth.
As God's principles become part of their character,
a child develops deeper trust in the parent
who loves them enough to do whatever
is necessary to instill God's boundaries in them.
A child's continuing trust in his or her parents
is a sure sign that they are fulfilling
the corrective responsibilities
God requires of them in His Word.

"...rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith"
(Titus 1:13)

We who follow Jesus have no excuse to duck rebuking someone when it is appropriate. Our Father commands us to do this out of love for that person! If you're reluctant to rebuke, then your motives need a deeper understanding of WHY God gave us the Bible: every bit is breathed by Him into the Scripture writers. He WILLS that we know and use His Word — BOTH Testaments.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2Timothy 3:16). Paul then tells Timothy to fulfill this biblical purpose: "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction" (2Timothy 4:2). We need to be able to do likewise whenever the situation warrants it.

If you can lovingly give a corrective rebuke when it is needed, that's a clear sign that you are not hindered by preprogrammed prejudice against the commands in God's Word to do so, or against any human being. How important to you is this admonition? "Better is open rebuke than hidden love" (Proverbs 27:5).

"Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts"
(Hebrews 4:7)

One last area of preprogrammed prejudice can impede your growth in Christ. It's your reluctance to willingly obey our Lord no matter what. When Jesus says to you, "Follow Me," or "Obey Me," He doesn't allow for any preconditions. In other words, He won't entertain any preprogrammed prejudice against immediately responding to what His Spirit is telling you, His beloved child. 

Unconditional, prejudice-free willingness to obey is His prerequisite for His loving disciple to respond, "Yes, Lord!" Jesus rejected or rebuked those who offered Him any precondition to immediate obedience (see Luke 9:57-61). He didn't accept excuses from His first followers, and He certainly doesn't today! Our hearts should always be ready to respond, "Yes Lord, here am I!"

The indwelling Spirit of Christ brings forth so much character development in those who have ears to hear and follow through! Love, patient endurance in times of trial and persecution, and a readiness to obey that's borne out of a love for Jesus and ALL others we encounter must be the foundation of our motivations. Anything less than this reflects a prejudicial heart toward our Lord, His Word, and/or other people.

If you need help in what we're discussing here, cry out to Jesus and solicit the help of others who want to become more like Him themselves. If you hesitate in your response to Jesus, don't rest until you root out the prejudicial cause that's hindering you.

Wanting to help prepare you for the Dark Days of Chastisement,
Mike & Sue

March 4, 2011

"Take your pay and go. I want to give the man
who was hired last the same as I gave you" (Matthew 20:14)

While in the Navy I [Mike] was sent to graduate school because of a specific assignment at the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, California. California Lutheran College, which I attended from 1973-75, had a graduate program right on the base where I also lived, so convenience played a big part in my school selection. (At that time I wasn't following Jesus yet, nor had I ever read the Bible.) In my Ethics course we had to do a major term paper. However, rather than letting me choose my own topic like the rest of the students, my professor assigned me one. "I want you to write your paper on the parable of the vineyard owner in Matthew 20:1-16. Tell me what you learn about God from this parable."

I remember going home that evening and opening an old family Bible that had collected dust under the coffee table. I found Matthew 20 and began to read. The first thing that struck me was, "Why do they put numbers in front of the sentences?" (As you can tell, I was totally illiterate about Scripture!) It was around this time that my recently "born again" sister Mary challenged me to read the Bible for the first time. I can look back now and recognize that through this and other events God was chasing me down. He was determined by His mighty loving grace for me to become one of His own!

[In our book, Restoring the Early Church, we recounted the story of Dick Shand, a Navy pilot stationed with me at Pt. Mugu. Dick was the first person I’d ever met who was committed to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. Thirty-seven years ago Dick saved the lives of five others, ultimately crashing his helicopter into the sea and perishing. Three days later I flew the memorial wreath out to Dick’s crash site. That was the day God reached into my life and began to change me dramatically. Someone I had personally known had been consecrated to Him, someone authentic in His walk in Christ. My first role model in following Jesus had laid down his life to save others.]

As I worked on the Ethics paper going through the Bible using a concordance, I became aware of how deeply concerned our Father in heaven is with the physical needs of those He has created. No matter how many hours each man put in on the job, the Vineyard owner paid everyone a day's wage. He regarded the workers more from the vantage of their need than from his desire for profit. That motive permeates God's Word, for He is the ultimate Source of all provision. As a gracious Father, He took care of Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:16), the Israelites in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:3), the prophet Elijah hiding in a cave (1Kings 19:2-9), and a host of other examples. But in the Bible I also saw how our God hates greed. Hates it with a passion!

Father's great heart as Provider has a twofold purpose. Not only does He want people to perceive their desperate need for Him and trust Him for provision. He also intends that through His faithful example, they would then readily meet the needs of others. This is an authentic indication that they belonged to Him—out of love for Him they would love others as themselves (Leviticus 19:18). Such concern that extends beyond self permeates His commands, which, as a wise sage once said, were simply commentary on what loving God and others is all about.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God" (Leviticus 19:9,10).

"Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open handed toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:10,11).

Our Lord isn't looking for you to parcel out a little to others so that you’ll feel good about yourself and still have plenty for personal indulgence. The help you measure out to others will be poured out to you as a blessing from all your labor (Luke 6:38). From a Hebraic standpoint, to do what is right constitutes your true worship of God as His child (1John 2:29,3:10). To love God is to love your fellow man in a way that meets his needs. Pious words alone have no effect if unaccompanied by help. (See James 2:14-17.) Jesus warns us to keep everything we have in open hands. We are stewards, not owners, of what He’s given us here on earth — vessels through whom He pours out His blessings.

"'The eye is the lamp of the body.' So if you have a ‘good eye’ [if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an ‘evil eye’ [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22,23). It really is a heart issue; is yours bountiful or tightfisted?

Greed is the god of the United States
"A stingy man is eager to get rich
and is unaware that poverty awaits him"
(Proverbs 28:22)

The Apostle Paul reminded Christ followers in Colossae to keep focused on things above, things that matter to our Father. Why did they need this reminder? Because, as with people in this country today, hunger for earthly things was a constant temptation to give way to sin. Paul defines greed as idolatry (See Colossians 3:1-5). Greed is demonic at its core. It is Satan's seduction to fan intense and selfish desire, especially for wealth and power. A heart overcome by greed is fixated on self-fulfillment that's gained through personal effort and achievement. Having no need for God in his life, the greedy person blinds himself (or herself) to the real needs of others.

When you study the beginnings of this nation, relatively few were motivated by a desire for religious freedom. On the contrary, the majority were driven by greed — an urgent pursuit of self-gain that ultimately cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans. Financial institutions became bastions of greed for those at the top. Now, with the concurrent demise of personally owned businesses and the rise of mega-corporations, the idol Greed has become THE god of this nation. Employee interests have fallen by the wayside as investors pressure corporate boards toward greater profits. If the Vineyard owner had been driven by that mindset, many of his workers would have starved!

Why has today's two-party political system predominated? Because of greed. The Republicans represent the agenda of the greedy rich despite their veneer of alignment with conservative values. Historically, interwoven with the big-business interests of the Republican Party has been its connection with the Masons as power brokers of influence. [For more on the evil impact of Freemasonry in this country, see Lifebyte 59: Will You Be Among Those Our Lord Chastises?]

The Democrats, while historically focused on materials needs of society, have done nothing to support the dignity of those in need. Impersonal and irresponsible welfare programs have made the needy ever more dependent on handouts, reaping a generational pattern of entitlement dependence. Biblical charity, on the other hand, is dignity-driven; help is given with the purpose to return (or bring) the individual to self-provision. The type of help given by the Democrats comes with a tremendous cost — excessive spending in all areas has reaped unimaginable debt for the next generations. Each child born today is saddled with close to $50,000 of government debt that must be paid. Simply by being born in the United States the debt they owe is a greed-driven curse on this nation. This situation hasn't gone unnoticed by our God — and it's only going to get worse unless there's widescale repentance!

One of the most identifiable phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence is the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Considered by some as part of the most well-crafted, influential sentences in the history of the English language, these three aspects are listed among the "unalienable rights" of humanity.

However, a life aimed at the pursuit of personal happiness is not a biblical goal! And, looking to achieve fullness of life and liberty through self-effort does away with our need for God. Remember, most of the Founding Fathers were "deists" — a theology in which God created everything but left it up to mankind to run it as we see fit. He's merely a "benign overseer", uninvolved in the affairs of men. Sadly, many Christians we've met live like deists — giving God intellectual assent that He exists but unconcerned about His will or His commands and His purposes.

What is the motive of your heart as you labor on behalf of your family? Is it to meet your needs and help others as His Spirit directs, or to sustain a lifestyle that’s personally gratifying but wasteful and self-indulgent? The current housing foreclosure crisis points up the tragedy of living beyond your means, presupposing that your financial status quo will continue. But using up your resources just to satisfy yourself is stingy and uncaring — definitely unlike the character of Christ!

"Those who know Your name will trust in You,
for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You"
(Psalms 9:10)

When the Dark Days of Chastisement come on this nation, we hope that the hearts of Christians in particular will align with Father's purposes. Perhaps then business owners will see themselves as stewards of God's resources to benefit both themselves and their workers. Perhaps greed will cease dominating the business climate among those who come (or return) to Jesus as Lord of their whole life. Perhaps chastisement will produce a republic form of government without the two parties constantly fighting each other over their individual states' interests. (Keep in mind that historically, a democracy will over time devolve to an antagonistic society in which each person indulges their own sin nature regardless of the impact on others.) In a republic, older and wiser men who truly represent the needs of ALL the people govern. You may think this is naive. But, you haven't seen how God blesses a people when they live according to His ways: "He provides food for those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever" (Psalms 111:5).

For years we've been graced with the fruit of our Father's blessing by conducting our ministry according to His revealed will. How faithful He's been! He has made sure that we don't beg for money, but instead trust the Holy Spirit to prompt those He wants to be part of our work. We established our ministry practices on biblical halakhahs, that is applications, over 30 years ago based on these scriptures: "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8); "Unlike so many, we do not peddle the Word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God" (2Corinthians 2:17; see also 1Timothy 5:18).

We've presented this truth before, and it's worth repeating:
Following Jesus entails obedience-based trust that is grounded in a love relationship much like that between Abraham and God. Obedience-based trust means that we are concerned with seeking our Father’s will and doing it no matter what the cost. And, as His Word attests, with obedience come His guidance, His provision, and His power to complete that will!
Outcome-based religious practice, on the other hand, relies on human rationale rather than obedient trust. That's the world's way of doing things. People governed by that framework seek a particular, desired result regardless of whether it is our Father’s will for them.

We leave you with this passage which captures the reality of your life as our Father would like you to understand yourself in these dark and greedy times:

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:1-4).

Looking forward to seeing you at the Banquet,
Mike & Sue

January 29, 2011

After You've Done Everything To Take A Stand, Then Stand Firm

Mike: My first assignment in the Navy was in a helicopter squadron in San Diego. Shortly after I arrived there, an officer named "Pete," who'd been assigned to a detachment operating off the coast of Vietnam, returned to the squadron. The Commanding Officer of the ship he was stationed on had relieved Pete of duty because he'd refused to take part in the hazing that's inflicted on Navy personnel during the "Shell Back" Ceremony. This is a traditional rite of passage when personnel cross the Equator for the first time, and it's intended to be humiliating.

Pete had gone through the hazing himself years earlier, but his own conscience dictated that he couldn't inflict the same indignity on others. The Commanding Officer cited him for lack of "upholding Navy tradition", and he wanted Pete's career ended. Pete's story interested me, so I spent time getting to know him after his return to the squadron. This was one of those milestone encounters you have in life in which you question what you would've done if you were in his shoes. It also brought back personal memories, since I'd been ridiculed as a senior in high school for not hazing freshmen even though I'd readily been hazed myself as one.

The consequences to Pete's decision were far more serious than the mockery I'd faced as a teen. But in light of this man's stand for integrity, I realized that I too could not inflict humiliating hazing on others. While I went through the Shell Back Ceremony myself, I was never in the position of crossing the Equator again and having to humiliate other Navy personnel. That might have been a career-ending crossing for me as well.

The fruit of courage: There's a great resolution to this story, though! The Commanding Officer of our squadron didn't ruin Pete's career. Instead, he held an all-officers' meeting to discuss the whole Shell Back Ceremony tradition. It turned out that while the other officers were willing to endure it themselves, many really didn't want to have to shame anyone else. As a result of this discussion, our CO sent a letter to the Commanding Officers of the eleven ships on which our squadron detachments were stationed. He informed them that no personnel from our squadron could be compelled to haze anyone while onboard a ship. His letter stood firm.

Let's carry the objective of this story forward. During our years of ministry we've encountered many who realized that a lot of what was taking place within their congregation gatherings was in fact unbiblical. But while the circumstances riled them enough to bad mouth the leadership or to flee quietly, they resisted taking a stand to bring into question the unbiblical methodology or practices. You don't have to read very far in the Newer Testament to recognize that standing firm for our Lord and His Word is integral to following Jesus. That kind of commitment isn't optional! "My righteous one will live by trust. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him" (Hebrews 10:38; see also Luke 12:4-9).

That ecclesiastical systems have been compromised by pagan practices and have altered biblical truth into worldly patterns is no surprise: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons" (1Timothy 4:1). Every system, whether religious or government, relies on "indoctrinated" people who won't rock the boat. Those entangled in organized systems are dedicated to keeping things going even to the point of violating their conscience. Seminary-trained clergy are trained to maintain a smooth running, problem-free congregation. Why? Because the people placidly comfortable in the pew want it that way. Controversy and confrontation make them edgy, and standing up for what's biblically right just isn't "Christian."

Most of you know this: If you're going to remain in the comfort zone of a denominational congregation, then you have to stay passive and agreeable. But realize this. You're giving way to the toxicity of fear! Fear of ostracism by both congregational leadership as well as complacent, fellow pewsitters compels you to keep silent. Any community of people, even a family, who are held together by the fear of ostracism have created their own dark comfort zone. Their unspoken motto is painfully self-serving:

"Don't confront my darkness, and I won't confront yours;
Don't stand up for Jesus, and I won't either."

Fear-based motivations more accurately hallmark contemporary western Christianity than do the love-based motives of Christ that inspire a person to take a stand for Him and His Word. There's a comfortable familiarity among those who complacently occupy pews together each Sunday; they're captive to the same demonic and toxic strongholds. But if you have ears to hear what the Spirit of Christ has made so clear throughout the Bible, you'll detach yourself from this lethargic comfort zone! You'll press on in Him and rid yourself of EVERY demonic and toxic stronghold that interferes with you taking a stand for our Lord Jesus and the truth of His Word (Matthew 10:32).

How do you take a stand for Jesus? You make sure you're no longer controlled by any Christ-denying toxic memories of past rejection by anyone. In the obedient trust that pours from your love for your Father and our Lord Jesus, you take up your cross and follow Him. You turn to the love-based motivations in your brain that have replaced the fear-based, toxic ones. You refuse to cower and sidestep the Person of Christ, casting off the pattern of those who are dominated by the thorny dark strongholds that imprison them.

But keep this in mind: You never stand against any individual (Ephesians 6:12), because that focus will only embitter you. Rather, it's the truth and the Person of Jesus that you stand for. While on earth He took His stand for His Father and for His Father's will for His life—and was hated for it by both the religious system and the world (see John 15:18-25). Should you expect any greater acceptance if you're walking in His steps?

It Only Takes One Righteous Person To Take A Stand
"Like a muddied spring or a polluted well
is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked"
(Proverbs 25:26)

Taking a stand for what is right means having God's perspective and responding accordingly. Jonathan took a stand for righteousness with his armor bearer, and that courage caused the entire army of Israel to stand with him (1Samuel 14). Out of concern for God's integrity and reputation young David took a stand against the giant Goliath, inspiring the army of Israel to rise up and defeat the Philistines (1Samuel 17). These two men who trusted their God later entered into a covenant together, recognizing how their love for Him had stirred a righteous love for one another. They aren't alone in their devotion to their Lord. If you haven't done so recently, revisit Hebrews 11 and be inspired by the people whose faith caused them to stand no matter what the consequence. How's this for a daily motivation: That by His Spirit each and every one of us loves and trusts our Lord so that our names are listed with theirs one day!

Giving way to fear rather than overcoming fear by His Spirit in you is a prison that will keep you confined to hopelessness. Let's look at an example from history. Kapos were Jewish prisoners whom the Nazis used to keep the other Jews in the concentration camps in line. The German Gestapo were intent on keeping their death camps smoothly running. Because the kapos so greatly feared for their own lives, they even went so far as to coerce their own people into the gas chambers. "Fear of..." is the most crippling of maladies that plague mankind. However, there was one notable exception to kapos overcoming their own self-preservation fear—at Sobibor concentration camp in Poland. Kapos and prisoners united for the only mass escape from a death camp during World War II. It initially took one person to take a stand; then a few joined him, then more. Ultimately, hundreds overcame their fear of dying and found freedom.

In the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus, He is the Captain of the Hosts, a Mighty Warrior. Through His indwelling Spirit, His power is available to us, His redeemed. What does that mean in the encroaching darkness of a world bent on self-absorption and self-preservation? Do a word search for how often Scripture tells us, "Do not fear." Our Lord is looking for one person who doesn't succumb to fear any longer. He's looking for two who've exchanged their fear-captive thoughts and responses for love-based, sacrificial lives that fear nothing. He's looking for today's Josheb-basshebeths, Eleazars, and Shammahs—men who took a stand and are renowned in God's Word as "mighty." They served their king without regard for their own lives (2Samuel 23:8-17). Isn't that what being a "living sacrifice" means, turning from the self-protecting pattern of this world so that with a renewed mind we can fearlessly walk in our Father's will? (See Romans 12:1,2.)

"I will give them singleness of heart and action,
so that they will always fear Me for their own good
and the good of their children after them"
(Jeremiah 32:39)

If you don't come from a lineage of those who stood up in the face of opposition or death, then it's time to start for your family a heritage of standing firm for righteousness. To be a descendant of courageous people leaves an indelible mark in the conscience of your heart. You weigh your motives and actions by a standard that doesn't take fear of man or of consequences into consideration. Rather, you evaluate everything by whether it's the right thing to do. What would Jesus do?

Sue and I are grateful for the heritage that was passed along to us. When I first met Sue in high school I admired her as a person who had strong character. She didn't need to be a "groupie" like so many other girls in our school. Over time, my admiration turned to love, a love that's grown both in intensity and maturity. I discovered that Sue's ancestry went back to one of the men who risked his life and fortune to sign the Declaration of Independence. Josiah Bartlett from New Hampshire would be proud of Sue; his courage still remains.

I recall my immigrant grandparents who fled the atrocities of an evil czar. As best as we understand, my mother's father fled Poland because he was a military officer who refused to kill Jews as part of the czar's pogroms. Years after he became a farmer in eastern Connecticut, his wife died in 1932. His church leader ordered him to not let the black farmers who lived near him attend the funeral service. My grandfather knew how much these families loved his wife, however, and stood up for what was right. He drove those farmers to the church in his own car and sat them in the front pew with him.

I remember my Dad who with no hesitation jumped into a river to save me from drowning. My Mom, who worked as a parts inspector at an aircraft engine manufacturer, was several times threatened with being fired if she didn't pass certain parts that didn't meet specification. Standing firm for what was right, she refused to pass defective material—and went on to work there 32 years, continuing in integrity. Sue's Mom stood up against an unjust and illegal union strike, threatened with bodily harm when the car she was in was rolled over by strikers. These incidents and many more have been recounted to us as a legacy of not caving in to fear, and have became instilled in our character. Think of the character YOU can be passing on to your children and grandchildren that's worth far more than any material inheritance.

Doing what's right requires determination beforehand that you'll walk in obedient trust and take a stand for righteousness. Your heavenly Father knows if your heart is steadfast, and He will stand with you in Spirit. For too long throughout western Christendom He's had to grieve over those who were quick to cave in to soulish fear, refusing to trust Him. Don't give way to the fear of those who mock you or exclude you because of your confident and absolute trust in Jesus as your Lord and in His Word as your unchanging standard. Lift up your head before Him and raise your arms in joyful thanks that He has called you His own! He has never denied you as His child; stand in confidence with the holy boldness of His love. Examine your heart: Is standing firm in Jesus more important to you than the next breath you take?

There are some simple things you can be doing now in taking a stand, especially on behalf of those you love. For instance, if these emails and teachings have strengthened and encouraged you, do you make copies of them to share with others, or forward them? Are you asking the Spirit to quicken these teachings in you in such a way that in your own words you can instruct others because you've put them into practice? How do your witness and actions represent to others what our Father in heaven is restoring today to His Church?

If what we share ends only with you, what a sad testimony. You know others who are faltering in fear and need you to come alongside and stand firm in Jesus with them. HE is the truth behind Paul's encouragement: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes" (Ephesians 6:10,11). And when you are standing, don't flinch! "The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1John 4:4).

It's time to stand up for our Lord Jesus and His Word while it is yet day.
Standing with you in HIS faithfulness,
Mike & Sue

January 20, 2011

A word of encouragement:
During the time demonic strongholds and toxic memories ruled your mind in conjunction with your sin nature, they kept you deceived. You were unable to perceive what you were really like from God's vantage point. But now that you're seeking His way of restoring relationships, you need to intentionally pursue His biblical pattern.

In the process of replacing fear-based (toxic) memories with love-based (healthy) ones, you must first be willing to appreciate just how really evil you were (Genesis 6:5, Ephesians 2:3). Don't let deceit keep you from remembering the sins you committed against God and against others. If you've repented, you're forgiven. But there are still consequences to others for what you did. Second, you must be willing to take FULL responsibility for the emotional hurt you inflicted on others by your sinful words and/or actions. The wrong you did to them was indeed terrible. But even more important, you need to feel within yourself how grievously you hurt their hearts, and take responsibility for that pain. Only in this manner can they replace the past painful experiences at your hands with HOPE. Hope brings them emotional peace that can recognize that you've changed and are living by love-grounded motives in Jesus.

Too many in contemporary Christendom have been seduced into the anti-Christ view that people are "basically good" rather than inherently evil as Scripture proclaims. The "basically good" view is anti-Christ because, if people are good at heart, then it makes absolutely irrelevant Jesus' death, which paid the penalty for their sins. In other words, He died for nothing because people "weren't all that bad." Satan's # 1 weapon, the stronghold of deceit, has prevented multitudes from seeing themselves as our Lord sees them: sinners absolutely separated from a holy God by their sin. This self-deception also hinders them from fully appreciating the evil they've done that has hurt others. They may apologize for WHAT they did wrong. But, they won't let themselves feel the emotional hurt they've caused others by their words or deeds or attitudes.

Please, talk about this with those who truly care about you. Do they see you fully taking responsibility for the hurt you've caused, or only apologizing for what you did wrong?

Becoming Like Jesus Is Biblical “Common Sense”

Shortly after Sue and I returned from Israel in 1994, we received a letter from a woman we’d known from our retreat center ministry days during 1983-93. She wrote that while she was at work one day at her new ministry, she kept hearing the Holy Spirit saying, “Mike Dowgiewicz is Thomas Paine.” She didn’t even know who Thomas Paine was, so she went to the library and sent us a brief history of the man. As I read it I sobbed. Thomas Paine wrote about politics and religion during the 18th century, and his writings greatly influenced the leaders of the Revolutionary War. His pamphlet, Common Sense, did much to help clarify the issues of the Revolution and the cost of freedom. "These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the summer patriot will, in this, shrink from the service of his country. . . Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.” Washington ordered the pamphlet to be read aloud to his soldiers. Paine’s bold, clear words encouraged the Continental Army during the darkest days of the war.

We hope that our writings encourage you to be as pure as you can in your loving obedience to Jesus. In order to throw off the tyranny of pursuing worldly goals and the complacent trappings of Hellenist-based religion, we each must embrace the fiery cost of permitting our Father to transform us into the character of His Son, Jesus. Many of you are paying the cost of walking by faith in Christ. You have been rejected by those who love this world and/or hide out in religion. Cling to your Lord through His Spirit in you! Don’t let yourself dwell in despair or self-pity. As the darkness is descending on this nation, we have only a short time to prepare ourselves to be His light in that darkness.

As you read Lifebyte 74, take the time to reflect on and discuss with others how you mutually cooperate in extending the Kingdom of God as His loving ambassadors.
• Do you see yourselves from our Father's larger picture—the salvation of all mankind?
• Do you fully appreciate the input each of you provides?
• Are you compelled by the love of Jesus in you to serve others as His heart and hands?
• Are the gifts of the Spirit and His rhema readily relied on in your endeavors?
When darkness surrounds you, each of these qualities will be sorely needed.

Our heart's desire is to spur you on toward love and good deeds.
Mike & Sue

January 13, 2011

Take A Lesson From Much-Afraid

We hope that somewhere in your life journey in Jesus you’ve read Hannah Hurnard's prophetic book, Hinds’ Feet on High Places. And, if you haven't done so already, we highly recommend that you discuss and put into practice the lessons from our study guide for the book, Going to the High Places. The family name of Much-Afraid, the main character, was "Fearing," and she resided with her Fearing relatives in the toxic "Valley of Humiliation." Nothing changed in her dreary and purposeless life until she accepted the invitation of the Shepherd to journey to the High Places. Only there could she be rid of the limitations of her human capacity for love and be filled with holy and boundless love by the Shepherd.

In light of our recent learning about toxic memories, we can see that her journey to the High Places was actually a pilgrimage of detoxification. As Much-Afraid departed the Valley of Humiliation, the Shepherd gave her two traveling companions, Sorrow and Suffering. Like many of us who resist our Father's perspective on what seems bad in our lives, Much-Afraid had to journey quite a ways before she was willing to embrace the help of Sorrow and Suffering. Only after her fear-based thoughts and memories were replaced with trust in the Shepherd and in His chosen traveling companions for her could she be changed into a loving, selfless vessel the Shepherd could use.

The allegory chronicles Much-Afraid's progress of detoxification, culminating in her arrival on the High Places. It's there that she's renamed Grace and Glory, filled with the love for others that ONLY the Shepherd can give. At that point, she, like all of us who've embraced our Shepherd's ways of detoxifying our mind, will and emotions, is able to perceive the true identity of Sorrow and Suffering: Joy and Peace.

When viewed through the love of Jesus at work in us, every person around us and every memory within our minds becomes different to us. We're no longer held captive to our old negative way of perceiving others. Look at the change in Much-Afraid. After being detoxified, Grace and Glory
"discovered that her feelings toward her relatives who lived down there in the Valley of Humiliation had undergone a complete change, and she saw they were just miserable beings such as she had been herself. They were indwelt and tormented by their own besetting sins and ugly natures [toxic memories], just as she had been by her own fears... If the Shepherd could deliver me from all my fears and sins, couldn't he deliver them also from the things which torment them?"

Again, we strongly encourage you to read Hinds' Feet and use the study guide as a way of exposing any areas of toxic resistance to Christ-like development that may be in you. Even if you read it years ago, you'll benefit greatly from revisiting this material to make sure no toxic memories are hindering our Lord's purposes for your life. Glean from Much-Afraid’s pilgrimage of sanctification and consider how her journey may give you insight into steps you must take in your own sanctification (detoxification) in order to be fully yielded to the Spirit of Christ in you.

"He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise."
"[T]he pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel."
(Proverbs 15:31;27:9)

As Scripture repeatedly cites, our Shepherd knows how essential it is that each of us has godly companions on our pilgrimage of replacing toxic memories. Be advised that you won't change on your own! The perverse "comfort zone" of giving way to the toxic influence of old memory patterns is all-too-familiar to you. And change can be perceived as threatening, both to you and to those who are comfortable with you the way you are.

We noted in Lifebyte 73 that our own "detoxification" came about because we were willing to receive input from each other and from others whom we trusted. Open willingness to receive and heed rebuke and correction is vital, so vital that you won't change if you refuse to seek it. Mike owned up that he vividly "saw red" when our friend Exie asked him about a particular deep-seated hurt in his heart. But if she hadn't exposed that toxic pain and if our Lord hadn't subsequently healed him, he would have gone on robbing Sue of the love Jesus wanted to give her through Mike.

We can look back now and see so many people we've encountered who haven't yet been transformed into "Grace and Glory". They aren't experiencing the love which only Jesus can give because, buried within their minds and hearts, they're afflicted with unresolved bitterness toward God. If you're among those who are pretending to be "spiritual" but distrust our Father in His work in and around you, you're hurting yourself by living a lie. Maybe you've been afraid to face the fact that in His sovereignty He allowed you to grow up in an abusive alcoholic home, or to be a self-rejecting child of divorced parents, or to be conceived out of wedlock or given up for adoption, or whatever has caused your toxic memories to form and be implanted within you.

Any of these traumatic circumstances has caused you to not trust our Lord as He deserves. Every painful experience and letdown has in fact stirred you to distrust Him even more. If you're honest with yourself, you'll admit you hear within you a small but compelling whisper, "I'll trust Him just so far." But how tragic for you! Without complete trust in the One Who created you and loved you before you were born, you'll never recognize Sorrow and Suffering for whom He meant them to be — His means to fashion Joy and Peace in you. As long as you refuse to bring before God your hurt and distrust toward Him, you'll go on living in the Valley of your choosing—be it bitterness, fear, humiliation, rejection.

Your own "Sorrow and Suffering" aren't confined to just the past events which have become toxic memories. Sorrow and Suffering can be your spouse, your children, or your close friends, any whom you fail to trust when they confront you about your toxic thoughts and memories. Until you fully trust your sovereign Lord the way Much-Afraid had to learn on her journey, you will never trust the companions He has specifically put in place for you. And your lack of trust only makes the journey that much more difficult, as Much-Afraid discovered early along her way.

Trust As Small As A Dog's

This morning the Holy Spirit reminded us of an example of trust through an event that took place about 35 years ago. We hope it will minister to those of you who recognize that you do have trouble trusting.

When we were in our twenties, our best friends were an older couple, Clyde and Betty, who were in their fifties. We'd often go with them to their cabin in the mountains east of San Diego. During that time they acquired a German Shepherd pup they named Rhiner. When Rhiner was about four months old we took him on an extra long hike on a sparkling winter's day. As we began our return trip to the cabin, however, Rhiner collapsed in a heap. Exhausted, he refused to budge.

Finally, after coaxing produced no effect, Mike tucked the pup inside his coat, his furry head resting under Mike's chin. Totally relaxed, Rhiner dozed as we trekked the miles back to the cabin. But something transpired in the pup's attitude toward Mike afterward. Every time he saw Mike he wouldn't leave his side! It was like he'd developed a deep heart-attachment during his long carry back.

About a year later we went backpacking in the Sierra Mountains for a week with Clyde and two teenage boys. Rhiner came along carrying his own backpack with the cooking pots and dog food. On the second day out, deep into the mountains, Rhiner headed off on his own from our campsite. When he returned, his whole face, tongue and nose, were filled with a hundred porcupine quills. We realized we needed to get the quills out right away. He couldn't even drink, and he was obviously uncomfortable.

Mike disinfected the pliers we'd brought along. As Clyde and Sue held Rhiner down, Mike removed the first ten quills then let the dog get up. Each quill emerged with a yelp of awful pain! After a few minutes reprieve, Clyde and Sue held him down again as Mike pulled out another ten quills. Then the dog was allowed to get up and walk around a bit. But then something startling happened: Rhiner came back to Mike on his own and laid down for the next ten to be extracted. This cycle repeated itself until all the quills were pulled.

Even in the face of severe pain, the dog trusted that what Mike was doing had to be done. We recognized his trust because after each 10-quill removal, he'd return to Mike and lay down for the next round. That night as we were getting into our sleeping bags, Rhiner began to shake uncontrollably. Once again he crawled over to Mike, who took him into his sleeping bag and held him throughout the night (a lot like carrying the pup in his jacket just a year earlier). Sometime during the night his trembling abated and both dog and man fell asleep. Thankfully Rhiner fully recovered.

The dog's unwavering confidence typifies the trust we all need, first in our Lord, and then in at least one other person who knows us and can love us enough to identify and help us face the emotional pain of detoxifying our memories. That kind of penetrating and responsive relationship is what we call load-bearing (Galatians 6:2.) As with the pain-inducing quills in the dog, our goal was not to just get the quills out, but to restore him to full health. Your goal in replacing toxic memories must be to become more like Jesus through yielding to His Spirit's work in you. Anything short of the goal of Christ-like transformation will be a meaningless, painful struggle. But you don't need to struggle for Him to work in you! If you'll quiet your mind long enough in the face of painful thoughts and memories, you'll hear His still, quiet voice encouraging and strengthening you. That's when you can take each thought and/or memory captive and make it obedient to Christ.

"The man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,
and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—
he will be blessed in what he does" (James 1:25)

If you're married but you know that you don't have Rhiner's kind of trust in your spouse, your marriage is grounded on emotional darkness. Commit with your spouse to make Jesus and how He would act if He were you the goal of your marriage. This really is possible—and it's Father's will for you both! As the apostle who so deeply understood Christ's forgiving love commanded, "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1Peter 4:8). Gently confront the toxic memories in each of you as partners in a common cause—Christ's character. See one another from Father's perspective, not finger-pointing but bent on bringing His healing to each other. If you're not married, cry out to Him for a load-bearing friend who will be as committed as you are to becoming more Christ-like in love and character and motive and purpose.

We want to share an insight with you parents. If you realize that you don't have complete and absolute trust in God; and if you don't have the goal of making your marriage shine with the character of Jesus; and if you don't trust each other to help you change your mind's toxicity: Beware! You'll view raising your children more like a project than a loving privilege and responsibility to our Lord. You'll regard the times you must correct them as irritations rather than as character correction. Or, you'll give way and dote on them, ignoring their wrongdoing and avoiding the correction they need, thereby reinforcing their rebellious sin nature.

For all of you adults: If you don't have complete and absolute trust in God; and if you don't have a mutual goal with at least one other person to press on in your life journey to shine with the character of Jesus; and if you don't have someone who can bear the load with you to help you change your mind's toxicity: Then your mind will be dominated by OBSESSION. Obsessive thoughts and behavior increase whenever you're beset by emotional hurt. Buried emotional pain feeds obsession. You limit your focus to things that are done your way. Sadly, it's like viewing life through a toilet paper roll. How limiting when your perspective is the only one you hold valid!

An obsessed person's mind is so dominated by their own perspective that they're unaware of the emotional needs of people around them. In other words, obsession is an ungodly focus on someone or something that overrides any other consideration. All the while, more important matters and people are excluded.

How would you describe someone who is obsessed?
• A person who is never fully satisfied with how others do things.
• A person who is never fully satisfied with how he or she does things.
• A person who must text or answer a cell phone while others are present.
• A person who heeds his/her thoughts more than the counsel of others.
• A person who is easily annoyed when things don't go their way.
• A person who doesn't see the good that God is doing around them.
• A person whose cup is always "half-empty."
• A person who pursues pleasure and financial security at the cost of others.
• (Fill in your own description)

Years ago Sue discovered the following passage in the apocryphal writings. It describes the nature of someone who has the heart and mind of Jesus toward others—a person who places the interests of others first (Philippians 2:3,4).

"Though a man may be wise, if his words are rejected he will be deprived of all enjoyment. When a man is wise to his own advantage, the fruits of his knowledge are seen in his own person; when a man is wise to his people's advantage, the fruits of his knowledge are enduring. One wise for himself has full enjoyment, and all who see him praise him; one wise for his people wins a heritage of glory, and his name endures forever." (Ecclesiasticus 37:20-22, 24,25).

Wisdom that is used on your own behalf benefits you. But how much greater is wisdom that blesses many! Their lives are changed by what you share, and what they've learned from you can be passed along for generations to come as an enduring legacy. As we've cited many times, wisdom is seeing everything from God's point of view. Keep this understanding in the forefront of your heart, both as you reflect on your past and as you consider how He would have you meet the needs of those around you. If you are to authentically reflect Jesus as your Living Lord and King, you must put others first. YOU are His heart and hands and feet among your own relational realm!

As it pertains to detoxifying your mind, we leave you with these glorious words of Dr. Martin Luther King: Free at last, free at last, I thank God I'm free at last!

Your servants in seeing His Kingdom come,
Mike & Sue

January 5, 2011

Are Greed and Complacency Hindering You
From Being Yoked with Lord Jesus?

The serenity of being yoked together with Jesus is one of the most powerful images of Kingdom purpose we find in the Gospel text! Picture yourself being harnessed and pulling a wagon like a much-loved ox. Now picture Lord Jesus carrying that weight Himself through His Spirit in you!

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)

Hebrew ancients often referred to the "yoke of Heaven", meaning our absolute trust in God. Who better to be guiding our every step and decision? It's when our hearts are willing to walk in the obedient trust of His Lordship that we "take His yoke" upon us. And when we're being directed as fully yielded "oxen" by our Lord Jesus, we're able to "learn from Him." That means we've intentionally dislodged our old sinful motives and ways according to His power at work in us so that HIS righteous ways and purposes can be instilled in our lives. At that point our souls, which is our mind, will and emotions, can be "at rest" in union with Jesus.

Too often, however, we either ignore the plans and purposes God has for our lives—the reason His yoke is on us—or we rush ahead into laborious effort to make something happen that He hasn't intended. Or, we get distracted by old familiar goals and ways, and shrug off His yoke to do what we want instead. Then of course we moan because the burden seems too heavy, and our "Christian walk" far too difficult. This should signal us that we need to humbly stretch out our necks to once more submit gratefully to His tender and merciful yoke!

Let's examine for a moment how our nation at large has suffered from decades of rebellion against the yoke of Jesus. The current economic downfall of the US is not THE source to the hardship so many are going through. Rather, it's our collective sins against a holy God that have brought this country to the brink of destroying ourselves. Military weapons haven't been needed to bring about our ruin. The only armaments that have blown holes in our national sense of security have been internal: greed and complacency.

Greed isn't manifested just by the amount of things a person strives after or accumulates or hoards for personal use. It's far more eloquently revealed in the depth of debt they've gotten themselves into in order to feed their insatiable cravings, expectations and wants. Not only are the greed-driven out of harness with Jesus; they're in the driver's seat heading rapidly for a precipice!

Complacency, on the other hand, has no intention of heading anywhere no matter who is driving. As long as the majority of self-proclaimed Christians remain entrenched within systems of clergy-dependent religious practice, spiritual lethargy will reign. The directions given from the pulpit or ecclesiastic hierarchy may vaguely tug the "wagon of their life" one way or another, but the complacent don't care. What they're told to do is disconnected from what they choose to do away from their Sunday "religious pit stop."

Keep in mind that complacency feeds Satan's purposes. He wants to undermine the personal determination and zeal which God calls for in each of His children to actively fulfill their part in extending His Kingdom—or, to use our "yoke" analogy, to move ahead in the power of the Spirit of Christ to joyfully "pull His load". Think how threatened Satan felt when he heard the promises of Jesus to those who out of devoted trust in Him would do their part by His authority:

• "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).
• "And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father" (John 14:13).
• "And these signs will accompany those who trust: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well" (Mark 16:17,18).

If the above promises are not part of your life experience in Christ, have you been seduced into worldly-focused greed and self-absorbed complacency? Have you rationalized that it's okay with God if you mix a little wickedness with the righteousness you think you have? A little darkness with the light you presume is in you? (See 2 Corinthians 6:14.)  Perhaps you've been "fiddling while Rome burns", occupying yourself with unimportant matters and neglecting Father's priorities for you during this present-day crisis.

Why is this picture of our Lord's yoke being cast off so descriptive of western Christianity today? So many are mired in the WHATs of this world—what they have (or don't have); what they need to make themselves happier; what the other people in their relational realm need to do so that the status quo can remain unshaken. But they've forgotten WHY our Lord died and their responsibility to make disciples of everyone who responds to that Great News. (See Matthew 28:18-20.)

When your goals and motives are bent on WHAT you have and on the non-Kingdom activities you do, you've become a "Christian" in name only. The WHY of someone who belongs to Jesus has everything to do with you spending eternity with our Lord and with being used by Him to lead others into His fold.

Assess yourself and those close to you in the faith:
• What do you and they talk about most frequently?
• How often do you discuss WHY God has you living and working and volunteering where you do?
• Ask those close to you what your words reveal about your heart, your inner person. Be diligent and judge what's really important to you (see Luke 6:45). Your very words reveal whether you live consciously aware of Lord Jesus and His goals for your life, or whether you're consumed with self-satisfaction and personal security.

The 300-unit senior mobile home park in which we live is a microcosm of what goes on throughout much of complacent Christendom in this nation. In the well-attended weekly Bible study they sap a gnat (Matthew 23:24) out of a Bible passage, each person eager to offer an opinion of meaning. Discourses about anything to do with each person's particular "church" abound as they compare practices, activities and programs offered there. But, from testimonies we've heard from various participants, they refuse to discuss anything that has to do with personal commitment to love and serve Jesus. We've discovered that any conversation that lends itself to bearing witness about the Person of Jesus and walking in obedient trust evokes discomfort. Denominational traditions have boxed many in, or worse, confined Jesus to a box that can't be opened because of fear He might call them to be changed.

You may wonder how people can live in such spiritual complacency, disregarding what the Word specifies are the interests of Jesus. But complacency enjoys like-minded company, even if it means being surrounded by others whose religious life keeps their heads buried in the sand. Even more grievous, that unspoken message of religious lethargy is being passed along to the next generations—those who are being discouraged from denying themselves, picking up their cross and following Jesus as Lord and King.

Maybe you're among those who are sensing that the time really is short. What if, as Jesus promised, this gospel of the kingdom is close to being preached to every ethnic group on earth, and the end is nearing? (Matthew 24:14) Who among those you love will still be clinging to their self-seeking greed and idle complacency? If Jesus were you, what would He be speaking and doing among them? "Because of His love, grace and power in you, don't take 'No' for an answer if they're willing to hear!"

If you've been reluctant to represent Christ to those around you in the past, or haven't known quite how to approach others about Him, use this Lifebyte and Dr. Leaf's materials to enable your mind to become completely free for His use: "You, my brothers, were called to be free... to serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13). Replace the toxic thoughts and memories that have hindered you from lovingly and fearlessly representing Him to all you encounter. As the apostle proclaims, our Father has called us to "declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light" (1Peter 2:9). We do have glorious Kingdom purpose in Jesus!

Your servants for His praise while it's still day,
Mike & Sue

December 20, 2010

"You will lift up your face without shame;
you will stand firm and without fear" (Job 11:15)

During our years of ministry we've observed that the majority of people we've encountered are emotionally scarred by past trauma of all sorts. They carry wounds that have not yet been healed by our Lord Jesus. If you have been healed by our Lord of past emotional hurt, you're able to discern the self-absorption of those still afflicted. That underlying pain, no matter how deeply they've tried to bury it, brings about a focused intent to pursue whatever makes them feel good about themselves. At the same time, however, they pay little or no attention to the emotional hurt they cause others, whether overtly or by oblivious disregard. They're so narrowly focused on their own small arena of self-satisfaction that they live as if looking through binoculars.

The most recognizable distinction of the self-absorbed is the hurt they inflict on other people; yet they're blinded to the emotional devastation they're causing. Think "bull-in-a-china shop." If you try to give them feedback on how they're wounding those close to them, they become defensive and rattle off excuses to justify or rationalize their responses. These people are the Hardened Fools the Bible speaks about: "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly" (Proverbs 26:11; see also 2Peter 2:22).

Most people who try to maintain a relationship with the self-absorbed give up providing any meaningful feedback or correction. Instead, they've resigned themselves to living in codependency, their minds and hearts dulled to the pain that individual causes. That puts others who've tried to give the self-absorbed any feedback into a state of near hopelessness that things can change. Ultimately their relationship with the self-absorbed person can become so desperate that others may withdraw and avoid him or her just to preserve their own sense of well-being.

Do you know a self-absorbed person? Could it be you? It is our heart's desire that all would turn to our Lord Jesus and be healed of any and all past emotional hurt. Your determination to forgive from your heart those who wounded you releases the healing power of the Spirit of Christ in you so that the "sting" of the memory is gone. That's the ONLY way to rid yourself of any self-absorption that may be keeping you from denying yourself, picking up your cross each day, and wholeheartedly following Jesus out of grateful love and trust. Then, in the pattern He set, you can fulfill this mandate for His followers: "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4). That indeed calls for self-denial through the work of the Spirit in you! But remember this: Your past emotional hurt so desperately needs His healing as you humbly cry out to Him as a yielded and obedient child. The alternative? You'll continue to hurt others and never fulfill Father's good and righteous purpose for you in their lives.

Recently we watched a Hallmark movie, In From the Night, which graphically portrays the disabling internal conflict even years later that was caused by earlier emotional wounds. (A caveat: We always use our Clearplay filter to screen out any inappropriate language, immorality and/or violence, and recommend this for your family as well for anything you view.) Each of the traumatized people reflected various forms of self-absorption; some compensated by near-normal behavior, others more antisocially. But the movie also reminded us of particular emotional scars we ourselves had received during our upbringing and subsequent years. Most importantly, we could praise our Lord Jesus for what He had accomplished in healing us. Those scars evidence His wondrous ability to take past pain and transform it into an opportunity to help others going through what we've experienced. That way they too can find hope and healing as they love and trust Him to forgive, and then press on to bless without a desire for vengeance or retribution.

Perhaps you are plagued by self-absorption and don't recognize it. We wouldn't have recognized it in ourselves if people who deeply cared for us hadn't pointed it out. Yet even if you want to follow Jesus, self-absorption is a prison that rivets your attention on insignificant matters that have nothing to do with either our Father's will or becoming more like Christ. Self-absorption reduces any Kingdom impact you might have as His ambassador on those you encounter. That's because the power of His love through you is blocked. Even more painful for you, because of your unhealed hurt you go through life never able draw closer to your Father. And keep this sad thought in mind: In your heart you may secretly blame Him for the hurt you've received in the past. You live neither trustingly dependent on Him nor available to do His will.

Grievously, religion with its predictable rituals and self-satisfying practices becomes an acceptable opiate for the wounded. The "Christian" religious system does nothing to heal the self-absorbed or to help them experience the fulness of the Covenant relationship our Father desires. Do you see, a religious system takes on a life of its own without the Lordship of Jesus! Years ago a close friend was speaking to a congregation in England. He asked them, “If Jesus were dead, how long would you go on meeting together?” The congregants talked among themselves and replied, “We would just keep going on as we do now, with or without Jesus.” And, man-made liturgy and ritual, which erroneously enable people to feel like they're pleasing God no matter what the state of their hearts and lives, only perpetuate the self-absorption of westernized Christians today.

The prophet Jeremiah laments the trap of man-made religion as a counterfeit replacement for a vibrant, intimate trust relationship with the Living God: "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water" (Jeremiah 2:13). He's not talking about "unchurched pagans" here; Jeremiah is mourning God's own people who have created their own version of religion apart from His Holy Word!

Jeremiah is not alone in his grief as God's spokesman. The prophet Isaiah bemoans the heart motive of those who rely on religious form and go through the motions but have neither awe nor love for Him: "These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is made up only of rules taught by men" (Isaiah 29:13). Jesus Himself apperceived this sad reality in His discourse about the "religious" of His day (see Mark 7:6). Don't cover up your self-absorption in some religious system that makes you feel better about yourself but does nothing to fill the void that only repentance and life in His Spirit can bring.

We'd like to offer you an excerpt that presents what we're saying from a different angle. Maybe this will bring clarity to you where there might be fuzziness. (You can access the entire Going to the High Places series as a free download at our website.)

From Going to the High Places: Chapter 7. On the Shores of Loneliness
"Have you ever been laughed at or mocked about something that was out of your control? Mockery that assails your self-esteem can be a powerful motivator to alter your life journey. In the old novel, Gone With the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara has been thrust by the Civil War from a life of pampered wealth into a protracted season of utter poverty. All throughout the years of distress one thought drives her: “I will never be hungry again!” Scarlett is fictional, but you probably know people who have been so humiliated that they are consumed with silencing that echo of mockery, that emotional hurt.

A younger friend of ours had been often taunted by schoolmates because his clothes were out of style. He swore to himself that when he was able, he would buy only the best for himself. He has followed that course but discovered that his labels and luxury have not afforded peace to his heart. The little boy who had been shamed years earlier is still crying to be accepted for who he is rather than the image he projects.

That wounded “little boy” or “little girl” within you is a prime target for the enemy to pierce with pain if you haven’t laid that pain on His altar for Jesus to heal and restore to wholeness. We discovered our own need to trust Jesus to heal old emotional pain while we were in Israel. We had to choose to cast off those soiled garments of shame and resentment in order to press on without having to compensate for old wounds.

• Is there an unhealed “little boy” or “little girl” in you who suffered shame or teasing at some point way back? Have you protected or hidden away that area as you’ve gotten older by compensating in some way?
• Are you willing to set this burden down at His feet so the sting of those memories can be healed, and your testimony of His healing can be a life-giving instrument to help others?"

Before 2010 ends, please earnestly seek Lord Jesus to heal you of emotional wounds you've been carrying from your past. Let January 1, 2011 be the day you can wholeheartedly affirm our Lord's definition of what love looks like:

"Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres"

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

Don't be held captive by your past any longer. Make the closing of this year a season when all record of past wrongs and the wounds they have caused you are buried under the healing blood of Jesus Christ. In this way you'll not only be affirmed in your heart as you follow Jesus; you'll also be compelled by love to be like Him in denying yourself and picking up your own cross daily for the joy set before you in Him.

Mike & Sue

P.S. During this year we've heard from many who've been waiting for God to answer a particular prayer. I (Mike) was wrestling with this recently as I began my day in prayer. As I reached for my Bible, I also grabbed a David Wilkerson letter out of a pile of reading materials Sue had set aside. In Isaiah 64 my eyes immediately fell upon the 4th verse: "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, Who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him." As soon as I read that verse I turned to see the title of Wilkerson's letter—Waiting on God to Act. In it he referenced the very same verse I'd just read! Sue awoke to my joyful laughter at the way Father had ministered to my heart. This letter was so encouraging that we thought that if you've been waiting on God for some answer, you'd be blessed by it too. You can read the letter by going to: <http://www.worldchallenge.org/node/9052>.

December 4, 2010
Scripturally Reliant Fathers and Grandfathers
Guiding the Destiny of Generations

We've encountered many grandparents over the years who are "church goers" whose grown children have fled the denomination they were raised in. The most common lament we hear from these grandparents and parents of adult children is, "If only my (grand)son or (grand)daughter would come back to church..." When we talk to the grown children, however, their most frequent response is, "What did going to church ever do for my parents? Their lives are no different from people we meet who don't attend services."

We've cited in previous writings that the divorce rate of "churchgoers" is higher than among those who don't attend. Even more grievous is that 72% of the children of "churchgoers" depart the faith soon after leaving home. The whole system of "attending church" has done nothing to stem the tide of young people abandoning both the religious practices and the biblical standards they may have been taught. "Church attendance" isn't the answer, but Godly fathers and grandfathers are. The Older Testament ends with God prophetically pointing fathers back to the purpose for which He chose Abraham: "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:5,6). 

Before the first coming of Jesus, John the Baptist fulfilled this prophetic call for his generation: "And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). The prophetic spirit of Elijah shows up in every generation to confront the failure of fathers and grandfathers to turn their hearts toward the next generation and to "direct [their] children and [their] household after [them] to keep the way of the LORD."

If you're a grandfather who has not only forsaken this God-directed purpose but has instead role modeled for your children and grandchildren a lifestyle that parallels the ungodly values of this world, take heed! You may succeed in leading your children and grandchildren along the broad path of destruction that ends in hell. (Please consider seriously Matthew 7:13,14.) The Scriptures bear witness that people who sow to please their sin nature will not be welcomed at the Judgment Throne no matter what size "church building" they sit in every Sunday. (See Galatians 6:8.)

You older men have observed the progressive downfall of this nation since World War II. You know that NO President or Congress is going to legislate us out of this moral morass. It's a terrible sin to foist onto our children and those yet unborn the trillions of dollars of debt our self-indulgence has produced. If we want God's blessing to return to this nation, we need fathers and grandfathers leading their families to live repentantly before Him in love-grounded, obedient trust.

We grieve that too many of you complacent retired men have given way to what we call "The Hezekiah Perspective." (You can read about his life in 2 Kings chapters 18-20.) King Hezekiah had spent most of his reign obeying God and trusting Him to deliver His people. Yet when he became older he was afflicted with a boil which the prophet Isaiah revealed would be fatal. Hezekiah cried out to God to lengthen his years, and God responded. (Sadly, Manasseh, the son born to him during that extension, would become one of Judah's most wicked rulers.) During those 15 added years Hezekiah became prideful of his wealth, openly displaying it before foreigners. Arrogance never goes unaddressed by God. Isaiah again came before Hezekiah with God's word that everything he had would later be carried off to Babylon, including some of his descendants. But rather than repenting, Hezekiah responded with self-serving, flagrant disregard for the generation to come: “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?” We hope this self-centered perspective doesn't reside in your heart...

God may use this Lifebyte to warn you. Don't just read it, let it convict you. Then repent! Willingly yield to His Spirit and change your ways and purpose while you still have breath in you! The Hebraic foundations which our Father is restoring today require far greater responsibility from you fathers and grandfathers than any religious system has ever demanded of you. He is calling for your absolute trusting obedience to every command He prompts you to obey. His desire and purpose? That you become like Abraham both in the way you live in responsive trust and in your willing obedience to train your own family to love and follow Jesus!

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) Jesus issues a stark warning to you older men who have sought your rewards on this earth (Psalms 17:14a; James 4:4). When the rich man finally came to his senses in hell, it was too late to warn the rest of his family. That is the tragic consequence for you who don't repent now for playing religious, self-serving games that have nothing to do with following Jesus. NOW is the time to cry out to Him and gladly fulfill your scriptural responsibility to your family.

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life"
(Proverbs 13:12)

Writing the last two e-mails and Kingdom Living Today anecdotes on divorce took an emotional toll on us personally. Much of the divorce in this nation can be laid at the feet of fathers and grandfathers who failed to instill the Word of God in their children as a way of life. After we sent out the last Kingdom Living Today we spent a considerable amount of time in prayer trying to come to grips with the heaviness of heart we've been experiencing for months now. Please bear with us as we share what the Spirit of our Lord revealed to us regarding our sorrow.

It started during our journey around the country this past spring and deepened throughout our fall trip. During our travels we encountered two groups of people. The first, a minority, had an amazing earnest desire to pursue Christ-likeness and to follow through in whatever He commands. Their joyful humility and wholehearted devotion was awe-inspiring! Truly in them are the Lord's words found true: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me" (Luke 9:23); and, "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty'" (Luke 17:10). Their love for our Lord was so great that their lives reflected total abandonment to do His will. Abraham would have been proud!

On the other hand were the much larger majority who couldn't seem to break out of the stupor of religious complacency. Some of these were folks we'd met when we had conducted Demolishing Strongholds seminars in years past. At that time we saw them become free and live free ... for a period of time. But many of the people we encountered this year had not only returned to their strongholds; their lives were even more resistant to the truths of God. They sadly embodied the warning of Jesus that, "After an evil spirit comes out of a man... it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first" (Luke 11:24,26).

As we sought our Lord's wisdom about this He revealed that this latter group had several things in common:
1. After becoming free they remained self-satisfied, failing to press on into becoming more like Jesus and fulfilling His purposes. Without that initiative they returned to their old ways—only worse now. They neglected to fill in their old attitudinal and behavioral ruts with the righteous ways of the Spirit, and therefore fell back into familiar sinful responses.

2. In the faith communities where we conducted Demolishing Strongholds seminars over the years, rarely did the entire congregation take part. When the leadership and the people who came to the seminar became free of demonic influence, they neglected afterward to help all the others who hadn't participated become free. Over time, those who'd become free were seduced back into the same strongholds by their captive friends—only now their own condition was worse.

3. So many we encountered this year demonstrated an increased toleration for sin both in their own lives and in those close to them. Compassion for the wounds and emotional needs of others was almost non-existent, as self-centeredness and self-indulgence reared up over and over. Even more painful for us to observe was little interest in growing in the character of Jesus, and so little concern about seeing His Kingdom extended and people reached for Him.

Perhaps this year has been painful for you as well. 2010 will be remembered by us as "The Year of Being Heart Sick." Over the years as we interacted with so many to help them make the Hebraic foundations a way of life, we saw so much potential to extend our Lord's Kingdom, for "His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven." Our deep hope was that our Lord would be glorified as more and more people turned around and shared with others the truths they heard (2Timothy 2:2; Galatians 4:19). Every so often Father would grace us with people who were responsive to His Spirit as their love for Him was expressed in obedient trust.  But for most this never happened. The primary reason for doing nothing with the truths they'd received was their ongoing close relationship with others whom Satan still held captive to do his will:
They did nothing to help free them, nor did they flee them—so they became like them!

In our quest to obey our Father's command to "Share these truths," we try to find the "reliable men [and women] who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2). What we've often encountered, though, is the same frustration the writer to the Hebrews experienced, "though by this time you ought to be teachers..."  (see Hebrews 5:11,12). We are often reminded of the prophetic warning we received about the US while we were still in Israel: You're going back to the hardest place on earth for anyone to embrace the Hebraic foundations. Hellenism owns the church in the United States. And, Christians there don’t need God and they don’t need each other.

How many have been deterred from hearing a joyful "Welcome!" at the Judgment Throne through self-satisfied religious complacency and worldly, self-absorbed interests? Like the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 when they finally came to their senses, it was too late. Tragically, as with these negligent virgins, perhaps many we encountered this year will only hear, "I tell you the truth, I don’t know you."

"Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing
without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets"
(Amos 3:7)

Certain prophetic voices in this nation who still have the courage to share what our Father is revealing are pointing to an imminent catastrophe. For example, God has shown David Wilkerson that a thousand US cities will be burning in race riots. There will be famine as never before seen in this land. But don't be so quick to blame the sins of unbelievers for this chastisement. Those who call themselves "Christian" and yet defame the name of our God by their sinful, hypocritical lives bear the greater blame. Why? By tolerating sin in their own lives, and failing to make disciples of unbelievers. God continues to use the history of Israel in the Older Testament to show us today how He deals with nations as stubbornly rebellious as ours (1Corinthians 10:6): "I will uproot Israel from My land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for My Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples" (2 Chronicles 7:20).

Our trips this year only confirmed for us what our Father has been patiently grieving over for some time: self-proclaimed "Christians" defaming Him through their own sin and unrepentance. Surely His great heart aches.

"Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him"
(Matthew 3:3)

We've previously written how the restoration of the Hebraic foundations is a prophetic move of our Father. When He raises up prophets to carry His message, it's part of His divine mercy toward those who have gone astray. To people who want to keep on sinning (1John 3:6,9), a prophetic voice is an enemy because God has sent His messenger to warn them to flee the darkness they enjoy. But to those who yearn to be true to our Lord no matter what the cost, a prophet is an encourager who helps them persevere (1Corinthians 14:3).

The call of the prophet in this day is also to prepare the way for the true apostles, evangelists and shepherd teachers who will together prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be unified into the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). What stands in the prophet's way are the clergy who fear the restoration of the authentic apostle and evangelist, and who especially resist the revival of older men of wisdom as the true shepherds of the Father’s children. To maintain their position, many clergy enable their congregants to hide in the darkness of their sin, preferring to entertain them rather than confront them to be set apart in holiness for the Lord's use. Congregations are seduced into excusing and tolerating sin in their midst wherever there is no requirement for repentance as a prerequisite for fellowship.

Because of the prophetic underpinnings of the Hebraic restoration, it boils down to a battle between the Kingdom of God and the man-made religious system which parallels the kingdom of this world (see Ephesians 2:1-3). It is a spiritual battle to free those who are still imprisoned by complacency and pleasure in the religious system — people who could be actively doing their part out of love for their Lord to see His Kingdom expanded. The goal of the attached Lifebyte is to help you fathers and grandfathers live as responsibly and responsively to God as our father Abraham did.  We want to help you understand what He's requiring of you as His beloved child and servant. And, we want to expose what may be hindering you from wholeheartedly doing His will out of love for Him. We encourage you to read it sooner rather than later for your family's sake.

NOW is the time for you fathers and grandfathers to prepare the people you care about for what is coming on this nation. Don't be like the heedless Jewish fathers in Europe prior to World War II. For decades God had been sending "fishermen" throughout the continent warning the Jews to leave and return to Israel. (See Jeremiah 16:14-16.) The vast majority of Jewish husbands and fathers were too complacent to listen, lulled into thinking that devastation of that proportion would never strike. Six million Jewish men, women and children were slaughtered because men turned deaf ears to a merciful God Who had warned them.

You may not be accustomed to hearing prophetic voices. We know that many will ignore our warning. But if you do take it to heart and repent, count on this promise: "The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine" (Psalms 33:18,19).

If you've lost the awesome wonder of Who our God is, may we recommend a DVD that will help restore it: God of Wonders <http://www.eternal-productions.org/>. You can purchase it online or perhaps find it in your library.

If you have difficulty understanding the times we live in, we'd like to recommend that you download to your computer this film:
Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary <http://video.pbs.org/video/1379563195/>.
Martin Luther: Driven to Defiance<http://video.pbs.org/video/1379546586/>.

Again, our desire is that EVERYONE who encounters the truths our Father has given us to share will bear great fruit to His glory and find a glorious welcome into heaven by their Lord and King!
Mike & Sue