Welcome to my place!
It's great to have you here!
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I am sorry that I took so long to get back to you, but I was not
sure if I wanted to share my story with anyone because it is very
special and sacred to me.
I also was not sure if you wanted to hear my story.
My time at
Shekinah is very special to me, but I chose to share it because you
would understand it and knew I wasn't just someone pretending to be a
member.
I was a member of Shekinah Fellowship in the 70's.
When I was a teenager, I first discovered Shekinah when they were downtown at the Long Beach Municipal Arena with my Grandma.
I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and I received a white envelope with a packet of spiritual information.
I met with Marla West (Randy's wife), and she went over everything.
My friend Lynn Fredericks later joined, and together we attended every Saturday night at Pastor Adams Four Square church.
Lynn's brother Larry was in the choir and later married Mary Ellen.
Lynn and I tried to join the choir, but Terry (choir director) had a 16 year minimum.
We were still hoping to join because they made an exception for Norma;
we finally turned 16 and were happy to make our first long pastel dress.
Before the time we could join, we met up with David (don't know his last name) and Don Sanders in the orchestra.
Don played the clarinet and David plays the cymbals.
I was thrilled at
the end of the Hallelujah chorus to be given the right of passage by
banging the cymbals boom!!!
If I couldn't be in the choir, I got the honor of the loudest and most important job (for a teenager).
By that time, I knew when to hit the cymbals and high notes in the Hallelujah Chorus.
When I was finally in the choir, I had everything memorized.
We were allowed to travel to the different locations where we were thrill to be a part of such a special ministry.
I have never, since my time at Shekinah, ever witnessed again the true light of Christ or his Spirit, for Brant was truly anointed.
I remember a fun time we had when we went to camp at Big Bear (I think that was its name).
I took a couple of photo of Kelly Green playing volleyball (I still have it).
During the meal time if someone put their elbows on the table, we would sing, "Get your elbows off the table ___________."
That person would skip, jog or whatever around the dining hall.
We would
also sing "Rise and Shine," these songs were so much fun for a young
girl.
I also enjoyed the swimming and thought it was so beautiful.
I got to know Randy West quite well, my friend Lynn and Penny were not
always doing the right thing, so Randy would always counsel them to the
straight and narrow.
I got to also know Lily Green because we shared the same first name, and
she had a niece in my small town where I was from named Sara Loomis.
I have so many memories.
I loved to hear Meg Rafferty sing, "Jesus Lover of My Soul," her voice was so angelic.
I remember when Brant and Lisa Green got engaged and drove off in Brant's Sunbeam.
I was so sad when they became un-engaged and to this day wonder what happened to Lisa.
I had a funny memory of Brant preaching and all of the sudden; a pair of legs had come through the ceiling and was dangling.
Brant kept on talking and they said a prayer for him; he also asked someone in a calm voice to check on him.
I remember when Marla West was pregnant with her baby; Randy blushed as she proudly went on and on.
My friend Lynn saw him last at Douglas years ago and wonder today if you know what he is up to?
I would love to get in contact with him.
I was so happy when I was asked to greet people and hand out the programs at the door.
One lady remembered me; every Saturday she would come.
One day she died and left me boxes of material, it was written in her
will to give these to Lilly – the one who hands out the flyers at the
door."
Kevin Baker came up to me after he asked Lily Green about it, and she told Kevin that I was the Lilly.
I had to get a ride with different members because I did not have a car.
I remember someone named Frank Gill and a couple of other people.
One evening I went with Kevin Baker, Don Sanders, Lynn and a couple of
other people to look for a new location for Shekinah (us).
We were looking at this tall hotel that was unoccupied along Ocean Blvd., but the Fox Theater seemed to be a better fit.
I remember the Fox Theater as being dirty and having such a bad feeling about it; even today I can still feel that bad feeling.
I was told they found some satanic items in the closet or attic; I asked my friend where it was.
I remember it gave me chills to see the location; I wondered if that bad spirit caused the downfall of Shekinah Fellowship.
I still can't help but to think that.
The meetings didn't seem the same, behind the stage I remember what I had seen before in regards to the chilling location.
I had so many wonderful memories of Shekinah on 7th Street.
I loved how Brant would say, "give all the glory to Jesus" Look to
Jesus" as the lights would dim and we would sing "Spirit of the Living
God" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness."
I am greatly saddened by people when they discount the good Brand did.
I am sorry he died of AIDS, but it doesn't undo the fact that he was anointed of God.
It doesn't discount his ministry, it doesn't change the facts.
He said give the glory to Jesus.
Why then do people look to Brant with AIDS and say, he is not to be remembered.
He was human like us all, only his sins were more visible than our own.
Where are the forgiveness, compassion love and understanding?
Let those who are without sin throw the first stone.
If anything, the
people with the stones throwing them at Brant's glass house would make
me walk away from God.
Brant always showed compassion and taught me not to look at man but look to Jesus.
Brant was a good man who in the time I was at Shekinah, helped me to be the most spiritual of my life even thirty years later.
I look back and strive to be half as spiritual as I was as a teenager.
It was by Brant's example and teachings that I studied and prayed, really prayed, for no less than an hour and a half each day.
To be the best I could be with God's help because I can do anything through Christ which strengthens me.
I feel those who spoke and speak against Brant, God's anointed, is speaking against God.
I have all of my Shekinah things in a suitcase and cherish them with fondness and smiles (even the record).
I am sorry I couldn't be there for Brant like he was for us, for I
loved him as a brother and would have helped ease the emotional pain
people cause as well as the physical pain of AIDS.
I have some additional questions that I was wondering if you could answer.
I left Shekinah to attend college, How did it end" and Why did it end" and When did it end?
What was the last meeting like and about?
I feel like Brant was alone when he died and needed to feel he was not.
Were you with him at the end?
Did you attend the funeral?
Where is he buried?
Do you have access to copying his videos and cassettes?
Do you have any funny or special memories of him?
Do you have any addition photos of Shekinah or Brant that I could have as a memory?
Let me know if you would like to do a reunion of the Shekinah Alumni.
I've hung onto my suitcase of memories, but I would cherish more.
It broke my heart to find out that such a kind-hearted gentle man would be stepped on by those who wear cleats of judgment.
If God could forgive Brant, who are we to think we are not required to forgive.
The Lord said it is required that we forgive many, many, many times.
I can't understand what there is to forgive; he did not do anything against me.
Most of the people who have a grudge against Brant never met him, or if they did, they could only see what I saw – Jesus.
I was totally blessed to have had the spiritual experience I did, for it changed my life for the better.
Love en Agape,
Lilly
But a higher minimum wage will "signal to tech companies and
entrepreneurs" to look at the restaurant industry, said Darren Tristano,
president of Technomic, a research group focused on the restaurant
industry.
The state's governor and legislators reached an agreement
Monday to raise the wages.
"I think there are a lot of tech companies
that are looking at the restaurant industry to accelerate their growth,"
said Tristano.
The restaurant industry is primed for change, said
Tristano, "Many of the routines that take place in restaurants are not
very different from 30 to 40 years ago," he said.
So let's get this straight, higher wages will result in passing the increase on to the consumer, right?
So then we are essentially right back to square one.
Only now your In-and-out meal is going to cost more.
And since many of the restaurants will either close or leave the state, we will have less in the way of choice.
This is really not going to do much other than cost a lot of people jobs and bring in automation in their place. Smooth move.
A vintage 1960 Mr Machine by Ideal Toy Corporation. Mr Machine was
wildly popular when he made his appearance.
Ideal quickly adopted him as
their logo mascot.
And you know the rest...
"Its a Wonderful Toy! It's
IDEAL!"
The Designer, Marvin Glass said he designed Mr Machine to mimick
the actions of a hen pecked husband squawking and wildly waving his
hands as he wanders around in his plight.
I had one of these in 1960.
I took it apart and rebuilt it over and over again...
For
though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many
fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
1 Corinthians 9:16 For
though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity
is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
What gets a hold of a person that causes them to come to Christ?
The conviction of the Holy Spirit.
One touch of the Holy Spirit will do more to change a life in seconds then years of seminary can do.
The preaching of the Gospel is the power of God.
Not gimmicks or watering down of the truth.
The apostle Paul is distressed that the church at Corinth is deceived by
“super-apostles” preaching “a Jesus other than the Jesus [I] preach.”
He
is fearful that these Christians are believing “a different gospel from
the one [they] accepted” and that they may even be receiving “a
different spirit from the one [they] received.”
These apostasies disturb
Paul.
He worries about the minds of the Corinthian Christians, who have
a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
But
I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is
in Christ.
For
if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another
gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
He’s concerned that the church at Corinth is not concerned.
Why aren’t
they as distressed as he is at their confusion?
Why can’t they see that
they are “being led astray?”
How is it they are deceived?
“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other
than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!”
(Galatians 1:8)
The true gospel is simple.
Nothing can be added to Christ’s
redemptive work on the Cross.
There Christ bore our sins in His body,
and through His shed blood He made us clean, holy, righteous in the
sight of God the Father.
He offers this redemption as a free gift.
We
either accept the gift of salvation or leave it unopened, so to speak.
If we open His gift, the Holy Spirit enters and lives in us so that over
time we reflect Jesus Christ, who is the Light of the world.
Yes, Jesus died for the ungodly.
Paul reminds that rarely will
someone die even for a good man, but Jesus died for us while we were His
enemies.
Levi had skimmed from the Roman take for quite some years now.
Even though his own people shunned him he didn't much care. He had fine clothing and a fine home with many friends who bribed him to not assess the full amount they would have had to pay on their own tax accounts.
He had a lot of friends who were also tax collectors. All of them and their wealthy friends liked to hang out together drinking and sinning. They were an elite economically privileged group.
The people disliked all of them, they knew these men were morally corrupt thieves and liars. But what could they do about it because "He who has the gold makes the rules." Some had tried but failed, the Romans were all too powerful and cruel in their punishments.
One day Jesus went forth and saw the tax collector Levi (Matthew) sitting in the tax collector's office and said to him: "Follow me."
Levi was called to full attention by those two simple words. There was something in them that had an overwhelming power. There was something very compelling drawing him to the man who had just spoken the words. What was it? The man was just an ordinary Jew with no evidence of the power of wealth or nobility?
There was something about the man's eyes. He didn't look at him with seething hatred or disdain like most others. There was compassion and respect almost as if the man was his best friend.
Levi fidgeted in his seat as the two simple words borrowed deep behind the case hardened protective shield he had perfected over the years as a tax collector, a shield that had kept the pain and suffering of others from clouding his judgment in his tax assessment of those who came into his office.
He felt an incredible drawing power like he had never known before. How could they be getting through to his black heart?
What was happening to him? Many was the time that heart breaking circumstances of others could not even disturb him or cause him to budge an inch from doing his job. And now two simple words have such an incredible power over him. Levi started to break a sweat as he realized that the words were unlike any other words that his ears have ever heard. There was something about them that was more real then any other words. They were alive, they were totally active, they cut to the core of his being. He could not resist them any longer.
Levi abandoned all things and got up from his chair, he followed Jesus...
And Levi (Matthew) made a great feast for him (Jesus) in his home; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and of others who were reclining with them.
And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples saying: "why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?"
And Jesus having answered, said to them: "The (ones) being healthy do not have need of a physician but the ones having illness (those who are ill).
I have not come to call righteous (persons) but sinners to repentance."
(Luke 5:27-32)
Men love to play God. They will step out in self will and build large organizations to do the work of God on their own.
Or they will have elaborate schemes and methods to do God's work for Him. Hiring experts in the advertising and manipulation marketing fields. And experts in the funds collecting fields. Getting endorsements from important political people and very wealthy donors etc.
None of them can do what God can do.
A man can be changed in just mere seconds by a touch from God.
A man can be changed by two simple words from God directed to him.
It has always been like that.
No one can do it like that.
Only God can do it.
A life time of Bible study at one of man's great organizations can't do what God can do in seconds with one touch of His Word!
And yet God has given to us the privilege of being the bearer of His Words to the hearts of others.
To the hearts of sinners.
Sinners rejected by the religious spirited Pharisees.
Refuse to be a man pleaser, refuse to be respectable when it comes to delivering the Word of God.
Respectability is not the power of God and can not accomplish what God's Word can accomplish.
Whole Church systems have groomed themselves into respectability from the messy Jesus People days and in the process lost that incredible anointing that they once had. And they didn't even know what they had done to themselves! They had become religious.
Being a man pleaser does not do anything.
Being a God pleaser does everything.
Jesus went to a vile sinner who was rejected by others and went to a feast at his home where there were other vile rejected sinners.
He got called on it by those with a religious spirit.
They were not very pleased with Him. He was losing respectability with them.
Be instant in season and out of season to give an answer to anyone that ask of thee...
Be sensitive to the leading of God by His Holy Spirit and go where He sends you without regard to man's acceptance or rejection.
Be willing to give up respectability to do the work of the Kingdom of God.
The man Christ Jesus went to Levi a rejected sinner.
Matthew 22:9Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Matthew 28:19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mark 16:15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Quench not-the Spirit being a holy fire: "where the Spirit is, He burns" [Bengel]
To quench is to extinguish or put out a fire.
God implies the Holy Spirit in us is as a fire and should not be dampened.
Matthew 3:11:I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that
cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:
he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
It
is interesting to note that on the day of Pentecost the apostles saw a
vision of "tongues as of fire."
They then manifested forth the new
spirit within by speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance
(Acts 2:4).
We have been given so much ability to exercise the
power of God.
Our freedom of will determines how much of that power we
will bring forth.
We have the powerful Word of God at our
disposal as well as the spirit of God within us.
People hear a lot of
words spoken but rarely do they see the genuine power of God unless a
believer is manifesting it.
God wants us to use it not quench it.
I Corinthians 2:4 and 5:And my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and
of power:That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God.
The connection in which the exhortation,
"Quench not the Spirit" occurs, shows to what it refers.
The next
sentence is, "Despise not prophesying."
It has to do with the gifts of
the Spirit and their exercise in the holy liberty and power of the
Spirit.
"Quench not the Spirit" would go further, and warns us
against any attempt to shut out, or impose limits on the free action of
the Holy Spirit in the gifts He has entrusted to the saints.
The word
quench means to suppress or stifle.
I know of a Church that started out by allowing the free movement of the Holy Spirit and ever so slowly began to quench the Holy Spirit "in order to appeal to a much greater audience."
The net result was their corporate identity took over completely and the Holy Spirit was all but silenced.
"Quench not"--as if it were a candle
flame,--a fire, which might be extinguished.
.
Don’t throw cold water on someone else who is operating under the power and fire of God!
Do not throw water on yourself from doing the same thing by resisting the move of the Spirit and smothering it out.
.
The
Pharisees restrict the flow of spiritual experiences until religion
becomes a purely intellectual and theological exercise, and the Spirit
is quenched.
There are many blogs and websites that stress theological and intellectual issues religiously with no true spirituality in evidence. In fact the name of Jesus Christ is rarely mentioned.
Pharisaism was heretical in spite of its theological
correctness.
The Pharisee's real problem was that they drastically
overvalued the role of theology in spiritual life and made theological
correctness the chief religious virtue.
(I know of weblogs where people are doing that today!)
They had a man~given confidence
in their theology.
Their faith became intellectualized.
Their center of
faith moved from the heart to the head.
A sign of this was the way that
they bombarded Jesus with theological questions.
.
The Pharisee's
self~evaluation was that they were on the forefront of what God was
doing for Israel.
Jesus judgement of them was different: Matthew 23:29-33 (King James Version) 29Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs
of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,
30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
.
Although
they believed themselves to be the protectors of orthodoxy, the
Pharisees were really the opponents of the Holy Spirit.
All Pharisaism
contains tragic elements of missed opportunities.
They stood in the way
of the person of the Holy Spirit at work.
They are "witch hunters" who like to point out errors and win their case.
.
On
the other hand, well meaning workers in ministry want to help
individuals from being
presumptuous.
When Christians begin to
appropriate specific promises in Scripture as being applicable to
themselves and nothing happens they can become very confused and
disillusioned.
Yes the Holy Spirit can and does speak to individuals,
and it is often through Scripture.
But one must use discernment, is it
really the voice of God or is it presumption?
.
We want to
encourage and to inspire others to move out in the power of the Holy
Spirit while helping them to avoid presumption.
A very fine line, if we
are not careful we could 'throw the baby out with the bath water.'
Which many of today's corporate churches have and are doing.
.
Many
people were upset with Jesus because He claimed to know the mind and
heart of God, to speak directly for God, to reveal God's mind and heart
towards an individual or group of individuals.
Therefore they threw Him
out with the bathwater!
They missed Jesus Christ, Almighty God the
Master Creator because of their resistance to what He was and what He
was saying.
They clung tightly to their orthodoxy and their drastically
overvalued theology and therefore they missed Jesus for who He truly is.
.
Are we upset at those who attempt to have an active faith idealism?
. Ephesians 3:20 (New King James Version) 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
.
I like that, "ask or think."
What are the implications of this scripture?
Can we have faith with a
vision?
Can we think while using our minds eye to see our thoughts
realized.
Can we see ourselves ministering to others before it happens?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
.
God
does call us to serve Him. He does give us a hope for a future.
If you
know that you know, that He has called you to a task.
And you hold that
vision dear, what will be the result?
There will be opposition from
those who hold to rigid legalistic rules with tight boundaries.
"You
can't do that!
Your a dreamer!"
. Genesis 37:5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
.
And yet Joseph was the deliverance for all of his brothers and their kin.
Do
you have a vision a dream?
Are you willing to suffer the contempt of
others as you pursue your dream, your vision?
Will you hold true to your
vision and your dream through the years knowing that our God cannot
lie?
. Titus 1:2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
.
You
know that you know, that God has planted a vision and a dream within
you.
A passion!
Circumstances matter nothing whatsoever in the light of
what God has placed within you.
You know your God.
You know what He has
done and what He is capable of doing.
.
Sight is a function of the
eyes; vision is a function of the heart.
You don't see anything
happening at all and yet you know that you know that God will perform
that which He has promised.
You see what will be.
.
You know what will be! . "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
King Solomon Proverbs 29:18
.
Do you have a vision?
Jesus had a vision and He knew it.
"For this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth."
John 18:37
.
It is important for you to know your vision.
To know what you are meant to do.
What has God prepared you for?
Don't bury your dreams.
Don't give up on your God given vision.
You have a reason and a purpose for your life and you know it.
. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Ecclesiastes 9:10
.
Your
purpose is your passion.
It gives you hope and keeps you going because
you know that what God has given to you to accomplish cannot be stopped
by anyone!
You are immortal here on earth until God's will in your life
has been accomplished.
.
But you have to fight for it, you have to
believe in it, you have to put your whole might behind it.
You have to
stay in the race and see it to completion.
You have to believe in the
gift or gifts that God has placed within you. "A man's gift...brings
him before great men."Proverbs 18:16.
. "For this reason I remind you to fan to a flame the gift of God, which is in you."2 Timothy 1:6
You
have a human responsibility to fan to a flame your gift.
Stir up the
gift of God.
No one can activate your gift but you.
You have to do it
yourself.
.
You do this by reason of usage, just as a bodybuilder
does with weight resistance to accomplish growth.
Stir up your own gift
and don't seek other people's gifting.
You are created uniquely to be
what you are to better to do God's will.
You are an original, not an
imitator.
Be who you are and God's.
.
i believe that the Lord would say to you:
"Today
there are few, among the millions our Father has sent to the
earth~world, who give themselves and their lives with total dedication
to Me.
There are many dedicated ones who say, "Take my whole life", and
then proceed to live it according to their own idea of My will.
Thank
you, My workers, for wanting above all other things to work with Me for
My will. . Do nothing that is not My will.
This is the secret of
not hurrying.
Do what is My will in My time, leaving the weight of
responsibility to be carried by Me."
***
As the days start growing darker and good is called evil and evil called good the Holy Spirit will empower those who have availability and are yielded to Him.
The time of the latter rain has come and those who were promised that the latter rain would be greater than the former are about to experience the explosive power of the Holy Spirit moving through them in ministering to others and displaying the power of God.
Be not intimidated.
You have seen others promoted to position while it were as if you had been left on the bench and not called forth.
Look not to the right nor to the left, keep a steadfast focus upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Embrace the vision and the calling that He has given you so long ago.
Believe in what you have been told and shown by Christ.
For the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Greater darkness calls for greater light!
Those who have gone on before you had light but the light will increase in these dark days ahead for those who are still here serving.
Dare to allow yourself to dream the dream to entertain the vision and the call placed upon you by the Holy Spirit like warm oil flowing down and anointing you for service.
Stark Reality will impact you as you seek to fulfill your destiny in Christ.
For God Almighty is calling for His sons and daughters to leave their caves.
To get out upon the hill and to let their light so shine that the world may know that Jesus lives!
The Holy Spirit awaits you!
He desires to move in might and power through you as you represent Christ to a broken world.
Quench not the Spirit.
Fan to a flame that which is within you.
Who is being told to take this action?
You are!
An action based upon your free will to do as such.
If
the devil can by any methods, shut the Holy Spirit out of the church,
he has effectively prevented the church from being God's church on
earth.
He accomplishes this by retiring from the church the agencies or
agents that the Holy Spirit uses.
Satan displaces them with natural
devices that are rarely if ever the channels used by the Holy Spirit.
Christ announced this unchangeable, universal law when He said, “That
which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit” John 3:6.
If a church has a holy
preacher, a man of great prayerfulness, of great grace, filled with the
Spirit, Satan will use any method to retire him and put in a man who
does not pray, but who is eloquent and popular.
The church may seem to
have gained, but it has 'gained' by the substitution of natural forces
for spiritual ones, an exchange that has unknowingly revolutionized the
church.
E.M. Bounds
Mr
Bounds was a Baptist 'prophet/teacher.' He knew what he was talking
about.
How many churches today are actually allowing the movement of the
Holy Spirit in their midst?
The government of God given to the church
has ceased according to some of them. They tell us that we no longer
need the government of God through the five fold ministry as recorded in
the New Testament.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,... EPHESIANS 4:11
Some
would tell us that these governing agency's were only for the foundation
of the church and are no longer needed because today we have the Bible.
Well if that is the truth, then we no longer need evangelists or
pastors or teachers.
This list stands or falls as a whole.
Lets look at the next verses of this text:
12 to
prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ
may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants,
tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every
wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their
deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in
all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16 From him
the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
As
long as there are new believers, there will be those who need to be
'built up' and taught.
And EACH part will do its work.
There will be
spiritual infants who need the function of the ministries given to the
church by the Holy Spirit.
How unfortunate that there are those in
pulpits across the land that would intellectually rob the church of the
five fold ministry given to her by Jesus Christ.
They worship at the
alters of the intellect, teaching that the government of God, as given in Ephesians 4:11 is no longer needed, but of course THEY are needed.
Jesus Christ Himself GAVE these ministry gifts. For what purpose did He give these ministry gifts?
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
For
the perfecting of the saints. The Greek word KATARTISMOS translated
'perfecting," according to Vine's Espository Dictionary of New Testament
Words, denotes a fitting or preparing fully, implying a process to
consummation.
If one purpose for which the ministry gifts are given
is the perfecting of the saints, will they ever reach maturity without
them?
No.
For the work of the ministry.
For the edifying of the Body of Christ. For how long did He give the ministry gifts?
TILL
WE ALL COME in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, UNTO A PERFECT MAN, UNTO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE OF THE
FULNESS OF CHRIST.
These ministry gifts are Christ's own provision for the continual need for ministry in His Church until He comes for His Church.
An
arroneous teaching which surfaced a few years ago stressed what is
termed "body ministry." (And there is a certain truth to that. God does
use everyone.)
But some taught, "We don't need pastors and ministers any
longer. God is not using ministers any more. God has a different program
now."
The Scripture says that He gave those gifts to men, TILL
WE ALL COME...unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
Until Jesus comes, "all of us" will never come to that place of maturing of the saints until Christ comes for His own.
13 Till
we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son
of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight
of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined
together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to
the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of
the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
The Church needs
all-round spiritual growth to arrive at her destined perfection in
Christ.
Spiritual children are easily disturbed and swept about by false
things.
The ministry gifts Christ placed in the Church help us grow up
into His image.
We cannot reach that place without the function of the
fivefold ministry.
Some areas of Christendom have not matured
beyond a certain stage of growth because they recognize only two or
three ministry gifts: evangelist and pastor, or sometimes teacher.
In
summary: The ultimate aim of all ministry is not for self glory or to
magnify the human in any way.
It is entirely toward the Body of Christ.
It takes all these ministries functioning to edify-build up-the Body of
Christ.
Get out of those churches that teach that the five fold
ministry has ceased.
Get into Churches that allow the full function of
the gifts given by Christ for the work of the ministry.
Satan has been
at work ever since Jesus gave these ministrys, he has tried his best to
eliminate them from the Body of Christ so the work of the ministry would
suffer and be incomplete.
There are good men who are moral who would
try to convince you that the five fold ministry no longer exist.
Who do
you think is ultimately behind that lie?
Why would Christ remove the
very ministrys needed to build up His Church?
Satan does that.
Where
does Satan attack?
Satan is always watching for any opportunity to
attack the Church.
If he can convince leadership that the five fold
ministry given by Christ no longer exist, he can keep whole segments of
the Body of Christ from maturing and being edified.
Then there would be a
lack of true spiritual growth.
Satan attacks the strongest provision to
the Church.
The Holy Spirit and the five fold ministrys.
He works and
gains his spoils where the Christian slumbers in spiritual babyhood.
Spiritual growth with constant sure spiritual development, are the
surest safeguards against Satan's assualts.
Constant growth keeps our
eyes open and our hearts strong.
Satan wants to keep all of us
babies.
So he attacks the ministry offices, convincing who he may that
the five fold ministry gifts no longer function within the Body of
Christ.
THAT IS A LIE FROM HELL designed to destroy the Body of Christ!
TSA's PreCheck security lanes can screen 300 passengers an hour, twice
that of its standard security lanes. Based on that and other increased
efficiencies, the TSA's front-line screeners were cut from 47,147 three years ago to 42,525 currently.
At the same time, the number of annual fliers passing through
checkpoints has grown from 643 million to more than 700 million.
The TSA
told Congress its goal was to have 25 million fliers enrolled in the PreCheck registration program,
but as of March 1, only 9.3 million people had registered for PreCheck.
TSA first tried to make up for that shortfall by randomly placing
passengers into the express Precheck lanes, but scaled back that effort
for fear dangerous passengers were being let through.
That's when the
regular security lines started growing -- up to 90 minutes in some
cases.
The TSA is now shifting some resources to tackle lines at the
nation's biggest airports, but it claims there is no easy solution to
the problem with a record number of fliers expected this summer.
To
enroll in TSA's Precheck registration program, travelers must pay $85 to
$100 every five years, then submit to a background check, in-person
interview at an airport, and to being fingerprinted.
Unsurprisingly,
getting once-a-year fliers to spend the time or the money to register
has been a challenge.
While 250,000 to 300,000 people are registering
for Precheck every month, it will take more than four years at that pace
to reach the TSA's target enrollment.
At its developer conference, Build 2016, Microsoft announced on
Wednesday that Windows 10, the latest version of its desktop version
which it released on July 29 last year, is now being used on over 270 million active computers worldwide.
"Windows 10 is off to the fastest adoption of any release ever," said
Terry Myerson, executive vice president for Microsoft's Windows and
Devices Group.
The company also announced that it will be releasing
Windows 10 Anniversary Update this summer for all Windows 10 users free
of charge.
I am 'smoke testing Win 10 Insider Preview Evaluation copy, build 14295.rs1_160 318-1628
I find no problems with it thus far.
It is stable and solid.
Windows has come a long way since dos 3.0 when i first came on board.
I have a fond memory of using each and every Windows release ever since the days of Dos.
I know some paranoid types who still use Windows 98.
They claim "it has no back doors" and few hackers these days are interested in Windows 98.
And the older machines have safe mother boards with no inside keys to back doors.
In
the list of the world's great companies, Unaoil is nowhere to be seen.
But for the best part of the past two decades, the family business from
Monaco has systematically corrupted the global oil industry,
distributing many millions of dollars worth of bribes on behalf of
corporate behemoths including Samsung, Rolls-Royce, Halliburton and
Australia's own Leighton Holdings.
A massive leak of confidential
documents has for the first time exposed the true extent of corruption
within the oil industry, implicating dozens of leading companies,
bureaucrats and politicians in a sophisticated global web of bribery and
graft.
After a six-month investigation across two continents, Fairfax
Media and The Huffington Post can reveal that billions of dollars of
government contracts were awarded as the direct result of bribes paid on
behalf of firms including British icon Rolls-Royce, US giant
Halliburton, Australia's Leighton Holdings and Korean heavyweights
Samsung and Hyundai.
A car that runs on hydrogen and only emits water out the tailpipe, no deadly pollutants.
No gasoline, no gas taxes, for now. Early adopters get manufacturer incentives of free maintenance, free hydrogen for three years, cash discounted price tag and government incentive even kicks in 5g's.
Leave the corrupt oil companies in the dirt, you can go hydrogen now!
In the Garden of Eden, God came down and walked and talked with Adam and Eve.
But when sin came, it separated them from that walk.
The Old Testament records a number of instances where men walked with God.
God said to Abraham, "Walk before me, and be thou perfect" ( Genesis 17:1 ).
Abraham almost took that phrase as the identifying mark of his life.
When he was blessing his servant to send him after a wife for his son Isaac, he said, "The Lord before Whom I walk will bless you."
Abraham really walked with God.
The Scriptures speak of him as "The friend of God."
In Genesis 6:9 we read of Noah, Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generation: Noah walked with God.
What does it mean to have a walk with God?
It is very important for us to know what a walk with God really is, for we often have wrong ideas about it.
Some people think they have a walk with God and yet they do not.
They do not commune with Him; there is none of that real hunger reaching out.
No one can walk with God unless he is tormented by a hunger after God.
If you do not have it, cry out for it until God places that hunger for Himself within your very heart.
There are people who have experiences with God, who have had the Lord answer their prayers, who are dedicated to His service, who work for Him, and who really love Him- but they do not know Him.
They do not really have a walk with Him.
The Bible speaks of only a few men who walked with God, but those who did were instruments in changing the destiny of the human race.
Abraham walked with God, and God promised him that he would be the father of kings, that through him nations would be moved and blessed.
Noah walked with God, and because of this one man's dedication to walk with God, the whole human race was preserved.
Enoch walked with God, and it is significant what God did for him.
And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters; and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years; and Enoch walked with God ( this is repeated a second time ): and he was not; for God God took him. And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Genesis 5:21-27.
There is a little rhyme:
"The oldest man who ever lived, died before his father did."
That is true.
The oldest man who ever lived was Methuselah.
He lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, but he died before his father did because his father never died.
Enoch was translated when he was three hundred and sixty-five years old.
Enoch was an amazing man.
Hebrews 11:5,6 tells us of his tremendous faith. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him: for he had witness borne to him that before his translation he had witness borne unto God: and without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.
He believed for it with all his heart.
In Jude 14 and 15 we read, And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement upon all...
Enoch lived at the dawn of history and he wrote a book, the Book of Enoch, which is a spurious one, written about 100 B.C.
Frankly, I think that there is a true book of Enoch preserved some place and that during the great Kingdom age it will be discovered again.
No doubt other books that are mentioned in the Bible will also be found.
God always has His perfect word and revelation.
The Old Testament was perfect for the Old Testament times.
It contained all the seed principles and thoughts that were to govern the Church age and Kingdom.
It was complete, even without another revelation.
But aren't you glad we received the New Testament too?
Eventually God will add other words to govern us when the Kingdom comes, but that will be for another age.
We have everything we need right now.
We have so much that points the way.
Enoch wrote his book as he was walking with God.
He was listening to what God wanted him to say; he was seeing the things God wanted him to see.
He saw the great visions of the Lord's coming.
The Lord must have taught him many things, and his faith kept growing.
During Enoch's life the world became very evil, yet he was more concerned about his walk with God than anything else.
God showed him the things that would come in the end time, when He would bring judgment on all the ungodly.
Enoch was on very close terms with the Lord, but not in a "buddy-buddy" type of relationship.
That is not the relationship you want with God.
If someone says, "My dear sweet Jesus is so real to me," we know that He is not truly real to him.
If you actually met Jesus, He would not be the "dear,sweet Jesus."
He is Lord!
He is Lord indeed, and in awe you would fall at His feet.
Enoch had the kind of faith that reached in and believed for translation right out of this world.
When you walk with God you have to believe He can do anything; you must have faith.
Because Enoch walked with God, he could believe for anything.
Once again:
Because Enoch walked with God, he could believe for anything.
And he did believe for the most fantastic thing: to have his mortal body literally transformed.
Doctrinally that was impossible, for man was under the curse from the fall, and he had to adjust and cope with the curse.
True, the world had a lot of vitality, but imagine a man living for almost a thousand years- years filled with energy and force.
In spite of all the vitality the earth had, Enoch was technically a part of the human race that was depraved.
No doubt they were talking about the Adamic nature way back in those times.
There were probably some good theologians around saying, "We don't know how to cope with this situation of the fall, but one thing we do know: we can't believe for anything like they had in the Garden of Eden. We don't believe that man can talk with God now. We've been driven out of the Garden. That age is past. This is our doctrine."
But Enoch disproved it all by walking and talking with God.
When it is all decided that something is not scriptural and cannot be done, there is always someone who comes along and does it anyway.
Would you like to be one of those people? The only qualification you need to do signs and wonders and exploits is to walk with God.
...But the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits ( Daniel 11:32 ).
A number of things were involved in Enoch's walk with God.
He had real faith.
According to our text, without that faith it is impossible to please the Lord.
Really walking with God means that you are more concerned about worshiping and communing with the Lord than you are in communing with any other individual on the face of the earth.
It is very easy to let the Lord take a second place.
When you love someone in this world, and you want to be with him all the time, it is very easy to put him ahead of the Lord.
It is very easy to put something that you are vitally interested in ahead of the Lord.
A person can even take a blessing from the Lord and give it precedence over the Lord.
That is why God had to say to Abraham, "Offer up your only son; put a knife in his heart."
He had to demand that of Abraham to see if he loved and worshiped the blessing of God more than he loved and worshiped God.
A walk with God involves your faith, your communion, your worship, and your obedience.
It involves the fear of the Lord and submission to God- that no matter what God does or what He requires, you are absolutely submissive.
It requires a great deal of discipline.
Daniel was a very busy man, an executive with many responsibilities, yet he managed to walk with God.
It takes time to walk with God, to pray and read the Word the Bible, and it is so easy to place more importance on other activities and interests.
God cannot have any rivals.
A walk with God takes a great deal of dedication, because it is something that is very illusive.
When you write a book, there is always the satisfaction of seeing the finished product.
If you make some pottery or build a house, you can see the finished product.
You can go out and earn money, and see the result of your labor.
But you can spend endless days and years walking with God, while Satan torments you, saying it is all worthless, that it is worthwhile, because it is so illusive.
A walk with God- who can even define it, let alone know whether he has it or not?
But you will know!
It is a very real thing and it is worth the effort.
Isaiah 40:31 is a familiar Scripture.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.
That is great- mounting up with wings as eagles, in those soaring experiences in God, when you exclaim, "Oh, I soared into the third heaven; I saw wonderful things."
They shall run, and not be weary.
It is marvelous to be dedicated and to work at the job with endurance.
But the last is the greatest of all- they shall walk, and not faint- to walk with God with a heart that will not faint, with a spirit that will not judge, without letting anything get in the way.
Then you will say, "I am not going to let anything trip me up or push me in a corner.
I have set my course.
I'm going to walk with God."
There will be people in this generation who will walk with God during this time of judgment in the earth.
If you seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, the other things will be added.
People are often disappointment because God cannot give them what He wants to give them.
But when you put God first and seek Him first, it will be the one time of your life when you will not be disappointed and disillusioned.
A walk with God is based upon wholehearted love and service.
Abraham walked with God, and God rained money upon him like dew from heaven.
Here was a man after God's own heart, who loved God and walked with him; and God blessed him and made him exceedingly rich.
Job was a man perfect in all his ways before the Lord, and God made him a very rich man too.
There cannot be any restriction of finances, any restriction of health, any spiritual limitation, any inadequacy whatsoever, there cannot be anything but happiness and real joy and fulfillment in life for anyone who is walking in the perfect will of God.
To walk with God can open the door to fantastic blessings, as it has in every instance in Scripture.
Is a walk with God something that you want?
Do you want to discipline yourself to get up in the morning and seek God?
Get away from the practice of saying prayers and reading the Bible as a ritual.
Read it until it lives.
Read it until you eat it.
Read it until you feel the Author breathe down your neck as He whispers into your ears what it is all about, what He really meant when He wrote it.
Read it until the fire that burns in the prophet's heart burns in your heart as the Word is transferred from a cold page to the tablets of the heart.
Love His Word.
Love Him.
Trust Him.
Repentance is a good practice.
Repent of every time you have displeased the Lord.
Repent in depth, until you see the awfulness of even the most insignificant thing, if it kept you from breaking through to that communion with God.
Be obedient.
If you promised the Lord something, do it.
Be submissive.
In your heart, come to the full submission of all that He has said.
Hold everything else loosely; lay it all on the altar.
Be ready to turn your back and walk away from everything in the world- if that is the price required to walk with God.
Do not let anything rival God!
Come to the place where you want Him above everything, even your own life.
Oh, how God blesses those who yearn after Him!
What is the most profitable thing you can do?
Micah 6:8: He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; ad what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?
For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one ( The Holy Spirit) who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.
The opposite of lawlessness is submission.
Few teachers of the Bible teach on submission in these days of mega churches.
In today's lesson you will be given an understanding of how joy is the fruit of submission.
***
When you voice your submission, with real faith and intercession, to those whom God has set over you, you actually open the door to walk on with God in a way that you may not realize.
The moment you become submissive to someone to teach you, you lay a great deal of responsibility upon him for the way that you are led.
The teachings of Christ concerning the end time speak of the harsh judgment that will rest upon the ones who do not lead the sheep right, of whom there are many.
The parables of Jesus that describe this judgment point to outer darkness, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.
Abuses of the responsibility and authority that God gives to spiritual leaders today will bring some of the most frightening consequences that a person could ever face.
With the voicing of your submission to those whom God has set over you, there should be a great deal of faith to pray for them, but not just for your own interests.
Much depends on the chain of command of those in authority.
It must be right.
These men must be led by the Lord, being submissive and teachable themselves, so that the flock is led into what God has for them.
A strong vehemence of prayer in seeking the perfect will of God may offend passive religious people, but it is more effective than they know.
However, effective intercession is not based on the sound of your voice or the force of your emotions, but on the focus of your faith to see God's will accomplished.
In this hour, God is separating His people from the Church age, with its weaknesses, and leading them into the Church-Kingdom age.
The ruling force in the Kingdom will be the Bride, the remnant of the Church that is coming forth.
Set your heart more than ever before to enter into this, so that the transition in your thinking, in your way of praying, and in your way of worship will be perfect.
The Kingdom is very different from the Church.
In His Sermon on the Mount, at the dawn of the Church age, Jesus spoke about the Old Testament commandments, saying, "You have heard that it was said of old...but now I say to you..."; and it shook up the religious order of that day.
Again God is saying, "That is what has been preached to you in all your life, but this is the way it will be now."
After you have put your hand to the plow, you dare not even look back, or the result will be devastating.
Set your heart to walk with God .
Set your heart to pray with faith for those over you.
When a man of God speaks a Word from God over you, you should be submissive to that Word.
But he also must be submissive, and with faith and diligence he must watch over the Word that has been committed through him.
It is hard to say which is more difficult- to be submissive to someone who gives you a Word or to be submissive to someone to whom you have given a Word.
We all have to be submissive, one to another.
The line of command in God's authorities cannot be without the submission and the humility required of bond servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, Oh, that we would determine to walk humbly before the Lord.
When Satan sends a spirit of division into a church, certain ones reach impasses in their relating to one another.
Satan assaults the unity that God brings to His people.
He attempts to bring division through separation from divine order.
Our unity and our oneness depend upon the divine order that God has established in the Holy Bible.
Satan would like us to be a little rebellious and unsubmissive, yet thinking all the time that we are doing the will of the Lord.
That spirit of division cannot reach us unless there is also deception within us.
If we are grounded in the Word of God, the plumb line of God, we can meet Satan's assault with a violent refusal to be deceived or divided.
We can hold on to the Word of the Lord and press in with all of our hearts to a spiritual level which we never had attained before.
Christ was crucified at the time of Passover, and then followed fifty days until Pentecost, including His three days in the tomb.
He appeared to the brethren during a period of forty days before He ascended.
Forty is the number of judgment.
Those forty days were the days allotted to Jesus' followers to establish a new relationship with Him- no longer on the human plane, but as servants of a risen, exalted Lord.
After Christ had ascended, and the establishment of His Lordship and judgment among His disciples had been accomplished, there followed seven more days of waiting for the Holy Spirit until the day of Pentecost was fully come and everything broke loose.
Likewise, God gives us a period of time for a new relationship to be established in the family of God.
Within this time, Christ becomes Lord over our lives in areas where He has not reigned before, and we then relate to one another in the way we are supposed to- in the Spirit.
Every bit of rebellion against Biblical divine order will be taken out of the Body of Christ.
We can look for a breakthrough that will be greater than that on the day of Pentecost if we really press in with all of our hearts to what God has for us.
During a time of judgments within the house of God, the sifting of men's hearts can be so extensive that it is almost discouraging.
After His resurrection, the Lord appeared to five hundred brethren at once who gathered together to see the risen Christ ( I Corinthians 15:6 ).
But when the day of Pentecost came, there were only one hundred and twenty in the upper room
( Acts 1:15 ).
The earmarks of a sifting are found in the testings God brings to see who will keep pressing in to walk with Him.
This is frightening; but remember that the key to prevailing is not in your strength; it is in your submission to the Lord and in your submission to one another as you adamantly pray and wait before God, contending and possessing the promises of God.
That is to be the whole focus.
Let there be a cold, calculated determination in your heart, that regardless of what you are facing among the brethren, you will adamantly set your heart just the same to walk as one in unity of the faith.
Your feelings and the issues of the past are not of the least concern, because unity is the result of the dedication of your will.
Shove the lies of the devil out of your mind and set your will not to be deceived.
No matter how things appear to be, determine to be one.
Determine to walk with God.
Live to have a right relationship in the Lord.
Every relationship to the Lord will be shaken sooner or later.
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on
you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 1Peter 4:12
People who have wrong motivations and who have not related to the Lord correctly will suddenly find the Lord dealing with them very deeply.
You can never really be effective for God as long as you do not accept God for what He is to you, and as long as you do not accept what God says you are.
Even then you cannot progress very far until you accept what God says concerning your brothers and your sisters.
Whenever you see a brother going through testings in his life, stop and think, "What did God say over that man?"
Then begin to relate to the Word of God over him with a great deal of faith in your heart, because you will not go on with God unless you believe for one another.
You may see times when many seem to be going through problems, and there is no way that you can evaluate what is happening to them.
Don't be divisive and critical, judging one another or competitive towards each other as some on the Internet can be found doing in these last days.
Just open your heart and believe for them.
You can determine to walk with God yourself; but even so, you cannot make it alone.
We all make it together.
The apostle Paul emphasized this truth in Romans 8:17.
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ ( all of us together ); if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
Together we shall all be glorified with Him.
You do not work to be the only one sitting beside the Lord; you work toward the time when all will join in to be glorified together.
God is no longer requiring from His people submission to those who are not submissive; nor will there be teachers who are not teachable, or ministries of authority who are not humble themselves.
All will walk by the same rule; he who would be greatest is to become the minister and servant of all ( Mark 9:35 ).
The above scripture cancels out many who are in ministry today doesn't it?
Kissing a man's ring is offensive to the Holy Spirit!
Preferential treatment of anyone in ministry is upsetting to the Holy Spirit! Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19
The true relationships of the Kingdom are being established now among a remnant of believers.
As you enter into the Kingdom of God relationships, you will be amazed at the revelation of the Lord.
He will appear to many and commission them; the impartation will flow freely.
Meanwhile, if you are being shaken, just ask the Lord to help you and give you strength to hold onto Him while this happens, because God is shaking all things.
We must set ourselves to become oracles of God to speak the Word of the Lord.
Hebrews 12:26-28 describes how the lord will speak and shake all things.
The things that cannot be shaken will remain.
That is the way in which we shall receive the Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
The Living Word of the Lord is coming now, and it is shaking everyone who is exposed to it.
Do not draw back from the shaking, or you will be drawing back from the Living Word that is doing it.
The Living Word of the Lord comes on such a high plane that it will loose you into the will of God.
It will shake you up, and everything that can go will go.
Before you are through, God will shake out of you a surprising number of things that you have been clinging to, thinking that they were right.
Where will it all end?
The big breakthrough into the Kingdom of God will come.
Progressively fewer people will be getting away with evasiveness and lying to others, living shadowy lives thinking they are getting away with it.
No one will be able to hide what is in his heart.
Many believers are beginning to sense the ways in which Satan has been lying to them and deceiving them into thinking that their motivation was right, when God was actually dealing with something wrong in their own hearts.
Keep contending that none of your brothers or sisters in Christ will miss out with God.
Some have walked with God for years and have come to a time of crucial shaking.
Should you reach out your hand to steady the ark because they are going to the threshing floor?
Now I beseech you, brethren ( ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have set themselves to minister unto the saints ), that ye also be in subjection unto such, and to every one that helpeth in the work and laboreth.
Notice that they set themselves to minister to the saints.
This is necessary, one has to resolutely set .
A true bond servant does not serve just because he gets a good feeling from doing something for the church.
It is actually a dedication that goes very deep; it is a resolutely set state of heart.
The firstfruits of Achaia were the first ones in that whole province of Greece to open their hearts to the Lord.
These ministries were set and determined to minister in the name of the Lord.
Notice what the Lord commanded concerning them.
The Apostle Paul entreated the Corinthian church to submit themselves to these, and to all who were laboring in the work.
The principle of submission is misunderstood when only the aspects of a wife's submission to her husband, or a church's submission to its elders and to the apostles and prophets, is acknowledged.
All of these are very important because they are elements of submission, but Body ministry involves more than a determination on the part of the people to be submissive to the authorities over them.
The authorities must also be submissive to those whom they have commissioned.
Casualties from the assaults of the enemy do not come very often to those who minister the Word of God, because the submission and faith of the Body holds them up.
Where does the devil go to pick off the saints?
Many times it is not even to the weak ones, but to deacons and deaconesses and those who work at various labors that the Lord has given them to do.
They become occupied with their labors, and if no one is burdened for them, they do not receive the flow of life that submission from the rest of the Body would bring.
They are submissive to divine order, and there is a flow of blessing that comes to them; but there ought to be submission from the rest of the Body and an appreciative respect for the dedication of those who labor in the work of the Lord.
That is what Paul actually said about the house of Stephanas: "They have set themselves to minister to the saints.
"You also be in subjection to such, and to everyone who helps in the work and labors."
This is another aspect of submission.
There has to be within an apostle the submission to every Word from God that he has ever spoken over another person.
There cannot be remoteness in his heart to that Word.
A Word from God is the basis and the prime factor in submission.
Whether we receive a Word from God or we give a Word from God, we must not consider it as unrelated to us.
The moment we hear a Word of God spoken over an individual, we are given the responsibility for the fulfillment of the Word.
When parents present their little baby for dedication to the Lord, it is not just a function of the pastor or the elders to bless that little child; it is every one's function.
Everyone becomes involved when the Word of consecration is spoken over that little child.
A baby receives a degree of impartation, but he has no understanding.
He does not know his right hand from his left hand, but the rest of the church is bound by the Word that is spoken over that baby.
They carry the responsibility for the fulfillment of that Word.
Churches that follow the Biblical divine order which God is restoring seek His wisdom and direction before a couple is married.
When the ministries have prayerfully examined the relationship to the best of their ability, and have seen that the marriage in not only in the will of God, but that the couple is ready and prepared by God for the marriage, then ministry is given to them. (This is not the way of the world around us.)
When that couple is married, they are given a Word from God.
The congregation bears witness to that Word, and they all enter in with faith.
From that time on, everyone in the church is bound by faith to that couple.
Those two people have received a Word that regulates them, but more is required than that.
They can be as submissive to the Word committed to them as they know how, but it is the Body's faith for them that helps their marriage.
Faith is found in submission.
If you are submissive to a man of God, you believe for him.
If he is submissive to the Word over you, he believes for you.
When the Body relates in this way, it is healthy.
The Body becomes involved with every new person who comes into their midst.
There is no such thing as living in the will of God without this type of submission.
Another passage of Scripture that brings out this truth is Ephesians 5:18-21.
Be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.
Paul speaks of the joy, the songs, the psalms, and the Word dwelling in our hearts, but we notice that he also tells us to subject ourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
A man of God cannot preach submission without his being submissive, or his words will go amiss.
Whenever a Word is ineffective, it is either because that Word is not received by those who hear it, or because that Word has not been worked in the one who proclaims it.
Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:4
When a pastor gets up and preaches love before God has worked that love in his own heart, his congregation will get the impression that he is beating them down.
But if he is filled with love, he can deliver a stern rebuke, and those who receive it will thank him for it.
When the ministries see you going astray, don't you want them to tell you what you need to hear?
The one thing that guarantees that their Word will work for you is the fact that you feel love behind it, just as you feel God's love when He chastens you.
Whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives ( Hebrews 12:6 ).
When He chastens you, it is because He loves you.
He is dealing with you as a son or a daughter.
He is being a father to you, your father.
Let us consider another aspect of being subject to one another in the fear of the Lord.
We find it easier to be submissive to a Biblical Living Word when it is brought by someone who is submissive himself.
When God lets authority rest upon a person, and he abuses that authority just one time, technically it may not seem like a serious offense, but God marks it.
( I know of an arrogant faith healer currently who made his subordinates kiss his ring on his finger. Those who refused were fired from his employ.)
That is what causes a man to be limited in his effectiveness in fulfilling the perfect will of God in his life.
Look at the example of Moses.
We must say that Moses did the will of God, but we must also say that he missed Canaan.
The time finally came when he was not completely, totally submissive; he was filled with anger against the children of the Lord.
He took the rod as he had done years before, and he smote the rock.
But this time God had told him to speak to the rock ( Numbers 20:7-13 ).
This incident was symbolical: we complete our wilderness, not because the rock is struck, but because the prophetic Word opens up the flow.
Moses took the rod in anger, and he smote the rock.
Because God was not honored before the people, Moses lost his right to enter Canaan.
In other words, Moses was not being submissive to the Lord; he did not glorify the Lord.
If we hear an anointed sermon from someone who is moving in rebellion, we may not be able to figure out what is wrong, but we will find that something is missing in it.
There must be submission to the Word in those who speak it and those who hear it.
This is what causes them to change into the image of Christ.
When the human vessel who speaks the Word of God is submissive to the Word, the hearers find themselves being submissive to it too.
But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake.
Know them that labor among you.
First there has to be knowledge.
Deception comes in when you do not know your brother.
Many times when a misunderstanding with a brother has been cleared away, you realize that you actually did not know how he felt about the situation.
What is it that veils our understanding of one another, so that we do not really know those who labor in the Lord and are over us in the Lord?
It is a lack of submission.
Christians do not know one another when there is no submission in their hearts.
They do not even understand how to be submissive or what is required of them.
But once they come into submission, then they begin to know each other.
In Ephesians 5:21-22, Paul tells us to subject ourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
Just as the Church is subject to Christ, so are wives to be to their husbands.
Subjection is often interpreted in people's thinking as suppression, that wives are to be suppressed by their husbands.
But that is not what Paul was saying.
Your submissiveness to the ministries over you and the Word that they give should not suppress you; it should prod you and move you into a closer relationship with God.
It should liberate you and loose you.
Submission in relationships is active and full of faith.
A general who is in active service is not interested in some sergeant who is continually saying that he is submissive.
He wants one who is aggressive to obey and aggressive in his submission.
When the general gives that sergeant an order, he wants him to salute and instantly go about getting the job done.
In the same way, wives should be quick to respond to their husbands.
Husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it ( Ephesians 5:25 ).
Old Testament phrases that speak about marriage act and procreation often say that a man "went in to his wife and she conceived."
The original Hebrew words indicate that this meant reproduction.
But once in a while a word is used that denotes more than a sexual relationship.
When a wife complains that she is merely a sex object, and she does not feel that her husband really knows her or relates to her as a person, she is actually saying, "I would like to have a Bible relationship.
I would like to have my husband know me, know my feelings, and understand my weaknesses.
I want him to treat me with tenderness and love."
This must exist in a marriage relationship.
The man can assert the fact that he is her authority, but that in itself is meaningless. Christ loved the Church, and He gave Himself for it.
That is the way a husband is to love his wife.
The wife can give herself to him in submission, but he must also give himself and be willing to even lay down his life for her.
The husband cannot be an authority in a marriage unless he takes that submissive role as Christ did for the Church.
Many husbands need to back off from the idea that they are the boss and therefore have a the right to suppress everyone around them.
That is not God's pattern.
The man is the giver to his family.
He is the provider for the family.
Again we see the importance in our relationships together of submitting one to another in the fear of the Lord.
Subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ is the springboard to the passage in Ephesians 5:22-23 which tells hoe husbands and wives are to live for each other.
Verse 33 says, ...love each one his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she fear
( reverence ) her husband.
This verse describes the kingdom level of marriages that are really dedicated to do the will of the Lord.
The husband and wife become submissive to each other.
There can be more oneness and fulfillment in one hour's work in which a husband and wife are doing the will of God together than in all the physical relationship that has ever existed between them.
They reach an ultimate fulfillment when they strive together, with one heart and one mind and one soul, for the faith of the gospel.
Then they are instruments in the hand of God, welded together into one instrument that is framed to do the will of God ( Philippians 1:27 ).
Knowledge is related to submission.
Adam knew his wife.
Christ knows all about us.
Paul prayed, That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.... Philippians 3:10.
Faith brings you into a level where there is no deception in your relationship.
There are no walls or even a veiling of the understanding of each other.
You have probably heard this common complaint among men: "My wife doesn't understand me."
Supposedly that triggered off all the problems that he ever had, and he is looking for someone who will understand him.
But who put up those walls?
Was it the husband, or the wife?
In a marriage, what causes one person to designate areas of living that the other cannot invade?
A husband may refuse to share the inner recesses of his heart and yet continue to relate physically while being emotionally vacant .
He may hold back from knowing his wife in the areas where true communication comes.
In the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, our unity comes by our determination to submit to one another and to have no walls against another.
The minute our walls come down, we begin to perceive the other person more clearly than we ever saw him before.
As we set our hearts to be submissive to God's calling of a brother, and we pray for him, we receive further revelation of his ministry.
This causes us to submit ourselves to him all over again.
It is an endless cycle of submission and revelation.
About the time that you feel you do not understand a brother, look to see if you have put up a wall; no doubt that is the cause.
If you do not see it, remember that walls were not made for seeing through.
You put up a wall because you are walling him off.
Take down the wall and relate to your brother in Christ, so that you can say freely, "I love You, Lord, and I love my brother."
An old friend of mine, Joy Strange wrote a song that a Jesus People band sang on their album in 1975, called "Tear down the walls."
Take down all the walls, so that you can love your brethren, your spouse, and your children.
Of course, if you take down your walls, you can be hurt.
But you are not to put up walls against a brother, even when you are being harassed by your relationship with him.
When you are ordained by God to walk together with a brother, you must never shut each other out by building walls in your hearts.
What should you do?
Suffer, rather than to sin against the unity.
Determine to be one with him even if it humiliates you.
You may feel like you love a brother so much that you would be willing to lay down your life for him.
Giving your life in a nice, neat execution might be the easy way out.
It is more difficult to live than to it is to die.
When your heart is set to love the brethren, to be submissive, and to have no walls against them, you will find it hurts.
When you start suffering and dying under it, then you are on the right track.
When they stick pins in you, and you no longer feel it, you know that you are finally dead.
The Lord asked His disciples what they were reasoning about. But they held their peace: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who was the greatest. And He sat down, and called the twelve; and He saith unto them, If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.
That Scripture could disturb your ego if you meditated on it long enough.
Matthew 20:20-28Then came to Him the mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons, worshipping Him. And he said unto her, "What wouldest thou?" She saith unto Him, "Command that these, my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy kingdom. But Jesus answered and said, "Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?"
They say unto Him, "We are able."
He saith unto them ( James and John ), My cup indeed ye shall drink: but to sit on My right hand, and on My left hand, is not mine to give; but it is for them to whom it hath been prepared of My Father."
And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation concerning the two brethren.
Isn't it human nature to become furious with someone who audaciously claims the place that you wanted for yourself?
But Jesus called them unto Him, and said, "Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. not so shall it be among you: but whosoever would become great among you shall be your minister ( or your servant ); and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."
Jesus discerning their ambitions, straightened them out.
There is very little ambition among those who walk with God.
The Lord cuts it out of their hearts and gives them a pure motivation to see Him glorified.
Rather than looking for a pat on the back, they are content just to do the will of the Lord and to serve.
Little recognition is given them, even though they give their very lives and their last ounce of energy.
There is no hand clapping over God's dedicated workers; their job is simply done in the name of the Lord.
As you enter into a greater submission to the Lord, you will find joy in it.
After the Lord said in John 13:14, "You ought to wash one another's feet," He made a most beautiful statement in verse 17: If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. Joy comes in submitting to one another.
Some of the most joyful days that you will ever know are the days when you work with the brethren, cleaning the church and preparing it for services.
Some of the greatest blessings that you can receive are found in the way you become a servant.
You may also spend much time studying the Word, but that is not all that counts in becoming a servant.
You can fill your heart with the Word; but as you serve, the Lord speaks directly to you and reaches in to make real to you the truths that you have hidden away in your heart, and they begin to roll out.
your ministry of the Word to God's people will come forth from your own submission to be a bond servant.
If you serve the Body with all your heart, it cannot bring you anything but joy from the Lord.
There is no real joy without this submission.
When you know these things, and you serve one another, you are in a safe place of protection.
The real danger comes when you forget your dedication as a bond servant of Christ to serve and to be submission to that service.
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Verily I say unto you, that he will set over all that he hath.
But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord tarrieth; and shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expected not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Matthew 24:45-51.
When arrogance enters into the hearts of the leaders, their ministry is short-circuited.
(How many leaders have gotten wealthy from the ministry? They enter into the 'privileged few realm' where the treatment of the wealthy is like being a "Roman citizen" with the perks that go along with those who are not of the "Working class" any longer.
It affects them.
They began to feel special, lifted above others because of their wealthy status. They start to project attitude of subtle arrogance.) Judgment comes upon those who should be leading the flock and feeding them, but are not.
The ministers who begin to eat and drink with the drunken and to beat their fellow servants do so because they are not submissive themselves.
Therefore, their authority becomes oppressive over those to whom they minister.
They in essence want you to "kiss their ring."
When a Shepherd loves the sheep, he does not beat them down.
When he is submissive to the Lord and to His commission to him for the sheep, he does not best them.
But when he loses that submission to the Lord in his own heart, something else enters in that becomes oppressive and beats the people down.
Can you see how God intends for our relationships to work?
This shows how we ought to regard those over us and those under us in the Lord.
The parable in Luke 20:9-16 tells us about the severe judgment that comes upon those who beat their fellow servants.
James 3:1 advises that many should not be teachers, knowing that they will receive heavier judgment.
Whoever becomes your teacher, God will judge, if he does not teach you humbly and lead you carefully.
The judgment upon him is greater if he leads you astray.
A pastor is responsible to lead the people correctly, according to the submission and faith of their hearts.
If he leads them wrong, when they are submissive, then God lays their sins upon him.
He receives the heavier judgment when he fails to walk with God.
The judgment he must bear may seem harsh, but it is fair.
If the ministries of the church do not stand before you as humble servants, then they are not exhibiting Christ.
Christ came as a humble servant to give His life a ransom for all, not to be ministered unto, but to minister.
He is the Lord, and we bow before Him.
Every servant and minister that He raises up should exhibit the Spirit of Christ, who said, Take My yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Matthew 11:29.
There is no rest or joy except in following the path of being a submissive bond servant of the Lord and a submissive servant to one another. There is no other way to please God.
If you dear reader, have read thus far then you are obviously ready for part two of this message.
Hello,
downtown at the Long Beach Municipal Arena with my Grandma.
downtown at the Long Beach Municipal Arena with my Grandma.
I met with Marla West (Randy's wife), and she went over everything.
choir, but Terry (choir director) had a 16 year minimum.
choir, but Terry (choir director) had a 16 year minimum.
___________."
___________."
I was so happy when I was asked to greet people and hand out the programs at the door.
I was so happy when I was asked to greet people and hand out the programs at the door.
I am greatly saddened by people when they discount the good Brand did.
I am greatly saddened by people when they discount the good Brand did.
a good man who in the time I was at Shekinah, helped me to be the most spiritual of my life even thirty years later.
a good man who in the time I was at Shekinah, helped me to be the most spiritual of my life even thirty years later.
I feel those who spoke and speak against Brant, God's anointed, is speaking against God.
I feel those who spoke and speak against Brant, God's anointed, is speaking against God.
Let me know if you would like to do a reunion of the Shekinah Alumni.
